#I've connected the dots (I need a nap) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dysfunctionalmaki · 3 years

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To Realize

Main Masterlist

Pairings: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Stark!Reader

Summary: Natasha's been connecting all the dots about how she feels about you, it's up to her to how she'll handle the situation.

A/N: This was supposed to be a oneshot until... I wanted to base it on the whole Black Widow movie :"))

Warnings: none, let me know if there's any.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Your last interaction with your father didn't go well, he simply told you that Secretary Ross is now after you and Natasha after helping Steve, and Bucky to get in the Quinjet while T'challa was after them.

Quickly tackling the king of Wakanda on the ground, while Natasha shot something at him to give Rogers and his friend time to take off, as soon as the jet flew away, you removed your arms that are restraining him.

"Your father will hear about this, and you too Miss Romanoff." The exact words that came out of T'challa, and now you're on the run with Natasha, considered as a global fugitive.

Your father looked at you with disappointment when he mentioned that Ross will be chasing you and the latter, you looked at Natasha before she took your hand and leading you out, taking you to who knows where.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

"You miss your daddy?" Natasha spoke while driving, you chuckle at her words then resting your head against the car window. "Hmm, kinda, so what are we doing here in Norway?" You ask the latter.

"Well, you've noticed that Ross is after our asses after assaulting the King of Wakanda, and helping Steve and Barnes escape the airport, I believe we should lay low, right?" She propped her elbow by the window, resting her head on her knuckle as she drives with one hand. "Oh? I didn't know that." You replied sarcastically, making Natasha roll her eyes.

"What I mean is, why Norway of all places?" Now you're kindly asking, arms crossed over your chest and slowly drifting off to sleep, exhausted after hours of traveling, without Daddy's private planes, sports car, and Quinjet also.

Natasha noticed how your voice softens, a long yawn coming out of your mouth, and quickly glancing at you. "Ross has no jurisdiction here, his boys would stay away from here for the time being." She answered, you softly nodded and replied with an 'okay' almost a whisper with how silent it was.

In a split second, you're already fast asleep at the passenger seat, both arms hugging yourself and your head resting against the window. Nat maintained her eyes on the road as she attempts to reach for a blanket she stashed in the backseat, after few shifts in her place, the Russian managed to grab the cloth.

She gently placed the soft blanket over you, and now focusing herself on driving, for some reason, she has always felt this warm feeling in her heart when she's alone with you, adoration maybe?

Your peaceful state while you're in deep slumber, and hearing your soft snores as she admires the view of the landscape, she would offer everything she has just to stay like this most of the time.

The thought caught her off-guard, why would she want to spend all of her time with her friend's daughter? She shrugged the thought off from her mind, she knows what love feels like, she felt it with Bruce until Hulk decided to drive off somewhere they won't find him.

She did get sad because of it, but she chose to move forward and move on, successfully removing any romantic feelings for Banner, focusing on her work as an Agent and an Avenger.

But why is she feeling this way with you? Her heart melts when she sees you getting all excited when you've successfully upgraded your techs, how she would automatically smile when her eyes would catch you smiling, and how she feels warm when you're there to ease her mind when a mission didn't go as planned.

She's now connecting the dots, using the silence and peace surrounding her, she got time to think about herself and her feelings towards Tony Stark's daughter.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

After half an hour of the drive, you slowly wake up from your nap, looking around the surroundings you're in the middle of the woods, Natasha's still driving. "Good uhh... Evening?" You greeted Nat with your groggy voice.

Natasha stopped the car beside the safehouse, which is a caravan and you don't mind, you can't really call your father to get you a 5-star hotel to stay in. "Did you manage to replenish your energy?" She asked, unbuckling her seat belt and you did the same.

Getting out of the car, she has her gun out and you also have one on your hand, staying alert until both of you heard a loud snore in the room. Natasha immediately returned to her relaxed posture before heading into where the sound belongs, and she found her contractor sleeping.

Kicking his foot that is off the bed, the man immediately woke up. "You're sleeping in my bed." Natasha commented, "I'm not even under the covers." He replied, then his eyes trail at you, awkwardly looking away noticing that the two seemed close.

"I've got what you asked for, fake IDs, drivers licenses, and some VISAs, also for Miss Stark too, just like what you've told me to do." He says as he handed out the fake identifications to Natasha, while reading, the Russian frowned upon what she just read. "Really? Fanny Longbottom?"

"That is a legitimate name." He defended himself, them Natasha handed your fake IDs, taking a good look at them and you're amazed about how real they seem to be. "Thank you...?" You softly spoke.

"Rick, Rick Mason." He introduced himself, and you shook his hand also introducing yourself, with little chit-chat soon after the man left leaving you and Natasha alone.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

An hour has passed it's already dark out, you're currently sitting by the front door, knees up to your chest, and you already felt homesick, Natasha's company is nice honestly, but the feeling of being far away from your father and home sucks.

Natasha looks at you while you're way too busy gazing at the woods, she knows you aren't used to this type of setup, running away from authorities, and far from home, she felt bad for you.

She walks up behind you, making sure you're aware of her presence before placing a hand on your shoulder. "I'm going to watch a movie on my laptop, feel free to join me, I'm also eating the ice cream we bought at the convenience store earlier." She softly spoke before leaving you alone.

Minutes after, you finally stood up from where you are sitting and closing the front door, almost dragging your way to Natasha. Two bowls of ice cream in front of her, and her laptop already on, she was waiting for you.

You placed yourself beside her, head resting on her shoulder then she plays the movie on the screen, lazily taking a spoonful of the cold treat in your mouth, and eyes glued on the screen, but you weren't paying attention to the movie, you're spacing out.

"Hey, Y/N? Are you okay?" Of course, not, Natasha knows damn well you aren't okay, she thought that it's a dumb question. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" You answered just like your father, she paused the film and causing you to look at her. "No, you're not okay, and that's okay." She says before taking you into her arms.

You're surprised actually, Natasha isn't usually the one who initiates physical contact but here she is, her arms wrapped around your body. You needed this, you needed to feel home and somehow being hugged by Natasha feels like it.

Burying your face at her shoulders then you knew you're melting in her arms, it almost brought the tears out of you, as if her touch is enough the lift the burden you've been feeling.

Natasha feels like home.

You try not to think anything about the affection she just gave, but damn, you think you'd go batshit crazy if you won't get to experience this again.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Let's be clear here, you've had a crush on Natasha while she's still Natalie, then as soon as Fury revealed that she is some secret agent, you were so amazed that you started liking her, though she didn't contact after that.

You weren't part of the Avengers initiative, but you did join them in the battle of Sokovia, but she and Banner have a thing going on, so you've decided to set those feelings aside. Which you successfully did for a few months, and after Bruce flying who knows where maybe you can make a move?

So you did, you would jokingly flirt around Natasha, and your father would give a questioning look then you slowly back away, but you were also a great friend to Nat, it's just that you can't seem to get all romantic with Natasha.

Just as much of a playboy your father is, that's all his, you suck at this type of thing, so Nat probably thought you're just a caring and affectionate person.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

You gently pull away from Natasha's grasp, and she looks at you with her emerald eyes. "Better?" She asked, placing a hand on your cheek softly caressing your skin. "Much better, thank you." She smiled with your answer, the next thing you know is that you're way too close to her, and you're looking at her plump lips.

This would be a perfect time to make a move.

You hold the back of her hand that is on your cheek, slowly closing in, and Natasha is leaning closer, so near that you could feel each other breathing, just when your lips were about to touch hers... the power died.

Nat cleared her throat and awkwardly moving away, removing her hand away from you and she stood up. "I'm just going to check the power generator." She says before going outside.

Her face turned red as soon as she was out of your sight, she got way too vulnerable with you, she almost kissed you but she sure knows she's going to like it but no, not at a time like this.

She tried to get the power back on, only to find that there's no more fuel in the generator, she came back inside finding you eating ice cream in the corner, and probably waiting for her to come back.

"I'm going to a gas station, do you want to come with me?" She asked, you nodded before getting off your ass and bringing yourself into her car, there's this awkward tension between the two of you, and as soon as she started driving, the silence swallowed the two of you.

"Can I turn the radio on?" You asked her, she simply nodded while eyes fixated on the road, you played the radio, and Sia's Cheap Thrills came on. "Damn, even here? When is this song going to die?" You commented.

Natasha taps her fingers on the steering wheel according to the beats, despite hearing the song over and over whenever you would turn on the radio, you still liked it.

Midway through the song, you felt chills on your body, and as soon as you look at the window beside you, suddenly you see an RPG heading towards the car.

"Nat—" Before she could react it has already hit the car causing an explosion, now the vehicle is hanging on the edge of the bridge, and with one wrong move it'll head straight down to the water. "Ooh, fuck that hurts." Hissing as you try to collect yourself and trying to fight the headache it caused.

Natasha on the other hand is in pain and boy, she's mad. "I'm pretty sure Ross has no jurisdiction here, and you should know that I'm a better shot when I'm pissed off," Nat spoke before firing few bullets at the person, you look at her and biting your lip, finding her hot.

"Wow, that's hot..." You spoke under your breath but Natasha heard, glaring at you. "Really? At a time like this?" She says, before heading out of the car when you tried to get out Nat stopped you. "How long can you hold your breath?" She asked. "Last time I beat Sam it was a good 4 minutes and a half."

"As soon as this psycho comes close enough, I'll push you into the water, it's not after us." She says you look at her as if she's speaking lies. "Nat, I'm not leaving you here–" before you could protest, you felt her lips against yours it was quick but you know damn well, that Natasha kissed you.

"I'll meet you down there, I promise." She says before a shield comes charging towards her, and managed to avoid it, yet it hit the car, now you're falling off the bridge and you suddenly noticed a small case on her hand.

You quickly got out of the car before it could hit the water, then you swam heading to safety where the one who ambushed wouldn't see you.

Closing your eyes hoping that Nat would come back to you in one piece, there's no way you'll let her die after kissing you, of course, you wanted to fight but your body just wouldn't.

You can't risk losing Natasha now.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Next Part: To Remember

#natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff #black widow x reader #black widow #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #marvel #marvel universe #tony stark #iron man #fem!reader #fem!stark!reader #natasha romanov #natasha romanoff x fem!reader #natasha romanoff x fem!stark!reader

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thatcheesyler · 2 years

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Never marry someone with a protective sibling

Editor's note: @intheheartofarainbow suggested this, please do consider liking their posts aswell!

Summary: Yuri Briar has just recently heard about Yor's new husband......he's not happy about it. Enjoy!

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"You.What!?"

"Yuri-san, I'm an adult, please don't interfere with my marriage." Yor replied, she was talking with Yuri about her newfound husband as she hadn't told him yet.

"Fiiine, but can I at least meet the guy?" Yuri asked with little patience.

"O-oh, of course! Our address is ######## (I don't know their address lol) please come visit whenever you can."

"Well in that case, I'll be seeing you in 4 hours sis! Bye!"

......'f-four...HOURS!?' Yor internally panicked. She had expected him to wait at least 2 days before visiting......then again it is Yuri Briar we're talking about. Still, she had to warn Loid right away.

"F-four...hours..?" Loid nervously replied. "That's exactly what I was thinking, but I can't stop him. Do you know how we can prove to him we're happily married?" Yor explained. Fortunately, Loid did know what to do. He had bought some cheesy couple things online just in case this exact scenario were to take place.

X+-Time skip lol-+X

The doorbell rang. Yuri was greeted by his lovely sister and the so called 'twat' which happened to be Loid (unsurprisingly 😒) Anyway, Yuri had originally planned to make Loid drink enough alcohol to expose himself in front of everyone, but had ended up drinking it himself as he was still agitated about this whole subject.

