Reviews :

Burgie : You're absolutely right :D

Snake557 : Thank you so much! No, Ace had a lot of moments with Roy in Rectifying Origin - although Royal and Ace will be around, this story is definitely going to be centered around Gideon and his friendship with Novus. Minor plot revolves around Novus, Royal and their pack.

Lyssdoodle : Thank you so much! Boss earns his stripes, he definitely isn't a bad bitch forever but he does hold his own lol.

Song Listened To :

Rain by Hans Zimmer

*Chapter 27*

Over the course of the next few months, the heat of Sugar Rush had finally drifted away, and what would become a sag of lovely, crispy fall air, summer desperately tried to hold on to the dregs of heat for just a little while longer. On a calm Sunday morning, Taffyta sat underneath the shade of Ralph's and Vanellope's cross-striped tree. A gorgeous beast of growth, a towering sprawl of colorful bark that spanned the skies and was crowned with the prettiest leaves, of which diligently changed with the seasons. A tree that was no stranger to the cold, it seasonally would lose its leaves pretty quickly in the very beginning of fall. Taking note of this, Sugar Rush's palace lot was daintily littered with the tree's beautiful white blossoms and leaves, ones of which flit down from above and cutely began to litter the top of Taffyta's head. She wrinkled her nose amidst a giggle, shooed one off of the screen of her phone, in which her nose was buried in, and upon lifting her eyes from said screen, she readjusted to her sunny surroundings and sourced the giggling of her young child.

Although Rancis, Zed, Turbo and Wren were across the courtyard busy in code room conversing, Ralph and Callum were playing an adorable game of tag. Taffyta crossed her legs, grunted to readjust her sitting position and diligently assessed the two across the stretch of the courtyard, hugged just before the massive glass dome of the code room. Although the two were too far away to really hear their conversation, Callum's adorable, boyish giggling reverberated all over nearby walls, the palace lot sung with love. Ralph grunted a noise and took a dainty swipe at Callum's arm, he pretended to be winded, as if he could hardly keep up with Callum's little legs. Callum, being almost four months old, had the growth and mentality of a seven year old. His messy, curly, bright blonde hair bounced as he loudly blurt a laugh, stumbled to play keep away with his favorite uncle Ralph and tucked his hoodie tight over his head, as if that'd aid him in stretching out of Ralph's gravity. Taffyta flinched once Ralph's large figure gracefully glitched a few hops before Callum and scooped him up into a huge twirl of a hug against his chest. Taffyta helplessly grinned at the adorable sight as Ralph grunted and fell to his rear, Callum's grin was nearly a mile wide, his laughter was infectious.

Taffyta narrowed her gaze, and although grateful Ralph was very kindly distracting Callum, so to allow Rancis the proper concentration on his chat with Wren, Zed and Turbo, Taffyta was due to burying her nose back in her phone and also feeling gratitude that both her and Rancis got a little bit of a break due to Ralph's very kind bout of babysitting. Just as Taffyta's little smile sagged and she was about to continue scrolling through her socials, she furrowed her brow in a pang of cuteness and now couldn't remove her gaze from Ralph and Callum, across the stretch. Ralph was still sat on his rear with one of his large hands supporting Callum to his strong, broad chest. His other hand was dutifully planted into the concrete below and behind him, so to remain in an upright sit, though the dainty sweetness that crowned the courtyard pink now had Taffyta unable to take her eyes away. Ralph and Callum sweetly carried on conversing, Ralph's careful hand brushed some hair out of Callum's eyes, Callum's loud, boyish tone could be heard telling Ralph all about the imaginative, exciting ideas inside his head. Ralph so sweetly doted on Callum, an extra paid dollop of his undivided attention that normally any other exhausted adult, on the lot, wouldn't be able to afford nearly as much as Ralph was, in this moment, and it was here did Taffyta allow a sneaky smile to sprawl her face as she began to connect the dots.

After a few moments of Ralph's and Callum's cute bout of conversing, Callum finally wormed his way off of Ralph's chest, stumbled to the ground, cutely assured Ralph he'd be right back and began to happily skip in the direction of Rancis's figure, far across the courtyard. His boyish voice stated the word 'dad' a few times over, which told Taffyta that Ralph was likely due to either eventually joining Callum to said group of men across the way, or sourcing Taffyta for a much-needed break. Just as she suspected, Ralph grunted to a stand, brushed off his knees and hands and began to mosey over to Taffyta's sat figure on a shady bench near the entrance to the racer's main corridors. Taffyta locked her phone, stuffed it into the big pocket of her zip-up and flashed Ralph a kind smile as he neared. She bobbed him a nod of acknowledgement, which he cutely returned, and as he finally sagged into her two-dozen foot gravity, she piqued a cute, curious little smirk and glanced to Callum's direction, across the way.

