*Chapter 83*

"Taffyta," Vanellope started in an annoyed tone; She, Ralph and

Taffyta were crammed onto the train that was taking them to EZ

Living's portion of the back of the arcade, "What are you doing…"

"Your ring is pretty," Taffyta smiled as she held Vanellope's left hand

close to her face and peered at it with an eager smile. Ralph scoffed

and shot her a playful smile.

"You were with me when I made it, Taff," Ralph chuckled as he

peered past Vanellope, who was sandwiched between him and

Taffyta on the small train bench; Vanellope shifted uncomfortably and

rolled her eyes.

"Would you like to have it instead of me?" Vanellope asked playfully,

Taffyta shot her a smirk.

"Does that make me Queen of Sugar Rush?" Taffyta laughed, Ralph

extended his hand and arm past Vanellope and took Taffyta's small

hand in his.

"Taffyta, will you marry me?" Ralph asked playfully, Taffyta put her

hand over her mouth and gaped expressively in a mocking way.

Vanellope quickly parted her friends hands and exhaled an annoyed

noise; Taffyta and Ralph laughed at her.

"I do!" Taffyta beamed, Vanellope eyed her playfully.

"Are you making fun of me?" Vanellope asked in a dull voice as she

slunk more into her chair, Ralph nudged her arm with a small smile.

"When am I ever not?" Taffyta scoffed as she peered down the long

train aisle, the train was crammed with people.

"It stinks that going to EZ Living for the night wasn't just our idea,"

Ralph grumbled as Vanellope pushed into his side a little more; he

welcomed her with ease.

"Well, that beach goes on for miles, it seems," Vanellope sighed, "I'm

sure Felix and them found a good spot."

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine," Taffyta said as she tried to sound as

plain and casual as possible.

"I'm excited to taste a Sugar Rush s'more," Ralph chimed as he

glanced at the two girls, they gave him knowing looks, "We ARE

using Sugar Rush ingredients, aren't we?"

"There's no other ingredients we'd use for sweets," Vanellope

chuckled as she pat Ralph's large, upper arm, "You should know this

by now."

"I should've guessed, huh," Ralph said through a sigh.

Before the two could continue talking, the train came to a slow stop

and everyone on the train began to stand. Ralph heaved an annoyed

sigh as the two girls next to him stood. He slowly stood after a few

moments and immediately began to feel more claustrophobic than

prior. Him and his two girls shuffled slowly to the gaping door of the

train as everyone poured out of it. Once they were finally out, Ralph

heaved a loud, annoyed sigh and caught up with his two racers.

They looked at him curiously through amused eyes.

"Crowds aren't really your thing, huh," Taffyta laughed as she put her

hands on her hips.

"Never have been, never will be," Ralph chuffed as he rubbed the

back of his head and looked around eagerly.

EZ Living's station was very small compared to Game Central

Station; it only had room for two game outlets, and one of which was

occupied by EZ Living. The three friends slowly began to mosey

towards EZ Living's outlet as most of the people on the train

scattered around the station to catch up with friends and chat.

Vanellope softly slipped her hand into Ralph's as the two walked.

The three gently pushed into EZ Living, the warm summer breeze

rushed through them, though the night was hinted with a hushed

evening chill.

"We're going to have to bring our bikes here tomorrow, Vin," Taffyta

reminded as the three slowly began to mosey onto the board walk;

each one of them peered down the beach every now and then to see

if they could find their group of friends.

"Why tomorrow?" Vanellope asked as she eyed her sister, "I thought

the race was in two days, not tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is registration, and setting up," Taffyta explained as she

shrugged, "Rancis told me you bring your bikes and gear and such a

day early."

"Oh, okay," Vanellope shrugged softly, "That's doable."

"Where is this race held anyways?" Ralph wondered softly.

"It weaves through EZ Living's jungles, over that way," Taffyta

motioned her whole arm in the opposite direction of the beach

towards EZ Living's glorious, lush jungles.

