Reviews :

Burgie : Or maybe not at all, you'll see :)

Lyssdoodle : Babies for everyone! LOL no, no babies in this story. The next one, though- I mean, you saw xD


A/N : Hey guys, sorry for the delay. I just finished my first year at Ringling! Needless to say, I'm EXHAUSTED. I'm taking a mental break, and I'll be back next Friday. This summer is gunna be AWESOME. See you guys soon!


*Chapter 40*

"Hey mom, what's a firewall addition?" Gideon gently and innocently inquired, he being politely sat at the kitchen island in preparation for dinner to be complete.

"It's your turn," Vanellope mumbled to Ralph nervously, she didn't look up from the chopping she was doing, though Ralph didn't miss a beat.

"Nope, I explained the whole process of intercourse and how that pertains to coding. Nuances and contraception is on you," Ralph cutely retort, he looked over his shoulder as he gently stirred dinner on the stove, it bubbled and filled the air with goodness.

"Alright, welp..." Vanellope mumbled quietly with a cute, nervous little smile. She set her knife down on the chopping board she was cleaning cutting on and fixated her gaze tight to Gideon's. He peered to her in dewy nervousness, as if he was well aware this was likely going to get awkward, like last time, though the curiosity on his sweet face clearly overrode any shred of shyness he had in his system. Vanellope savored these adorable moments, Gideon's eagerness to learn about life was in everything he did, "You remember everything your father told you about, when it came to sex and code swapping, right?"

"Mhmm," Gideon shyly nodded and glanced to the back of his father's head; his cheeks began to redden with cute embarrassment that finally caught up with him.

"Well, let's use your father and I as an example. When two beings swap codes, there's a potential that said coding could program a baby, right?" Vanellope gently stated, to which Gideon nodded, recalling everything he had learned, "In order to prevent coding a baby, any one person can install a firewall protection to their coding. This nearly guarantees that two beings can have sex, and swap codes, without coding a baby."

"Do you and dad have firewalls?" Gideon prod, Vanellope nodded as Gideon glanced to the back of Ralph's head, who also softly, though diligently nodded.

"Right, because we want to be able to swap codes without programming another baby," Vanellope's gentle voice held in her normal tone, she bobbed a nod and continued to chop, though would glance into Gideon's still fixated, curious golden eyes, "When we wanted another baby, we took down our firewalls. That's how we got you!"

"You guys wanted me?" Gideon questioned cutely, though with the lilt of such curiosity that came from Gideon's figure, said words had Ralph and Vanellope both halting whatever they were doing.

Vanellope furrowed her brow and sorrowfully peered into Gideon's eyes, though she glanced over her shoulder and caught eyes with Ralph, who was equally peering over his own shoulder in baited surprise. Both adults scoffed cute, knowing laughs, to which Vanellope set down her tools and reached her hand out across the kitchen island. Having cued for Gideon's hand, he shyly laid his bigger hand in hers and peered into her eyes with the realest, cutest sense of pure, doughy naivety.

"Babe, we had been dreaming of you for awhile before you actually were coded, of COURSE we wanted you," Vanellope scoffed, she shook her head and eased her bittersweet, smiling gaze tight to Gideon's, "We took down those firewalls and you were programmed that very day."

"Can't really imagine life without you, bud," Ralph grumbled cutely, he shot Gideon a loving look before he continued his chore at the stove.

"Nor life before you," Vanellope soothed, she stroked her thumb over the back of Gideon's bigger hand a few times, repetitive little strokes of love, "We built this house with your bedroom in mind, dude. We've wanted you for a long time, now."

"I made it," Gideon's face eased a smile, after moments of almost dewy nervousness.

"All in one piece," Vanellope chirped cutely.

"Methinks you ran into Archived Chaos today, huh," Ralph grumbled cutely, he caught eyes with Gideon once more.

"Yeah, Theo, Koko and Wren were all talking to Zed about firewall additions, and stuff," Gideon frowned and rubbed the back of his head as Vanellope removed her hand from his. Gideon looked off and began to feel sorrow lick his heels as he remembered the remarks passively made towards him today, "They... Said I'd understand someday, like it was a secret."

"Well, I think they just were trying to be careful, you're too young to be thinking too long and hard about sex and code swapping, anyways," Vanellope mumbled, her tone was delicately laced with motherly sternness, though she shot Gideon a cute smile and shrugged, "Always good to know how that stuff works, though. Don't worry so much about the big kids. Berri, Turbo and them are currently touring outside of their coded games. Firewalls don't transfer over to games they're not coded for."

