The Weekend was almost over

Gumball Tristopher Watterson was more than aware of it, and by no means was he happy about it. This week in particular had not been kind to the blue cat: Mrs Simian, keeping to her unabiding hatred for Gumball, was sure to churn out a steady flow of impossible schoolwork that resulted in the usual carousel of 'F's across his progress report; which in turn turned Friday evening into the usual routine of Niccole accosting her eldest child for his frustrating lack of attention or care towards his schoolwork.

In other words, nothing out of the ordinary.

Now it was Sunday. His parents and pet fish Darwin had left to buy the later a new bowl. It had been clear for some time the anthropomorphic fish had well outgrown his childhood container; it also didn't help that Gumball had smashed it, but that's a story for another time.

"Well… At least now I can have some time to myself." Gumball thought aloud.

Letting off a slight bemused grin at this notion, he wandered upstairs to his room with the intent of watching some videos on the internet, perhaps read some fanfiction based on an above-average animated sitcom with talking animals; anything to take his mind off the drudge that made up the last five days.

His optimism was greeted with a disheartening sight. It turned out he was not alone. When mom and dad had mentioned they were going out, Gumball had assumed Anais wouldn't dare stay home with him, but sure enough, there she was; occupying the very computer that he had hoped would provide some mindless escapism.

Instead, it informed him that he was babysitting his pretentious rabbit sister.

"What are you doing here?" Gumball asked his sister as he entered his room.

His initial inquiry was ignored, and it was quick to see why: full-screen on the monitor, he could see what appeared to be a new episode of Daisy the Donkey. Gumball strut beside the desk chair, turning it to face him. He was greeted with glowers and a growl.

"What are you doing!" Anais complained, "I'm trying to watch my show!"

"Oh stop," Gumball smirked dismissively reaching for the mouse and pausing the video, "How come mom didn't tell me I was babysitting you?"

"Babysitting?" Anais cocked an eyebrow, "You do realize they're only out to get Darwin a new fishbowl, right?"

"I don't think you realize how picky Darwin is about picking out this bowl. He has a certain shape, color; don't even get me started on decorations. 'Fish grew legs, and now he thinks he's a interior designer-but yeah, I'll be making us lunch, sis."

If Anais didn't make her dissatisfaction with this clear by her soured expression, she sure made it so as she hopped off the desk chair; making a beeline for the door.

"I don't think so Gumball," Anais huffed with an air of snark, "I'll just order us a pizza."

"No you won't, Anais." Gumball sighed. "I am perfectly capable of cooking. You know how mom is about ordering—"

Anais was halfway down the stairs.

"Anais!" Gumball growled as he sped past her, turning to block her descent; only to then strafe side to side, blocking his sister's attempts to pass by his blockade.

"I. Siad. No!" Gumball hissed. "I got this, okay?"

"I don't believe you, Gumball." Anais glowered, armed crossed.

"Man, you sure got a complex, don't you?" Gumball mumbled.

"What?" Anais perked.

"Nothing. Anyway, I'll get started on lunch, you go watch your Dinny the Dinosaur or whatever, alright?"

"DAISY the DONKEY!" Anais stamped, "and no, I won't let you burn the house down or feed me garbage!"

"What makes you think I'd do that?" Gumball asked, slightly hurt by her low expectations.

"You know why!" Anais retorted.

"Whatever, just trust me this one time. I promise you won't be disappointed!"

Anais didn't answer, she instead returned to the bedroom with a huff.

Gumball undeterred, made his way to the fridge to see what there was to throw together. Once he saw the inventory of tortillas, cheese, leftover steak among other ingredients; he decided to make cheese quesadillas. Simple, savory, and sure to please the petite appetite of the pint-sized pain.

Preparation was simple enough; he lined a stovetop skillet with cooking oil, buttered two tortillas, lightly covering the bare side of each with cheese, diced steak, and eventually mushrooms he sauted with garlic on a smaller pan.

Flipped, folded, and finished; the blue cat triumphantly brought the two plates upstairs setting one beside Anais who immediately pulled back the tortilla to inspect the contents.

"Seriously? Just eat it." Gumball grimaced.

"Hmmm…" Anais gave the food a suspicious look before taking a cautious bite. Giving her taste buds time to confirm the food was actually good as opposed to the sensory being the effect of some poison; she wore a look of pleasant surprise as she took larger bites.

'See? Not so bad, is it you little brat?' Gumball thought to himself as he put on some headphones and listened to some music.