"Hopefully there will be a place where I can watch?" Ralph asked

curiously.

"Yeah, its very similar to Sugar Rush's race course," Taffyta smiled,

"Except, no candy. Just lots of trees, and lots of normal dirt."

"I'm getting so pumped," Vanellope beamed as she skipped in her

step a few times excitedly, she squeezed Ralph's hand, causing him

to chuckle a little.

"I can't wait to see your guys' bikes," Ralph smiled.

"Is Rancis racing with us as well?" Vanellope asked curiously, "I

hope it's okay that there are going to be three racers from Sugar

Rush racing."

"Yeah, he'll be racing with us," Taffyta smiled, "Only one person wins

the trophy. It's not a group effort or anything."

"If either one of you three wins, I'm prepared for fireworks," Ralph

lulled his head towards the sunset, "And not the good kind."

"It was your idea to become apart of this sugary load of smarties,"

Taffyta laughed, Ralph smiled.

"I don't regret it for a second," He said kindly to the two; Vanellope

blushed and looked down with a smile. Ralph suddenly furrowed his

eyebrows and gazed hard down the beach, "Is that…Jubileena and

Minty?"

"… I think so," Vanellope furrowed her eyebrows as well as everyone

gently moved from the boardwalk to the fluffy white sand of the

beach, "A-and there's Swizzle, and Rancis."

"I think that's everyone!" Taffyta exclaimed knowingly, she teasingly

pretended to still be clueless. Ralph and Vanellope gazed at her

through confused smiles.

"What is this!" Vanellope cried happily as the three approached the

large group of racers, which included Felix, Calhoun and Tammy.

Each of Vanellope's fourteen racers, minus Taffyta, was standing in a

loose, lively group. Each one of them beamed wide, happy smiles as

Ralph, Vanellope and Taffyta slowly approached. Loud cheers and

wails of glee bursted from the group as each person yelled 'surprise'.

Vanellope beamed a wide, happy smile as Tammy quickly came

skipping up to her. She glommed onto her future aunt with glee as

Vanellope laughed a happy laugh and wrapped her arms around

Tammy's neck.

"Oh my User, you guys!" Vanellope cried with excitement as her

large family approached her and Ralph with excitable faces, they

each had a wide, beaming smile plastered to their faces.

"Congratulations, you guys," Adorabeezle said with a loving smile,

Jubileena nodded furiously, causing her hot red hair to shake in the

two pig tails it was in.

"I was not expecting this," Ralph beamed as he gazed down at his

new set of family; he wrapped one of his arms around Vanellope's

waist after Tammy unglued herself from her.

"We can't NOT do something special for our new King," Candlehead

said with a girly smile, everyone nodded and chuckled in agreement.

"I think this is the first time we've celebrated over the fact that Sugar

Rush is getting a new King," Swizzle chuckled as he lulled his hands

into his pant pockets; each racer was dressed down and comfortably

for the evening.

"Welcome to the family, Ralph," Minty said earnestly as each racer

nodded and smiled up at Ralph eagerly. Ralph hugged Vanellope

closer to him as she too peered up at him with a look of calm

adoration.

"Thanks, you guys," Ralph breathed sincerely, "I don't know what to

say. I'm honored."

"We're also welcoming these three into the family, too, you know!"

Taffyta beamed as she lulled her arm quickly over Tammy's shoulder,

causing her to giggle and blush a little. Everyone smiled and turned

to look at Calhoun, Felix and Tammy, who lingered close to Ralph

and Vanellope.

"How much bigger can this family get?" Snowanna laughed as she

crossed her arms with a wide smile.

"Well, once these two start adding heirs to the throne, who knows

what could happen," Taffyta snapped playfully as she nudged her

sister, everyone cooed and laughed knowingly towards the two as

Ralph beamed a wide smile and looked down at Vanellope in a

bashful manner.

