Family

Chapter 104 Parenthood

By: Major144

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, expect the OCs. This is just a story for fun.

A month after the marriage, Braco and Bubblegum had finally settled as king and queen of the Candy Kingdom. The couple was now ready to awaken their son Neddy. Bubblegum and Braco had a room made up for their son first, before heading down to the lab to get him out of the pod. The pod was opened up and Bubblegum gently took Needy out and with Braco's help they put him on a hospital bed and clothed him in some brown shorts, a light purple shirt, and black shoes. Braco then began to move and his eyes slowly opened as he looked around wondering where he was. The candy child's eyes soon landed on Bubblegum and Braco.

"Hello Neddy." Said Bubblegum with a smile.

"I'm...Neddy?" Asked Neddy in a tiny voice as he pointed at himself.

"That's who you are." Said Braco.

"Who are you?" Asked Neddy as he tilted his head slightly.

"I am you mother and this is your father. We your parents." Said Bubblegum.

Neddy studied Bubblegum and Braco. Though the child hadn't been taught in a traditional sense, the machine that had created him gave him a basic education. Neddy understood what parents were. The boy decided to try standing up for the first time. Neddy got over to the side of the bed and placed his legs on the floor. The child then pushed himself up and at first his balance was a little uneven, but he quickly recovered and took his first step, then another and another towards his parents. Bubblegum was amazed, by how quickly Neddy had picked up on talking and now he was walking. Neddy reached his parents and looked up at them, Braco smiled and picked his son up.

"You did a good job son." Said Braco with a smile.

Neddy smiled back as Bubblegum walked over to her family and gently put a hand on Braco's back and smiled. Braco looked over at Bubblegum and handed Neddy over to her. Bubblegum held her son and studied him. For the first time, Bubblegum felt a emotional attachment to a being that was her child. Bubblegum hadn't felt this kind of attachment, when she created Lemongrab and Goliad. Maybe it was different this time because, she now had a husband and was trying to actually start a family. Neddy was a creation of both Bubblegum and Braco's DNA, which Bubblegum's science had created and Bubblegum planned to love Neddy and take care of him.

"Neddy do you want to meet mommy and daddy's most trusted friends?" Asked Bubblegum.

"Ok mommy." Said Neddy.

And so Bubblegum and Braco, first introduced their son to Peppermint Butler, Rattleballs, Root Beer Guy, Colonel Candy Corn, and a few other servants. The king and queen then made calls to a bunch of their friends and soon Finn, Jake, Phoebe, Marceline, Lucinda, Henry, Lance, Simon, and Betty showed up at the castle to see the little prince. A few of the heroes even brought gifts for Neddy. Finn gave Neddy a wooden play sword, Marceline brought a brown teddybear, Lucinda brought a little flute, and Betty a storybook. Neddy thanked the heroes for the gifts and the heroes decided to show off some of their abilities to the young prince. Jake stretched his body into a bunch of funny shapes, Marceline levitated in the air using her powers, Lucinda sprouted her wings, Phoebe conjured up a few tiny fireballs that exploded into sparking lights, and Simon and Betty made it snow a little. Neddy stared at the heroes in awe of their abilities. After the display the heroes said their goodbyes to the royal family and left the castle. It was growing dark by this time and Bubblegum and Braco decided it was time to get their son ready for bed.

They made up a bubble bath and bathed Neddy before they clothed him in some purple pajamas and took him to his room. Neddy held his teddybear as Bubblegum read a story from the book Betty gave Neddy, soon the little candy child was fast asleep. Bubblegum smiled at her sleeping son and kissed him on the forehead, before she left. Braco peeked into the room and smiled at his son, before closing the door. The king and queen changed into their pajamas and got into bed together.

"You know this parenthood thing is new to me, but I love it." Said Bubblegum.

"I think today went rather well." Said Braco.

"It did. I suppose we should announce our son to the citizens and show him to them." Said Bubblegum.

"Alright, but let's make sure we don't overwhelm Neddy first." Said Braco.

"Agreed." Said Bubblegum.

The couple kissed one another and went to bed.

In Neddy's room the child was fast asleep, but deep within his subconscious something was stirring. A few of Goliad's brain cells had been mixed in with the small injection Bubblegum had given Neddy in the lab. The cells were a fragment of Goliad's mind and they had formed a new conscious, which was trying to figure who it was and where it was right now. Slowly the memories of the cells's original home began to play out and it began to understand what happened to it.

