#( with: sophia milestone. )

[where-is-the-angst]

THIS IS NOT A DRILL I FINALLY GAINED A CRUSH TO YAP ABOUT

[sophiarauss]

500 posts!

[mi-no-99]

10件の投稿!

[pinkrosylux]

the way this picture foreshadows everything...

[sophiathe1]

Agradeço a todos que colaboraram com minhas 500 curtidas!

[thxnks4themrms]

5000 posts!

HELP WHAT THE BUSTTTT

[sophiamikaela13]

5 posts!

I finally have a badge.I been in this app for 2 days!🐠🤧

[storiesbyjes2g]

3.225 Life's not fair

When Sophia had her fill of making fun of my misfortune, she shifted gears, expressing her excitement about having the Banks family over tomorrow. I shared that sentiment and hoped it didn't rain so I could throw some ribs on the grill and enjoy the sunshine for once. So far, this spring has been very stormy, and our family is not built to be cooped up inside for days on end.

"And after that," she said after a lull, "it will be Desi's birthday! Can you believe it??"

"I cannot. I truly cannot."

It felt like just yesterday we were loving on her in the nursery, celebrating a big milestone. Just last week, Sophia delivered her unassisted right in our bed! But in two days, she'll be a teenager? Where has all this time gone? It excited me, frightened me, and angered me, too. I'd been thinking about it a lot. Even more so after visiting my parents and talking to the lawyer about the future. I am far from death, but I am painfully aware there is more life behind me than ahead, and it upsets me. Not because I want to live forever or anything like that, but because life has not been fair to us. I did everything right. I honored my parents. I looked after my sister. I didn't drink too much. I helped sims lead better lives. I didn't objectify women. I took my time and found the one for me. We got married and tried to start a family, but it just wouldn't happen. We spent so much time on those stupid treatments that never worked. By the time Desi was born, we probably could have had two children by then. I know it's morbid, but I can't help but think about how old she's gonna be when we die, and that's what really angers me. She's gonna be so young, barely scratching the surface of her life. It's not fair. She shouldn't have to live out her adult days without parents like me and Less. We should be around to give her advice and kidnap her babies when she needs a break. Why should all the children in this family have such faint memories of their elders? I want to be more than just a face in a portrait! When my grandkids look at my picture, I want them to say, "Grandpa Luca was so... I remember when we...." A solution existed, but I hadn't been brave enough to voice it because it honestly sounded kinda sketchy. But I can't let this anger keep eating at me like this. It's time to suck it up and discuss it with the missus.

"So, uhhh...I have a crazy proposal. Well, in light of everything that has happened this week, maybe it won't be so crazy."

"You're probably right," she said. "What are you thinking about?"

Oh no. I had intended to keep all those thoughts to myself, but that question unlocked the floodgate, and I felt the emotions rushing through. She doesn't need this energy. I've gotta control it.

"I'm thinking...we both deserve more time with our family."

Her head cocked to the side as she tried to anticipate where this would go, which did not help my situation.

"I'm thinking we deserve to have relationships with our grandchildren. I'm thinking Desi shouldn't be an orphan so young. We all deserve a full life!"

"Luca, I... What... I mean, I don't disagree, but what are you going on about?"

"Have you seriously never thought about it?"

"Thought about what?"

"Drinking the Potion of Youth!"

Her jaw dropped and eyes shot open like she gasped, but no sound came out.

"I've been thinking about it ever since Mama died," I continued. "I remember sitting there, looking at Desiree in the crib, thinking she's gonna be nowhere near close to her adult days when she has to bury her mother, and it isn't fair. She doesn't deserve to face that kind of agony so early in life."

Sophia sat there for a moment, searching for words.

"I mean, of course, I've always been aware of my age, but... Honestly, it was such a privilege to even get pregnant. She's here, and I'm just so grateful for that. If I let myself get carried away with the future, I'll miss what's happening right under my nose."

"It burns me up. We're good sims, Sophia. We deserve to enjoy the family we fought so hard to create! If we do this, we could add, like, 40-odd days to our life! Sure, that's not a lot of time in the grand scheme of things, but it's definitely enough to make sure Desi is okay and leave a mark on our grandchildren's lives. What do you think?"

"I think ... It's not a bad idea, but..."

She shifted in her seat for a while, mulling this over, weighing her options.

"What about everyone else?" she asked.

"Who?"

"Alessia! Your friends! I love that you're thinking about our family, but we don't live on an island by ourselves, Luca! If we reset, you're going to watch your sister and Maira and everyone get old and die. How long will you have to live without them? Can you handle that?"

I always said she was smarter than me. She always looks at the bigger picture when I have tunnel vision. I love that about her, but she popped my balloon.

"So, you don't think we should do it, then?"

"I didn't say that. I just think there's an opportunity here. Personally, I don't want all our friends to die and have to make new ones. And I think if you talked to them, they'd probably want to do it too. Alessia is in our same boat, and Maira just found love with a man much younger than her. I don't know what Chi Chi will do, but I can't see the others not wanting in. Just talk to them. If they say no, fine. We'll deal with it. But if they say yes, we can all live a fuller life together."

Again, she saw something I could not. Her words were like music to my ears. Finally, I could chuck this weight I carried and rest easy.

"I love you so much. You always cover all the angles! Let's talk to Less about it at the kids' birthday party. We can get to everyone else throughout the week."

[miss-vanta-likes-to-write]

Loyalties chapter 8

Loyalties Masterlist

CW: check the masterlist for warnings

Simon stood awkwardly in the foyer, a large bouquet of pink roses in hand. The nanny, Liza, if he recalled correctly, had said he was allowed in the living room to wait. He politely declined the offer. It wasn't because he didn't want to, but because it felt too soon to go further than the threshold without Bambi leading him along. He could hear the sound of children playing farther in the house, their screeches of delight bouncing off the walls and echoing. It made him want, so desperately crave this type of life that he was standing on the outside of. Sweetness and the sound of a loving home, he was deprived of it when he was younger and now that there was a chance to have it, he was going to reach out and take it.

There was a pitter patter of feet and two little girls came running full tilt in the foyer. They were dressed in school uniforms and hurriedly speaking to each other. One of the girls had noticed him and her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.

“Are those for me?” She pointed to the pink flowers, “Thank you so much!”

Simon stood there frozen and unable to speak. Before he could form words he heard that chime of laughter. His eyes snapped up to see his omega, his Bambi. She was coming out of the room that the two little girls had come from. A toddler perched on her hip and another following after her on barely shaky legs. She looked at him, and the light from the many windows caught her just right, making her ethereal. For a moment he was sure he was peering into the future. His omega, his girl, his Bambi, he could see her with his pack's children. They just had to make it a reality.

“Sophia, not every little thing is for you.” Bambi sat the little girl on her hip next to the little boy that followed her. “Liza, come get the babies please.” She called over her shoulder.

“We are not babies! Me and Ananiah are six!” Sophia stamped her foot, “and this nice man did bring me flowers!” She turned and made grabby hands at the flowers.

Simon shook his head and took two of the roses from the bunch and handed them to Sophia. “A tribute to the little ladies of the house.”

Sophia squealed and hurriedly snatched the flowers. She handed one to the other girl, who took it and then stared up at him. The nanny had come to usher the children back deeper into the house, away from his sight. The little loud one protesting that she wanted the rest of the flowers he brought.

“Please excuse Sophia, she takes after Aaron. Always the drama with that one.” Bambi smiles when she takes the roses. “Pink?” She then presses her face against them.

“It seemed like the right color.” He looked away from her. The apology was stuck at the back of his throat. His alpha wants to insist that he take care of her and her needs. His instincts are clawing at him to convince her to see reason, to just give in. A smaller part of him, the part that is scared and riddled with nerves, worries that he may turn into the type of alpha his father was. Wouldn't that be a fucking joke? Turning into some harsh and abusive bastard in pursuit of a mate? No, he had John, Soap, and Gaz, they wouldn't let him do anything stupid or become volatile towards their girl.

Bambi looks up with a raised brow, “I need to find a vase for these.” She turns and makes a move and then stops, “Don't just stand there like a bump on a log. Come on Si.”

Simon is surprised, she's inviting him into her home fully. He follows her through the foyer and into the main living area. It's large and covered in eclectic art pieces. Above the fireplace is an oil painting of a family tree. It looks grand and looks like it dates back several generations. The walls have photos of the family, professional photos, candid ones, pictures of all types of milestones. He stops at one photo and it's a picture of Bambi in a cap and gown, holding a diploma. His girl is accomplished, it makes him swell with pride. There was another of her and a group of girls, dressed and dolled up, practically half naked, at what looked to be an American football game. He stares at that photo, all of her pretty brown skin is exposed, the yellow half top and extremely short skirt is bright in a pleasing way. On her hands are bright white silk gloves, placed on her hips. He was staring at a part of her past that he was only able to catch a glimpse of on her hidden Instagram.

“That’s the last year I was in college.” Bambi stood next to him, “I was co-captain of that particular majorette team.” Her voice was soft and when Simon looked at her, there was a look of longing in her eyes.

