So first WiR fic -yay! I've gone back and forth about posting this one, since I'm REALLY not sure that I have a good handle on writing the characters, especially Calhoun. I figured I might as well...I'm usually my absolute worst critic! I sort of got inspired to write this after reading 9r7g5h's fic Distress (which is GREAT, everyone go read, but keep Kleenex handy!..and read her other stories while you're at it!). Well, once that plot bunny got in my head, I really just had to do something with it so here it is! Hope you guys like it :)
Oh, and a quick note - the italicized parts are the past (which is most of the story), and everything else in in the present.
Disclaimer: Disney owns WiR, I do not...sadly.
Fix-It Felix sat up in his penthouse, admiring his sleeping baby daughter. She was as perfect as he could have ever imagined, what with that adorable tuft of light brown hair on her head, those giant blue eyes, and what he could already tell would be a cheerful disposition. Yes indeed, she was perfect and this moment should have been perfect as well. However, there was one glaring thing missing – the little girl's mother.
When Tamora had told Felix that she was pregnant, he hadn't been entirely sure how to react. Oh, was he ever excited to hear the news, as he adored children and had only ever hoped that he would get a chance to become a father someday. On the other hand, he realized in the back of his mind that there were huge uncertainties in their situation. Pregnancy wasn't something that happened often among arcade characters. Usually that would only occur when two characters, almost always from the same game, were programmed to have a child. Also, that child would normally have a designated game to go to in the future. That had been the case with Felix's parents. Never before in the history of the arcade had two characters from two completely different games managed to conceive, as it very much went against the programming. Because children always seemed like such impossibility, Felix and his wife had rarely ever discussed the subject. There had been one occasion when they had both expressed the desire to be parents, but they quickly realized that they needed to push that idea out of their minds. It simply wasn't going to happen…but then, it did. Felix would never forget the day that all his impossible dreams seemed to be coming true.
"Tammy, are you home yet?" Felix called as he entered the home he'd built for himself and his wife in Fix-It Felix Jr. after they'd gotten married. He had spent the evening with Ralph and Vanellope while Tamora had been in Hero's Duty, running drills with her men. Felix had been a little concerned, as she had seemed distant that morning. It was as if her mind was elsewhere.
"In here, Fix-It!" she called from the bathroom.
"Everything ok, sweetheart?"
"Yeah…um…Felix, can you come here a minute?" He immediately headed towards Tamora's voice, becoming worried. She hardly ever called him by his first name, only when she needed to tell him something serious. When he arrived at her side, he found her standing at the bathroom counters, staring at something laying on the surface.
"Tammy, what are you…" Felix didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before he joined his wife's shocked silence. Staring at them from the counter were three white sticks, all with small yet glaring plus signs on them. Neither Felix nor Tamora said anything for a few moments. Finally, Tamora spoke up.
"I've been feeling off for the last week or so, so I snuck these from the Hero's Duty medic's office after the arcade closed."
"Jiminey Jaminey...Tamora, are you sure? This is just so completely unheard of. It almost seems too good to be true!"
"Well, three positive tests are probably a pretty good indicator, but I'm still going to pay another visit to the medic, just to be sure. I was hoping he'd be there today, but…I just had to get the tests, I couldn't stand another day not knowing."
While most would expect the couple to be completely overjoyed upon discovering they were going to have a child, Felix and Tamora allowed themselves to do no such thing until the medic had confirmed. The idea of an 8-bit handyman and a high-definition warrior having a baby together seemed too far-fetched to be true.
The following evening, Tamora had made an appointment with the medic after the arcade had closed. Felix had wanted nothing more than to accompany her, but Tamora had insisted he wait for her outside of the other time, she wouldn't have minded allowing him to accompany her; he'd really learned to take care of himself in her world. However,if she was indeed pregnant, she'd need him alive more than ever. Therefore, Felix was now pacing anxiously at the entrance to the first-person shooter game. When he saw the tall armored figure approaching, he immediately rushed over to her.
"So, what did he say?" Felix questioned the moment he reached her.
"Well Short-Stack, looks like you and me are having a baby!" It took a second for Felix to process the information he'd just received. Once he did so, he and Tamora both smiled at each other. She then kneeled down to his height and the two shared a passionate kiss in the middle of Game Central Station, not caring who saw.
