New Story. ^^ It was getting so long that I decided to split it into two chapters. The next chapter will be out when it's done, but until then, enjoy this one. :)

The Day Off

"Do it again, do it again!" the excited voice of Darwin exclaimed, followed by the sound of several rhythmic slaps. Laughter paraded through the house when they eventually ceased, surprisingly not disturbing the slumber of the enormous rabbit on the couch. In fact, his snoring seemed to complete the whole scene; it served as a repetitive background noise that had become somewhat necessary in their lives. "Come on, one more time!" Darwin requested, still harboring a great deal of enthusiasm.

As the slaps commenced once again Anais could no longer ignore her curiosity and slight annoyance. She hopped down from her chair and exited the kitchen, leaving her half-eaten bowl of cereal to rest on the dining table. "What are you guys doing?" she asked when she stepped into the living room, greeted by the snickering of her brothers as they tried to suppress their laughter.

"Oh nothing, just... this!" Gumball stated dramatically, and then, before Anais knew it, he began hamboning at an amazing rate. Darwin took on a wide smile as he watched his former owner.

"Woo-hoo!" he announced, throwing his fins in the air while he cherished the simple tune his ears were perceiving. Anais, on the other hand, failed to see the beauty in the unusual melody. She stared oddly at her biological brother, not quite sure what to say to him.

"Pretty awesome, huh?" he asked when he finally stopped, crossing his arms and smiling smugly at her.

"Can you teach me the art of hamboning?" Darwin asked him, quickly taking his attention away from his sister.

"Sure, buddy; but I have to warn you, hamboning is a lot harder than it looks," Gumball told him before grinning conceitedly. "Luckily there are masters like me to show newcomers like you how it's done."

"I don't know what I would do without you," the fish said sincerely, making Gumball chuckle while Anais just rolled her eyes.

"Well, can you keep it down? Some of us are trying to have breakfast," she explained as her brothers turned back to her.

"Duh, that's what these are for," her oldest sibling said, pulling out a pair of earmuffs and letting them dangle in front of her. Anais frowned at him for a second but snatched the earmuffs and turned to head back to the kitchen; however, a sudden wail prompted her to stop and face the boys again. They simply glanced around the room with mutual confusion, and then let their eyes return to their sister. "It wasn't us," Gumball informed with a shrug, just before faint arguing acquired their focus. The three of them immediately looked up at the ceiling; the voice seemed to be emitting from above them.

"I think it's coming from upstairs," Darwin realized, causing the trio to hurry up the stairs to see what was going on. Once they were on the second floor it became obvious to them exactly where it was coming from; their parents' room. They were also able to figure out that the voice belonged to their mother, Nicole Watterson, which brought their curiosity to its peak. "Mom sounds really upset," Darwin pointed out with a worried tone.

"Shhh!" Gumball shushed him before slowly approaching the door, which was slightly ajar. His siblings followed closely, remaining as quiet as possible in spite of the increasing suspense. After persuading his hand to firmly grip the knob, Gumball cautiously pushed the door open enough to stealthily stick his head inside. The first thing he saw was the troubled demeanor of his mom as she held her cell phone near her ear, her back to him.

"It's not that I don't like spending time at home," she said into it defensively. There was a short pause before she spoke up again. "Yes, I know I've been working really hard lately but is this really necessary?" Gumball shifted his position slightly to allow Darwin and Anais to peer into the room; soon all three of them were observing their unsuspecting mother. She let out a heavy sigh, drooping a bit and signaling that she had lost the dispute. "I guess you're right," she uttered after a while, followed by another moment of silence. The amount of time it took for her to talk again made the kids feel compelled to believe that whoever she was conversing with was lecturing her. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow," Nicole finally said, concluding their chat as she ended the call. She then placed a hand on her head, groaning to herself with notable aggravation. She stood like that for a few seconds, possibly contemplating what she was going to do next.

However, when they least expected it, her eyes darted to the children, catching a glimpse of them before they retreated out of sight. Fear was on their faces as they hid behind the door. "Did she see us?" Gumball whispered, though his question was answered when he heard the door open behind him, making them yelp and swirl around to meet the gaze of the tall feline. "We weren't eavesdropping, I swear!" Gumball quickly told her, afraid that he was going to get punished.

