A/N: The last three chapters! Agh! You guys are awesome.
DarkDemon122: Wow! I couldn't ever do that, and I'm the one who wrote it! But then again, that may just be because of my laziness.
Okay, so some of you have been asking about King Candy/Turbo stuff, and I have a small idea that I could work with. Small. But it could work. Don't hold me accountable to anything-'cause if it doesn't work, it doesn't. But first I would need a name. I have like, no idea what KC's real world name would be, and his relation to Turbo. I would just need some sort of basic foundation first, and then I could try to get at it. So if you have any ideas on that subject, just PM your ideas! Thanks!
If you were to ask Ralph to write a list of the things he loved most of all in this world, sleep would definitely be at the top of the list. Well, second to Vanellope, of course. He couldn't get enough of it. There was no better way to spend a Saturday than sleeping in 'till noon, in his opinion.
This is why Ralph wasn't exactly a happy camper when he woke up one morning to have Vanellope jumping up and down on his bed, yelling and shouting.
"What is it now?" Ralph mumbled into his pillow. If she had done this a couple of months ago, he would have gone into commando mode in an instant. But lately he had learned that Vanellope was curious, easily distracted, and fascinated by the simplest things. It wasn't rare for her to come into his room going on about how she just saw a bird steal a nut from a squirrel, or that she got to round 50 in Hero's Duty, disturbing his well-cherished slumber. He loved the girl, but as he had explained to her many, many times before; couldn't it wait?
"Wake up!" Vanellope protested, bouncing around. She was still wearing her pajamas and her already messy ponytail flew around wildly. "It's Christmas! C'mon! Get your butt out of bed!"
Ah.
"How could I forget?" Ralph yawned, sitting up. "Especially with you around to remind me every second, of every hour, of every single day, for the last past month."
"Yeah! And now Christmas is finally here!" Vanellope squealed, ignoring his sarcasm and putting her face in his. "So get up! Time's a'wasting!" She pulled his arm out from under the covers and began tugging on it in a very futile attempt to drag him out of bed herself.
"Alright, I'm getting up!" Ralph said, stretching.
Vanellope let out a cry of joy and ran down the stairs with Ralph trailing behind. He couldn't help but smile as she twirled, danced, and sang around the living room. "This is the best Christmas ever!" She exclaimed, doing a clumsy pirouette in the kitchen.
"We haven't even done anything yet!" Ralph mentioned, but it fell on deaf ears.
Vanellope ran over to the radio and turned on a lively tune. She put on her new favorite Santa hat, something Ralph had bought for her that she had gotten too much fun out of. Yesterday, for example, she had stolen one of Ralph's shirts and stuffed it with pillows. Then she put some of Ralph's shaving cream on her face so it looked like it she had a big, foamy, white beard and gone around with her hat on saying, "Ho, ho, ho."
Vanellope danced all around the room, grabbing Ralph's hands and bringing him along. Ralph smiled at her and laughed as she came to a stop at the Christmas tree. They had set it up a few days previously, must to Vanellope's delight. After the whole food fight fiasco, things had been a little awkward between the pair. Ralph had driven her home from school, giving her a very long and descriptive rant about how disappointed he was in her. Vanellope had just sat there with her arms folded, glaring out the window. The arcade was a definite no, and Vanellope had spent the rest of that day in her room, as quiet as a mouse. The way they didn't speak or look at each other one would have thought someone had died recently.
But, like anyone who loved someone else, they couldn't stand to be upset with each other, even if it just was for a few hours. The next day Vanellope had come into his room and told him how sorry she was for disappointing him, and that even though she knew it was the wrong thing to do, she and Taffyta had fixed things up, and were sort of friends now.
Ralph told her all was forgiven, he didn't want to stay distressed with her, after all. And food fights were admittedly fun, even if they did get you detention. Things got back to normal when they then decided to go out on a hunt to find the perfect Christmas tree. It'd taken hours, but Vanellope had finally picked one out that she said was "right out of a storybook." This has caused Ralph to laugh, after all, who in their right mind would want to read a story about his and Vanellope's daily lives?