"To put it bluntly, son, your elders swap codes while on tour and don't want to accidentally code a baby," Ralph stated in mild annoyance for having to think about his kin in this manner, "The firewall addition is a portable firewall any gamer can bring along with them, in their coding, to help against coding a baby by surprise."

"Oh, okay," Gideon bobbed a nod and looked as if he was now fully in the loop, "That's all they kept talking about. Babies and firewalls and weddings... Bleh."

"It's okay, bud, where was Novus?" Vanellope giggled and shook her head, to which Gideon bugged his eyes and grinned.

"Standing right there, enduring the torture with me!" Gideon exclaimed with a cute, boyish giggle.

"Who're we torturing?" Tessa mumbled cutely as she presented herself in the mouth of Ralph's and Vanellope's main foyer; Gideon whipped around and crowned the grin of the century.

"Gideon," Vanellope eased with a small laugh as Gideon's fresh, lively purple coding rocketed him, via glitch hop, straight into a glom of a hug into Tessa's arms. She blurt a laugh and wobbled as Vanellope continued on, "Too much talk about firewalls."

"Firewalls! Boy," Tessa barked as she firmly put Gideon in a headlock; he grinned and grunted a loud, boyish laugh as he struggled to get free of Tessa's grip. She gave him a proper noogie atop his already messy auburn hair, in which he wailed in hyper happiness, "You shouldn't be concerned about firewalls, got a secret girlfriend we all need to know about?"

"No, no, no!" Gideon wheezed with laughter and squirmed to free himself of Tessa's strong headlock.

"I'm not prepared," Ralph weakly grumbled as he rubbed his face and moseyed his way over to his first born. He gently scooped Tessa into a snuggly, loving side hug as Tessa finally freed Gideon; although free, he still grappled Tessa's lower arm and happily bounced on his feet, "THIS one can't wait to get to the skies, by the way."

"Me too dude, gotta eat dinner first, though," Tessa cued cutely as she nudged Gideon's chest; he grinned, unabated, his golden eyes peered longingly up into his sister's as she warmly continued, "A Prince always finishes his dinner."

"Prince Gideon," Gideon hissed with a nod as he put his fists on his hips and stood proud, though he sagged as him and Tessa made their way to the kitchen island together, "Is Lickity getting Novus ready?"

"Yes sir," Tessa chirped with a nod, "We're gunna have a blast. I remember when I taught Ace to fly... Well, he did a fair amount of sneaking out by the time I had gotten to him."

"I don't sneak out," Gideon urged nervously, he glanced between both of his parents in a sag of honesty before glueing his gaze to Tessa's.

"That's what one WOULD say if they HAD been sneaking out," Ralph barked in a playfully stern tone; Tessa and Gideon both laughed.

"I don't! Finch does, though," Gideon stated in scheming cuteness, though he flinched in prickled surprise as all three adults furrowed their brow and shot dainty, confused looks his way.

"Who's Finch?" Tessa prod sweetly, she could tell with the way Gideon's scrunched shoulders and clammed-up demeanor that this maybe wasn't something he meant to say out loud.

"O-Oh, uh... He's... My imaginary friend," Gideon mumbled as he looked down at his big hands, in his lap; Tessa raised an eyebrow and sneakily caught eyes with both of her parents.

"Cool, dude, what's Finch like?" Tessa wondered tenderly, she bobbed a nod and urgently did everything she could to level with Gideon, "Y'know, your nephew Ace also had an imaginary friend, when he was your age."

"He did?" Gideon wondered with a lilt of renewal, to which Tessa sighed and bobbed a nod.

"Yeah, Ace unfortunately stopped mentioning his imaginary friend the second Libby came about," Tessa stated through a long, wistful sigh as she gave Vanellope a knowing, annoyed smirk, "It was from that point on that Libby was the only person in Arcade that he cared about."

"Still true," Vanellope mumbled, both clearly kidding, though Gideon looked off and silently contemplated, to which Tessa wondered just how much more she could get out of him.

"So, what does Finch look like, then?" Tessa kindly wondered, though with the way Gideon's bashful eyes glanced between Ralph's and Vanellope's figures, Tessa wondered if this was strictly sibling talk. Honored, she flagged her hand and shook her head, "Bah, we'll talk about it later. Y'excited to go flying, yeah?"

"Yeah," Gideon sagged with a smile and bobbed an urgent nod, "Hopefully Novus is too."