“You look beautiful.” He said.

“Thank you Buster.” She nudged him slightly in the arm.

“I'm only allowing that joke, because it's almost funny.” He grumbled. He didn't sound angry and more pleased than anything.

“Bambi girl, another date?” Symphony came into the living room. She was digging through an oversized tote. “Don't sweat your hair out, we just washed it and put that new hair on you and I still gotta install that damn wig you guys all insist on wearing.”

Bambi gasped and stomped her foot, “Why are you so concerned about my sudden sex life?”

Simon smiled at her obviously being flustered. “Is it not normal for pack mates to be curious?” He leaned down to whisper to her.

She turned to him with a pout on her face, “Simon, you're already on thin ice.”

“Girl, be nice to him. He brought you all those pretty pink roses. All I'm saying is, I don't have time to wash and redo half your head because it got sweaty. I'm already swamped with planning this party.” Symphony shook her head. She then looked at Simon and gave a friendly grin. “Don't let her bully you and your folks.”

“I try not to give attention to her tantrums.” He kept his eyes on Bambi, watching for the cute way she would screw up her nose. The scowl on her lip and the corner raised just slightly showing off her canine. He saw the look during dinner two days ago when one of the waitresses tried to flirt with Kyle. The little snarl that came from her chest was soft but no less threatening.

“I do not have tantrums, thank you very much.” She rolled her eyes, “When the guys get back, let them know I stepped out.” Her hand latched onto his and she laced her fingers with his.

Simon could have sworn his pulse sky rocketed at that moment. Which is funny, because he'd already been inside of her, so deep that he could see himself in her stomach. For some God forsaken reason this is what makes him blush? He's glad that he has his surgical mask on, he wouldn't want to suffer the indignity of being seen blushing.

Xoxo

Bambi was surprised when Simon drove them out of the way from the city. At one point they ended up driving down a dirt road causing Bambi to joke.

“Are you bringing me out here so no one will hear me scream?” She laughed.

“I prefer if people know I'm fucking my omega good.” He said as he put the truck in park.

Bambi felt her cheeks warm up. Her mouth opened to retort something witty but it didn't come to her mind. Instead her poor hindbrain was begging to forgive him and get on her knees. She ignored that train of thought. It was barely the end of week one and sure she slept with him already, but getting on her knees! Absolutely not, that was claimed mate behavior.

“I'm sorry, what now?” She wanted him to change his answer.

He didn't and just stubbornly doubled down, “If people hear my omega being pleased. Then they know she is well taken care of and will leave her alone. I want other people to leave you alone.”

He got out of the truck and then helped her out as well. He was sorta glad that he angered her because that meant one on one time with her. He grabbed a basket from the backseat and then gently guided her along a walking path. She breathed deeply the scent of outdoors and spring air. The birds chirping and the soft rustle of squirrels scurrying about. She held onto his hand as they silently trekked through the trail. She realized that he wasn't one for really starting conversations, then again Johnny and Kyle were loud enough for all four of them. He then pulled her off the trail and onto a barely beaten path, after a few more minutes of walking they were in a small clearing.

It was surrounded by dense trees and foliage. The sun just barely peaked from between the leaves overhead. It was lovely and private and of course Simon would know something like this existed. She turned to him and he kept his eyes forward and just went about setting out a blanket and motioning for her to join him on it.

“Why did you bring me all the way out here Simon?” Bambi sat next to him. She was still sorta angry with him from this morning even if she played nice in front of Symphony. If her omega pack mate even had a hint that she was angry with Simon, she would have discouraged her from even leaving the house with him.

Simon was quiet for a moment as he pulled his hood down and took off his surgical mask. Bambi watches as he fiddles with the sleeve of his hoodie, brows pinched together. She rolled her eyes, John wasn't kidding when he said that the big fella was stubborn.

“I went out on a ledge and picked out snacks that I thought you would like.” He started off slowly, he then moved the basket in front of her. “Wasn't sure what you'd like or prefer.”

Bambi nodded her head, “Okay and, if you think a nice hike and some candies and juices are gonna make me just forget what you said-”

“I still want you to quit your job.” He interrupted her.

Bambi moved to get up to leave.

“Hear me out Princess.”

“I'm not hearing out shit!”

He was quick with how he reached out, his large hand encasing her wrist and yanking her back down next to him. His eyes were dark and a low warning growl left him. The message was clear for her to sit down. Brows rising up in alarm, she snarled back at him and snatched herself from his grip.

The air around them was charged as they stared at each other. This wasn't Bambi's first time with an alpha like Simon. There was her ex, and the many men that she had the displeasure of knowing that worked with Xavier. Her metaphorical hackles were raised.

“Look.” He sighed and then glanced away from her, “I shouldn't have said that to you in the first place.”

“Hmm, really you think so?” She watched his jaw clench and relax. “You just barely know me.”

“I realize that, but I am a lieutenant, I'm always thinking ten steps ahead in life.”

“So you thought-”

“I already see you as our omega.” Simon kept going; he didn't need to hear her snarky remarks. There would be plenty of time for that later. “I'm sorry for going about it the wrong way.”

Bambi huffed and crossed her arms, “I’m not your omega.”

Simon hummed and looked at her fully, “Not yet you aren't. But I really am sorry for offending you this morning. Is your work really that important for you?”

Bambi uncrossed her arms and leaned back on her hands. She actually hated her job in relation to her family, but when working with the general public she had fun. “I have mixed feelings about my job. Sometimes I hate it, dislike all the bad parts of it. Most of the time I enjoy it and I have fun. I went to school for four years and I am determined to be more than just the family omega that puts their career on the back end for everyone else.” She sighed, “But you didn't know that, so I shouldn't have snapped.”

“Don't say sorry, I crossed a boundary and you rightfully corrected me.” His hand reached out and hovered above her thigh before he gently placed it down.

“I don't want you four to see me as just an omega to have between deployments. I know how you military men are. No matter the country, status or culture it's all the same.”

He tilted his head to the side, “Then why agree to us pursuing you?”

“I want to try again. I didn't know you were military until John said so outside the bar that night. But the moment I saw Johnny bribe the waitress so that you guys would be the only ones to send me drinks I thought ‘Wow they are bold and proactive and sexy?’ ” She laughed. “My pussy and hindbrain was already making the choices and Symphony and Gloria were egging me on.”

Simon hummed and smiled a bit, he'd have to thank her pack mates for giving her the nudge to allow things to get moving. “What do you want us to see you as?”

“As Bambi.” She whispered, “I don't want you all to think I'm some dainty girl or that all I'm good for is caring for a pack. I have- or had hobbies, likes, dislikes, and I do still have dreams for what I want outside of being someone's omega or a mother and matriarch.”

It was quiet between the two of them. Simon just rubbed her thigh in a soothing manner trying to decide his next words. He remembered his own mother as a shadow of herself when things got bad at home.

“I understand, I suppose.” He took his hand off her thigh and pulled her into his lap. His alpha was hoping she wouldn't resist him, and was pleased to see that she didn't. He let out a low rumbling purr and thought about what else to say. “My mum, a saint she was, raised me and my brother up the best she could in the situation we were in. She cried a lot in the evenings when her alpha was out and when she thought me and my brother were asleep.”

Bambi didn't say anything as she listened to his breathing and the soft words he said. He felt for him, his mom sounded so similar to her own. “You don't have-”

“I want to.” He insisted instantly, almost if given the choice to clamp up he would and the words wouldn't make it out. “She sang a lot, had a lovely voice and I always thought if she didn't end up with the bastard, had us, then she would have had a career. I should not have said that I wanted you to quit your job so soon. Should have realized it was something you worked hard for and that it was something you took pride in. But my instincts tell me otherwise and sometimes I unfortunately follow those instead of common sense. I don't want you to be like that or to ever think we want you to give up yourself for us.”

Bambi chuckles and tilts her head up to look at him, “your instincts said ‘Simon be an ass to a girl you don't know’? ”

“No…when Symphony told you your brothers were lost and could barely work Google maps without you to find a popular bar, that was when my instincts said ‘Cute little omega is overworked and probably needs to rest. Make her rest.’ " He kissed her temple and held her tightly.

Bambi was shocked at what she had just heard. She had never heard someone actually want her to rest. Sure her brothers encouraged it, but even they knew that if she actually rested things would go haywire. It was always lip service they learned from their father. All four of them watched their mother push through days and nights, walking dead on her feet, holding and hosting meetings when Antony could not do it. Interacting with people who were dangerous and could ruin her. Things that Bambi was now doing, she watched as her mother lost herself to darkness. The only time she ever saw her mother even be granted rest was during her heat and even then was it rest if her alpha was on her and in her? Bambi didn't want that type of rest.

“My own mother, rest her soul, was madly in love with my father. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do for him. When things were good he doted on her, loved her like a love sick puppy. The man wasn't always good and mom tried her best to hide the rougher side of things. Sad that she worked herself to death and my father let it happen.”

