Reviews :
Lyssdoodle : Thank you! Yeah I have to often remind myself haha. And yes, I agree. Ralph holding babies is literally the number one thing to turn me to goo immediately.
Burgie : Thank you! :)
Snake557 : Thanks friend :D
ThoreLB : Callum's a sweetie. Though, he's lowkey a point of contention for Gideon and his character development. Love Callum either way though :)
*Chapter 17*
"Wanna know the TRUE reason I love this place?" Ralph's deep voice mumbled, and as him and Koko approached a table for two, tucked in the corner of the adorable, cozy, dimly lit little coffee shop and ice cream parlor, Ralph pulled Koko's chair out for her and politely let her sit first.
"What's that?" Koko asked in a smiling sigh, she began to tuck her beautiful long hair into a low, loose ponytail so it wouldn't get in the way of her eating. Koko raised her eyebrows and followed her father's larger figure as he came to a sit across from her, though she blurt a cute giggle as Ralph took his spoon out of his ice cream and cheekily waggled his eyebrows; he lazily twirled the spoon, in which it was nearly four times the size of a normal spoon. Koko grinned and looked down to her bowl of delicious ice cream and prepared to tuck in as she ushered her father a warm notion, "All inclusive, giants and tinies."
"It's one of the only places in Sugar Rush that has Ralph-sized spoons," Ralph grumbled, he began to pick the perfect scoop of a bite, with his spoon, and although he was with Koko and bought her ice cream, in the event of ordering at the counter, he cocked an eyebrow and eyed her bowl, in which she, too, began to pick at. Ralph cleared his throat and felt waves of mild awkwardness come and go, and though he had gotten to know Koko well enough over the year or two of knowing her, as an adult, he felt bashful over this intimate little outing with her. In the event of not being able to get true alone time with her, he heaved a silent, shaky breath and knew he had to break the ice somehow, the eventual carve down to true matters, he lulled his eyes closed in a long blink of mental steadiness and spoke sweetly to her, "I'm shocked you got vanilla."
"Why? It's in mom's name, I AM her daughter, y'know," Koko retort with a sassy little smile, a toss of honey-brown eyes and a show of teeth that mocked Vanellope's little glint of a smirk, Ralph raised his eyebrows in dewy cuteness and reeled. Quick as a whip, Koko wrinkled her nose amidst a bite of her ice cream and waggled her empty spoon in the direction of her father, and although her mouth was full, she continued talking and covered her mouth amidst their casual hang out, "Y'get brick flavor, dad?"
"C'mon, it was an honest statement," Ralph blurt a laugh, he beamed a wide smile he tried to contain to the best of his ability, he scooped his spoon into his ice cream, for good, and also took a bite, "I guess you got fun toppings, yeah?"
"Gummy bears," Koko hissed with a childlike little grin, she took another hefty bite and swirled her spoon in happiness, "I'm pretty sure there are strawberries in here, somewhere. OH I also got like... This raspberry swirl inside. It's good, y'wanna bite?"
"O-Oh, sure," Ralph mumbled cutely as she casually lifted her bowl of ice cream and made it easily accessible for Ralph; he politely dug his much larger spoon into her ice cream, but was careful to take a small portion, so not to polish off her own treat. He took a bite, raised his eyebrows in cute delight and shrugged, "Oh, I was not anticipating the frozen gummy bears. Ask me why I thought they'd remain chewy."
"It's the best part," Koko hissed in cute delight as she scrunched her shoulders, brought her bowl back to herself and continued to pick at it; she raised her eyebrows in piqued curiosity and glossed her eyes over her father's face as he began to prepare another bite of his own ice cream, though she bravely smiled and leaned forward, "What'd you get again? Can I try?"