"Can't forget you and Rancis, Taff," Citrusella laughed as she put her

hands on her hips; everyone quickly averted their teasing and happy

attention to Rancis.

"U-uh," Rancis choked as his face suddenly flushed. Swizzle nudged

his arm as everyone continued to noisily tease and chatter in a

happy way.

"This night is about Ralph and Vanellope," Taffyta laughed as her

cheeks turned bright red, "You guys can tease us later."

"Fiiine," Citrusella laughed as she slumped her shoulders, Toryald

nudged her arm with a wide, teasing smile.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm itching to try Sugar Rush's

famous s'mores," Felix chimed as he put his hands on his hips.

"We found a large enough fire pit, too," Rancis smiled as all of the

racers slowly began to mosey over to the pit, each one melted into

their own social groups and began chattering to their friends.

"'Bout time someone mentioned s'mores," Tammy laughed as

everyone weaved into the fire pit, "I'm glad dad was the first to say

something, otherwise I might've been."

"You haven't lived until you've tried a Sugar Rush s'more," Vanellope

beamed as she gazed at the large makeshift fire pit.

There were at least four or five large tree logs gently scattered

around the medium sized fire pit. Everyone casually began to sit and

lounge and chatter with one another, though each racer would

occasionally glue their attention to their new future King and Queen.

Vanellope and Ralph sat down next to each other and shared their

log with Taffyta, Rancis, Calhoun and Tammy. Felix sat on the log

opposite to his friends and chatted it up with Minty Zaki. Candlehead

eagerly loomed near the unlit fire pit and was patiently attempting to

get the fire going while Rancis and Swizzle left to find proper sticks

for roasting marshmallows. Before too long, everyone was gathered

around the warm glow of the fire, each person took no time to

fashion themselves a s'more to inhale.

"I think someone needs to get Ralph two sticks," Taffyta laughed as

she squeezed together the gooey sweetness of chocolate and

marshmallow between two graham crackers in her hands, "You're

flying through those s'mores, there, buddy."

"I don't know if becoming King of Sugar Rush is such a good idea

anymore," Ralph teased as he easily put a whole s'more into his

mouth and chewed, "I might start gaining weight."

"We all have lived in Sugar Rush our whole lives and have been

completely fine," Creumbelina laughed as she threw an un-toasted

marshmallow out to the fire, on the long stick she had; she adjusted

her golden hoodie a little and smiled at Ralph, "If we all are able to

keep are pants from unbuttoning when we sit down, I'm sure you'll

be just fine." The whole group chuckled with knowing smiles.

"Plus, Vanellope will keep you in check," Adorabeezle chimed as she

raised her s'more to the two with a teasing smile.

"You're not too fond of sweets, anyways," Vanellope laughed as she

nudged Ralph's chest with her elbow, he furrowed his eyebrows and

glanced at the s'more in his hand.

"I'm not so sure that statement is true, after tonight," Ralph laughed,

everyone beamed and chuckled.

Ralph smile a wide smile and leaned into Vanellope gently. He gazed

out to the warm glow of friends and family that surrounded him. He

exhaled a slow breath and long blinked a few times as he kept the

stick away from the fire. He gazed out past the fire and to the

beautiful, dark ocean far beyond their fire pit. The fire crackled in a

lulling way as gentle smoke rose to the sky. The chatter of each of

his friends hummed and filled the crisp, evening air with love. He

inhaled a deep breath of the sweet smells, toasted marshmallows,

crunchy graham crackers and the sweetest molten chocolate mixed

beautifully with the smell of the burning firewood in the pit. He very

gently wriggled his feet into the cool, soft sand underneath him with

a calm smile. He felt his heart swell with the fact that he was

surrounded by such a lively, loving group. Sugar Rush definitely

wouldn't have been the first game he'd pick to become a permanent

part of, but now that he had a taste of just how sweet it could be, he

knew there was no chance he'd turn away from this. Ralph felt his

ears prick towards the conversation Vanellope, Taffyta and Calhoun

were having to his right. He gently peered at the three, but tried not

to seem too obvious that he was eavesdropping.

