Pride is not the word I'm looking for, there is so much more inside me now

[gobetween]

The day was sunny and warm without being overbearing, perfect for a new dad to hang out outside with his son. Gobo was currently laying on his stomach in the grass with his arms folded underneath his chin, ankles crossed behind him. In front of him Frizzle was crawling around, pouncing on dandelion puffs. Occasionally he'd try to eat one, but that would get a firm- but gentle -reprimand and, a good-natured Fraggle even at this stage, he'd just go on with his little gamboling around.

Gobo smiled a little wider, resting his head a bit more on his cheek, watching Frizzle track around the sun-kissed hill. What a perfect day.

Comments

[gobetween]

"He's exploring your face." Still, he laughed as he took his son back, and waggled the bottle a little with his other hand.

"You want this, eh? Alright, here you go." There is at least one chair that's free, or it is once Gobo's tail sweeps it, and that's where he's going to park it while Frizzle eagerly suckled away.

[noimpulsecontrol]

"Sure, he's got to start somewhere," Della said cheerily. She crouched down a bit, sort of for comfort, but mostly just to be closer to that little sweetie. She watched Gobo feeding Frizzle for a while, then...

"You're doing a great job, squirt."

[gobetween]

He half-glanced at Della, then smiled and looked back down at Frizzle, who was pawing the bottle as he drank. "Yeah, he's really going to town on it."

[noimpulsecontrol]

Della chuckled a bit. "He is, but I wasn't talking about him, Gobo... I'm so proud of you."

[gobetween]

He blinked as he looked up at her, a bit surprised. Then his cheeks reddened and he cleared his throat, looking down again with a shy smile.

"Eh- thank you."

[noimpulsecontrol]

She smiled and nodded, focusing on Frizzle again if only because her eyes just seemed naturally drawn to the little guy. "You're a hungry little fella, huh? Well, when you're old enough to eat new foods, Granny Duck's going to bring you lots of fresh veggies and yummy berries. Mmhm, would you like that?"

[gobetween]

"Oh he'll love that." He laughed softly, smiling. "I think he tries to eat enough for a whole grown-up sometimes."

[noimpulsecontrol]

"Aw, well, he's a growing little baby boy!" Della pointed out with a giggle. "Gotta get all those nutrients in!"

[gobetween]

"Yeah, exactly." He snickered a bit. "Though if I didn't know any better I'd say he'd figured out how to game the system already and get extra snacks from the others."

[noimpulsecontrol]

"Gaming the system, huh? Have you been leaving him alone with my daughter, because that would be your first mistake," Della offered. "Although who could say no to that little face?"

[gobetween]

"C'mon, at least give me a little credit!" When Frizzle pulled back from the bottle he used his pinky to swipe away a bit at his mouth, then checked the level left. "But not saying no to this face is the problem." He snickered again, then looked down with a smile.

"Think you can finish it? No? Alright. Off we go then." Gobo scooted forward and got up out of the chair, tucking the bottle into an open vest pocket as he held Frizzle against his shoulder on the way back to the kitchen, lightly patting his back.

[noimpulsecontrol]

While the desire to follow Gobo and Frizzle into the kitchen was there, Della was distracted, at first, by a quiet mewing sound. "Aw, hey, girl," she said as Cabbage brushed up against her legs. She scratched the cat beneath her chin for a bit, then finally went to join Gobo in the kitchen.

"How's he doing?"

[gobetween]

"Doing alright!" He had Frizzle in the crook of his arm now, having just finished taking care of him and the remainders of the bottle. Now the little Fraggle was holding onto a chilled rag, mouthing it this way and that, while Gobo's other hand did a final wipe of the counter.

[noimpulsecontrol]

"Is Mokey still doing okay?" she asked, before quickly giving a little laugh. "God, he's so cute... I can't stop looking at him."

[gobetween]

"Yeah, Mokey's fine! Took everything I had to make sure she got a break today, she's been with him almost non-stop otherwise." The laugh in his throat was fond though, as he circled both arms around Frizzle, smiling at him.

"I know whatcha mean, though. I still can't believe this has happened."

[noimpulsecontrol]

"Aw, well, who can blame her?" Della asked, lightly ruffling Gobo's hair again, her gaze still fixed on Frizzle. "Man, just when I thought nothing could be cuter than a Fraggle... Pufflings!"

[gobetween]

He leaned down a little at the ruffle and laughed some. "Yeah, you shoulda seen him when he was first born. He was just a bunch of fuzz; according to Uncle Matt that's about the way I looked when I was this young, too. I guess he must've gotten it from me."

[noimpulsecontrol]

Della smiled a bit, nodding. "That's so cute. You get to hold him pretty much right away, or was that all Mokey? I bet he felt light as a feather..."

[gobetween]

He looked up at her in curiosity. "Oh, don't you know? I delivered him." Pause, light laugh. "Well, Mokey did all the hard work a'course, but everything else was me."

Smiling gently, he reached down and tweaked Frizzle's cheek, which did absolutely nothing to make him pause in glomming that cloth. "I was the first one to technically hold him and you're right, he absolutely was as light as a feather."

[noimpulsecontrol]

"I'm sorry, you what? You delivered him?" Della stared right at Gobo, Frizzle's spell over her attention broken. "You... What?"

And to think she'd been proud before... "How? Why? No, it doesn't mat- Gobo, that's amazing."

[gobetween]

He flushed again and nodded. "Y-yeah, well... I did what I had to do. Mokey's body wasn't ready yet and she was restless, so she decided to take a walk outside. We were too far from the house to hear me when things started happening, and then they happened really quickly. So I took over until the midwife got there."

[noimpulsecontrol]

"But not everyone could have handled that," she breathed out, before leaning down and planting a kiss to the top of his head. "Sorry, I keep messing up your hair," she said, simply because she wasn't sure what else to say. Words couldn't express the fondness she had for him; just as much affection as she held for her own children.

[gobetween]

"Aw, it's alright Della." He was very definitely blushing as he looked up at her, smiling sheepishly. "And besides, I don't think I handled it very well afterward. I fainted for a few minutes there," he added with a soft laugh.

[noimpulsecontrol]

"Gobo, you dummy..." She chuckled weakly. "If I have to bop you on the head, it'll upset Frizzle." She leaned back, taking them both in. "You delivered him... I can't believe it."

[gobetween]

Frizzle blinked up at his name, then went back to his cloth. Hmm. Chewing was becoming boring. Maybe it would be fun to fling it back and forth like a flag? Yeah, there we go.

"Yeah... I did." Gobo watched him play for a few moments, then smiled softly, snugging his arms up more. "You know. That's probably the greatest thing I've ever done, even in all my years of exploring, or helping out everyone at the Rock."