*Chapter 51*
"You don't think," Vanellope trailed off nervously.
Ralph heaved an annoyed sigh before he gently planted his mouth to Vanellope's cheek a few times. He trailed his kisses down her neck eagerly before he finally began to unglue himself from his mate. Ralph wrinkled his nose a he very slowly, and carefully, began to remove himself from her. She winced and gripped her arms around his neck as volts of their code practically clung to each other, strands of their coded DNA zipped and snapped apart from each other as Ralph finally was let go. He exhaled a breath he forgot he was holding as Vanellope's trembling hands gently slid down his shoulders and arms. She whined his name, a small plea he so wished he could obey. Ralph eagerly planted a loving kiss on Vanellope's stomach before finally removing himself from the bed.
"Oh, I think," Ralph chuckled as he stood and quickly began to put his clothes back on.
"Ralph, we can't go out there," Vanellope whined as she sat up; she hugged the blankets to her bare chest as Ralph gathered her clothes and set them next to her on the bed.
"Vin, if there actually was a power surge, it's not safe to stay in the game. Especially for you," Ralph worried as Felix banged on the door harder and more urgently.
"Ralph, so help me User, if you don't wake up right now I'm going to WRECK your door," Felix hollered in a muffled, angry tone. Ralph widened his eyes before him and Vanellope bursted out laughing.
"Felix means business when he talks about breaking stuff," Ralph laughed as Vanellope quickly threw Ralph's shirt on and her pair of racing pants. He held his hand out to her and smiled a sheepish smile.
"Well," Vanellope sighed, her face hot red, "Guess we're never doing that again."
"Correction," Ralph stated as Vanellope slid off of his bed and into his arms, "We're never doing that again, during a lightning storm."
"Deal," Vanellope laughed as the two quickly stumbled out of Ralph's room. Ralph rushed to his front door and reached for the door handle; Vanellope hung back, her face red with embarrassment.
"Felix, you get a little crazy when you're angry," Ralph laughed as he swung the door open. Felix slapped his hands on his head in a disgruntled way and gestured his hands towards the exit.
"The arcade had a power surge, Ralph," Felix worried, "We have to get to Game Central Station and wait for the storm to pass."
"Really? I didn't notice," Ralph fibbed as he glanced around his game. Everyone from the Niceland building, Qbert's game and Street Fighter began marching towards Fix-It-Felix Jr.'s train exit.
"Yeah," Felix worried as Vanellope slowly strolled up; he smiled sheepishly and eyed Vanellope curiously before shaking his head and trekking down Ralph's large stoop, "C'mon, we gotta go. Especially you, Vanellope. I'm surprised we haven't suffered any sort of memory loss or something."
"He's right," Ralph said in a concerned way as he grabbed her hand. The two quickly rushed out of his house and began to hurry towards the exit with everyone else.
"Would I game over if your game shut off and I was inside?" Vanellope worried up to Ralph, her eyes concerned.
"Potentially… I don't want to stick around to find out," Ralph worried as he grabbed Vanellope's hand tighter and kept her to his side. Once everyone was finally out of their game outlet and into Game Central station, he heaved a relaxed sigh and calmed his grip on Vanellope's hand.
Ralph and Vanellope scanned the Station; everyone from their games were lounged around Game Central Station with the same fear as everyone else. Once everyone filed past Ralph and Vanellope, she stood on tip toes and leaned closer to Ralph with a sheepish facial expression. She caught eyes with Taffyta across the way and nervously inhaled a breath.
"Ralph, you don't think that… we were the cause of this surge," Vanellope worried as she slumped her shoulders and gave him a blushed, embarrassed look, "Cause that would be so awkward to explain to everyone."
"Just act like you don't know what's going on, then," Ralph chuckled as he slowly led her towards their group of friends that gathered at the benches across their outlet, "No one will suspect a thing."
"I hope you're right," Vanellope grumbled as she tucked her hair behind her ears; she hoped it didn't look like too much of a wreck.
The two slowly approached their group of nervous, chattering friends. Everyone was barefoot; their feet clumsily slapped against the cold tile of Game Central Station. The air was crisp with the morning chill, and loud pangs of thunder could still be heard outside the arcade. Taffyta could be heard nervously going on about the storm to Felix, Calhoun, Tammy and Candlehead. Ralph heaved a nervous sigh as Vanellope gently let go of his hand and approached the group more so than him.
