*Beep beep be-beep! Be-be-beep! Beep boop beep!*
The teenager groaned. That ringtone seemed like a good idea for an alarm at the time. Moving the violet feathers out of her eyes, she sat up and walked over to her closet. A long mirror hung on the door. She looked at herself in the mirror, and tried to fix her hair the best she could.
The young bird had grown so much in three years. She had gotten a couple inches taller, and she had gotten a lot curvier. She pretty much had the same figure as her mother at that age. She had also grown out her hair too, it was now a couple inches longer and a little wavier.
It was a little annoying during baseball (she still played on her team, and planned on joining the high school varsity team), but once she put on her headband, cap and put the rest of her hair in a ponytail, it was fine.
"Hey Maddie, are you coming down to breakfast?" she heard her dad ask.
"Yeah, I'm coming!" Maddie shouted back. She looked back in the mirror, her hair still looked like a mess. But, she simply shrugged her shoulders. She'll deal with it later, right now the smell of blueberry muffins was too tempting.
Still in her pajamas, Maddie walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Her parents were already eating, and they gave her a smile.
"Morning Maddie," Margaret greeted.
"How's it going, freshman?" Mordecai asked.
Maddie smiled. Her first year of high school. "I didn't think middle school would ever end."
"Isn't that what you said the last day of school?" Mordecai asked before taking a sip of coffee.
"Yeah, but it needs to be said again," Maddie retorted, "The only good thing about middle school was my friends and Skips." She frowned a little. She was going to miss having the yeti as her teacher. But, he had such a good reputation at the middle school, all the kids liked him and didn't dare try to prank him, so she knew he was going to be fine. But still, she was going to miss him and his lessons.
"When are the tryouts for the school team again?" Margaret asked quickly, knowing that would get her daughter's mind off it.
"Next month," Maddie replied, "I'll have to go to the batting cages this weekend to practice a little. You said I can drive there myself, right?"
"Yes, you just have to watch the roads," Margaret said.
"Great, thank you," Maddie replied, giving her parents her best smile, "I'm so glad you trust me with your car, notice how I said 'your' car. But I guess I've earned it, since I've never been caught speeding or have been given a ticket."
"Oh, you haven't?" Mordecai said, feigning surprise, "Well, good for you Maddie."
"... Oh come on!" Maddie pouted.
"Sorry sweetie," Margaret said, "We promise, you can drive to school next year. Besides, I thought you and Robbie were walking to school today."
"I would've picked him up," Maddie mumbled as she munched on her blueberry muffin.
"Maybe we'll let you drive home from Cheeser's tonight," Mordecai said. That put a small smile on his daughter's face. Even after three years, they were still going to Cheeser's on the first day of school, still an ongoing family tradition.
After finishing her breakfast, Maddie excused herself from the table and went back into her room. After looking in her closet for about a minute, she decided to wear her favorite dark blue tee shirt, and a pair of light blue jeans.
As she got out her clothes, she picked up her cell phone and quickly typed "Robbie, r u getting ready?"
...
"Yeah. Getting dressed rite now. TTYL"
With that, Robbie tossed the cell phone onto his bed and picked up his clothes. He was wearing a normal pair of blue jeans, brown shoes, the 'Fist Pump' shirt he had gotten for his birthday, and his favorite dark green jacket.
After three years, the biggest change with the young raccoon was his height. Like Eileen had predicted, he did grow a little more. Now he was the same height as Maddie, five feet eight inches. He wasn't as tall as his uncle, but tall enough to tower over his family (of course Rigby was jealous when it first happened, but got over at after about a week).
Robbie still wore glasses, still had his hair like his father's, and still loved reading, playing video games, and running/racing. "Robbie, breakfast!" Eileen called.
"Coming!" Robbie shouted, his voice cracking in the middle of the word. He uttered a curse, silently hoping his mother didn't hear it. Even after going through puberty, his voice still cracked sometimes if he shouted too loud or got really angry or upset. Eileen said eventually it would go away, but the raccoon still hated dealing with it.
Entering the kitchen, he saw his entire family there. Breakfast was on the table, and his mother was just giving breakfast to Ponyo, the goldfish Rigby had won for her at the festival (she named it after one of her favorite movies). "Morning Robbie," she smiled.
"Hey Mom," Robbie replied. His dad was already sitting at the table, but he didn't say good morning because he was busy trying to feed Molly.
The giggling three year old kept her mouth closed, but smiled at her older brother. "Mmhm!" she said, saying hi and keeping her mouth closed at the same time.
Born on New Years Day, Molly Eleanor Saylers was a small mole. But while she looked a lot like Eileen, she had Rigby's dark brown fur color. She also had long, chestnut brown hair that was tied into two pigtails. Today, she was wearing a bright pink dress, although she would probably have to change it later since it was covered in her breakfast.
