Tales of Pixfare

Father's Love

Martin just got back home to his 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom house on the Eastside of Pixfare, while carrying his son, Alex, and all of their stuff. "Welcome home, Son." Martin whispered to his son, who opened his eyes.
"Wow." Alex looked around, amazed. It was a lot different from where he lived before. "This place looks cool."
"Look, it's late." Martin said. "We can go to the store tomorrow for your new bedroom." He remembered shortly after he adopted him, and wanted to give him the empty, big room next to his and his girlfriend, Diana's master room.
"Thanks." Alex replied, remembering his manners. "Yeah, I am kinda tired."
"Then let's get you settled on the couch." Martin said, getting his son ready for bed.
"Ok." Alex placed his stuff by the couch and sat down.
Martin picked himself a two-piece orange and white striped pajamas, and Alex his oversized t-shirt.
"I might take you clothes shopping tomorrow, too." Martin said, knowing that his son didn't have any new clothing since Elizabeth died. "I'll introduce you to Diana in the morning."
"Ok, but I might need some help cause of my little arm." Alex said, feeling self-conscious. "Is she gonna like me?"
"Sure thing." Martin said with a half-smile, picked him up and tucked him in. "She'll love you."
"Thanks." Alex said with a yawn.
"Night, Alex," Martin said, then kissed him on the forehead.
"Night...Dad." The boy smiled.
-
Martin walked up to the master bedroom, and saw his girlfriend, Diana, a skinny woman with blue hair with yellow tips and highlights, and magenta eyes, and was wearing her nightgown.
"Hey, baby, why didn't you come back tonight?" Diana questioned, yawning. Martin then explained everything to her. "You took in Alex? But I thought you didn't want him. What made you change your mind?" She wondered.
"I thought since after some thought" He explained. "So I decided to come back because he's my son."
"That was a great thing you did." She smiled.
"Look, we can go shopping with Alex tomorrow." Martin said, yawning. "Night, Honey." He then kissed girlfriend on the forehead.
"That's a good idea. It'll make him feel at home." She slightly blushed. "Goodnight, hon."
-
The next morning, it was only 7:41 AM, and Martin was making eggs, bacon, and some fish-shaped chocolate chip pancakes. Alex woke up to the smell of food. He got out of bed and came downstairs. "Morning." He greeted Martin.
"Have you brushed your teeth in one of the 2 bathrooms?" Martin questioned his son as he finished making breakfast.
"Oops, not yet." Alex went back upstairs to brush, and then came back down.
"Here you go." He gave him his grilled eggs, two pieces of bacon, 3 stacks of pancakes with maple syrup, and milk. Soon Diana woke up, yawning, and went to the kitchen for breakfast "Morning, babe." She said kissing Martin on the cheek.
"Morning, honey." He smiled and kissed her back. "Diana, I'd like you to meet my son, Alex." He gestured to the boy.
"Oh hi, I'm Diana!" She said, happy as she shook his left hand. Then noticed his short right arm "What happened to your arm?"
"Nice to meet you, ma'am." Alex shook her hand. "Oh, this? I've always had it."
"Oh my, great breakfast!" Diana said. "I'll get us some coffee, and by us, I mean you and me, Martin."
"Thanks, honey." Martin said, taking a bite of eggs.
-
After breakfast, they got dressed, got to the car, and went to the shop for making Alex's room.
"So, what kind of stuff are we gonna get?" Alex asked. "Let's go to the bed aisle first!" He said, excitedly for his new room and bathroom.
As they browsed the bed aisle, Alex found bedding with a fish theme. "I like this one."
"Great choice." Diana took the requested shell-shaped, fish-themed bedframe. "How about we add some mattresses for the bed?"
"Actually, Diana, the room is already furnished." Martin replied.
"Right, sorry, I suffer from short-term memory loss." Diana said.
"You mean you always forget stuff?" Alex asked, curious.
"Sometimes." Martin answered. "Do you want anything else from the bed aisle?"
Alex glanced around the aisle again. "Nah, I think that's it."
"Alright," said Martin, knowing that he already got all the stuff from the store needed for his new room, what's next is the bathroom "We need something for your new bathroom." He said, "Let's go to the bathroom aisle."
They soon went to the bathroom aisle and picked the necessary items and a few ocean-themed decorations.
"Anything else from the store?" Diana asked Alex.
"Hmm," Alex took another look around. "I don't think so."
"Now we need to get you new clothes, socks, shoes, and other things for your new bedroom, and some stuff for school." Martin said to Alex.
"Aww, do we have to go clothes shopping?" Alex whined. "That's boring."
"You can get new clothes for you." Diana said. "You've worn the same outfit for a few years after your mother's death."
"I know. That's 'cause it makes me think about her." Alex explained.
"You'll always have her in your heart." Martin said.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Alex agreed.
"Well, then let's go to the clothes aisle." Diana said.
Soon, they went over to the kids' part of the clothes section and picked out some new outfits.