Felix would have been willing to give darn near anything to go back to that time. To be sure, he was thrilled that his daughter had finally arrived. Without Tammy around, though, he knew he wasn't feeling nearly as happy as he should have been. They had been naïve then, completely blind to everything that could have gone wrong…everything that eventually would go wrong. The possibilities had crossed their mind later on, but it seemed to be easier to pretend that things would go smoothly. They pretended despite the fact that they were in such an unknown situation. It wasn't as though there were any specific precautions they could have taken, seeing as nobody would know what those would be. However, they could have at least better prepared themselves should the unthinkable happen.
Once they had shared the news with their closest friends and come down from the initial wave of euphoria, it came time to discuss the practical things. It was decided without question that the child would live primarily, if not exclusively, in Fix-It Felix Jr. until their coding was fully understood. Tamora would hand her responsibilities over to Kohut until the baby came, for obvious reasons. Finally, some of the Nicelanders had agreed to take on baby-sitting duties once the sergeant was able to return to her game. All of that had been easy enough to figure out; it was certain other things that were giving the couple a bit more trouble.
"What if the baby's a glitch?" Tamora asked out of the blue one evening while the she and Felix lay in bed.
"Huh?" Felix had started to drift off, though he'd woken up the second he heard his wife's voice. Lately, he'd become a very light sleeper. He was always waiting for Tamora to wake him up to give the word that it was time, despite the fact that there were still a good three months to go.
"What if our baby is a glitch, or something else is wrong? We come from two completely different games. We were never supposed to meet each other, let alone get married and have a child together. I just…have this terrible feeling that something is going to go wrong."
"Tammy, where is all this coming from?" At this point, Felix's naiveté was still getting the better of him.
"I had a nightmare last night. I know I told you it was about Brad and the Cy-bugs, but it was so much worse. We were reliving the Turbo incident, but this time we were in your game. We were trying to exit the game, but instead of protecting Vanellope, we were with another little girl. I'd never seen her before, but I knew with one look that she was our child. She was the perfect mix of you and me. Anyway, the Cy-bugs were attacking and we were trying to get out of the game. You and me were able to get out, but the girl…she was a glitch and just like Vanellope, she couldn't leave the game. This time, there was no way that we were going to be able to defeat Turbo. He won and Litwak ended up unplugging the game. I have never hurt so much as when I was forced to watch that little girl disappear along with the game. Now I can't help but think that something like that will happen." At this point, Tamora realized that her eyes were beginning to water as she spoke. In any other situation, she would have forced the tears back, had they even formed in the first place. At this moment, she didn't even care and was conveniently able to blame her unusual show of emotions on hormones.
"Oh, Tammy…" Felix wrapped his arms around his wife. He then reached out a hand to wipe the tears that had started to roll down her cheek.
"That isn't going to happen," Felix tried to reassure her, despite the fact that he barely believed his own words. He hadn't thought much about it until Tamora had said something, though he now realized that it was quite possible that their baby could be a glitch. He wasn't about to let her see that though.
"And even if that does happen, we'll get through it together, just like everything else we've ever done. Don't forget, we have Vanellope to help out as well!"
"I guess you're right, Fix-It.," Tamora sighed. She wasn't fully convinced, but she supposed there was no use in worrying at the moment. They'd cross that bridge when and if they got there.
Through the last couple months of the pregnancy, it was clear that both of the future parents were becoming more excited by the day. However, it was impossible to ignore the worry that was creeping up too. After Tamora's nightmare, she and Felix had to face the uncertainty of their situation. They had done something that no one else in Litwak's had ever done before. There was really no way to know what would happen come the delivery. The fear of the baby being a glitch was still in their minds, but now other potential fears had sprung up. What if the child didn't survive at all, like if their coding wasn't compatible or something? What if the child didn't have a game that it officially belonged to? The child would never be able to regenerate should something happen. Felix was trying to learn all that he could about coding, trying to find a way to ensure that the baby could eventually become part of either his or Tamora's games. However, that didn't mean there wouldn't be problems. Also, what if something happened to Tamora? Who knew if she'd be able to survive the delivery? That certainly wasn't something her programmers could have anticipated. Would the medic from Hero's Duty have any idea what he was doing? Felix only hoped that he knew enough to keep mother and child alive through everything. The handyman tried not to think about any of that excessively, always willing himself to believe that everything would turn out fine.