"Sure," Ralph eased casually, the easy give and take of a child always wanting a bite of whatever their parent was eating, Ralph reeled as his eyes caught with Koko's face instead of the old memories of Tessa's or Oliver's tiny, child faces. Ralph softened and patiently watched her beautiful, mature face scan inside Ralph's bowl of ice cream for the best bite, the way she'd bite her lip and narrow her eyes, the scrunch of her womanly shoulders, Ralph allowed the glow of the warm cafe, around them, to simply encompass her. Upon sagging the spoon into her mouth, her brilliant eyes hooked with Ralph's in still innocent, childlike cuteness, and it was in the weird throw around did Ralph adamantly replay Vanellope's wise words, the urge to baby Koko brimmed over the edge of his paternal instincts. Koko melted in her seat with a dizzy little grin and urgently bobbed a nod, to which Ralph snapped out of his equally as melty moment and smiled, "Good, huh?"
"What the heck did you get? I didn't hear you order yours," Koko rushed with a smile, she did a cute little squirm of a dance in her seat and continued to pick at her own ice cream; Ralph huffed a little lovestruck chuckle and looked down to assess his ice cream.
"Chocolate cheesecake," Ralph mumbled in delight, he picked at his ice cream once more, the two happily munched away, "Also has bits of heath bar and salted caramel swirls... I ALMOST had them put oreos in it, too, but..."
"Overkill, yours is perfect the way you have it," Koko assured with a nod as she waggled her spoon about, she gave Ralph a small, knowing smile and giggled through another bite of her ice cream, "Nox is that way. He'll just pile and pile and PILE until it's literal nonsense. And then he ends up wanting mine instead, like...! Dude."
Ralph blurt a laugh and shook his head; although he had gotten to know Nox well, in their Kalivar Castle days, he sagged a little and suddenly felt yet another pang of guilt swathe him. The raw fact that Koko had an entire swap mate, another man in which knew her like the back of his hand, he did everything to steady his rollercoaster of emotions and remind himself that he was, indeed, very important in Koko's life. Although the urge to toss Nox aside and not mention him, due to a mild bout of envy, Ralph inhaled a steadied breath and wondered just what would happen if he put said issue on top of the rug, instead of swept underneath it.
"So, how are you and Nox? It's been awhile since I've seen him," Ralph stated with a great amount of warmth he was shocked he didn't have to force, he nearly flinched at himself as he carried on with full humility, "Though, that may very well be my fault... I've morphed back into being a hermit."
"It's okay dad, we're great! Nox is wonderful. In all honesty, I don't see him as much as I used to, as well," Koko stated with a shrug, and although her words were something to potentially be sore over, she smiled and seemed to be in good spirits, "The guy got his whole game back. Me, Wren, Berri, Theo, Tatum and Mara will watch the game days from the house, we have that PERFECT view of the arena. It's wild."
"Sounds like it," Ralph nodded with encouragement, the two carried on through eating and politely covering their mouths to talk, "I'm glad you guys are good... I just realized... I shouldn't have teased you about getting vanilla. You've only just recently been introduced to what it means to have a proper bowl of ice cream. I'm sorry, Koko."
"It's okay, dad, you can just say I'm boring," Koko mumbled with a shrug, to which she flashed Ralph a huge smile. The two shared a laugh as Ralph rolled his eyes and looked off, "No, but, seriously. It's okay. I'll get around to enjoying the other flavors, I'm just thrilled there's so many options. DEFINITELY wasn't like that, growing up."
"I'm sorry," Ralph mumbled with a sag, to which Koko furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head.
"It's not your fault, dad, don't apologize," Koko rushed with a flippant smile, though she softened as her eyes hooked to her father's. He looked deflated, as if that one tiny comment was enough to bring him to his knees, she sagged her shoulders and halted the pursuit for more ice cream with the soft thud of her bowl to the beautiful table they shared. Koko gave Ralph a look of warm urgency, she shook her head and was thrilled to keep Ralph's promising eye contact, "You don't... BLAME yourself for that, do you, dad?"
