#pickle dad

As the morning turned into afternoon, Lilith had been making a card for Murdoc so they didn’t have to go try and find one. She’d had to restart a few times though, since she misspelled ‘birthday’ and didn’t like her drawing. “How’s it going Lil?” Russel peeked over his shoulder. He was currently making the frosting to put on the cake– trying to make a nice turquoise color was not as easy as it appeared. 

“Almost done!” She finished coloring in the heart she had drawn (with a little help from 2D) and held it up for her uncle to see. 

“Very nice!” Russ gave her a thumbs up, turning back to his still too green frosting. He accidentally squirted more drops of food coloring into the bowl than he wanted because of 2D’s unexpected screaming. Before he could react, Lilith was out of the room, ready to save her other uncle from whatever thing had hurt him.

Turns out, 2D screamed over a slightly-bigger-than-normal spider that ‘came out of nowhere.’ He picked Lilith up so she could reach the bug, letting her pick it up before shooing her toward the door to let it outside. “It’s just a spider, Uncle Stu! Just wants to eat other bad buggies.” She smiled at it before setting it down in the bushes outside the door. 

2D rubbed his hands over his face, shaking off the fright the insect had given him. “Now that it’s gone, ya wouldn’t mind helping me a little more, would ya?” He held up the roll of tape he had been sticking streamers up with. 

After wrapping the presents and decorating the cake, it was time to wait. Something Lilith absolutely hated doing. “Uncle Russsssss,” She whined, pulling on his arm and twisting around on the floor. They had finished setting everything up about 20 minutes ago, Noodle letting them know they would be home soon and that she’d let them know when they were pulling into the driveway. “How much loooonger?” She let go of him, flopping onto the floor in a heap. She had never been a patient child, something she definitely inherited from Murdoc.

“Shouldn’t be much longer.” He checked his phone again, his eyes lighting up when a message from Noodle appeared. “They’re back! Quick, go wait over on the stairs.” He smiled as she dragged 2D with her by the pant leg.

“I’m comin’! No need to drag me like that.” 2D shook his head, smiling at his niece. Out of everyone in the band, Stu was happiest that Lilith came to live with them– she was making Murdoc a *somewhat* better person and for that he was grateful. While she may be a clone of her father, she was much more gentle and kind.

Noodle bit her lip to suppress the grin that so desperately wanted to form on her face as she looked up at the darkened windows of Kong. She turned to see Murdoc flick what was left of his cigarette on the ground, giving her an odd look. “What’s with you?” He raised his eyebrow.

“Oh nothing! I’m just happy to be back. I can finally get some food in me.” She led him up the walkway, choosing to ignore whatever he was mumbling under his breath. She opened up the door, grinning into the darkness.

“What the-? Why’s it so damn dar–” Murdoc’s hand flew in front of his eyes as the lights suddenly turned on, blinding the ever living hell out of him.

“Surprise!” The four of them cheered. Murdoc glanced around to see streamers and balloons hung up around the room and in the kitchen. He grinned at his bandmates and daughter, laughing as she ran to him.

 “Were you surprised?” Lilith smiled, throwing her arms around his neck. He nodded, kissing the side of her head before looking back at the band. 

“You lot did this for little ol’ me?” 

“It wasn’t our idea.” 2D nodded toward Lilith, who hid her blushing in Murdoc’s neck. “Now come on, Russ made food and I can’t wait to eat it anymore.” 

Oh, how badly Noodle wanted to push Murdoc’s face into the cake. Her hand’s twitched as she tried to hold back, wanting him to at least read what it said on top. “Really? ‘You’re old?’” Murdoc chided them and shook his head, grumbling about how he didn’t need to be reminded. 

“I’M DOING IT!” Noodle pushed his head into the cake, laughing as she scurried away from his grasp. Lilith couldn’t help the fits of laughter that fell from her lips as she joined her aunt on the floor, who was holding her stomach from laughing so hard. 2D, who was sat next to Mudz, began to slowly scoot away in fear of his wrath. To everyone’s surprise, Murdoc sat up– frosting covering his face and in his hair– and laughed. He was only laughing because he knew exactly how he was getting Noodle back. Murdoc wiped the frosting from around his eyes, quickly grabbing the woman and running out the back door. Lilith and her uncles watched from the window as Noodle desperately tried to hang onto him, screaming as she was thrown into the pool behind her. 

“Uh-oh.” Lilith ran screaming into the bathroom, knowing she was next. She watched from the crack under the door to see who came up to the door, making sure it wasn’t her father’s boots. Instead, she saw Russel’s sneakers appear. “Password?”

“Bubblegum.” Russel watched her peek outside, making sure it was just him. “Don’t worry– he’s gonna get washed off.” He winked, leading her out to where Mudz was bent over helping Noodle out of the water. Russel picked up the green man, tossing him in.

“What the fuuuuuuuck!” Murdoc screeched as he sank underwater, his middle finger being the first thing to come up.

“This one next!” Lilith pushed a long box across the floor, struggling with the weight. “I picked it out.” She grinned up at her father as she finally got the box in front of him. As he flipped the lid on the box, his eyes landed on a beautiful purple bass. When he picked it up, it glittered in the light and almost seemed to turn black. 

“This is perfect!” Murdoc grabbed his daughter and kissed her cheek, thanking her for the very thoughtful gift. “You did a good job, my little devil.” He looked back down to grab the card that was inside, seeing a picture of the five of them that Lilith had drawn just for him. 

“Ha! My card is better than the one you got, ‘D.” He stuck his tongue out at the singer, who flipped him off.