Chapter Nine

X

Gumball and Marshall were so tired when they got home; all they could manage to do was change clothes and crash on Marshall's bed.

Marshall woke up and wiped the spit off his mouth. He looked up at the clock. Eleven twenty am. He yawned and stretched, wondering what had woken him up so early. He would normally wake up at two or three pm on the day after he had gigs. Marshall lay back down, and listened to serene silence of his house. The sound of the coffee maker, three people's voices…

He bolted up in bed, eyes wide. Was he being broken into? Marshall quickly picked up the axe under his bed. He ran down the stairs and into the kitchen where the voices were coming from, axe poised above his head.

Marshall blinked. Gumball, Fionna, and Uncle George were sitting around his kitchen table. They were sitting around the kitchen table.

"The hell…" Was all Marshall could manage to mumble out, the three all staring at him.

Almost simultaneously, Fionna and Gumball started laughing. George's lips quirked up and Marshall slowly lowered his axe. "What are you guys doing here?"

Fionna calmed herself down. "I said I would come over in the morning, remember?"

"And I stayed the night," Gumball said.

"Yeah, that part I remember," Marshall said. "What I don't remember is you coming over, Uncle George."

"My plane came in early this morning," George said. "Imagine my surprise when Gumball opened the door." The man walked over and they shared a stiff, awkward hug.

"Bubba is a sight in the morning," Marshall agreed.

"Maybe you should take a look in the mirror, Marshall," Fionna said with a laugh. He had a bed head and was only wearing pajama pants.

"Please," Marshall said, and gestured to his admittedly lanky upper body. "This is what you dream of." Gumball gave him a sharp look, and Marshall realized that Gumball was who wanted to be in Fionna's dreams.

"Anyway," Gumball said, forcing a smile onto his face. "Why did you rush downstairs?"

"I, um," Marshall coughed. "I thought someone was breaking into the house."

George looked at the clock. "At noon?"

Marshall shrugged. "Hey, I don't know a thief's schedule."

"Marshall, you didn't tell us how cool your Uncle is," Fionna said.

"I didn't really know it myself," Marshall said. "Hey, I'm going to run up stairs and change."

X

Marshall pulled out a chair and sat down, a plate of pancakes in his hand. "So what were you guys talking about before I came down?"

"We were talking about Gumball's situation with his stepmother," George said. "We're going to take in all options for where he can go, or if his stepmother doesn't willingly let him leave, then we would have to go to court."

"How do you know all this legal stuff?" Marshall asked.

George gave him an odd look. "I'm a lawyer, Marshall."

"…Oh."

Fionna laughed. "Good job, Mr. Oblivious."

"Moving on," George said. "Gumball has the option of living with Ms. Peppermint or a foster home. The ideal choice would be with Ms. Peppermint, since he has known her since his mother passed."

Gumball nodded. "I would also be able to help with the bills and any other problems that may arise with me living with her."

Fionna grinned. "So everybody is happy!"

"Not quite," George said. "First, we need to contact Gumball's stepmother and see if she wants to press charges. If she does, we can tell her that we know about the abuse, which will probably make her allow Gumball do whatever he wants, considering the severity of her offense. Does that sound alright to you, Gumball?"

"That sounds great," Gumball said a small grin on his face. "If I had known it would be so easy…"

"The most important thing to remember during this is that none of this is your fault. Ms. Metrikov did this of her own choice and understanding of the legal system. Now would be a good time to contact your stepmother." He looked up at Marshall and Fionna. "Can we have some privacy?"

"Of course," Fionna said, standing up and dragging Marshall with her into the next room. "I can't believe this is working out so well!"

Marshall nodded. "Bubba's really going to have a good life here on out."

"That's if Simon doesn't press charges."

"Yeah, but she probably won't. I mean, she runs a pretty popular club, so if anybody heard about this they wouldn't go, and she'd go broke. This is the last thing she wants."

Fionna nodded, deep in thought. "Yeah. Want to watch some cartoons?"

"You read my mind."

X

"So that's that," Uncle George said. "We've told Ms. Metrikov her options and all we can do is wait. You're welcome to stay at here in the meantime…"

"No," Gumball said. "Thank you, but I have already over stayed my welcome."

