Work Text:
8 Years Ago
Richard arrived home with a four-year-old Gumball, having picked him up from school since Nicole had to stay late at work. Gumball hadn't said much on the way back but Richard just assumed he was worn out.
Gumball was thinking to himself, not realising they were home.
"Hey, did you hear me? We're home."
"Hmm?" Gumball snapped out of it. "Oh, right."
He got out and they went inside.
"I'm gonna go up to my room."
"Alright, don't get up to any mischief up there."
Gumball would nod then slowly started walking up, looking down.
"Hey are...you okay? You seem kinda...quiet."
He stopped. "Huh? Oh, err, yeah. I'm just tired, that's all."
He chuckled. "I thought as much, just wanted to double-check. You go have a nap then."
Gumball went up to his room. whilst Richard would go and watch TV.
Half a n hour later his programme would finish.
"Right, Nicole's not back yet so I suppose I'd better make something for the little guy. He's probably starving."
He made a grilled cheese sandwich and brought it up stairs.
When he reached Gumball's room his ears pricked up as he heard what sounded like crying.
He slowly frowned as he opened the door and went in.
"Gumball?" He asked softly.
He saw Gumball lying on his bed crying.
He placed the sandwich down on the floor and sat down next to him.
"Woah, hey, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, just...leave me alone."
"Now, I know I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I can tell when you're upset. It's obviously not nothing."
Gumball looked away hoping he would just leave.
"Come on, don't make me turn this into an interrogation. I'd have to bring out my secret weapon to make you talk, and you don't want that do you?" He said acting serious.
Gumball would turn back sniffling.
"W-What's your secret weapon?"
"Are you sure you wanna know?" He leaned in towards Gumball slightly.
"Yeah..?" He started to smile weakly.
"Are you suuuuure?"
"Yeah, I wanna know!" He smiled fully.
"Alright mister, you asked for it!"
He started tickling Gumball's tummy causing him to fall backwards onto the bed squirming and laughing.
"AHHAHAHAHA! NO, NO! AHHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! S-STOP, STOP! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHA! IT TICKLES, IT TICKLES! AHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHA! I CAN'T BREATHE, I CAN'T BREATHE, AHAHAHAHA!"
Eventually, he stopped to let Gumball catch his breath and wipe his eyes of his tears of both sadness and laughter.
"So, you ready to tell me what's up?"
He sigh. "It's just some guys at school being jerks."
"How so?" he raised his eyebrow.
"Y'know, calling me names, shoving me in lockers, tripping me up, annoying stuff like that."
"Oh, I see..."
Gumball's ears would lower and he'd sniffle.
Richard would wrap his arms around him, letting Gumball rest his head on his chest.
"Don't let it get to you, alright? Just try to ignore them. If they don't get any reaction from you they'll get bored and leave you alone."
He'd look up. "I'll...I'll try.".
"If you want I can talk to your mother about it when she gets home. She'll deal with it for you. In fact, once she's done they'll probably be scared to even look at you!"
He'd giggle. "Yeah, that'll be great! They'll see me and run away all scared! I could even jump out and scare them like this!"
He showed his teeth and claws and made a playful growl.
Richard would jump back, pretending to be scared. "Woah, you scared me there, you little lion!"
He giggled. "Really!?"
"Yeah, almost gave your old man a heart attack!"
He chuckled and gave Gumball's head an affectionate rub.
"Oh, sorry.." his ears lowered slightly.
"Nah, it's fine! No need to apologise!"
"Oh...okay!" He smiled.
"Anyway, I'll talk to your mom as soon she gets in, alright?"
Gumball nodded then hugged him. "Thanks, Dad, you're the best."
He'd hug him back, chuckling. "You got that right! Now, are you gonna eat the sandwich I made for you or not? It's gonna get cold."
"Hmm?" He noticed the sandwich. Oh, err, yeah I will, thanks."
Richard thought for a moment. "Hey, I know what'll cheer you up! How about you bring it downstairs and eat it whilst we play some video games together?"
He'd jump up excited. "Ooh, yeah! We can finally have that rematch on Kebab Fighter! I'm gonna beat you this time for sure!"
"Oh, you're on little man!"
Gumball would run downstairs to set up the game whilst Richard brought the sandwich down.
They'd play for ages, Gumball sitting in Richard's lap as they lost track of the time, Richard letting Gumball win most of the time, to the latter's joy.
Eventually, Nicole arrived home, noticing the TV was on.
"I'm home! Sorry I took so long, I had a ton of paperwork I had to finish. So, how are my two favourite boys?"
She'd hang up her bag.
She raised her eyebrow. "Richard? Gumball?"
She walk around to the other side of the sofa and break into a grin.
"Awww..."
They'd both fallen asleep, Gumball on top of Richard's chest as Richard had his arm over him protectively.
Her ears pricked up as she moved closer, picking up the faint sound of vibratio n.
"Wait a second..is he...?"
She lowered her head closer to Gumball and heard a light purr coming from him.
She gasped in delight holding her hands over her chest. "He is!"
She couldn't resist giving Gumball a little stroke causing him to make a small "Mrrp!" before shifting slightly.
She saw the game still running and the mostly eaten sandwich with crumbs everywhere along with a bunch of other snacks and chuckled.
"Looks like you two had a good time.."
She went and got a blanket, placed it over them and kissed Gumball on the forehead.
"Sleep well Gummypuss." She tickled behind his ear.
He smiled and started to purr harder.
Nicole watched in awe for a moment, delighted to see him so genuinely happy and content before she began to tidy up.
She smiled as she thought to herself.
Richard may not be the smartest or most active husband but he was certainly a caring and loving father, and that's what mattered the most. That's why she loved him so much.