"Thanks a lot, Dad. You too, Diana." Alex said.
-
After they got home, they started decorating and creating Alex's room and bathroom.
"These are some great choices you picked out, son." Martin said, proud.
"Thanks, Dad!" Alex said excitedly.
Diana soon came in and saw the room. "Wow, this looks great."
"Thanks." Martin said. "Now the bathroom."
They began decorating and loading supplies into the bathroom. Alex got the clothes from the store and hung them up in the closet.
"You need some help with those?" Martin asked, remembering his little arm.
"Sure" Alex answered
Martin helped Alex put away the clothes where he couldn't reach.
"Looks like it's done." Diana said as she finished every part of clothing organized in chronological order, and names place on each of them to know where they are.
"I know you're gonna like living here." Martin put his arm around Alex.
"Yep, Dad!" Alex said. "How's the bathroom?"
"It's all set and ready for you, son." Martin replied.
"You're still planning on getting us to the doctor's?" Diana said.
"Do you really think I need to?" He asked.
"We need to see what to do with Alex's arm, and pick up my medication for my short-term memory loss." Diana said. She always has short term memory loss since childhood, even in adulthood when she teaches at marine biology at Pixfare University.
"Oh, yeah. That's right." Martin suddenly remembered.
--
At the doctor's office, Doctor Whale was testing and examining Alex's arm, while Doctor Hudson was doing the same thing with Diana. Martin was in the waiting room, reading his parenting magazine.
"I hope Alex is going to be okay." Martin thought, worried. He hoped that even with his little arm, Alex could be like the other kids.
"Mr. Brooks?" Dr. Hudson called out. "We need to talk about her recent report of Ms. Diana Samson."
Martin stood up and came over. "What's wrong? Is Diana ok?"
Dr. Hudson told Martin about the testing, examination, and how Diana's short-term memory loss has been progressing.
"Oh no. So, you're saying she might get worse?" Martin asked, scared.
"It might." Dr. Hudson replied. "Here's some new medication and recommendation for her short-term memory loss" he handed him a piece of paper.
"Thank you, Doctor." Martin took the paper.
Martin and Diana then got to the waiting room and sat down. A few minutes later, Dr. Whale called Martin.
"How's Alex?" Martin asked worried as he and Diana stood up.
Dr. Whale explained everything to Martin and Diana.
"Oh, my goodness." Diana looked shocked.
"Is there any way we can help him?" Martin asked, concerned.
Dr. Whale began talking about recommendations about his arm and giving him some help on any basic needs.
Martin nodded in agreement. "Thanks a lot, Doctor."
--
When they got home, everybody came out and shouted "Surprise!" with a banner saying 'Welcome "back" to the family, Alex!'
For a moment, Alex was speechless. "Wow. Uh, thanks, everyone." He said, smiling.
"Hey, Alex!" One of his friends and parents said, waving to him.
"Hey!" Alex waved back with his good arm.
"We thought we might make a huge celebration of you being now part of the family." Diana's parents said, who had the same looks as their daughter, but Clements had a bit of a bald spot, and Joanna had shoulder-length hair, a few wrinkles. Both were doctors who knew a lot about mental disorders, but they still loved their daughter no matter what.
"Really? Wow!" Alex said, excited. After being an orphan for so long, it was great to have a family.
"Are you two married yet?" Clements asked his daughter.
Martin and Diana looked at each other, surprised. "No, Dad, we're not." Diana answered.
"Honey, she's right, take it easy." Joanna said. "You can't always rush things."
"Thank you, Mom." Diana said, relieved and glanced at her dad.
The party went on for a couple of hours. Alex soon noticed Hilary and approached her. "Hi, Hilary"
"Hey, Alex!" Hilary waved, with Riley, Melody, Michael, Susan, and Barry.
"What are you guys doing here?" Alex questioned.
"We wanted to be here to celebrate you and your dad finding each other." Hilary explained.
"Well... thanks." Alex said. "You guys wanna see my new room?"
"Sure!" The kids said all together.
The rest of the kids went upstairs to Alex's new bedroom and they were amazed.
"Wow! This looks great." Riley smiled.
The kids and Alex began talking about other things, and then Hilary gave Alex a page from her storybook.
"What's this for?" Alex asked, confused.
"Just open it." Hailey said.
Alex opened it and saw a page with two orange and white clownfish in the ocean. He still looked confused. Alex started having a flash from getting captured by a scuba diver, to getting carried in a bucket by Becky, to holding each other from the purple mist.
"Alex, are you ok?" Melody asked, concerned.
"I was clownfish named Nemo!" Alex said. "Is it ok if I join your group? Diana got me my own laptop and smartphone."
"Of course you can." Hilary nodded. "The more on our team, the better."
The kids started talking about the plan.
"But if Jack is the one to break the curse, what can we do?" Alex wondered.
"We'll see." Hailey said.
-
Meanwhile, with the adults downstairs, they were talking about how they got Alex into the family.
