//------------------------------// // Day One With Grampa Gruff // Story: A Happy Family // by ShowShine //------------------------------// Grampa Gruff, Scramble, and Cecilia entered their house, which was completely dark. Gasher was in one of Grampa Gruff's arms, dozing off. Grampa Gruff squinted and patted the wall down. "Where's the light switch?" He asked himself. His claw landed on a switch and he flipped it upward, lighting up the entire room. This was the first time Grampa Gruff had been in there house. For some reason, Spike and Gabby made up reasons for Grampa Gruff to not come to their house. It was like they thought he was a bad influence or something. "You two get ready for bed, it's late." Grampa Gruff instructed. Both girls nodded their heads and went upstairs. Grampa Gruff closed the door behind him. He walked through the living room, looking around. The room was very neat. There was a green couch against the wall and in front of it, there was a black wooden table. On the opposite side of the room, there was a tall bookshelf pressed up against the wall. "At least these two have a good sense of decoration." He half complimented. He entered the kitchen and looked around. There was a white fridge pressed up against the wall. Next to the fridge, there was a door that Grampa Gruff assumed was the basement door. On the other side of the fridge, there was a very clean stove. It was sparkling. It looked like they had cleaned it right before they left. "What weirdo cleans their oven right before they get married?" Grampa Gruff muttered to himself. Next to the stove, there were two white counters and a sink. On the same wall as the sink, there were two large glass doors covered by red curtains. Across from the glass doors, there was a brown wooden table. On the table, there was a large scroll. Grampa Gruff walked over to the scroll and unrolled it. The scroll unrolled all across the kitchen floor and into the living room. On the top of the scroll it read VERY IMPORTANT RULES in bold red letters. Grampa Gruff rolled his eyes and scanned the list. On the very top is said 'Don't swear in front of the children!' Grampa Gruff rolled his eyes and continued to read. "Give Cecilia her medicine at 7:30 every morning and 4:30 every afternoon. She'll get bad stomach aches if she doesn't take it. Sometimes Gasher will climb out of his crib and try to snuggle you while you sleep. Let him do it, he'll throw very bad temper tantrums if you don't let him. Make sure Scramble gets enough sleep if she has a nightmare she'll stay up all night. She will get grumpy and paranoid if she doesn't get enough sleep." Grampa Gruff read out loud. His face screwed up. "How are these kids so high maintenance? They're children, they don't need 'fancy medicine' and 'snuggles'." Grampa Gruff said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. Those were only three rules and he was already exhausted from reading them! Grampa Gruff dropped the list on the table and walked over to the staircase. In front of the stairs, there was a baby gate. "Why is this here?" Grampa Gruff asked bitterly. Scramble poked her head out from the bathroom. "It's the only thing Gasher can't climb!" Scramble explained before going back into the bathroom. Grampa Gruff let out a grumble and flew over the baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. He landed at the top of the stairs and looked down the hallway. At the end of the hallway, there was an open bedroom door. He could tell it was Spike and Gabby's room. He walked down the hallway, adjusting Gasher in his arm. Grampa Gruff entered the bedroom and flipped on the light. In the middle of the room, there was a queen-sized bed with a brown headboard and a dark blue blanket on it. There were two large fluffy pillows were laying on the bed. Next to the bed, there was a brown nightstand with a black digital clock on it. Not too far from the bed, there was an old white crib. Grampa Gruff walked over to the crib and placed his grandson in it. Gasher cuddled into his blanket and let out a soft snore. Grampa Gruff backed out of the room, making sure not to wake him up. Once he was out of the room, he turned around and walked down the hallway. "Are you two ready for bed?" Grampa Gruff asked, standing outside the bathroom door. Cecilia stood on a stool in front of the sink, brushing her teeth. She wore a baggy purple t-shirt with holes in it and