Reviews :

Burgie : Thank you! I did my best with that :)

Lyssdoodle : It's true! When the 4 Turbotime men start having babies, in the next book, THEIR kin will be from a majority of the consoles, especially Berri. Her's and Turbo's child will have Sugar Rush, Fix-It Felix Jr., Dead Zed and Turbotime. The thoroughbreds are the Fluggerbutters, they're strictly Sugar Rush, but the other kids have 2 or 3 games to their name. As said, Berri's children will have 4, which I think is the highest number of conjoined games yet. I'd have to do deeper digging, but I think that's right...

Firesong-Writes : Aww yeah, Felix is a good uncle. I feel bad for not including him as much as I should, but he is fun to write for when he shows up. I love all the baby


*Chapter 36*

With a skillful maneuver, a quick conceal of herself very smoothly paired with the reveal of Gideon's adorable little face, Vanellope brought Gideon out from the thin cover she was using to privately feed Gideon. Carefully sat upright and to the side, in Vanellope's lap, his dewy gold eyes nearly went cross-eyed trying to readjust to the sudden kiss of sunlight splayed over the top of his adorable, fuzzy auburn hair, as well as the proximity of his eldest sister. Tessa grinned as wide as she could, leaned to get into Gideon's gravity and was floored to gain his intelligent, adorable eye contact. Supporting the front of his head and neck with the gape of her palm with one hand, Vanellope began to gently burp Gideon with her other hand. He flinched and cutely grunted a noise of mild struggle, though ultimately his gummy, drooling little gape of a mouth proved that he had enjoyed a very hearty, nourishing first meal.

"Someone's nearing nap time, I can feel it," Tessa whispered into Gideon's adorable, squishy face as she lovingly began to wipe his mouth free of drool and milk.

"Me, it's me," Vanellope blurt with an exhausted giggle, to which Tessa nodded.

"You can go nap for however long you need, mom, I can keep an ear out for Gideon once you put him down," Tessa assured with warmth; both her and Vanellope tossed their curious gazes to the kitchen, where Zed and Koko cutely began to bicker like siblings.

"I don't know what I'd do without you guys," Vanellope stated through a long sigh, her eyes already began to show bags, to which Tessa gave her a sweet smile of reassurance and nodded.

"At least this 'up all night' phase is expedited, here in the Arcade... If we were humans, this process could last years," Tessa grimaced, Vanellope bugged her eyes and shook her head.

"Nope. Hate that idea," Vanellope grunted, though her and Tessa flinched the second all of Vanellope's thumping, to Gideon's tiny back, finally produced a hefty burp from his figure. They both lit up with smiles as Vanellope leaned over to catch eyes with Gideon, "There it is, that feels better, huh."

"Keep it down, my guy," Tessa mumbled as Gideon hiccuped and looked as if he could potentially be en route to spitting up, though as she continued to cutely tidy Gideon's squishy little face, Tessa perked up as she could see her mother's gaze broaden to just who had presented himself into the house, behind Tessa.

"Olly," Vanellope's sweet, tired, motherly voice cooed with the widest, loveliest smile. Her and Oliver warmly caught eyes as his big, bumbling figure so slowly pressed into the living room. Everyone in the house perked up and honed their attention tight to the sweetness unfolding before them. Tessa was first to politely scoot out of Vanellope's Gideon's presence, so to give Oliver her seat and give him a chance to officially meet his baby brother. Upon softly sitting in Tessa's spot, now sandwiched in between both women, Oliver's teary, smiling gaze was fixated upon Gideon's adorable disposition. Still cautiously propped upright, with Vanellope's strong and able hand securing his head all whilst supporting him underneath his little armpits, he mumbled gummy, murmuring baby noises and fixated his golden gaze tight into Oliver's as Vanellope's soft voice pressed on, "This little guy's been dying to meet you."

"Me too," Oliver's whispery voice crackled as a few big tears slipped down his cheeks, and with care, Vanellope maneuvered Gideon to rest in Oliver's much bigger, capable arms. A sight very similar to that of Ralph holding a baby, the group audibly cooed shushed notions of enchanted delight as Gideon's little figure sagged into Oliver's loving arms, once and for all. Oliver huffed a shaky chuckle and so tenderly stroked the side of Gideon's little head with his much larger thumb, "Hey, you. I'm your big bro."

"The best one out there," Vanellope whispered, her glassy eyes sweetly caught with Olivers, and with a gentle grip of Oliver's shoulder, she just barely jostled him and was grateful to hold his eye contact, "Oliver, you... You sacrificed a pretty important moment for your father and I. That was huge of you, and... I'm just really grateful for you."