"You guys okay?" Vanellope asked gently, Taffyta quickly looked at her and wrinkled her nose.
"I hate these thunderstorms," Taffyta complained aloud, her and Candlehead were in their pajamas, both their hair was down and slightly messy, "Whoever caused this surge is going to rue the day."
"Yeah, I wonder what happened," Vanellope fibbed sheepishly as she looked around the arcade.
"Well," Calhoun sighed and slumped her shoulders; Tammy clung to her leg, "Looks like we're just going to have to wait it out."
"We could be here all morning," Ralph grumbled as he rubbed his tired face, "And when the arcade opens back up, we have to go back into our games and risk being surged and fried for good."
"Guys, we'll be fine," Felix said loudly, trying to calm his group; large groups of chattering gamers had gathered all over Game Central
Station. The whole place was alive with nervous chatter. Felix inhaled deeply to continue, "We've played during storms before. This one will be no different."
"I guess you're right," Vanellope said gently as she made her way to one of the benches. Everyone followed her idea; Ralph made sure to sit right next to her.
He gently tucked his arm around her and held her close to his chest. She willingly leaned into him and heaved a nervous, annoyed sigh. Ralph chuckled down at her and squeezed her to him a few times playfully. He smiled down at her in an endearing way, he wished that their special moment wasn't ruined by poor timing, but he knew they'd make up for it at a later date. He gave Vanellope a small, knowing look and chuckled once Vanellope's face turned red.
"I hate this," Taffyta groaned as she plopped down next to Vanellope and slumped her face into her hands, "How does one even manage a power surge anyways? Shouldn't everyone be asleep at this time of night?"
"Who knows," Felix sighed as him, Calhoun and Candlehead sat on the benches opposite them. Tammy eagerly sat on the other side of
Ralph.
"What moronic thing do you have to do in order to accomplish something this big?" Taffyta complained loudly.
"Well," Calhoun started with a small chuckle, "Quite a number of things. Maybe some gamers are up late still playing their game, but aren't abiding by their game rules."
"Or, gamers running in and out of Surge's protectors on the game outlets," Felix added.
"Or someone tried to step out of an opened 'do not enter' outlet," Calhoun added again before tilting her head up and chuckling knowingly, "I've also heard that code swapping during a lightning storm will do the trick."
Vanellope froze and gazed long and hard at Calhoun; she could feel Ralph practically turn to stone on her left side. She inhaled a slow breath as she could practically hear the gears turning in Taffyta's head. Before Vanellope could even think about facing Taffyta's wrath, she could see Taffyta's shoulders scrunch in her peripheral, to her right. She immediately felt her stomach drop as Taffyta slowly turned her head to look at Vanellope. As if it wasn't bad enough, Taffyta slowly stood and pointed a hard, angry finger in Vanellope's face. Vanellope scrunched her whole face and shut her eyes tight; she held her breath as she could practically feel Taffyta's rage.
"IT! WAS! YOU TWO!" Taffyta barked. Vanellope winced and gazed up at Taffyta in a shocked, pleading way.
"US?" Vanellope shrieked in protest, though she figured it was too late to defend herself now.
"What other TWO would I be talking about?!" Taffyta shrieked. Felix and Calhoun grew wide eyed as Candlehead slumped her face into her hands with a wide smile. Tammy remained in confused silence.
"Taff," Vanellope hissed as she looked around nervously, "Cut it out!"
"I wish I could go back in time and tell YOU TWO idiots to cut it out a half an hour ago!" Taffyta barked as she threw her arms up, "We will never get to sleep before the arcade day!"
"Like you haven't pulled an all-nighter before," Vanellope growled as she rolled her eyes. Ralph could hear the hurt in Vanellope's voice. He glanced between her and Taffyta a few times as he could begin to feel an overwhelming, protective urge come over him. The code, he shared with his mate, began to sear his heart strings.
"That's just it! I was asleep not ten minutes ago!" Taffyta hollered as she stepped closer to Vanellope, obviously getting more mad, "You guys couldn't save your little adventures until AFTER the storm passed?!"
"Hey," Ralph suddenly, and loudly, snapped as he stood. Taffyta flinched and jumped back a little; she gazed up at Ralph in shock as he loomed over her and Vanellope. He lovingly put his hand out in front of Vanellope, as if to block her from anymore of Taffyta's words; he gave Taffyta a challenging look, "It was an honest mistake. Knock it off."
