The Ticket to Happiness

Chapter One, The Mature decision

Life for a certain blue cat, had not been going to well. Gumball grunted as he sent a can spinning down the street form a kick. The past couple month had been a living hell for the poor cat. First, Penny had to move away due to her father finding a better contract deal. Now the once love in his life lived nearly five hundred miles away!

To make matters worse his best buddy and all around the best person…um fish to help him through this. Had just been accepted into a foreign exchange program. Gumball wasn't really mad that Darwin got into the program, it just couldn't have happened at a worse time. Still Gumball had thought the worst was over, but no. It was like the town of Elnore wanted nothing more than to make his life miserable.

In just three weeks of time, he had managed to accidently upload a video of him crying over Penny. Completely destroying his street cred. He then out of anger pick a fight with his school bully Jamie, only to have his butt handed to him in front of the whole school.

Gumball stop his misusing with a small smile, the loss did have a silver lining. Right after the fight Jamie had came to him in private and apologized and said she was surprised he stood up for himself for once. They were kind of friends now? Still even with that happy thought his sour mood grew back in place. It also didn't help that right after Jamie had apologized, Gumball just so happened to fall down an open man hole busting his knee up and worst of all he lost his wallet in the sewage.

Now he only had ten dollars to his name and his good pair of cloths were ruin. His mom had told him it may take three weeks to save enough money to buy him new ones. So yep Gumball was pretty sure the universe was out to destroy him. Wasn't there suppose to be some law that after you got nothing but bad luck? Something good was bound to happen.

Gumball just wanted to scream at the world, could there be anyone having a worse time than him. His internal frustrations were cut off by the sound of desperation right down the street. Letting his curiosity get the better of him, he sighed. Stilling his resolve, he stood and figured he might as well go investigate. It didn't really surprise him to find the one person in the world with a life crummier than his latching on to some poor passer by pleading for help.

Larry the man who worked everywhere In Elnore knelt holding what looked to be some sort of ticket clasped in his hands begging. "Please sir, just buy this scratch off ticket from me! My manger won't let me leave work intel I sell all of them. I've been out here for a solid week!" Gumball felt pity for the man as the stranger just shrugged him off leaving poor Larry to just stare at the ticket in his hand.

He sighed feeling the ten dollars he had left in his pocket and knew he couldn't leave Larry like that if he could help it. "Hey Larry, I want to help you out, but I'm only sixteen. I don't think I can legally buy it." Larry's face lit up with so much happiness, Gumball thought he would catch fire just from the pure joy he saw. Larry quickly scrambled to his feet, rushing toward Gumball. Who almost thought about turning tail and fleeing just at the sure adoration he saw in the overworked man's face?

Once Larry got with in reach he spoke. "Oh, thank you Gumball, this is a scratch off ticket not a lotto ticket. Here in the great town of Elnore it is legal for any one over the age of fifteen to purchase a scratch off. You just can't play the lottery or go into a casino!" Gumball sighed, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He knew he had to help Larry out, even if he didn't really believe in gambling. Slowly as if the action was causing him pain, he fished out the last of his money, it took a lot more effort than it should have to hand the money over, but in the end, he let it go.

Larry looked as if he was going to explode with excitement as he took the bill and handed Gumball the ticket. "Oh, thank you so much Gumball. This means the world to me I can finally get to my next job." Gumball just smiled, looking at the ticket in confusion, he never bought something like this and didn't really know what to do. Larry must have seen his confusion because he pulled out a quarter handing to the confused cat.

"All you have to do is scratch the money bags and if any of the numbers you reveal match the winning numbers you get the prize underneath." Gumball smiled, he was glad Larry hadn't judge him on his lack of knowledge, of course Larry was just that kind of guy. Well there was no point in wasting time, he knew he wasn't going to win anything not with the bad luck he was having.