"Yuri-san, Loid-san, I'm going to take a nap and let you have some bonding time, goodnight!"

The millisecond Yor had left the room, Loid found himself pinned to the sofa with an angry, drunk Yuri staring down at him.

"Did you really think I would accept this?! Why would my wonderful sister ever marry a guy like you?!" Yuri released one of his hands to poke Loid in the stomach on the last word. An uncharacteristic yelp darted out of Loid's mouth before he could stop it.

At first, Yuri was just plain confused, but slowly he managed to connect the dots and a mischievous smile was etched onto his features. "Awww, is the great Loid Forger a little ticklish~?"

"N-no, I'm not. Get off of me!" Loid struggled in the other man's grip, but Yuri wasn't letting go now, not after his excellent discovery. "I think you are~, why don't I prove it to you?" And without any further words, Yuri used one hand to move Loid's arms above his head and gently began to trace little circles on his victim's sensitive belly. This time, Loid put some effort into holding back his adorable laughter, but Yuri wasn't giving up. "I've been wondering, how many ribs does the average person have again? Oh, I know! I'll count your ribs to check." The worst part was Loid knew exactly what was going to happen, and the anticipation was killing him. Soon enough, Yuri's skinny fingers made it to Loid's ribs and had started to tip-toe up, counting each rib along the way. "One....two....thre- hey! Stop squirming, you're making me lose count!"

Meanwhile, Loid was very much dying as he was holding in his laughter for so long, but that all fell to pieces when Yuri reached his 7th rib up, Loid finally broke, "Bahahahahaha! Ohohohokahahay yohohohuhuhu wihihihin hehehehahaha!"

"*gasp* finally! But don't think I'll stop just yet, I still need much more if you're gonna be with my sister!" Suddenly, Yuri switched to scribbling all over his sides and Loid's giggles escalated. "Wahahahahahahahihihihihit, Nohohohohohohohot thehehehehehehehere bahahahahahahahaha!!"

"Hmmmm, not there? What about....HERE!" Yuri jutted his finger into his armpit and wiggled it around, but unfortunately, that reduced Loid's laughter. So Yuri proceeded to drag his finger up and down Loid's spine. This increased the giggles but not by much so, he switched to plan B. The knees. "Hey, what about your knees?"

Loid widened his eyes when his knees were mentioned and tried to scrunch his legs up the best he could, but Yuri just rolled them out again. "Ooo~, I think I've found quite the jackpot~" He teased and reached down to squeeze the top of his knee. Loid frickity frackin' screeched at the contact. "NAHAHAHAHAHAHA PLEHEHEHEHAHAHASEHEHE MOHOHOHOVE SOHOHOHOMEHEWHEHEHERE EHELSE, IHIHI'M BEHEHEGGIHIHING YOHOHUHU!!" (I'm beggin', begging you~ 😩.) As much as Yuri wanted to continue, he knew there was only so much a person could take. So, he let up off of the helpless Loid forger and went to make him a glass of water. In the time being, Loid was curled up in a ball of leftover giggles from the phantom scratches and just kinda.....laid there until he felt like moving. Yuri had gone home by the time Loid had sat up and drank the water he was given. 'Wow, what a day' he thought with a little smile. 'Call me crazy, but maybe tickling isn't that bad..'

👹THE END👹

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This took so looong 😵 but I hope you enjoyed. Leave your opinion in the comments, please and thank you. Have a lovely day/night, byyyyeee!

#yor x loid #anime and manga #funny #tickles #spy x family tickle #ler!Yuri #lee!loid

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enhasfever · 3 years

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𝑅𝐸𝐴𝐶𝑇𝐼𝑂𝑁 𝑇𝑂 𝑌𝑂𝑈 𝐷𝐼𝑆𝐿𝐼𝐾𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝐿𝐴𝑅𝐺𝐸 𝐶𝑅𝑂𝑊𝐷𝑆

➪ pairing: enhypen x fem!reader

➪ genre(s): angst, fluff

➪ tw: anxiety attacks, a bit of crying, a few swears, mentions of past trauma

➪ wc: 3.5k

➪ in which you have an immense fear of overly crowded places, but your boyfriend is always there to comfort you.

➪ a/n: thank you to the lovely person who requested this! i hope this is what you wanted. <3 i've never had firsthand experience with anxiety so i apologize if anything comes across as insensitive or unrealistic, i only used knowledge i've gained through people i know that experience this. also i got carried away with a few of them *cough, ni-ki's* but i hope you enjoy!

➪ heeseung

when you and hee had first met, the thing he immediately noticed about you was how tough you were.

you were mentally quite strong and had a good sense of stability about you.

and he admired you for that.

as you two grew closer, however, he found that despite this first impression he had, you were human just like everyone else.

and you had your own set of fears and flaws.

but he grew to admire you even more for that.

one of those fears of yours came from a past childhood incident involving a large crowd.

and heeseung knew of this and did his best to keep you away from situations involving crowds.

but unfortunately, not every big crowd could be avoided.

thankfully, heeseung knew exactly what to do during the times that you needed him.

you two had gone on a nice walk down the boardwalk in the late evening after deciding that you were both bored out of your minds.

and you were having such a great time talking and laughing together.

and maybe you held hands. 👉🏻👈🏻

the further down the pier you made it, more and more people slowly began to show up.

at first it didn't bother you much, though you made a conscious effort to keep watch.

finally you came to a dead stop in the midst of the boardwalk, your eyes zeroing in on the overabundance of people swarming a snack stand just a few meters away.

"can we turn back around?" you asked quietly.

heeseung, being the ever so considerate and kind soul he is, didn't even question your request and immediately turned around with you.

he placed a hand on the small of your back and drew you in closer to him as you began to walk the way you had just come.

and you felt that small bit of anxiousness leave you at once.

"thank you," you smiled gratefully.

you were met with a featherlike kiss against your temple.

"you're always safe with me, y/n."

➪ jay

jay had known you since middle school.

you were the epitome of the resident rough and tough girl who took no shit from anyone.

you were often off on your own or with the very few people you considered to be your friends.

he never thought much of it and chalked it up to your natural tendency to act cold towards most people.

what he didn't realize, however, was that you weren't avoiding people to be mean...

he never really connected the dots until well after you two had graduated.

you wanted to go on your weekly shopping date at the local mall.

strategically, you always planned for the date to happen during the least busy time of the day so you could avoid the large masses.

unfortunately for you, you and jay had spontaneously taken a nap a few hours before the planned time to leave.

and by the time you woke up, it was two hours past the designated time to leave.

jay didn't think much of it, but you on the other hand were about to lose it.

"jay, can we just go tomorrow?" you asked desperately, grabbing his sleeve with slightly trembling hands.

"why?" he frowned a little in return, failing to notice your shaking hands.

"i just don't feel like going any more," you lied, feeling slightly embarrassed.

if there was one thing jay had mastered since being with you, it was being able to tell when you were lying or holding back.

you had a certain tell that he'd quickly picked up on.

he sat you down on the bed you'd just risen from and took your hands in his.

and only then did he realize how shaky you were.

"tell me what's wrong, love," he encouraged gently, rubbing his thumbs over the backs of your hands.

"there's going to be a lot of people there..."

"there's always a lot of people there, love, it's a mall."

you shook your head adamantly. "there's going to be a lot of people. jay, i can't do big crowds."

finally, he started to understand why you were acting so differently.

with a final nod, he pressed a kiss to your knuckles before sprawling back out on the bed.

"we can go tomorrow, love."

and he opened his arms wide for you which you eagerly took him up on.

➪ jake

it was his birthday and as they did every year, the boys were throwing him a party.

it was always just the few of you running around to all the fast food restaurants in the city to collect as much junk food as you could before settling down in jay's living room with movies playing across the giant flat screen tv all night.

you hadn't expected anything different this year, but boy were you in for a surprise when you arrived.

cars lined the streets in both directions and dozens of people littered the front yard and the second floor balcony.

you stood at the end of the long driveway with jake's present in your hands, your mouth agape at the scene before you.

loud music thumped from within the house and vibrated the ground you were standing on.

and your heart began hammering in your chest.

if it was this crowded outside of the house, you didn't want to see how packed it was inside.

the thought alone had you backing up until you were inside the safety of your car again.

you scrambled to find your phone and dialed jake's number with trembling fingers and blurring vision.

after a few rings, he picked up but the deafening music muffled his voice.

"can you come outside? i'm in the car," you sniffled, and you think he agreed before hanging up.

it was hard to hear.

before long, jake was sliding into the passenger seat of your car and you hurriedly wiped your tears from your cheeks.

"hey, what's wrong?" he asked, immediately noticing your disheveled state and reaching over for your hand.

"i thought it was just going to be us and our friends, what's all this?" you gestured to the huge party scene before you.

reality seemed to hit jake right then.

"oh, baby, i'm so sorry. i didn't even think about that," he apologized, leaning over to press many kisses to your flushed cheeks.

"it's okay, i don't want to ruin your night. i just don't think i can go inside," you sighed softly.

"look at me."

he turned your chin towards him and gazed into your eyes lovingly.

"i promise i won't let anything bad happen to you. do you think you can try for me?"

you knew better than anyone that jake would never put you in harms way.

but the thought still scared you.

nevertheless, you found yourself agreeing anyways. you didn't want to ruin a night that was supposed to be about him.

you climbed out of the car together where jake then proceeded to lift you onto his back securely.

you felt safe with him, you always did.

"that's my brave girl," he praised you softly as he began to walk back towards the house.

you buried your face in his shoulder so you wouldn't have to see the crowded interior, and he happily let you stay close to his side all night.

➪ sunghoon

you and sunghoon often liked to sprawl out on the grass outside during warm and sunny days.

you talked about many things and tried to find shapes in the clouds above.

sometimes you secretly people watched together and came up with fake stories for each of them that had you rolling on the ground in laughter.

today was a day that you just really felt like venting to one another.

you enjoyed these days most of all.

"what's your biggest fear?" you asked suddenly.

sunghoon's eyelids remained shut as the sunshine poured heavily down on the two of you, but the soft hum that vibrated from him let you know that he was still awake.

"hm, probably being trapped in a room with no doors or windows. or spiders."

"no spiders sounds fantastic, what are you on?" you teased, earning yourself a light smack to the arm.

"i meant spiders might also be my biggest fear," he huffed exaggeratedly. "what's yours, tough one?"

you rolled your eyes fondly at the nickname he'd given you a while back after you'd squashed a spider with your bare palm with absolutely no hesitation.

you went silent for a few moments as you debated on whether or not you wanted to tell him.

he wouldn't laugh at you for it, he was too sweet to do something so insensitive like that.

but you knew he would ask more questions and that was what you weren't sure about revealing to him just yet.

sunghoon knew you had a rough childhood which led up to how you acted to this day.

letting out a long sigh, you decided to tell him.

"i'm scared of big crowds. more so getting lost in them," you admitted feebly.

just as you'd predicted, he asked, "why?"

you swallowed thickly and squeezed your eyes shut as bad memories from your past began plaguing your mind.

noticing your hesitance to answer his prying question, sunghoon peeked his eyelids open and turned his head to look at you.

he noticed the way you chewed the inside of your cheek and the way that your fingers anxiously fiddled with the hem of your shirt.

"you don't have to tell me if it's too much," he spoke sincerely, reaching a hand over to rest atop one of yours.

you shook your head; you had to tell him.

"it's okay," you answered, your voice wavering slightly.

"uhm, when i was little and i used to act up, my parents would take me to a store or someplace with lots of people and would threaten to leave me there. they would tell me that a big scary man would come take me if i didn't behave. so i guess i'm just scared that if i'm left alone with a lot of people, something could happen to me."

sunghoon gave your hand a firm squeeze.