"I mean, not directly," Ralph mumbled shyly, he shrugged and finally escaped Koko's powerful, beautiful eye contact, though he raised his eyebrows in surprise and caught with hers, once more, the second she leaned down a little and sought out his gaze, once more.
"Directly or indirectly," Koko started, she eased a beautiful, apologetic smile that mocked Vanellope to a T, she shook her head tenderly and gave Ralph a world of warmth, "Do not blame yourself for anything that happened, dad. Absolutely none of it was your fault. Is that why you've been a hermit lately?"
Ralph inhaled a deep, shaky breath and looked across the glossy-tiled, busy cafe in a mildly embarrassed manner, as if to so subtly insinuate to Koko that if this conversation were to go down this route, he'd likely tear up and didn't want to be seen crying in public. Furthering this notion, Ralph nervously cleared his throat, tightly looked down to his ice cream and, in the ten seconds of Koko's patient, silent wait, Ralph finally bobbed the smallest nod and began to aimlessly pick at the last little bites of his ice cream. Koko eased a toothy little smile of full, warm understanding, lulled her eyes to her also nearly-empty bowl of ice cream and heaved an easy sigh through her nose.
"Has anyone told you that what you're feeling is totally normal?" Koko prod tenderly, a voice so soothing and warm that it nearly had Ralph already sobbing. He raised his eyebrows in a prickle of warm surprise and hooked his eyes tight to Koko's; she shrugged and looked off, she concluded her notion through a long, heavy sigh, "Surely mom has, in her own language, but... You're an incredible dad. I know it wouldn't be like you to not put the weight of your family's problems all on your shoulders. You ARE the spine of our unit, y'know. Tessa says so, ALL the time."
"... She does?" Ralph prod in soft shock, Koko grinned and rolled her eyes.
"Dad, don't act all surprised," Koko giggled, she rested her elbows on the table and gave him a sneering little shake of her head, amidst her warm deliverance of words, "Believe it or not, all of us adore you."
Ralph bobbed a shy nod and finally set his spoon down, though in the act of also resting his large left elbow on the table, his forearm and hand went with. Without thinking, he had lazily extended his hand in Koko's direction, to which she so smoothly fell into. With a cute little grab, she held onto the back of Ralph's much larger hand, the grip of her much tinier, though still square and powerful wrecking hand, it had Ralph reeling in the cute switch up. Koko gripped Ralph's hand, her palm rested tight over his thick, glossy wedding ring, and with the hook of her gorgeous brown eyes, she showed her teeth in a twinkly, pearly white little smirk.
"I'm gunna cut to the chase, dad, cause I know this is something that's bothering you... Something that, unfortunately, has put a wedge between you and mom," Koko's mature voice glossed Ralph's heart like a warm hug he so desperately needed, "I need you to know that, whatever you need from ME, whatever you need to bridge the gap of not being present for my childhood, you know I'll deliver. Whether that's telling and showing you, first hand, what I was like as a child, memories I have, my biggest hopes and fears, whatever you need dad, it's yours. I know you need me."
Although Ralph had kept his facade of easy coolness, Koko's last statement was like a dagger to his heart. He huffed a shaky breath and firmly looked off and out the tinted window they were nearest; his now glassy gaze scanned the twinkly town lights all about, the atmosphere was kissed with a sheer amount of warmth, and though he could feel the epicenter of it all radiating off of Koko, he furrowed his eyebrows in a pang, the act of her so tenderly clawing at all of his insecurities had him reeling. Bravery flood him, his teary, wary eyes finally hooked to Koko's, once more, to which her smile broadened. Although it was clear that she could so easily well up, over this issue, as well, he was thrilled she kept her composure for him, a rock she knew he desperately needed.
"And, I need you too. It was easy for me to transition you into my life and feel whole because, well..." Koko grit her teeth and allowed her searching eyes to gloss Ralph's broad chest before she brought it back to his teary gaze, "I didn't know anything different, prior. You were added to my life, where as... You suffered loss before you gained us all back. Your pain looks a lot heavier and different than mine, and... Although I can't really put myself in your shoes and truly understand, I CAN be here for you, unconditionally, no matter what that all looks like."
