Reviews :
Burgie : Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy that :D Chester definitely has a lot of Orion's traits, as well!
Jay Sketchin : YAY Thank you! :D I'm so glad you feel that way!
chuckiboo : You're not wrong there. And yes, becoming a dad definitely toughens him up, so no worries there.
Snake557 : It's true! As grumpy and crusty as he was, he'd be beside himself, I'm certain. Thank you friend!
CHICKENM4N : Royal ABSOLUTELY is a tsundere LOL! He takes a long while to warm up, but once he does, him and Boss have a wonderful relationship.
Song Listened To :
Arrival by Japanese Wallpaper
A/N : Hey guys! So sorry about the delay... Cory and I have been pretty busy this week, because we have taken in a bearded dragon! We rescued him from an owner that, although he had good intentions, he wasn't taking very good care of his pet... So we took his bearded dragon into our home, and we've been very busy making sure he's fed, situated and happy!
In honor of our newest family member, we've decided to name our cute little guy, Chester! He is two years old, almost two feet long, and is SUCH a love. He's also orange, just like his namesake from the story! :D We're so freaking in love and excited, and we hope to have many years with Chester under our care! Which, he came just in time because I was about to go crazy without a proper pet.
This is our first time owning a reptile, so we've definitely been trying to adjust, which is why my uploads sort of halted there for a second. This is the third night he's been with us, and it's been pretty tame so far. He's still getting used to this HUGE adjustment, I know reptiles don't like change, but he's slowly coming around. He lets us hold and pet him, and all that good stuff, though he has his moments of uncertainty where he gets nervous and puffs up. We're hoping he will eventually settle in and enjoy his forever home with us! YAY CHESTER :D
*Chapter 22*
In the periwinkle dawn of Sugar Rush's lovely, springtime coolness, Tessa's bare feet silently shuffled across her kitchen's glossy tiles. Through a narrowed gaze, her eyes caught with the clip of the sunshine that glinted through the code room's dome of glass, across the lot, and with exhausted thoughts that flit through her brain and proper realization that soaked into her retinas, she scoffed a small chuckle of disbelief and made her way to her fridge. How early the day was currently, though how long the entire night prior had been; starting into the very early hours of the morning, her and Zed had successfully delivered Sugar Rush two brand new Users. With heavy eyes and lethargic movements, Tessa diligently moved her kettle to the grills on her's and Zed's gorgeous gas stove. She knew this process was exhausting for her, though she was absolutely certain it was only a shred of what Libby was currently soaked in.
Although it was a long process, baby Beaux and Mara had been successfully downloaded to the game without a single issue. Much different than what Tessa expected, she hung in the kettle's vicinity and allowed her eyes to soak into the matte black coloring, she got lost in excited thought, the reality that she now had grandchildren was not something that had properly set in, and it was with her continued thoughts did she smile a wide and sleepy smile to herself. Although she was well aware Ace and Libby were ready, and more than capable, Tessa and Zed insisted on the two spending the morning in the King and Queen's abode, so to acclimate, get rest and ease into parent life. Ace and Libby were kindly given Tessa's and Zed's bed, so to sleep as well as spend time together amidst feeding and cuddling their precious newborns. It wasn't until Berri's spiral staircase presented the patter of feet did Tessa perk up in diligent remembrance; she had to properly segue Berri into this situation and successfully conceal the firecracker that Ace's little sister was.
"Mommy?" Berri wondered in cute, girly sleepiness as she slowly came out of the gaping corridor, that ultimately lead to the different avenues of the house, though she furrowed her blue eyebrows and peered to the living room's swooping couch in confusion over the fact that her father was on said couch, fast asleep, "Why's... Why's daddy asleep in the living room?"
"C'mere, B, I gotta tell you something," Tessa's motherly voice eased in a rise of whispering, sleepy excitement. Berri tenderly stepped over, wearing nothing but one of Zed's old, baggy, grey Dead Zed shirts, her choppy, shoulder length blue hair was a mess. Her brilliant blue eyes hooked up into her mother's with a dollop of twinkling, girly surprise as Tessa gently squat to Berri's level and gave her a good morning kiss on the cheeks and lips, "Good morning, baby. Alright, now I have something really important to tell you, but we have to be very very quiet... Is that something you can do for me?"
"Mhmm," Berri mumbled amidst Tessa's loving smooches, she rubbed her eye and peered into Tessa's eyes with further inquisition as Tessa continued.
