Reviews :
Snake557 : Same!
Burgie : Me too! :D
Lyssdoodle : LOL agreed! It's the only thing keepin' me going xD
Song Listened To :
Aladar and Neera by James Newton Howard
*Chapter 35*
"I don't want to leave," Ralph whispered into the top of Gideon's little head. Having now spent at least a half an hour past the time in which he said he'd be leaving, to relieve Oliver of his wrecking duties, Ralph lulled his eyes closed and so sweetly cradled Gideon tight to his upper chest, in the bend of his massive arm. Gideon squirmed, eased the cutest murmur of baby noises and clumsily sagged his first two fingers into his gummy mouth. The glow radiating off of Ralph was enough to nearly blind everyone as they cozily stood about the kitchen island, though Vanellope sat comfortably slumped and cocooned in a big, fluffy blanket in preparation to do absolutely nothing all day but snuggle with her newborn. Ralph cutely tossed his eyes to Vanellope and huffed her a gentle notion off of the top of Gideon's fluffy auburn hair, "Oliver would survive, right?"
"He would," Vanellope mumbled as she rested her chin in her hand, with her elbow to the counter, though she furrowed her brow and gave Ralph a playful side-eyed, "Y'wanna put a timestamp on this so you're not saying 'five more minutes' every ten minutes?"
"The sight of you with a tiny baby in your arms never gets old, dad," Tessa cooed quietly as Zed sweetly draped his arm about the side of Tessa's hip and snugged her into a side-hug, "Oliver TECHNICALLY will get all day with Gideon, once you leave. We all will."
"Take as long as you need, Ralph," Zed mumbled softly with a nod, "I texted Felix not too long ago... He finally replied to me and said Oliver was having a blast."
"Really?" Ralph wondered quietly as Gideon now loudly began to suckle on his fingers; Ralph raised his eyebrows and peered down to his adorable newborn, though Vanellope grimaced and firmly rubbed her face.
"Uhhhg, for User's sake, that sound alone makes my boobs hurt," Vanellope grunted; the group erupted with soft laughter.
"I was just gunna say," Tessa muttered cutely, though she approached her father and stood on tip toes, so to snuggle in to Ralph's side and get a good look at Gideon's adorable face. With the cute fluff of auburn eyebrows that perked in a show of innocent curiosity, Gideon's golden eyes hooked tight to his eldest sister, a silent notion of which had Tessa biting her lower lip, "The palace produces some prety adorable babies, guys... I was certain the last generation of babies topped it."
"Not to mention Callum," Koko wistfully sighed, "Those little blonde eyebrows were so wispy and white when he was born."
"User, he was an adorable baby," Vanellope bobbed a nod of agreeing, though she smiled up to the back of Gideon's head, the only part of him she could see due to Ralph's cocoon of a protective cradle, "We're pretty fortunate. You guys not only WERE adorable, but stayed adorable."
"I'm the most adorable," Zed's deep voice mumbled cutely, to which the group flashed laughing grins his way.
"Alright, Gideon," Ralph whispered into the top of his head, he lulled his eyes closed and placed a few hovering little smooches into the extremely soft skin on his forehead. He furrowed his eyebrows in a pang of dread and so tenderly squeezed Gideon into a little embrace, though he perked up a bit the second Gideon's little voice grunted a noise of testing, a cute little quip of seeing just what his vocal range was, the sweetest of noises to have Ralph grinning wider than he thought possible, "Dammit, I was JUST about to tell you that I was gunna head out and you go and do something THAT cute?"
"Easily afforded you another ten minutes," Zed cheekily assured with a soft nod, "Ralph, sit down... Enjoy your newborn for a little, it's okay. Oliver is doing just fine, seriously."
"I can't make him wait any longer," Ralph mumbled sorrowfully, "I'll sit for ten minutes... I have to go rescue the poor boy, after."
"C'mon, I want to lay down, anyhow," Vanellope eased tiredly, to which Ralph extended his strong free arm, tightly cradled tiny little Gideon in the nook of his other arm and supported Vanellope on her shaking, wobbly legs. She grunted a tired noise and was grateful Ralph escorted her to their big, fluffy couches, and with a cautious flop, Vanellope sighed with relief, grabbed a nearby throw blanket and began to get comfortable. Ralph easily sat down next to her and wrapped said free arm about the backs of her shoulders, so to help her cuddle into his chest and have clear access to Gideon. Ralph pushed a few kisses into the side of Vanellope's head as the rest of his family slowly came about the three and got comfortable on nearby and adjacent cushions. Vanellope eased the hugest sigh of relief and lovingly began to tap her fingers on the back of Gideon's left hand, which wasn't in his mouth. He easily clutched Vanellope's finger with the strength of his little wrecking hand, to which she scoffed a cute noise and waggled said finger about, "I'm glad all four of you have these wrecking traits... They're so cute on a baby, like this. It's something I've always loved."