They'd decorated the tree with with strings of twinkly colored lights and every ornament Vanellope could get her hands on. It was just another beautiful disaster, courtesy of one particular nine year-old. It was messy and decorated with no design or pattern whatsoever, but it still came out looking beautiful. Vanellope was just magical like that.
Vanellope sat down in front of the tree, beaming up at it like it was an angel from heaven. There was an assortment of presents under it, some from Ralph, some from Vanellope, and even some from Felix.
Ralph sat beside her. "So, I'm guessing you want to open yours now?" He said, pinching her cheek.
"Yes! Gadoi!" Vanellope said, her voice quivering with anticipation.
Ralph leaned over and handed her her two presents.
Vanellope looked down at them in her hands and said nothing, her eyes wide and something unnamed...it was like some sort of far-off longing.
"Is everything okay?" Ralph asked, looking at her hesitantly.
"Yes!" Vanellope said quickly, straightening up. "It's just...I can't believe I'm finally having a real Christmas!"
"What do you mean?" Ralph said, looking confused. "It's not like you were born yesterday! You've had other Christmases before, right?"
"Sort of." Vanellope said, looking down again. "But not like this! You know, with a big tree, and lots of presents, and...a family." She turned to smile at him sheepishly.
Ralph looked away, rubbings his eyes quickly. "Jesus, kid." He said, laughing softly. "You're making me emotional. I'm supposed to have a heart of stone, you know."
"Ha, ha." Vanellope laughed dryly. "Well, I like you better as a mushy man anyways."
"Mushy Man?" Ralph said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yup." Vanellope nodded, giggling. "That's your new name. Ralph Mushy Man Reilly."
"Great." Ralph said, smiling and rolling his eyes. "Now, go on, open your presents."
Vanellope opened Felix's first, a really large box. She tore off the wrapping paper. It was a giant LEGO mall construction set, complete with little stores, escalators, and shoppers.
"Cool!" Vanellope exclaimed loudly, her eyes wide. She went to smile but then fell into a frown. "I'm not to good with these things though."
"Wait, there's a note." Ralph said, handing her a piece of paper that had fallen out of the wrapping.
Vanellope unfolded it and read it out loud. "To Vanellope; Merry Christmas! You've been a joy to have in class and I'm so glad we've met! Thanks for keeping my secret. Your friendly Math Teacher, Felix."
"Secret?" Ralph said, looking puzzled.
"P.S." Vanellope added. "I wrote out the instructions in words on the LEGO instruction booklet, just in case."
"Of course." Ralph chuckled. "Good 'ol Felix, always knowing a way to fix everything."
"He's officially the best teacher ever." Vanellope said, hugging the box gratefully.
"Basically." Ralph agreed. "But what 'secret' do you guys have?"
"Oh." Vanellope said, laughing and turning pink. "I just know who he likes, that's all! And he made me promise not to tell anybody!"
"What?" Ralph exclaimed, thinking back to his and Felix's conversation on the beach back in September. "He still hasn't even told me!"
"Well, I kind of figured it out on my own." Vanellope smirked. "It was kind of obvious. He was being such a dope! You'll see her at the party anyways."
Ralph perked up at the thought but then switched to crossing his fingers in anticipation as Vanellope reached for his present, a big, square one.
"This one's heavy!" Vanellope observed in a giggling voice.
Ralph had done his very best to wrap it, which still wasn't the greatest. But who could really blame him? Before now, the only person he really exchanged presents with was Felix.
Vanellope didn't seem to care, though. She just smiled at him and removed the ribbons and paper. "Whoa!" She exclaimed, as she viewed her present. Ralph, knowing of her strange obsession with them, had gotten her a large toy robot, that would walk around, light up, and do who knows what else. It was very large-it was almost as tall as Vanellope. Ralph just hoped it wouldn't wind up murdering him in his sleep.
"Do you like it?" Ralph asked uncertainly.
"Yes!" Vanellope gushed. "Now I can make a robot a-taco-lisp with my race cars!"
