//------------------------------// // Full Family // Story: Fatherly instincts // by ShowShine //------------------------------// Spike walked through town, pushing Scramble in her stroller. She looked around excitedly, wondering where she and her father were going. Spikes job had shutdown for a few weeks due to a termite infestation. He would be getting paid days off. There was no point of putting Scramble in school if he wasn’t at work. “Aren’t you excited to meet Gabby?” Spike asked. Scramble let out a loud happy yell and clapped her hooves together. She loved meeting new people. Spike entered the post office and stood close to the wall. He took Scramble out of her stroller and held her in his arms. “You’re adorable.” Spike said as he booped Scramble on the nose. Scramble grabbed onto his finger and giggled. “Spike!” A voice exclaimed from behind him, making him turn around. Gabby flew towards him with a large grin on her face. Spike smiled and waved to her. “Hi Gabby, it’s nice to see you again!” Spike said, pulling her into a hug. Gabby hugged him back tightly and looked at the baby in his arms. “Is this Scramble? She’s adorable just like you said!” Gabby said as she took Scramble out of Spikes arms. Scramble let out a laugh and put her tiny hooves on Gabby’s beak. “Can I hold her during my route? She’s just soo adorable!” Gabby asked. Spike chuckled. “She seems to like you so sure! She loves people but doesn’t really like being held by anyone but me, she must really like you.” Spike stated. Gabby played with Scrambles hooves before holding her in one of her arms. “Let’s go, I don’t have that many letters to deliver. When I’m done we can hang out until sunset.” Gabby stated as she started to fly out of the post office. Spike followed her, pushing the stroller. Scramble babbled to Gabby, already liking her. Gabby approached Gallus and reached into her saddlebag, pulling out a letter. “Here you go, Grandpa Gruff wanted me to give this to you.” Gabby said as she handed a wrinkled envelope with stains on it to him. “Gee thanks.” Gallus said sarcastically as he held the envelope. Gabby rummaged through her saddlebag and pulled out a camera. “Can you take a picture of us?” Gabby asked. Gallus nodded and held the camera up to his eye. Spike stood next to Gabby and they both smiled. Scramble threw her hooves up into the air happily. Gallus snapped the picture, handed Gabby the camera and walked away. A picture came out of the bottom and Gabby picked it up. “I want to started a photo album and this is the perfect start!” Gabby said happily, slipping the photo into her bag. She pulled out two envelopes. “Now all I have to do is send these letters to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie and we can go do something together.” Gabby said with a smile. Spike thought for a moment. “How about we go get ice cream from the ice cream parlor, I can feed Scramble there.” Spike suggested. Gabby nodded her head. “That sounds good, there isn’t any good ice cream in Griffonstone. It’ll be nice to get some that’s good.” Gabby stated. Spike smiled. “Perfect.” Spike and Gabby entered the ice cream parlor and sat at a table near a window in the back of the store. The store was almost empty besides Lyra and Bon Bon sitting in the front of the store. It had taken them longer than they expected to deliver those letters because Gabby insisted on chasing down Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie to give them their letters. It would’ve been easier to just put the letters in the mailbox. It had taken them at least four hours to slow them down. The good news was that Scramble loved being carried by Gabby all day. “I’ll go get Scramble a high chair.” Gabby said as she put Scramble into Spike’s arms. As Gabby started to walk away, Scramble let out a whimper. “Mama!” Scramble exclaimed in a panic. Spike and Gabby froze in shock at what they heard. Scramble flew out of Spikes arms and cuddled Gabby’s arm. “Mama.” She said with a smile. Gabby grabbed a high chair and placed it next to the table before sitting down, still in shock. “She’s never called anyone that before. She doesn’t really have a mother figure so I guess she thinks your her mom. You give her more affection than any other girl she knows.” Spike explained, breaking the silence. Gabby let out a laugh. “I’m fine with being her mom, she seems to like me.” Gabby said as she placed Scramble in her high chair. Spike smiled and pulled out a small container of strawberry baby food and a small pink spoon. “I’ll feed her, you can go get us ice cream.” Gabby said as she took the container from his hands. Spike hopped out of his seat and walked up to the front counter. Gabby looked at Scramble, who was smiling happily at her mother. “Open wide!” Gabby said in a singsong voice as she put a spoonful of food into Scrambles mouth. She chewed loudly, smacking her lips. Gabby never told anyone but she had developed a small crush on Spike when they became pen pals. She wanted to get closer to him and Scramble was a perfect opportunity to do that. “Here you go.” Spike said as he handed her a mint chocolate cone. Spike had a chocolate cone. “Thanks.” Gabby said before she took a lick of her ice cream. Scramble finished off her food by herself, happily enjoying the presents of both of her parents. She happily danced in her seat and looked over to Spike. “Daddy play?” Scramble asked. Spike looked at Scramble with a smile on his face. “We can go to the playground when we’re finished with our ice cream.” Spike said. Scramble pouted and gave her father puppy dog eyes. “We can go now, just look at her face.” Gabby pointed out. Scramble continued to pout, kicking her hooves a bit. Spike chuckled. “Okay let’s go.” Spike said as he unstrapped Scramble from her high chair. Scramble let out a loud cheer of excitement as she got sat down in her stroller. Gabby laughed and walked behind the stroller. “I’ll push it, your arms seem tired from pushing it all day.” Gabby said. Spike nodded his head. “Yeah, they’re tired cause I was digging wholes and swinging a pickaxe all last week.” Spike explained. Gabby looked at his arms to see that he had a bit of muscle showing up. Spike looked at her, making Gabby turn away quickly. “Let’s go!” Gabby exclaimed excitedly before pushing the stroller out of the ice cream parlor. Spike flew close behind, realizing that he was the only one who knew his way to the playground. Spike, Gabby, and Scramble entered a completely empty playground. It was still school hours so all of the children were still in school. “What do you wanna do raspberry?” Spike asked, crouching down in front of the stroller. “Swing!” Scramble exclaimed, throwing her hooves up into the air. Spike let out a laugh and took her out of the stroller. He placed her in the swing and started to push it, making her, making Scramble laugh happily. Gabby chuckled at the display and pulled out her camera, snapping a picture. “Mama swing!” Scramble commanded. Gabby walked over to the swing and started to push Scramble. Spike grinned happily. It felt so nice to see Scramble have a mother figure in her life. Gabby was perfect for that job too. She was sweet, kind, caring, tender, and beautiful! Spike could feel his cheeks go red at that last part. “You’re so adorable!” Gabby gushed as she continued to push Scramble on the swing. Scramble let out a mix of a yawn and a laugh. Gabby stopped pushing the swing and looked at Scramble. “The swing always makes her sleepy.” Spike explained. He walked over to the swing and picked Scramble up, holding her close to his chest. She closed her eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep after her long day. “The sun is about to set, I need to go.” Gabby said before hugging Spike. “Before you go, I need to ask you something.” Spike said. Gabby tilted her head. “What is it?” She asked. Spike exhaled shakily and twiddled his fingers a bit. “Do you wanna go out sometime, just the two of us?” Spike asked nervously. Gabby broke out into a grin. “I would love to.”