"I'm shocked you have the energy to keep up with that kid," Taffyta stated with a wide smile, to which Ralph wrinkled his nose, flagged his hand downward and took a seat next to Taffyta on the bench.

"Y'kidding? He's keeping me young," Ralph muttered happily, "He's adorable. He has so many wild ideas. He wanted to gather all the fallen leaves from the tree and fill the code room... Then dive into it like a ball pit, code boxes and all."

"Poor thing has no other children to bounce ideas off of," Taffyta mumbled, and though she was almost glad Ralph didn't get the very minor insinuation, she bit her tongue as the two aimlessly peered across the courtyard. Rancis could be seen sweetly kneeling to Callum's level, likely telling Callum that he needed a few more minutes with the adults of the group. Taffyta's blue eyes side-eyed Ralph, he was sat to her left, and as she eyed his face and figure, his honey-brown gaze so sweetly looked on in Callum's direction, as if he could hardly get enough of doting on a child. The two had nearly a minute of silence before Taffyta decided to be brave and revisit said insinuation that seemed to go over Ralph's head, "You, uh... You and Vanellope doing okay?"

"Oh, we're great," Ralph sighed with a nod, his honest, smiling eyes glanced to Taffyta, though he double took on her as her sweet, motherly eyes held narrowed to him in almost girly, dainty suspicion. Ralph halted, furrowed his brow and almost frowned, "What? What's wrong?"

"No, nothings wrong at all, everything's great," Taffyta chimed with a knowing laugh and a shrug, "Callum won't stop talking about his favorite Uncle Ralph."

"I'm the best," Ralph boasted under his breath with a confident nod, Taffyta laughed, rolled her eyes and nudged Ralph's larger upper arm, to which he dropped the cocky act, softened and gave her a warm smile, "He's pretty great. It's been a minute since we've had a child on the lot."

"Novus is about to be born, that'll be fun," Taffyta shrugged, she eyed Ralph, once more, and wondered just when she should come out with it. She figured dancing around the topic was too much torture for her own excitement to handle, she inhaled a stiff breath and wondered if jumping right into it would shock Ralph's dormant brain awake to the blatantly obvious in front of him, "Y'know... Callum might need a little buddy to hang with, eventually. Y'got a lot of paternal instincts literally oozing from your pores, there, my guy."

"Yeah, Sugar Rush has done a lot for me. I never thought I'd enjoy being around kids, let alone having three of my own," Ralph mumbled cutely as he rubbed the back of his head and peered in the direction of the group across the way; Callum patiently stood with Rancis, hand in hand.

"I think you're ready," Taffyta's voice tenderly ushered as she narrowed her gaze and allowed her playful side to melt away, though Ralph furrowed his brow in dainty confusion and peered deep into Taffyta's eyes. Ralph shook his head, to prove further almost nervous confusion, to which Taffyta beamed a wider smile and shrugged as she gestured out to Callum, across the way, "Ralph, you're out there clearly desperate to father anything with dewy eyes looking up at'cha three feet from the ground. You're a wonderful uncle, but... You're an even better father."

"Ready, you mean like..." Ralph long-blinked and looked as if maybe he and Vanellope had likely forgotten about their little plan about a fourth child, though as the idea came rushing back to him, Taffyta raised her eyebrows in baited wait and could see the dusty cogs begin to turn in Ralph's brain. He huffed a shaky breath and peered into Taffyta's eyes with an almost renewed smile, "Y-You mean like, ready to have another baby?"

"Well, yeah, I mean... From way over here, you look like you're about to ask Rancis for adoption papers, and sweep Callum away into the sunset," Taffyta blurt a hard laugh and shook her head, "Look, you can direct ALL those paternal instincts directly at my child all day long, but... Methinks you should utilize this energy with Vanellope. Bring another child into the world now, he or she would be welcomed with ALL of this fresh ability you seem to have conjured all over again, my guy."

"Wow, I..." Ralph staggered a shaky laugh, shook his head and rubbed his forehead, "I didn't even think about it, I was having fun just being an uncle. I mean, I know Vanellope and I talked about it a few months ago, but the idea kind of slipped our minds, I think."

"I'm happy to refresh the desire, my dude," Taffyta muttered playfully, "You seem to have healed, you look as if you don't have a care in the world. Please consider that fourth baby, with this mass of positive energy you have. You're ready."

"I'm ready," Ralph repeated with a huff of a small chuckle, though Taffyta raised her eyebrows in surprise as Ralph almost nervously stood and held the sides of his head, "Holy User, you're right. I didn't even make that connection."

