The Family Reunion |The Amazing World of Gumball Short Story|

Part IV

The Family Reunion Part IV

The day seemed to progress very slowly, even for Christmas Eve. Grandpa Frankie showed up around noon, only adding to the tension of the atmosphere. As close as he was to the kids, the adults felt resentment toward him, aside from Richard-his naive son- and the Senicourts-who didn't know him. Joanna made as little interaction possible with him, Louie tried getting to know him-despite feeling awkward and uncomfortable, and Nicole just straight-up hated him.

Richard had went out to buy Christmas cookies so his wife wouldn't have to waste any more ingredients and regret her life decisions. Nicole passed them off as her own when giving them to Granny Jojo, however. Everyone got to eat at least two, aside from the Senicourts-who Nicole didn't offer any to.

Around evening, Nicole and Richard began making the feast while the kids were siting in the living room with their grandparents. The three were next to the Christmas tree, constantly asking when they could open one of their presents.

"Kids, you can open one after dinner." Granny Jojo told them after their fifth whine.

"But thats gonna take forever!" Gumball groaned, leaning his head with a pouty face.

"I can't believe you're even allowed to open a present on Christmas Eve." Mrs. Senicourt said amused, "Nicole was never allowed to do such a thing."

"Please, I wasn't even allowed to open my presents without writing a 300-word essay first." Nicole scoffed from the kitchen.

"Eavesdropping is rude, dear." Mrs. Senicourt retorted, only earning a groan from her daughter. "I'm just saying that you're family needs proper Christmas traditions."

Nicole stepped into the living room, wiping away some salt from her apron as she faked a smile, "We do I have proper traditions, and we don't need your opinion on them, thank you very much."

"She is right, though." Joanna chimed in, 'Opening a gift before Christmas Day kinda ruins the meaning of waiting for the special day."

"I don't need your opinion, either." Nicole growled, pointing a finger at her and giving a warning glare.

"That's kind of revealing." Mrs. Senicourt said.

"Well, you two are ticking me off and I'm trying to show you that this is my house so we  live by my traditions!" Nicole retorted.

Mrs. Senicourt glanced down, "I was talking about that skirt."

Nicole looked down and blushed embarrassedly, tugging her skirt down a bit to cover more of her thighs as she walked back into the kitchen with a whine, "Mom!"

Gumball snickered as he turned to face his siblings. "I know this situation is awkward, but that was hilarious."Darwin and Anais blinked, then suddenly snickered too and nodded in agreement.

Darwin suddenly smiled at his grandparents, "Hey, why don't we watch a movie while we wait for dinner?" He suggested.

"Eh, I guess a movie couldn't hurt." Frankie shrugged.

The kids scooted over to sit on the carpet in front of the couch. They grabbed the remote and turned on the tv, flipping through various channels in hopes to find a movie playing.

"You just..watch tv freely? No schedules or anything..?" Mrs. Senicourt asked confused.

"Why would we have any of those?" Darwin asked.

"Please don't tell me Mom had scheduled tv time..?" Gumball said.

"Of course not." Mr. Senicourt said, then paused briefly before his wife said,