"This is pretty good Gumball," Anais complemented, "I'm impressed."

With Anais fed and preoccupied, Gumball sprawled out on his bed and got lost in his impeccable taste in music.

Two hours later saw the two siblings on the couch, watching some overrated cartoon about talking animals living in a town that was surely the wet dream of a heavily-medicated surrealist.

Anais didn't find the show to be particularly funny, it's juvenile humor and lack of continuity left her unsatisfied.

"I'm bored." she whined.

Gumball sighed, "You can change the channel if you want."

"No, I mean, I want to do something other than just loaf around and watch the idiot box." Anais clarified.

"They'll be home soon sis, just stay know as much as I do what happens if we don't stay under the watchful eye of the TV. "

"Can't we take a walk or something?"

"Come on Anais, tonight has been great so far, just veg out a little longer, and when mom and dad get home, you can do whatever."

"Ugh, you're so lazy!" Anais stomped. "Fine, I'll go for a walk myself. See you later Gumba—"

Gumball once again impeded her path. This time, by standing in front of the door, paw firmly clenched around the doorknob.

"Just where do you think you're going? I said stay put. I'm the big brother, now listen to me!"

"Gumball," Anais sighed as if she were lecturing a child, "I'm okay to walk by myself. Just calm down and I'll be back in a few minutes."

"I can't Anais. I'm not letting my four-year-old sister walk around Elmore by herself. Besides, you know rabbits are exclusively prey right? I mean, besides grass and carrots I guess—Quit being difficult."

"I'm being difficult? I want to go for a quick walk, but my big brother is a big lazy butt and won't come with me! Would a little excercise kill ya?"

"Oh my god, you sound like mom." Gumball deadpanned, unamused at the reminder that his sister very much took after their mother in her temper and tedium.

"Fine, I'll go with you."

"That's the spirit!" Anais rejoiced, pulling Gumball into a hug, "Let's go!"

Anais decided the two would do a simple enough trek: their house, to the bus stop. It was a little over a mile, over mostly flat terrain courtesy the sidewalks. It was just past four in the afternoon; the only sound outside was the ambiance of sprinklers, dogs, and the occasional call of birds and bugs.

The cat and his rabbit sister were halfway on their departure. Anais had commanded the lead for a good while, but her little legs proved themselves resistant to this endeavor, and she was now beside Gumball, who kept a steady pace.

With the bus stop in sight, yet still distant, Anais found her heart beating a little louder than normal. She cursed herself internally for being so sedentary today. Before her oblivious brother could suspect, let alone object, Anais had a paw inside his, it's warmth was comforting to her.

The two looked up at the sky, it's usual gradient of dark blue and pink; the sun sinking behind the distant woodlands, shimmering gold. The calm of the sight matched the nonchalant scene around them.

"It's pretty nice out tonight, isn't it?" Anais mused aloud.

"Uh huh." Gumball answered passively, still entangled in the daydreaming he had employed to make this trip slightly less boring.

"Are you even paying attention?" Anais frowned, "What if I get hit by a car, or kidnapped?"

"Don't you mean, kit-napped?" Gumball had a stupid grin for his stupid remark. Anais was not amused.

"That's not funny, Gumball." Anais scolded. "You need to pay more attention, especially when you're responsible for the well-being of your little sister!"

"I thought you were a big girl, you were so ready to do this by yourself," Gumball cooed mockingly, "But wook, wittle Anais wants big bwudder to hold her wittle paw~"

"Knock it off, Gumball!" Anais fumed.

"Okay, okay, calm down, yeesh."

Silence ruled the two as they turned around to return home, having passed the schoolbus sign. It was kind of odd coming here this hour, at least for Gumball. Outside his daydreaming, he could have swore he saw a faint rendition of the bus pulling up; the usual suspects already on board, with the Watterson children welcoming another day of instruction and insanity.

Gumball noticed he was still holding Anais's paw as they walked up the porch of their home and went back inside; their parent's station wagon curbside, indicating their arduous quest for the "perfect" fishbowl had come to an end of some kind. Gumball was beyond curious as to what that ending was.

Opening the front door afforded the sight of Niccole, who looked as if she was just about to open the door herself.

"Where did you two go?" She asked, more curious than annoyed; much to Gumball's surprise and relief.

"We went for an afternoon walk!" Anais triumphantly proclaimed.

"Did you?" Niccole responded, slightly surprised her son went along.