"I think you mean apocalypse." Ralph chuckled.
"Yeah, that too." Vanellope nodded. She reached up and gave Ralph a big hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love it!"
"You're welcome!" Ralph smiled, patting the back of her head.
"Okay, now you have to open yours!" Vanellope said. She disappeared under the tree and reappeared with two packages in hand.
Ralph almost didn't want to open Felix's-it was wrapped so nicely! It felt like he was wrecking it, even though taking the wrapping apart was what you were supposed to do. When he finally opened it, he saw that Felix had gotten him a new pair of work gloves, something Ralph had been meaning to get himself, but never really got around to. "Thanks Felix!" Ralph said out loud, even though Felix obviously wasn't there.
"Open up mine!" Vanellope said, bouncing on the spot. The end of her Santa hat flew around, and she shoved the present into his hands eagerly.
"Hey, where's the fire?" Ralph joked.
Vanellope just looked at him confused.
"Never mind." Ralph sighed. "Don't worry, I'm opening it!" He opened the small box carefully and took a look. It was a large cookie, decorated with blue frosting and tons of small circular sprinkles. Written on it in surprisingly neat cursive frosting were the words, You're My Hero.
"Did you make this yourself?" Ralph exclaimed, trying to ignore the feeling of his heart melting to a pie of mush. He loved this kid so much.
"Yes!" Vanellope cooed, smiling at him.
"So you used the oven by yourself?" Ralph questioned, looking at her with surprised and slightly perturbed parent-y look.
"Um...maybe?" Vanellope giggled. "But that's not the point! Do you like it?"
"Yeah!" Ralph said, beaming at her. "I don't think I'll ever be able to eat it!"
"Well you better, 'cause I spent a lot of time on it, and if you don't it'll get all crummy." Vanellope reprimanded him.
Ralph smiled at her. "Thanks, Vanellope."
"Anytime stinkbrain." Vanellope said, giving him another big hug. "Merry Christmas!"
"Same to you fart feathers." Ralph laughed, hugging her back.
Calhoun sat in her small flat, listening to the radio and sitting on the couch. She held a steaming cup of coffee in her hands and her hair was still a ruffled mess from sleep. The snow was falling softly and she could hear the shouts of children playing outside. Every other Christmas she'd had for the last 9 years had been full of a grumpy stupor. She'd eat a microwavable steak and sit in her basement, trying to block out the rest of the world. After all, Christmas was just a fluffed up pagan holiday powered by commercialism. Why should she even acknowledge that it existed?
But now...
She wasn't really celebrating anything, but for once on December 25, instead of feeling angry and lonely, she was just...there. She wasn't super happy or anything, but she wasn't mad for once, which was sort of an improvement.
She'd set the snow globe Felix had given her on her bookshelf in her living room, right where she could see it. She still couldn't believe he'd given her that. Whenever Calhoun walked past it, she couldn't help but stare at it, and get this...giddy feeling inside. Like she was a kid all over again. She wanted to dance, and squeal and laugh out loud. But Calhoun wasn't that kind of girl.
So she settled for smiling alone in her room, thinking of him and trying to answer all the questions she had flying through her head. Mainly it was just, why? Why did he like her? After all, she was just an uptight, pessimistic, loner. And he was...perfect. Really, truly perfect. He was all any girl could ask for: loving, generous, caring...
Which was why she didn't deserve him. Not one bit. She wasn't any of those things. And yet...he still stuck around.
Calhoun let out a happy sigh and downed the last remains of her coffee. She was just about to turn on the TV and try to find something decent to watch when the phone rang.
Puzzled, she frowned and walked over to it. "Hello?" She said, picking up the receiver.
"Hey Sarge! It's me, Vanellope!" The ecstatic voice called out.
"Hey Vanellope." Calhoun said, still confused. "How did you get my phone number?"
"It's in the school directory-thingy they passed out!" Vanellope said cheerily. "You know, with everyone's addresses and phone numbers? But anyways, I just wanted to say 'Merry Christmas!' Or 'Happy Hanukkah,' if that's your sort of thing."