Although eager to scarf down dinner and take to the skies, Tessa made sure to keep conversation sailing throughout dinner with her parents and little brother, so to properly digest and build further anticipation. Once finally free from Ralph's and Vanellope's warm abode, Gideon and Tessa said their temporary goodbyes and were swiftly teleported to the new location of Tessa's and Zed's abode on palace grounds. So to keep a watchful eye on the perimeter of palace grounds, they reoutfitted their home to sit nestled in one of the palace's towers, a sturdy perch high on the walkways of the palace's sky-reaching, impenetrable walls. Stood in the dome and archway of the entry way to Tessa's beautiful new perch, a warmly lit radius about Sugar Rush's starry nighttime backdrop, Tessa bit her lip and cutely adjusted the thick zipper on Gideon's jacket. Ready for flying, dressed for cooler weather, due to the altitudes they'd reach, Tessa's eyes locked with Gideon's in a swing of excitement, and before Tessa could ask him if he was ready, Gideon inhaled a tight breath and ushered Tessa a soft, gentlemanly whisper.

"Are they on their way?" Gideon wondered; due to come crawling out of his own skin, Tessa blurt a soft giggle and took note of just how thin Gideon's patience was running.

"Yes," Tessa whispered back, though she gestured off the grand wall of the palace and out into the lovely, dark and mysterious wilderness that lay beyond palace walls. On cold, white stone, the two began to slowly traverse the walkway atop the palace walls, only merely stepping a dozen feet away from the cozy nook of the Queen's front door, both beings allowed their eyes to gloss into the moonlit beauty out before them as the wind whisked their auburn hair about, "Alright, Gid. We have some ground rules to go over, before we begin."

"Okay," Gideon stated through an excitedly anxious sigh, he bobbed a nod and tucked his bigger fists into the pockets of his jacket. His golden eyes eagerly peered up into Tessa's eyes as she continued on, she gestured to the expansion out before them.

"We're gunna be able to fly over these fields, the fields where the flyers leave for and return from their hunts," Tessa diligently explained, "This is so we don't lose each other, User forbid one of us... Falls."

"Falls," Gideon huffed nervously, he bugged his eyes and looked off, and though Tessa was well aware that if she fell off of Lickity, that Lickity had the tact and agility to retrieve her; Novus, likely not so much, just yet.

"Yeah, but... I mean, you're coded for Sugar Rush, so," Tessa shrugged and blurt a giggle, "The worst thing that'll happen is a game over and a respawn."

"Game over," Gideon repeated, though his eyes illuminated with zest as he peered deep into Tessa's eyes with a wide smile; Tessa returned this with a wildly furrowed look of deep confusion. Gideon huffed a chuckle and waved her off, "Sorry, I... I love that show."

"... You do?" Tessa gawked quietly in irritation, she crossed her arms and side-eyed her littlest brother, "... Methinks you've been hanging out with Oliver, too much, huh."

"And Zed," Gideon retort, as if to make clear that the very nasty guilty pleasure, of enjoying such a show as Game Over, wasn't only on Oliver's shoulders.

"User help me," Tessa muttered to herself as she rubbed her forehead, though she grimaced and wondered if she could give Gideon a proper, teachable moment, here, "Giddy, You... KNOW that Game Over is a place you go to, quite literally, game over. For good."

"... For good?" Gideon suddenly worried, to which Tessa nodded and frowned.

"It may be an exciting show, with powerful winners, but... It's senseless murder," Tessa assured sorrowfully, "It's fifty one gamers against each other, one by one, until only one gamer is left in the tree."

"So, then... Fifty people are... Dead?" Gideon worried, he furrowed his brow and shook his head, "But... Vye never really made that clear, I thought the people she killed regenerated in the arena?"

"Gid, listen to me," Tessa whispered quietly, she knelt down to Gideon's eye level and gingerly gripped his upper arms. Peering hard into his eyes, she was thrilled she had his full eye contact, "It's more than just a silly show... You and Zed and Oliver and welcome to enjoy it, but both Zed and Oliver are well aware that Game Over is not a good place. I think they just enjoy the gamer strategies, but... Still. Not super happy they're watching it with you."

"I-I just think the different gamer abilities are cool," Gideon added honestly with a nervous nod, to which Tessa also nodded and lulled her eyes closed in mental exhaustion.

"None of those winners should be your role models, Gid. Sure, they're strong... Scarily strong," Tessa continued, she nervously peered hard into Gideon's eyes, "But, they're bad people, at the end of the day. Gamers go to Game Over when they have literally nothing left to lose. You either lose your life, or any chance of normality, ever again, if you live."

"Really?" Gideon wondered, he shook his head and narrowed his gaze, "You mean, like... We'd never be able to meet Vye, or... Get her autograph or anything?"

"No, bubby, she's a wanted criminal," Tessa urged gently, still warmly keeping Gideon's upper arms gripped, "She's murdered fifty people to get to where she is, and I'm sure she'd do it all over again. Taking people's lives isn't worth that fame, that amount of a toll to your existence. I'm sure she's tortured."