As the months passed, Felix had come to dislike going to work every day. He was worried that he'd miss the big moment, unable to be there for Tammy when she really needed him. Deanne, one of the Nicelanders, had offered to keep an eye on Tamora, seeing as she would be able to help should the woman go into labor during Felix's work day. Tamora had fought it at first, insisting that she was more than capable of taking care of herself. However, Felix reminded her, on more than one occasion, that she also had the baby to be concerned about. That was enough to cause her to give in. As much as Felix would be willing to rush to his wife's side the second she needed him, he couldn't risk leaving the game while players were present. There was too much of a chance that the game would be unplugged. Thankfully, Christmas was right around the corner, meaning that after the last gamers left that evening, the arcade would be closed for over a week - plenty of time to focus on Tamora, the baby, and nothing else. Once the all clear was given, Felix headed home, only to find Tamora preparing to head out.
"Where are you off to, sweetie?" he questioned.
"I promised Vanellope that we could have a bit of a girls' night tonight. She said that she wanted to see me before the baby comes because then I'll apparently be too busy to see her anymore," Tamora let out a small chuckle. "Of course, we both know that she'll be over here even more once I have the baby." It was already established that Vanellope would be a cousin of sorts to their child and she would no doubt want to spend as much time with the new arrival as possible.
"In that case, perhaps I'll go and pay Ralph a visit. You ladies can hang out here at the house, no men to disrupt you! Plus,some brotherly bonding time would be swell!" Tamora smiled slightly to herself, seeing as she thought Felix was giving her and Vanellope the house so that she would be close to him, just in case. In the past, that might have seemed overprotective to her, but she realized that he may have just saved her from going into labor in Sugar Rush. That likely wouldn't go over well... Just then, there was a knock on the door. Felix answered, finding a short dark-haired girl standing on the other side.
"Hey Felix! Where's Sarge at?"
"Well hi there, Vanellope! She's in the living room, waiting for you! Do you happen to know if Ralph is at home this evening?"
"Yeah, ol' Stinkbrain's next door," Vanellope replied. "Thinking of going and keeping him company?"
"Why yes I was! I'll leave you to enjoy your evening and spend some quality time with Ralph before I'm busy with our little one!" He turned his attention to his wife "Tammy, I'll be next door if you need anything."
"Sounds good, soldier," she smiled at him. Felix gave Tamora a kiss before leaving, and then proceeded to kiss her enlarged stomach, saying goodbye to the baby as well. He was an adorably doting dad already! Of course, Vanellope found herself looking away. Those two could be so gross sometimes!
Felix headed off to Ralph's. Once he arrived, the men had a long conversation, much of it consisting of Ralph asking the handyman how he felt about the reality of being a father, likely within the next week.
"Gosh, brother, I can't even begin to explain how excited I am! I've always dreamed of having children and I just know Tammy is going to be an amazing mom!"
"I can't remember, do you know if you're having a boy or a girl?" Ralph asked.
"Well, we don't know for sure, since we wanted to be surprised. However, I really have a feeling it's going to be a girl, and while she's never said it outright, I think Tammy is thinking that way too. Of course, we'll be thrilled either way."
"Wow, I just can't believe that your life is actually going to change so much, so soon," Ralph marveled.
"I know, brother, it's scary, but fantastic! I don't even really believe it all my-" Felix was cut off by a pounding on the door.
Felix couldn't have known that that moment would be one of the last moments that he would be truly happy for a long while. That knock on the door was supposed to signal the happiest day that since he had been plugged in. Instead, it had signaled the beginning of nearly 15 hours of hell.
"Coming!" Ralph shouted. While he got up to answer the door, Felix realized that this was likely the moment they'd been awaiting for nine months. Who else would be pounding on Ralph's door but Vanellope? Sure enough, seconds later, the young racer had burst into the middle of the living room, relaying the situation to Felix.
"Felix, I think Calhoun's going to have the baby! She went into your room for a second to get something, and then out of nowhere I hear her yelling and telling me to get you!"