"You remember how Ace and Libby were getting ready to have their twins?" Tessa pressed with a knowing smile as Berri let her eyes dart about her mother's bare collar bones. In the flash of a light, Berri's eyes began to grow wide with a spike of excitement as Tessa scrunched her shoulders and silently shushed her, to remind her to keep the excitement present, though contained, "You have a new niece and nephew to meet... But they're all sleeping right now, so you have to be quiet."
"Where are they?" Berri's adorable, girly voice whispered, the unadulterated look of pure glee, in her eyes and toothy smile, just grew and grew.
"They're downstairs in mine and your dad's bedroom," Tessa whispered, she tucked Berri's beautiful hair behind her cute ears and smiled her second born a loving smile, "We can meet them a little later, once they've gotten some rest and woken up. For now, you and I can have some breakfast together and wait for dad to get up."
"Can I wake him up?" Berri wondered with a gentle smile, to which Tessa shrugged and heaved a soft sigh.
"You can, but please do it quietly, my love," Tessa reminded, which had Berri nodding and softly skipping across the kitchen and down into their lovely, dimly lit living room.
Tessa smiled, her heart was absolutely full. The sound of Berri's cute footsteps meeting with their plush carpet, the cute way she so gently approached Zed's sleeping figure and gingerly whispered for him to wake up with little wrecking hands that tenderly pat Zed's forearm had Tessa's heart just aching. She heaved a gentle giggle and was reminded of her chore the second the kettle began to softly whistle. As she began to prepare herself a french press of coffee, she allowed the hot water to properly steep the grinds for a few minutes. In the meantime, she watched as Berri so quietly continued to coo Zed to wake, the only sound present was simply the reverberation of Zed's deep, whispering tone near-silently easing tender inquisitions back to Berri. The second Tessa saw Zed's hand sleepily begin to tidy Berri's hair and then encourage her to join him on the couch, for a snuggle, had Tessa assured that the calm, throughout the house, would continue on. Something she was relieved about, due to the two newborns that were safely tucked away in the quietest and most peaceful place on the palace lot.
"Okay, so I got two hours," Zed's exhausted voice was a few notches deeper than normal, his blue hair was flattened to his skull and poofed off to the side in a proper show of bedhead, he finally got off of the couch and picked Berri up into his arms. He had Berri comfortably sat against the broad of his stomach and chest, her little chin was rested on Zed's broad shoulder, her arms grappled about his neck in a clingy show of comfort. Zed heaved a raspy sigh, smiled and sagged the side of his skull to Berri's in a further show of sleepiness, "Have you checked up on Ace and Libby at all?"
"He messaged me fifteen minutes ago, he said the babies were asleep but we can come down and see them shortly," Tessa assured with a nod as Zed slowly strolled into the kitchen, he had his arms securely crossed underneath Berri's thighs and rear as she lay slouched against the broad of Zed's chest in an equally as lazy show of sleepiness, "Quietly..."
"I'm surprised Libby still wants to trek into Dead Zed, later," Zed raised his eyebrows and shook his head, he finally eased into Tessa's calm presence and gently leaned down, so to give his bride a small smooch on the lips. Upon release, Tessa smiled and shrugged with a small sigh as Zed continued softly, "After Berri was born, the last thing you wanted to do was leave the house."
"Yeah, Libby is a different breed of woman, dude... She has a million times more energy than I do," Tessa grunted in tomboyish cheek, she ran her large fingers through her tangled hair and shook her head, "That girl has the stamina of a thousand suns. I'm not surprised she wants to dive head first into Dead Zed after downloading two User children to the grid. Who else, you kidding?"
"Touché," Zed blurt a small laugh, and with the raise in energy, Berri finally lifted her upper body away from Zed's and gently pushed her little hands to Zed's collar bones; she peered into her father's eyes with a little bit more zest.
"We're going to Dead Zed?" Berri wondered gently, to which Zed bobbed a nod.
"Yep, with Mr. Dead Zed himself," Zed teased, he nuzzled his nose against Berri's as she uttered a confused giggle.
"Whose Zed?" Berri innocently wondered, to which Zed sagged his shoulders and lazily peered a teasing, disgruntled gaze to his bride; Tessa blurt out into laughter and began to saunter in the direction of their bedroom, in which Ace, Libby and the twins quietly resided.