They sat there quietly just enjoying the sound of nature. Bambi didn't often share her thoughts about her parents. The emotions around those two were odd at best, difficult and complicated at worst. She knew they loved each other, but life, children, the pressure to keep the family in order, all of it sucked the true sweet love right out of their relationship.

“My parents did love each other. They were just never good for each other and my mom suffered for it I think.” Bambi turned in Simon's arms so she could face him. She sniffled and went to wipe at her tears but he beat her to it.

“Bambi, be honest, what do you want from my pack?” He asked. The hand that was on her hip rubbed circles against her. His touch brushed up under her shirt and rested against her skin. “What are the things that you need that aren't negotiable other than being provided for and protected?”

“I want you all to be good for me and I want to be good for you. I'm sure the rest will fall into place.”

“We'll make sure of that.”

Bambi smiled and kissed him on the lips, “You're out of the dog house. Don't make it a habit of getting an express ticket there again though.”

“Wouldn't dream of it.”

[demigodsanswer]

Prompt: Thanksgiving and Percabeth pregnancy!

Set in the same future canon as this fic.

Conceiving Sophia had taken a year of careful, strategic trying, prenatal vitamins, ovulation tests, and a very serious conversation with an OB about potentially looking into fertility tests.

Conceiving their second baby had simply taken Annabeth forgetting to bring her birth control on vacation, and Percy forgetting to pull out once or twice.

They hadn't planned to get pregnant within a year of Sophie being born, but there they were again. And this time, Annabeth had had to suffer the slings and arrows of the first trimester during a New York August. Percy felt terrible for her.

But the temperature had dropped, she'd entered her second trimester, and Percy was pretty sure she'd nearly eaten the entire Thanksgiving turkey herself. At five months pregnant now, she had a sweet little bump and the same beautiful face Percy always wanted to kiss.

Their toddler was a different story. Turns out, a fifteen-month-old mini-Annabeth has a lot in common with drunk Annabeth: a lot to say, but with less-than-great communication skills, prone to running off without warning, and plenty of crying. At least drunk Annabeth was potty trained. Sophie might have started manipulating plumbing at three months and talking at eight months, but she didn't seem to be in any rush to the next milestone. Not that they'd be free of diaper bags any time soon anyway.

Sophie had spent most of dinner combining handfuls of potatoes with cranberry sauce and making a great mess. That her doting grandparents only cooed at, as Percy tried to wipe her down

But now Sophie was down on the couch between Grandpa Paul and Grandpa Fred, watching The Godfather II.

"Is this appropriate for her?" Fred had asked.

"We let Nico babysit a lot. She might find it comforting. All these old school Italians," Percy joked. Nico was taller than him now, and he looked like a young Al Pacino. Whatever. Percy had a beautiful wife and perfect baby.

He walked back into the kitchen to help his mom clean and found her in a battle of kindness with Annabeth.

"--Sweetie, we've got it. Go sit --"

"--Sally, really, I'm fine. Let me help --"

"--That's what my two kids are here for --"

"--They helped cook --"

"--So they can help clean."

His mom looked at him, pleading as if to ask: Can you talk some sense into her?

Percy smiled and shook his head. As if he'd ever been able to do anything of the sort.

"Come on," he said, wrapping his arms around her from behind and resting his hands on her belly. He felt their baby kick against his hands, and Annabeth made a small opmh noise. The baby had started kicking last month, and she always seemed extra active after Annabeth ate, or (Percy argued) when he was around.

"See, even she wants you to sit down and relax," Percy said. Another girl. He couldn't wait. Maybe it was sooner than they expected, but he wouldn't trade this little girl for anything.

"Is she kicking?" Sally asked. Annabeth nodded. "Can I?"

Percy moved his hands, and Annabeth guided Sally to where she could feel.

"i can't believe this was me only ten years ago," Sally said. "Now I have two more babies!"

"Grandbabies," Percy corrected.

"Oh, shush," Sally said. She still hadn't made peace with being a grandma. "I can't be a grandma. I have a middle schooler."

"Maybe by baby four or five, you'll be more comfortable," Annabeth joked.

"Five?!" Sally said. Percy and Annabeth just shrugged. They hadn't planned a final count. They'd just ... see where nature took them. "Well sweetie, if you're planning on doing this three more times, then you should really get your rest in now," Sally said, shooing them both to the living room.

They both came to a dead stop when they reached the living room. Both gradnpas and Sophie had fallen asleep, all with their heads tilted back, mouths open.

"Food coma," Percy whispered.

"I'll say," Annabeth said, before snapping a few pictures. 'Want to lay down in the guest room?" She asked.

"Sure," Percy said, giving her a gentle kiss. When the door closed behind them, he asked: "Should we get a head start on babies three and four?"

"Cheeky. But I feel like a stuffed turkey," she said, climbing under the covers.

"You're a turkey I'd love to -- actually I'm just going to apologize immediately for that," he said as she laughed, rolling onto her side away from him. "Just snuggles?" He asked as he wrapped an arm around her and resting a protective hand on her belly.

"Yep," she said. Their baby kicked in agreement.

[yarrystyleeza]

Congratulations on the milestone, friend!!! 🎉🎉 I’m so excited for you! 💖

So for your sleepover event I’d like to send in a request for someone that is probably NOT expected from me. Can I please get some fluff for one of my other absolute loves Daryl Dixon? Maybe something fluffy about being unable to fall asleep? Possibly something with a love confession? Whatever feels right for you I'd be excited to read! I miss my crossbow wielding love 😭❤

Thank you so much, Bella! This was definitely a milestone, and it wouldn't have been possible without you, thank you again! 🥰💞

And as for the request, I had such a fun time writing it, I missed Daryl so much and your request brought back so many memories 🥺💞💞💞

Night Birds (D.D)

Requested by @bellaxgiornata

Pairing and dynamic: Daryl Dixon x female!reader — friends to lovers

Prompt: fluff, one bed trope, unable to fall asleep, love confession

Word count: 2.2k!

Writer's note: this took me a while to write, not just because I haven't written anything for Daryl in more than 3 years, but the story building wasn't easy, and I just hope it's enjoyable and fun. Also, this lil fic is heavily inspired by Panic! At The Disco's out of the Vault "night birds", unfortunately it was taken down from YouTube due to copyright issues but here's a snippet of it on twt

"shit." you muttered under your breath, looking at the one bed at the end of the cabin, you squeezed your eyes shut and pinched the bridge of your nose. You and Daryl left Alexandria and went scavenging this morning, but your journey took way longer than expected and it was dangerous for you to take the road back home in this wintery night.

You twisted your lips in a thoughtful pout, Daryl soon notices that after he had locked the cabin door. "what?" he narrows his blue eyes as he asks, "it's a..." you gesture in the direction of the bed, "oh." he commented..

The two of you stood in place—silently for a full minute before Daryl makes a suggestion. "I can sleep on the floor--" immediately, you shook your head in disapproval, "no, Daryl, it's too cold and you might get sick," you fired back, "but I don' think that thin' can hold us up together, y'know," Daryl objected, "a bed is still a bed, even though it looks old, and rusty, and small... and a little crooked..." you gesture at the odd position the bed was in, tilting your head to try to find any correct angle in this bed.

Daryl stood silent for a moment to recollect his thoughts and you eyed him patiently, he eyed you a little before speaking, you cross your arms, pout your lips and knit your brows, waiting for him to drop the bomb of a thought because you knew what he's about to say now.

"there's another cabin down the road, 15 minute walk from here..." you rolled your eyes with a very loud objective groan, uncrossing your arms, "of course no, Daryl," he mirrored your eye roll, "don't even ask why, you know why, we need to always stick together, like— how am I supposed to make sure you're okay?" you interrupted before he could defend his suggestion, "we have our walkie-talkies--" he shrugged, "we don't," you whispered and he grimaced immediately, "what d'ya mean?" his brows got knitted, you smiled your teeth out.

"I thought it was a quick trip so I thought we didn't really need them..." you twisted your fingers as you answered with a low voice.

You lied about that, you actually brought the devices and you hid them in your backpack, you just wanted him to stay with you.

You've known Daryl for a really long time, you met back at Hershel's farm. You were a lone survivor and you happen to stumble upon Daryl in the woods. You needed a shelter and Hershel's family home provided this for you and in exchange, you helped them on their search for Sophia. Unfortunately it didn't go as intended, and everyone had to face the ugly truth about her death.

But during the search—Daryl accidentally got shot by Andrea and you offered to stay and take care of him—since everyone else was busy; and you found peace in his presence. That was the day you became true friends, inseparable friends.

Wherever Daryl was, you were with him. You were always together on missions, and whenever Rick talked about a scavenging mission you were the first one signing up the moment you know Daryl was on it too. You couldn't truly connect with other members in the group, you were shy and had troubles bonding with a big group of people, but you were always nice to them.

But, Daryl holds a special place in your heart, and you could never deny that. You were two lone wolves who found a little peace of mind together.

Now, you can see how frustrated he is, the look of both anger and worry are soaking his gentle features. "I'm sorry, Daryl," you muttered softly between your teeth, he shrugged, "forget 'bout it, pet."