Taffyta fell silent as she took a nervous step back. She gazed up at Ralph in a confused, upset way as she slumped her shoulders. She heaved a long sigh and opened her mouth to say something, but was quickly cut off.
"It was my fault," Ralph said firmly as he continued to stand in between the two girls, "I wasn't thinking. I knew the storm was there, I just didn't put two and two together. Don't blame Vanellope."
"Sorry, Taff," Vanellope said softly past Ralph's side.
"Its fine," Taffyta grumbled as she gave Ralph an annoyed look. Ralph slowly sat back down next to Vanellope and wrapped his large arm around her shoulder. Tammy quickly got up and ran to Felix amidst the fighting; Taffyta quickly took her seat on Ralph's left side and looked away in a disgruntled manner.
Taffyta heaved an annoyed sigh and gazed across the gap to where Felix, Calhoun, Candlehead and Tammy were sitting. She glanced at Ralph through the corner or her sleepy eyes and looked him over in a challenging way before slumping her shoulders and looking away, almost in embarrassment.
"Look, I'm sorry," Taffyta muttered as she glanced at Ralph. Ralph furrowed his brow and gazed down at her long and hard before she continued, "I'm just cranky."
"I'm trying to make a lasting impression, here," Ralph hissed in a whisper, only audible to Taffyta, as he motioned his head towards Vanellope just barely. She rolled her eyes and nudged Ralph's lower arm.
"Nuff said," Taffyta choked with an annoyed facial expression.
"Not on your watch, apparently," Ralph grumbled, Vanellope looked up at him curiously.
"Mom, what's a code swap?" Tammy asked innocently as she sat comfortably in Calhoun's lap.
"Now look what you did!" Taffyta hollered as she motioned towards Calhoun and Tammy.
"I'll tell you when you're older," Calhoun chuckled down at Tammy as she brushed some of her sleepy, messed up hair out of her face.
"Eww, does it involve kissing?" Tammy wrinkled her nose.
"Boy does it," Taffyta mumbled as she glared up at Ralph and slumped into the bench with her arms folded. Ralph shot her an annoyed, bashful look.
"Don't worry about it. For now, you should try to rest," Calhoun suggested as she adjusted Tammy in her arms against her body. Tammy yawned and rested her head on Calhoun's shoulder; she closed her eyes.
"Must you make everything embarrassing, Taff?" Vanellope groaned as she rubbed her eye in an exhausted way.
"I thought we already established this. YES," Taffyta barked with a
small, annoyed laugh.
"I'm so exhausted," Vanellope mumbled to herself as she gazed around Game Central Station.
"Gee I wonder why?" Taffyta muttered sarcastically.
"Guys," Ralph sighed a long, irritated sigh and firmly rubbed his face, "Let's just calm down."
"Something you should've done half an hour ago," Taffyta didn't miss a beat.
"You won't love me when I'm angry, Taff," Ralph barked before inhaling a breath, trying to calm himself. Suddenly, an unknown gamer slunk into their group's comfort bubble. He looked like a thief, a bad guy from a game long unplugged.
"So I heard through a few loud mouths that this whole arcade surged because of a code swap," the guy spat as he loomed near Taffyta, he inhaled a raspy breath and pointed to her, "I'll take a wild guess and say this tasty treat here is to blame?"
"Me?" Taffyta choked as she turned and gave Ralph a shocked, almost sad look. She looked down at her clothes and blushed before looking up at the stranger, her face riddled with confusion. Ralph felt his blood hit the boiling point.
"It's none of your business what happened," Ralph barked as he stood in front of Taffyta and Vanellope. He put his hand on Taffyta's arm to protectively tuck her behind him, "Get lost."
"I see we got a tough guy, here," he chuckled as he shifted on his feet, he looked Ralph over a little bit before trying to get a look at Vanellope and Taffyta past Ralph's side. He leaned closer to Ralph and spoke in a soft, raspy tone, "C'mon man. You have two of 'em. Code swapping is hard to come by, nowadays. Mind sharing? Preferably the blonde one?"
