Oh man. Oh man. Oh man. I am SO sorry you guys. I know you wanted me to update quickly, especially considering where I left the story last time, but life got in the way, as it often does. But for now my life is not as hectic, so I managed to find the time to finish this new chapter. Truth be told, I'm kind of hoping to get this story done so I can begin the third story in the trilogy. That's right, you heard and read correctly...I am seriously considering writing a third story. Admittedly, it will be mostly about Lemona's child and not Lemona, but I've got some ideas written down and creeping around my head, and I can't wait to get them on here! Hopefully it'll turn out better than this story; I'm not liking this one as much. But I do like this chapter, and I'm hoping that when you read it you will too. Please, please, PLEASE read and review! In fact, right now I'm at 92 reviews...If you guys could get me to 100 that would be a huge honor and landmark for me. I've never gotten 100 reviews on a story before.

Anyways, here it is, after a long, long wait. Thanks for being so patient with me you guys! You are all incredible! Enjoy!

Chapter 11

The urgency and truth behind Calhoun's words sunk in immediately, and instantly everyone was springing up to help. "Vanellope, get me as many clean towels as you can find," the sergeant ordered, and in a flash, Vanellope had glitched out of the room to obey.

"Felix, grab your hammer and come over here by me in case anything goes wrong." Hearing his wife's words, Felix too obeyed, snatching up his golden hammer in the blink of an eye.

Seeing the hammer, Turbo began to stutter. "What? No, we don't need that! Nothing's going to go wrong." The first time he said that, he was speaking to himself and to Calhoun, and the second time, he focussed all of his attention on Lemona. "Nothing's going to go wrong Lemona." But Lemona was in too much pain to show if she had heard him, and from the agonized noises coming from her mouth, it would have been a miracle if she had been able to hear him.

The minute he spoke, Ralph advanced towards him again, and Turbo looked up with a glare. "Don't you dare take me away from her. That is my child she's giving birth to, I have a right to be here with her! Get away from us! We don't need any of you or your magical hammer."

"Oh really?" a dry smirk somehow managed to slide onto Calhoun's face, but only for a moment. "And pray tell, just how much do you know about child birth?"
The flush that appeared on Turbo's face was all the answer she needed. That didn't stop him from speaking in defiance though. "Well, how do you know so much about child birth, Miss 'I'm in charge of everything'? You're a soldier!"

"Do you ever wonder why I'm the only female soldier anybody ever sees in my game?" asked Calhoun, watching Lemona intently as she spoke. "It's because all of the other ones were stupid enough to think they could get banged up and still fight bugs. Boy did I straighten them out once the pregnancy was done with them. But I think they're content living hidden in the barracks. None of them would be able to live with themselves if they did something that would cause them to hurt their child, and that includes going out and getting themselves killed. The need to protect is a maternal instinct that's programmed into every woman, no matter what game they're from. But enough with the rambling. We need to help Lemona NOW."

Focussing all of her attention on the pained soon-to-be mother, Calhoun spoke in a firm, but calm voice that surprised everybody in the room. "Listen to me Lemona. I know your body hurts right now, but screaming is not going to help. I need you to take deep breaths in and out. If you have to moan or grunt, then go ahead; it'll help. But whatever you do, don't scream. Okay?"

By some miracle, she had spoken to Lemona at a moment when she was not in the middle of a contraction, so she actually managed to hear the order, even though she was still in quite a bit of pain. "I'm…I'm scared," she confessed in a weak whimper that reminded everybody of the truth that she was still a child trapped in a woman's body. "What's going to happen to my baby? I don't know what to do."

Instantly, everybody sucked in their breath, fully preparing for a tirade about fear much like the one Calhoun gave to her soldiers at the beginning of every game. Which is why everybody was surprised to hear her say, "It's perfectly natural for first-time mothers. But your body knows what to do Lemona. Your child is going to be just fine, so long as you listen to me, and to your body."

After the earlier confrontation, everyone was pretty sure that Lemona was going to try to get away from Calhoun, to tell her that she didn't want or need their help and that all she needed was Turbo. This is why they were all surprised when Lemona nodded once in understanding, her eyes wide with fear. Unfortunately, this happened just as another contraction arose. Remembering what she'd been told, she resisted the urge to scream, and as she began to moan, Turbo's grip on her hand tightened. He had what almost looked like a worried expression on his face, but nobody wanted to get any ideas. "How long is this going to take?" he asked Calhoun, the impatience growing in his voice. "How long before we see the child?"

