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.

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[noimpulsecontrol]

Della stood a bit away for the moment. She wasn't sure if Gobo had heard her approaching, but really, she didn't expect him to with such a cute, sweet sight demanding his full attention. It was hard to say, really, what filled her heart more - seeing little Frizzle explore his new world, or seeing Gobo fall so well into the role of dad.

She was so proud of both of them.

A light cough from Della, after a good amount of time just spent watching the two, and Frizzle looked over, babbling happily when he saw her.

[gobetween]

His tail curled up above him at the cough and he lifted his head to look around at her. Smiling, he sat up and brushed the grass off his front.

"Hi, Della! It's nice to see you."

[noimpulsecontrol]

Della nodded in initial response, she just... Needed a minute to find words. Her throat felt a little tight, in a happy way. While she got herself together, Frizzle crawled over to his dad, plopping down beside him. Della laughed a bit at that, which seemed to break her spell of silents.

"Hey, guys. How've things been?"

[gobetween]

He looked down at Frizzle, then smiled and ruffled his hair gently, which did double duty of clearing some dandelion seeds out of it.

"Been alright, out here getting some fresh air. Somebody had a cold a few days ago." He laughed gently, and smiled back up at Della. "How about you?"

[noimpulsecontrol]

Della smiled from Frizzle to Gobo and back. "Were you a good patient for your dad?" she asked softly, earning more pleased babbling from the Puffling. Then, she shot a sly smirk Gobo's way. "You know, he's a pretty bad one, himself."

[gobetween]

He mock-whined, looking up at her. "Once!" At a look he received, he leaned back a bit. "Twice?" With the continued look, he smiled sheepishly. "...Alright, but I'm trying to get better about it."

He laughed then, and scooped Frizzle up, at least partly because he was trying to graze. "Iiiii think I have to feed him. Wanna come inside with us?"

[noimpulsecontrol]

Della grinned at that, ruffling Gobo's hair as he, himself, had done with Frizzle just a moment ago. In response to the question, she nodded.

"I'd be happy to."

[gobetween]

He snickered at that and shook his head some, re-ruffling his hair. Then he walked back down the hill and around into Fraggle Home itself which, once inside, was.. the typical sort of chaos you might expect for a home with a baby in it. And Red Fraggle.

"If you can find somewhere to sit, go for it." A laugh through his snout. "I'll just take a minute to get his food ready."

[noimpulsecontrol]

"Do you want me to hold him while you do that?" Della asked hopefully. "I held Jewel and the twins when they were babies." The added layer of 'but I never got to hold my own children as babies,' well, that didn't need to be discussed just now. This was a happy day.

[gobetween]

He smiled at her and nodded, walking over to pass the baby into her arms. "Sure, that'd give me an extra hand. Thanks!" As he turned to go into the kitchen area, "He's squirmy though, be careful."

[noimpulsecontrol]

Della smiled softly and nodded. "Of course."

She carefully held Frizzle - he was a squirmy little guy. Gosh. Fortunately, he was also a very little guy, so she was able to keep him properly supported. With a burst of giggles, Frizzle pawed at her beak. That was a funny kind of face!

[gobetween]

Meanwhile he busied himself in the kitchen, humming a light song under his breath. The bottle would take a little while to warm up, so he also fixed himself and Della a little snack at the same time, and just for doing so's sake even added a little carved radish flower to the saucer to eat up a little more time.

Bringing the saucer and the bottle into the other room, he held up the former. "Trade you." Then he snickered some, raising an eyebrow. "Frizz, what're you doing?"

[noimpulsecontrol]

Frizzle looked over to Gobo - oh, he knew what that bottle meant, and made an eager noise in response to seeing it. Della, meanwhile, giggled, craning her neck up so her beak was out of Frizzle's reach.

"He's exploring his surroundings, Gobo. I'm surprised you didn't recognize that," she teased.

[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?"