*Chapter 68*

Rancis slowly trudged up the hill, his bare feet sinking into Sugar Rush's sweet grass. He took in the feeling, almost forgetting what the ground felt like. He inhaled a nervous breath as he slowly approached the gazebo everyone was bustling under. He slowly stopped a few feet away from the gazebo and examined everyone. Calhoun, Felix and Candlehead were all laughing and chattering as they began to unpack the food they brought. Candlehead and Calhoun began to take packs of the hotdogs they brought over to the few grills that were a few yards away from the gazebo. Taffyta was busy chatting with Tammy, she was eagerly begging Taffyta to play catch with her later. Taffyta hugged Tammy to her side briefly before her eyes caught with Rancis's eyes. She let her demeanor calm to a warm glow as Tammy hugged her around her middle.

"Rancis," Taffyta said gently with a smile, though she nervously kept

Tammy to her side, "You made it."

"Yeah," Rancis said as he carefully stepped closer to the gazebo. He felt as if making any sort of sudden movement would startle Felix; the fact that his little daughter was in the vicinity made things even more tense. Rancis practically froze at one of the pillars of the gazebo before continuing, "V-Vanellope invited me. I hope that's alright."

"If Vanellope says it's okay, then it must be," Felix suddenly said, his voice was strangely coated with a gentle charm. Rancis finally let his mouth curl into a small smile. Tammy eagerly looked up at Taffyta in a questionable way. Taffyta softly stroked the side of her head before throwing her attention to Rancis.

"I don't think you've met Tammy, yet," Taffyta said to Rancis with a smile before looking down at Tammy, who was quickly becoming more and more bashful. Her head was level with the middle of Taffyta's chest. Though she was nearly a fully grown gamer, she still had a few more months of growing to go, both mentally and physically. Tammy shyly leaned her head on Taffyta's shoulder and gave Rancis a nervous smile; she had heard of what Rancis had tried to do to her father.

"It's nice to meet you, my name is Rancis," Rancis said kindly yet carefully as he just barely approached the two; he could feel Felix's protective gaze on the situation.

"Tammy," Tammy said softly, her charming, girly voice was still coated in worry. She barely flinched as Rancis carefully extended his hand for a handshake. Tammy apprehensively reached her hand out and let her hand wrap around Rancis's. They shook hands as Taffyta gently rubbed Tammy's back.

"You're Felix's daughter?" Rancis asked, he remained in suspended standstill, he felt as if even a single falter or wrong step was going to send Felix flying over the table.

"Yes," Tammy answered, feeling a little bit more comfortable.

"Tammy is a fixer," Taffyta said kindly down to Tammy as she brushed some of Tammy's beautiful golden hair out of her eyes.

"You don't say," Rancis smiled gently, "When were you born?"

"In late February," Tammy answered, she remained latched onto Taffyta; her playful, girly demeanor was very slowly finding its way back to the surface of her code, "I'll be an actual gamer in two and a half months."

"Too true," Rancis chuckled as he gently put his hands in his hoodie pocket, "Congratulations. You excited to go to Game Central Station Academy?"

"Very," Tammy finally let a smile sprawl across her face, "I-I've heard it's hard."

"You will do great, Tams," Felix chimed as he slowly made his way next to his daughter, sandwiching her between him and Taffyta.

"You'll make lots of friends," Rancis assured with a small smile, he kept himself as reserved as he could, hoping not to startle anyone.

"I'm excited to make friends," Tammy started as she lulled her head to the side, "But I'm more excited to have siblings…or cousins."

"A-Are, Ralph and Vanellope thinking of…?" Rancis stammered on his words, not sure how to approach the topic. Taffyta laughed quietly and nudged Tammy; Tammy bit her lip and looked up at Taffyta with a beaming smile.

"Not yet," Taffyta laughed as she rolled her eyes playfully, "One day, Tams. Just be patient."

"Fiiine," Tammy groaned playfully as she wrapped one arm around Taffyta's back. Taffyta lulled her arm over Tammy's shoulder.

"I think, before they give Sugar Rush heirs to the throne, they should probably be married first," Felix chuckled as he put his hands on his hips.

"New Years can't come fast enough," Tammy giggled as she wrinkled her nose.

"What's happening on New Year's?" Rancis asked curiously. Taffyta shot Felix a curious look; he shrugged before softly nodding with a smile.

"You have to promise not to tell Vanellope this," Taffyta said to Rancis softly, yet firmly. Rancis nodded, his facial expression dropped to sincere curiousity. Taffyta inhaled slowly to continue as she caught eyes with Tammy and Felix, "Ralph is going to propose to Vanellope on New Year's."

"Wow," Rancis chuckled with a smile before he glanced over his shoulder, he noticed Ralph and Vanellope from far away; they slowly were on the trail back to the gazebo, "He means business."

"You should see the ring," Tammy giggled as she covered her mouth with both her hands with giddy surprise. Taffyta chuckled and nudged her adopted niece.

"Alright, none of this gets to Vanellope," Taffyta barked quietly as she quickly gazed into Rancis's eyes with determination, "Right?"

"Right," Rancis said with a small chuckle as he wrinkled his nose at Taffyta, "I-I know it may not seem like it's easy to trust me, because of everything that's happened, but I never break my promises." He gave Taffyta an almost knowing look. Her facial expression very slowly dropped to that of a calm, knowing nostalgia. She inhaled a sharp breath and looked down to Tammy quickly with a wide smile.

