A/N: Hello everyone! I know I am late on a lot of updates, but I wanted to get this story out before the day ends. A lot of last-minute editing, but I hope I got everything right. This is a one-shot story that I hope you will enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!

Arnold awoke in his bed and looked up at his skylight to see that rain was lightly falling, the drops pattering on the glass. His night had been less rough than normal. No nightmares of San Lorenzo or Lasombra, at least for now.

Arnold had been getting better at letting go of these nightmares and trying to have more pleasant dreams, especially now that his parents were home. At that thought, Arnold's eyes widened, and he shook his head, sitting up straight to tear off a page from his calendar. It read October 5 and Arnold felt a sadness wash over him.

'The day they left.'

Arnold looked down at his sheets and thought to how October fifth always made him feel in the past. Always sad and never cheerful. He would mope around, keep his distance, or do something to keep his mind off things. It was also one of the few days in the year that his grandparents were not their usual eccentric selves. Things were different this time though.

Arnold then heard a knock on the door. "Shortman?"

Arnold smiled at hearing his grandfather. "Come in."

Phil came into Arnold's room and saw the eleven-year-old sitting up in bed, still dressed in his blue striped pajamas. "Rise and shine! Breakfast will be ready soon. Your parents are making toad in the hole."

"Don't you mean eggs in a basket?"

Phil giggled. "Toad in the hole is a classic. Where they came up with eggs in a basket, I have no idea."

Phil took notice of Arnold's lopsided smile and then looked quickly at the calendar to see what day was today. He frowned and walked over to Arnold's bed, sitting down on top of the covers. Phil then looked at his grandson and tried his best to smile.

"The family was thinking of doing something today. Maybe go to the park or Dinoland?"

"No thanks grandpa."

Phil gasped. "Not even Dinoland! You love Dinoland!" He placed a hand on Arnold's forehead. "Are you sick?!"

Arnold sighed. "No. I just don't feel up to it that's all. I think I'd like to just stay home today. Besides you and dad have work to do around the boarding house, mom and grandma are in the greenhouse, Gerald's out with Phoebe, and Helga's visiting her sister's new apartment. Everyone else has plans today."

"Busy schedules. Different from my day." Phil looked to see that his grandson's face was laced with sadness and knew this day was going to be hard. He decided to get up off the bed and began to walk towards the door. "Come down for breakfast when your ready or Kokoshka will eat it all."

Arnold laughed at that last line and Phil smiled, glad to have gotten some happiness on the eleven-year-old's face. He closed the door and walked down the stairs to the second floor to see his son Miles coming.

"Is Arnold coming downstairs?"

"He'll be done in a minute. Today's just a little hard."

Miles frowned; his face laced with sadness. "I figured things would be better now that Stella and I were home. But it makes sense. A few months of us back can't fix ten years of us not being here, no matter how many happy memories we've had since our return."

Phil placed a reassuring hand on Miles' shoulder and gave his son a smile. "Try not to worry too much. Arnold's happy the two of you are here and I'm sure with time this day won't weigh on him so much."

Miles smiled at Phil. "Maybe you're right." Miles then snapped his fingers. "Hey! Maybe we could all go to Dinoland?"

"Tried that didn't work."

Miles frowned then smiled when an idea came to him. "I got it!"

A short time later, after his grandfather left the room, Arnold got dressed and came down the stairs to the dining room. He found that it was empty except for Phil reading the paper and Abner munching on his bacon.

"Hey grandpa. Where is everyone?"

"Kokoshka ate the last of the breakfast, so your parents are making more toad in a hole and your grandmother is in the living room. She wants to see us after breakfast."

Arnold shrugged his shoulders and sat down on a nearby chair. He waited patiently for his parents to come in as his grandfather read the paper.

"Dino Spumoni is recording a new record. Suppose to be a big hit."

"Yeah. I didn't think mom and dad would like him when I played his music."

"Your dad grew up with your grandma and I playing the records. You tend to get used to the music once there on repeat. Didn't win him over with the ladies though. He, he."

"Then it's good he never played any of them to win me over."

Arnold looked up to see his mother Stella in the dining room with a plate of food, hot and steamy. "Hi mom!"

Stella placed the food in front of Arnold and kissed the top of his forehead. "Hi Arnold. You're just in time. These are hot off the pan."