"i'm so sorry, y/n. i promise i'll always keep you safe when you're with me."

he didn't think of you any differently.

in fact, he decided that it made you even tougher than he had initially believed you to be.

a smile was brought to your face and you turned your hand over to connect your fingers with his.

"thank you, hoon," you hummed softly before turning your head to place a gentle kiss to his lips.

➪ sunoo

sunoo knew of your fear of being in crowded areas.

he did everything in his power to keep you as far away from them as possible.

but sometimes, things didn't always work according to plan.

now was one of those times.

you were on your way to a filming site where the enhypen boys would be shooting for their upcoming promotions.

you loved tagging along to show your support to your boyfriend and the rest of the boys.

but of course the location of the site had gotten leaked to the public somehow.

so as you arrived, there were hundreds of fans swarming the entrance with their phones out.

the only entrance there.

instinctively before you had even gotten out of the vehicle, your hand shot out to grab sunoo's with a vice-like grip.

and he instantly knew what was wrong.

"you can do this, y/n," he murmured softly to you as the vehicle came to a stop.

"y/n, you're braver than you think. you've got this!" jungwon piped up from the seats behind you.

"y/n, fighting!" jake also chimed in.

more words of encouragement were spewing from the boys occupying the vehicle with you and although it warmed your heart, it didn't cease your anxiety one bit.

in fact, your anxiety only spiked when the door on sunoo's side opened up.

you found yourself scrambling to your side of the vehicle, pressing yourself against the closed door as your breathing grew uneven.

your chest felt like it was tightening to the point that it was getting hard for you to breathe and your mind whirled in a frenzy of chaotic thoughts.

"y/n, you're alright," sunoo's voice echoed through your mess of incoherent thoughts.

tears were streaming rapidly down your cheeks and you couldn't seem to catch your breath.

sunoo reached out for your hands and scooted closer on the seat towards you.

"do the countdown with me, y/n," he encouraged gently. "tell me five things you can see."

your eyes frantically looked around you and you managed to choke out the five things that caught your eye.

"good, you're doing good," he praised softly. "what about four things you can feel?"

you continued on with the countdown until you'd finished it, and although you weren't completely calmed, you definitely felt more grounded than you did minutes ago.

sunoo smiled warmly and reached up to brush the fallen tears from your face.

"good job, y/n. they staff are moving them all back for you now. do you think you can try stepping outside?"

you were very hesitant to agree, but you didn't want to be stuck out there in the vehicle the whole time.

you came to have fun and be supportive of sunoo.

so, you nodded and let sunoo carefully help you out of the vehicle.

jay met you two as you finally clambered out and threw his jacket over your head to block out the sight and sound of the crowd.

you immediately stuck yourself to sunoo's side, wrapping your arms tightly around his midsection.

they carefully and quickly led you through the crowd and past the entrance of the site.

"i'm so proud of you, y/n," sunoo spoke lovingly to you, giving you a gentle squeeze.

➪ jungwon

you and jungwon along with the rest of the boys were taking a plane to the next city on their tour.

and it was safe to say that airports were not your best friend.

not only did they constantly lose luggage and delay flights, but they were infested with way too many people for your liking.

as soon as you and the boys along with the rest of their team stepped foot through the entrance, panic set in.

naturally, you gravitated closer to your boyfriend at the center of the group.

and immediately his arm was protectively around your shoulders.

it wasn't too bad at first as you stayed inside of your makeshift shield made up of the other boys and the staff.

but when it came time to stand in the line to go through the security check, all hell broke loose and suddenly there were a swarm of shrieking fans nearly knocking the security guards down.

and that is when you broke.

"someone get her to the front of the line," you heard someone call out as you nearly crumpled to the ground.

you were immediately scooped up into jungwon's arms as he hurried past the small line of people ahead.

he sat you on the ground just in front of the metal detector and helped you slide your shoes and accessories off.

all the while whispering sweet and encouraging words to you in an attempt to calm you down.

your heart continued to race even after you'd been ushered through the security check.

jungwon quickly found a quiet area near one of the gift shops and sat down on the floor with you in his lap.

you hid your face from the noisy world around you and snuggled into the warmth of his jacket as he wrapped the ends around you.

"i'm so sorry, i didn't know they would be here," he apologized, rubbing soothing circles into your back.

"did you forget who you are?" you managed to tease in response.

a small laugh escaped from his lips.

he was glad you didn't react as badly as you had done in the past.

"are you feeling better now?"

you nodded, feeling your heart rate returning back to normal.

"good, i think we should catch up with everyone else."

you both stood back up and jungwon once more wrapped you up under his arm.

he left a quick kiss to your forehead before steering you towards the awaiting group.

➪ ni-ki

you were the resident tough girl at school and had been that for as long as you could remember.

it all started when you'd punched some snot-nosed little boy in second grade after he'd pulled your hair.

people quickly learned that you weren't one to be messed with.

everyone assumed you to be this absolutely fearless badass who could wrangle any of the annoying guys in your class with no problem.

but, that wasn't necessarily the case.

the only person who knew of your single biggest fear was nishimura riki.

and he didn't find out by your choice to tell him, either.

at first you'd despised each other because he had been that snot-nosed kid you'd punched back in second grade.

that rivalry carried on through all your school career until the incident.

you had been dragged to your high school's pep rally which was the least ideal place for you to be.

the stands were filled to the max with students who shoved each other around and cheered far too loudly.

you tried to snag a seat at the very front of the bleachers but had gotten there too late.

you were stuck in the dead center.

you stayed seated on the bleachers while everyone else around you stood and stamped their feet, jostling you around.

your hands clamped over your ears and you curled in on yourself as you felt the beginning signs of an anxiety attack begin to take place.

you weren't sure how long you had stayed like that, but the next thing you knew, you were being ushered down the aisle by a bunch of teachers.

after getting safely seated in the nurse's office to calm down, only then did you notice that someone else had followed you there.

"what do you want?" you spat annoyedly despite your body still reacting to the shock it had just gone through.

"hm, a thank you would be nice to start with," riki answered back, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall next to the cot you rested on.

"thank you for what?"

"for getting you out of there before you passed out."

you narrowed your eyes disbelievingly at him.

"you helped me? what are you expecting to get in return?"

riki scoffed and rolled his eyes as he moved to sit on the end of your cot.

you sucked your feet in closer to yourself to give him room to sit, though you weren't sure why you did that when you could've just knocked him off and had a good laugh.

"well, nothing really. but if you insist that i had an ulterior motive, then..."

your eyes grew wide as you watched him lean in closer to you, then tapped his cheek expectantly.

"you're kidding, right?" you gaped in response.

riki shrugged with the most smug smirk on his face.

"what, you're too scared to kiss me, too?"

that was enough to have something inside of you snap.

"i'm not scared."

and you proved just that by forcefully grabbing him by the jaw and turning his head before planting your lips firmly against his.

"there," you sat back shortly after, "is that what you wanted?"

it took him a few seconds to get over the initial shock, but soon that smug look appeared on his face once again.

"i still think i deserve a thank you."

"you just dragged me here to make me kiss you, if anything i deserve a thank you for not knocking you out."

"but i made you forget that you were anxious, didn't i?"

you opened your mouth to argue back but stopped short as you realized he was right.

"thank you," you murmured out shyly.

his lips were back on yours for a few seconds again, then, "thank you."

282 notes · View notes

0verthinking1t · 2 years

Text

The babiest of baby steps — manually setting priorities

I didn't get great sleep last night, and yesterday was a very busy and stressful day. My body and brain are both bundled up cozily in Recovery Mode, but I still have to push myself to do the basics just like every day. I just woke up from a nap, I'm sleepy, and although my daily basic tasks are all written out and organized on my menu, picking where to start is proving a hurdle. For many with ADHD, prioritizing and acting on even our daily hygiene routines are things that don't come naturally to us, so in order to function, sometimes it can help to talk/walk through the process "manually". As an example of what this can look like, I'm going to write down the "manual prioritization" process I'm using today to push through my post-nap funk.

Ok. Let's walk it back a few steps. Pick these scattered tasks up off the floor and arrange them in a neat line. First, which of my menu items for today could I realistically do as I am right now?

I mark some of the tasks on my Appetizers and Mains sections with blue arrows, to indicate the things I could do with minimal energy. This narrows it down to "eat lunch, drink water, make tea, brush teeth, get dressed" and a couple tasks related to medical stuff.

That's still kind of messy. I CAN do all this now, but I don't WANT to do any of them. Can I narrow it down more? .... Actually, yes. What basic needs does my body have to meet at this moment? Which of these will make me more comfy in general?

Good question. I mark immediate basic needs with pink dots. These are all on the appetizers, of course, and narrows things down to "eat, get water, brush teeth, and make tea". Actually.... Scratch the tea. It would be inconvenient to delay brushing teeth and drinking water for that right now. Ok, 3 things left, and they're all super easy and logical. What do I want to do first?

Water. My mouth is dry and tastes like ass, but I don't want to brush my teeth until I eat something. I'll start with filling my waterbottle, and think about food while I'm in the kitchen.

how it worked out just now was that I went to the kitchen for water ✅, realized I had some soylents in the fridge (technically a complete meal's worth of nutrition, easy to grab and finish fast, but only to use in a pinch. I keep a couple around to fend off Ritalin jitters) and grabbed one for lunch ✅, and decided after I finish it to get dressed ✅, brush teeth ✅, and make tea if I'm still lagging ✅. Then I'll be ready to do more complicated thinking and accomplish the medical tasks ✅✅.

The basic gist is to just focus on finding step 1, and after that the rest falls into place. I can string my tasks together more intuitively once I've actually initiated something and got moving, so once I have priority 1 decided, I can usually kick back into gear from there. If dealing with the first thing doesn't work, I can just go back to the list and do the process again until my motor's running.

It might seem weird to have to stretch all this out like getting a glass of water is some complicated technical task 😛 but if you also find yourself benefitting from manually prioritizing, I want you to know that this isn't a moral failing, or a sign of low intelligence. Like I said, a lot of neurodivergent brains just straight up don't do certain functional processes like prioritizing, forming habits, or processing things into memory. We physically do not have enough of the chemicals that play key roles in connecting the different areas of our brains together, even though those individual areas function just fine. It's embarrassing to admit that I'm at a point in life where I need to list, sort, and prioritize things like drinking water or brushing my teeth, yea, but ya know.... If this is what it takes right now for me to feel healthy and stable, then so be it 🤷‍♂️ all that matters is that it's working.

#adhd #mental disability #mental health #personal journal #daily accomplishments #prioritizing #mundane tasks #daily routine #healthy hygeine #baby steps #if it works it works #relearning how to be human

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empires-au-ideas · 2 years

Note

How I imagine the new rulers react to/think about wanderer!scott

Shrub:

No thought head empty

Cold=Good

New older sibling acquired

Pearl:

Also no thought head empty

Has seen weirder things than the kid with glowing eyes that maybe floats

Thinks of him as a stray cat

Vaguely cute but feral

Gem and Fwhip:

Lowkey scared of him

Thinks he’s planning their murder

But they’re determined to get him on their side

Jimmy:

Slightly unsettled

Has also seen him go cross eyed when a firefly landed on his nose

He can’t be that bad, probably just lonely

Sausage:

100% certain Scott cursed him

Does not like him at all but tolerates it bc he doesn’t want Xornoth around anymore

Joey:

Has never met him

From what he hears from Xornoth Scott’s his only hope though

Lizzie:

Probably thinks he’s a ghost

Does not really care though

Joel:

Says that Lizzie’s wrong for calling him a ghost bc ghost aren’t real (he’s actually just trying to convince himself)

Feral on feral energy

Likes him well enough for not snitching on him and Lizzie

Katherine:

Doesn’t know much about him other than rumors

The overgrown seems to like him well enough though, so he can’t be all that bad

Bonus

Pix:

Has only met Scott once

Every now and then wonders of the elf boy he met was okay

Keeps track of the cold wanderer’s wear abouts

Shrub, that one dude voice: it's free sibling-state

Pearl pspsps ed at him one time and it worked.