"LOOK AT MY NEW FISHBOWL YOU GUYS!" Darwin exploded from the kitchen. Anais and Gumball made their way into the dining area, and before them was a rather opulent aquarium, complete with decorated marbles for flooring, blue-tinted water, and some faux plants for… the atmosphere.

"Wow Darwin," Anais was taken aback by the grandeur, more out of surprise than awe. "That's… sure something."

"Yeah dude, that's pretty awesome." Gumball remarked casually as he went around the table to get a better view of the new exhibit that would command a portion of his room.

It was weird to think of Darwin, technically Darwin lll, as a pet fish; despite that being what he was. Had nobody known better, the town would likely be aloft with rumors of Niccole and her amphibious bouts of promiscuity.

"How are we supposed to get this thing upstairs though?" No sooner had Gumball wondered aloud, had Richard picked up the giant bowl and began towards the living room.

"Please be careful Richard, that aquarium cost a fortune!" Niccole called after him.

Darwin and Gumball followed carefully behind him, watching with both anticipation, and fear.

Back in the kitchen, Niccole began making supper.

"So, you and Gumball went for a walk? That was nice of him."

"Yeah, it actually was." Anais answered, the warmth of her brother's paw still lingering in her memory.

"He can be a handful sometimes, but he does love you, Anais." Niccole added, "I knew he'd come around to be responsible enough to take care of you… and the house."

Anais returned to her homework while Niccole continued dinner when Anais decided to satisfy a curiosity that had loomed since morning.

"What happened to Darwin's old bowl, anyway?"

"Oh, the boys were roughhousing this morning, and knocked it over."

"That seems a little too simple given who we're talking about." Anais said with doubt.

Indeed it was. Niccole wasn't sure if filling in her daughter on the circumstances leading up to their shopping excursion would put a damper on what seemed to be a pleasant evening. Gumball had in fact, smashed the fishbowl in a fit of anger.

The incident leading up to the destruction began innocently enough; Darwin had bought another laser pointer, this time at the arcade with prize tickets. Having read online that cats are entranced, and rather… playful with lasers, Darwin couldn't resist seeing how Gumball would react.

Sure enough, he had Gumball scampering frantically around the room, making primal hissing and growling sounds. Meowing angrily as he jumped, failed, and faltered off his bed, desk, the walls; all in pursuit of a wildly moving red dot. The greatest test on Darwin's suppression of laughter came when he spun the laser around in a circle. Watching Gumball mindlessly, frantically spin around like a sporadic sprinkler head was almost too much. Growing bored with the game, he then retired the laser. Not before however, the dot had scaled the outside-facing wall of the room. With a hectic leap, Gumball soared for the elusive dot, only to realize too late that it was gone, causing him to fall into his nightstand which also happened to host Darwin's fish bowl.

The bowl was flung off the table, sent into the opposite wall with force, shattering into glimmering shards. A battered and bruised Gumball then turned to see the horrified face of his fish, and the embarrassed face of his mother in the doorway.

Like the sound she heard when her son sent Darwin's first bowl flying, the cringe-inducing sound of glass and water hitting the floor startled Niccole out of her cooking, and nearly causing Anais to defecate herself.

Rushing out to the living room, Niccole saw at the base of the stairs, a giant bowl. The good news was, it didn't seem to be damaged. The bad news, Richard and the contents of the bowl seemed to trade places; with pebbles, marbles, and water all over the foyer, and Richard stuck inside the bowl, defying the laws of both logic, and physics.

"Oh for the love of—Richard, you had one job! One!" Niccole barked as she hurried to clean up the mess, a horrified Darwin coming to her aid.

"Ow… Sorry Darwin." Richard grimaced as he freed himself from the bowl. "I didn't break it, did I?"

"No, but you made a giant mess." Niccole growled. "Gumball, could you go check on dinner for me please?"

"Uh...yeah." Gumball shrugged as he carefully stepped over the stains and debris. His face flush with embarrassment recalling the similar incident from this morning.

Much to Gumball's surprise, Anais was seated in the dining room, seemingly invested in some homework. She wasn't oblivious however, and still had slight tremors from being startled by the commotion in the next room.

"Is everything OK?" Anais asked.

Gumball couldn't help but snicker a little. "Yeah, Dad just spilled Darwin's bowl everywhere." What you got there, sis?"

"I have to write a report for show-and-tell on Monday." Anais answered. "I'm bringing Daisy the Donkey."

Gumball didn't respond, preferring to listen to Niccole lecturing Richard on being reckless, and the sounds of a frantic Darwin as Ms. Mom took the tank upstairs herself.