"Oh my lands, I can't believe this moment's actually here!" Felix exclaimed as he began nearly sprinting home. When he threw open the front door, he rushed back to the bedroom. Tamora had managed to make it onto their bed and she now sat there, grimacing though contractions.
"Ralph! Run to Hero's Duty and find the medic! Bring him back as fast as you can!...Honey, are you ok?" Felix asked as he turned his attention to Tamora.
"Fix-It, you are never coming near me with…that thing…ever again!" she shouted at him. He had a feeling this was going to be a very long evening….
Once she'd calmed down from that outburst, she finally let Felix join her on the bed. He held her hand, rubbed her back, tried everything he could think of to make the painful experience any easier. However, he really didn't know what he was doing and he had no idea if any of his actions were helping Tamora. He was relieved to see Ralph rushing in only a short time later, the medic and a few others from Hero's Duty in tow. Once Ralph had seen that help had made it to his friends, he headed home to wait with Vanellope. She had declared that she would not be going back to Sugar Rush until the baby had arrived.
They immediately began running around the room, confidently doing all sorts of medical things. Felix hadn't the slightest idea what they were doing, so he stuck by Tamora, only leaving when he was asked to help with something.
"You're doing great, Tammy," he would reassure her every so often. Even though she was one of the toughest characters in the arcade, Felix could see that his wife was struggling through this. She pushed through pretty well for the first six hours, but by that point, it was clear Tamora couldn't take much more.
"Felix, make this stop!" she begged. She squeezed his hand, which she had barely let go of in hours.
"I'm sorry, baby, I don't know how to make this better," he sighed as he leaned over to kiss her. He hated this. She was in so much pain, and yet there was not a single thing he could do to make her feel any better. One of the men who had accompanied the medic had brought her ice chips, but that hadn't done much. As the hours continued to wear on, it was obvious that Tamora had almost no strength left in her. Unfortunately, it appeared that the baby wouldn't arrive for a few more hours. Felix was becoming incredibly worried. He couldn't help but think something was severely wrong if his tough-as-nails wife was nearly in tears. Suddenly, he felt her hand go limp in his.
"Oh my lands, Tamora?!" he cried. Looking over at her face, he could see that she was unconscious.
"TAMORA!" Tears were now forming in his eyes. Everything they had worried about was suddenly happening. The medic was now shouting orders to his assistants, all while trying to figure out the best course of action to take next. After a few moments, the medic approached Felix with a grim look on his face.
"Sir, we're going to have to ask you to leave the room. Unfortunately, the only way that we can possibly save your wife and child is through a surgical procedure," the man said grimly. There didn't appear to be any surgical equipment in the room seconds before, though the medical assistants were now running through the room setting everything up. Of course, that wasn't something that was on Felix's mind.
"I will not be leaving her!" he firmly declared. She needed him! Felix refused to be pushed out of the room.
"Sir, I understand that you don't want to leave your wife, but I'm being serious when I say that you do not want to be here while the procedure is being carried out. It will only make the whole situation harder on you."
"I don't care, let me back in!" Felix cried out. By this point, the medic was ushering Felix out of the room, the door blocked by one of the more sizable assistants. Felix could barely see Tamora around the guard of sorts, but he was able to see that her hand had suddenly become nothing but blue coding, only to glitch back to its normal flesh color seconds later. This did not look good.
Looking back at that moment, Felix was now aware that it was at that second that he realized that the medic had no faith in being able to save Tamora. The way he had said that the handyman's being in the room would only make things harder almost sounded like a way of saying, "you're only going to sit in the room to watch your wife die". The glitching had been a pretty dead giveaway as well. However, Felix didn't want to face that reality at the time. It was as though if he told himself that Tamora and the baby would be fine, that the medic fully knew what he was doing, it would all be true. He should have known better, but he couldn't accept the situation until the medic said the words to him.
After being kicked out of the delivery room, Felix waited in the living room, not knowing what else to do. The minute he sat down, the tears began to flow uncontrollably. This wasn't how this day was supposed to be going. The baby should have been here by now, with both him and Tamora there to welcome them. He had blocked out the rest of the world, only to be startled by a loud knocking on the door. Felix slowly lifted himself off the couch. He sure wasn't looking forward to telling Ralph and Vanellope what was going on.