"I know you guys would've done something similar had it been my child," Oliver's deep voice mumbled, he sniffled and gave his mother one last loving smile before he fixated his whole attention down to Gideon. He leaned down and placed a few kisses to Gideon's little forehead before he whispered a sweet, brotherly notion into Gideon's dewy, squishy little face, "Alright, dude... It's me and you against all these girls. I finally have a little teammate, so you can't let me down."

"We're doomed," Koko muttered as she leaned against the back of the couch, the group erupted with soft laughter as Gideon's cute figure stiffened with a little stretch, alongside the cutest, widest squeak of a yawn.

"No, nap time can wait, we gotta come up with a game plan," Oliver loudly whispered into Gideon's gravity, to which the group continued on with chokes of laughter. Oliver let up the teasing antics, sweetly jostled Gideon in a cradling motion and hovered with ready, unrelenting love for his baby brother, "Fine, naps come first... I'll tell y'what, I got a good night's sleep last night and I'm ready for a five hour long nap. Dad's job, you guys, is NO joke."

"Felix told Zed you were doing really well," Vanellope encouraged with a nod, to which Oliver's face lit up.

"It was so fun," Oliver sighed with an exhausted smile, "I'll never underestimate Uncle Felix again... That little guy is quick."

"I could go for a nap," Tessa revisited with a nod as Oliver tossed his eyes to her with a kind smile.

"Group nap," Koko cheered, to which Vanellope tiredly rubbed her face and was happy to sag into the rest of the day with her newly expanded little family.

"Don't mind if I do," Vanellope mumbled with a cute, tired smile.


Over the course of the next week or two, Vanellope and Ralph were visited off and on so to welcome Gideon to the palace grounds. Exciting, fleeting moments of warm hello's and baby snuggles were aplenty, the exciting stories Taffyta and Rancis had to tell of the game days Vanellope missed, the easy snug of love Ralph and Vanellope fell into with Gideon was something they had been dreaming of. Due to getting time off of game day, and the notion of Ralph still having to get up early to participate in his own game day, Vanellope took up the majority of midnight feedings. Over the past few nights, she'd find the snuggly, dark feeding time, with Gideon, was paired with a weird reversal she never thought she'd experience. Typically, all of her small children would grow akin to exterior swaps and would cutely beg for it, due to it being a calming technique, an aid in sleep, though as the dim, snuggly nights went on, Vanellope felt herself becoming more and more anxious.

Although she hadn't lost Gideon, she still felt a weird bout of separation anxiety due to the fact that she wasn't tabbed into his coding at all times. The ability to just zone out and visit the wildest displays of daydreams, she did whatever she could to control herself, to not fall into the trap of exterior swap withdrawals; wrought with nasty side-effects, she was well aware overdoing it was bad for both her and baby. Though, on this drizzly night, Vanellope's tender bare feet made her way down their dimly lit corridor in a trail to follow Gideon's adorable, hungry cries out into the night. Vanellope bit her lip, quietly pressed into Gideon's lovely bedroom and soaked her gaze in the direction of his crib. She breathed a silent, exhausted giggle as Gideon's little figure squirmed amidst his hungry cries and screams, one of his little arms had popped out of the tight swaddle Ralph had left him in, his soft creamy onesie glinted against a very faint night-light across his bedroom, strictly for Vanellope's aid in navigating through the dark.

"Hey, sweet boy," Vanellope's soft, ghost of a whisper shushed down to her adorable baby, Gideon's little cries only got louder and more urgent upon the sound of Vanellope's voice nearby. She breathed a cute giggle, grunted to so carefully lift Gideon out of his crib, and upon resting his front into the nook of her neck and shoulder, she soothingly shushed him and rubbed the back of his head. Fingers that trailed his velvety hair, she lulled her eyes closed and sagged into every single last ounce of motherly instincts she was well aware no amount of a gap, without a baby, could override. With care, she crossed Gideon's dim bedroom as soft thunder rolled over the land, she carefully sagged into his nearby, billowy rocking chair and so quietly continued on as Gideon's adorable little baby screams turned into more urgent cooing of relief, "You and me both, little dude, momma's gonna grab a midnight snack after this..."

With ease, Vanellope situated herself and fell into her's and Gideon's normal routine of feeding; she skillfully pulled back her tank top and nestled Gideon into her chest, she hummed a long, tired sigh and lovingly grappled her arms about Gideon's figure for support as he urgently began to suckle, as if he hadn't eaten a single day in his life. Vanellope lulled her eyes closed, eased her rocking motion and lovingly held the back of Gideon's head as she began to daydream just exactly what kind of a midnight snack she would obtain before slipping back into bed. Her mind wandered to visuals of her pantry, the fridge, just exactly what would strike her as an easy and delicious midnight snack. Per usual, she grimaced with the tight suction and sting of feeding as Gideon's little body emit cute murmurs of eager delight, though before she could properly run through the visuals of just what goodies awaited her after Gideon was fed and put back to bed, she furrowed her eyebrows in a soft swing of further remembrance and tenderly dragged her gaze down to Gideon's little face, in the dark.