The bowl was situated on a group of towels placed on the floor beside Gumball's bed. It would have to do considering the nightstand didn't survive Gumball's weight coming down on top of it. Calmed and satisfied it was all in one piece, Darwin hopped inside and settled to the bottom, the intent of relaxing until dinner was ready.

"I'm really, really sorry about the mess, Darwin." Richard apologized nervously.

"It's okay, Mr. Dad." Darwin smiled, "I really appreciate you guys getting this for me!"

"You like it?" Niccole asked, panting a bit from the weight of the thing.

"Yup!" Darwin beamed.

"Good. Well, I have to get dinner going; poor Gumball is down there by himself." With that, Niccole went downstairs while Richard to their bedroom. After a short while, Anais came upstairs, and Gumball entered their room.

"Whoa, check you out!" Gumball teased.

"Pretty snazzy huh?" Darwin danced about.

Seeing that all was okay, Anais continued past her brothers' room towards her own, ears perking to hear the rest of their conversation.

"So, how was it with Anais?"

"It was pretty boring." Gumball answered as he got on the computer, "We watched some TV and took a walk. Nothing too exciting. You guys were gone for awhile."

"Yeah, we couldn't find something that wasn't a box-shape, you know how I am about box aquariums. Anyway, we finally found a store called Pets-N-Pals, and we finally found this one. Took us five hours, but it was worth it!"

"I'll say, you look pretty happy. Sounds more fun than being stuck with her." Gumball chuckled.

Anais felt a pang in her chest hearing those words. She had thought that they had had some pretty nice time together.

"She didn't drive you crazy?" Darwin pressed.

"She tried." Gumball remarked, "You just kind do what she wants so she'll shut up. You should've heard her—she sounded so much like mom: 'You're such a lazy butt...', 'A little exercise won't kill ya!'" Gumball's impersonation of Anias seemed to simply amount to the highest pitch his voice was capable of producing.

"If I wanted to have mom whine at me, I'd show her my English homework."

Hearing this, Anais felt tears threatening to form. She quietly entered her room, and closed the door behind her.

Dinner time ran its usual course: lasagna, garlic bread, and asparagus were the meal this evening, and none of the kids, Richard included, seemed to mind. Most everyone found themselves tired as well, not too willing to answer the unspoken yet compulsory question of 'how was your day?'. Fortunate for them, Darwin was still full of pep and pleasure from his new digs, and was apt to blather about them for a good while.

"...and I was thinking, we could get some sand, and Gumball and I could build an underwater castle!" Darwin fantasized.

"That sounds very nice, honey." Niccole replied, having faded in and out throughout the fish's babble.

"I'd be down for that." Gumball added, "I didn't have any plans for tomorrow anyway."

"Oh, that reminds me." Niccole began,

"I do have plans tomorrow, don't I?" Gumball glowered.

"I'm afraid so." Niccole continued, "Richard and I are having a date night, and you boys are going to look after Aianis while we're gone."

"What?" Gumball complained, "I had to watch her already tonight, that wasn't fun."

"Anais said you two took a walk together…"

"Yeah, but that was boring. I just wanted to relax and watch some videos online but no!~ Had to do what Anais wanted."

"Gumball!" Niccole scolded, "Part of babysitting means you have to do things she wants to do. It's very rare your father and I get time like this, let alone we ask you to babysit. Besides, you'll have Darwin."

"I'm not doing it." Gumball crossed his arms, a look of unwitting defiance on his face.

Niccole proceeded to take Gumball's half-eaten lasagna.

"Then I suppose you won't be eating, and going to your room instead. There's no excuse for talking about your sister that way."

With a grunt, Gumball stormed out of the kitchen and stomped up the stairs.

"What was that all about?" Darwin asked. All of them directing their attention towards Anais who now looked sullen and hurt.

"Sweetie, I'm sure he's just in a bad mood…" Niccole attempted to console her.

Anais however, got off her high chair, and sulked towards her room without a word.

Both of her children were being uncharacteristic it seemed. Gumball was grumpy and verbally cutting, and Anais seemed to lack her usual spunk; comments like that would have gotten a smart and sassy retort on a regular day. Darwin seemed happy at least. With a sigh, Niccole finished her dinner, the cleanup-with Darwin's help, and then trudged upstairs to sort out this mess.

Her first destination was Anais's room. The kit sat on her bed, sniffling and sad.

"Do you knock?" Anais growled.

"Sorry dear, it just isn't like you to get so down when the boys' get your goat like that. I just wanted to make sure you're alright."