"I'm surprised that..." Tessa started, though she shut her mouth tight, raised her eyebrows and softly lofted her cheeky gaze to her mother's, "Y'know what, never mind. I almost said something, but I don't want to jinx it."
"Oh, surprised that he hasn't had a meltdown about not eating yet?" Vanellope blurt, she bobbed a fervent nod and eyed Gideon in sweet suspicion, "Yeah, I agree, though now I'm almost hoping I've jinxed it cause ALL THREE of you kids were screaming bloody murder not two minutes after being born, due to hunger."
"He'll realize it soon, I understand I'm holding a ticking time bomb," Ralph grumbled cutely, to which Zed choked a laugh and rubbed his hands together.
"It'll be when your ten minutes are up," Zed wheezed, the group guffawed notions in Zed's and Ralph's direction, and with the noise, Gideon's tiny chest expanded, his whole body stiffened, he uttered a cute little wail of further vocal testing and eagerly returned to sucking on his fingers.
"You tell 'em," Ralph cutely encouraged.
"The kid's got a solid set of lungs," Vanellope grumbled with a cute smile as Gideon's fist remained still tightly gripped about Vanellope's pointer finger.
"What power do you think he'll be more drawn to?" Koko inquisitively asked as everyone sweetly peered to her in a prickle of curiosity. Koko shrugged and gestured to Tessa, "Like... Tessa adheres to both wrecking and glitching. Oliver's way more into wrecking, I'm way more into glitching. I wonder what Gideon will lean in to."
"If it has anything to do with that hyperactive imagination of his, I mean, hey," Vanellope shrugged and blurt a giggle, "It'll be wild to see what comes of it all."
"We usually can tell, with you kids, within the first few weeks," Ralph grumbled, he eyed Tessa in sweet tease, "Tessa showed us a healthy dose of both powers from the jump... Oliver, for the longest time, would cry because he couldn't hold on to things without it shattering into a million pieces."
"Oh, he'd get so upset, he broke so many of his favorite cups that way," Vanellope erupted with giggling as she snuggled into Ralph's chest, "Koko's glitching powers would wake her up, in the middle of the night, ALL the time."
"I remember that!" Koko pointed with a revived gasp of remembrance, everyone smiled, "I would have weird dreams or nightmares, and I think my coding would try to shock me awake. It was weird."
"Yeah, similar things STILL happen to me," Tessa agreed with a nod.
"Welp... I should probably feed Gideon," Vanellope stated through an already tired sigh, though the twinkle in her eyes proved that she was elated to be in this moment, "I don't want Oliver to get the meltdown version of Gideon, once he's reminded that he's hungry. I'd want Oliver to instead have..."
"... Milk-comatose version?" Tessa stated softly with a knowing side-eye, to which Ralph cautiously grunted to a stand with one arm still protectively cradling Gideon.
"A sleeping baby is a happy baby," Ralph grumbled cutely, though before he was due to handing Gideon off to Vanellope, for good, he stood before their massive couch, in the middle of all three women, and quietly shushed his voice to hover above Gideon's little face and head. He smiled into Gideon's bright eyes and shook his head, "Alright, bud, y'got an army of love here to take care of you today."
"A whole battalion," Zed's deep voice kindly assured from behind the bend of the couch, just a handful of steps out of the kitchen's vicinity.
"Y'got your big brother Zed, you're ultimately the safest with him, he's the King, y'know," Ralph whispered quietly to Gideon as he shot Zed a knowing little smirk. Zed huffed a chuckle, crossed his arms and shyly looked down as Ralph kindly sagged his eyes into Koko's. She peered up to Ralph in dewy, baited wait, the softness of her facial features were warm and welcoming, "Y'got your big sister, Koko. I can tell she wants to give you probably the best snuggle session she can afford."
"My patience is running thin," Koko hissed in a whisper, a playful notion that had everyone quietly laughing.
"Y'have your oldest sister, Tessa... She's the Queen," Ralph dumbed his voice down to an even softer whisper as Gideon grunted a gentle noise of curiosity, his golden eyes hooked tight to Ralph's face, "If there's anyone here ready to go to war for you, it's her."
"Claws out," Tessa muttered with a snarky little smile, to which Vanellope scoffed a little laugh and nudged Tessa's shoulder.
"Ohh, y'got your big brother Oliver, he'll sooner cry with you than do normal big-brother antics," Ralph stated through a wistful sigh, to which he then sweetly landed his eyes on Vanellope, "And, y'got your mother. The coolest brat in this entire Arcade. Study up, my guy, it doesn't get much better than this."
"Pshaw," Vanellope flagged her hand to dismiss Ralph's kind words, though the streak of red across her face proved that the two were in-sync with each other's love language.
"Alright, already," Ralph grumbled into the top of Gideon's head, he furrowed his brow in a pang of bittersweet sorrow and firmly pressed a few firm, loving kisses into Gideon's soft forehead. With such, he squeezed Gideon into his upper chest and into as much of a hug that his huge arms could afford, without squishing Gideon completely. Ralph sighed, sagged a bit and was grateful to catch eye contact with his precious newborn, "I love you, bud. See yah later..."