Although not able to see much, Gideon's sweet features were kissed with the dainty press of light that illuminated from his starry nightlight, from across his bedroom. Vanellope eased the warmest, sleepiest smile as he rested in the bend of her left arm and elbow. She so tenderly held the back and side of his head with her right hand, and in the softest repetitive sweeps, she carefully stroked his little, fuzzy eyebrow, little wisps of auburn that felt like velvet. Likely that he had fallen asleep and continued to dream-feed, Vanellope patiently assessed his features and teetered on the edge of a dilemma. Typical that any child on palace grounds, that had the power to glitch, eventually grew into the need for comfort exterior swaps, and said swaps were only sparingly given upon request. A mildly addictive activity, and something that every adult, on palace grounds, agreed to keep to a minimal and only dole out upon a child's needy request, Vanellope bit her lip and was very well aware Gideon wasn't at an age where he could vocalize that he needed exterior swaps. Due to a very long-winded amount of arguing with herself, she so gently continued to stroke the side of Gideon's temple, and with the smallest flare of her exterior coding, she inhaled a deep breath and happily sagged into an exterior swap with him as she closed her eyes.

Vanellope immediately felt any and all tension leave her body as her's and Gideon's coding sang with unity, once more. Due to Gideon not having any shred of life experiences, his binary hummed with a hug of electricity, the thudding of his little heartbeat, the easy ebb and flow of somehow felt innocence, as if it were in this instance where blissful unawares was a tangible thing. Vanellope felt all feeling leave her body, and with a sudden jolt of lucid light, she felt her core coding place her in an alternate reality, the same one her and Berri had visited whilst Gideon was a loading bar. Vanellope raised her eyebrows in a spike of nervous surprise and got a good look around. Dim surroundings that gradient from soft, light greys to cool, dark blue skies, Vanellope began to step forward in this void of easy nothingness. Gideon's little heart beat continued to power on, though just as she opened her mouth to potentially inquire if maybe Gideon's core self was around, a kiss of a deep, husky, lovely voice called from some ways away.

"Mom! You're just in time," Gideon's deep voice cued, childlike innocence soaked his being, and though he was far away, Vanellope whirled around and honed her eyes tight to the grown, mature version of the baby she was currently in the middle of feeding. Vanellope huffed a shaky giggle and couldn't believe she actually got all of this to work, though she flinched the second Gideon bounced on his bigger feet, gestured his hand for her to follow and cutely continued on, "Watch this."

Vanellope opened her mouth to hopefully call out and inquire Gideon to come closer, she largely flinched in whole surprise as an entire slew of bioluminescent, wire-like vines suddenly draped from the heavens and clouded the two in a blue, glowy mess of ethereal waves. Vanellope tucked her arms tight to her chest, though she bravely unfurled said arms, after a moment, and began to gingerly touch said vines. Upon skin contact, the vines illuminated with all sorts of colors, little sparkles of iridescent marbles, an enchanting show of color you could nearly taste, Vanellope narrowed her eyes and allowed her gaze to soak upwards in the drawn mess of heightened emotion. She breathed a shaky giggle and began to aimlessly mosey in stumbles of back steps, the gentle eruptions of color as her skin continued to grapple onto the vines, though after a few moments of slow wandering with no thoughtful path, she jolted in surprise as her figure bumped into Gideon's much larger, warm self.

"Is this the kind of stuff you dream about?" Vanellope wondered kindly, she peered up into Gideon's vivid, strikingly handsome eyes as they remained lovingly transfixed on her face. Vanellope scoffed a cute laugh, gestured her arms outward, looked off for a moment before bringing said smile back to Gideon's; he easily crowned his mother's same smile, a dewy, adorable, toothy show of energetic cuteness all tidily bundled into one incredibly handsome individual. His auburn hair tidily sprout from the crown of his head, and though it was shorter and more tamed than Ralph's, it was still clear he was Ralph's child. Vanellope pressed on as she began to loudly giggle, "I mean, I was just feeding you. Your dream-feeds consist of these colorful ribbons? You're eating!"

"I know, thanks," Gideon grunted, he pretended to be exasperated, he forcibly pushed out his gut and pat it in a joking manner, to which Vanellope erupted with laughter. Gideon grinned and dropped the act, he lovingly nudged Vanellope's arm, "No, this is a lucid dream. Y'know."

"... Lucid dream? No, I don't... What is that?" Vanellope wondered through the trail of her giggling, she wiped her eye and peered to Gideon in soft confusion, though Gideon equally looked about, as if this was maybe confusing to him, too.