"Me, you turd," Zed choked a small laugh in Berri's direction, he teasingly jostled her in his strong arms, which had her now grappling Zed's shirt in a beaming show of girly, giggling cheek.
"Your name isn't Zed!" Berri protested, to which Zed heaved a long sigh and shook his head.
"Yes it is, Bear, you just call me 'dad' because... Well, I'm your dad," Zed volleyed, they lowered the volume of their cute conversation as they eased out of the kitchen and followed Tessa down the gaping, shallow stairwell that lead to the King's and Queen's lovely, romantic hideaway.
"Your name really IS Zed?!" Berri loudly hissed a whisper of entire surprise, Zed couldn't help but beam a wider smile.
"Yes, Berri, that's no joke," Zed whispered, Berri looked off and, like a sponge, she eagerly began to retain further knowledge about the important people in her life, and just what that all looked like.
"So, what's mommy's name?" Berri wondered, to Zed's delight, she obeyed and kept her voice in a tight, delicate whisper; Zed rewarded her by warmly smooching her cheek a few times.
"Tessa," Zed eased, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and turned around in response to her name.
"Yeah?" Tessa whispered, though both Zed and Berri sharply stifled laughter.
"Nothing," Zed shook his head and gave Tessa a look as if to insinuate it wasn't important in this moment, and as they tenderly continued on, Tessa carefully opened her's and Zed's bedroom door and peered in with a look of girly excitement.
"Can we come in?" Tessa pressed as quietly as she could as Zed and Berri waited back; once she got the go ahead, she opened the broad of their large, round bedroom door even further.
Across the stretch, Tessa's and Zed's bedroom let in a beautiful show of morning sunlight. Snuggled deep into their bed, Ace and Libby quietly sat up against the fluffy, billowy downs and pillows, absolutely smitten with their two new additions. With dewy, matured eyes of hyper sensitive, excited, sleepy agitation, Ace and Libby happily gave off a welcoming aura, a positive sign of acceptance of visitors. Although Ace and Libby sat shoulder to shoulder, tight in each other's care, Libby had both tiny babies laid against her chest, their little heads rested on Libby's collars. Tessa beamed an eager smile and did absolutely everything she could to not rush over and ask to hold one of them, instead, her and Zed patiently approached the side of the bed, that Libby was on, and made this moment about Berri. With a nervous demeanor Berri suddenly radiated, due to knowing this was an extremely tender, important situation, Ace perked up a bit and knew he could likely ease the tension, here.
"C'mere, Bear, there's two people I'd like you to meet," Ace kindly cued as he held out his arms up to Zed; upon the release, Zed kindly handed Berri over to Ace, and as Ace made room between him and Libby, he kindly snuggled Berri tight to his side and held her up into the downs, "Y'ready?"
"Yeah," Berri meeped with a nervous look, though as Ace held her in his loving grip, he gently reached over to one of the babies and gently stroked her head.
"This one is named Mara, she's your niece," Ace instructed kindly, Libby easily smiled and tried to situate herself so Berri could properly see.
"Her hair is blue like mine!" Berri loudly whispered as she turned and eagerly peered up to Ace; Mara had a small patch of hair atop her head, and although it was blue like Berri's, it was closer to a soft, pastel sky blue.
"It is," Ace bobbed a nod and couldn't smile any wider, kissed with maturity, that raw 'new dad' look certainly hung on the forefront of his demeanor, something that Zed easily gravitated to, "And this one is Beaux... He's your nephew."
"He has white hair, like Libby," Berri's cute and dainty voice concluded as she bashfully peered up into Libby's eyes; Libby easily giggled and bobbed a nod.
"It has tints of blue in certain lighting," Libby stated in a sense of excited discovery, "It's really cool."
"Kalivar kids, tried and true," Zed grunted with pride, he ruffled his blue hair and eyed Berri in great cheek, "Clearly, blue hair is a dominant gene."
"Eh, mom's almost won over, with me," Ace teased, he pointed to his hair, which was nearly a perfect mixture of Tessa's auburn and Zed's blue; a muted, darker blue everyone knew well.
"Berri, on the other hand," Libby gently nudged Berri's arm, both girls giggled.
"You guys doing okay?" Tessa wondered as she hung tighter to Libby's side of the bed, her larger fingers lovingly tidied some of Libby's hair and tucked it delicately behind her ear.