Arnold smiled and looked down at his plate to see his breakfast of eggs in a basket or toad in the hole as his grandparents would call it. He loved his mother's cooking from macaroni and cheese to the steak and eggs she made one morning in August. "Thanks mom."

Arnold began to eat and savored the delicious food, especially a perfectly cooked egg. "Hmm."

Stella smiled. "I'm glad you like it. It was rare to cook this on my travels."

Arnold looked at her. "Yeah?"

"It was hard to find bread unless you went to a town or village that had it so each time, I traveled to one, I would always get eggs in a basket. First meal I ever made your father too."

Arnold lightened up at the story. "Really?"

Stellas giggled. "I was a little nervous though. Burnt the egg a bit, but he never noticed and thought it was delicious. Next time I made it for him was better, though he could never tell the difference." She sighed. "Those were good early days between us."

"Tell me more."

Stella looked at her son and smiled. "Sure. We have some time before we see your grandmother but eat up and I'll tell you about the time your father and I made medicine from a rare plant. It was a…"

A while later, Arnold finished his food and felt full of his meal as Stella finished off her story. "That's a great one mom. How do you know all this stuff?"

"I was always fascinated by botany and medicine, so I learned mostly from books in the library. Some of the kids thought I was odd, but I considered it a different interest. My teachers found me creative, especially Mrs. Walker. She was my science teacher in high school and helped me learn to love plants and medicine more than I could have expected. Wrote me my college recommendation letter too."

"I haven't heard that name in years."

Stella and Arnold turned to find Miles coming out of the kitchen, his shirt a little damp from washing dishes.

"Took you a while Miles."

Miles looked at his father and chuckled. "Scrubbing those pans is hard work after cooking all those eggs. Oskar sure can eat."

Phil grunted. "Everything in sight."

"Hey Dad!"

"Hey Arnold, how are you this morning?"

Arnold smiled. "Good. Mom was just telling me about yout time overseas and the first meal she made for you."

Miles smiled. "Oh yes. Burnt eggs in a basket."

Stella gasped. "You knew."

Miles smiled at Stella and nodded. "It was still good. I hadn't eaten a home cooked meal in forever and I also learned a long time ago not to criticize a woman's cooking."

Stella little tapped his chest and chuckled. Arnold also joined in the laughter and felt himself at ease at the scene that unfolded. It had been like this since his parents returned home, and despite some bumps in the road, things had been great. 'I should stop worrying about what this day is and start thinking about what matters. Mom and dad are home!

"Alright everyone! The show's about to start!"

Everyone turned to see Gertie holding a megaphone and brining it to her mouth. "Time to head to the living room for our feature presentation!"

"Pookie! There's no need for the megaphone we can hear you fine!"

"Don't be a stick in the mud Phil. Today's a good day for a show."

"I thought everyone was busy today."

Everyone looked at Arnold and smiled with Miles kneeling to his son's level at the chair. "We figured we can wait and take some time in the living room for something special."

Arnold brightened up. "Is it Evil Twin III? Did it come on TV today?!"

"No. It's something we think you'll like for new memories and traditions."

Arnold looked at his father confused but smiled. "Okay dad. Let's go then!"

Arnold entered the living room and sat in the middle of the couch as his parents and grandparents followed him. His parents sat on each side of the couch with Arnold between them while Phil and Gertie sat in their respective chairs next to them.

"So, what's this about?"

Miles and Stella looked at Arnold and then Miles began. "Well Arnold, we know today is harder than most."

Arnold frowned. "Yes."

Stella then spoke. "So, we decided to do something to make today a little better going forward. We've been working hard on it since coming back and we feel today is a good day for this."

Gertie got out a book from the coffee table and handed it to Arnold. "Here you go Kimba."

Arnold took the book and looked at the title printed on the cover, and gasped. "Shortman Family, Summer '9...This is a photo album!"

"Yes, Arnold. It's all the photos and mementos we have since we got back."

Miles then spoke. "So many including the boarders were kind enough to take the photos."

"Except for that chiseler Oskar. Fifty cents for a photo of us working the on the Packard."

"And your dad also took some photos too Kimba. He always had a good eye for photography."

"Great! Thanks everyone! Let's start."