You took your backpack off your shoulder and placed it by the end of the bed, you kicked your shoes off and slipped out of your heavy winter jacket. You fluff your hair and gently you lie down the mattress and your body sinks in. You were exhausted.

You watch Daryl as he makes his way to the bed, his expression is a little unsure of his actions and it was confusing, you rarely saw that face of him, he's nervous, silent and red. Daryl slowly sits on the edge of the bed, he lies down on your left side and you feel how timid he is.

"goodnight, Daryl," you lie on your back and you fix your eyes on the ceiling, he shifts a little, mirroring your pose but his hands are behind his head, his leather covered elbow brushes your cheek softly. "goodnight, pet," Daryl gently replies.

And you stay like that for hours, both facing the ceiling, you start counting the cracks in the wooden surfaces and they're twenty one, you want to pull your eyes out of their sockets to force yourself to sleep but you can't, the clock hanging on the wall had long died, you feel like a nocturnal animal who's unable to close its eyes but feeling drunk and paralyzed, you're too aware of how loud your heart is pumping tonight, you can feel every particle of dust falling onto your skin, and your breathing is so audible that you feel it ringing in your ears, it's uncomfortable and overwhelming.

Your eyes glance to the side and you notice how silent Daryl is, but he wasn't asleep either. "you can't sleep, right?" you mumble, your eyes are back on the ceiling, recounting the clefts, did their number increase?

"nah, and I guess you aren'..." he replies with the same calm tone, still looking up. "do you remember that night—back at Hershel's farm when neither of us was able to fall asleep?" you try to remind him.

The night Daryl got shot, you drank a huge amount of coffee in order to stay awake and take care of him, it was a terrible decision, because you spent the night and the next morning—shaking in weakness. And Daryl was in so much pain he couldn't close his eyes either but kept lying to you—telling you it feels more like a scratch. You kept hearing him groaning quietly and you kept petting his head to try and make his focus shift to the movement of your fingers in his hair. It was a very exhausting night but you woke up collapsed over Daryl as you had sat beside him on the edge of the bed.

"I get the same vibes here," your heart beats faster, you have no idea why you're nervous but you are. "us getting stuck together and having to deal with each other," you chuckle a little as you recall the events, "you were so pissed about me following you everywhere but then you got shot and I had to stay the night and take care of you," you keep on talking, almost feeling like you're talking to yourself. Daryl was silent, it was a little heartbreaking that he had no reaction to it.

"jeez, sorry for giving you a headache--" you sigh, tears almost stray out of your heavy eyelids, "at all, pet, I love listening to ya talkin' bout anythin'," he cuts you off, you feel his weight shifting next to you, you glance to the side and you see his blue eyes shining back at you in the dim light.

"I thought you were annoying at first but, I can't lie to ya, turns out you never were, pet," you giggle at his affirmation, "maybe because I'm a little too loud to you," you admit, your energies might have never matched but you still found harmony within it.

You remember the day you got kidnapped by Merle back at Woodbury, Daryl came over with the group to rescue you, Maggie, and Glenn. You were never able to remember anything about that event, never recalled how many hours or days you were gone but there was only one thing you remember for sure, Daryl ran up to you the moment he saw you and hugged you tight—almost crushing you in his arms. Something in you changed and you felt attracted and more attached to him. The worry in his blue orbs, and his tight hug still burns your skin.

Then the day everything fell apart and you had to flee the prison. You were introduced to the overprotective side of Daryl, he never left your side since then, and you always found yourself safe in his presence.

You never wanted to be away from him, and you hated the fact that you got separated when you first arrived to Alexandria, you were so mad that you picked up a fight with him intentionally so he could spend more time talking to you. You felt torn apart whenever he had to leave for a scavenging mission without you, and you couldn't stand any lady trying to hit on him.

The realization hits you hard... You've been in love with Daryl for longer than you can imagine.

"you look tired, pet, you need t' sleep," you almost chuckle at his words, "wish I could but I can't," you mumble. He half sits on the bed, "c'mere, pet," you look up at him, his arms are open wide for you, your heart twists in your chest as you try to make up your mind. You give up and place your head over his chest, his heart pumping next to your ear, his fingers delicately slip through your hair and he gently moves his tips on your scalp in circular motions, your eyes flutter shut and you snuggle your face into him.

His movement misses around with your heartbeat, poor little thing is thundering in your chest. You truly can't live without him.

"I care so much 'bout you, pet," your heart dropped, could this mean that you weren't the only one feeling it? You weren't so sure about it yet, but you decided you should let him finish his words.

But then his hand travels down, leaving your hair, his palm cups your cheek and his thumb fondles your blushed skin. "I care— so much 'boucha that I never think of anythin' else except for ya," you shift your head to look up at him and you find him staring back down at you.

You couldn't help but lift your head off his chest to sit straight and look directly at him in disbelief, he's astonished by your reaction and you see him lowering his eyes to his now tangled fingers. "I shouldn't 've talked about it, 'm sorry," he mumbles and you shift closer to him.

You don't quite know how you did it, but you aimed a kiss to his lips and he is taken by surprise. The very first time you've ever put your lips on him feels so unique, but you're to scared to indulge in the feeling. You part away from him, his face is unreadable, he turned pale white. Realizing what you just did. Did he actually feel anything for you? Does he even like you back? Was this the right thing to do? Or did you misunderstood the whole situation? You had no answers for those questions.

You're overthinking it a lot that you don't notice him moving closer to you, cupping your cheeks and drawing you into a kiss. Your shoulders fall and your hands envelope the back of his neck, gently tugging onto his long locks. His hands round your waist and you could feel the smile on his lips, he draws you over to his lap and he hugs you tight as the kiss continues.

He kisses you sweetly, and you only melt more into him, fumbling his face with the tips of your fingers, feeling the soft stubble on his cheeks. His hands go back over your cheeks and he's softly caressing them, tucking your hair behind your ears and you feel his lips stretching once again.

Daryl slowly pulls away from you, he's shy, he's nervous, he's flustered, and surely he's shaking but his smile is so big that you could barely see his ocean blue eyes. "so sorry I didn't mean to scare you, I was just—" you say and he giggles at you, "gosh, I love you, Daryl," you chuckle, the small of your hands are still enveloping his cheeks, "I love you too, pet, always did," Daryl slowly pulls you back into another kiss, you both smile as you sip on the uniquely sweet flavor you two created.

"think you can get some sleep now, angel?" Daryl murmured while your lips are still locked upon each other, you nodded with a slight chuckle, "alright, lemme tuck you in, lil' one," you slip from over his lap and he shuffles back to his place, taking you in his arms and resting your head onto his chest, playfully messing with your hair, you round his waist with your leg and snuggle into his chest, he keeps peppering your temple with little pecks until you both fell asleep.

Daryl wakes up early and he gently pulls himself from under you—in fear of disturbing your deep sleep, he gets up and makes his way to the little dining table where he had placed his bag, he scavenges through it for food but he finds nothing.

Daryl tries his luck with your backpack and searches through it, and that's where he finds the walkie-talkies you hid all day long... And you had witnessed his finding yourself.

Likes and reblogs are appreciated, thank you for coming to my sleepover celebration! 💞💞💞

[whitmoreroyals]

A ROYAL LIFE

SEASON 2

Transcript under the cut

Beginning / Previous / Next

THE ROYALS ARRIVING AT THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

The majestic entrance of the Royal Opera House is truly impressive.

What a captivating evening it was at the illustrious Royal Opera House! The air was thick with anticipation as members of the royal family arrived, their presence elevating the ballet performance to a level of grandeur that felt almost surreal. This momentous occasion marked a triumphant return for the venue, which had valiantly risen from the ashes of a devastating fire that threatened its very existence just a year prior.

As the newly adorned chandeliers cast a warm glow over the elegantly dressed guests, a palpable excitement hummed throughout the majestic space. The luxurious seating was filled with an eager audience, all abuzz with the promise of an enchanting night filled with graceful movements and breathtaking artistry. Each moment unfolded like a beautifully choreographed dance itself, transforming the grand reopening into not just an event, but a lavish celebration that would be etched in memory for years to come!

A LOOK INSIDE THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

The main room of the opera house appeared incredibly majestic and exuded an air of grandeur.

NEW ROYAL VAULT TIARAS HAVE MADE THEIR DEBUT

Crown Princess Andrea made a stunning appearance as she wore the illustrious Whitmore Floral Diamond Tiara, a remarkable piece of jewelry steeped in history. This exquisite tiara was commissioned by Queen Consort Helen in 1820, marking a significant milestone in the nation's history. Designed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the country's founding, the tiara embodies a rich tapestry of national pride and heritage. Crafted with delicate floral motifs, the tiara is adorned with sparkling diamonds that catch the light beautifully, symbolizing the beauty and strength of the nation's spirit. Its creation not only reflects the artistry of the time but also serves as a cherished emblem of the royal family's connection to the country’s legacy.