"What was that, Mo?" Robbie said, "I can't understand you."
"I said- mmh!" A spoon was shoved into her mouth.
"Hm-hm, gotcha!" Rigby said. He then gave a smile at Robbie. "Thanks Robbie."
"No problem," Robbie replied. The small mole girl glared at the both of them, but then became interested in sucking on her plastic spoon.
"I'll take over," Eileen said, sitting next to her daughter. Relieved, Rigby handed her Molly's breakfast and started eating his own breakfast.
The kitchen tv was on so the boys watched that while Eileen fed the toddler, watching out of the corner of the eye as she fed her daughter.
After about half an hour, Robbie finished his breakfast. "I'm gonna go so I can meet Maddie," the teen said, tossing his plate and silverware in the sink.
"Ah!" Molly shouted, quickly pushing the spoon away, "Robbie! Hug!"
Robbie glanced at his little sister, her dress covered in gross half eaten food. He grimaced. "Um, I'll give you a hug later, Mo. Okay?" he said, hoping she would take it.
"No! Now! Pleeeease!" Molly pleaded.
"You know you're gonna give into her," Eileen said before taking a sip of her coffee.
"I am not," Robbie argued. He looked back at his baby sister, ready to tell her no when he saw her face. Tears were threatening to fall from the young mole's eyes.
The teen raccoon sighed, and walked over to the high chair, carefully wrapping his arms around his sister. His parents couldn't help but smile. "Yay! Good brother," Molly smiled, "Thankie!"
"Remind me to 'thank' Uncle Don for ruining my little sister," Robbie said.
"Hey, at least she only asks you for one once or twice a day," Rigby reminded him, "and at least she doesn't call it 'Sugar'." He had a point, Robbie was thankful she didn't call it that.
Letting go of his sister, he gave his mom a quick hug and fistbumped his dad before heading towards the door. "Bye guys," he called.
"See ya," Rigby replied.
"Have fun at school," Eileen added.
Shutting the door behind him, Robbie jumped of the stairs and started walking down the street. The high school was only two blocks away, and since the city bus made five stops in between his house and the school, it was faster to walk. Besides, he liked walking. He liked the sense of freedom it gave him, and besides, it meant he could hang out with...
"Hey dude!" Robbie turned his head and smiled. The violet bird ran up to him and then slowed down to a walk. "What's up?"
"Nothing much," the teenage raccoon replied, "I see you didn't convince them."
"Shut up, furball," Maddie retorted, giving him a small shove. Robbie just chuckled.
"Hey, at least they trust you with their car," Robbie said. He sighed. "You accidentally drive their car into an alternate dimension ONCE and they never let it go."
Maddie smiled. "That was a fun day, and an interesting day. Did your dad ever get the stain out of the back seat."
"Mostly, you can still kinda see it if you look hard enough. Who would've thought Rigjuice would make a good stain remover?"
"Speaking of stains," Maddie started to say, "Is that oatmeal on your sleeve?"
Robbie looked and groaned, trying to wipe the oatmeal off his jacket. Maddie just giggled. "It's not that bad, dude." Robbie still didn't look too happy about it. "You know, I bet I can beat you to the school."
Robbie stopped glaring at the stain and looked at the bird. "No way, I always beat you."
"You mean, who you 'beat' me last time?" Maddie said with a smirk, "because I think I was the one who won." Robbie looked at the bird for a moment, and then ran off. "Hey!"
The two started running down the street, laughing and trying to slow each other down. Somethings never change.
()()()()()()()()()
"He gave you guys a report on the first day? No way."
"It's true! The guy's insane!"
"Well, at least you can understand him. My teacher sounds like he has a bunch of marbles in his mouth. At least our math teacher is okay."
"I'm just glad we have three classes together, last year we didn't have any except for lunch."
"Don't remind me," Maddie said, "That was the worst."
"Yeah it was," agreed Robbie. He took out his cell phone and checked the time, "Hey, they'll be heading over to Cheesers in an hour anyway, do you want to go over there and just hang out until then?"
Maddie thought for a moment, and then smiled. "Yeah, that sounds nice."
Taking a right and walking another block, they arrived at the cheese themed restaurant. The playground made out of old rockets was still there, so they went over to it and climbed up, sitting on the top of the metal, rocket shaped structure.
"Is it me, or did this thing used to be bigger?" Robbie asked. He saw the smirk Maddie was giving him. He scowled. "Shut up."
"I'm not saying anything," Maddie replied, trying to keep herself from laughing. The two sat quietly for a few minutes, just watching the clouds go by.