"Hey Felix, we thought we'd stop over and see how Tamora's doing. It's been quite a long time since we left…hey, are you ok?" Ralph could tell by the look on the handyman's face that something was wrong.
"Well, Ralph, Vanellope, that's the thing. Tamora's not doing very well at all. Her body wasn't able to handle all the strain that childbirth put it through. They're in the middle of surgery right now... that's the only way that either of them has a chance of survival." Felix wiped a few more tears from his face as he broke the news.
"Oh my gosh Felix, I'm so sorry to hear that. Is she…do you think everything's going to be ok?" Ralph asked grimly.
"I couldn't tell you, honestly. They kicked me out of the room about an hour ago and haven't given me an update since," the handyman replied quietly through sobs. Vanellope, who was now crying herself, threw her arms around him in a near tackle-like hug. Though he was thrown when she barreled into him, he eventually returned the hug, feeling only slightly comforted. Ralph joined in the group hug, though having some difficulty because of the extreme height difference. Felix couldn't have been more grateful than he was for his friends than he was now. If nothing else, Ralph and Vanellope would be there for him.
After the hug had broken up a bit, they waited…and waited…and waited some more. Felix looked at the clock quite often, aggravated by how slowly the time was passing. It felt as though he'd been waiting for news on Tammy and the baby for hours. In reality, it was only about an hour and half that he'd been sitting. Another half an hour passed and finally, the medic came out of the room. Just one look at the expression on the man's face told Felix that the news wouldn't be good. Though he was still very worried for his wife, he let out a small sigh of relief when he heard the loud and healthy cries of a baby. If nothing else, the baby was ok.
"Felix, I…I hate to be the bearer of bad news…horrible news really, but…unfortunately, we weren't able to save your wife." The medic didn't have the slightest idea how to break the news to the man, seeing as he had never actually had to deal with any permanent deaths since he was plugged in. He began talking about the fact that there were too many complications, that Tamora's body was under too much stress, to the point where everything in her coding just gave out. However, Felix didn't hear a single word of this though. He had fallen to his knees upon hearing the news, his body being wracked by sobs. His wife, his soul mate, was gone. She wasn't going to regenerate, she was never coming back, and now their child was left with no mother. Things weren't supposed to go this way; he and Tamora should have been in their bedroom, together, shedding no tears aside from the occasional tears of complete happiness. Instead, he'd be raising the baby alone, after burying his wife.
"I have one question," Felix finally looked up at the medic after he'd gotten some semblance of composure, "would things had been different if Tamora had been in Hero's Duty? Would she have been able to regenerate?" He immediately felt as if all the blame could suddenly be placed on him. It had crossed his mind to take Tamora to Hero's Duty, instead of having the medic come to Fix-It Felix Jr. He hadn't wanted to make Tammy move all the way to the other side of the arcade, as she was already in enough pain and discomfort Felix couldn't help but think that things might have turned out better if Tamora had been taken to her game.
"It's really hard to say. While there is a very small chance that it could have made a difference, the amount of strain her code was being put under would probably still have done such significant damage that not even a game reset would have brought her back. Also, if Tamora had died in Hero's Duty and somehow regenerated, it's impossible to say if the child would have regenerated as well." Felix nodded, the expression on his face a look of numbness.
"You know in the wake of all this bad news, there is a major bit of good news that I've neglected to tell you." Felix looked up at the medic, realizing that he hadn't heard any further news about the baby.
"Your child made it through this whole ordeal in perfect health. Congratulations, Mr. Fix-It, you have a beautiful baby girl."
"I…I do?" For the first time in hours, Felix finally felt something close to happiness. "When can I see her?"
"We can bring her out here in a minute if you're ready."
"Yes, I'd like that very much," Felix replied quietly. Ralph and Vanellope both gave the handyman weak smiles. While there was no way to completely be happy in the wake of Tamora's death, they supposed they could still celebrate the arrival of the baby. The medic went back into the room he'd come from, returning a minute later carrying a small pink bundle. Felix couldn't help but stare in awe once the other man had handed him his daughter.
"She's adorable!" Vanellope exclaimed through her sniffling.
"Congratulations, brother," Ralph said. He gave the smaller man a pat on the back. "Have you got a name picked out yet?"
"Well, Tammy loved the name Alison, Ally for short. What do you guys think of the name Alison Tamora Fix-It?"