Princess Bridgette chose to wear the stunning Chaumet Tiara, featuring a beautiful mix of emeralds and diamonds. What makes it special is its adjustable gemstone arrangement, adding a unique twist to her royal outfit.

Commissioned by Queen Consort Sophia in 1890, the tiara aimed to enhance the royal jewelry collection. Sophia carefully selected materials and craftsmanship to create a piece that would symbolize royal status and become a cherished legacy, showcasing her dedication to the crown's heritage.

Both princesses looked amazing in their fancy evening outfits, grabbing everyone's attention in the room. Princess Bridgette stunned in a flowing silk dress that glided across the floor. The rich emerald-green fabric hugged her curves perfectly, highlighting her natural beauty and matching her fair skin. The Crown Princess, looking super sophisticated, wore a stunning gown that left everyone in awe. It was covered in shimmering white sequins, sparkling beautifully under the soft lighting of the venue. The two royal gentlemen complemented their partners' elegance perfectly, dressed in classic black tuxedos that fit like a glove. Each tuxedo was tailored to show off their athletic builds, giving off a timeless charm. Together, they radiated confidence and charm, adding to the night’s overall beauty.

As the evening went on, the royal group seemed to be having a blast, their laughter and lively conversations filling the air with energy. They enjoyed cheerful exchanges, their faces brightening with smiles as they shared jokes and lighthearted teasing, clearly loving each other's company. The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement, enhanced by soft music that created an enchanting backdrop, inviting others to join the fun. You could feel the chemistry between the four of them as they moved through the crowd with effortless charm, making the night truly memorable.

[bellysoupset]

Vince was not feeling well.

Which was saying something considering he hadn't been feeling well since November last year.

The talk with Wendy had helped, a lot, the knot that had permanently tied in his throat. Knowing they weren't over had him nearly dizzy with relief, even if he was very aware that it wouldn't be easy to have a relationship when they were 4 hours apart.

But there was more. There were his friends still... With whom he hadn't spoken. Well, everyone safe for Leo, who had texted him over Christmas break and hadn't stopped.

"I don't want you unhappy," had been Leo's simplistic answer when Vince met up with him that morning and asked why he was being so cool about the entire situation. Jonah hadn't spoken with him in a while and Vin wasn't sure if he was being ignored or if it was just Jon's regular sullen silences.

He was absolutely certain that Luke was ignoring him and that was more than partially to blame for the queasy sensation that spread all over his body.

"It seems like you're the only one," Vince scoffed, pushing the french fry around with viciousness and glaring at it. He couldn't fathom eating it, with how unsettled his stomach felt.

Leo let out a sigh, "that's not true, Vin." He was sitting back against Fredo's leather seats, finishing off his own burger, "Luke's a wreck, you two should really talk."

"Nothing to talk about," Vince grumbled, trying not to meet Leo's eyes and failing miserably when the blonde glared at him.

"Vince."

"He's just making everything worse," Vince groaned, wincing as his stomach cramped painfully, "it's hard enough leaving and it's hard enough that I'm gonna be four hours apart from my girlfriend and Luke- Luke's fucking everything up."

Leo raised his eyebrows, judgement rolling off of him and Vince ducked his head, muffling a burp against his fist. There was a burning in his chest that nothing could soothe.

"Vince."

"Stop looking at me like that."

"You say you wanna go, but I've never seen you look more miserable," Leo pointed out, his voice gentle, but firm, "look at me, Vin."

He did and immediately grimaced. There was nothing but support and concern in Leo's face, which Vince quickly found that he did not want. He much rather be yelled at, as he was sure Jonah or Bell would have.

"I'm okay."

"Bullshit," Leo sighed, rubbing his face, "don't lie to my face, okay? You're miserable."

Vince shrugged, "I will be okay... I got a job in Doverport."

Leo's eyebrows jumped up, "uhm... Congrats?" he said, unsure given the tone of the conversation, "what is it?"

"History teacher at the local public school," Vince picked at his nails, "I start in a week."

"That's great Vin! You've always wanted to teach..." Leo's voice trailed off and he let out a heavy sigh, "and you're not happy."

"What do you mean? Of course I a-"

"It wasn't a question," Leo twirled the coke in his cup with the metal straw, poking at the ice chips, "why are you moving if you don't want to?"

"I do want to," Vince sighed, giving up all pretense at trying to eat and his upbeat attitude, "I miss my parents, Leo. Which I know- Well, it's not something either of you guys is very familiar with, but I don't just love my family, okay? I like them. I genuinely enjoy spending time with them... And my parents are getting old and Sophia is leaving at the end of the year and I'll see her even less and Liv... I feel like I missed every single milestone? She's six, I- I came to college when I she had just learned to say my name..."

It was terrifying, to know he would be missing out on important memories with the ones he loved regardless of each town he picked.

"No, I get it," Leo nodded, then when Vin raised an eyebrow he rolled his eyes, "okay, fine, I don't get it. Not for a second, this is completely out of my reality... But I saw Jon with Angie this Christmas and how heartbroken he was over them not being closer. I saw Luke with his dad and how Kit doesn't even know him... And I know I spent my whole childhood wishing I had something like that," he shrugged, "so yeah, I don't get it, but I do."

Vince nodded, forcefully swallowing against the knot in his throat, "yeah..." he swallowed again, feeling clammy and ill, "it just sucks, because it feels like I'm letting everyone down and-"

"You're not," Leo reached over the table, grabbing Vin's wrist, "look, it's not you leaving, it's how you did it. At least with Wendy it is."

"You don't know Wendy," Vince scoffed, wiping the sweat collecting over his lip, "she's- She's heartbroken and furious and it's my fault."

"I do know Wendy," Leo rolled his eyes, "she's petty as fuck and she's loyal and she's independent and you asked her to give up her life and move with you after you spent two months lying to her face and leading her on."

Vince's eyes widened and he shook his head, "I didn't lie, I just- What was there to tell if I hadn't made up my mind? Nothing."

"She's your girlfriend, of course you could've said something," Leo glared at him, "you think I'd be happy if Jonah just up and decided something after months of thinking it, when he never shared the plans with me? When I wasn't a part of the conversation?"

As if the realization suddenly hit him, Vince mouthed around nothing, confused, "I didn't... I didn't think of that."

Leo let out a little snort, before starting to drink his coke. He waited, patiently, as Vince came to terms with the new realization.

It took him a minute to put it into words, but he did it, crumpling forward and shielding his face with his hands, saying in a muffled voice, "I fucked up."

"You fucked up," Leo agreed, trying not to sound too harsh, "but she still took you back, so I'm gonna guess you didn't fuck up that badly."

"God knows why she did," Vince grumbled, removing a hand from his face and staring at the table, looking like he wanted to say something and failing.

Leo's winced in sympathy, "look, we love you, Vin. All of us. That's not gonna change, okay? They'll get over it."

"Yeah," his friend nodded, not looking like he believed it, "you should come visit..." he didn't raise his eyes from the table, "I'm really going to miss you, kid."

Leo's valiant smile and upbeat attitude wavered a little and he only nodded, not quite managing to fake it, "yeah, I'll miss you too..."

"I think we should get going, I still have to hit the road..." Vince cringed just at the thought. His father had let him borrow the car, so he could retrieve all the boxes from Wendy's apartment and the trunk and backseat were already loaded up.

He still had to swing by his girlfriend's apartment to get some stuff and to say goodbye... And his stomach was burning just thinking of it.

Everything felt horrible, from getting up to hugging Leo goodbye, to driving away and the prospect of the four hours long drive before him... And saying goodbye to Wendy...

Vince was so caught up in his own angst, that he completely missed the car parked next to Wendy's pink one. He had started to sweat back in the restaurant, clammy perspiration over saying goodbye to Leo, but that by now he knew was more than just that.

He felt downright woozy during the elevator ride, the small lunch he had been able to force down starting to flip in his stomach. Vince leaned against Wendy's red front door, resting his forehead on it and took a measured breath.

He just had to fake it for half an hour more. Just enough to kiss her goodbye and try not to start crying over it and then...

"And you think it's the meds?" Wendy's voice travelled through the door and Vince groaned, as he quickly realized she had company, Bella's voice answering.

"I hope it's just the meds... I'm scared, Wendy - Fuck that, I'm overwhelmed..."

"Of course you are, it's a lot to handle on your own, Bells..."

Vince turned the doorknob, deciding to make his presence known sooner rather than later. He was already in both women's shit list, the last thing he wanted was to be accused of eavesdropping on them.

As soon as he opened the door, the talking died down and both girls turned to face him. Bella was leaning against the dining table, while Wendy was on the opposite side, putting the decor back on top of the table after they had lunch.

He could still smell it in the air, raspberry pie and something else.

"Oh hey, you're back early!" Wendy's voice went up a note, all awkward in a way that wasn't like her at all. She glanced nervously at Bella, who had crossed her arms defensively and raised her eyebrows.

"Hi," Bell said coolly and Vin all but flinched at her tone.

He loved this girl like a sister and it was a slap to the face to be treated like that.