"Thanks, Koko-Bree," Ralph's voice crackled with a nod, he gingerly overturned his hand and was successful in allowing their hands to melt into a grip; he inhaled a deep, shaky breath and successfully wiped his teary eyes with his massive thumb and pointer finger, a smooth transition to get away with crying in public.
"Dad, y'gotta stop inadvertently taking this out on poor mom," Koko's voice was still tender, though lilted in sternness, and though Ralph was typically never in any mood to receive corrective action from his children, his teary gaze peered into Koko's with full humility and allowed her reign, "I know she's not made this easy, either, but... Please, I'm begging you, please get good with mom. I've been made aware of your guys weird, non-verbal pact of seeing how long you two can go without swapping, and that's NOT good."
"I know, I know... It's not fair to either one of us, I've just been so wrought with this struggle," Ralph nodded and shyly looked down, "Your mother and I had a really good talk, about all of this, last night... I feel bad for worrying you kids."
"It's okay, dad, but you two are our epicenter," Koko adamantly assured, and with the way Ralph's eyes hooked to her's, she understood her weight, here. Knowing that, although Tessa's and Oliver's words went far, she wondered if hers somehow went further due to being only slightly removed, previously. She shook her head and gripped Ralph's hand, "Even though Tessa is Queen, we all still look up to and rely on you and mom. Please hear me."
"I do, babe, I do," Ralph assured with a nod as he cleared his throat and felt confidence come back to him, he gripped her littler hand and soaked in her radiant beauty, she practically glowed with warmth, "I'm sorry to worry you guys so much. Things seem to be getting better, quickly. I'm understanding that sweeping my issues under the rug was the easy way to prolong the crap out of all of this. Now that it's all exposed, I guess I just..."
"You realized that the shadow of the problem was FAR larger than the actual problem?" Koko erupted into cute giggling, to which Ralph grinned in annoyance, bobbed a nod and aimlessly looked down to the table, "Well, that's good, dad, I'm glad it's on the mend. Tell me about it?"
"... Okay, but what I'm about to tell you HAS to stay between us, okay?" Ralph grumbled, Koko's girly eyes lit up like the Fourth of July, like keeping secrets was her specialty and being chosen to keep one, especially with the security of her father, had her eagerly leaning in, "Y-Your... Mother and I were discussing our spare bedroom today."
"Yeah?" Koko egged in a breathy whisper, though the second Ralph shyly looked off and did what he could to reign in a wide grin, Koko stiffened and bugged her eyes in an even bigger show of girly delight. She inhaled a tight, quiet gasp and easily showed almost all of her teeth amidst her beam of a smile, "Daaaad. REALLY? Is this REAL?"
"I mean, the conversation was real, yeah," Ralph grunted with a laugh, he looked entirely smitten, to which Koko bit her lip and squealed a tiny noise of giddy excitement.
"Am I really going to get a little sibling?" Koko hissed cutely, she stayed leaned in, her girly eyes hooked to Ralph's in twinkly delight, to which Ralph grunted a laugh and shrugged.
"Not this second, but... Your mother and I both agreed that it was a nice idea to look forward to," Ralph started, Koko continued to bubble with excitement, though the two sagged the second Ralph began to look wrought with a further show of nervous emotion. He eyed Koko in uncertainty and shakily pressed on, "I-I just hope that you don't... I-I don't know..."
"Dad, no, you don't need my permission to have another baby," Koko stated firmly with an annoyed laugh as she shook her head a little, "I'm not going anywhere, you can treat me to ice cream and baby me all day long, that shouldn't take away from the idea of having another child. Me and said fourth child are two completely different beings."
"But I don't want you to think that I'm trying to fill a void, or anything," Ralph grumbled with a frown, to which Koko side-eyed him.
