Nicole laid awake in bed. Beside her was Gumball curled up in her arms. She felt his chest breath in and out. She felt his warmth and comfort. Part of her mind wanted to sleep right now with him, but the other part kept her awake; deep in thought.

'He called me Nicole...'

Before they went to bed for the night, Gumball and her shared a very touching moment after she had told him about her and Richard's unstable relationship. Then, she told him she loved him. He said he loved her back. Instead of saying mom, he had said her name...

Nicole tightened her grip around Gumball just a little. She knew why. It was obvious. He wanted to see her not just as a mother, but as something else; a lover. A...lover...

Nicole leaned in and kissed his cheek, sparking a twitch on his still sleeping face. This amused her. She then quietly got up to stretch her legs before heading to the bathroom to go relieve herself.

The lights of the bathroom hummed a quiet buzz as she looked at herself in the mirror for a moment. She still was surprised she hasn't developed any gray hair. Usually a cat her age saw at least one, but she was spared of them; luckily for her. As she rested her hands on the sink counter, she glanced down at her right hand. On it, rested her wedding ring. A sense of dread started to form within her. That ring. The very ring she was given by Richard as they both swore their oaths to each other at the alter of their wedding. There...wedding...

Nicole clenched her fist. She looked away from it. Seeing that ring now on her was hurting her; in more ways than one. She knew why. How could she not? She was in love with someone else. It was that simple...yet, it wasn't. This wasn't because she was simply seeing some 'other guy', this was because she was in love with someone who is partly like her husband, and herself. Both actually. She was in love with her son. Her son...

After taking a drink of very cold water, and closing her eyes for a second, she took a deep breath, and loosened her clenched fist.

'Not now. You're tired Nicole, get some sleep.'

Nicole made her way out of the bathroom and went back into Gumball's room and curled up next to him, pulling him close. She felt a small nuzzle by him before she finally drifted off to sleep...

————————————————————————

—Nicole's Dream—

The house around her was dark. No lights were on as they entered through the door. Nicole's right hand grasped Gumball's as he looked up to her lovingly. Nicole didn't notice the figure at the kitchen table until she turned on the living room light. As she did, she saw Richard there, sitting and looking at her with daggers in his eyes. Gumball slowly stepped behind Nicole as he saw him now stand up and walk towards them.

"How could you do this to me Nicole? To our SON?!" He shouted, causing Nicole to take a step back.

She then stood her ground. Richard was almost all bark and no bite. She knew him too well. Him raising his voice at her may have surprised her, but now she was ready to deal with this.

"I love him with all my heart because he was there for me; unlike you..."

This seemed to enrage him as he grew red in the face and walked towards her. With a mighty smack from his hand on her face, she knew what he had done. She knew what she had to do. With a quick swift of her body, she tackled him and pinned his body to the floor. He shouted and attempted to flail his arms around to grab her, but she pinned them behind his back.

"No more of this Richard. Stop this. I don't want to hurt you..." she pleaded as she felt him continue to resist against her.

"Not unless you stay my wife, and stop this madness with our son. You are bound to ME, not Gumball!" He screamed.

Nicole felt her body shake.

"You are a cheater Nicole. You left me for someone else! You broke your oath to me!"

Nicole weakened just slightly at that. To Richard, that was all he needed. He moved his body quickly, and knocked Nicole to the ground and pinned her down with his weight. Nicole couldn't move as she saw him lower his face close to hers. Fear grew in her chest as she stared down at her with angry bulging eyes.

"I gave you so much and this is how you repay me? I helped you when you needed it, and gave you my heart; yet you still decided to cheat on me..."

Nicole hearing those words seemed to turn her fear into pure rage.

"Help me? HELP ME?! You did not help me when I asked you to. You didn't help me when I was weak. You didn't help me when I was sick. You didn't HELP me when I was at my most fragile state in years!"

Her eyes became red and her strength seemed to double as she began pushing Richard off her.

"You didn't give me your heart. You gave me your responsibilities to deal with when you just laid around and watched!"

Nicole finally pushed all of him off her as she stood up and glared at him with the heated hatred of a thousand suns.

"You know who TRULY gave me their heart Richard? GUMBALL!"

Nicole then looked down at her ring finger that held their wedding ring. With a mighty pull, she ripped it off and it sent a shockwave all throughout the room, knocking back Richard. As he stood up, his body began to boil and his skin started to fall off, revealing red skin underneath. As his skin on his face boiled and fell to the floor, horns revealed themselves on his head. His bunny tail soon unraveled into a long, black and pointy one. He hissed at her as she finally saw what he was underneath; a devil. Gumball ran over to her and clanged onto her with scared and pleading eyes. She held him and then moved him behind her.

Richard let out a demonic roar as he ran towards her in a blind rage of fury. She felt her eyes turn back to red and darted towards him, fists ready. As she closed in on him, she dropped to the ground and swung her leg at his shins and knocked him over and onto the ground. She then got up and with all her might, punched him directly in the face in a downwards motion. The whole living room shook with the force of the blow as he finally stopped moving and went still. With that, she got off him, and felt her rage cease. She looked over towards Gumball, and he ran over to her and hugged her tightly. She had won. She had defeated Richard. She was no longer bound to him. She was free. Free at last...

—End of Dream—

Nicole woke up. She felt her heart racing still from her dream. It had felt so real. The slap, the punches, the fury...

"Mom?" Asked Gumball lazily, turning to face her in bed. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, sorry Gummypuss. I was just dreaming again. I didn't mean to wake you."

Gumball wrapped his arms around her in a loving embrace before kissing her cheek.