yellow words on the front. It was a t-shirt for an old rock band. Scramble sat in the empty bathtub, watching her sister. She wore pink hoovsie pajamas with yellow and blue hearts. "I'm ready for bed." Scramble said, hopping out of the tub. Cecilia spit into the sink and placed her toothbrush in a cup. "Done!" Cecilia said, hopping off of the stool. "Good, now go to bed." He instructed. Both girls nodded and walked out of the bathroom. "Goodnight Cecilia." Scramble said with a wave. Cecilia waved back. "Goodnight Scramble." Cecilia said, walking over to the stairs. Grampa Gruff gave Cecilia a look of confusion. "Where are you going? All of the rooms are up here." Grampa Gruff said rather loudly, making Cecilia jump. She turned around to face her grandfather. "My room is in the basement," Cecilia said in a soft whisper. Since this was the first time she was alone with Grampa Gruff and she was terrified of strangers. Her tail was between her legs and she was shaking. "I'm going to bed now." She said in a whisper. She opened the baby gate and walked down the stairs. Grampa Gruff gave a confused look. "What a weird kid." He muttered to himself. He turned around and walked down the hallway to Spike and Gabby's room. He looked into Scrambles' room. She was sitting up in bed, kissing each stuffed animal on the head. "Goodnight Commander Butterfly, goodnight Mr. Bat, goodnight Mrs. Moth, goodnight..." Scrambles voice got quieter as Grampa Gruff walked away from the door. He entered the main bedroom and crawled into bed. He wrapped himself in the blanket and instantly drifted to sleep. "Grampa Gruff." A small voice whispered, nudging his shoulder. Grampa Gruff let out a soft groan and waved his claw at the noise. He got nudged again, making him sit up in annoyance. He opened his eyes to see Scramble sitting next to him on the bed. She had tears in her eyes and on her cheeks. Her ears were flat and she held Meeko tightly in her arms. Her breaths were fast and she looked frightened. "I had a nightmare." Scramble said quietly. Grampa Gruff gave a sympathetic look. He patted next to him in bed, gesturing for Scramble to come closer. She walked across the bed and sat next to her grandfather, looking up at him. "Nightmares can be scary but there are scarier things in real life so why worry about nightmares? Your parents could leave you and never come back, you could get hit by a train, your siblings can get poisoned. Don't worry about the nightmares kiddo. Goodnight." Grampa Gruff said comfortingly before laying back down and instantly falling asleep. Scramble stared at her grandfather would even wider eyes. Those were not comforting words. She definitely wasn't getting any sleep that night. Grampa Gruff walked down the stairs, yawning into his claw. He had slept until ten in the morning. He walked in the living room to see Scramble building a pillow fort around her siblings. She was muttering stuff under her breath. "What are you doing?" Grampa Gruff asked. Scramble whipped her head around to reveal she had heavy bags under her eyes. She looked terrified. "I'm protecting Gasher and Cecilia, I don't want them to get hurt." Scramble stated, placing another pillow on the top of the fort. The fort fell over, making couch cushions and pillows fall all over the floor. Scramble quickly rushed over to pick them up. Grampa Gruff looked over at Gasher who was aggressively chewing on a teething ring. Cecilia sat on the floor with her back pressed up against the couch. She clutched her stomach and let out whimpers. Her eyes were shut tightly and she looked as if she was in pain. Grampa Gruff's eyes widened. He had forgotten to give her her medicine. He walked over to Cecilia, reaching his claw out. "Come on kid, let's go find your medicine." Grampa Gruff said. Right before he could touch Cecilia, a purple and blue bubble surrounded Cecilia and Gasher. Scramble crawled up the side of the bubble and glared and Grampa Gruff, her horn glowing brightly. "Do not touch them." Scramble said in a cold voice. "Scramble, I know you want to protect your siblings but Cecilia is hurt and I need to give her medicine." He explained. Scramble opened her wings her horn glowed brighter. She stood on top of the bubble in a defensive stance "If you want to touch them then you're going to have to kill me." Scramble said with a snarl. His eyes widened. Grampa Gruff had made a terrible terrible mistake.