Scott isn't too fond of the twins, because he DOES remember Fwhip shouting at him at the Harmony Festival. He's got a strict "no killing" rule though, just incase Exor makes it so he won't stop. Fwhip thinks he's dangerous, so does Gem but she's in the running to be head Wizard. She can take care of a little danger herself, without her twin pestering her.

Oh yes. Yes yes yes. Mythland definetly was cursed for a good month or two after they chased Scott out of the kingdom, Scott didn't get away without a few cuts and bruises. You can imagine how Aeor might respond to this, especially to Saudage himself, who had managed to get an arrow unto Scott's leg.

I would also like to say that Mythland is allied with Xornoth, Mythland is promising to supply them with weapons while Xornoth keeps Mythland and the two colonies "out of harms way" by heavily guarding and policing them. No one goes in, no one comes out. Sausage has been king for less than ten years at this point, but maybe this is what allyship looks like?

Jimmy thinks all he needs is warm soup and a good nap. That always makes him feel better. The Cod Empire is built on community, no one should be all alone like that.

Joey has met Scott, which I will be discussing soon (as soon as I figure out how they meet wfhknsdjk)

I think I've said this, but the Ocean Empire is HELLA superstitious. Kid shows up, doesn't say a word, steals something, and basically walks on water to get away? She's not messing with that.

Joel has a similar view, the guy actually managed to get away from his dad? He's never seen someone actually defy the guard (other than Lizzie and himself of course) but no, he's not impressed. He doesn't care in the slightest, not at all. Besides, ghosts can't be real cuz then magic is real.

Katherine is very much a fan of Scott. He makes the usually hot and humid House Blossom actually a little bearable. He's mindful of the flowers when he passes through, which is more than what Katherine can say about a lot of visitors.

Pixandria was the first empire Scott had visited, making Pix the first person who's ever seen the Cold Wanderer without his veil. And yes, he's connected the dots on who the ghost is. He feels a sigh of relief whenever he hears news of him, glad the kid is all right.

And of course, we all know what XORNOTH thinks of his little brother.

#empires smp au #empires smp s1 #the cold wanderer au #8teddy-bear8 #ask: au add on

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viking-raider · 3 years

Text

Southern Generation - Part VII

Summary: Some big things happen between Sy and Lily, before they had back home to Celina, where they build a nest for their growing family.

Pairing: Captain Syverson/OFC

Word Count: 11,617

Warning: M - Language, Fluff, Angst, Smut - intercourse and sorta exhibitionism and mention of bodily fluids, Domestic bliss, Traditions - new and old

Inspiration: Sy and the hunk of man he is!

Author's Note: Much love to @wondersofdreaming for being a stand up beta and friend.

Tag List Blog: @viking-raider-taglist

“Where have the two of you been?” Lily asked, coming down the stairs as Sy and her grandfather came out of his study.

“Just having a chat.” Sy smiled up at her.

“Lily, I have something I need to say to you.” Davis said, looking up at his granddaughter.

“Yeah, you know what, I have something I need to say to you too.” Lily replied, planting her hands on her hips.

“Oh, lord.” Sy mumbled under his breath, knowing the look of this stance, and cleared his throat.

“All right.” Davis nodded, biting his lip. “You can go first, then.” He told her, motioning with his hand.

“Good.” Lily nodded back. “I don't appreciate the way you've been treating me since we arrived this morning. I understand that I hurt you by running off like I did, but Sy is right. I didn't have to tell you I was going or why I was going.” She told him, firmly. “I know that you were hurt and worried about me, because of the past trauma of what happened with my parents and my birth, but this and we-” She motioned between herself and Sy.

“Are not my parents and that situation, and you need not to treat it like it is.”

Davis bit his lip and looked at the dark and scuffed wood of the hallway floor, trying to hold back the smile that wanted to pull across his lips. Lily's fire reminded him so much of himself, and in a way, of his Daisy.

“You're right, Lily.” He finally spoke, looking up at her, taking a deep breath.

“I have been a down right jerk to you and Austin, and I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me for it. I love you so very much, Lily. You are my granddaughter. You are the only thing of my precious daughter I have left and I don't want to lose that, or you. Let alone the beautiful great-grandbaby you have growing inside of you.”

Lily pressed her lips together, her bottom one quivering as her eyes shined with building tears. “I do forgive you.” She blubbered, sniffling at him.

Davis opened his arms to her and Lily rushed into them, colliding with his chest. He smiled and squeezed his arms around her, burying his face in her hair, trying to hold back his own tears. Sy stood beside them, grinning that the two of them had reconciled their differences and became close again, truly hoping that it remained that way.

“Dave?”

Letting out a disappointed huff, he let Lily go and turned towards the sound of his name, finding one of his work hands standing in the open doorway. “What is it?” He asked, lifting a brow at him.

“Mac thinks he found a way to save the York tree.” The hand replied, sheepish eyes darting between the three of them.

Davis looked down at Lily, a tinge of sadness in his eyes.

“I'll see you at dinner.” Lily told him, giving his hand a squeeze and gave him a reassuring look.

He smiled at her, kissing her temple, then followed his worker out the door. Lily turned to Sy and wrapped her arms around his waist, sighed into his chest, a mile-wide smile on her face as she thought about the good vibe she had after what had just transpired with her grandfather. Sy smiled and hugged her back, rubbing his palms up and down her back and resting his chin on top of her head, content and happy.

“Thank you.” She said as they entered her bedroom.

“For what?” He frowned, sitting down on her bed.

“All of this probably wouldn't have happened, if it wasn't for you.” She told him, motioning around her room. “I still would have been cowering at the house in Celina. Too afraid of my own shadow, let alone the outside world. You've given me strength and hope again.” She stood in front of him and cupped his face in her hands, tilting his head back to look up at her.

“Thank you, Austin Syverson.” She whispered, kissing him, softly.

Sy wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap, nuzzling his face into her neck. “It was all you, Angel.” He cooed, his breath warm against her skin. “I just drove you here.” He told her, rubbing his nose against the spot just below her ear.

Lily narrowed her eyes. “You and my grandfather talked about me, didn't you?” She asked, connecting the dots.

“Whatever gave you that idea, sweet lips?” He asked, grinning into her jaw.

“The two of you holed up in his office for forty-five minutes.”

“Oh now, darling.” Sy chuckled, pressing his lips to her jawbone. “My dearest, sweetest, love.”

“Wyatt.”

“Listen to that tone.” Sy exclaimed, rocking back and looking at her. “That's the tone. You sound like such a mama already.” He grinned at her, licking his lips.

“It's so hot.”

“You're turned on by that?”

“Watching your tummy steadily round out with my babe inside of you; knowing my seed filled you like a water balloon.” His smirk turned into something far more sultry as he stared her clothed belly, like he was entranced by a snake charmer. “Thinking about having kids with you, about our kids and you being pregnant with them, is just so fucking sexy and alluring to me.”

“Lord, oh lordy.” Lily chuckled, shaking her head at him.

“I've always wanted a lot of kids.” He blurted out, semi-coming out of his trance. “I know what it's like to be an only child, and it sucks.”

“I know what it feels like too.” Lily agreed, biting her lip. “But, I never thought about having kids. I never thought I'd have kids.”

Sy frowned at her. “Why?”

“Jak doesn't like kids.” She mumbled, glancing down at her lap.

“Ah.” He nodded, understanding. “I love kids.” He smiled at her, softly.

“How many do you want?” Lily asked, tilting her head at him.

“Let's see how many the good Lord gives us.” He replied, gently kissing the corner of her mouth. “There's no rush.” He whispered, resting his chin on her shoulder and closed his eyes, enjoying a quiet moment with her, before they were called down to a dinner of Lily's favorite honey-lemon glazed salmon and asparagus.

“They're sleeping in the same room?” Davis asked, watching Lily and Sy go into her room, after they all said good night to each other.

“Davis, they already have a little one on the way. What are they going to do, make a second one on top of it?” Violet chuckled, shaking her head at her husband, then rolled into their master bedroom.

Sy stepped out onto the front pouch with a cup of coffee in hand, a grin instantly touching his face as he saw Lily on the lawn with Aika. She was wearing a knee length, cotton sundress with a floral design that accentuated her baby bump, the skirt billowing around her thighs in the warm morning breeze, ruffling her shoulder length hair and carrying her laughter back to him on the porch as her and the German Shepard played around on the lush green grass together. He cradled his cup in both hands and leaned on the porch railing to continue watching.

“You watch her, like you're watching through the gates of heaven.” Violet's voice said behind him.

“That's because I am.” Sy replied, not moving or looking away from Lily. “She's my slice of heaven on earth.” He said, eyes brightening as Lily turned and noticed him, smiling at him, and smiled back at her.

“Penny for your thoughts, Bear?” Lily asked, coming up to the porch with Aika.

“A penny is too poor for the thoughts I'm having, Angel.” He replied, grinning at her and pushing off the porch railing.

“I'm going to take my nap.” She said, standing beside him an intense exhaustion washing over her.

“All right.” Sy nodded, brushing the back of his knuckles across her cheek, before leaning in to gently kiss her. “I'll come lay with you.” He whispered, following her inside and upstairs to her room, setting his coffee cup on the table in her room, toed out of his boots and crawled into bed with her; Aika jumping onto the foot of the bed with them.

“Hm, Austin.” Lily whimpered, wiggling, as his hand found its way to her breast and cupped it in his palm, gently squeezing it.

“Does it hurt?” He asked, picking up his head to look down at her, concerned.

“No.” She sighed back, brow ceased. “But, you've been awfully attached to them lately.”

“They're bigger.” He grinned, laying his head back down.

“I'm pregnant with your kid.” She retorted with a snort. “They're prepping to start lactating, so I can start breastfeeding that caveman sized appetite they're going to no doubt have.”

“Both of us.”

“Uh-oh no!” Lily hooted, shaking her head and rolling over onto her back to look at his face. “You are not!”

“Why not?” Sy grinned at her, devilishly licking his lips. “Milk's good for you. Especially breast milk.”

Lily slapped both of her palms to her face, grinning and blushing wildly. “You are so weird.” She giggled, shyly.

“Am I weird, or are you just a sweet sheltered, little, home-schooled girl?” Sy teased back, pressing his hand to her thigh.

Lily looked at him, eyes holding a message that told him she wasn't as amused by his statement as she was, causing Sy to freeze his hand from it's adventure up inside her skirt.

“I'm sorry, babe.” He whispered, biting his lip. “That was too far and not what I meant.” He sighed, kissing her cheek. “I'll let you sleep.” He said, wrapping her up in his arms, feeling like a complete idiot.

But, once Lily was asleep he got up, tiptoeing around the room, before stepping out.

“Is everything all right, Austin?” Violet asked, as she encountered him in the hallway, pulling on his jacket and holding his truck keys.

“Yeah, I just need to go into town.” He replied, giving her a smile and headed out to the truck.

Driving into town, Sy found their store and ran inside, finding everything inside that he had come for, hoping that when Lily woke up from her nap that it would help cheer her up and show her that he was sorry for making such a narrow-minded and dumb-ass comment about how she was raised. He was driving back to the Warren's, when he was stopped at a red light and something caught the attention of his peripheral vision. He stared at it so long, he missed the light changing and the cars behind him started honking and screaming out their windows at him.

