#really bittersweet

"So... We now have Gigi... And you two just wanted to bring her over here while we were sleeping for what reason?" Sprout asked that morning, his tail flicking as he gave the two half awake lesbians on the couch a death glare, not even looking at the very concerned swissroll beside him when he took his arm in his hands and held it close.

"The light makes my head throb bro... I can't stand it!" Gigi admitted quietly from her spot on the floor, being a curled up little ball in the blanket nest Gi had set up for her to rest in that night. Gi just slowly nodded before yawning loudly, rubbing her eyes as she tried to stay awake for the conversation. Vivi, who was beside her, was definitely more asleep than awake at this point, slouched back into the couch cushions and resting her monitor on the back of the couch, eyes closed and breathing very slowed. Gi wished she could join her, but she was currently way too focused on the very obviously pissed berry in front of her to even think about sleeping at the moment.

"Plus... You were mama's friend... I thought you would've... Been happy to see mama again..." Gi quietly pointed out, wincing when Sprout's tail just flicked again.

"I mean, yeah I love Gigi, she's an amazing friend and everything but you can't just take toons out of Gardenview without saying anything!"

"Sprout you literally did that with me."

"Well I asked Sam-"

"You also took me home without asking either." Gi pointed out.

"Well you were a special case, you were injured and alone and-"

"Sprout, buddy, as much as we love you, I think you're going a little insane right now." Gigi pointed out quietly as she slowly managed to get up, stumbling a little as she was still adjusting to being able to even do such a thing, but she soon was up and she gently walked over and put her arm around him with a soft smile.

"Berry bro, you were like, my best friend, besides uh- Vivi was it now queen?" Gigi paused as she looked at Gi, who nodded slowly as Vivi loudly snored, which made the gachapon nod right back. "Thanks kiddo, anywho, we were all like, besties dude, and yeah I did steal your cookie cutters and that one really pretty rolling pin-"

"I fucking knew it..."

"-It doesn't mean we can't still be besties, amigo! We all mean a lot to each other now, we gotta stick together, especially for the kid... I..." She paused again, looking over at Gi as she teared up a bit. "I just wanna be there for my kid, Sprout. I know I'm not gonna be the best mom, I know I'm gonna mess up and I'm gonna let them down, but... Dude, we both care a lot about her, and..."

"No, I get it, I'm sure they're the reason you're actually up and about and-" Sprout paused himself when he heard a sniff, and soon looked down over at the newcomer as she genuinely started crying over how much the clone of- herself- meant to her. He immediately looked at Gi, who was also sleepily in tears and covering her mouth so she didn't cry, then he nodded as he nudged Gigi towards the couch gently. Gigi immediately took the hint and, as quickly as someone relearning how to walk could, sprinted over and sat down beside her baby. The two immediately were hugging, Gigi holding Gi as close as physically possible while rubbing her head softly, which made Sprout's worries ease up a bit as he let out a sigh and looked at Cosmo.

"What do you say, Cossie?"

"They do look like mom and daughter."

"No- No about Gigi staying with us, though... You are completely right about that."

"I don't think I'm the one you should be asking... I don't really have a say in any of these things, I-I'm just- kinda here!" Cosmo admitted, shrugging as he watched the two gachapons, watching as Gi slowly drifted off in her mom's arms and relax against her. Watching as Gigi gave her whispered reassurances, gentle mom kisses on the top of her head, staring down at the sleepy bean like she was her entire world.

Like a single mother would for their baby.

Cosmo slowly blinked as he slowly lifted his hand up and touched the ichor stained part of his face, thinking as he watched Gi slump over and finally let herself pass out against her mama, watching Gigi's expression as she tried desperately not to laugh at how exhaustedly adorable Gi was. She was smiling and definitely really happy sure, but he could tell she was also in pain, as she had that same look in her eyes he did when he was hiding his own chronic pain. The look of slight discomfort, the watery-ness of it, the way she frowned slightly in her smile. He knew they weren't much different at all... He knew he had to say something, maybe offer some help, maybe... Make her feel like she wasn't alone, as she wasn't, and neither was he anymore.

"Gigi... I do want to ask... Does, does it hurt for you too?" Cosmo quietly asked as he slowly approached, getting the attention of the other, but she just gently put a hand to his mouth with a worried mom smile.