"He's such an airhead!" Anais pouted, "Everything was going great until he opened his stupid mouth!" Those last words had a tremor to them, the wound still fresh it seemed.

"Like I said earlier… something must be bothering him. You both seemed fine when I got home. Did he act odd during your walk?"

"He didn't seem to interested or involved; but I didn't think he was mad or anything."

"You weren't by chance difficult in any way, were you?" Niccole asked, a sly smile on her face. She knew as much as anyone what a turkey Anais could be at times.

"Well... " Anais grew somewhat embarrassed remembering that word, Difficult. Gumball had described her as such when she was throwing a fit about going on the walk.

"He was being lazy!" Anais defended, "All he wanted to do was sit around and play on the computer!"

Niccole chuckled to herself. "Sweetheart, Gumball is the older brother. I know he can be frustrating, but you're still little, you have to respect what he wants to do… or I suppose doesn't want to do in this case. I can have a chat with him about his laziness, but regardless, you need to respect and listen to him as you would me."

"Okay." Anais hung her head. "I understand."

With a kiss on her daughter's forehead, Niccole then headed to her next child. Gumball was on his bed. Headphones on, face wearing a pout and turned to the wall.

"Gumball…" Niccole greeted her son who jumped slightly at the sudden contact.

After some time taking his headphones off, and setting them to the side, he looked at his mother who now sat beside him.

"This is about Anais, isn't it?" Gumball said with enough enthusiasm to trigger clinical depression.

"Somewhat yes, somewhat no." Niccole began, "Is something bothering you? It isn't like you to be so...cold."

Gumball took some time to think about this. His week had been pretty forgettable, the fishbowl incident earlier today hadn't helped things; and Anais and he were about as compatible as a frightened rabbit and a starving lion.

"She just gets on my nerves," Gumball muttered, "She's got a complex you know? Anais thinks she's better than me because she's book smart or something. I can't possibly be taken seriously as long as she thinks I'm a total idiot."

"Have you done anything to maybe disprove her attitude towards you?" Niccole asked, somewhat comforted that her eldest seemed to be talking to her instead of at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what about your behavior might give off the idea that you're… not the brightest bulb in the box?"

"Because she's snotty and never punished for her sassy remarks?"

Niccole wasn't about to say it out loud, but that certainly was part of it.

"What I mean is, what do you do that might give her—anyone the impression you aren't who you know you are?"

Unlike his father, Gumball wasn't so much stupid, as he was… short-sighted, distracted, easily excited and enamored in the impossible and irresponsible; one to seek thrill before thought, acting on hormones, and swimming in ego.

In other words, he was an adolescent.

"My...grades?" Gumball guessed.

There was also the issue of school. While Darwin and Anais managed to do well, or in the later, surpass expectations and gain academic prodigy status, Gumball couldn't care less about his academic pursuits. The homework, the 'Lord of the Flies' social scene, the faculty, the monotony of it all; it was boring as hell, and just an obstacle to 'living life to the fullest'.

"That's part of it." Niccole encouraged a better response she knew he was capable of. "Outside of school."

"What's wrong with being silly and having fun?" Gumball immediately went for defense.

"There's a line between reckless fun, and… destruction of person, property, and your mother's sanity." Niccole answered half-jokingly, "Believe it or not, Anais looks up to you, it's natural, you're her big brother. What she sees is someone who is careless, lazy, and at times destructive and disrespectful. We can all have a little fun sometimes, but you need to try and keep a level head sometimes."

"So...I need to stop being me?"

"Gummy-puss, that's not what I'm saying. What I am saying is that you need to grow up a little. You're twelve now, you need to set a better example for your sister and yourself. I love your father dearly, and he has his moments; but I don't expect him to change. You however, can, and will. You're a sweet, smart, and handsome little tom, and I know you'll figure it out."

Gumball found himself more than embarrassed by both the comment, and the tussling of his fur.

"I think I get it." Gumball answered, "When are you and dad going out tomorrow?"

"Sometime around six I think. We're thinking maybe a movie before dinner. So you'll have most the afternoon tomorrow to help Darwin decorate his new bowl.."

Niccole got up and headed out the door to her own room. She could hear the TV downstairs, as well as Richard's snoring. She said goodnight to Darwin as they passed each other in the hall, and wanted nothing more than a good night's sleep. Tomorrow was Monday, and that meant it was back to her nine-to-five; back to another week of same-old, same-old.

Or at least she hoped.