“Fuck.” He snapped, stepping on the gas and spinning the steering wheel sharply into a U-Turn, an illegal one at that, but Sy didn't care, as he pulled into the parking lot of the store that had absorbed his attention.

“Sy?” Lily whimpered, sitting up in bed, after not feeling the warmth of his body behind her, and got out of bed in search of him. “Austin.” She called, peeking into the bathroom, but found nothing, before she went downstairs.

“Oh, miss. I was told to give this to you, when you woke up.” the servant said, handing her a note.

“Thanks, Mina.” She replied, taking the note and unfolding it, recognizing Sy's handwriting.

Lily, meet me under your favorite apple tree. - Sy.

“How does he know my favorite apple tree?” Lily frowned at the note, shaking her head, but tucked the note away and went outside.

Lily went out into the northwest orchard of the farm, to where her favorite apple tree was deep in the center of that grove of trees. She remembered going out there often as a girl, especially on cool summer nights, to read by the glow of fireflies or the moon, or if neither of them were out, she would sneak an old oil lamp out of the work barn and take it out to the tree, and read by.

She wondered what Sy wanted with it.

When she was a few yards away from the tree, she noticed a difference amongst the fallen apples and leaves that blanketed the ground, there were oddly shaped, cherry-red leaves. She stopped and examined them, when she realized they weren't leaves at all. They were rose petals. Leading up to her apple tree, that she continued to approach, finding Sy standing beneath it.

“What is this, Austin?” She asked, shaking her head, and motioning to the blue gingham picnic blanket he had laid under the apple tree; the gold plaque staked among its roots told the reader it was a Rall's Genet apple tree, the first planted on the Warren farm, in 1785, by Ambrose Cecil Warren.

“I was an ass.” Sy replied, taking a deep breath and biting his lip. “When you were falling asleep for your nap, and it wasn't right of me, or nice of me, to say what I said to you. I'm so sorry I said it.”

“So, this is my peace offering.” He told her, motioning to the items on the blanket.

Lily chuckled, stepping closer, and seeing her favorite Ben and Jerry's, Brownie Batter Core ice cream, a bag of pretzels, Cherry Punch, Sweet Tart ropes and two bottles of Voss water. “You really didn't have too.” She said, looking up at him, touched at his attempt anyway.

“You know that?”

“Be it as it may, I still want to make it up to you.” He replied, taking her hand and helped her sit down on the blanket, then joined her. “The ice cream might be a little melted. But, I know how much you love it that way.” He chuckled, pulling off the lid to the pint sized container.

“You know me so well.” Lily giggled, taking the white plastic spoon and the pint of ice cream from him. “So, how did you find out this was my tree?” She asked, spooning a mouthful of ice cream into her mouth.

“I remember you telling me about a specific tree on the property.” Sy replied, picking up a bag of shelled, sunflower seeds that he loved to snack on. “I also asked your grandmother.” He grinned, slyly.

“Smooth, Syverson. Smooth.” She chuckled, shaking her head at him.

It was serene and lazy as they sat on the blanket, enjoying their treats.

But, Lily put the lid back on her half-eaten ice cream and turned, laying back to put her head in Sy's lap, closing her eyes to the sound of the breeze rustling through the grass and tree branches over their heads, the chirp of grasshoppers and crickets, the birds singing and twittering, as they nested or flew and their wings fluttered through the warm and humid air. She sighed and smiled softly, her hand resting on her belly. Sy looked down at her and smiled too, ghosting his fingers through her bangs and against her forehead, he loved the soft and peaceful expression on her face and how relaxed her body was, obviously enjoying the tranquility around them, as was he.

He tipped his head back, seeing the little Blue Jay sitting on the branch above them, singing its little heart out and smiled at it, then glanced back down at Lily, his smile growing a little brighter. Lily stirred, not realizing she had dozed off a little bit, until she had felt Sy touch the hand she had on her belly, but he just smiled at her, a strange sparkle in his blue eyes.

“I love you, Lily.” He whispered to her, stroking the top of her hand. “I've loved you for such a very long time.” He told her, biting the corner of his lip “My sweet Angel.”

He grinned, brushing his finger down the bridge of her nose and over her lips, tracing her brows and gently touching her cheek. “There's no one in the world I want to be with. No one I want to bear and battle the world with, other than you, Lily Ana.” He told her, stroking her hair, the tip of his finger following the shell of her ear.

“You've become the purest love of my life and my Battle Buddy.” He told her and curved his hand around hers, lifting it from her belly and to her face.

Lily's face grew slack, her mouth dropping open and her eyes wide as he showed her what was on her hand, what he had put on her finger. “Sy!” She snapped, sitting up. “Wyatt.” She gulped and licked her lips, shocked, and looked at him.

“Austin.” She whimpered, her voice cracking as she stared at the ring on her finger.

“Will you marry me, Lily Ana?” Sy asked her properly, fidgeting nervously, scared out of his wits that Lily would turn him down, and her no would be worse than a gunshot wound to the heart.

It had been an utter impulse that he had been sucked into the sight of that jewelry store on the way back after going to the store, for the ice cream and candy.

At first, he had only meant to look at the engagement rings, but as soon as he saw the one he had just slipped onto her finger, it was like someone had stepped into Sy's body, pointing it out to the jeweler and pulling out his bank card to pay for it; watching him put it in the black velvet box and hold it out to him was surreal. It felt heavy in his pocket as he walked back out to the truck, but not heavy with the regret that he had fallen into the impulse to buy the ring, but heavy with hope that he would find the courage to present it to Lily and she would say yes, heavy with worry that Lily would reject his proposal.

“Yes!” Lily answered a split second later.

“Really!” He snapped back, shocked, but completely delighted.

“Yes, Austin.” She laughed at him. “Yes, yes, yes! I will marry you, you silly Bear!”

“Oh, thank fuck.” Sy let out in a huff, catching her up in his arms. “I am so glad you said yes. I was afraid you would say no.” He said against her cheek.

Lily smiled into his neck. “I would never.” She chuckled, hugging her arms around him. “Not in a million years.” She whispered, kissing his cheek.

“I know it's not much.” He said, touching the round, one-fourth carat diamond setting with his thumb.

“It doesn't have to be, Sy.” She told him, shaking her head. “You are enough.”

Sy smiled at her, cupping the back of her head and pulled her into a deep and tender kiss. Lily melted into him, slowly shifting into his lap and gripping his shoulders, rubbing down on him. Sy smirked into their kiss, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressed them flush together.

“Lily.” He panted against her lips, his eyes dark and teasing.

“I need you so bad now.” She giggled, blushing and shy.

Sy's laugh rang out in the air, grinning. “Let's go back then.”

“I am not having sex in the same house my grandparents are in.” Lily protested, squeezing her knees to the outside of his hips. “That is a big double O negative, Captain Syverson.”

“Is there somewhere else we could go?”

“There's two places, the work barn and the garage, and both are busy this time of day.” She replied, pressing her lips to his throat, impatient and horny; a side effects of her pregnancy.

“All right then.” Sy chuckled.

He lifted her dress just enough to obstruct his access, then pulled open his belt and the button of his jeans, pushing down his zipper and lifted his hips enough to wiggle his jeans and boxers down his thighs to free his hardening cock.

“Your panties.” He huffed, annoyed that the thin material was in their way. “No!” He growled, as she started to push herself up onto her feet to slip her underwear off.

“We can't have sex with them on.” Lily groaned back, impatiently.

“We're not.” He scoffed, fingers curling around the band of her panties and with a loud rip, tore them off of her. “Problem solved, Princess.” He grinned at her, his face dark with desire.

Lily smirked back at him, rubbing against him and spreading her slick juices all over his manhood, making Sy's eyes roll in the back of his head, hands gripping her hips through the fabric of her sundress. Lily reached underneath the skirt of her dress and wrapped her fingers around the hot skin of his hard member, feeling the throb of the thick vein beneath it pulse against her fingers as she stroked him, thin beads of pre-cum coating his shaft and her fingers, making her grasp him firmer.

“Oh, Angel.” Sy panted, licking his lips and resting his head back against the rough bark of the ancient apple tree.

“Not bad for a girl that was sheltered and home-schooled, huh?” She huffed at him, swiping her thumb over the purplish tip of his head and brought it up to her mouth and licked off his juices.

Sy grinned at her though half lidded eyes. “Not at all, Angel. Not at all.” He cooed, then hissed when she wrapped her hand around him again and squeezed, rubbing his weeping tip against her dripping pussy.

“You're teasing me, Lily.”

“Am I?” She purred back, her voice deep and sultry, grinning at him.

“Is this you getting even with me?”

“It's possible.” Lily chuckled, just slipping his tip into her core for a moment, before pulling it out again.

“Oh, Lily Ana.” Sy laughed, his voice a little hoarse, sweat breaking out on his forehead. “You little minx.”

Lily laughed at him. “Coming from the man that would fuck me in any position and place he would, and probably thought he could, in.” She retorted, lifting a brow at him, finally letting his cock enter the canal of her core, sitting in his bare lap.

“All better, Bear?” She cooed at him, pressing her hands to his chest and leaned into him, kissing him.

“I feel like I've corrupted you.” He chuckled against her mouth, rubbing his palms up and down her back, letting her set whatever pace she wanted.

“It's possible.” She replied and gently rolled her hips, taking a deep breath and let it out in a soft moan.

Lily pressed her sweaty forehead against Sy's, wanting to be closer to him, needing to breathe the same air as him, one of her hands slipping behind his head, fingers carding through the short, damp curls at the nape of his neck. Sy held her eyes and bent his knees up a little bit, giving her a little bit of support and shifting his cock inside of her, making her grunt out a delicious moan.

“You always sound so sweet with my cock inside of you.” Sy cooed at her, brushing her wind swept hair out of her face and behind her ears. “My delicious little flower.”

Lily chuckled at him, smirking. “You're a sap.” She huffed, tightening her walls around him, causing him to growl deep in his throat. “You do feel so fucking good though, Bear.” She sighed, licking her lips and bouncing in his lap a little bit faster, while still keeping herself tight around him.

“Lily, I'm gonna come.” Sy grunted, gasping and panting.

He felt the tell-tale tingle in his sack and the pit of his stomach, the way his cock swelled and throbbed against her already taut walls, the wet sounds from their coupling adding to the music of crickets, grasshoppers and birds in the hum of hot and humid air blanketing them, sweat pouring off of them, making almost every inch of their clothing stick and cling to their drenched skin, soaking the fabric. Sy grabbed Lily's hips and thrust up into her, burying himself as deeply as either of their body's would allow him to, his body stiffening as he pumped ribbon after ribbon of hot come into her, the muscles of his stomach spasming with each load.

“Ah, Austin.” Lily cried out, slipping a hand underneath her dress to rub at her clit, giving herself that last bit of stimulation to come, squeezing down on Sy's cock even harder, making him grunt and growl, the muscles in his neck tensing and his face twisting as she milked even more out of him.

“Fuck!” He barked out, breathing between clenched teeth. “Lily!”

Recovering enough, Lily collapsed on top of Sy's chest, listening to his heart thunder in her ear and the soft wheeze to his breathing as it slowly calmed down. Sy sluggishly wrapped his heavy arms around her, turning his red and sweaty face into her damp hair, while Lily watched the diamond on the engagement ring sparkled in the sun, a soft and content smile on her face. So many things were happening that she had given up on; seeing her grandparents again, finding a good and reliable guy, getting married and starting a family. It might all be a bit out of sync, but Lily didn't care, it was still happening and it was happening with Sy.