Arnold opened the first page to find it of the entire family on the rooftop of the boarding house. "This was in summer."

"Yes. Quite a party. I can't believe how many showed up. Reminded me of our welcoming all those years ago, right Stella?"

"Was quite the greeting. This past summer was something else. So many people love Arnold and he helped so many."

Arnold then turned to the next page to find a photo of him and his parents on the living room couch watching the television screen. Below the photo was a writing saying Arnold and his parents watching Evil Twins Marathon. "I remember this one. We made popcorn and had homemade pizza."

"And four hours of twins and horror." Stella said nervously. She was not a huge horror movie fan but enjoyed the evening with her son and husband. "That was the beginning of our weekly movie night. Which reminds me, what should we watch next week?"

"Maybe another horror film. Perhaps Beetlejuice."

Stella's eyes widened. "That's a little…mature for Arnold, don't you think Miles?"

"I suppose."

"Are you two insane?! That isn't the kind of film for Arnold yet!"

"Now Phil, it's not that mature for Arnold. Afterall, he read I, the Jury last year."

"Wait, what?!" Miles and Stella yelled at the same time.

"Turn the next page, Shortman!"

Arnold turned the page and found a picture of Arnold and his parents after his baseball game. The team had won 6 to 3 against the current sixth graders at P.S. 119 with Arnold hitting the homerun to win the game. It was a sort of classic scenario of a tied game in the last inning with Gerald on second base and Stinky on third. Arnold had gotten one strike but managed to hit the ball correctly on the second pitch and sent it flying into the air and over the building that surrounded Gerald Field.

With the game won Arnold and his parents had their photo taken by Gerald's father against the wall in front of the scoreboard. "That was a great game."

"We were so proud of you. Your grandparents told us about how great a baseball player you are and your hits were amazing."

"You really knocked them out of the park. I could never do that."

"Really dad?"

"I was a better shortstop. My hits were okay but never the way yours are Arnold."

Arnold smiled and then looked at the next photo. It was of the Shortman family at Mickey Kaline's restaurant and Mickey had been kind enough to take a photo of the family, and even another one with himself in the next one as Arnold turned the page.

"Mickey's a great guy." Miles said.

"He is. I still remember when I saw his last game and homerun, and how he spent time playing catch with me later that night and about his career."

"You don't forget Arnold, you caught the ball." Phil said.

"Yeah. I should show it to you both sometime. Ernie recorded the game."

"We'd love that." Stella said and Arnold continued to thumb through the pages.

As Arnold thumbed through the pages, the family reminisced on each photo and its story. The time they went to the botanical garden where Stella named every flower and plant. The hot August week that Eduardo visited to catch up with his old friends and went to the pier where he bonded with Sheena's Uncle over boats. The Shortman's time with the Johanssen's at a picnic in the park where the heads of the family got to know each other better. Helga's first Sunday dinner with the family and getting ice cream from Slausen's. Then there was the last page where Arnold smiled at the family playing parcheesi on their game night.

Miles looked at the photo that had been taken last week and smiled. "This was taken by your grandma. We didn't have one for our first game night and rummaging through the photos took time. Luckily, she had one and put it here."

"Wow! Thanks grandma!"

"You're welcome, Kimba."

"I can't believe you did all of this."

Stella placed her arm around Arnold. "We want to share and have as many memories as possible. It's small but a start and we want to do this often. Maybe on October fifth."

Miles placed a hand on Arnold's shoulder. "We're home now son and not leaving. We're here for good so when October fifth comes, know we'll be right with you always."

Arnold felt a tear come and quickly wiped it away. "I know and I'm glad you're here. Let's make a lot of memories together."

"How about we make one now?"

Everyone turned to see Phil holding a camera and Arnold smiled. "Sure grandpa."

The next page to fill the album would be the one the Shortman family took that day, and one Arnold would look back on fondly. Miles set up the camera on the tripod and got the camera timer ready as the family took their places. Phil and Gertie stood behind the couch while Arnold and his parents sat on the couch. Within ten seconds, the camera flashed, and the picture was taken. It would come out with Phil's eyes red and Miles scratching the itch on his nose, but Arnold loved the photo. It was a memory and a reminder of new beginnings on a day that always held sadness for him. A day that would be the making of new memories for him and his family.

End

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