Ralph inhaled sharply and closed his eyes; he suddenly felt his heart pang with enraged grief as he instinctively lifted his large, wrecking hands above his head. With one swift movement, his hands came crashing down to Game Central Station's grid, sending large pieces of the golden tile flying up into the air. The whole station trembled with the loud boom that matched the thunder outside. Ralph dragged his hands from the rubble and shoved one of his fists into the other guy's chest; he gripped the chest of his clothes and lifted him off the ground, getting eye level with him.
"Run, if you know what's good for you," Ralph growled deeply, his whole core shook with anger.
He shoved the guy back onto his feet; he stumbled and nervously scrambled away, fearing for his pitiful life. The whole station was silent, all eyes were on Ralph. Ralph inhaled a shaky breath and looked around at the familiar sight of fearful faces. He furrowed his eyebrows at all the onlookers in anger before quickly whirling around to Taffyta; his face instantly softened. He could feel his heart be pulled in a direction he never felt before. He knew how strong his protectiveness over Vanellope was, but he didn't think it'd extend past her. He gazed down at Taffyta's shocked, saddened but thrilled face with grief and frustration. He knew that no matter how much of a pain she was, he would always take her side.
"Are you okay?" Ralph barked; both girls flinched before Ralph suddenly realized he needed to calm down. He shook his head nervously and clenched his fists opened and closed a few times before glancing around in a bashful manner; he furrowed his eyebrows and cleared his throat. He continued, this time much more softly, "S-sorry. I-I…that guy was way out of line."
"Vanellope, if you know what's good for your little life, you will never walk away from this guy," Taffyta said casually as she nudged Ralph's trembling fist. Game Central Station slowly began to hum with chatter again.
"Dutifully noted," Vanellope scoffed before rolling her eyes playfully.
"Do I really look like a sleaze?" Taffyta barked softly in surprise as she covered her upper chest with her arms in a criss-cross way. She tried her best to cover any amount of skin showing in her light green tank.
"There is no way to look proper in pajamas," Vanellope said with a small giggle before she furrowed her eyebrows and stood, her face written with concern; she quickly began to cross the small gap over to the other half of their group, "Tammy?"
Ralph and Taffyta looked over to Calhoun, Tammy, Felix and Candlehead. All of them were cooing and shushing little Tammy as she silently cried into Calhoun's neck. Ralph slumped his shoulders and quickly looked down at Taffyta with a grief-stricken face. Taffyta frowned up at Ralph before rolling her eyes with a smile.
"Tammy may be a fixer, but she IS still new to this group," Taffyta said in an matter-of-factly voice, "And your angry wrecking antics."
"Tammy, love," Vanellope cooed as she knelt in front of Calhoun and gazed up at Tammy. She wailed a quiet, girly cry and kept her shaking hands to her eyes. Her cheeks were soaked with tears. Taffyta slowly strolled over and stood in front of Candlehead; all eyes were on Tammy.
"It's okay, Tams," Calhoun chuckled as she firmly and lovingly rubbed her back and tucked her chin to the top of her head, "She laughs in the face of cy-bugs, but one simple outburst from Ralph and the world is over." Everyone chuckled and gazed at Tammy lovingly, hoping she'd calm down.
"I don't think she's used to seeing her favorite uncle Ralph's angry side," Felix said gently as he stroked her arm with one of his thumbs, "It's okay, Tams. Ralph just got upset is all."
"Aw, Tammy," Ralph said softly as strolled over to everyone. He exhaled a final, calm breath.
His heart broke at the sight of Tammy's grief-stricken face, her eyes and cheeks red and wet with tears. Vanellope stood to let Ralph take her spot; he knelt down in front of Calhoun and tilted his head to get a good look at Tammy. His heart was swollen with how sweet an innocent her expressions were. He kept his distance, though, hoping not to scare her further. She peeked a glassy eye at Ralph nervously; she hiccuped a few nervous inhales and whimpered.
"It's okay, Tammy," Vanellope smiled as she sat next to Calhoun and pet the back of Tammy's soft, golden hair, "Uncle Ralph just got upset at someone."
"Why?" Tammy shakily asked as she kept her hands rubbing her wet eyes. She continued to cry nervously.
"Well," Ralph started as he exhaled a slow breath. He very carefully took one of Tammy's hands, freeing it from her face. He held it softly in his large hand, his thumb caressed the tops of her small fingers, "That guy said something very mean to your aunt Taffyta."