"It's alright, sweetie," Nicole assured, not showing any signs of anger or disapproval. "I know I was making quite a racket in here."

"Is everything okay?" Anais asked as curiosity returned to her and her brothers.

"Of course, honey," the caring parent said, resting on one knee and eyeing the kids. "Everything's fine," she promised them, though Darwin was still visibly worried.

"Then how come you sounded so mad earlier?" he questioned, making her internally berate herself for not maintaining a calm tone throughout her telephone conversation.

"Oh I wasn't mad," she quickly said. "I was just alarmed; I just received some unexpected news." The children glanced at one another before looking back at her.

"What news?" Gumball asked with audible hesitation. Despite his mom's relieving words, he was still skeptical about what she was going to tell them; after all, it was possible that they would take it harder than she was. Well, to him anyway.

"Well, it seems my boss at the rainbow factory wants me to take the day off," Nicole explained as an unforeseen morsel of embarrassment pervaded her. "He says I've been working too hard over the past few weeks and that I deserve some time at home," she finished, averting her eyes for a second. Gumball raised an eyebrow at her.

"Isn't that a good thing?" he inquired. Nicole stood to her full height before answering.

"Well yeah, but..." She took a moment to think, choosing her next words carefully. "You see, you kids and your father have lots of ways to spend your free time," she said, fixing her gaze on Gumball and Darwin. "Boys, you have video games and lots of friends to play with." She turned to her daughter. "And Anais, you have your books and television programs. But I don't have as many options as you all do."

"You don't?" Anais asked.

"No, honey, I don't. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't have very many hobbies, so when I'm not working I sometimes don't know what to do with myself," Nicole admitted, her kids staring up at her. They all felt a tad bad for her, but, unlike his siblings, Gumball didn't really see it as his problem. It wasn't that he didn't care about his mother; he loved her very much and had minimal trouble expressing it, but it just wasn't in his nature to be that concerned about his parents' personal problems. In his mind, it was supposed to be the other way around. However, before he could say anything his amphibious brother chimed in.

"Well if you don't have anything else to do, why don't you just hang out with me and Gumball?" he suggested, taking her by surprise.

"What?" Gumball shouted at the fish's idea, facing him with a look of utter disbelief.

"Really?" Nicole said, her eyes wider than usual. She hadn't expected either of the boys to invite her to spend time with them, mostly because kids in their age group often considered associating with their mother in such a way to be lame. In fact, she'd be lying if she said that she didn't feel that way throughout middle school.

"Sure, we'll have loads of fun!" Darwin stated happily before turning to his older sibling for confirmation. "Right, Gumball?"

"Uh," was all the cat could muster as his vision darted between Darwin, who was smiling expectantly at him, and Nicole, who was looking at him with a fragment of hope on her face. He honestly didn't want her to join them in their activities, it seemed strange to him, but there was no way he was just going to say that; not in front of her. Sighing, he eventually decided that it was best to just go with it. "Yeah, loads of fun..." he muttered. Darwin then grabbed his arm and skipped towards the stairs, practically dragging Gumball behind him.

"Come on, Mrs. Mom, let's go play outside!" he called back as they descended. Nicole chuckled.

"Coming!" she replied eagerly, and then turned her attention to Anais. The young rabbit had a slightly concerned look on her face as she eyed her mom.

"Are you sure about this, Mom?" She asked.

"Of course. I've been meaning to spend more time with the boys anyway and this could turn out to be a bonding experience for the three of us," she explained, imagining what things would be like if she and her two sons were closer. Maybe then they'd stop being so reluctant to tell her when they did something wrong.

"Alright, but you should probably take these," Anais said, handing her the earmuffs her brother had given her earlier. "Just in case." She then headed back downstairs to finish her breakfast, leaving Nicole to inspect the sound obscuring product she was given, not sure why she would need it. Once she was done she went downstairs as well and almost immediately noticed the snoring of her sleeping husband. For a while she just observed his unconscious form on the couch, grinning slightly at how content he looked, and then she pulled open the front door and quietly stepped out. Rays of sunshine impacted her skin as she spotted her boys in the yard.

"There you are," Darwin announced cheerily as she approached them with a radiant smile. "So, what do you feel like doing?" he asked her while Gumball just looked at them with a doubtful expression.