"It'll go by fast," Vanellope tenderly assured as Ralph so carefully bent over and slowly maneuvered Gideon into Vanellope's motherly cradle, against her chest.
"You're the best," Ralph whispered into Vanellope's face before the two caught in a few cute smooches; usually something all the kids would cutely guffaw and be playfully disgusted at, everyone remained sweetly silent as Ralph finally eased out of Vanellope's and Gideon's gravity, "Love you, kids."
"Love you," Both Tessa and Koko chirped as Ralph squeezed both girls into a proper envelope of a group hug. Ralph firmly grappled Zed's shoulder and yanked him in as well, and with the success of a laugh shaken from Zed's figure, Ralph gave the group one final squeeze and began to head towards his front door.
"We'll be here waiting for yah," Zed cutely assured as Ralph waved.
"We have four kids!" Ralph wheezed quietly with a huge, cheesy grin and a scrunch of his big shoulders; he finally slipped out the door muttering some silent, happy notion to himself, one of which had the group cutely laughing to see him off.
"Yes we do," Vanellope stated through a soft, wistful sigh, though as if on a cue, Gideon firmly began to almost haphazardly rub his face and root in such a way that made clear that he had finally realized hunger. He grimaced and began to grunt little noises of urgency, as if to warn the group that he was en route to the meltdown previously touched on. Vanellope rubbed her forehead and blurt a giggle, "So it begins..."
"I'll brew some coffee," Koko whispered, Zed gently stood and bobbed a nod.
"I'm going to start that puppychow recipe you guys were on about," Zed urged excitedly, though Tessa scoot a bit closer to her mother and gave her a knowing smile.
"I'll keep you company," Tessa eased kindly, to which Vanellope eased her first born a grateful smile and welcomed the camaraderie.
"Uncle Felix, you can't POSSIBLY tell me you're giving me your best," Oliver sneered as he heavily panted, the credits of their now ended game rolled and the child staring headlong into their cabinet happily skipped away. Oliver swiped mud from his forehead and grinned, the twinkle in his eyes was enough to light up a night sky. He shook his head and put his hands on his hips as Felix skipped over, a pep in his step, his hammer in hand, Oliver tossed his gaze up the pristine Niceland building, "I'm not even breaking a sweat!"
"Oh, Olly," Felix flagged his hand, Oliver blurt a laugh and clearly was over exaggerating due to the sweat dripping down his temples, though before Felix could press on, he raised his eyebrows in high surprise as Ralph's flash of purple pixels suddenly whizzed past the train station and into their vicinity, "RALPH! You're back! So soon?"
"Dad," Oliver huffed cutely, though Ralph cocked an eyebrow and peered down to his son in a swathe of pure, elated gratitude. Ralph huffed a heavy chuckle, rested his large hand on Oliver's broad shoulder and shook his head. Oliver grunted a laugh and gestured to his father, "How is he? He arrived? Everything's good?"
"Everything's great, he's here safe and sound," Ralph assured, relief written on his face, though he shook his head and squeezed Oliver's shoulder, "Ol, I don't know how I'm going to be able to repay you for that... I mean, truly. You did me the hugest solid, ever. I was able to catch Gideon and hear him take his first breaths and hear his cries and all that jazz... You sacrificed that for me."
"It's your son," Oliver narrowed his gaze and eased Ralph a loving smile, "I've been there, I get it... It was YOU who had to be there, for Gideon, and I was happy to make it happen."
"You're the best," Ralph tenderly assured, and before Oliver could reply, Ralph yanked Oliver into a big bear hug of a squeeze. Oliver choked a laugh as he grappled his bigger arms about Ralph's upper chest and rested in his father's embrace, and as they sat snug for a second, Ralph finally peeled from Oliver's grip and cutely held the tops of his shoulders, "Now it's your turn."
"Ohh I can't wait," Felix squeezed a grunt with a happy smile as he bounced on his tiptoes, "New wrecker babies are the best, with their little wrecking hands and feet...!"
"Gideon's got it covered, for sure," Ralph stated with a laugh, to which Oliver's eyes lit up even more. Ralph gestured towards the game's darker entrance and grinned, "Go, go get your fill. Go meet your little brother, you deserve it."
"Thanks dad," Oliver huffed with a wide smile.
"No, thank YOU," Ralph ushered as Oliver's electric emerald coding suddenly zipped off; Felix clutched his hat and smiled up into Ralph's eyes, "So... How'd he do?"
"I've never had to fix up after another wrecker, on game day, but I can assure you," Felix waggled his finger, "Olly-boy woulda made you extremely proud."
"We're way beyond that, now," Ralph concluded with a nod, his loving gaze chased after the pixel dust of Oliver's coding as it vanished out of the game.