Gumball took his time scratching every money bag he saw, and sure enough everyone he scratched did not match and soon he was down to his last bag. Larry gave him a sad smile "Its okay Gumball the odds of winning these things is so low its not even funny." Gumball sighed; he might as well get it over with. Without wasting anymore time he scratched the last bag away.

He brows scrunched in confusion there wasn't a number under the bag, just one word. Jackpot. Gumball glanced at Larry to see if it was a mistake, it was supposed to be a number, right? His words caught in his throat when he saw the biggest look of surprise on Larry's face. Larry was barley able to stutter out the words the made Gumball see black. "Gumball, you just won a million dollars!" yep those were the words that made the poor cat faint on the spot. He Gumball Watterson self-proclaimed most unlucky person in Elnore, had just won a million dollars.

Gumball woke spitting the cold water that was just splashed on his face out of his mouth. After a few seconds of coughing he got his bearings only to stare at Larry in confusion. "Larry its you! Wow I was just having this crazy dream where you told me I won a million dollars!" Gumball was going to say a few more things but was stopped by Larry shushing him. Before the cat could react, he was quickly pulled away from the street.

Larry didn't stop pulling Gumball intel they were outside the town's treasury. Gumball just watched as Larry glanced around looking for, he could only guess ease droppers. All because of a dream? Once it seemed Larry was content with their surroundings, he turns back to smile at Gumball. "Okay let's get you inside so we can handle your ticket. Your just lucky I work here as well."

Gumball's pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks, it hadn't been a dream. Larry just smiled pushing the shocked kitten inside the building. Gumball was able to shake himself out of shock, he turned to tell Larry he was perfectly capable of walking. Only to be surprised to see only the door. He was about to call out Larry's name only to be interrupted by the missing mans voice. "Come on up to the desk Gumball, so I may assist you."

Gumball took a few seconds to look back and forth, he would never figure out how Larry did this stuff. Of course, the man had to have some sort of super power since he had like eighty jobs. Gumball decided to just not question it, it was probably a good idea to not poke at reality. And walked up to the counter. Now that it was all real, Gumball found himself having no clue what to do. There was so much to take in.

Larry smiled as the still obesely shocked kitten handed him the winning ticket. "So, the way this works is simple. First I have to take the taxes out of your winnings and then I will right you a check." Gumball could only nod is head in response, still not quite grasping the whole situation. Larry just smiled as he finished his task, also taking the time to make sure only Gumball could cash the check. Once he was done, the overworked man put the check in Gumball's shaking hand.

Gumball just stared at the large amount written in the space. It was more money than he could have ever dreamed. Here he was just a sixteen-year-old boy, well almost seventeen-year-old boy and he had over nine hundred thousand dollars to his name. It did not take him long to realize one supper important thing though, he had absolutely no idea of what to do with it.

Thankfully Larry was there to save the day once more. At this point Gumball was thinking about calling him his guardian angel. "Well I can tell your confused Gumball, but I have an idea." Gumball's ears perked up; it would be great to have some kind of help. "As you know I have a lot of different jobs, one of those jobs is an investor. Now I don't want to push you into anything, but if you let me help you with your money. I can get it set up to were you will have plenty of spending cash and I can earn you even more money!"

Gumball's eyes narrowed. It all sounded just a little fishy. He knew Larry was a stand-up guy but is was a lot of money. Larry must have not noticed his expression change because he keeps speaking. "Now I know what you're thinking, why do this for free. Well as your investor I gain ten percent of the money I earn you. As a special bonus since you helped me out. I will also set up a savings account and handle any future taxes for you."

Gumball had to take a moment to think about his offer, it would be good to have someone handle the funds. He was still in high school for heaven's sake. What did he know about handling massive amounts of money? "I like what you are offering Larry, I think I should tell my family first and see what they think." Larry's smile slowly fell, he knew he had to say something but didn't want to hurt the cat's feelings.