"You could stay with me and Cake," Fionna said. "We'd be happy to have you, if you don't mind taking the couch."

"That sounds wonderful," Gumball said.

"Now don't get too excited," Marshall said mischievously, smacking Gumball on the back. Gumball and Fionna both blushed horribly, not able to meet anybody in the eyes.

"Marshall," George warned.

"We should probably get going. We've made Cake wait outside long enough," Fionna said. "Bye, Marshall."

"Goodbye," Gumball said to Marshall then turned to his uncle. "Thank you very much for all of your help, I can send you your check…"

"No check needed," Uncle George said while giving him a handshake that consists of two powerful pumps. "I was happy to help."

The moment the door closed after them, Marshall could feel the awkwardness seep into the kitchen. "Well, I'm still kind of tired so I'm going to go up to my room."

"One moment, Marshall."

Crap Marshall thought, hand on the doorway. I was so close. He turned to face his uncle. "What's up?"

"You've kept the house clean while I've been away."

Marshall snorted. "Is that really what you want to talk about?"

"No," George admitted. "I think we should talk about my absence in your life."

Marshall sighed. "It's cool. I know you have to go to a bigger city to get more clients…"

"I know you understand it. But I also know that not having a strong role model in your life has affected you," George said. "My brother dyeing while you were still so young and your mother going to prison… It must have been very hard for you. Before I was too naïve to notice it, even when you had your brush with the law. But seeing what Gumball has gone through-"

"Our situations are nothing alike," Marshall cut in.

"I'm aware. But there is one key similarity. You both have a parental absence in your life, and I'm sorry that I couldn't be around enough to be yours."

"It's okay," Marshall said, just wanting the conversation to be over quickly.

"It really isn't," George said. "And from now on I'm planning on planning on being around much more."

Marshall blinked. "Really?"

George nodded. "I've accumulated enough vacation days over the past couple of years to be home at least once a week. I wish… that I could be here more often."

"That's enough," Marshall said, smiling. "Really. I'm glad that I have you as a role model in my life."

For the first time that Marshall could remember, his Uncle had a large, happy smile on his face. "Thank you, Marshall."

X

"Give your projects to me before you sit down," Ms. Foster demanded, glaring at them from over the top of her coffee mug.

Marshall held in his hands the thing that lead to everything that has happened the past couple of weeks. Fifteen pages of what family meant to each of them and why. Fionna and Gumball were already in their seats, chatting with each other. Marshall handed it to Ms. Foster, who looked up at him with a scowl before a neutral smile formed on her face.

"Did you complete the project, Marshall?"

"Yes, Ms. Foster."

Surprisingly enough, her smile remained. "Did you learn something about each other?"

Marshall nodded, wistful expression on his face. "Yeah."

"You know, I didn't put the three of you together just because of your grades," Ms. Foster said. "I heard about Gumball's stepmother. Good job."

Simon had decided to let Gumball stay with whoever he wanted to, in fear of getting her reputation ruined. Gumball was now living with Ms. Peppermint and paying rent to her, which she had denied taking at first. She relented, and they were both living happily. George visited Marshall much more often now and Fionna was just happy seeing her friends happy. She and Gumball weren't dating, but considering the way they were looking at each other, it was going to happen soon.

Marshall blinked. "Huh?" The bell rang.

"That was the tardy bell, students," Ms. Foster gave Marshall a sharp look. "Whoever isn't sitting down will be getting a detention."

Marshall walked back to his seat, mind whirling.

Maybe Ms. Foster wasn't bat shit crazy after all.

X

That's the end!

This story has been extremely fun to write. I experienced my first chapter story (not one shots), my first flame (my favorite quotes from that are 'it's called a review not a pep talk' and 'ruin the story before it could even get started), and an actual following of really cool people (YOU!).

I'll miss these versions of Marshall, Fionna, and Gumball; even if their personalities are a far cry from their characters on the show. (Which was also pointed out to me in the flame LOL).

Meh, I think I did well for a fourteen year old.

REVIEW BECAUSE IT'S THE LAST CHAPTER.