“Lily?” Sy frowned, alarmed by the painful sounding whimper she suddenly let out and felt her stomach tighten. “What is it?” He asked, sitting up with her.

Lily didn't reply for a moment, instead she reached out and gently cupped his face in her hand, while taking a few deep breaths until the discomfort in her stomach passed. “It's fine, Bear.” She told him, stretching her back. “Just Braxton Hicks. It's perfectly normal at this point.” She sighed.

“Especially after sex.” She assured him, caressing his face with her thumb.

“You're sure?”

“I am.” She nodded, smiling at him. “It's if they last more than two minutes, that we need to worry. But, it was barely thirty seconds.”

Sy nodded at her, but he was only slightly pacified. “I should get you back inside. It's boiling out here.” He said, getting up and pulled her up onto her feet, Sy corrected his jeans, before collecting their picnic stuff, jamming her torn panties into his front pocket and headed back into the house with her.

“Where have the two of you been?” Davis asked as Lily and Sy entered the house.

“We had a little picnic in the orchard.” Lily smiled up at Sy. “Mr. Romantic that Sy is.” She teased him.

“Is that what I think is it?” Violet asked, rolling into the hallway.

Lily froze for a moment, feeling the slickness of her and Sy's love making slowly creeping down the inside of her thigh and felt her heart start to pound, fearing it had become noticeable to her grandmother. But relaxed, when Violet lifted a frail and bony finger, pointing at the ring on her hand instead.

“Uh..” Lily and Sy instantly blushed, grinning like a pair of caught teenagers. “Yeah, it is.”

“You proposed.” Violet grinned at Sy, elated.

“I did.” He smiled, wrapping an arm around Lily's waist, feeling gratified. “It seemed right.” He said, looking into Lily's eyes, softly.

“So, when are you officially tying the knot?” Violet asked, looking between them.

“I don't know.” Lily replied, her eyes still on Sy. “We haven't discussed that yet.”

“We'll get around to talking about it.” Sy nodding back at her. “But, I think, I'm game for a nap right now.”

“Oh, that does sound really good, now that you mention it.” Lily nodded, tired from the heat and their sex. “We should be up in time for dinner.” She said, smiling at her grandparents, then went upstairs with Sy.

“How about a cool shower first?” Sy suggested after they got back upstairs to their room, seeing Lily was still a little sweaty and red. “Wash this sweaty grim off of us and cool off before we nap.”

Lily felt her drying skin and the stickiness between her legs from their combined release. “I think that's a good idea.” She agreed, then followed him into the bathroom.

Sy pulled down the zipper in the back of her dress, then got undressed himself, turning on the shower and making sure it was cool, but not cold, before letting Lily step in first and following in behind her, watching the water wash over her for a few moment. He picked up the bottle of body wash from the shower basket, the scent of white peaches and cream filling the small space as he opened the bottle, moaning softly at the scent he'd become familiar with on her skin of late.

Lily chuckled. “Do I need to change body washes, when we get home, Bear?” She asked, as he started washing the sweaty grim off of her.

“Definitely.” He chuckled, letting her rinse off, then quickly washed himself, not above smelling like peaches too. “Do you have a preference?” Sy asked, after they had settled into bed for their nap.

“Preference for what?” Lily replied, returning to the surface of being awake.

“For what gender you want the baby to be?”

“No.” She shook her head. “But, I do want to continue one thing, if it's a girl.”

“All right.” He nodded. “What is it?”

“The name.” Lily told him. “My great-grandmother's name was Jasmine, my grandmother is Violet, and my mother's name was Daisy..”

“And yours is Lily.” Sy smiled against her shoulder. “All flower themed.”

“Mmhm.” She nodded, starting to tip back off to sleep. “If we have a girl, I want to give her a flower themed name, to continue the tradition.”

“I'm more than all right with that.” He told her, sweet on the idea. “If we have more kids and they're all girls, we'll have a whole flower garden running around the house.” He teased, lightheartedly.

Lily chuckled and snuggled back against him. “The house will smell wonderful.” She teased back, her voice just a faint murmur, before she finally dropped off.

“Is it really time for you to go?” Violet asked, clutching Lily's hands.

“Sadly, it is.” Lily nodded, gulping down a fresh wave of tears.

Lily and Sy had stayed with her grandparents for nearly a week, which wasn't enough for the three of them to catch up and patch five years of absence, but they all knew it was time. The couple had a life back in Celina, that's where they had started to plant their roots and where they wanted to raise their now expanding family.

“You promise to come back and visit?”

“Nothing can ever prevent that from happening again, Mee-Maw. You have my word.” Lily assured her, squatting down in front of her wheelchair.

“I want to meet my great-grandbaby.”

“That, for sure, is going to happen.” Lily chuckled, a couple of tears escaping. “I wouldn't let you miss that opportunity for anything in the world.” She sniffled, starting to lose the battle on her emotions.

“Vi.” Davis whispered, resting his hand on his wife's shoulder. “Lily has appointments she needs to make, so we can meet our sweet great-grandbaby.” He told her, giving Lily a soft smile, his own brown eyes shining with unshed tears.

“Call me, when you stop for the night, so we know you're safe.” Violet said, giving Lily and Sy a stern look.

Even though they had only known him for less than a week, Sy had become family to the Warrens. Violet had become very grandmotherly towards him, while Davis treated him almost like a son. The two men had really bonded over the fact Sy had been in the military, with Davis having served in the U.S Marine Corps during the Vietnam war, before being honorably discharged for a medical injury, at the rank of Master Sergeant. Sy had realized something as he and Lily packed up the truck that morning, he had driven to Virginia with her so shecould reconnect with her family, but in doing so, he had gained a family in more than just Lily, the baby and Aika. It wasn't what he had been looking for, it had all found him, the whole situation, from taking the contract to fix up Lily's place to the moment they were having with her grandparents.

With every aspect and event he found himself in with Lily, it only made him feel more like he belonged.

“You hear me, Austin?” Violet's voice cut through his thoughts.

“Yes, ma'am.” He nodded, smiling and biting his lip, feeling a hard lump of emotion in his throat. “I'll make sure of it.”

“Good.” She smiled at him, then held her arms out to him.

Sy smiled out even bigger and walked back up onto the porch, bending over and carefully closed his muscular arms around her thin body, hugging her gently. “It was good meeting you Ms. Violet.” He whispered into her ear.

“You too.” She whispered back. “And you take care of her and the baby.”

“On my life.” He replied, pulling back.

They winked at each other, chuckling and making Lily and Davis laugh as well. With their good-byes said and everything, including Aika, packed back into the truck, Lily and Sy got in too, waving until they lost sight of Violet and Davis. They weren't down the road very far, when Sy pulled off the side of the road and turned in his seat to face Lily.

“What?” She frowned back at him.

“You all right?” He asked, his eyes reading her.

“I'm fine.” She replied, but he could hear the thickness in her voice.

Sy turned and jerked open his door and moved around the truck and pulled open her door. “Lily.” He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Lily pressed her lips together for a moment, before taking a deep breath, her chin trembling as her tears crashed into her. Her seat belt wasn't off a moment, before she found herself in his arms and buried against his chest, sobbing into his Metallica t-shirt.

“You'll see them again, Angel.” He murmured into her hair, hands rubbing up and down her trembling back. “I promise, and you'll get to talk to them all the time. Mac even promised to teach them how to use Skype, so you guys can video call.” He told her, trying to soothe her pain and anxiety.

“We'll come back up after the baby's born, so they can meet.” He promised, cupping the back of her head and pressing his lips to her forehead, before wiping away her tears. “Okay?” He smiled at her, feeling the same anxious twist about leaving, but not even close in magnitude that Lily was.

“Okay.” She sniffled, rubbing at her eyes and collecting herself.

“Okay.” He nodded, but neither of them moved, but then Sy looked at her with a strange resolution. “Do you wanna get married?”

“What?” Lily squeaked, frowning at him. “You've already proposed to me, Austin.”

“That's not what I'm asking, Lily.” He replied, licking his lips, the sudden idea brewing inside of his mind. “Do you want to get married, right now?”

“Here?” She asked, looking around them. “In Virginia?”

“Yeah.” He nodded at her, his heart pounding as his adrenaline started to rush through his veins. “We can go back to your grandparents' place, because we'll need witnesses, then go into town and get married. We both know we don't want a massive wedding. I don't have any family I want, or even could, invite and...”

“My grandparents are the only family I have; other than you, Aika and the baby.” She finished his sentence, falling in sync with his thought process.

“So?”

Lily held his eyes for a split moment, then smiled softly at him, and nodded at him. “I think I like that idea, Austin.”

“All right.” He grinned back, kissing her, then ran back around to the driver's seat and hauled ass back to the farm.

“Is everything all right?” Davis asked, coming out of the house as he saw the truck flying up the driveway.

“Everything is fine and dandy.” Lily chuckled at him. “But, Austin and I need your and Mee-Maw's help with something.” She grinned, giggling, with a bubbly air of excited energy.

“What is it?”

Lily looked over at Sy, who grinned at her, then back to her grandfather. “We need two witnesses.” She said, the hint thick in her voice.

A smile instantly touched Davis's lips, understanding Lily's meaning and what she and Sy wanted from him and Violet. “We'll meet you at the Loudoun County courthouse.” He told them, feeling the giddy energy coming off of Lily and Sy infect him on the porch.

“I regret not having an actual wedding ring for you.” Sy commented as the two of them made their way downtown.

“I don't need one, Sy.” Lily told him, reaching out to take one of his hands off the steering wheel. “I told you, you are enough and the ring you already gave me is enough. I don't need anything more than that, Bear.” She said, threading their fingers together.

“Other than maybe...” She grinned at him.

Sy chuckled, bringing their hands up and kissed her fingers. “I'll get you a pretzel, Sweetness.” He grinned, shaking his head. “I feel like I should just buy a pretzel factory or something, the way you're going.” He teased her.

“That would be super nice.” Lily agreed, licking her lips. “Buy the property next door and set it up right there, with the production line ending right into the house.”

It was a good thing they stopped at a red light, because Sy lost it, laughing his ass off at the image of a conveyor belt of freshly baked pretzels coming in through one of the downstairs windows of the house with Lily seated in front of it, just power munching on them with her plump baby belly, happy as all hell. He still had tears in his eyes, after they parked in the county courthouse and were standing out front, waiting for Davis and Violet to show up.

“I'm glad you're loving it up.” Lily giggled at him.

Sy cupped Lily's face in his hands. “My little pretzel.”

“Oh good lord, Wyatt.” She laughed, gripping his wrists. “You're a mess.”

“You're going to marry this mess.” He grinned at her, pulling her closer to him and felt her rounding belly brush his abs.

“I am.” She nodded, smiling up at him. “I wouldn't have it any other way, with anyone else.”

“That's a relief.” Sy replied, feigning shock to know it.

“Lovebirds, no matter where the two of you are.” Violet's voice came as Davis pushed her towards them.

“When in love.” Lily replied, unashamed or moving away from Sy.

“Are we ready for this?” Davis asked, looking around at the group.

“I am.” Lily nodded, looking up at Sy.

“So am I.” Sy replied, smiling down at her.

“We are too.” Violet nodded.

“In we go then.” Davis said, and the small group went inside the courthouse.

“Here.” Lily said, slipping off her ring and handing it to Sy. “Just humor me.” She chuckled softly, when he lifted a brow at her in question.

“All right.” He nodded, slipping it into the front pocket of his jeans.

Going into the courthouse get a marriage license and giving the appropriate documentation they needed for it, then with the license filled out and official, they patiently waited for the couple ahead of them to have their moment getting married with the judge and all, before going into the little courtroom with the judge standing at the front, waiting for them in his official robe and a bible in his hand.