"Well, ARE you?" Koko blatantly wondered, to which Ralph looked down and sighed a heavy sigh, and although he pondered for a moment, he narrowed his gaze and braved a smile.
"I would have felt that way, but..." Ralph stated in softness, he shook his head and smiled into Koko's eyes, "This outing has helped... YOU'VE helped. You're helping me fill the void, right now."
"Well, let's do more of THIS, then," Koko shrugged, "You buy me more ice cream, I'll help you fill the void, you gift me a baby sibling. We'll be even!"
"...You get ice cream AND a baby you don't have to endure midnight feedings with," Ralph grumbled cutely, to which Koko nodded in teasing, childlike delight and grinned.
"Yeah! It's a win!" Koko chimed, to which Ralph blurt a happy laugh and squeezed his eyes shut, the way his heart surged with an overflow of love for his precious third born, he peered into her eyes and felt light for the first time in forever.
"C'mon... We don't want to miss our event," Ralph grumbled cutely as the two prepared to stand and throw their trash away, though Koko side-eyed him in their moseying saunter to a nearby trash can.
"That or you just don't want to talk about our pact, any longer," Koko muttered, Ralph rolled his eyes and held the shop's glassy door open for her.
"I mean, I can just ground you, I can play the ultimate dad role, y'know," Ralph pressed in a playfully stern aura, to which Koko happily skipped out the door and grinned.
"I'd like to see you tryyy," Koko chimed flippantly as Ralph pressed on a little faster, so to keep up with Koko's lithe, bare footsteps.
"Surely Tessa's told you stories of her childhood, no?" Ralph retort as Koko giggled and began to back-step in their continued path down the side walk; they pressed closer to an area where said teleportation strip resided, an easy give and take of citizens coming and going, to and from different destinations all around Orion City. Ralph grinned and thought back on the past, and although it wasn't truly that long ago, it felt like centuries, his eyes got lost in Sugar Rush's darkening sky as they approached a light crowd of people waiting around the massive teleportation strip on the ground, "That girl practically LIVED in her bedroom."
"And then she turned right around and became Queen, how'd your ground-fest go, dad?" Koko volleyed, to which Ralph rolled his eyes and grinned. Koko swat at Ralph's chest before she gripped his much larger hand in hers and tugged him onto a free section of the teleportation strip, "C'mon, grumpy. This'll cheer you up."
"Yeah, I... I guess I failed to ask just what this event consisted of," Ralph wondered as he softened, him and Koko stepped onto the teleportation strip and was easily whisked away to another part of the map, the same park where Ralph was earlier in the day, with Rancis and Callum.
"Cascadia's annual lantern lighting event," Koko chimed cutely, the two stepped off of the teleportation strip, out of the little station area and into Sugar Rush's soft, summer grass. Ralph raised his eyebrows in surprise and could see a huge mass of people gathered, and though the two were well on their way to potentially being late, due to the fact that some individuals had already had their lanterns lit, none were in the sky, just yet. Ralph softened at the beautiful sight, the massive, grassy park, with Orion City's skyline tightly hugging it, looked incredible against Sugar Rush's pale, purple evening sky. Koko warmly continued on, her's and Ralph's hand holding persisted, "Nox took me last year, you're gunna love it, dad, it's really pretty."
"What exactly happens?" Ralph wondered softly as the two crossed the gap of grass, between the station and the huge crowd of gathered people. In the light weave through small groups of people who already had their lanterns and were preparing to erect and light them, Ralph easily followed Koko's skillful, lithe maneuvering amidst the grip of their hands.
"First, we gotta get a lantern," Koko chimed as she finally came to a small area where other event-goers were in line. In quick succession, her and Ralph quickly got to the head of the booth and were given a delicate lantern, still folding, though still pretty big. Koko cutely thanked the event worker, smiled up into Ralph's eyes, motioned him to follow and began to aimlessly search for a big enough patch of grass to stand in, with Ralph. Upon finally sagging to a comfortable area, Koko turned to face Ralph, gestured to the lantern and began to unfurl it delicately, "So, now... We just gotta set it up and wait for the go-ahead to release it!"