"I mean, Callum's a nice distraction, but I can just picture a mini version of you, out there, and I know nothing would make you and Vanellope happier," Taffyta rushed through a sigh of a giggle, though Ralph dart his eyes about, as if he suddenly looked as if he needed to be somewhere.

"I-I need to find Vanellope," Ralph huffed with a small laugh, "It's like you woke up a part of my brain. I have to tell her."

"Does she believe you didn't want a fourth, or something?" Taffyta wondered curiously, to which Ralph shook his head and shrugged.

"Well, no, last we talked about it was almost three months ago, when we stayed in Vidrix," Ralph explained, "I just told her I wasn't ready, just then. She respected it, but I guess it just never came back up because..."

"She's patiently waiting for you to be ready," Taffyta blurt a giggle and began to flag her hands in Ralph's direction, "And now that you suddenly realize that you ARE ready, I'd definitely go tell her! Is she home?"

"Yeah, she's home," Ralph huffed.

"Well, go! No time to waste," Taffyta urged, to which Ralph flashed her a sweet, grateful little smile of whole humility.

"Thanks, Taff," Ralph ushered as he bounced on his feet and prepared for coded take off.

"Just doin' my job," Taffyta volleyed, though she flinched as Ralph's electric purple coding sent him off like a bolt of lightning, and just like that, he was around the bend and totally out of sight. Taffyta sat back on her shady bench, once more, and heaved a giggly sigh as she huffed the air about her a sneaky conclusion, "Now it's MY turn to dote on a niece or nephew."

In coded, almost barreling nonsense, Ralph erupted from his glitch hopping and happened upon his and Vanellope's massive front door. He hung in the gape of their lovely front porch, the wind about him rustled nearby trees, song birds could be heard filling the palace grounds with joy, and as Ralph's large hand hovered over the bigger door handle, he held his breath and reeled in a feeling of awoken shock. He long blinked in hot confusion, the fact that his wounds had so tediously and cleanly healed right under his nose, out in plain sight and secretly hidden, all in one go, it had his head spinning. The thought of Koko's lost childhood had so quickly been embraced by countless father-daughter dates, outings that Ralph eventually stopped pairing with trauma. His heart raced in confusion, the fact that his aligned coding, and everything that entailed, so sweetly soothed any past troubles, thus readying him for this very moment he was standing in, a moment he was unsure would cleanly present itself like such. He pushed into his and Vanellope's warm home, shut and locked the door and yanked his lazy red zip up off of his body.

"Hey, babe?" Ralph's gentlemanly voice called into the house.

"Yeah?" Vanellope's voice called from all the way around the bend and down in their airy basement.

Ralph pressed across their sunny home in eagerness to source her voice, though as he pushed through their high-ceilinged foyer and into the lovely bounce of white tiles and marble their kitchen was ladened with, each one eager to soak the sun into the grout, Ralph skid to a stop and allowed his longing gaze to stare headlong down the gape of a corridor that lead to their massive bedroom, and eventually to their lonely spare room safely tucked at the end of the hall. For the first time in ages, the door was wide open, allowing in a healthy, heavy beam of sunlight into their rather airy and dim corridor. Ralph raised his eyebrows in tender surprise, he knew him and Vanellope rarely set foot in their spare room; the fact that the door was hung open had his heart back flipping into a coded oblivion. He hesitantly sauntered down the corridor, past the bevel of their huge bedroom's double doors, which were also hung open. Their home boasted Sugar Rush's sunlight, opened windows caused a sweet, cool breeze to rustle through the space, and as Ralph stepped into the vicinity of their sunny spare bedroom, he collected that Vanellope was likely cleaning house in preparation for colder months to come.

Ralph bravely crossed the threshold of their spare room and allowed his eyes to soak in the sunny nonsense. A beautiful, almost round room hugged by floor to ceiling windows on the outer wall, which overlooked a section of the palace's never ending grassy fields. It harbored an adorable little reading nook built into a nearby wall, it also had its own bathroom and the plushest white carpet ever seen. Ralph's bare feet gently scuffed about the room as his large fingers aimlessly followed the molding that beautifully divided the walls in half, this creamy colored, sunny room of speckled, unearthed dust seemed alive with purpose, all of the sudden. It were as if said opened door and beam of sunlight laid over Ralph's heart like the hugest, most ironic metaphor he could ever happen upon, and though his nearly teary eyes glossed the room in preparation for baby furniture and everything a new child entailed, he flinched in surprise as Vanellope's delicate voice ushered into the space Ralph was being reborn into.