"Well, I don't know," she replied after pondering it for a moment. "What do you two usually do on a Saturday morning?" The fish boy thought about it for a while, having more difficulty than the average person would. Fortunately, he was able to produce a suggestion in a short amount of time.

"Oh, I know!" he exclaimed, shifting his focus to Gumball. "Let's play 'You're the President!'"

"It's 'I'm the President,'" his brother said.

"Yeah, you're the president," Darwin stated.

"It's called 'I'm the President,' not 'You're the President.'"

"I know I'm not the president; you are."

"Yeah, I know I am, that's why it's 'I'm the President,'" Gumball tried to explain.

"...That's what I said," Darwin told him, getting confused. The cat just sighed and decided to let it go.

"Whatever, let's just play," he verbalized while Nicole just watched them curiously. Darwin smiled before clearing his throat and taking on a much more serious expression.

"What are your orders, Mr. President, sir?" he asked, his voice deeper than normal as he formally saluted. Gumball cerebrated for a bit, but was interrupted when his stomach released a ferocious growl. At that moment, he realized that he hadn't eaten anything yet, which he actually considered a good thing because it gave him something to make his brother do.

"Did you hear that, soldier?" he questioned, trying his best to sound like a drill sergeant.

"Loud and clear, sir!" Darwin responded.

"Do you know what it means?"

"It means you're hungry, Mr. President!"

"And what are you gonna do about that?" Gumball asked, already knowing what his answer should be.

"I'm gonna... uh..." The fish scratched his head for a moment, looking totally clueless. "What am I gonna do?"

"You're gonna get me something to eat," his sibling said surely, a smile appearing on his face.

"Oh," Darwin uttered, finally understanding. He saluted once again. "Right away, Mr. President!" With that said, he rushed back into the house in search of something edible. Gumball chuckled, relishing the feeling of absolute power, even if it was only pretend. He had completely forgotten his mother was still there; however, she soon made her presence known again.

"What about me, Mr. President?" she asked, trying to play along with their unusual game despite not fathoming the object of it. She had seen them take part in it a few times in the past, but she was always too busy to learn the rules. Her son looked at her, and then, after a slightly awkward moment of thinking, he gave her the only command he could come up with that she wouldn't find bizarre.

"Um... why don't you... go help him?" he instructed, though Darwin returned almost immediately after, his fins carrying a rather sloppy sandwich.

"I brought you a sandwich, Mr. President!" he proclaimed, holding it up for him to see.

"Ah, excellent work, soldier," Gumball praised as he obtained his breakfast, taking a decent bite out of it while his brother just watched. "Not bad," he complimented, giving him a thumbs up.

"Thank you, Mr. President, sir!" Darwin said, saluting for the third time while his pretend president continued to munch his meal. Nicole studied her oldest son for a while, not sure what to say or do. He just proceeded to eat while a wave of silence began to wash over them, causing her to raise an eyebrow and instinctively look at her watch. The quietness lasted for several seconds before she made the conclusion that neither of the boys were going to say anything, so she spoke up.

"Now what happens?" she asked her adopted son, since Gumball's mouth was full. He turned to her with a cheerful smile.

"Now we just watch the president enjoy his sandwich, and after he finishes it he'll give us more orders," he explained, no longer using his gruff voice. Nicole just blinked, finally realizing that the whole point of their game was for Gumball to boss them around. It didn't make much sense to her and she questioned how Darwin could enjoy it so much. From the way it seemed, he never got to be the president.

"Uh, maybe we should do something else, boys," she proposed as Gumball ate the last chunk of his sandwich, making him cease chewing and look up at her with a saddened expression.

"Like what?" Darwin inquired, staring at her and waiting for an answer.

"Well, we could..." Her brain rapidly searched for any options that they would find interesting, but nothing came to her. She had no ideas, but she didn't want to just say that; however, it became obvious to her kids after she went silent for some time. Her fish son decided to help her out.

"How about hide-and-seek?" he suggested, glancing at his brother as he did so.

