Chapter Text
"Alright guys, good job out there today, we got a lot of planting done." Bill tried not to let everyone's groans of agony sour his good mood as he opened the backdoor.
"How? How do you still have so much energy?!" Chip demanded as he slumped against the counter. "The heat alone almost killed me out there."
Bill sighed as he poured Tilly and Cricket each a glass of water. "Well, in my experience you just gotta get used to it. You'll get there Chip, don't worry."
Chip rolled his eyes as he turned on the fan and proceeded to fight with Cricket over who got to hog more air.
"Hey Chip?" Chip jumped slightly as Tilly came up behind him. "Could you drive me to the cemetery? I'm supposed to meet Andromeda there at midnight so we can finally prove ghosts are real."
Chip gritted his teeth as he rubbed the back of his neck. He kinda didn't want to do that, (,but like, not because he was scared or anything.) He either needed to think of a clever excuse or…
"Uhh, hey why don't you ask Gloria?"
"I'mma stop you right there." Gloria put down her phone as she sat crossed legged on the couch. "Chip no, you're not gonna pawn the kids off on me again just because you don't want to be the one to say no."
Chip gasped trying his best to look offended. "I do not, pawn them off on you."
Gloria arched a flat brow and Chip couldn't help ,but fidget just slightly.
Eventually he huffed, crossing his arms dejectedly. "Well,you try saying no to Tilly then."
Gloria didn't even hesitate, leaning to the side so she could make eye contact with the twelve year old. "Tilly no."
Tilly shrugged. "I understand, finding out the deep hidden truth isn't a pastime for everyone." With that she walked back to her bedroom.
Chip breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, I owe you one."
It took a second for Gloria to realize she'd been tricked, and Chip proudly took that second to quickly retreat to his bedroom just before she yelled out, "Chip!"
"Can't believe…crummy.." Gloria cut off her own muttering with a quick back crack. Urgh, stupid tired, body, stupid double shift at the cafe.
Gloria sighed as she crashed onto her mattress face first. When did she start getting tired all the time?
The twenty four year old stretched her arms above her head with a yawn. Maybe she'd feel more energized in the morning? The artist couldn't help ,but snort at her own hopeful thought. Yeah right.
"Morning." Cricket yawned to everyone as he used the cabinet doors to climb onto the counter and pour himself a bowl of Bag O' Bits.
"Cricket, what have I told you? Just grab a chair next time or you'll end up breaking something."
Cricket mimicked his father's advice with his hand. "Yeah, yeah, okay Dad."
Dad sighed as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Tilly meanwhile, was busy chatting up Andromeda about the dangers of drinking from cups. Since no one was willing to ok the cemetery idea they settled for a sleepover.
"I do think though, that instead of plastic bags we should switch to bowls." Tilly demonstrated by face planting into the water bowl. "It'll be less likely to spill, plus it'd be better for the environment."
Andromeda hummed as she sucked some orange juice out the torn corner of her sandwich bag. "Definitely something to consider, I don't know though aren't bowls just bigger cups?"
"That's what I'm saying!" Cricket agreed as he munched on his cereal. Like really, who was that Sip n' Shak employee to tell him he couldn't funnel his free Splishie into Gramma's big pasta bowl. Another dumb, arbitary rule to add to the roster.
"Huh," Dad suddenly chirped as he put his used coffee mug in the sink. "I wonder what's taking Gloria and Chip so long? They're usually up by now…"
Cricket shrugged. Eh, knowing Chip, he was probably still in the midst of brushing his teeth, and poor Gloria was probably battling for bathroom space again as a consequence.
Speak of the devils, Cricket could hear their footsteps now.
But, wait why did they sound so light-
"Bill, why did you raise the bathroom counter so high? Took me ten minutes just to reach my toothbrush."
Dad's mug thankfully didn't shatter when he dropped it against the sink out of shock, but Cricket's brain sure did as he stared along with everyone else at the pair of…well, kids standing in the kitchen entryway, in Chip and Gloria's pajamas (although drowning in them would've been a better description).
"You know you could've just grabbed a step stool right?"
"I'm 6'2 I haven't needed a step stool since I was…uh guys, what are we staring at?" The brunette boy, -who sounded vaguely like Chip for some reason-asked as he put his hands on his hips.
Cricket's eyes popped out of his head at the thought that this kid was Chip. And if that was the case then the little girl standing next to him must've been-
"Yeah guys c'mon,what's the deal?" The girl looked over her shoulder in confusion. " And when did everyone get so…" The girl trailed off as she happened to notice herself in the reflection of Phoenix's water dish.
The girl blinked, then let out a terrified scream, causing everyone else to erupt into panic as well.
