Based on Hey, Arnold! characters created by Craig Bartlett. Author claims no copyright.
Helga and Arnold sat next to each other, in their bathing suits, in a hot tub with a mini waterfall flowing behind them.
Their one-year-old son Phil was with Helga's sister Olga while they unwound at Hillwood Mineral Springs resort. Arnold's parents, Miles and Stella, had been their go-to babysitters prior to entrusting Olga for this weekend getaway.
"You think our little rugrat is doing ok?," asked Arnold. "Well," Helga replied, "babysitting is nothing for Olga. As you know she's good at everything. So he should be fine."
Arnold playfully splashed a little with his hands. Then he said, "Yeah, well other than another babysitting option it's been nice having her around more. And I'm an only child so it's nice to have Olga as the sister I never had."
Helga rolled her eyes. "Be careful what you wish for, football head," she said.
"Oh I see how it is," Arnold replied, "look babe, I know all about you got unfairly rejected as a kid while Bob and Miriam heaped their praises on her. But we're adults now. And she's gone through some traumatic stuff the last few years. You know her life hasn't been perfect. She needs us."
"It's not that I don't understand that," said Helga, "Its just, one thing she's never been so great at has been listening to me. It was never constructive conversation with her. Just all false positivity and then 'oh I love you baby sister!' I've never been able to talk to her seriously about how I felt or what was going on with my life. Or hers. Even now when we're kinda both even with Bob and Miriam. I just can't connect with her on an emotional level like I can with you or Phoebe."
"Well it's not like you've given her much to work with," said Arnold, "I know how you can say what's on your mind and reach out to people. We wouldn't be here if you didn't open up to me ever since you confessed your feelings. If you can confront your secrets and personal demons with me you can with Olga."
Helga dunked her head into the triple-digit heat of the jacuzzi for a second. Then splashed her blonde hair side to side a bit as water sprayed on Arnold's football head. "Oh my dear Arnoldo," she said while blushing, "you know how much it turns me on when you take the moral high ground. Since the day we met when we were three years old."
"Oh I know," Arnold said. "So then you're gonna try reaching out to your big sister?," said Arnold.
Helga nodded. Then they kissed for a few seconds. Then cuddled as the jacuzzi jets continued to pump and Arnold wrapped his arms around Helga.
"Baby nephew!" Olga Pataki greeted her nephew Phil, upon waking up in the morning. The two nights she had been house and babysitting for her sister and brother-in-law had fortunately not gone too roughly. Phil cried a little but not much more than most babies do. She gave him some hand-me-down toys from her son Donny, now ten. Donny meanwhile was spending the weekend at a friend's house.
Olga had just begun to rebuild her life after her abusive marriage that made her a domestic violence victim. After wrapping up her credential she had recently been offered a job teaching fourth grade at her alma mater in Hillwood, P.S. 118. She would be replacing Mr. Simmons, who taught Helga and Arnold. When they were in his class she had student taught for him and served as a chaperone for a class trip to San Lorenzo. Mr. Simmons was retiring after 25 years.
Rather than escaping farther away from ex-husband Tony, Olga had decided to stay in the Hillwood area. The reason was that Helga, the closest family she had, was nearby. Her parents were too, but around infrequently; off on their retirement trips. While Olga seemed to think she had made efforts to be friends with her sister, they were not always reciprocated. But to stay positive she had to believe that this time could be different.
In the mid afternoon, their townhouse door opened and in walked Helga and Arnold with their luggage.
"Welcome back!", said Olga, arising from Phil's playpen, where she was watching him.
"Hey! Thanks so much Olg for taking him over the weekend, looks like he's held up ok," said Arnold, noticing his son.
"Oh Arnold, it's the least I can do for you after your baseball sessions with Donny," said Olga, "and plus, we're family. I hope you two had a nice, relaxing weekend."
"We had fun," said Helga.
Before she could say anything else Arnold was cradling Phil and headed upstairs to put him in his crib for a nap. "Thanks again Olga."
"Was he in a rush for something?," asked Olga as she and her sister were alone in the living room.
"He just has a FaceTime poker with the guys," said Helga. Arnold had scheduled just that for the late afternoon- a virtual card game he regularly hosted with a few of his lifelong friends. He and best friend Gerald were in the same town, as were Sid and Harold, but Stinky was in New York and Eugene LA, hence the need for it to be virtual.
"I see. Well Arnold is great," said Olga.
"He's the best. You have no idea," Helga shot back.
"What do you mean no idea? I remember him as far back as when you guys were in my class," said Olga.
Helga then proceeded to tell her what had been dubbed 'the big secret' in the Shortman household- that she bullied him when they were kids while simultaneously keeping a shrine to him in her closet- because she was secretly in love with him. Her older sister had never been told this. Or how it had all started, when Arnold was the only one that was kind to her when they met in preschool.
Olga laughed at the notion of the football-headed shrines made out of gum and watermelon. But her now experiencing a similar parental rejection that Helga was used to, she felt more sympathetic. "Why didn't you tell me this until now?," she asked.
"It took me long enough to tell Arnold," said Helga. She took a deep breath then continued, "but honestly, we haven't always connected so well and that has partially been my fault. I've been dismissive of your attempts to get to know me better. But I really appreciate you taking care of Phil, and I'm sorry I wasn't more supportive of you when you were doing through the nasty divorce. I guess I was busy on the road to sobriety."
Upstairs, Arnold could overhear Helga and Olga as they talked on the couch, and saw them hugging. He smiled from above just as he did when his degenerate boardinghouse neighbor Oskar Kokoshka made amends with his wife Susie simply by telling her to keep the money.
"Arnold? Where are you?," said Gerald from the tv monitor. "Oops. Just stepped out for a sec," Arnold said after reappearing on the screen, "hit me."