"Hide-and-seek?" Nicole repeated, her features brightening a little. "I haven't played that since I was little," she said partially to herself as she recalled the times she and Richard took part in a game of hide-and-seek. He was never really good at hiding but they still had lots of fun; it almost made her wish she could be a kid again. Gumball suddenly perked up, looking at his mother before acquiring a small smirk. He stepped towards her, getting in front of Darwin as he spoke with smugness in his words.

"Sure, we can play hide-and-seek," he agreed, though he wasn't finished. "But you have to be it," he added, pointing a finger at Nicole and making her withdraw a bit.

"Me?" she asked with an unintended spurt of shock.

"That's right," Gumball confirmed with a nod. "We'll be the hiders and you'll be the seeker."

"You'll never find us!" Darwin exclaimed to her, certainty in his voice. However, her maternal side had to disagree with him; she didn't think she would have any difficulty locating her own kids. With that in mind, she decided to comply.

"Oh alright, I suppose I can be it," she said to them, anticipating an easy victory.

"Yay! Go team!" the two boys shouted in unison, giving each other a celebratory high five before turning back to her. "Now just close your eyes and count to a hundred and then start looking for us," Gumball told her as he departed to find a place to hide.

"And no peeking," Darwin added, following his brother. Nicole could only chuckle at her children's behavior.

"Good luck, boys," she called out, smiling at them for a second. Then she gingerly placed her paws over her eyes, pausing when a small sense of nostalgia arose within her. She almost expected to hear the shuffling of Richard trying to conceal himself, prompting her lips to curl into grin. "One, two, three," she started counting, her thoughts continuing as she did so.

She considered what she was going to do after she found her kids, since pretty much all of the chores around the house were completed. Nicole had stayed up for hours the previous night to get them all done, which she was starting to regret. If she had known she was going to be home the next day she would've saved some of the chores for said day.

Wait, did I remember to do the laundry? she thought to herself, her exterior remaining exactly the same as she continued to count. ...Yes, I did, she concluded with slight disappointment, though it was soon replaced by shame. She had an entire day to relax and have fun with her kids and husband and she was busy worrying about work. In that instant, she decided that for the rest of the day her family would be her main focus; she would spend as much time with them as possible before tomorrow arrived. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

"Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred," she finished, lowering her hands and exposing her eyes as they immediately glanced around for her two boys. They were nowhere in sight, which didn't surprise her. She began to wonder if they were any better at hiding than their father was; maybe finding them would actually be somewhat of a challenge. However, that possibility was quickly declined when she turned her head and spotted one of Darwin's legs sticking out from under the family car.

Nicole suppressed a giggle, figuring that he, and probably Gumball, had crawled underneath it as a method of camouflage. She cautiously approached the vehicle, grass crumbling beneath her feet with each step. She knew her kids had to be watching her from their hiding spot, praying that she would stop and head elsewhere to look for them. A smile dominated her face as she reached the automobile, though all she did was turn away and firmly place her hands against her hips.

"Hmm, I wonder where they could've gone," she said aloud, teasing them with the obvious deception in her words. "Oh, could they be under the car?" Swiftly, she spun around and kneeled to peer under it at Gumball and Darwin, but received a major shock. Neither of them were there; the space was completely empty. "Huh?" she nearly shouted, unable to believe what she wasn't seeing. She just stared for a few seconds, and then stood up with confusion coursing through her veins. She could've sworn she saw Darwin under the car. Looking at it for a while, Nicole soon decided that she must've been wrong.

A surge of determination then enveloped her, urging her to keep looking for the boys. She did so, quickly becoming more observant as her competitive side began to surface. She was eager to find them and win the game, though she had no intention of boasting about it afterwards. In fact, she believed the experience would bring them closer as a family. Glancing carefully at her surroundings, Nicole then ventured towards the back yard. She had a lot of searching to do.

Meanwhile, in an unusually large office, the abstract form of a cloud person could be seen stationed behind a desk. His eyes glazed over with boredom as the sound of active machinery penetrated the walls, creating a vacuous rhythm. In front of him was a massive stack of papers, which he was expected to have sorted and signed by the end of the day, but he had other things on his mind. To his left, sitting at the edge of his desk was a framed image of himself alongside a young cloud girl with obvious resemblance to him. Just as the background indicated, they were at an amusement park, though she didn't seem to be having any fun. She held a small frown while her gaze drifted to the side, unlike his expression, which was one of joy. He had been completely oblivious to her unhappiness on that day; it was only after he saw the picture that he made the realization.