“Hello, I'm Judge Timothy Miller, I'll be marrying the two of you today.” He smiled at Lily and Sy.

“Sounds good to me.” Sy replied, nodding his head politely to the judge.

“Same.” Lily agreed, nervously licking her lips.

“Are these are your witnesses?” He asked, looking to Davis and Violet.

“Yes, sir. They're my grandparents.” Lily explained, smiling over her shoulder at them.

“That's lovely.” Judge Miller smiled at them all, plainly seeing the love everyone had for each other, especially Lily and Sy. “Shall we commence?” He asked, looking between the two of them.

“Yes, please.” They both nodded, feeling their nerves and jitters start to really increase.

“All right, I'll have the two of you face each other.” He said, motioning to space in front of him.

Lily and Sy stood before him, facing each other and holding hands, while staring at each other, Violet and Davis stood off to one side. Sy smiled at Lily, giving her trembling hands a squeeze with his, feeling his own hands shake. But, neither of them were going to back out, they honestly couldn't picture standing up there with anyone else.

They had found a home and a soulmate in each other.

“We are gathered here, on this fine day, to join Austin Wyatt Syverson and Lily Ana Moore together in the holy matrimony, that is marriage.” Judge Miller began speaking, regarding Lily and Sy in turns. “The bonds of marriage are untied with sacred love and the deepest respect, as should one spouse treat the other with that sacred love and respect.”

“Now, do we have rings?” He asked, looking at them with a lifted brow.

“Just hers.” Sy said, going into his pocket and pulling it out.

“All right, put it on her finger and repeat after me.” Judge Miller instructed him.

Sy slipped the ring back onto Lily's finger. “I, Austin Wyatt Syverson, take you, Lily Ana Moore, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forth, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; until death do us part.”

“Same with you.” The Judge said to Lily, nodding his head at her.

“I, Lily Ana Moore, take you, Austin Wyatt Syverson, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forth, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; until death do us part.” She repeated after him, letting out a relieved breath that she hadn't stumbled and missed any of it up.

“It is my pleasure and by the power vested in me, by the power of Loudoun County, in the state of Virginia, to pronounce you, man and wife.” Judge Miller grinned at them.

“Mr. Syverson, you may kiss your bride, Mrs. Syverson.”

“With pleasure.” Sy grinned with immense pride, pulling Lily against him and kissed her, intensely. “I never, in a million years, thought I would ever hear that.”

“What?” Lily asked, walking out of the courthouse with him, hand in hand.

“Mrs. Syverson.”

“I have to agree with you.” She replied, pressing her shoulder against his arm. “I always thought I'd be a Ms. for the rest of my life.”

“I guess you two are really back to Texas now?” Davis asked, coming up behind them with Violet.

“Yeah.” Sy nodded, looking at Lily. “Lily has a fourteen week baby appointment we can't miss.” He explained to them.

“But, we'll come back, when the baby is born so you guys can meet them.” Lily promised them, resting her hand on her belly.

“You better come back here with my great-grandbaby, or you'll have hell to deal with, Missy.” Violet threatened, wagging a bony finger at her, but the playful smirk on her face gave it away.

“You have my word, Mee-Maw.” Lily chuckled, bending over to kiss her on the cheek. “I wouldn't have it any other way. Mama isn't here to meet them, so I have to make sure you do.” She said, straightening up, a sad pang in her chest at knowing her own mother would never meet her grand-baby.

The group was somber for a moment as the fact settled on them, before they parted ways once again. But, Sy and Lily didn't hit the road as soon as they left the courthouse either.

“Where are we going, Bear?” She asked him, confused.

“Well, I promised you a pretzel, for one.” He chuckled at her. “And two, it doesn't seem right.” He said, wiggling the fingers of his left hand.

So, Sy got Lily the pretzel he had promised her, then they stopped off at the jeweler's he had bought her engagement, now wedding ring at, and after browsing for several moments, Lily stopped beside a glass display case, spotting a ring inside of it and pointed at it.

“If that doesn't scream Austin Syverson, then my name isn't Lily Syverson.” She said, staring at it wide eyed.

Sy laughed and crossed over to her, looking into the case at the ring she was pointing at and felt himself freeze, as it hit him, like seeing hers had. “I'm in total agreement with you. Both on the ring and your name.” He said, seeing the tungsten carbide ring.

“That's the one.” He told the jeweler, nodding his head at the ring.

“Fits like a glove.” Lily said, watching Sy slip it onto his left ring finger.

“Or in this case, a wedding ring.” He chuckled at her, turning it around his finger.

“Neither of us expected this, when we were driving out here.” She said, going back out to the car with him.

“Actually, I had been considering proposing to you for a while.” Sy confessed, finally getting them onto the highway back home to Celina. “Even before we found out about the baby.”

Lily twisted in her seat to face him, face slack in surprise. “Seriously!”

“Yep.” He nodded, grinning. “You're home to me, Lily. You've been a home to me for such a long time, before we slept together that night in the barn and everything.” He licked his lips and shifted in his seat. “I thought, maybe, even if we didn't have that sort of connection, we could still at least take care of each other and keep each other—company.” He told her, drumming on the steering wheel with his thumbs.

“I have a lot of baggage with my time in the military and people have a lot of trouble dealing with that and rarely stick around because of it. I honestly expected you to run me off that day on the porch, when I nearly took your head off.” He explained, babbling at this point.

“But you didn't. Even then, I expected you to tiptoe or be afraid of me.”

“But, I'm not afraid of you, Austin. I have no reason to be afraid of you or tiptoe around you.” Lily told him, hurt that he thought she would get rid of him or be scared of him, because of the things he can't really control. “Even when I first saw you, I wasn't afraid of you. You've never given me a reason to be. I sure as hell would never blame you for having PTSD for being in multiple war zones, as many times and as long as you had been.”

“I admit, if you ever did give me a reason to believe you'd hurt me, I would have told you to piss off.” She told him, honestly.

“I would have left long before that, if I thought I would do something to hurt you.” He said, looking over at her, the fear that he would do something, was evident in his eyes.

“I know that.” She whispered. “But, you're not, Austin. Not then. Not now. Not ever, and I'm not going anywhere either. I'm staying right with you, I'll always be there for you, especially in those moments.” She promised him, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek.

“We're stuck together.”

“Now and forever.” Sy grinned, happy and relieved.

“Plus a day.” Lily giggled, laying her head on his shoulder.

“I want to make a tradition of our own.” Sy said, breaking the quiet of the truck. “If we have a boy.”

They were only a few hours from being back home in Celina and felt the peacefulness of being so close to their own place again, their own space and bed.

“Okay.” Lily replied, settling her eyes on him.

“So, the girls on your mother's side of the family were named after flowers, right?”

“Correct.” She nodded back.

“Well, I was named Austin, because my parents met in Austin.”

“Oh, don't tell me you want to name our potential son, Celina.” Lily giggled, teasing him.

“Gods, no.” Sy laughed back, shaking his head at her. “But, I do want to name any would-be sons after cities. Like, Dallas.” He explained to her.

“Austin Jr.” Lily chuckled back. “But, I like that idea.”

“Can I make one more suggestion?” He inquired, lifting a brow at her.

“Of course.”

“If we do have a daughter, I know we want to give her a flower themed first name, but can I pick her middle name?”

“Of course, do you have one in mind?” Lily asked, tilting her head at him.

“I do.” Sy nodded at her, his blue eyes getting a far off look.

“What is it?”

“Let's find out, if it's a girl first.” He said, shaking his head and clearing his vision. “Then, I'll tell you.”

“Okay, keeper of secrets.” She chuckled.

“Son of a—“

Lily paused as she carried the laundry basket up the stairs, hearing Sy's muffled curse from the guest room, turned nursery.

“What happened to good ol' fashioned, pure American made furniture?” He grumbled around his smarting thumb.

Chuckling and setting the basket down, Lily went down to the nursery. “Is that a grizzly Bear I'm hearing?” She asked, her voice light and playful as she smiled at him.

“Why did we have to buy the baby stuff from IKEA?” He asked, scowling at the mostly put together changing table.

“Because, their baby stuff is adorable.” She giggled at him, moving over to him, to check his smashed appendage.

Sy huffed, but let her take his hand in hers, watching her quietly and gently fuss over his swollen and multi-colored thumb. “If you like them, then it doesn't matter.” He sighed, frowning at the other unboxed baby furniture that was in the room with them.

“I do like them.” Lily nodded, assured he hadn't done any real damage to his hand. “That's why I got them. It goes with our neutral theme, since we don't know the baby's sex yet.” She told him, kissing his thumb, with a mischievous smile.

“Then, I'll get it done.” He replied, cupping her face and pulled her in, kissing her gently.

“Bob the Builder can eat his heart out.” She chuckled, kissing him back. “He's got nothing on Captain Syverson.” She proclaimed proudly, before standing back up and retrieving her laundry basket, to put away the clean clothes she'd spent all morning washing, in the master bedroom.

When she finished putting the clothes away, Lily paused in the middle of the bedroom, tapping her foot and chewing on her bottom lip as a sudden idea brewed inside of her mind. It wasn't a completely new idea, but the evolution of it was. Turning the upper half of her body towards the open bedroom door, listening to the bumps and curses coming from the nursery down the hall.

“Sy!” She called out to him, then winced hearing a crash and another curse.

“Yeah, babe?” He answered, sighing.

“You wanna distraction?” She asked, biting the corner of her lip and feeling bad.

Sy appeared in the nursery doorway, his bruised fingers pressed to his chest. “I would love one, Angel.” He replied, giving her a grateful, but pained expression. “What do you have in mind?”

Lily stepped into their closet for a moment, before coming back out and holding up her professional digital camera, a Panasonic Lumix, for him to see, and Sy frowned at her, head tilting in question.

“Baby book.” She smiled at him.

“What's that gotta do with me?” He asked, blinking at her.

“You silly Bear.” Lily giggled at him. “You've gotta be in the book too! You are the Daddy.”

“Okay.” Sy nodded, biting his lip and glancing around. “What do you want me to do?”

“Let's go downstairs.” She said, taking her camera and headed downstairs with Sy following after her. “This'll be a good place.” She decided, stopping in the dining room, where there was a clear wall by the bay window, where there was a lot of light.

Lily paused for a moment, then disappeared into the kitchen, coming back with a little whiteboard she would write little notes on, doctor's appointments, deadlines or anything else she and Sy needed to remember. Sy watched her bustle about, putting her idea into motion. Erasing the writing on the whiteboard, Lily wrote fourteen weeks on it, then carefully hung it up on the wall, then planted her hands on her hips and left the room again, making Sy chuckle at her.

“Perfectionist.” He teased, when she came back, with a short tripod.

“To the end.” She giggled back, setting the tripod up on the dining table and connected the camera to it. “All right, now.” She approached Sy, resting her hands on him and turned him sideways.

“Now, don't move.”

“As you wish, Angel.” Sy grinned, planting his feet in place.

“That's a good Bear.” She grinned back, patting him on the chest, then removed her shirt.

“Well, ya gotta see my tummy.” Lily giggled at him at his lifted brow.

“Well, if you're taking your shirt off, I'm taking mine off.” He replied, yanking his blue tank top off over his head.

“What, for your six babies?” Lily teased him, touching his fur covered abs.

“They're sympathy babies.” Sy chuckled at her.

“Sympathy babies?” She roared with laughter.

“You know what a sympathy pregnancy is?” He asked, grinning at her. “It's that, just six mini ones.”

“Well, that's the fast way to have a bunch of kids.” Lily joked back, thoroughly amused at his sympathy babies.

“Okay, back to what we were doing.”

