A Helping Hand (Doug X Reader)

(Name) was in outside tending to her pets, a Mamadoodle and her baby Cluckadoodles that were all huddled around her. She was brushing through her feathers gently while she rested. "There there, you're doing a great job of being a mother." She smiled softly and  put the brush away. "Now I just gotta get some fodder and tend to the garden so I can get you all fed." She stretched her arms in the air and walked out of the barn. She would have a busy day ahead of her with all the crops she decided to grow, but at least she wouldn't run out of food any time soon.

She put on her gardening gloves and grabbed her water pot from the ground beside her. She knelt down to the ground to water some of the plants that were still in bloom. She turned her head when she heard footsteps coming from the entrance to her farm. She found Doug approaching her with a box filled with many different vegetable seeds. “Good morning, Doug,” (Name) said. “What brings you here?”

“Hey, (Name),” Doug said as he sat the box of seeds on the ground. “I came to deliver these seeds to you. Granny Blossom thought you could use them since they were just lying around and not being bought. She didn’t want them to go to waste.”

“Aww that was sweet of her. Thank you for bringing them to me, and tell her I said thank you for letting me have them.”

“No problem.” Doug looked around at her field full of newly grown crops and at the crops that were still growing in other parts of her farm. “Wow, there’s a lot of them. You must’ve worked hard to take care of all these plants. They look amazing.”

(Name) smiled softly as she put of few of the fully grown fruits and vegetables in a basket. “Yeah, it takes a long time for them to grow to perfection. But it’s worth it when I finally get to harvest them.”

“I bet.” Doug grinned and knelt down next to her. “I can help you out if you want. This is a lot of work to handle by yourself.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” (Name) said. “It’s a lot of work and you work so hard at the general store already.”

“I’ll be fine. I want to do it.” Doug started helping her harvest the fully grown crops nearby. “Besides, it’ll be nice to work in the garden for a change.” He helped (Name) store the crops in the basket she had set out and took the water pot. “I’ll water some of the plants over there,” he said while pointing to the edge of the farm.

(Name) nodded and headed back to the barn to search for her hoe and sickle. “Just be careful not to water them too little or too much.”

“Got it!” Doug knelt down and watered the blooming fruits and vegetables while (Name) set to work on cutting some of the weeds growing near the crops and tilling the empty spaces of soil to make an area to plant new seeds.

~*~

By the time Doug and (Name) had finished, they were worn out from almost a day’s worth of work. Nevertheless, they both seemed to be enjoying themselves in the field. Doug stopped to catch his breath and wipe the sweat away from his forehead. “You’re right, that was a lot of work.”

“Definitely.” (Name) stashed her equipment away and removed her gloves. “But it was fun, and we finished earlier than I expected we would. I guess it’s wasn’t so bad to have a helping hand.”

Doug smiled and stretched his arms in the air. “Yeah it was fun, too. I was glad to help.”

(Name) smiled back at him. “Come inside and wash up, and I’ll make something to eat. I have the ingredients to make a tempura bowl.”

“Say no more.” Doug’s smile widened with excitement as he started to head inside. “Thanks, (Name)!”

“I’m the one who should be thanking you, Doug.” (Name) snickered silently and followed him inside to get her hands and face washed so she could prepare dinner; and once again, (Name) found herself being helped by Doug, this time with making dinner. Oh well, no room for complaints as long as she had a helping hand by her side. Especially someone who loved tempura as much as he did and was grinning the whole time while helping her make it. She set aside some sardines for Miss Blossom as well and wrapped the food up for Doug to take with him.

“Thanks again for the food, (Name)!” Doug waved as he started heading back to the general store.

“Thank you for all the help!” (Name) smiled and waved back at him and watched him leave before heading back inside to get some rest.