"He did?" Tammy whimpered as she finally gathered the courage to look Ralph almost directly in the face; Taffyta gazed down at Ralph, a small, loving smile spread across her face.
"Yeah," Ralph sighed as he continued to run his thumb over Tammy's little hand.
"Why did you get angry and wreck the ground like that?" Tammy asked innocently as she nervously hiccuped a few inhales; more tears slid down her cheeks.
"Because," Ralph started; he breathed in a slow breath and gazed earnestly into Tammy's eyes, "When someone says something mean to someone I care about, I get a little upset."
"A little," Calhoun chuckled sarcastically as she continued to rub Tammy's back. Ralph scoffed with a smile and rolled his eyes before fixing his attention on Tammy again.
"I'm sorry I scared you, Tammy," Ralph frowned as he tilted his head; she shied away from his eye contact, "I'm very protective of my family. I would do the same thing for you, love."
"Really?" Tammy asked, a small smile finally broke across her face. She gave Ralph a surprised, almost happy look.
"Of course," Ralph breathed a chuckle as he squeezed her little hand, "No one messes with Uncle Ralph's brood."
Ralph gave her a calm, happy smile. She returned the favor and clumsily slid off of Calhoun's lap. She carefully moseyed closer to Ralph and leaned into his chest, her small arms wrapped just barely around his strong neck. Ralph exhaled a surprised chuckle and carefully wrapped his large, protective arms around around his small niece. He slowly stood and tucked his large hand underneath Tammy's rear and legs, making sure she was secure in his arms. Tammy sniffled a few times and buried her face into Ralph's collar, her little hands gripped his shirt. Ralph smiled and tucked his chin to the top of Tammy's small head and slowly took a few steps backwards. Felix stood and grabbed his hammer, which was hung on the pocket of his comfortable pants.
"This oughta cheer her up," Felix chuckled as he stepped over to the large pile of wrecked, golden tiles. Tammy peeked over her shoulder curiously as Felix hammered up the damage, the tile glitching back to normal. Felix clapped the dust off of his hands and smiled eagerly up at Tammy. She beamed a bashful smile and inhaled quickly.
"I want to fix the next mess, dad," Tammy smiled, though her eyes were still wet with tears.
"Anything for you," Felix chuckled as he reached up and pat her back. He slowly moseyed back over to the rest of his group, who were all packed onto one bench. They all gazed up at Ralph and Tammy as he slowly took a few steps backwards and carefully took a seat at the bench he was previously sat at. He tucked Tammy further into his arms and held her close. She nuzzled her face into Ralph's collar, her eyes closed as she got comfortable.
"Look at that big lug," Felix chuckled as he nudged Candlehead's arm playfully.
"It's kind of nice having a body guard for a big brother," Candlehead laughed as she glanced at Taffyta.
"He's definitely the backbone of our group, huh," Calhoun smiled as she crossed her arms.
"Sorry about the surge, guys," Vanellope stuttered, her face hot red. Everyone quickly looked at Vanellope, their faces beaming and teasing; Vanellope inhaled sharply and looked away, "You guys…"
"I'm going to ask a question I know everyone here has been itching to ask the second you got your new code," Calhoun stated as she glanced back at Taffyta, Felix, and Candlehead; each of their faces showed a mixture of curiosity, sheepishness and teasing, though Felix looked more apprehensive. Calhoun looked back at Vanellope and everyone's eyes followed, "But since I'm the only one brave enough to ask…How in the WORLD does it work?"
"What?!" Vanellope barked quietly before throwing her head back and laughing a giddy, roaring laugh; everyone flinched at her outburst and chuckled in reply.
"Oh come on," Candlehead urged as she squinted her eyes in anticipation.
"I'm glad we're out of ear shot of Ralph and that he's preoccupied, because he would shut all of us up if he could get the chance," Felix chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. He carefully removed himself from the group of girls surrounding him and stepped closer to Ralph, "This topic is a little too awkward for me."
"Okay good, now it's just us, hurry up and spill!" Taffyta urged as she scoot closer to Calhoun; Candlehead followed suit. Each pair of eyes gazed at Vanellope eagerly. Vanellope wrinkled her nose and looked each one of them in the eye before slumping her shoulders and chuckling aloud.
"You guys can't be serious," Vanellope chuffed, her face hot red.
"Thank you for bring this up, Sarge, I thought we'd never get to this topic," Taffyta rushed before eagerly gazing at Vanellope.