He sighed, shutting his eyes as his stress gradually increased. It was days like this that often made him wish he didn't have such a demanding job. As the owner of Elmore's only rainbow factory, it was his responsibility to regulate all activities. He made all of the decisions and innovations, which actually wasn't as glamorous as he had once believed.

Releasing a barely audible groan, he was caught off-guard when his door abruptly swung open, colliding with the wall with enough force to make a few cracks. "Sir, we've got a serious problem!" yelled one of his employees as he rushed towards his boss. He appeared to be nothing more than a bucket of water with thin, black limbs.

"What is it, Carl?" his employer asked with apparent annoyance.

"Rainbow production has gone down by fifty percent!" The cloud's aggravation was replaced by shock.

"What?" he uttered loudly, his resonant voice causing the liquid in the living container to vibrate. "How is that possible?"

"...Well, sir... maybe it's because you um..." Carl hesitated.

"Come on, out with it!" he demanded, desperate to know what was hindering his business. After a while, the nervous bucket finally cooperated.

"It may be because you gave Nicole the day off; she was our best worker," he blurted out, implying that his boss had made a mistake. The owner of the rainbow factory was silent; he'd completely forgotten that he told her not to come to work earlier, and he was amazed that she was apparently responsible for half of the rainbows they manufactured. He always knew she was fast, but this was incredible.

"I see," was all he said, feeling no regret for his actions. Carl, who wasn't expecting such a short response, just stood awkwardly for a while.

"Maybe you should call her and tell her she needs to come in," he eventually suggested. His boss was quiet, seemingly considering his words. When he hovered slowly from his desk and over to a window situated behind it, it became clear to Carl that he was deep in thought. As he looked out at the world with seriousness in his eyes, he couldn't help but notice a colorful rainbow stretching across the sky. It added a sense of peace and contentment to the city of Elmore, bringing joy to anyone who happened to see it. He smiled to himself, but didn't turn to face his bucket employee.

"Carl, when Nicole first applied to work here I was skeptical about hiring her," he began. "She seemed too fragile for the job, and the fact that she was a mother only gave me more concerns. But she had a sort of determination that I couldn't ignore." He paused for a second, remembering his first encounter with her. It was too peculiar to forget. "I hired her in the end, but I didn't expect much from her. I was sure that at some point the stress of working here would compel her to resign; but, to my surprise, that's where I was wrong. She struggled immensely throughout her first week here; I can't tell you how many dud rainbows she made, but she never gave up. No matter how difficult things became, she refused to quit. I admired her persistence; heck, I still do. And it was that very persistence that allowed her to get where she is today." The cloud finally rotated to look at Carl. "What I'm trying to say is that Nicole has been working extremely hard since day one, and while I'm very proud of her I still think she deserves a break. That's why I asked her to take today off," he finished, heading back to his desk afterwards. Carl didn't say a word; he just stood motionlessly with his head hanging slightly, confusing his boss.

"Huh? What?" he said after a while, shooting up and causing a bit of the water in him to spill. At that moment, the business owner realized that he had fallen asleep during his story. He frowned, feeling insulted.

"Just get back to work," he ordered sternly, wanting to be alone again. Carl knew better than to disobey him, so he nodded in response.

"Yes, sir," he agreed, turning and making his way to the door. However, as he was gripping the knob he stopped when a thought came to him. He glanced back at his employer, hesitant to say what was on his mind, but after a few seconds of persuading himself he decided that it needed to be said. "Sir, maybe someday you should take some time off to be with your daughter. With all the time you spend keeping this place in order, she must really miss you," Carl explained, and then, after giving his words a moment to sink in, he exited the office and closed the door behind him.

The cloud emitted a heavy sigh as soon as he was gone, hunching over and resting his arms on his desk. His eyes soon drifted to the picture to his left and he was urged to lift it up and get a closer look, though he was mostly focused on the girl in it. Guilt plagued him as he inspected the slight frown on her face, which matched the expression she would always greet him with when he arrived home from work. Gently, he began to use his hand to caress the portion of the image that was his offspring, distress showing in his features. Don't worry, Masami... I'll be home soon, he thought to himself. I promise.