"Yeah... Tired, but doing great so far," Ace bobbed a nod, "We were able to get a few hours of sleep."
"I'm a little hungry, but other than that, we're all good, for now," Libby sleepily chimed, she shrugged her shoulders and gently dragged her gaze to Zed; he was caught with a look of delighted longing, an endearing look of reserving an explosion of glee as he peered down to his two new grandchildren, and with such, Libby cocked an eyebrow, tilted her head and volleyed a knowing look of cheek up in Zed's direction, "Does grandpa maybe want to hold one?"
Everyone gently lofted their gazes to Zed in cute knowing, though with such a foreign title, it flew right over Zed's head. He furrowed his eyebrows, replayed Libby's words, allowed the cogs to turn and finally stabbed his eyes into Libby's in hard realization. Everyone easily blurt out into laughter as Zed's face turned red in mild, smiling embarrassment.
"Grandpa!" Berri quietly exclaimed up to Zed, he furrowed his eyebrows harder and shook his head in floored, delirious surprise.
"To be frank, I'm STILL trying to get used to the term 'dad'," Zed chucked as Libby began to sit up a little, so to offer one of her newborns to Zed's careful, able hands.
"Should we all call you Zed?" Berri teased in a girly, bratty way, in which everyone shot their surprised smiles in her direction; Zed gaped and peered to her in a roll of now stunned regret.
"Dang, Bear, don't try that kind of sass on mom, you'd be done for," Ace choked a laugh as he playfully wrangled Berri into a headlock; she grunted a sharp giggle and gently began to push on Ace's much larger, stronger arm.
"Regret telling you my name, now, stinker," Zed grumbled as he so carefully began to reach for Beaux, and upon success, he tenderly snuggled the tiny, itty bitty newborn into his strong chest.
"I'm in for a whole world of hurt," Tessa rubbed her forehead in teasing dismay as Libby peered up at her, a beaming show of apologetic cheek on everyone's faces showed through, "I may be Queen of sass, but Berri's in the running..."
"She's got stiff competition with great Aunt Taffyta," Ace mumbled as he continued to playfully drown Berri in a headlock; she continued to giggle and squirm.
"And Penny," Zed sighed quietly, he kept his whole attention glued to Beaux, who soundly slept, his little wrecking hands were snuggled tight against his chin, so innocently snoozed in Zed's fatherly care, "I love it when they're this tiny..."
"Live it up, cause next week, you'll have a blue-haired troll monster, much like the one Ace is currently trying to suffocate," Tessa furrowed her brow and watched her two children now begin to bicker and wrestle out of love, "Alright, you two, don't make me separate you."
"Hey, we're going to Dead Zed later," Ace finally picked Berri up by her ankle and flopped her against his broad chest; she breathed a startled giggle and finally sat up, clumsily brushing her blue hair out of her eyes, "Don't make me feed you to the wild dragons."
"So be it!" Berri quietly demanded, girly giggles and all; Zed furrowed his brow and shot Ace a look of tender surprise.
"...Not so nervous about it, anymore, son?" Zed wondered in gentle confusion as Libby kindly began to hand over Mara to Tessa's excited demeanor.
"I... I am," Ace sighed, he relaxed against the headboard as him and Libby caught eyes. Libby gave him a proud smile and lovingly rested her little hand on his much larger forearm, as if to assure him that he's done well to allow the feeling of trust to encompass his worrying heart, "But I know we'll be fine. We're all coded for Dead Zed... I shouldn't worry so much."
"And getting there will be cake," Zed assured with a nod, "All the flyers will be joining us."
"Even Chester?" Berri's eyes lit up.
"Yes, even Chester," Zed smiled, Berri hissed an excited 'yes' and eagerly smiled up to her big brother.
After half a day of adjusting to parenthood, doing their best to get sleep, and allowing Berri, Tessa and Zed proper bonding time with Beaux and Mara, Dead Zed's new battalion of protectors prepared to head out of Sugar Rush, with Beaux and Mara, for the very first time. Much in new dad fashion, the look of entire fear and worry, in Ace's eyes, only multiplied the longer they were inside Sugar Rush's arcade cabinet wire, the only exit into Game Central Station, from the game itself. Although Libby had Mara securely snuggled to her chest in a tight wrap, as did Ace for Beaux, Libby gestured her hands freely, spoke in a calm, normal tone, and acted as if the baby strapped to her chest was the hundredth baby she had ever raised, simply as if this whole parenting and worrying thing was absolute cake; Ace eyed her in jealous terror and held his massive wrecking hand on the side and whole of Beaux's head and body, as if even Game Central Station's light could potentially kill him.