"Shhhhh... She's finally sleeping... She hasn't slept in a few days, but yeah, my head does hurt a bit. It's worth it though." Gigi whispered, patting Gi's back softly as she spoke so softly, so carefully. She soon turned back to the sleeping baby and kissed her on the top of the head again, whispering soft reassurances to her as she moved her hand away from Cosmo and instead rubbed her daughter's head softly again. Gi just made a sound of a relaxed sigh mixed with a heavy snore, nuzzling her face deeper into the dark blue fabric of her mom's turtleneck sweater as she slept peacefully for the first time in a bit, if her eyebags had anything to say about it.

"Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you two, I just, I have constant pain in my arm and head too, and I was wondering if... You'd like me to help you with that?" Cosmo whispered after a bit of watching the two, being careful not to accidentally wake up Gi and potentially make Gigi pissed off, though he was surprised to learn that Gigi wouldn't have been pissed anyways. She just turned back to him curiously, her half red-half gold eyes shining with a mix of her old mischief and the newfound parental love she found in the little clone sleeping soundly in her arms right now.

"You mean those really good healing cookies you used to make, brownie man?" Gigi hushedly asked with a huge smile, doing her absolute best to keep her voice down despite the excitement she felt towards the idea of enjoying something old and comforting. Cosmo smiled right back at her, though he did tense when he noticed that she still had a third hand in her head.

"Uh-"

"Oh, heh, yeah, that's Kiki, shes my third hand, she don't bite." Gigi hushedly informed him, making Cosmo squint.

"You... Named your ichor hand... Kiki?"

"Gi said it was a great name."

"Gi also named herself half of your name, named Vivi after the fact she's Vee Version Two, aka 'Vee-Vee', and constantly calls you mama because it's repeated like your actual name." Sprout pointed out as he plopped down in his usual chair, curling right up as he always did, looking right out the front window - as he always did. Gigi looked at him, then at Gi, who just murmured some nonsense in her sleep before loudly sneezing into her mom's chest, then she looked back at Cosmo.

"Is it bad that I didn't even notice that?" Gigi whispered, looking a bit concerned now as Gi just sniffled quietly in her sleep, then mumbled what was definitely supposed to be 'I love you mama' but instead sounded like she said 'I wuv woo mwahmwah', but nobody cared. Nobody commented on it, nobody even acted like they heard her, even though Gigi's soft smile made it clear she heard it. Cosmo was smiling right with her, knowing that, even if he had no idea how it felt- it must've been an amazing experience, and just seeing that excitedly proud look in Gigi's eyes now made it really hard for him not to smile with her. They were adorable... They genuinely did seem like they were family, despite the weirdness of adopting a clone of yourself as your daughter.

It was probably the least confusing part of their weirdass found family if they're going to be honest with each other here.

"We witness a lot of weird things Gigi, I don't think anyone's judging you for not realizing your daughter names things like a two year old does." Cosmo whispered in reply, getting a chuckle and nod from Gigi.

"So I've heard... She likes talking about you guys... She'd sit down by the elevator with me and rub my back softly and tell me everything... Tell me what you guys did with her that week, how many chocolate bars she got from strangers, how you guys, Vee and Shelly were doing. She always counted how many pancakes you'd make and steal just enough for you to not notice, and we'd eat them together as she sat me against the wall. She'd tell so many stories... I'd sometimes fall asleep on her lap, and when I woke up, she'd still be going on about how much you guys meant to her. She's been wanting this for so long... She must've gotten so excited she couldn't sleep when I finally taught myself how to stand up again." Gigi whispered softly, watching Gi the entire time, watching the slightly smaller gachapon's soft sleep and listening to her every snore. Cosmo just listened as well, now sitting on the couch beside her, watching as she fought back so many emotions at the memories of slowly feeling better as she always listened to the other ramble about the outside world to her.

"She never once thought... I'd be here, you know..?"

"Yeah..."

"And she never once judged me whenever I threw up ichor or... Or had a crying fit because everything hurt too much..."

"Sprout was the exact same for me, I understand completely, Gigi."

"Yeah my head hurts but..."

"But we're here together, and we'll be here through every rough day along with the good days." Cosmo softly finished for her, holding out his hand for the other. His clawed hand. The one he never let anyone touch in fear of hurting them. Gigi smiled as she used her own ichor hand to slowly grab his, tears running down both of their faces now, but they were both smiling like absolute idiots at the thought of them never being alone again.

"I guess this is just an us thing..."