"Hi," Vince gripped the doorknob, "I'm on my way out," which was the wrong thing to say, because Bell let out an incredulous, bitter scoff, while Wendy promptly dropped the vase she was holding down on the table, looking spooked.

"Already? I thought you were only leaving tonight..." She looked all heartbroken, "I thought we'd have more time-"

"Don't let the door hit you on your way out," Bella said and Vince reeled at her tone, while Wendy's mouth hung open, her heart shaped face turning pink.

"That's fucking enough, Bell," she glared at the ginger, "you can be civilized or you can leave."

A horrible warmth spread all over Vince and he breathed in deeply through his nose. The floor seemed to be swimming, nausea clinging to the back of his throat.

"I'm not gonna coddle him just because-"

"This isn't about Vince and you know it, you're letting your feelings get in the way-"

"Yeah, damn right I am!" Bella exclaimed, her voice a note louder and Vince groaned, as it made his head pound.

He was going to be sick.

His mouth filled with saliva and he gulped down nervously, trying to think through the horrible fog. He could bolt for the bathroom, but that would get them questioning him, besides... He really didn't want to impose on Wendy, she was already being too understanding-

"Helloooo? I'm talking with you, jackass," Bella's voice cut through the haze and Vince struggled to focus on her. She had moved closer, while Wendy was hot on her heels, looking flustered and pissed off.

"You really should go now, Bella-"

"Fuck no, I won't, not until he looks at me-"

"Move," Vince groaned, squeezing his eyes shut and darting a hand forward. It touched Bell's wrist and he squeezed it as well, "Bella, get out of the way-"

"What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" Bella's voice suddenly was much louder, "let go off me-" the implication of her words was more nauseating than anything and Vince's stomach surged up in his throat... And he didn't have it in him to even fight it.

He bent in half, shoving Bella back to avoid getting her combat boots covered in sick and then lost his lunch on Wendy's foyer. All over his boots.

Vince swayed on the spot, a cramp hitting him fiercely and he would've crumpled down to his knees, wasn't it for Bella grabbing him suddenly.

"Vince?! Vin, what the fuck!?" Bella exclaimed right next to his ear, her voice strained by the effort of keeping him collapsing. He was far too big for her, if his knees fully gave in, he'd pull them both down, "what's wrong? Are you sick? Are you hurt?!"

All that anger gone in the flick of a wrist.

Vince let out a groan, squeezing his stomach. Everything felt horrible, his head felt completely disconnected from his body, his belly was sour and far from empty, churning up a storm and he was freezing...

"Aw honey," Wendy's voice, a balm to his nerves, made Vince open his eyes. A towel had already been draped over the puddle of sick and his girlfriend had wrapped her arm around his opposite side, helping Bella hold him up, "you're not well, I can feel the fever from here..."

"I'm g-" His throat constricted and Vince gulped down against the knot in there, "gon'besick..."

"Yeah, help us," Bella gasped, sounding worried and frustrated as they tried to move him to the bathroom. Without his help, not even in a pair they could do much.

Vince nodded, shivering violently and leaning on them, using all his force to move. He collapsed down on the bathroom floor, taking Bella with him since she was the one further inside.

There wasn't much time to think as he pushed the toilet lid up and tried, vaguely, not to cause a bigger mess. His stomach cramped again, squeezing, and Vince white knuckled the porcelain, heaving.

A hand cupped his forehead, supporting his heavy head and Vince leaned into the soft touch with a sob. His thoughts were a jumbled mess, flip flopping between the horrible sensation of his body and the confusion and hurt over the previous interaction.

"I'm-ssssorry..." Vince slurred, sounding and feeling drunk, trying to get rid of the line of thick spit dangling from his bottom lip.

"Shut up," Bella said quietly, dabbing his lip with a wad of toilet paper, "jesus, you're soaked..."

"Here," Wendy, crouching down next to them, planting a humid washcloth to the back of his neck. Vince let his eyes slip closed, immediately regretting it as in the darkness he could feel the room twirling around him-

"Arms up," Bella, grabbing his elbow, "c'mon, big guy, help me here."

"Whataare... What are you doing...?" Vince forced his eyes open and realized he was no longer slumped over the toilet, but propped against the cold wall of the bathroom. Wendy was standing near the sink, re-wetting the washcloth.

"You're boiling," Bell explained, all soft, "we need to get your temperature down."

He really didn't feel like he could trust her, not after all the yelling, not after she had been ignoring him... Besides, it was freezing.

"No, 'mnot..."

"Yes, you are, Vin," Bella pushed his damp hair back, looking terribly concerned, "this is going to help, okay?"

"Uhm-" he couldn't help but lean on her touch, letting his eyes close. Sure, he was hurt over Bell's words and she was pissed at him, but it was still Bella...

"Honey," Wendy, patting his cheek, "Vin, open your eyes... Vin..."

He tried to force them open, ready to cry over not being able to just fucking sleep. Being awake just meant feeling like he was about to spew the food he had eaten back in 8th grade, he'd much rather sleep-

"Vince," Wendy shook him a little harder and Vince opened his eyes. He was shirtless now, which was more than a little concerning. He didn't remember taking his shirt off.

Bella was perched on the bathtub, watching over them, and Wendy was crouched in front of him, cupping his face.

Vince's head swam as he tried to focus on his girlfriend. Wendy's eyes were the size of platters, all worried.

"Hi..."

"Hey," she forced a smile, stroking his cheek, "how are you feeling?"

"Like crap," Vince groaned and couldn't help a small smile as he heard Bella snort.

"Yeah?" Wendy rolled her eyes, "when did you start feeling sick, honey?"

"Uhm..." Vince winced as another cramp hit him and he curled up, sucking in the air. It took a second to breath through the hot, sharp pain and as soon as the iron grip in his inside eased, a new wave of nausea hit him. He was sweating, gulping nervously as his mouth watered and his tongue felt too big for his mouth, "don't feel good..."

"I know, sweetheart," Wendy smoothed his hair back, "I just need to know for how long this has been going on. Were you sick this morning?"

She sounded so... Calm. So gentle. Somewhere in the recess of his mind Vince knew this wasn't a good thing, that this was Wen using her doctor voice. The last thing he wanted was to be an even bigger bother-

Tears stung his eyes and Vince curled up even more, turning his head away from Wendy... His eyes paused on Bella and she looked horribly guilty. Twice as concerned. None of the calm that Wendy sported, panic was written all over her face.

"I'm so sorry," she said before Vince could say anything and a sob bubbled up, making his whole frame shake. Vince ducked his head, he didn't want to cry, but the fever was frying at his nerves and before he head any control over it, big fat tears started to run down his cheeks.

"Hey, hey..." Wendy whispered, moving up and wrapping her arms around him, pulling Vince into a tight hug, "hey, I got you. You're okay-"

"I'm sorry," he mumbled into her hair, words sticking together, shaking them both, "I'm sorry, I don't- I'm making a mess, I've made a mess-"

"No, no, we're fine," Wendy squeezed him, kissing the side of his head, "we're working through it, right? We're okay- You're okay-"

"No, I'm not, I don't- I hate this. Everything is wrong and I feel wrong, and-" Vince sobbed, his words jumbling together in one continuous stream that made no sense even to his own ears and suddenly there was another pair of arms wrapped around him, squeezing him even tighter than Wendy was.

"B-Bell...?"

"I'm here- You-you're okay," she mumbled, voice muffled since Bella's cheek was squished to his shoulder, "we're okay, alright? We're gonna be okay."

"But- but you hate..." Vince whimpered and Bella pulled back, all but replacing Wendy in cupping his face, forcing their eyes to meet.

"No, I'm furious at you, I don't hate you," she glared at him, "not for a second, Vin."

This was all very touching, but Vince's stomach apparently hadn't gotten the memo he was having a moment, because suddenly he was gagging.

Bella jumped out of the way and both women pushed him forward to lean over the bowl, just in time for the rest of his stomach lining to make a reappearance. He coughed and coughed, but there wasn't much more to bring up and Vince was left panting and sobbing, curled up over the toilet bowl.

He felt Bella's fingers moving through his sweaty hair, Wendy squeezing his arm as she got up from the ground, "stay with him, I'm gonna settle the room. Clearly he's not stopping any time soon."

Vince groaned, he didn't need Bell to sit with him, he didn't need a nanny... Bella flicked at his ear.

"No one said anything about you needing a nanny," she scoffed, before continuing to comb his hair, "you seem hellbent on throwing up on me."

Vince let out a surprised chuckle, eyes closed as he breathed through the nausea that was starting back up, "it's the least you deserve after yelling at me like that."

Bella snorted, running her hand up and down his naked back, "god, I'm gonna fucking miss you."

[ejzah]

A/N: Once again, thanks to @mashmaiden for reminding me Deeks’ birthday was closer than I realized. Happy birthday Martin Atticus Deeks!

***

Once in a Lifetime

Mid-November 2024

Nell watched Kensi prep a bottle of milk, hands currently occupied with Caleb. Sophia was still sleeping in their room, but Kensi figured she wouldn’t be for long.

“Alright, this is ready to go,” Kensi said, holding out the bottle to Nell. “Do you want to feed him?”