“Right, what now, Mama?”

“I'm going to stand here.” She said, moving in front of him and resting her back against his chest. “And you're going to put your hands here.” She reached back, gripping Sy's wrists and moved them around to the front of her, so his hands cradled her growing baby bump.

“Like this?” Sy asked, making small adjustments.

“Yes, perfect.” Lily nodded, holding a small remote in her hand that would allow her to snap the photo, but before she could press the button, Aika came charging in and barked at them. “Oh my, how could I be so rude to forget you, Aika.” She cooed at the German Shepherd.

“Aika, sit.” Sy snapped his fingers at her and she instantly sat down before them, staring up at them, ears erect and head cocked to the side.

“That's so perfect.” Lily grinned at Aika. “So, I'm going to look at my belly and you can look at me.” She instructed Sy.

“Way ahead of you, Angel.” Sy replied, already looking at the back of her head, and just before she pressed the button on the camera's remote, he kissed her hair. “Let's see it.” He said, moving away from her.

Lily grabbed the camera off the tripod and pulled it up on the display screen, instantly grinning at it. The image of Sy cradling her baby bump, while she looked down at it, and kissing the back of her head, with Aika looking curiously up at her two and a half humans. She couldn't wait to add it to the baby book she had bought several weeks before and started putting together.

“You want to do a few more?” She asked, looking up from the camera.

“You're damn right I do.” Sy nodded, excited at the thought of doing an activity with Lily and anything that included their baby, still in her belly or not.

“Do you have any suggestions?” She inquired, tilting her head at him.

He bit his lip, then lifted a finger at her and left the room, coming back several minutes later with a worn, Army green shirt with two patches on the short sleeves, one for the U.S Army Special Forces and the other was the custom Special Forces patch for the team he was the leader of.

“I wore this a lot, while on tour.” He explained to her, looking at the garment in his hands.

Lily smiled at him, seeing and feeling how shy he was as he tried to explain his thoughts for what he wanted for a few shots. “I like that idea, Bear.” She assured him.

“Yeah?” Sy replied, lighting up.

“I do.” Lily nodded, eyes sparkling at him. “Just tell me what you want me to do.”

“Okay, um.” He looked around, he wasn't as good as Lily with setting up photo shots, but he had an idea in his head. “Here, put it on.” He said, handing her his shirt.

“All right.” Lily took his shirt and slipped it on.

“Can you..” He paused, biting his lip and glancing around. “Can you sit the camera up on the coffee table, like you had it here?” He asked, motioning to the tripod still sitting on the dining table.

“I very much can.” Lily nodded, grabbing the tripod and her camera, taking them into the living room and set them up on the coffee table as he asked.

“What next?”

“Lay down on the couch, sorta propped up on the arm.”

Nodding, Lily did as he asked and Sy fussed with the camera for a moment, making sure the shot would be wide enough, then moved around the coffee table, slipping onto the couch with her and positioning himself so he was between her legs, his face level with her belly.

“You have the remote to the camera?” He asked her.

“I do.” She nodded, grinning at him and held the remote up for him to see.

“Okay, good.” He gave her a short nod. “I'm gonna kiss your gorgeous belly and I want you to snap it.”

“As you wish, Bear.” Lily chuckled, gently patting his cheek.

Sy lowered his head, a soft blush on his bearded cheeks, that Lily hoped she could get in on the camera, and gently pressed his lips to her belly through the fabric of his old Army shirt. Lily waited a moment, admiring and savoring it for herself, before actually taking the photo of him doing it.

“How about one for just you and I?” Lily suggested, when Sy sat back up. “Not for the baby book, just me and you.”

“Oh?” Sy grinned, his brow going up in a suggestive manner.

Lily licked her lips and nodded her head. “Where are your dog tags?”

“My dog tags?”

“Well, I certainly don't have any.” She chuckled at him.

“Huh, I think they're upstairs in one of the boxes I brought over when I officially moved in.” He replied, brow creasing as he tried to recall which of the boxes it was he might have put them in.

“Then, go find them.”

“All right then, Miss.” He replied, getting up off the couch and going back upstairs.

“That's Mrs. Thank you!” Lily hollered after him, shaking her head and stood up, grabbing her camera and the tripod, then going upstairs after him.

“What is that beautiful brain thinking?” Sy asked, pulling out a box from the closet and setting it on their bed as she came into the room.

“When you find your dog tags, I'll tell you.” She smiled at him, setting the tripod and camera down on the dresser across from their bed.

“Ah-ha!” He let out triumphantly, smiling and pulled out his dog tags from the third box for Lily to see the two thin tags dangling from their chain, rimmed by black rubber to keep them from making noise, when they hit together.

“Nope.” He shook his head at her, pulling the dog tags away as she reached out for them. “Tell me what you want them for first, little lady.”

“I'm going to get naked and they'll be the only thing I'm wearing.” She told him, bluntly.

Sy gulped, his eyes widening at the thought. “Sold.” He squeaked, handing them to her.

Lily removed her clothing and slipped Sy's dog tags over her head, resting between the swell of her breasts and the top of her sloping belly. “Get in bed, Syverson.” She said, motioning to their bed with her head.

“As you wish, Syverson.” He chuckled at her. “You want me to get naked too?” He teased her.

“If you wanna.” Lily chuckled back, following close behind him.

“I do.” He smirked and pushed his shorts down, kicking them aside and got into bed, resting back against their pillows and the headboard.

Lily crawled into bed with him, nuzzling herself between his legs, making him moan a bit as her ass rubbed against his semi-flaccid cock. She hooked Sy's feet around, so she sat in the bowl in the middle of them and rested back against his chest, then had him rest his head on her shoulder, with one of his hands cupped the side of her stomach and she rested her hand on top of his there. She gasped softly, feeling his other hand gently cup one of her sore breasts, his face gently nuzzling her neck with a soft smile.

“I love you.” He murmured.

“I love you too, Bear.” She cooed back, resting comfortably against him, and snapped the shot. “It'll be better, when my stomach is bigger.”

“Oh, I really can't wait for that.” Sy admitted, rubbing his calloused hands over her stomach. “I can't wait for the moment when I can put my hands on your belly and feel the baby move against my palms.” He told her, fantasizing about it.

“I feel little flutters every now and then.” Lily replied, resting her head back against his shoulder. “But, nothing I can share with you yet.” She told him, comfortable in their weird little huddle.

“One day soon, Angel.” He whispered into her ear, hugging his arms around her and closing his eyes.

“Sy!” Lily screamed, wiggling and panting. “Austin! Jesus Christ.” She huffed as Aika barked and paced around her.

Sy came pounding down the stairs, hearing her frantic yelling from where he was upstairs, still working in the nursery. “Lily!” He yelled, tearing into the living room, out of breath and scared out of his mind.

“What's wrong?” He asked, staring down at her as she laid on her bright purple yoga mat on the living room floor, she had gotten into pregnancy yoga, after trying it during one of the parenting classes they attended. “Is it the baby?” His eyes searched every inch of her body, watching Aika shove her nose underneath Lily's hips, sides and in the nook of her neck, making her wiggle even more and squeal.

“The baby is fine, Austin.” Lily huffed, out of breath and going limp on the yoga mat. “It's me, that's the problem.” She scowled, her face bright red.

Sy's face didn't change. “What is it, Angel?”

Lily bit her lip and huffed again, glancing away from him, knowing what was coming next out of him. “I can't get up.”

And there it fucking was.

Sy's head reared back and his laugh roared through the house like a boom of thunder, startling the daylights out of Aika, who barked directly into Lily's ear and bolted for the new doggy door in the kitchen and vanished into the backyard. His whole body shook as he continued to laugh at her for not being able to get up from her mat, even starting to wheeze.

“Good lord, Wyatt!” Lily growled at him.

“You're like a turtle!” He howled, bending forward, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Should I call PETA first? I don't want to get in trouble for endangering wildlife.” He cackled, rubbing her now pronounced belly.

“The only thing endanger is your sex life!” Lily threatened him. “Now, help me up! Your kid is squishing my bladder!” She begged, holding her hands out to him and desperately wiggling her fingers.

“All right! All right.” He chuckled, grabbing her hands and carefully pulled her up onto her feet. “Waddle faster, my little submarine!” He shouted after her, starting to laugh all over again.

“I hate you!” She shouted over her shoulder, just making it to the hall bathroom.

“You ready, Bear?” Lily asked, squeezing Sy's hand as they followed the nurse back to the exam room.

“As I can be, Angel.” He replied, taking a deep breath. “As I can be.”

It was Lily's twenty-third week baby appointment and the moment of truth, when they found out the gender of their baby. They were both excited and nervous about finding out, having spent the last two weeks scouring names of cities and flowers and making their own lists for names if they had a girl or a boy, to then narrow down, once they did find out what gender they were having; and today was that day.

“Good morning.” Dr. Evers smiled as she came into their exam room. “How are parents and baby doing today?” She asked, sitting down on a stool.

“We're doing really well.” Lily smiled back at her, giddy. “Ready to find out the gender.” She said, glancing over at Sy.

“I bet you're just chomping it to bits to find out.” Dr. Evers chuckled, doing a quick regular exam of Lily, before setting up the ultrasound.

“I love hearing that sound.” Sy said, unconscionably as the baby's heartbeat filled the room.

“It's a precious sound.” Evers agreed, smiling over at him.

“Amen.” Lily nodded, gripping Sy's hand and staring at the screen.

“Let's see if I can get a better position.” Dr. Evers said, moving the transducer around Lily's belly, spreading more of the warm jelly with it, then went quiet for a few minutes, typing a few things on the keyboard.

“Is everything okay?” Sy asked, nervously.

“Everything is perfectly fine.” She smiled at him. “Just making a few measurements.” She assured him, before moving the transducer again. “Ah, there you are.” She grinned brightly, finally getting the right angle on the screen that she needed to tell her what gender the Syverson's baby was.

“Do you want to know right now, or do you want me to write it down and you can look when you get home?” She asked, regarding the two of them.

Lily and Sy looked at each other, a silent conversation going on between them for a long moment before Lily looked back at Dr. Evers and smiled, nervously, at her and nodded her head.

“Now, please.”

Nodding her head back at them, then pointed to the screen. “If you look right there.” She outlined what she was indicating. “You can just make out what it is. So, I'm happy to tell you, you are expecting a healthy baby girl.”

“A girl.” Sy echoed back, his voice weak with emotion and his eyes glued to the screen. “I have a daughter.”

“A daughter, Bear.” Lily grinned at him, reaching up and wiping away the silent tears that were starting to fall down his face. “We have a daughter, Sy.”

Sy wrapped his arms around Lily and hugged her for dear life, burying his face into her neck, soaking the shoulder of her shirt with his tears. “Thank you.” He sniffled and hiccuped. “Thank you.”

“We did it together, Sy.” Lily replied, emotional as well. “We both did this.”

“You guys are doing great and the baby is doing amazingly.” Dr. Evers complimented them, a bit choked up as well. “I'll have you set up your next appointment and you know to contact me, if anything happens.”

“Thanks, doc.” Sy smiled at her.

“It's my pleasure.” She assured him.

“All right, Bear. You said, if we had a girl you had a middle name for her, now out with it.” Lily said, as they drove back home.

Sy cleared his throat, still an emotional wreck that they were having a daughter. “Imogene.”

“Imogene.” Lily repeated, blinking at him. “Why Imogene?” She asked, tilting her head at him.

He was quiet for a long while, trying to get a handle on an old emotional lump that was trying to push up alongside the one already in his throat. “I want her to have the middle name, Imogene,” He started to explain, as they reached their driveway.

“Because, it was my mama's name.” He told her, softly.

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