"Thanks." Calhoun chuckled. "All the same to you."
"So, you're going to Felix's party, right?" Vanellope asked breezily.
"Yes." Calhoun said, raising an eyebrow. "Why? Who's asking?'
` "Not a matchmaker of any kind!" Vanellope giggled, sounding totally and completely subtle. "Just asking! But if you come, you can meet Ralph!"
"Okay." Calhoun searched her brain, trying to recall if that was a name she should have known. "That sounds great."
"So, did you get any cool presents?" Vanellope asked.
"You could say so." Calhoun mused, looking back over to the snow globe.
"Awesome!" Vanellope cheered. "I got this awesome robot, and this LEGO set, and they're both the bestest things ever!"
Calhoun could practically feel Vanellope's joy oozing out of the phone. She couldn't help but grin as she imagined how much fun Vanellope must have had that morning. "That's nice."
"Yeah, well, I've got to get back to my robot a-paco-list." Vanellope said, sounding breathless. "They're using the Eiffel Tower as a golf club!"
They exchanged goodbyes and hung up, leaving Calhoun smiling and chuckling under her breath. Barely 30 seconds had passed before the phone rang again. Calhoun was even more surprised by this than the first time it'd rung. Maybe she was just a little popular today.
"Hello?" She said again, wondering who on earth it could be now. She really needed to get caller ID.
"Tamora? It's me, Felix."
There it was again. She suddenly got the sensation of falling, like her stomach was ready to fall out and burst at the same time. It was oh so painful, but amazing at the same time. Calhoun gripped the phone more tightly as she tried to keep her voice, and herself, steady. "Hey, Felix!" She said, going to sit back down on the couch. "What's up?"
"Oh, I just wanted to call and wish you a 'Merry Christmas!'" Felix said pleasantly.
Calhoun could almost tell for sure that he was blushing. "Well thank you, pint-sized. How's Georgia?"
"Well, it's a little warmer, but not much." Felix said, with a tiny hint of sadness. "But other than that, I'm doing good!"
Calhoun could hear a lot talking and movement in the background, making her wonder what he was doing. "How many brothers do you have again?" She asked.
"Four." Felix answered. "Frank is the oldest, then there's Francis, Fred, Me, and Frisky-he's the youngest."
"Frisky?" Calhoun sniggered. "You have a brother named Frisky?"
"I know." Felix sighed, laughing as well. "My parents couldn't think of any other names that started with an 'F'."
Calhoun smoothed her hair down and sat back. "Well, it sounds like you're having fun."
She pictured Felix making a shrugging motion as he said; "All we're really doing right now is making our big meal, well, my brothers and cousins are, they won't let me."
"Why not?" Calhoun exclaimed. "You're a pretty good cook, if that whole quiche thing was any indication."
"That's what I told them!" Felix protested, sounding the most bitter he'd probably ever had, and ever could. "But Frank thinks he can do it better, just because he's the oldest."
"I'm sorry." Calhoun said, feeling weirded out by seeing (well, hearing)an upset Felix. "Well, at least you can go around and look for stuff to fix, right? That's your thing."
"I guess so." Felix chuckled. He paused for a moment. "I wish you were here."
Calhoun felt a large blush spread through her cheeks. She stumbled with the phone in her hands and said some swear words in her head for blushing. "You'll see me in a couple days." She reminded him. "At your party-thing. So just sit tight 'till then."
"Alright." Felix said. "Well...I got to go. I think Fred just set the stove on fire again."
"You better go fix it, then." Calhoun smiled.
Felix laughed . "I'll try. Merry Christmas, again."
"You too."
She hung up the phone, and hung her head over the back of the couch, gazing up at the ceiling. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she almost wanted to kick herself. After all, getting this worked up over a phone call? It was borderline pathetic.
But, for once in her life, Tamora Calhoun didn't care. She didn't care how stupid, silly, or weak she looked. She just wanted...this. This feeling she had-she just wanted it to last forever.
She was in love.
Maybe there was such a thing as a Merry Christmas, after all.