"Release it?" Ralph ogled, he furrowed his eyebrows and took a gentle look around. A few other familial and coupled groups could be seen lighting the small hub of a flame, at the base of their massive rectangular lanterns, all aglow in majestic beauty, he urgently peered down to the folded lantern in Koko's possession and pointed to it, "Wait a second... How big is that thing? You release it into the sky?"
"Yeah, dad, it'll be awesome, here, look," Koko flagged her hand and gestured for his help, though as Ralph reached for the lantern, Koko gripped his wrist and giggled, "Gently, dad, gently. They're fragile, they're light so they can float off. Trust me, you won't be disappointed."
"Holy shit, yeah, this thing is massive, why was I envisioning teensy lanterns?" Ralph ogled as they successfully unfurled the lantern, it was nearly the size of Koko. She beamed a happy smile and gently held it up, so to find the apparatus, in the center of the lantern, to light; hot air that would allow the lantern to float off, much like a hot air balloon.
"Isn't everything teensy to you, dad?" Koko mumbled cutely, though just before Ralph could retort, a kind call, over an intercom, suggested that they were due to releasing the lanterns within the next minute. Koko widened her eyes, donned a huge frown and peered up to Ralph in a rile of sudden, girly sadness, "Wait... Crap, I forgot to grab a lighter, or something to light it."
Ralph furrowed his eyebrows, gently took the bottom of the delicate lantern in his able hands and looked off towards the booth they were just previously at, and though he inhaled a breath in preparation to tell Koko to stay put and that he'd be back, to retrieve what they needed, he furrowed his eyebrows in cute remembrance and smiled into Koko's eyes with a swathe of sudden warmth.
"Oh, here... I actually just recently was shown this glitching trick," Ralph started as he sagged back to the flat of his big feet, he smiled into Koko's eyes and was thrilled to have her full attention, though as he came to a soft kneel before her, he held the lantern with one hand and so softly took her hand in his free one, "Here, I'll teach you."
Koko eagerly gripped her father's hand and stepped closer to him as he raised the lantern, so the both of them could look inside and see just where one could hover a small, open flame. Ralph tilted his head, gently pointed up to the thick wick that was dry and clean, he cocked an eyebrow and finally brought his sweet eyes tight to Koko's as they remained eye level, due to Ralph's kneel.
"Dad, you can light the wick without a match?" Koko wondered nervously, she peered to him as if to be skeptical, though Ralph nodded and opened his free hand.
"Yep... Look, so what you do is... Cue your coding on the tip of your thumb and your middle finger, like this?" Ralph instructed gently as he successfully went through the process. Although everyone around them began to light their lanterns, and the glow of oranges and yellows so easily began to envelope the two in a continued swathe of warmth, Ralph's and Koko's circle cutely lit up with Ralph's purple coding, as well as Koko's more magenta coloring. Koko nodded in cute, dainty listening as she, too, allowed the tips of her thumb and middle finger, on her right hand, to come alive with coding. Ralph grit his teeth, and as carefully as he could, he pressed said live wires together, the tips of his middle finger and thumb, "Now, all y'gotta do is... Snap your fingers."
Koko cutely flinched as Ralph snapped his big, hefty fingers, and in the coded mess, Koko's face brightened with a huge grin the second a few sparks flew, thus insinuating a flame could come of the nonsense. Koko eased a soft gasp of childlike wonder, stabbed her eyes tight to her dad's and finally bit her lip in excitement. She narrowed her gaze as Ralph rested his hand to Koko's upper back and sweetly encouraged her to try said skill, and although she looked a little uncertain about the outcome, she firmly snapped her live-wired coded fingers and largely flinched as a few hefty sparks erupted from the noise of it. She gaped in a smiling show of girly discovery as Ralph erupted into warm laughter.