"It's okay mom, I'm here. You don't need to be sorry for that."

Nicole returned a hug and rested her forehead on his. She was glad he wasn't upset about it. Regardless, she would have to think about this dream of hers. Richard has been on her mind a lot lately. She needed time to fully process all of this.

'Maybe some time alone in the shower can help...' she thought as she decided to get up and go to the bathroom.

The warm water raining down on her body was calming for her muscles, but her mind still raced.

'Richard...' she thought, over and over.

His neglect towards her had always been problematic. Why had she stayed with him? Why didn't she just pack up with the kids and move? Or better yet, why hadn't she kicked him out of the house; just like his parents did when his laziness took too much of a toll on them? Nicole sighed, and rested her head on her clenched fists on the wall.

'Why is all this so difficult?'

As she leaned back, she gazed at her ring again. This time however, it felt...different; it felt...heavy. It felt like it was crushing her finger. As if it was in a vice grip, cutting off her circulation. Nicole used her other hand and closed it over the ring. She was imagining this. This feeling wasn't real. She knew that. She had too...

Nicole turned off the shower and dried herself off. She put on a simple t-shirt and panties before making her way back to Gumball and laid next to him. As she did, Gumball turned to face her again.

"You dreamed about dad, didn't you?" He asked softly.

Nicole was surprised he knew. Then again, knowing their conversation earlier combined with her possibly talking in her sleep perhaps was a rather dead give away.

"Yes. I did..." she said, lowering her gaze. "I-I didn't want to upset you. Not after all the fun we had earlier..."

"Mom..." he said, before pulling her close to her and resting his hand on her cheek.

"I'm not upset. I'm always open to talk to you, no matter if it's about dad or not. I love you, and that's not going to change."

Nicole looked up at him now.

"I love you Nicole..." Gumball said, before gently kissing her cheek.

Nicole's eyes widened at that. He said her name again. He really said it. Her heart started to race and her temples pounded. She pulled Gumball face to face with her, and just stared. She saw such beauty in his face. His cute nose, his cheeks...his eyes. His ever loving eyes. Oh how she could stare into them forever...

"Mom?" He asked, slightly concerned for her gazing at him for so long.

"Oh. Sorry Gummypuss, I just was distracted."

"By what? Is there something on my face?"

"No sweetie. I just...lost myself looking into your eyes. They're beautiful..."

Gumball half chuckled before resting his forehead against hers.

"Seems your still number 1 for best flirter."

Nicole smiled before letting out a small laugh of her own. It would seem Gumball really did help her in more ways than one. Giving her a brief laugh was another one of his specialties. After coming back to the situation mentally, Nicole felt her ring on her hand tighten again. She clenched it tightly, but this did little to settle its agonizing hold on her.

"What's wrong?" He asked, looking at her suddenly saddened face.

Nicole felt her mind racing again. She loved him...She also once loved Richard. But he was gone now. She had to move on, right? She had to. For her sake. For Gumball. Gumball...

She got up from the bed, and took a few steps facing away from Gumball. If she was going to do this, she had to make sure that he was certain of her. If not, then she had to change.

"Gumball. I need you to be honest with me...please." Nicole said calmly.

Gumball sat up and stared towards her backside waiting for what she had to say.

"I'm listening." He replied, causing Nicole to lower her head.

"Do you love me?"

Gumball paused, before answering honestly.

"Yes, of course! I love you with all my heart. I told you that won't change."

"Are you certain Gumball? I need to know. I'm not pressuring you into this am I?" She asked softly.

"No! You aren't pressuring me into this. You may have kissed me first, but I kissed you back! That means I truly care for you mom. I wish to be more than what we were before. I willing to take that risk. I don't care what I takes to achieve that. You opened my eyes to your love...I returned it, with mine."

Nicole was speechless. He truly meant it. She spun around, and made her way back to him. She locked lips with him a near second later, and pushed him onto the bed. She held him so lovingly, and he returned the favor by wrapping his arm around her back and caressing her cheek. The way he gripped her back was a sign that he was loving this. He loved her, and she loved him. She loved him back...

Pulling away to gather more air, Nicole looked down at Gumball with tired and breathless eyes. Gumball looked back up at her with such innocent eyes. They would move ever so slightly from side to side, as if looking for something in hers. Maybe he was lost in her eyes as well... oh how she hoped so.

"Mom...I-"

"Nicole. You can call me Nicole from now on." She said, now resting her forehead against his.

Gumball let out a quiet sigh of joy, before speaking.

"Okay Nicole. I'll do that."

With that, he returned a small kiss of gratitude. Nicole hugged him tightly and he ran his hands up and down her back. She was loving this. She didn't even feel the grip now from her...ring.

"Gummypuss, I'm going to get some water. I'll be right back." She said, getting up from the bed.

"Okay Nicole, just don't take too long. My craving for your hugs is growing by the second." He said, dramatically clenching his chest.

Nicole stopped for a second before turning to face him with half lipped eyes.

"Don't worry sweetie, I won't be. I promise." She said, before making her way back to the bathroom.

As she entered, she closed the door. She rested her hand on the wooden door for a second, before making her way over to the mirror. As she looked at herself for a second, she then raised her hand in front of it. She looked once more at the ring on her finger. Its shiny golden appearance was beautiful...but now meant little to her. Not now; She had made her choice. She would move on...

Using her other hand, she gave several good twists and tugs as she removed the ring from her finger. She looked at the ring one final time before placing it in the drawer below and shutting it. As she looked at her hand again, all the remained now was a reddened mark on her finger. She was free. No longer was she bound to Richard. She had chosen someone else...

She had chose Gumball.