"It's perfect. I think Calhoun would have loved it," Ralph responded. He and Vanellope stuck around for a few more minutes, until the wrecker began to sense that Felix wanted some time alone. He needed to welcome his daughter, as well as say good-bye to his wife.
That had been two weeks ago. Felix was coping as well as could be expected. There were certainly days when he could have just broken down, but the handyman would remind himself that Ally needed him. Also, as cheesy as it may have sounded, he knew that Tamora would have him to enjoy fatherhood whether or not she was there with him. He'd moved himself out of the house he'd built for him and Tamora and back into the penthouse. He couldn't bear to stay in their home. Felix had attempted this the first night after Tamora's death, but he found that he always expected her around the house and that he was too caught up in the memories of that house. If he were to stay, there would be no way that he could work through all that had happened. He was taking things one day at a time and it was certainly a challenge, but for his daughter, he would move forward through the good and the bad.
"Oh Tammy, you would love Ally," Felix whispered as he looked lovingly at the sleeping infant. "She everything we could have ever imagined and so much more. She's just…oh she's perfect. Also, you'd be happy to know that she's got a clean bill of health – completely glitch-free! We discovered that she's also got a game! Well, two games, I should say. As it turns out, Ally is not only part of Fix-It Felix Jr., but she's also coded into Hero's Duty. I figure when she's a bit older, I'll take her over to see where you came from, seeing as her regenerating won't be a problem now. It's funny; all your men are saying that she'll grow up to be your successor in Hero's Duty! In fact, Kohut and Markowski have already volunteered to give her shooting lessons when she's old enough!
"I've already told her a lot about you, honey. Now, I know that she can't understand everything that I'm saying and I realize I'll have to tell her again when she's older, but I want her to know all about you. I also want her to know that, even though you never got a chance to meet her, that you love her." He swallowed the lump forming in his throat. Felix wasn't sure if he was just talking to himself. He didn't know what happened to characters after they died, but he liked to tell himself that Tammy could hear him then.
"Aw Tammy, I miss you something awful. I've been holding it together as well as I can, mainly because of Ally. To be honest, I don't know how I'd be doing it if she weren't here; most mornings, I feel like she's the only thing that motivates me to get out of bed. Well, I suppose I shouldn't put it that way. I get up every morning so that this game doesn't get unplugged, but being there for Ally is what makes it worthwhile. I'm also pretty sure that she is all that's keeping me sane. No one aside from Ralph knows, but I've been seeing Roy, the psychologist here in Niceland a couple of times a week. I have to say; I think he's been helping me out…not that any of that makes losing you any easier. I only wish there was more I could have done to make sure that you got to see your daughter as well…" Felix sighed to himself, not sure where he was going with this rambling any more.
"Anyway, I just wanted to let you to know that I'm holding up, taking care of Alison as best as I can and that I miss you more than I can say. I still love you more than ever, Tammy." As Felix said this, he heard stirring in the cradle next to him. Ally had woken up and would probably be looking for her daddy. Sure enough, she started whimpering seconds later. Felix rushed to her and gently picked her up out the cradle, rocking her and quietly cooing as he tried to get her back to sleep. It was moments like this that made him wish more than anything that Tamora could be here with him. How perfect this evening would be if she were sitting with him, not in the penthouse, but in their home. He could imagine the look on Tammy's face while she watched over her daughter, the soft expression that very few were ever able to see. Yes, it would have been absolutely perfect…unfortunately, that wasn't the way things had turned out. However, Felix was determined to make his life with Ally as perfect as possible, despite the tragedies that had befallen the two of them so early in her life. She was his little girl and deserved nothing less.
So there you have it! Hopefully you all liked it, at least a little :) I'm not entirely sure where I stand on the whole issue of future canon Hero's Cuties kids if there is indeed a sequel made. Part of me (the rational part) sees all the problems with this as far as programming and such, but also because kids kind of limit story lines. But...there's also that crazy fangirl part of me that's like BUT THEIR CHILDREN DO YOU KNOW HOW CUTE THAT WOULD BE AND UGH FEELS!...in any case though, I have no problem with children in fics because you know I love reading and writing it. Anyway, leave some reviews to let me know what you all think!
~Burton's Disney Princess