"Dad, this changes everythinnnng," Koko groaned with a loud giggle, to which Ralph was absolutely certain the stupid grin on his face was something he was going to go to sleep with, "Who taught you this?"
"Your big brother, a few months ago," Ralph grumbled in cute assurance, though he brought the lantern back to their proximity and gestured to the readied wick, "Why don't you light it? Try it out... Just get close enough, nearly snap your fingers on the wick, y'see?"
"Y'sure the whole lantern won't burst into flames doing this?" Koko muttered nervously, to which Ralph blurt a laugh and shrugged.
"Well, if it does, I'll toss it, we'll take off running, and our lantern experience, here, will certainly be one to remember," Ralph struggled to get the words out as him and Koko were cutely lost in loud laughter. Koko grinned through continued giggling as she finally brought her fingers to the dry wick, though with a successful snap and a recoil of a firm flinch, the wick eagerly caught the flame, thus lighting the lantern with a camaraderie of the warm glow all about them. Koko's eyes eagerly lit up as she scrunched her shoulders and brought her fists to her chest, to which Ralph grinned in whole entire delight and was floored to get a front row seat to Koko's adorable, matured, childlike wonder. He cutely rubbed her upper back and felt his heart begin to heal, he ushered her every single last notion of love his soul could offer, "Y'did it, babe. On the first try, too."
"I'm going to use that for EVERYTHING," Koko hissed in smiling excitement as her and Ralph tenderly corrected the huge lantern, though as the call to release said lantern had been called a few moments ago, Ralph and Koko cutely held on to the bottom of their lantern for a moment of prolonged warmth.
Ralph smiled into the warm glow of the huge, light lantern before them, though he quickly could feel Koko's even warmer gaze peering tightly up into his figure. He softened and caught her gaze, and although she was a gorgeous, matured adult, Ralph sagged his shoulders and, for the first time in his whole life, he could easily see the child version of Koko he never got to witness. She radiated it, the innocence and easiness of enchantment that came alongside teaching a child a new, handy trick, she peered up to him with a whole entire show of pure gratitude, something only he could properly gift his daughter's heart. Ralph lovingly smiled into her eyes and returned said gratitude, a hug of healing the two had so diligently given each other without truly understanding all of it, Ralph quickly gathered that this lantern was most definitely a metaphor. With easiness, Ralph bobbed her a nod, as if to assure her that it was okay to let go of this past burden, to move forward together, and with said emotional release, the two cutely lifted their hands and allowed the lantern to loft upwards into the sky, alongside the rest of the thousands of lanterns being released.
Without question, Koko firmly leaned into Ralph's chest and front for a big hug, she giggled the second Ralph's huge arms engulfed her in the teddy bear of a hug her life was previously missing out on. She sighed a long, satisfied sigh into the broad of Ralph's chest and gently sagged her ear to the gentle bass of his thudding heart. Her eyes peeled open to see the result of their release, Sugar Rush's sky was gorgeously splayed with thousands of lanterns, the kiss of a golden glow against the darkened, purple, starry evening sky, she finally lulled her eyes closed and marinated in Ralph's encompassing, overwhelming fatherly warmth. Koko eased a shy little grin the second Ralph gingerly tucked some of her beautiful hair behind her ear, amidst the huge grip of a hug he had her in, and with the world's amount of tenderness, Ralph barely tugged up on their embrace and freely smooched the top of Koko's forehead a few times. Relentless, easy love he was due to giving any of his children, no matter what.
"I love you, papa," Koko mumbled tightly into Ralph's chest, her heart swelled with the feeling of Ralph's smile on her forehead; he cutely tucked his cheek to the top of her head and allowed his eyes to peer up to the beautiful sight, all around them, whilst he sighed her his healing conclusion.
"I love you more, Koko-Bree," Ralph returned in easiness, he squeezed Koko tight into a lulling sway and felt whole, grateful for the closure she had so graciously gifted him.
