Have Your Cake, Helga! 🎂 | a Hey Arnold! Fanfic

Chapter 3

"Arnold....Arnold...."

Arnold opened his eyes and was startled to find his parents sitting beside him on the bed, smiling.

"Good morning, Arnold," said Stella.

"Did you sleep well?" asked Miles.

Arnold sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Uh, yeah..." he said. "Is everything alright?"

"We just wanted to be here for you when you woke up," said Miles.

"We made you breakfast," said Stella, lifting a tray. "It's your favourite: puréed peaches. We used to feed these to you all the time."

Not sure how to react, Arnold forced a smile. "Thank you...you really shouldn't have,"

Arnold tried to get out of bed, but Miles had blocked him. "Where are you going?"

"I have to get ready for school," said Arnold. When they both looked at him blankly, he added "That thing I have to go to Monday through Friday, remember?"

Suddenly Miles seemed to remember, and hit his palm to his forehead. "Right – one of these days I won't forget!"

"But at least have some of your breakfast," pleaded Stella. "We made it from scratch!" She used a tiny baby spoon to scoop of the orange mush and raised it towards Arnold's mouth. "Here comes the choo-choo..."

Arnold frowned at the concoction, but when he looked at the faces of his parents they were beaming with joy.

Arnold gulped. "Well...at least no one else will see this," he thought as he reluctantly opened his mouth wide.

Arnold's grandmother had taken to setting up a little garden to the side of Sunset Arms. What was once a grey, dreary space next to Arnold's room full of trashcans had transformed into a bright oasis where people could look forward to picking fresh fruits and vegetables.

In fact, many of the kids of the neighborhood helped Arnold and the boarders to maintain the garden. It had actually evolved into a hangouts of sorts, and many of Arnold's friends could be found there after school.

One of the kids – Brainy - was watering a small patch of the garden as Jiçu watched him longingly. She plucked the petals of a daisy one by one, saying something in her language after each petal (supposedly playing "He loves me, he loves me not").

When she got to the last petal, she grinned and hugged the bare stem of the daisy in ecstasy. She then crept behind Brainy and placed a fresh daisy behind his ear.

"Boo-rainy..." she said affectionately, then speaking some more in her language before kissing him on the cheek. Freaked out, Brainy stood up and tried to get away from Jiçu, who followed in hot pursuit.

Helga, who was walking by on the sidewalk, stopped by the entrance of the garden and scoffed. "So this is where I find you clods? Playing Old MacDonald in a dirt patch?"

"It's actually quite therapeutic," countered Sheena, who was tending to some tomatoes.

"Whatever," said Helga. "Phoebe! I was going to go to store real quick. You comin'?"

Phoebe was trimming a bonsai tree with Gerald. "Actually Helga, she said. "I'm a bit busy at the moment."

Helga was indignant. "Are you kidding me?"

"You know, you could join us, Helga," said Arnold. "We could always use an extra hand. And we...I wouldn't mind your company."

Helga glanced over to Stella and Miles, who were tilling the earth with shovels. She sniffed. "Thanks, but no thanks. Besides, I think I spotted strawberries. I'd rather get through the day without getting stabbed full of epinephrine if that's alright with you."