"I'll bet it must be great to have your son back, doesn't it?" Audrey asked Martin.
"Yep. As a teen, me and Elizabeth wanted to have children, but then according to the adoption records, she was a week pregnant when her parents left her and didn't tell me about Alex, till Jack came along." Martin slightly remembered.
"Oh, dear." Audrey felt a little sorry for him. "Well, I think she'd be proud of you for taking Alex in."
"Yeah, maybe next week, I'll visit her grave at the town cemetery." Martin said, then turned to Jack "Thanks for bringing my son back to my life."
"No problem. I couldn't let him end up in the foster care system." Jack smiled.
-
In Alex's room, the kids began exchanging phone numbers, and started naming the chat room 'Operation Cobra for kids only!' And made it a private chat room.
"Which color should the chatroom be?" Hilary questioned.
Speaking at the same time, the other kids gave their suggested color choices.
"How about you click all the colors in two stripes!" Michael suggested. "and our speech bubbles the type of writing styles and our favorite colors?"
"That's a great idea." Melody replied, and the others agreed.
Then Riley and Hillary started making a list of the times and locations they can talk about the plan in private, and the others helped.
"Now remember, none of the adults can know about all this." Hilary advised. "Especially my dad."
The group agreed, nodding their heads.
"So, what's the next part of the plan?" Alex wondered.
Hailey explained the next plan for the mission.
The others nodded in agreement.
-
After a couple of hours passed, it was already 4 PM, and everybody was ready to leave.
"Thanks for coming, everyone." Martin told the guests. "I hope you had a good time."
"And the three of us need to clean ourselves." Diana said. "And help Alex with his bath."
"Do I really need a bath?" Alex whined.
"Yeah, because you haven't had one since your mom died." Martin said, know about his hygiene.
"Ok." Alex gave in, seeing that he had no choice.
-
After a bath, Alex felt clean in his new orange and white striped PJs. "You're right, Dad," Alex said. "I feel so refreshed."
"See, I knew you would." Martin smiled and touched his shoulder.
"You wanna help me with the routine." Alex said.
"Of course. I'd love to." Martin replied, touched.
After they set up a routine schedule for school days, weekends, weekdays, holidays, and rules for the house to pin on the walls next to his bedside, he agreed with the rules.
"You're such a good, kid." Martin said, proud.
"Well, it looks like, it's almost bedtime for him." Diana said. "It's 8:30 PM."
"That's right." Martin agreed. "Especially when you have school."
"Alright, Dad." Alex said as he tried to get himself climb to the bed.
"Here, let me help you." Martin helped Alex get into bed and tucked him in.
"Do I have school tomorrow or not?" Alex said, wondering if he's right about the calendar being Friday or not.
Martin looked at the calendar and saw the date. "I guess not. Looks like today is Friday."
"Thanks, Dad." Alex said. "And thanks for the books you got me."
"No problem, son." Martin said, smiling.
As the door closed, Alex quickly and quietly got his new smartphone, got under the covers, went to chat group named "Operation Cobra Kids", and began texting a 'Hi', with normal, orange-colored font.
The other kids began to sign into the chatroom and message 'Hi's back.
Riley asked. How are you liking your new room, Alex?
He texted back. It's Awesome! BTW how did you guys manage to sneak chat without anyone knowing?
I don't have to sneak around with my parents. Michael replied.
Me neither. Mine are glad that I have friends. Riley added.
Alex then texted back again. I'm so excited for Saturday tomorrow!
The others replied with 'Me too's and 'So am I's.
Alex then replied. I'm just glad to have a comfortable place to live
Hilary texted.That's great :) I'm glad that Jack brought you and your dad together.
--
Martin looked at the picture of him and Elizabeth in their junior year, with a half-smile. "I wish you were here, Liz. Alex is a great kid. We both miss you."
"What are you looking at?" Diana asked, coming in with her pills and water, and in her silky blue leg-length nightgown, and messy bun.
Martin turned to face her. "Oh, hey, hon. It's just an old picture of me and Elizabeth from high school."
"Well, well, well," Diana said, knowing about his past. "Is this Liz?" She pointed at teenage Elizabeth in the picture, who had shoulder-length orange hair with white tips, and blue eyes. She also wore a bright orange tank top, white capris shorts, grey socks, and yellow tennis shoes, and was smiling, showing her colorful braces.
"Yeah." He turned back to the picture. "Alex just reminds me so much of her. He really does look like her, doesn't he?"
"Well, she is." Diana said "This weekend, should we ask the Hernandez Family to help us make a 'dead alter' for Liz?"
"I think that would be nice." He nodded, smiling. "That way she can come to visit us each year. We'll talk to Alex about it tomorrow." Martin said, then kissed Diana on the lips, passionately.
Diana blushed, smiling. "I'm sure he'll like the idea, too. He can always look at it and remember her."
--
In Alex's room, he turned off his phone and began to fall asleep while holding his teddy bear his mother give him years before, fixed by his father, and wrapped up with the same page Hilary give him.