After a while, the sun started to go down, slowly moving across the sky. It wasn't quite down yet, but it was getting there, and it was enough to give the sky a golden color. They weren't quite sure when, but at one point they grabbed each other's hand.
"Do you think we'll miss this?" Maddie asked, "You know, coming here on the first day of school. I doubt we'll do it on the first day of college."
"Well, they'll probably still do it, for the twins and for Molly," Robbie replied after thinking about it, "But, maybe we could start our own tradition. Like, find one of those buffet places and stay there until we can't eat anymore or until they kick us out."
Maddie laughed. "You know, that sounds great. Maybe we could even come back here sometime."
"Yeah, why not? This place does have good grilled cheese."
Still holding Robbie's hand, Maddie laid down on the warm metal. She looked so beautiful, Robbie couldn't help but stare. A familiar, annoying thought entered his mind. He bit his lip. Were they ready?
He still remembered a few months ago when they had tried to do it. They both chickened out half way through, and they were so embarrassed they stayed away from each other for a week. But now, the moment seemed so right. The warm summer breeze, the golden sky. They were the only ones there.
'It's now or never, dude,' the teenage raccoon told himself. Taking a deep breath, Robbie leaned over and kissed the tip of Maddie's beak where her lips would be. Still leaning over her, he looked at her, trying to figure out her reaction.
After a moment, she finally spoke. "Dude, you just kissed me," she said, stating the obvious.
"Yeah, I did," Robbie replied. The bird smiled.
"Well then, I guess it's my turn," she said as she sat up. The two stared at each other, a light blush covering their faces. Maddie smiled, then closed her eyes. She leaned forward, and squeezed Robbie's hand.
Robbie's tail twitched wildly, but the rest of his body was calm surprisingly. Closing his own eyes, he leaned forward as well. It felt like they were never going to meet, but after what felt like forever, beak met lips.
They didn't attempt to 'make out' or anything like that, they just stayed still with their mouths pressed against one another, trying to interpret these weird yet wonderful feelings. After a few moments, they both deepened the kiss and moved closer to each other. After almost two minutes, they had to separate so they could breathe.
"Whoa," they both breathed. Maddie smiled, and Robbie smiled back.
"Kinda wish I would've done that a long time ago," the raccoon said. Maddie laughed, giving him a small shove.
The violet bird gave a relaxed sigh. "Love you, Robbie."
Robbie blinked. She had said that so normally, as if she was just talking about the weather. But when he thought about it, he realized it wasn't said like that because she was calm, she said it because she was sure about loving him. And he was sure about loving her too. "Love you too," he said with a smile.
The two turned back towards the sky. Down on the roads, they saw two familiar cars. The bright red station wagon with Mordecai driving and Margaret in the front, and the old car with Pops driving and Benson and Skips sitting in the front and back. Robbie's family and Mikey's family would be arriving soon.
"Come on," Maddie said, jumping down from the metal rocket, "Let's go say hi. I bet Pops would want to see us."
"Kay," Robbie replied, jumping down as well. Without even thinking about it, they grabbed each other's hand and headed towards the parking lot to meet their family.
The End.
That's all folks! The last chapter! I can't believe I've gotten this far, it's so insane. Although, writing this is bittersweet. It's gonna be weird not writing for this after spending seven months on it, lol. But before I close this story, I want to mention a few things:
1) My reviewers. Over 330 reviews, that's unbelievable. I can't thank you guys enough. From frequent readers to anonymous reviewers, I've gotten reviews of all types. Everytime I got one, I would smile. You guys are all so kind, and I'm so happy you enjoyed the story as much as you did.
I also want to give a shout out to bg52598, Arristo, Christ Lover 357, CANTfindKEYBORED, BlueRose1313, T. P. R., RegularDickPark, creativethinker28, Bigslayerguyman, starbomb, Drone Person, and RiGbYmAnIaC. There are tons more reviewers and anonymous reviewers and I love you all, but these are the ones who reviewed nearly every chapter and some are close friends of mine. So, in short, thank you all so much! :D
2) Sequel. I'm sorry to say but as of right now there is no sequel. You know what they say about sequels, they can ruin the original. I don't have any multi-chapter ideas, and I don't want to try and force a crappy one. But I'm not abandoning these characters. I already have a few oneshots featuring these characters planned out.
I've got a Maddie centered one, one involving Robbie and Thomas (that should be fun) and one with Rigby and Molly (this one should be fun to write too). I'll also stop slacking on my 'Little Moments' oneshots (which will have some teenage!Maddie and Robbie in there).
And hey, who knows? Maybe one day I'll come up with an idea that's good enough for a sequel. Nothing's impossible.
So, that's that. I hope you all enjoyed the final chapter of 'It Runs in the Family'. I look forward to reading your reviews and opinions, and I'll see you next time :)