"Ok...let's see. I was a part of...a intelligent creature called Goliad, who was a candy sphinx and heir to the Candy Kingdom. Goliad had a plan to run the kingdom, but Bubblegum didn't agree to it and she created another...candy sphinx named Stormo to fight Goliad. The two were stuck in a psychic battle for several days, until...a strange masked being jumped onto Goliad and a...human named Finn leaped onto Stormo. The...masked figure was named Crimson and he forced Goliad to fight against Finn and Stormo. Goliad was badly injured...and Crimson killed her. In a last desperate attempt to preserve her mind...Goliad sent most of her brain cells to her third eye to preserve them in psychic energy. Bubblegum removed the eye and kept...it in a safe place, until she took a few cells from the eye unaware that a few brain cells had been mixed in and inserted them into a different...life form."

The conscious was a little confused about this development. It was no longer a part of the collective cells that made up Goliad's mind and had no one to command it. The first thing the conscious decided to do was to come up with a name for itself and figure out whose mind it was in, with that information the conscious would figure out a plan to survive in it's current environment.

"Ok...so I'm no longer Goliad, so...from now on...I will cal myself...Gee."

The newly named Gee then began to scan the mind it was in and learned that it belonged to Neddy. Gee then scanned Neddy's memories and was a little perplexed by the emotions Neddy experienced. The love Bubblegum showed Neddy was different from the love she showed to Goliad. It felt warm and Gee thought about a lesson about compromise, where living things take care of one another. Goliad had dismissed the lesson as pointless, but Gee was seeing in from a new perspective. Gee decided to not introduce herself to Neddy just yet and see what more she could learn from the child. The conscious decided to rest and wait for tomorrow.

The next day Bubblegum and Braco decided show their son to the citizens of the Candy Kingdom. The candy people were gathered outside the castle waiting to hear some important news from their king and queen. The family was inside the castle fixing to go out on a balcony before the gathered crowd. Neddy was looking a little nervous, so Braco decided to give him a little pep talk.

"There's nothing to be nervous about Neddy. All these people are members of our kingdom and they just want to meet you." Said Braco.

"Ok." Said Neddy looking a little braver.

The royal family then walked out onto the balcony. The crowd cheered as Bubblegum began to address them.

"People of the Candy Kingdom, I have a important new. King Braco and I have a child now and his named is Prince Neddy."

The queen then bent down and picked her son up, so everyone could see him. The crowd went wild at the joyousness news and sight of their new prince. It didn't really matter that he seemed to be older and bigger then a baby, they were just happy for the king and queen. Neddy smiled and waved at the crowd and that seemed to make them happier. It was a good day in the Candy Kingdom.

Later that day, Neddy was sitting at a little table drawing a picture of himself and his parents standing in front of the castle in crayon. After he was finished, Neddy showed the picture to his parents who smiled at it, they then framed the picture, and hung it on the wall. A few hours later it was bedtime. Neddy was fast asleep in his bed with his teddybear and Gee decided to make her presence known to Neddy by speaking to him in his dream. The little prince was dreaming that he was dressed as a knight riding a horse, through the countryside.

"You certainly have an imagination." Said a young female voice that seemed to come from everywhere.

Neddy stopped his horse and looked around in confusion trying to find where the voice came from.

"Who said that?"

"I did. My name is Gee and I'm a part of you."

"Where are you?" Asked Neddy.

Gee constructed a mental avatar for herself that resembled a purple cat with pink stripes. The cat appeared before Neddy and the horse. Neddy looked down at the cat and got off his horse to approach it. The prince studied the cat.

"Hello Neddy." Said Gee.

"Hello Gee." Said Neddy as he scratched the cat's head.

Gee purred as she rubbed up against Neddy.

"So what are you exactly?" Asked Neddy.

"Think of me as a special friend that will always be with you." Said Gee as she looked up at Neddy.

"So are you an imaginary friend?" Asked Neddy.

"Not exactly. I'm something special that was given to you by your mom. A friend that will always be with you...and a friend that can give you special powers." Said Gee.

"I have special powers?" Asked Neddy with his eyes wide in awe.

"You do." Said Gee.

"That's amazing!" Said Neddy excitedly.

Gee nodded and Neddy grinned with excitement. The cat studied the prince, she was a part of. Neddy was young and the polar opposite of Goliad. In some ways Gee and Neddy were technically brother and sister. Gee had been a part of Goliad, but now she was a part of Neddy and the cat made a promise to herself to protect both Neddy and the rest of the family from harm. Gee was the royal family's secret guardian.

Things were looking bright for the Candy Kingdom and for Ooo.

To be continued.