"... I mean, I don't know, I don't know how to explain it," Gideon fingered his lip with his much larger wrecking hand, he furrowed his bushy brow and cutely looked off in a scrunched look that mocked Ralph's infinitely, "It's like... Dreaming, but you can control it."

"Controlled dreaming? You can do that?" Vanellope pressed, Gideon shrugged and nodded as he gestured about.

"Yeah! This is all willed. I'm learning about colors," Gideon widely smiled, "Dad's like... stripey shirt? It's bright, I don't know what color it is, but it's all I think about."

"It's like a bright orange, I think you mean his game day shirt, you always go into this weird zone whenever Ralph leaves for work," Vanellope mumbled, though she peered to Gideon in a sting of gentle shock and huffed a little giggle, "You... I mean, you're fully realized, at your core, but don't have realized knowledge. You're just now learning about orange?"

"Orange," Gideon repeated, his deep voice reverberated in the back of Vanellope's skull and melted down her mainframe in a drip of lovely, dark honey. She fluttered her eyes and told herself she could sit with Gideon's insatiably curious soul for hours, "Too bad I can't talk yet."

"I guess I need to start upping my game," Vanellope fingered her lip and looked about their misty, colorful surroundings of glowing ropes, "Welp... Guess that's what we'll be doing today. I'll start introducing you to colors. Are you bothered by these core visits, Giddy?"

"No, not at all," Gideon smiled lovingly, he fixated on his mother's gaze and shrugged his masculine shoulders, "You're my best friend."

Vanellope raised her eyebrows in a sting of lovestruck wonder, the sheer notion of any of her children verbalizing that reality always made her heart sing, though the raw fact that Gideon was only merely two weeks old had her rethinking everything she ever did or said in the vicinity of a baby. Aware that children get attached from birth, she rubbed her forehead and was thrilled it was something so incredibly strong and tangible. Before she could quickly scoop Gideon's much bigger figure into a hug, she took note that Gideon's figure began to fade in a waft of a dust cloud of gold. She reached her hand out and tried to utter words of confusion, though with a pop of sunlight, she suddenly inhaled a sharp breath through her nose and was tenderly shaken awake by Ralph.

"Hun? I have to go now, I wanted to make sure you were okay," Ralph's tender, deep voice ushered, though Vanellope stiffened in solid confusion and tensed her arms, though in this, she realized she was still cradling Gideon. Having likely fed Gideon and then recovered herself later, once he was finished, Gideon was still laid fast asleep in her arms. Vanellope's eyes stung with the kiss of morning sunshine that flood Gideon's room, though as she confusedly peered up into Ralph's eyes, in hot confusion, Ralph blurt a soft chuckle and lovingly began to pet the back of Gideon's head with his right hand, whilst he hugged his arm about Vanellope's shoulders with his left, "You must've come in here to feed Gideon, early this morning, and then passed back out..."

"Guess so," Vanellope furrowed her brow and gently peered down to Gideon's sleepy face. He methodically sucked on his pointer finger and soundly snoozed, and though she wanted to sit with Ralph and tell her everything she had discovered, her eyes were kissed with the lovely glow of Ralph's orange plaid game day shirt. How desperately she wanted to spill everything to Ralph, she figured it'd have to wait, "I-I'm... I'm sorry, I could've sworn I just closed my eyes for a second."

"That's how it goes," Ralph grunted with a laugh as he helped Vanellope to a stand, she carefully laid Gideon back in his crib and was thrilled he was en route to sleeping for a little longer. As the two left Gideon's lovely, warm bedroom Vanellope and Ralph rounded into the dim corridor with easy purpose, "Is he doing okay, at night?"

"Oh, yeah. He's totally fine the second I start feeding him," Vanellope mumbled as she rubbed her face in tired cuteness, "Apparently, me too. We both knocked right out."

"Take it easy today, okay?" Ralph gently scooped Vanellope into a loving hug, and with a tight squeeze, he so lovingly placed a few firm kisses to her bare shoulder and cutely mumbled into her ear, "Please send me pictures of Gideon as the day goes on, like you usually do, okay?"

"No danger there, babe," Vanellope mumbled, she eagerly recalled her's and Gideon's shared lucid dream and sagged out of Ralph's tender embrace. He pressed towards their front door as she carried on, "I think I'm going to start introducing colors to him, and such. I don't know, wouldn't hurt."

"Good idea," Ralph bobbed a nod, "You know how he is with the color of my shirt, anyhow."

"Yeah, I thought of that," Vanellope assured, to which Ralph gave her a loving wave and began to slip out of their front door, "Love you!"

"Love you," Ralph called, and once he was gone with a clack of their massive door, Vanellope heaved a shaky sigh and put her hands on her hips; she felt frustration hit her between the eyes, with what usually was the child begging for the exterior swaps, she felt herself falling into the trap of wanting to explore the vastness of Gideon's mind at any turn she could.