"Morning sickness?" Vanellope worried as she gazed long at hard at

Calhoun, who was sandwiched between her and Taffyta. Calhoun

laughed and rolled her eyes as she rolled up the sleeves of her jet

black hoodie.

"Oh, it's not so bad," Calhoun chuckled as she smiled at Vanellope.

"Surely giving birth isn't that painful," Taffyta inquired with a smile;

she figured this information would be useful to her someday too.

"It's nothing terrible," Calhoun chuckled as she rubbed the back of

her head, "It is painful, but it doesn't take long."

"So it IS painful?" Vanellope worried as she hunched over, her and

her sister practically glued themselves to Calhoun, who was

surprisingly comfortable with the topic.

"Well, yeah," Calhoun barked as she furrowed her eyebrows, "What

do you expect? A whole brand new set of code emerges from the

very binary of your lower stomach. When's the last time you grew

something off of you in a minute flat?"

"Sheesh," Vanellope said as her facial expression sloped to that of

worry, "I-I'm not so certain about all of this."

"Oh, you'll be fine," Calhoun laughed as she nudged Vanellope's

arm, "When Tammy was born, the second she was in my arms was

the second I forgot all about the pain."

"I was led to believe it wasn't painful at all," Vanellope said curiously

and nervously, "I don't know where I heard that from."

"Yeah, it's painful," Calhoun said bluntly with a laugh, "Like I said,

what did you expect? At least we don't give birth like humans."

"How does it work for them?" Vanellope asked curiously, Taffyta

looked inquisitive as well. Calhoun scanned the large group they

were in before leaning closer to Vanellope.

"You know where Ralph puts his, y'know, during code swapping?"

Calhoun said quietly as she wrinkled her nose to Vanellope.

Vanellope nodded bashfully as her whole face turned beet red,

"Humans give birth through there."

"…THERE? That's not NEARLY big enough!" Vanellope shrieked in

shock, causing Rancis, Swizzle, Minty and Felix to quickly turn from

their own conversation and fix their attention on her sudden outburst

briefly. Calhoun nudged Vanellope's shoulder and shut her eyes tight

with a small laugh.

"Count your lucky sprinkles, Mrs. Wreck-It," Calhoun beamed.

Vanellope shot Taffyta a shocked look, and wasn't surprised to see

her sister holding the same facial expression.

"Oh I will, believe me," Vanellope chuckled as she blinked at Taffyta

a few times. Vanellope suddenly felt her whole face burn up as she

could hear Ralph stifling a few chuckles to himself. She quickly

averted her attention to him in a bashful way.

"You guys are hilarious," Ralph laughed as he softly wrapped an arm

around Vanellope's lower waist. She pouted a little and leaned into

his chest sheepishly.

"I don't know if I want kids anymore," Vanellope teased as she

slumped her head onto Ralph's upper chest; he squeezed her to him

and leaned his face into the top of her head.

"I know you don't mean that," Ralph said with a small chuckle and

bashful smile. He planted a few, loving kisses atop her head. She

rolled her eyes with a knowing smile before she gently tilted her

head up to gaze at Ralph. He smiled down at her and inhaled to

continue, "You know I'll be right there beside you, anyways. My

hands are perfect for squeezing."

"Poor Felix," Calhoun chuckled, "His hand nearly fell off when

Tammy was born. At least Ralph's hands are able to handle the

sheer force you'll probably set upon them."

"You're forgetting that she's part wrecker now," Ralph chuckled

nervously.

"If you so much as utter the word 'ow' when it comes to that special

moment, you won't hear the end of it," Felix suddenly chimed from a

few feet away, Calhoun lulled her head and nodded in annoyance.

"Dutifully noted," Ralph chuckled as he squeezed his love deeper

into his chest, Vanellope smiled a sheepish and knowing smile up at

him.