Still he couldn't let Gumball lose his money. "Listen Gumball, this is going to sound harsh but your family isn't the best with money. I know I can't change your mind but I want to give you my number just in case you do. You can call me any time." To Larry's surprise Gumball didn't look all that upset. Instead Gumball just got out his phone and added the number.

Gumball smiled as he put the check into his pocket. "I can't promise anything Larry, but I will think about what you said. Thankyou for this life changing ticket." With that Gumball left to head home, with a dozen thoughts running through his mind. He knew he was going to have to make a decision and soon he just hoped it was the right one.

There he was just a few feet from his house, and still he had no answer to that all-important question. What was he supposed to do now? Sure, he could just say screw it and just go all out buying whatever he wanted. But that thought didn't seem to be the wisest, knowing him he would be broke within a year. Then there was his family, Gumball knew Larry was right about his family. His mother was possibly the only one who could handle the money with out losing it. There was one big problem with that, his father.

Of course, Gumball loved his dad, however his father had no sense of good spending. He had even seen his father use money as a handkerchief and throw it away. So that was a big no, Gumball was ready to scream out his frustration when a sound he hadn't heard in a long time stopped him. He knew that voice anywhere, and the one thing he almost never heard come from it was the sound of crying. He knew he had to be quite as he approached the front porch, the person the sound was coming from would never let anyone see them break down.

Gumball felt his heart drop in sadness when he saw her. He knew he was right. There on the porch sat the strongest, and proudest women he ever knew hunched holding her hands to face as she cried. Gumball always hated to see his mom cry and knew getting her to open up was going to be a task in itself. But she was his mother and he would do anything to see that beautiful smile grace her face once more.

Carefully and quietly he sat down beside her shaking form, before wrapping his arms around her pulling into his embrace. Nicole froze in place as she felt the warmth of arms embrace her. Looking up she couldn't help the small smile that appeared. Of course, her little gummypuss would want to comfort her. He was just that type of guy, even though she would normally have tried to pretend she hadn't been crying. She couldn't help but get closer into the embrace.

Gumball had to smile glad his mother hadn't pushed him away. Now would come the hard part. "Mom can you please tell me why you are crying?" Instead of answering Nicole just pulled back shaking her head. She was going to say thanks for the comfort, but stopped when she saw the serious expression on her son's face. Gumball just shook his head "No mom, I know you think I'm just a kid but you need to talk to some one about. Please I may not be able to help, but I can listen."

Nicole wanted to protest, but some part of her needed to talk to someone. "Its silly Gumball, but if you must know. I had been saving to buy us a new microwave it like most of our kitchen appliances is so broken down. I'm afraid it may explode. However, your father made a very poor decision and didn't talk to me about it. So, he spent the money I saved on a scam. I'm just tired of always being behind on bills and savings." Nicole knew she shouldn't be telling her child their finance troubles. It just felt so good to talk to someone about. And who better than her sweet gummypuss it made her smile.

Gumball smiled, "See there's that beautiful smile. See it wasn't so bad to talk about it and it looks like it helpd. Mom, you can talk to me anytime I will always be here to listen." Smiling with just the faintest blush on her cheeks, she leaned in placing a small kiss on his cheek. She stood up feeling much better than before.

"Well, I guess we should go inside I have your dinner in the fridge." Nicole went to head in only to stop and look at her son. Gumball seemed to be looking at his left pocket with great intensity. "Is everything okay gummypuss?" Gumball realizing what he was doing stood up, scratching the back of his head in a very familiar gesture he did when he was hiding something.

Gumball let out a nervous chuckle, "Its nothing mom, go ahead and head in. I need to do something really quick. I'll be in soon." Nicole wasn't fooled, she could tell he had something on his mind. Still he had helped her so she wouldn't pry. She nodded and headed inside. As soon as Gumball was sure his mom was out of ear shot, he fished his phone out of his pocket. It didn't take long to find the new number he had just added.

Taking one last look at his house he smiled. He knew now what he had to do, and what surprised him even more is that it was a very selfless and mature decision.