Starting New: A World Apart

Chapter 8: Catching up

As Nicole started to wash off the final bits of the strange slimy substance from Gumball's fur, she set the wash cloth aside and picked out a towel to dry him off with. After draining the water out of the tub, she swaddled him in the towel; much to his embarrassment and her amusement, and carried him lovingly back into her bedroom. This time, for the first time in nearly 5 years, she would be sleeping with someone.

Nicole placed him carefully down and under the sheets. As Nicole was about to take off her clothes, she remembered Gumball. Looks like she would be wearing something to bed. Despite it being her room, and have spent nearly every night sleeping in her bed naked...perhaps now would be a good time to break that habit; for Gumball's sake. As she removed her pants and light sweatshirt, she heard Gumball stir. As she looked back at him, she saw his cheeks were quite red.

"Sorry Gummypuss, I guess I should have changed somewhere else."

Thank goodness she hadn't fully stripped in front of him. He could have had a heart attack!

"No mom, it's alright. Really..." he said, quickly glancing towards her before averting his gaze once more.

This somewhat shy and cute act made her smile as she turned away. Also, no matter how many times Nicole had heard his voice, she didn't seem to notice how lovely it sounded until now. It was like honey. The lack of hearing it for so long seemed to have affected her more than she had realized. She would be looking forward to hearing his voice tomorrow; especially when she could get an explanation on where in the world he had been for such a long time.

As Nicole turned out the overhead room light and walked back to the bed and slipped in, she pulled her son close to her. She felt Gumball sigh in comfort before clinging to her in a loving embrace. She returned the favor by pulling him ever closer. Now the gap between the two was slim to none, and Nicole was basking in the warmth generated by them both. She was sure Gumball was too. Her suspicions seemed to be right as she...heard him purr.

That was new. Never in her life had she heard Gumball purr next to her. Sure she had heard him do it next to his brother Darwin on occasion after they fell asleep together on their couch watching TV or playing their video games; but never when she was next to him. Nicole felt honored hearing him do so. He truly trusted her. That she had no doubt in her mind, but having rescued him more than once in this world seemed to have gained her a new sense of trust within her son. This made Nicole feel tingly and warm all over her body. Along with this, she felt...something more. That...feeling. The same feeling she had totally forgot she felt all those years ago. But what was it?! Surely it should have been just love right? But it felt like something more. Nicole decided to brush this new feeling again aside for now. She was tired, and so was Gumball.

With a mighty yawn from the little blue cat, he nestled up against his mother. Nicole copied a yawn before closing her eyes. Tomorrow was going to be a very interesting day...

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The next morning, Nicole woke up first. As she cleared her eyes, she looked down at Gumball. He was still fast asleep next to her. She gently moved and played with his hair. She felt at ease. Just laying here and playing with his hair reminded her of the times she did this with him at a baby. He would always seem to like it when she did that. Hopefully this hasn't changed. As she continued her lovely assault on his now tousled blue hair, she came to a rather strange realization. Despite Gumball having been lost to her for several years...it's like he hasn't aged a bit. His body size was the same, his hair was the same length, and his voice...hasn't changed at all. This was starting to add only more questions to her already large stockpile. Maybe Gumball would know some reason to this. Surely he would, right?