"Welp, I'm hungry," Taffyta said as Tammy looked up at her with a cocked eyebrow; she knew something was up as Taffyta quickly continued, "Why don't you go pester your uncle Ralph to start the food, 'cause my stomach won't shut up."

"Righto," Tammy heaved a long sigh as she gently unraveled herself from Taffyta's arm and began to happily skip out of the gazebo and into the lush, sprawling grass towards her uncle. Taffyta gently shot Rancis a playful, almost annoyed look before turning heal and heading in the opposite direction. She slowly began to approach Candlehead and Calhoun, who were fiddling with something at the grill from afar.

Rancis swallowed hard and watched Taffyta leave before he was suddenly alone with Felix. He caught eyes with Felix nervously, he knew Felix was easily just as hurt as Vanellope, Taffyta and Ralph were over this slowly dwindling fiasco. He inhaled a shaky breath and kept his eyes down respectfully. Felix rubbed the back of his head gently; he was dressed in his usual jeans and blue collared shirt, though he wore a comfortable dark blue hoodie. His signature golden hammer was lulled into the belt loop of his jeans.

"Welp," Felix chuckled with a sigh as he motioned to himself, "You wanted to see me fix it, so…here you go! I fixed it!"

"I don't suppose an apology would be appropriate right now," Rancis said softly to Felix. He nervously looked to Felix, who was a few feet shorter than himself, though Felix mentally held the higher ground. Felix let a small smile spread across his face before he looked down.

"I can't say that I'm totally comfortable being around someone who tried to officially wipe me off the grid," Felix started, "But, I suppose we can wipe the slate clean and just…start over."

"I-I'd like that," Rancis said nervously as he rubbed his arm, "I'm sorry for nearly causing you to game over. I was just so overcome with grief. I didn't think about anyone but myself. But, I'm glad you took my last statement seriously. I'm glad you made it."

"Thanks, Rancis," Felix said gently, "This will take some getting used to, but I suppose we have to start somewhere."

"I won't let you guys down," Rancis said gently, his voice laced with sincerity.

Felix gently put his hand out to Rancis. He knew it would only bring grief if he held a grudge against Rancis. He still felt nervous having Rancis around, but he knew his wife and daughter were safe as long as Ralph and Vanellope were close by. Rancis smiled a smile of relief as he gently shook Felix's hand. He heaved a long sigh and smiled down at Felix before a loud crash was heard over at the grill. They quickly threw their attention to the three girls; they scrambled as the grill sputtered and complained, smoke coughed from it a few times before Taffyta angrily threw her hands in the air and hollered Felix's name. Felix rolled his eyes and lulled his head back a little.

"My family comes with their own set of quarter alerts, apparently," Felix laughed as he nudged Rancis. He quickly began to head over to Calhoun, Candlehead and Taffyta. Rancis laughed a whole hearted laugh as he put his hands on his hips. He heaved a small chuckle after his fit of laughter before he shook his head in disbelief; he had almost forgotten what genuine laughter felt like. He inhaled a deep breath of fresh air and smiled a calm, wide smile.

"Is Taffyta breaking things again?" Vanellope complained as she slowly trudged past Rancis and through the gazebo. Tammy quickly came skipping behind her, her short blond hair flicked around.

"Tell Taff to lay off, I'm grilling tonight!" Ralph barked as he too quickly stormed through the gazebo. Rancis heaved a small laugh and eagerly followed the three.

"Felix, the grill won't light!" Taffyta spat as she rubbed her forehead. She heaved a long sigh as she left a streak of black across her forehead from the grill's coals. Calhoun, Candlehead and Felix all doubled over laughing, causing Taffyta to stiffen her back in annoyance, "WHAT!"

"You wrecked it," Felix laughed as he whirred his hammer around. Just before he could fix it, an urgent voice interrupted him.

"Dad!" Tammy hollered in annoyance, "You said I could fix the next thing that breaks!"

"Oh the joys of sharing a house with two fixers," Calhoun chuckled as she lulled her head to the side. Candlehead beamed and nudged her elbow.

"Right, right," Felix sighed as he stepped aside. Tammy quickly fixed the grill with her hammer, it glitched back to normal. It looked a lot shinier than previously.

"You're getting good at that," Calhoun chuckled as she and Tammy high-fived.

"Thanks mom," Tammy smiled before beaming back towards Ralph, who was quickly approaching, "Uncle Ralph, I fixed it!"

"Good job," Ralph smiled as his demeanor quickly lulled into happy relief. He slumped his shoulders before he shot Taffyta a confused look, "Are you trying to make a fashion statement or something?"

"What does that even mean," Taffyta snapped as she shook her head with an annoyed smile.

"You going tribal on us?" Ralph laughed as he brushed Taffyta's forehead with his large thumb. Taffyta rolled her eyes and stayed put as she put her hands on her hips. Ralph nudged her forehead over and over before Taffyta blew a hard, flustered raspberry and frantically shooed Ralph's hand away. Everyone doubled over in laughter.

"If you don't make dinner soon, I'm going to wreck MORE things," Taffyta barked as she nudged Ralph's arm, she quickly made her way back to the gazebo, "That or I might just have to take over your manly little job and grill FOR you."

"Not happening," Ralph barked as he quickly stepped over to the grill and began to situate himself, "Someone better go change Taffyta's diaper, she's getting cranky."

"I HEARD THAT!" Taffyta hollered over her shoulder.