"Yeah, I just... Figured we'd finally put furniture in here, or something," Vanellope mumbled cutely, and as Ralph eased his gaze to hers, he took note that she was in a ratty t-shirt, black leggings and a messy ponytail; it was clear she had been here cleaning the house while Ralph was gone. She sighed, wiped sweat off of her forehead and gave Ralph the warmest smile. Although Vanellope never came right out with it, Ralph felt grateful that she was very heavily dancing around the topic of using this spare room for another baby, for fear of it being a sensitive subject for Ralph, "I can utilize the reading nook, there. I was gunna get maybe a bean bag chair, or like... I don't know."

"We'd have to get furniture that matched the crib," Ralph mumbled cutely, to which Vanellope flinched and furrowed her brow at him.

"... Crib," Vanellope repeated in a low, confused tone; Ralph rubbed the back of his head and breathed a chuckle.

"Yeah, you don't want it all to be mismatched, y'know? We also have to think about the changing table, a rocking chair," Ralph plainly rattled, to which Vanellope tightly crossed her arms and looked as if she wanted to erupted with glee, though confusedly kept it reserved strictly due to the uncertainty of Ralph's insinuations.

"Y-You mean like..." Vanellope staggered with a falter of a chuckle, to which she finally wrinkled her nose, narrowed her gaze and gave Ralph a cute, defeated smile in the act of desperately trying not to get her hopes up, "I'm confused. Wh-what did YOU want to do with this room?"

"I think we should put a baby in this room," Ralph stated with easiness, he hooked his thumbs into the gape of his lazy red sweats. He bobbed a nod and cutely looked about the still, sunny bedroom before he finally hooked his happy, honey-brown gaze deep into Vanellope's, "I think that's the best way to utilize this space."

"A baby," Vanellope repeated, still cautious of whether to explode into confetti or not.

"I'm ready," Ralph stated warmly with a nod, to which Vanellope only now allowed a wide grin to slowly sprawl her face.

"Y-You want..." Vanellope started in grinning confusion, to which Ralph huffed a shaky laugh and gestured out to the room.

"YES, I"m ready, I want to have another baby with you, let's do it," Ralph stated in whole, grinning cuteness as he finally sagged his thumbs back to the gape of his pockets.

"Are you serious?" Vanellope cried with the widest grin as she cupped her hands to her chest and scrunched her shoulders, though she flinched in surprise as Ralph shifted on his feet in a contained little bout of excitement and yanked his phone from his pocket.

"Dead serious," Ralph mumbled cutely as he began to thumb to a few different code room options; although him and Vanellope were no longer King or Queen, they still were gifted a swathe of authoritative code room abilities as a 'just in case'. With such, Ralph tabbed his coded information, swiped the slider for firewalls and disabled his own. Vanellope raised her eyebrows in high surprise and scrambled to yank her phone from the thinner side pocket of her leggings, and as she tabbed to her own information as well, Ralph blurt a laugh and shoved his locked phone back into his pocket, "What are we doing, what are we doing!"

"UH, you tell me!" Vanellope wailed with a cute rush of giggling, though just as she hovered her finger over the slider of her own firewall options, she bashfully peered up into Ralph's eyes with a show of sweet hesitancy, "Holy shit, we're really gunna do this? Y-You TRULY are ready?"

"Gimme that," Ralph grunted as he haphazardly swiped his much larger finger at her phone, disabled her firewalls for her and finally swiped the phone from her hands, in which it tumbled to the carpet with a thud.

Vanellope gaped, erupted with laughter and jolted to retrieve it, though she squealed a cute cry of pure, elated joy as Ralph eagerly scooped her up into a huge hug, complete with one single twirl and a messy bout of stumbling out of their baby's room and into the airy, dim corridor. Vanellope grinned wider than she had ever before, grappled her arms about Ralph's neck and relished in the sound of their joined laughter echoing in the bounce of their arched, high-ceilinged corridor.

"Player four FINALLY joins the game," Vanellope loudly teased as Ralph gently set Vanellope down to her feet, though she eagerly cupped his jaw as he leaned his forehead firmly into hers and hotly rushed a daring, sweet, whispered notion on her face.

"No time to waste," He ushered, his dark, sinfully sweet voice hovered over her like a storm cloud.

As the two collided into a writhe of a passionate kiss and a wrangle of an embrace, they stumbled amidst their sudden make out session on their lovely wooden floors, the scuffs of their heels and haphazard groping of hands to walls and door handles eventually caused for a jolt of a push into their bedroom. Upon the sudden vanish of their bodies from the corridor, Ralph's hand haphazardly swiped at one of their bedroom doors and was hardly successful in closing it, and though it wasn't necessary, the two pushed deeper into the secrecy of their lovely, sunny bedroom, the rush to complete a task they had been excitedly preparing for, one of which was now very quickly becoming a delightful reality.