In Which the King Comes to a Difficult Decision (Part 3 of 3)
Where is she? She's going to come. She's going to come, and everything will be alright. Why am I even worrying? Everything will be... everything will be fine.
Almost a full two minutes ticked by before the Candy Queen noticed that her husband had been holding his breath. She papped a hand against his face to bring King Candy back into the moment. He jolted a bit and turned to focus back on the laboring woman rather than staring hard towards the door in hopes of seeing the small magical creature they'd been holding off for. There could be no more waiting. It was impossible to stave off any longer.
With a nod, the doctor confirmed that it was time to begin. The King grunted a soft acknowledgement and flipped out his salmon colored cell phone.
"Sthowa BILL, are you ready to make the connection?" he asked gravely.
"Mmmyes, sire..." the droning voice replied from his hovering spot in the Game's Code Room.
The candy man had been tasked with hooking a lifeline from the King's HP to the unborn child's as soon as it flickered into being, and even though the monotone vocals would suggest otherwise, he was, in fact, terrified of messing this task up. What would the royal family do to him if the transfer didn't take? He could be put into the Fungeon! Game-Over'ed! Or WORSE... an unsatisfactory mark could be tallied into his permanent record. His jelly bean mitts trembled at the mere thought.
"Alright... on my count... we're pushing with the contractions." Doctor Toffee instructed.
Emily gave a shaky nod and gripped onto Cornelius' hand. She hadn't slept for quite some time, having been in labor for a solid 24 hours by this point, and her exhaustion was evident. Still, she would press on.
Echoed utterances of support were muttered in lispy whispers as the Queen huffed and pushed for a solid 45 minutes if gasping and quiet crying until finally...!
"Ooohhh... the... there it is..." Sour Bill gasped, paddling as fast as he could to attach the cord to a brand new Code Box.
The King's HP cut by 10, and he jolted back as though he'd slid his kart into a wall, though he'd not moved from the spot beside his wife. He made a motion to an attendant to keep back; that he was fine.
He was out. The baby was out.
But...
There was no crying.
No movement.
No signs of a heart beat.
The transfer had not worked.
Doctor Toffee moved quickly, a grim expression set to her face as three attendants crowded around a small table set up for the infant's examination. They propped open the little Prince's mouth and suctioned to clear his airways. Nothing.
Chest compressions and oxygen. Nothing.
A small jump-start. Nothing.
"Wh... nnnn... why isn't he crying? I can't hear him... Cornelius?" Emily asked weakly.
The King stared helplessly at the scene, tears beading in his doleful eyes despite his best efforts to keep them at bay. Every second seemed an eternity.
And then it just... stopped.
No more rushing, no more procedures, no more effort.
The doctor shooed the attendants away and swaddled the baby. She walked back to the royal couple and held the boy out for Emily.
"I'm sorry. The transfer would not take. We did everything we could." she said quietly. "Take some time to say goodbye, and then we need to get you stitched up and taken care of."
Doctor Toffee respectfully took a few steps back to give the mourning parents their space.
What now?
Cornelius scooted up to sit beside Emily on the bed, curling his arms around his wife and inactive child. The bits of their hearts were so thoroughly shattered they could have passed every piece through a sift. Quiet sobbing from the King and Queen masked the noise of a nearby window creaking open.
"You rang?" a tiny voice peeped.
The Queen looked up and whimpered pitifully, unable to form words at the moment. The King shook his head and squeezed her in a hug before turning to reply to the Fairy.
"He'sth gone. We... I thought we could buy time for you to get here... h-he'sth connected to MY Internal HP, but... but he c..." Cornelius broke off. He couldn't say the words.
"Can't wake up? Got no Heartbeat?" Flip finished bluntly.
The doctor stepped forward with a frown.
"Can you try to be a little more sensitive?" she hissed.
"Mm? What for? He's fine; look at him." Flip shrugged.
"I took the vitals myself. Don't give them false hope." Doctor Toffee insisted quietly.
"No no! What do you mean, 'He's fine'?" Emily croaked.
The Fairy flitted over from her perch on the windowsill and came to light upon the foot of the bed. She trotted up the rest of the way to the infant and dug his tiny hand out from the swaddling blanket. It was slightly chilled to the touch, but that didn't seem to matter.
"You said that your first baby was made with an in-game wish, right? Physics might be different than the way things work with my kind. He was assisted with a wish made of Fairy Magics... SPRITE Magics. MY Magics. He's YOUR baby, but there are some Magical attributes to him." Flip began. "You see... when a Sprite is born, it's a VERY rare thing. The baby HAS to come into a family with Love. You cannot Live properly without Love. So! C'mon... lean in. Give him a smooch on the head, both of you."
Both parents were stunned at the idea. It sounded like something out of a fairy tale. Then again, they were dealing with a real-world Fairy. They both took a breath, leaned in, and gently kissed their son on either side of his little head.
And...
Movement was felt beneath their lips as the baby shifted in his blanket.
"Told ya so. Congratulations. I'll let you have some family time now." Flip grinned.
Before she could make to leave, however, the Queen snatched her up with a free hand and hugged the tiny woman close into their first big family hug.
"Thank you!" Emily cried, happy sobs replacing the grieving ones.
"You'll neva... neva want for anything... ANYTHING you eva need, justh... you come to uth." Cornelius hiccuped, hurriedly brushing away his own tears.
Flip smiled in return and wiggled loose from the hug. She bowed low.
"Take care of each other. Be happy. That is my Wish for you." she responded as she faded into nothingness to return home.
Several moments passed of loving cuddles before Doctor Toffee was able to pry the baby away to be properly measured and checked. His HP Bar was fully functional, and, not very surprisingly, his MP was off the charts.
Before anyone else could come in to see, the King sent for Vanellope. The raven haired girl burst through the door, glitching all over the place in excitement.
"IT'S MY BROTHER! IT'S MY BROTHER! I'M A BIG SISTER, AWWWWW YEAH!" she squeaked happily, finally bounding up onto the bed.
A bright set of caramel brown eyes blinked back up at her and the baby made a soft cooing noise in her direction. A small amount of red hair peeked out of his purple swaddling blanket.
"Ho hoo! Y-yeth! Meet ya brother..." the King smiled.
"What's his name???" Vanellope whispered loudly.
With a loving smile, the Queen looked up at her young daughter and replied...