"Gloria!? Chip?! Are you guys really-" Dad cut himself off with a panicked inhale. "Okay, okay let's not, panic."
"What do you mean let's not panic!?" Chip cried. "I'm a kid again, this is awful! I can't go through puberty again, you can't make me!" The former ceo hysterically pointed an accusing finger in the farmer's direction.
"How am I gonna run the cafe?!" Gloria hugged her knees as she laid curled up on the kitchen tile. "I'm too young to own a business."
"Woah,I think you guys are even younger than me." Cricket pointed out, much to Chip and Gloria's immediately chagrin. "Not a good time Cricket!" They both yelled.
"I knew this would happen if people didn't stop chewing gum!" Andromeda proclaimed as she slapped the table with both hands. "Time is now meaningless!"
"What's with all the fussing it's too early for-" Gramma cut herself off as she entered the kitchen. She adjusted her glasses. "What in the sam hill is going on here?!"
Tilly was the only one not yelling at this point, her attention quickly focused on keeping Dad as calm as possible.
Course her efforts soon got thrown out the window when the doorbell suddenly rang.
"Oh for crabapple's sake, who could that be at this hour?!" Dad demanded, obviously getting ready to take all his panic and frustration out on whoever was on the other side of the door.
"Papa wait," Tilly tried just as Dad opened the front door.
"Look we're in the middle of a cris-"
"Hello! I'm Gwendolyn Zapp!"
Cricket's eyes flattened pretty quickly as he poked his head out from behind his father's leg to see the woman herself, standing there on their front porch. Urgh, this nut job again…
"Uh we know… we've kinda met before." Dad explained uncomfortably. "You uh, tried to take my truck to Mars…you almost killed us all with that growth formula that turned my pumpkins into monsters-"
"Hah! Silly! You didn't let me finish, I'm Gwendolyn Zapp's pre-recorded hologram." The woman phased her own hand in and out of herself to demonstrate.
Dad frowned. "I did let you finish..also if this is prerecorded how did you know-"
"Any who, I've been sent here to tell you that an unfortunate accident has taken place."
"Accident?" Tilly repeated.
The hologram nodded. "See we've been doing some totally legal testing in one of our definitely legal, and not purposely hidden, top secret labs a few blocks over."
"Okay?" Dad arched his brow. "What exactly were you testing?"
"Glad you asked!" The 'prerecorded' hologram replied. "We've been testing the affects of my latest invention the, De-ageatron!"
"De-what now?" Cricket tilted his head in confusion.
"The De-ageatron, our new patent pending ray that reverses the age of any living, breathing human!" Gwen's hologram explained. "We were testing it's accuracy last night, and well what do you know, turns out the accuracy needs a major tune up."
"So your ray thing hit my house?!" Dad threw his arms out in shock.
"Twice!" The hologram cheered. "Once at 2:15 am, and then again at 2:18am!"
"Oh my gosh." Dad wheezed as he gripped the sides of his hair.
"Yeah, we just wanted to let you know so you're less likely to sue." Gwen's hologram then turned to skip down the front porch step. "So now that that's out of the way, be sure to have a lovely day-"
"Wait!" Dad cried, reaching out his arm. "What are we supposed to do now?!"
"Hm?" The hologram's finger phased through her cheek. "Oh you mean about the ray, nothing to worry about, the effects of the De-ageatron are-probably-temporary and should wear off within a couple of days."
"Days!" Dad repeated hysterically.
"Yep!" Gwen's definitely pre recorded hologram laughed. "Oh and by the way, you may notice a slight change in behavior as a result of their age... Also if someone starts glowing, that's just a temporary side effect we swear!" With that the hologram faded out of existence a second later.
Cricket and Tilly stared at their Dad dumbfounded, whilst Dad stared dumbfounded at the porch floor.
"You're sure this is temporary?" Chip asked as he sat next to Gloria on the couch, repeatedly having to roll his shirt sleeves up so they didn't consume his small arms.
"That's what the wacky gizmo lady said." Bill sighed as he paced the living room . "Look I know we're all a bit, stressed by this."
"You think?" Chip and Gloria barked sardonically, crossing their little arms.
Bill sighed again. "But, it looks like there's nothing we can do about this, for now we just gotta, wait it out."
"And what if we can't wait it out!" Gloria shot back, bouncing off the couch to her feet and jabbing an angry finger into the air. "I'm gonna storm off now, and it better not look cute."
Bill blinked as Gloria stomped away and slammed the door to the basement behind her.
The farmer let out another sigh, pinching the space between his brows as Chip stared at him.
Just when things were starting to feel calm for once.