“Absolutely,” Nell said eagerly, following Kensi to the living room to sit down with Caleb. “Give me.”

Kensi snorted as Nell made a grabby hand and settled in to feed Caleb.

“Ok, so what are we doing today while Deeks is at his meeting? Hit up some mommy and me groups? Check out the hot dads at the park?”

“No to the first one. I tried some of those groups during the first couple of months, and hated it. To the second, the only hot dad I need is Deeks,” Kensi retorted, then immediately winced. “That sounds wrong. Moving on. I actually thought maybe you could help me plan Deeks’ birthday. I want to do something kind of big.”

“Ooh, I do love party planning. Though I would have thought forty-five made more sense for a milestone birthday bash,” Nell commented.

“Yeah, well last year we had three week old twins on our hands on Deeks’ last birthday. We were lucky we had fresh clothes on and didn’t spend the whole day in bed,” Kensi reminded her archly.

“That is an excellent point.” Nell leaned back against the couch cushions, drawing her legs up under her as Caleb happily sucked away at the bottle. “Ok, so what are we doing for my brother from another mother. The Shaggy to my Velma.”

Kensi gave her an amused look. She’d been thinking about this a lot for the past few months. She knew Deeks truly appreciated any recognition of his birthday, but he deserved to be celebrated. This time in extravagant fashion if she had any say in it.

Folding her hands together, Kensi turned to face Nell fill-on, feeling unaccountably nervous.

“Last time we visited you and Eric, Deeks really loved that sushi restaurant we went to. So, here’s where I have a really massive, request and I fully recognize that it’s taking advantage of our friendship and—”

“You’d like us to arrange a trip for you and Deeks to Tokyo?” Nell interrupted gently.

“Kind of,” Kensi said sheepishly. “Is that a ridiculous thing to even think about?”

“Of course not. You know we’d fly you over in a heartbeat. When you have access to a private jet and lots of money, it’s what you do for the people you love.”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Kensi joked. “Thank you, Nell.”

“Anytime.”

Caleb chose that moment to take his mostly empty bottle and hand it to Nell, and started fussing, babbling “Mama” in between a bunch of unintelligible babble.

“Here, I’ll take him. He usually gets like this when he’s still sleepy.” Tucking Caleb under her chin, Kensi shared, “I’m going to see if Roberta can watch them, with Rosa supervising when she can.”

“What do you think about me and Eric coming here and watching them instead?” Nell suggested. “We can babysit and take Rosa on some adventures.”

“We couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not, I’m offering. You know we’re always looking for any opportunity for quality kid time.” Nell wiggled Caleb’s foot. “Right? Your aunt and uncle need a chance to teach you about all the wonderful weird things out there.”

“That would be great. Just as long as the adventures don’t include anything like that steampunk casino with the feather dancing you took us to last time.”

Nell tilted her consideringly. “We’ll take them to a science museum,” she said. “No feather dancing in sight.”

“Hey ladies. Who’s doing a feather dance?” Deeks inquired, coming in from the back. He set his shoulder bag to the side, coming over to kiss Kensi and then Caleb.

“Oh, we were just reminiscing,” Nell said with a forced laugh that made Deeks raise a questioning eyebrow.

“Alright then.” He reached for Caleb, tucking him in the crook of his arm with ease, Caleb curling up against him immediately. “Hey, where’s your sister, Mr. Doughnut? Let’s go find her. See if she wants to play while mommy and Auntie Nell tell super secret stories.”

As he walked away, Nell leaned towards Kensi with a delighted expression. “This is going to be fun,” she whispered.

***

January 6th, 2025

“The beach.”

“Nope.”

“An amusement park?”

“Still no,” Kensi replied, calmly driving on as Deeks sat beside her, a sleep mask over his eyes and his hands folded in his lap. She’d made him put the mask on about thirty minutes ago when she thought he might get suspicious about the route to the private airport Nell and Eric had arranged for them to fly out from.

Kensi had asked Deeks to take a few days off without asking questions and packed for him, so they could leave a couple days before his birthday. He’d taken the strange requests in stride, but now he was starting to get a little antsy.

“Ok, normally I would love the idea of you giving me a blindfold, but it’s starting to feel a little like a hostage situation.”

“You can take it off in a couple minutes,” Kensi assured him, reaching over to squeeze his thigh before turning into the airport parking lot.

“My next guess would be a sex dungeon, but I don’t think I’m dressed for it,” Deeks continued. He tilted his head to the side. “Wait, are we at an airport? Wow, that’s a whole host of other charges.”

“How did you figure that out?” Kensi demanded, and he sat back with a satisfied smile.

“I’m highly observant. Where are you taking me?”

“Just give me like five minutes and I’ll tell you.”

Deeks spent the next five minutes making increasingly ridiculous giggles until Kensi was fully laughing by the time she pulled up in front of the “small” jet Nell had described. A security guard stopped them a few hundred yards away and Kensi flashed her ID, slowly driving the last bit when he waved her on.

She helped Deeks out of the car and up the stairs, her excitement and nervousness mounting the closer they got to the interior. Hopefully Deeks would actually enjoy the surprise.

“Ok, you can take it off,” she told him when they were standing in the middle of the luxurious jet.

Deeks tugged the mask over his head with a dramatic flick of his wrist, smoothing his hair back down before he took a real look around.

“Holy crap, you either won the lottery or sold a whole lot of something illegal,” he said, and Kensi rolled her eyes affectionately.

“We’re borrowing it from Eric and Nell.”

“Right, that makes a lot more sense.”

Taking his hand, she led him to one of the eight seats spread throughout the space.

“Early happy birthday,” she said, handing him a packet containing their itinerary for the next four days.

Deeks pulled out a paper with their hotel details (once again, set up with Nell’s help), several dinner reservations, and passes to a few attractions they’d thought Deeks would enjoy.

“You’re taking me to Tokyo?” he asked, his voice going soft and slightly uncertain.

“I kind of missed the last one, so I figured this would make up for it.” She shrugged, a little shy in the face of his amazement. “I hope you like it.”

“Baby, like it…this is amazing.” He grinned in obvious delight, then frowned. “Wait, I thought we were only taking a day trip. Who’s watching the twins?”

“Eric and Nell,” Kensi replied and he sighed in relief.

“Thank god. Mama would probably end up reporting us missing or something.” Shaking his head, he looked over the documents one more before carefully replacing them in the envelope. “Thank you so much, baby.” He kissed her softly. “This is an amazing gift.”

They took a quick trip around the plane check out all the amenities, some of which were completely ridiculous and completely in keeping with Eric and Nell’s eccentricities.

“Do you think Nell and Eric have cameras on this plane?” Deeks wondered as they closed up a little compartment with a gaming system.

“Why?”

He wrapped his arm around her waist, dragging her to his chest. “Because this might be our chance to join a certain club.”

“It is your birthday,” Kensi said, trailing her fingers down from his jaw.

[jenplayssims]

1970s No CC Sims

Gallery ID: HawkeyeTARDIS

I made over EA's Parikh family! I think they have turned out as my favorites for this decade! Karan, Raj, Simran, and Karishma.

Also made over EA sims Sophia Jordan, Babs L'Amour, Cassidy Purdue, Ollie Purdue, and Andre DaSilva. The lore is that Ollie and Sophia had a fling and Andre was also a rival for her affection. Later, Babs, Cassidy, Ollie, and Andre formed a band call WooWho! Babs and Ollie later married. I speed ran all this EA lore when creating them, so relationships and milestones should be accurate.

(It's these guys, if you didn't know who I meant)

The other families are all my creation:

The Chang family: Tracy, Sue, Kimberly with Whiskers the cat, Russ, and Danny.

The Wilkinson family: Charmaine, Andre, Ron, Yolanda, and Antoine.

The Soto family: Cristina, Anita, Esteban, and Blanca

The Patterson family: Valeria, Kevin, Gary, Sandra, and Mark. Fun fact they are the first decades townie family I ever created. They are also made over and renamed sims from the very first family I ever played in Sims 4.

Enjoy!

1890s/1900s/1910s/1920s/1930s/1940s/1950s/1960s/1970s

[jennyboom21]

In 2023 actor Sophia Bush made headlines when she filed for divorce one year after a storybook wedding. By the fall it was public knowledge that she was in a new relationship. With a woman. The internet seemed to be foaming at the digital mouth for a scandal, but to those who knew her, it was clear she’d never been more herself. Here, in her own words, Bush speaks to the power of finally learning to listen to her intuition.

In April of 2022 I was close to calling off my wedding. Instead of running away, I doubled down on being a model wife. In 2023 my now ex-husband posted a lovely tribute to our first anniversary on Instagram. When I saw it, I felt the blood drain from my face. Fans and friends were telling me how exciting this milestone was and how happy I looked. I felt nothing. Things hadn’t been easy at home, but everyone says marriage is hard, right? As the day wore on, I felt mounting pressure from strangers online waiting for me to post something—what a strange part of public life to have to navigate—so I sat myself down and chose a picture.