"However long it takes," was Calhoun's curt response as she continued to watch Lemona. Truthfully, there wasn't very much she could do right now but wait and make sure nothing went wrong. "Child birth occurs in three to four stages, and right now, she's only in the first. The time it takes for each stage to complete itself is different for every woman. Kid," she said, suddenly directing her words towards Lemona. "If you start to feel like you're burning or stinging, you need to let me know, okay? That'll be when you need to start pushing."

Lemona nodded again through the pain, her eyes squeezed shut tightly. Sweat was beginning to build up on her skin, and when Vanellope finally returned with the towels, Calhoun used one to wipe her face off.

Seeing Turbo still in the room made Vanellope's face start to whiten like a sugar beet, but then as she tried to regain composure, she completely lost it, her face turning as red as beetroot. "What is he still doing here? Get rid of him!" she demanded, jamming an accusatory finger in Turbo's direction. Had he been close to her, she probably would have been able to stick her finger into one of his big brown eyes. Her own beautiful hazel eyes narrowed with hatred, as though she was blaming him for all of their problems, which she most likely was.

Hearing her order made Lemona's eyes fly open in a panic, and she started to protest through her pain, forgetting what Calhoun had told her earlier. "No, no, no, don't take him away, don't do it! Please, no, no, I'm begging you! I need him, I need him, he needs to be here with me!"

"Now Lemona, you need to calm down. Stressing yourself is not going to help the baby. Turbo's not going anywhere." After speaking, Calhoun ensured that Lemona's breathing had slowed down a bit before turning to the little princess, who was sputtering furiously. "But..But…Calhoun! Has the beacon in your game fried your brains?"

"Look kid, I'm not going to do anything that'll risk the safety of Lemona or this baby, even if it means letting this delinquent stay here with them." By the look on Calhoun's face, she wanted to use a more insulting term or profanity to describe Turbo, but wouldn't dare to do it with Lemona in hearing range.

"But what if he corrupts Lemona again? What if he makes her sour side come back?" Vanellope protested, her panic and worry getting the best of her. She had only just found her good friend again and did not want to risk losing her.

"Come back? Hoo hoo, foolish girl, don't you know that it never left?" There was without a doubt, a sense of mocking in Turbo's tone as he finally spoke up again. As soon as he did, everybody's eyes were on him, including Lemona's, and she tried to croak out, "No…Turbo, don't…" But nobody heard her.

Vanellope's eyes narrowed again out of suspicion. "What do you mean it never left? Of course it did! Lemona doesn't get sour anymore, except when she's around YOU!"

"Oh really?" Turbo's eyebrows raised in disbelief and taunting. "Well then, why don't you ask little Lemona here what happens every night when she's all by herself in that precious workshop of hers?"

"Oh jiminy jaminy…" Felix murmured. He was so stunned that when he lost his grip on the golden hammer in his hand and it clattered to the floor he didn't notice. In fact, nobody did. "You don't mean…?"

Turbo's evil smirk only seemed to widen as it finally dawned on him that nobody knew Lemona's secret. "Of course that's what I mean Felix! Your little friend here, my lover and mother of my child, is still a sour little girl with so many negative emotions bundled up inside of her that she's tried to hide from you all that she can't help letting them out at night when nobody's around. And how do I know this?" Leering proudly, he leaned forward a little bit before answering his own question. "Because I saw her do it on the night I took her."

That was the final straw for Ralph, who started to lunge towards the leering villain. But just as his hands were about to wrap around Turbo's neck, Lemona let out a cry. "Ohhh! Calhoun…It burns!"

"She's crowning," stated Calhoun. Immediately everybody turned their attention back at Lemona, and Vanellope cried out the only thing that needed to be said to explain what crowing was: "I see the head!"

CRASH!

Turbo howled with laughter once the after-effects of the crash had subsided. "I guess ol' Ralphie's not as tough as he seems," he mocked, barely able to speak between his psychotic howls of laughter.