"Why are you guys so curious?" Vanellope chuckled as she glanced at Ralph; him and Felix sat calmly talking, Ralph's large hand rubbed Tammy's back lovingly.
"Are you seriously asking that question?" Calhoun muttered as each girl glanced over to Ralph, Calhoun shook her head and chuckled.
"You guys!" Vanellope complained quietly with a wide, sheepish smile, "Th-there's, nothing to tell!"
"That is a complete and bold faced lie," Taffyta barked, "Do you even see him? How can you expect us not to wonder?"
"This is so embarrassing," Vanellope chuffed as her face practically turned purple.
"Why!" Candlehead exclaimed, "You should be bragging, or something! Or is it really not as great as we all think?"
"No, no," Vanellope scoffed, her eyes wide, "Believe me. I'm usually sore for days afterwards."
"I knew it," Taffyta said plainly before she shot Candlehead a small smirk.
"Is it, awkward?" Candlehead ventured, her face blushed as she looked away nervously, "Y'know, cause he's so big and tall."
"No, it's not awkward," Vanellope chuckled as she wrinkled her nose, "Complete opposite, quite frankly."
"Does he yell that he's going to wreck it?" Calhoun laughed; Taffyta and Candlehead immediately bursted out laughing. Vanellope inhaled a deep breath and stood.
"Ohhkay, this is getting to be a bit too awkward for me," Vanellope laughed as she stretched her arms. She quickly looked back at the three girls next to her and smirked, "And to answer your question, yes. But it was a joke."
"I don't think your sore self thought it was very funny the next day," Taffyta barked as the three girls quietly roared with laughter. Vanellope laughed and rolled her eyes, her whole face red. She strolled over to Ralph, Felix and Tammy opposite the three, gossiping girls.
Vanellope slowly approached Ralph, Felix and Tammy. She felt her heart swell with how adorable Tammy was being towards her uncle; her whole body was slumped into his broad chest as she snoozed. Her cheeks were still wet with drying tears, her face was innocently slumped against Ralph's collar as she breathed steadily through her mouth. Ralph had his chin tucked to the top of Tammy's head as he rested fully into the bench. His large hands held Tammy secure to his body, his thumb caressed her back softly in a lulling way. Vanellope bit her bottom lip a little and tilted her head to the side as she gave Ralph a knowing look. He kindly furrowed his eyebrows as if to ask what she was thinking of. Vanellope scrunched her shoulders and exhaled a silent giggle.
"You'd make a wonderful father," Vanellope said softly as she gazed lovingly down at Ralph, her cheeks flushed.
"I agree," Felix chimed with a quiet laugh as he gazed at his daughter comfortably snoozing, "You managed to get her to go to sleep."
"Just doing my job," Ralph said softly as he continued to rub Tammy's back. He gazed up to Game Central Station's high ceiling and fell silent for a second before gazing up at Vanellope, "I think the storm passed."
"I think you're right." Vanellope said softly as she too looked up and around. She gently turned around to look at Taffyta, "I think we can go back to sleep, Taff. The storm passed."
"Thank USER," Taffyta barked as she stood. She grabbed Candlehead's arm and began dragging her back to Sugar Rush, "Goodnight!"
"Night guys!" Candlehead stuttered as she stumbled to catch up with Taffyta. Everyone laughed softly before focusing their attention on Ralph and Tammy.
"Thanks for getting her to sleep, Ralph," Calhoun said gently as she stood next to Vanellope, "You're a great uncle to her."
"I hope I didn't totally scar her for life," Ralph said softly as he carefully stood; Tammy remained in her snoozing form.
"I'm sure she can forgive you," Calhoun chuckled as she put her hands on her hips, "She's a tough one."
"Just like her mother," Felix sneered as he nudged her arm; Calhoun ruffled Felix's hair lovingly.
Game Central Station slowly began to ease in tension as everyone began to mosey back to their games. Vanellope inhaled a sharp yawn and rubbed her eye firmly as her, Ralph, Felix and Calhoun began to head to Fix-It-Felix Jr. Ralph softly slipped his free hand into Vanellope's and gave her a loving, knowing look. She smiled back at him earnestly, her heart swollen with the amount of love Ralph had shown her. She squeezed his hand tight as the four vanished into Ralph's game, the game cabinet softly called her home.