"Yeah, we're the only two who went through this, but... That doesn't mean they won't try to understand and help out. Oh, wait, I was- oh sorry Gigi I'll get the medicine I was talking about earlier, the stuff that helps with my own headaches." Cosmo whispered, but the two didn't let go just yet. Gigi specifically didn't. She just held onto his hand tight, looking at the claw of his hand in thought.

"Vivi gave you a star bracelet too?"

"Oh- uh, yeah, she makes them a lot ac- Gigi you're not taking mine." Cosmo stated flatly, getting a good laugh out of the gachapon as she let go of his hand.

"I'm a changed woman, I won't steal... Much."

"Gigi..."

"Cosmo~"

"Don't make the same mistake Gi did now, you're supposed to be a role model. That's part of being a mom."

"I won't eat the whole batch of cookies... Mweh."

Cosmo just sighed at that, shaking his head as he slowly got up again, though the two immediately froze when Gi slowly opened one of her eyes and looked over at him.

"Cosmo..?"

"Yeah, I'm here Gi, what's up?"

"Save me a cookie... I'm hungry..." Gi mumbled as she snuggled right back up against her mama, let out a massive yawn, and soon was out cold again in a matter of seconds. Gigi just looked at Cosmo, who just smiled even wider, no longer caring if his sharpened teeth from being a twisted showed.

"We have a cookie or a muffin after breakfast, it's something that motivates Gi to actually eat the fruit we try to make sure everytoon eats with every meal."

"Smart... You will save her a cookie though, right?"

"We'll have plenty Gigi, she will absolutely get a cookie when she wakes up if you don't eat them all, goofball." Cosmo softly reassured, though before he moved to get the medicine for the both of them, he simply held out his arms. Gigi just leaned in, and soon the two were hugging it out.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too, you sweet swissroll of love and whimsy."

"I missed your nonsensical nicknames too..."

After a good minute, the two let go of each other, and Cosmo just walked off to go get the pain relief while Gigi went right back to tending to her sleeping baby. She was right back to whispering soft and loving words to her daughter, rubbing her back slowly and carefully and giving her all the gentle love and motherly kisses on the top of her head that she could offer. Sprout just watched, silent, protective of Gi but also trusting Gigi, obviously just wanting what was best for the little chaos entity that mattered to the entire household while being cautious of the new person around them.

Though the more Gigi said I love you to her daughter, the more he believed her.

All until he finally gave in, giving in all because Gigi had done something she's never done before in her entire life up until that point.

She had split a cookie in half and woken Gi up just to help her eat her half, just to make sure she was at least slightly fed, even though they had reassured her that Gi would have plenty of them when she woke up.

"Welcome to the family Gigi, just don't steal too much, okay?" Sprout suddenly spoke up when Gi was fast asleep again, the only thing proving that Gigi had even split the cookie now being the slight crumbs on Gi's yellow jacket. Gigi looked over at him, then just flashed him a chaotic smile, patting Gi on the head slightly as she relaxed.

"No promises, Berry Bro."

"Gigi..."

"You know I don't like making promises." Gigi pointed out, then she looked down at Gi again, then at Sprout. Sprout just chuckled, nodding as he smiled and looked back out the window, relaxing a bit himself as he sipped his coffee slowly.

"Oh I know, you're just fun to mess with. Let's be honest though... There's one promise you'll never break, Gigi."

Gigi paused at that, her eyes widening at the idea of her making a promise she didn't even know about, having not even the slightest clue what he could even be going on about right now. She then looked down and it immediately clicked...

She had silently promised to protect Gi and keep her safe, and she had been doing exactly that this entire time.

Since she first saw her actually gain sentience, she had been right there, protecting her, making sure she was safe, keeping her fed and warm and as happy as she could. She didn't just slowly regain herself for her own sake... She did it for the sleeping toon tight in her arms, now wrapped up in a fuzzy red blanket that Cosmo had brought over just for her. She did it all just to help her daughter get better, to help her feel safe in a world that wasn't safe for her, to keep her baby as healthy and happy as she could be.

"You're right..." Gigi whispered, smiling as she teared up and gently brushed a little bit of blanket away from Gi's face, studying her sleepily calm expression as she kept taking her much needed nap.

"I promised myself I'd always be right there for her... And I'm not breaking that promise, even if I never liked making promises. She's the only exception..."

"You're a great mom, Gigi."