Though Vanellope was still no fan of Turbo's to any extent, she too cracked a small smile, though for once in her life she kept her wise remarks to herself. Even Calhoun leaned in Vanellope's direction and whispered, "I knew he was a wuss the moment he entered my game. True, at first at thought he was someone else, but my judgement was still right."

Ralph made no effort to defend himself. He was, after all, unconscious from fainting.

An even more urgent moan in Lemona's direction brought Calhoun's attention back to the more pressing matters at hand. "Okay Lemona," she began, "on the count of three I need you to push as hard as you can. No, I need you to push harder than you can. You're almost done, and you've been done well so far. Don't give up on me now. Ready? Okay, one…Two…Three!"

The only sound for what seemed like a very long time was the sound of the effort Lemona was putting into every push she gave. Even though she still had Stockholm Syndrome, her previous feelings were all forgotten, and she found herself realizing that Calhoun had been right. Her body did know what to do, and so long as she listened to it, her child was going to be just fine.

If she had been right about that, what other things was she and the ones Lemona had once considered friends right about?

But there was no time to start contemplating that. Right now, she had to listen to her body, and her body was telling her to push. So push she did, until finally her throat was sore, her voice was hoarse, her body felt like it was about to explode, and she was crying and praying mentally, and feeling a million overwhelming emotions at once. Then suddenly...

All the pain was gone. All of the emotions that had just been there had vanished in a metaphorical puff of smoke. The utmost relief replaced all of it. Finally Lemona was able to breathe easily.

A beautiful silence filled the air for only a couple of seconds before another sound took its place. The perfect sound.

Crying.

An infant crying.

Calhoun removed an army knife from her belt and sliced the cord that had connected the mother and child for nine incredibly hard months. A collective gasp rose up when she used a towel to dry off the child and remove the blood from its body.

"No," Lemona thought, never taking her eyes off of the bundle. It wasn't just a child. It was her child. Though the umbilical cord was cut, the two of them would still be connected. They would be connected through codes, the experiences they had endured together, and above all, they would be connected by a strong love. Without the tiny infant that was now wrapped in the towel, Lemona wasn't sure what would have happened to her. She wasn't sure if she would have been able to survive.

She paid extra close attention to the next words Calhoun spoke as she held the infinitely precious bundle towards her. "Congratulations soldier. She's perfectly healthy."

"She?" Turbo and Lemona gasped out in unison, and for a moment, Lemona worried that Turbo might faint like Ralph had.

Calhoun nodded and continued to hold out her arms until Lemona got the courage to take the warm bundle in her own arms. "It's a girl."

But she wasn't just a girl. Her hair was not the color of candy, or blonde like Lemona's. Instead, it was a gorgeous shade of burnt umber, though there was something about it that made Lemona think of fruit cake. No longer crying in her mother's arms, she stared up at Lemona with damp eyes shimmering with tears that had not broken free and fallen down her cheeks. Those wide eyes held a number of wonderful emotions inside. Trust, love, innocence, and above all, curiosity, were easy to pick out. Those little gum drops of emotion were a gorgeous shade of olive green, a perfect combination of yellow and green. At first Lemona was confused by them. The green shade made sense as that was Lemona's eye color. Then she remembered something about Turbo she'd almost completely forgotten. The first time she had ever met him she had seen him glitch into his true self, and his true self did not have milk chocolate brown eyes. His true coding gave him yellow eyes. Their baby girl had a perfect 50/50 combination of their codes for eye color.

"No," Lemona thought again. "My daughter is not just a girl. She is a miracle. She is perfect. She is an angel."

"I know what I want to name her," she whispered to Turbo, who had placed both of his arms on Lemona's shoulders and was staring down at the mesmerizing little baby that nobody could take their eyes off of. The name had come suddenly to her, almost as though it had struck her like a lightening bolt, and there was immediately no other choice that could even be slightly considered.

His curiosity peaked, Turbo turned his attention towards Lemona. "Is it better than Turbo Junior?" he asked, causing Lemona to let out a giggle.

"Yes," she answered, nuzzling herself comfortable in Turbo's grip and looking down once again at their daughter, who let out a coo that made Lemona's heart melt upon hearing it. "It is."

Both Lemona and her child smiled at each other and Lemona never took her eyes off of the sight when she spoke next.

"I want to name her Angelina. Angelina Fruite Cake."