Tight in tow, and hung in a protective formation about the group, were all the flyers; Balba and Royal hung in the flank of the group, with Chester tightly snuggled into Balba's strong wing, against the side of her long body. Ace held his breath and peered ahead as Tessa, Zed, Nox and Libby happily continued to chit chat, without a care in the world. The golden glow of Game Central Station was upon them, something that had Ace's pupils tightening. He furrowed his blue eyebrows and nervously peered down to his adorable, first born son, Beaux squirmed and tenderly grimaced a cute little newborn noise, his squishy face began to turn red; Ace sagged his shoulders and very quickly came to learn what that could potentially mean.
"C'mon, bud, I just changed you, y'gotta poop right as we're leaving the game?" Ace whispered down to his adorable little boy, he heaved a long sigh through his nose and placed a warm kiss atop Beaux's head, he nervously chuckled and kept his radiating nervousness tight to Beaux's, as if to ask Beaux to keep it all a secret, "...Can't say I blame you, I'm about to shit my pants, too."
Just as the group confidently continued to push out of Sugar Rush's outlet, Zed and Tessa sharply stopped right at the gape of the golden arch, and with a spike of concern, Ace urgently peered to his mother and father; the flyers halted their footwork as well, as the King and Queen's demeanors very quickly shifted to a pang of unadulterated confusion. Ace held his breath harder, held his hand tighter over Beaux's little body and urgently peered to Libby, who had Mara tightly secured to her chest.
"What's wrong, what's going on?" Ace rushed, and out of instinct, he took a nervous step backwards and met his lower back with Royal's snout.
Zed cocked an eyebrow, peered down Game Central Station's glorious station, lightly bustled with a few gamers here and there. He narrowed his gaze in a sinking show of nervous suspicion, an as his eyes connected with his very own game, Dead Zed, across the way, he finally narrowed his eyes even tighter and was thrilled Tessa's equally as squinted, suspicious gaze caught with Zed's in a string of a million burning questions. Zed opened his mouth in a huff of confusion, grunted a breath, as if he didn't know where to start, and shook his head at Tessa, as if to wonder just where to begin with their own newfound discovery.
"So... You remember that one time that we left the Arcade and went to the human world?" Zed's boyish voice teased, Libby furrowed her brow in entire confusion, as to why Zed was bringing this up, though Nox furrowed his brow and now caught on to just what Tessa and Zed were insinuating; Nox nervously adjusted Berri against his hip as he held her in his capable arms.
"Yeah, I managed to bring home a User, as a souvenir," Tessa joked dully, she lazily gestured back to Ace and huffed a small laugh, though she shook her head and volleyed her gaze across the way.
"You... Remember what I did with Dead Zed's cabinet, when we came back to Litwak's the next day, as humans?" Zed pressed, to which Nox and Libby nervously caught eyes, "I plugged it into End Of Line station..."
"...It's been there ever since," Tessa pressed in a roll of further confusion, Zed shook his head as everyone now nervously peered to Dead Zed's outlet, which stood proudly in Game Central Station, just a few outlets across the way.
"So tell me what Dead Zed's outlet is doing in Game Central Station?" Zed pressed, "I didn't move the cabinet... I simply moved it's plug to End Of Line."
"Why... Why did Mr. Litwak move it back to Game Central Station, then?" Nox wondered nervously as Berri's innocent, now worried eyes scanned the gorgeous glow of Game Central Station, "What was previously plugged in to Dead Zed's now current outlet?"
"A few weeks ago, it was the internet router... I guess it was something that Mr. Litwak had unplugged, for a long time, according to dad," Tessa stated sharply in a heightened sense of nervousness, to which everyone cued to, "Dad said that lots of things have been getting moved around, lately..."
"Hope the boys are okay?" Nox wondered, referring to Zed's younger brothers, as him and Berri lofted their gaze to Zed, in which he glanced to Nox in understanding and bobbed a small nod.
"I'm sure they're fine," Zed tenderly assured, though he eyed his outlet in even further suspicion and inhaled a nervous breath, "I just want to know why Mr. Litwak is playing Tetris with the outlets..."