It was a black-and-white photograph of us running away from the camera. Yes, I see the bittersweet irony now. I wrote a really nice story about the people in that picture. Except it was just that: a story. I typed something about how incredibly happy I was and tried to drown out the familiar voice in my head. Make it look easy. Make it look perfect. If your smile is shiny enough, maybe no one will notice that up close all of your teeth are broken. But sometimes broken is just broken.

I hit post. And then I walked into the bathroom and threw up.

I believe in people and ideas so deeply—and those feelings are often so powerful to me—that I hadn’t realized I’d spent the last two decades moving through life showing up for others but often turning my back on myself. This time things felt different. Maybe it’s just cold feet, I told myself. Maybe I was too sensitive. Maybe this was the feeling you get when you settle down later in life and have to make space for another person. There have been moments in my life when it feels like the universe is screaming at me to pay attention. This was one of them, but I didn’t listen.

I kept repeating the adages we all know so well: Relationships are hard. Marriage takes compromise. You know the rest. And so I got married. We threw one of the greatest wedding weekends ever. We had an amazing time with our closest friends and family. It was truly one of the best parties I’ve ever been to, and we raised a ton of money for charity. I don’t regret any of that.

But after the wedding I found myself in the depths and heartbreak of the fertility process, which was the most clarifying experience of my life. It feels like society is finally making space for brutally honest conversations about how hard and painful any fertility journey is, but I kept mine private. I was trying to get through months of endless ultrasounds, hormone shots, so many blood draws that I have scar tissue in my veins, and retrieval after retrieval, while simultaneously realizing the person I had chosen to be my partner didn’t necessarily speak the same emotional language I did.

As I lost track of how many examination tables I had lain on alone, I felt something in me seismically shift. Six months into that journey, I think I knew deep down that I absolutely had made a mistake. It would take my head and heart a while longer to understand what my bones already knew.

And that’s why, when I got an opportunity to do a play in London, I had to go. I had to get out of our house. I had to get onstage. I had to get back in my body. Maybe that could shift things. Maybe that would jump-start the joy I’d been chasing. The play slowly began to put me back together. It was grueling, and it was also the most exhilarating experience. I loved every second of it.

But the book doesn’t lie. The body does, in fact, keep the score. When half of our company went down with a virus, everyone recovered fast except for me. I continued to decline. I would put every fiber of my being into my performance onstage, and then be packed in bags of ice as soon as the curtain closed. I spent multiple nights in the hospital, I was pumped with endless amounts of fluids, I underwent cardiac testing and organ monitoring. It was clear that my body was screaming and I had to listen. It was hard for me to accept. I was part of a team. But I needed to go home, where my doctors (and, truthfully, my health insurance) could get a better handle on my symptoms. My time in London was over. So was my marriage. It all came crashing down at once.

During the summer of 2023, I moved back into my empty home in LA. I was separated and preparing to file for divorce, and groups of women in my life started opening up about issues they were going through in their own homes. It seemed like every week there were more of us, including [former US soccer player] Ashlyn [Harris], whom I’d first met in 2019 and who was in the process of figuring out her own split from her wife. She’d been such a kind ear for those of us who opened up about our problems during a shared weekend of speaking engagements at a fancy conference in Cannes, and soon it became clear that she needed our ears too.

For those of us who had no solution in sight or Hail Marys left, having this community changed everything. We really wrapped one another up in support. It was tragic and hard. But it was also beautiful. There were moments of incredible sadness because no one signs up to get married thinking it’ll end. The days when we knew people needed to laugh, we sent inspirational memes and silly TikToks. We read books written by great therapists and shared emo quotes from poets. Our “Begin Again” Amazon shopping list, which we created for the ones moving out and starting over, has now been forwarded to so many other women.

I didn’t expect to find love in this support system. I don’t know how else to say it other than: I didn’t see it until I saw it. And I think it’s very easy not to see something that’s been in front of your face for a long time when you’d never looked at it as an option and you had never been looked at as an option. What I saw was a friend with her big, happy life. And now I know she thought the same thing about me.

It really took other people in our safe support bubble pointing out to me how we’d finish each other’s sentences or be deeply affected by the same things. When you’re so in the trenches of hardship—plus you have the added weight of having to go through it on a public stage—it can be hard to see anything but what’s right in front of you.

It took me confronting a lot of things, what felt like countless sessions of therapy, and some prodding from loved ones, but eventually I asked Ashlyn to have a non-friend-group hang to talk about it.

And that meal was four and a half hours long and truly one of the most surreal experiences of my life thus far. In hindsight, maybe it all had to happen slowly and then suddenly all at once. Maybe it was all fated. Maybe it really is a version of invisible string theory. I don’t really know. But I do know that for a sparkly moment I felt like maybe the universe had been conspiring for me. And that feeling that I have in my bones is one I’ll hold on to no matter where things go from here.

But there was a lot that quickly turned ugly too. People looking in from the outside weren’t privy to just how much time it took, how many painful conversations were had. A lot of effort was made to be graceful with other people’s processing, their time and obligations, and their feelings. What felt like seconds after I started to see what was in front of me, the online rumor mill began to spit in the ugliest ways. There were blatant lies. Violent threats. There were accusations of being a home-wrecker. The ones who said I’d left my ex because I suddenly realized I wanted to be with women—my partners have known what I’m into for as long as I have (so that’s not it, y’all, sorry!).

The idea that I left my marriage based on some hysterical rendezvous—that, to be crystal-clear, never happened—rather than having taken over a year to do the most soul crushing work of my life? Rather than realizing I had to be the most vulnerable I’ve ever been, on a public stage, despite being terrified to my core? It feels brutal. Just because I didn’t want to process my realizations in real time on social media and spell them out for the world doesn’t mean the journey wasn’t long and thoughtful and exhaustive.

It’s painful to be doing deep work and have it picked apart by clueless strangers. Everyone that matters to me knows what’s true and what isn’t. But even still there’s a part of me that’s a ferocious defender, who wants to correct the record piece by piece. But my better self, with her earned patience, has to sit back and ask, What’s the fucking point? For who? For internet trolls? No, thank you. I’ll spend my precious time doing things I love instead.

I don’t believe it’s my place to discuss details of Ashlyn’s circumstances or her children, but I will say that I am absolutely in awe of her relentless integrity. The way she prioritizes and centers her kids, not only in her life but in the core of her being, is breathtaking to behold. Falling in love with her has sutured some of my own childhood wounds, and made me so much closer to my own mother. Seeing Ashlyn choose to not simply survive, but thrive, for her babies has been the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed a friend do. And now I get to love her. How lucky am I?

I sort of hate the notion of having to come out in 2024. But I’m deeply aware that we are having this conversation in a year when we’re seeing the most aggressive attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community in modern history. There were more than 500 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills proposed in state legislatures in 2023, so for that reason I want to give the act of coming out the respect and honor it deserves. I’ve experienced so much safety, respect, and love in the queer community, as an ally all of my life, that, as I came into myself, I already felt it was my home. I think I’ve always known that my sexuality exists on a spectrum. Right now I think the word that best defines it is queer. I can’t say it without smiling, actually. And that feels pretty great.

Would I have liked to make the public part of this journey a choice for myself, and not have it taken from my lips and set ablaze by gossip blogs and bottom-feeder online bots? Of course. I’m very aware, though, as we discuss bullying and harassment and being outed without consent—that I’m incredibly lucky this happened in my adulthood. I really love who I am, at this age and in this moment. I’m so lucky that my parents, having spent time with Ash over the holidays, said, “Well, this finally looks right.” I know it could have gone differently.

We’ve all learned about kids who have taken their own life after being outed or who have been killed simply for being who they are in a place or time that is threatened by their expressed joy. I am so lucky to be here, now. I have real joy. It took me 41 years to get here. And while I marvel at it, I will also make space for people’s pain. But I will not carry anyone’s projected shame. When I take stock of the last few years, I can tell you that I have never operated out of more integrity in my life. I hope that’s clear enough for everyone speculating out there, while being as gentle as I possibly can be.

After the news became public, my mom told me that one of her friends called her and said, “Well, this can’t be true. I mean, your daughter isn’t gay.” My mom felt that it was obvious, from the way her friend emphasized the word, that she meant it judgmentally. And you know what my mom said? “Oh honey, I think she’s pretty gay. And she’s happy.”

I finally feel like I can breathe. I don't think I can explain how profound that is. I feel like I was wearing a weighted vest for who knows how long. I hadn’t realized how heavy it was until I finally just put it down. This might sound crazy—but I think other people in trauma recovery will get it—I am taking deep breaths again. I can feel my legs and feet. I can feel my feet in my shoes right now. It makes me want to cry and laugh at the same time.

It is so, so scary to do the brave thing, to say, “I’m just not happy.” Especially if you’re in a partnership and you have to say it first. But if you do it, you get the chance to be happy. To find your joy. I turned 41 last summer, amid all of this, and I heard the words I was saying to my best friend as they came out of my mouth. “I feel like this is my first birthday,” I told her. This year was my very first birthday.