"I didn't know," Gideon stated sorrowfully with a shrug, "I just... Liked the show."

"It's an exciting show," Tessa assured in mumbling defeat, a small smile sneakily sprawled her face, "But, I think they mask the really dark and terrible things that go on behind the scenes. You can enjoy it, just understand it's not reality. Surely Zed or Oliver haven't told you anything different?"

"No, we only ever talk strategies," Gideon stated in gentle honesty, to which Tessa heaved a relieved sigh and got to her feet; just in time to see Lickity's and Novus's beautiful wingspans approaching from the gape of the palace's enchanting, nighttime field all cutely littered with fireflies. Before Tessa could somehow conclude this touchy subject, Gideon's face washed clean of any worries, he bounced on his feet as Lickity and Novus landed a dozen or so feet from them; both boys excitedly approached each other with eager eyes, "C'mon, Novus, y'ready? I'm so excited!"

"Y'gunna do the thing while we fly?" Novus quietly wondered in a hiss of riled excitement, to which Gideon eagerly nodded, though Lickity flattened her ears and eyed both boys.

"What 'thing'?" Lickity barked with smiling authority that both boys shrank to.

"No surprises, Gid, flying is no joke," Tessa stood alongside Lickity as Novus and Gideon peered tight to their elders, though before Tessa could carry on, she quickly noticed Gideon's shy eyes look down to his palms in tender curiosity. Tessa narrowed her eyes and watched as Gideon and Novus had a nervous, silent conversation with each other, strictly by body language, though Tessa stepped in, once more, "What's this about, dude?"

"I, well..." Gideon staggered his words and opened his palms in a gentle flicker of nervousness, his purple coding illuminated on his palms, and as his golden eyes glinted with the electric, glowing nonsense, he gave her an adorable, sheepish smile and shrugged, "I... Have a new power I've discovered, about myself. I've already told mom."

"New power?" Tessa inquired eagerly, she crossed her arms and side-eyed her littlest brother with a cheeky smile, "You pulling my leg?"

"No, I... I really have a new power, I don't really even know what you'd call it," Gideon mumbled, though he inhaled a deep, readied breath and held his palms out a little. All at once, a gentle puff of iridescent purple dust eased about Gideon's hands. Tessa raised her eyebrows in a sting of surprise as her and Lickity took a few steps away. Gideon's cute, excited eyes peered about his chore, the dust glowed and swirled like speckles of moon powder, it catered to his movement, it swirled with all sorts of vivid colors that Tessa wasn't even sure existed, and it was here did Gideon's golden eyes finally peer to Tessa's in almost sheepish delight, "I-I think I can like... Make stuff out of nothing. I made water this morning!"

"It was tasty," Novus cheesed as he lulled his eyes closed and grinned.

"Gid, what the heck," Tessa hissed as she pressed closer, though she furrowed her eyebrows in a sting of hot surprise as she felt Gideon's gravity somehow get heavier and heavier the closer she got to him. She scuffed her bare feet to a halt, shook her head and almost felt as if she was standing on the brink of a hallucination. Gideon's handsome eyes peered up to hers with the kiss of pure innocence, though somehow he looked as if he had a sneaky secret tight up his sleeve. Cunning, cute and now uncertainly trustworthy, as opposed to absolute, Tessa gestured her hand out to Gideon's little cloud of a daydream and grinned, "You can materialize things? Water, clouds? Wh-what else... Can you produce like this?"

"I mean, I don't know," Gideon shrugged, slapped his hands to his side in a lazy fashion and allowed his coding, as well as his coded trick, to evaporate before the three. Tessa inhaled a gasp of a silent breath and felt as if gravity loosened, "I only found out about it last night when I was painting. I was, well... Upset. I guess my hand slipped, and paint came out of my fingertips!"

"... Mom and dad know about this?" Tessa gawked, Lickity nervously glanced up to Tessa and showed a very real amount of near-smiling apprehension.

"Yeah, I told mom," Gideon mumbled cutely as he twiddled his fingers, "I just... Like to imagine things, and sometimes it comes true!"

"You must have a wicked-powerful imagination to manifest stuff, like that," Tessa motioned her finger in Gideon's direction, "Whatever that was, what you did there, was AWESOME."

"Let's do it in the air, now!" Novus chimed excitedly as he sprawled his wings,and though Gideon bobbed an excited nod, Tessa began to shake her head and show signs of now confused apprehension.

"Boys, let's... Let's start with the basics of flying, first, okay?" Tessa urged with a cute, nervous smile as she began to prepare to mount Lickity, "We want to accomplish maneuvering... We can throw in a little imagination afterwards, User willing."