#Jamie is her step father and his adoptive father

[the-halfling-prince]

Most recent episode of Outlander I watched was low key so funny at the end

Fuckin Marseli was like "listen, so... doctors take an oath to do no harm. Good thing I'm not actually a doctor" and killed that bitch. Jamie walks in to her freaking out because she killed someone and just goes "damn that sucks. But shit happens."

[dragonflylady77]

i got you a whole flower shop

A Harringrove Valentine's Day fic I wrote this afternoon

present for @shieldofiron and also @lovebillyhargrove

oh and it's on ao3

Steve walks into a florist shop on Valentine's Day but his plans change after he gets a text not meant for him and he finds himself faced with Billy freaking Hargrove looking like every wet dream Steve has ever had in the past fifteen years since he finished high school.

“Sorry, I’ll be right with you.”

Steve made a vague noise of acknowledgement, too busy staring at the message he’d opened as he’d stepped into the first flower shop he’d spotted.

“Can’t wait to see you tonight baby. I’ll tell Steve I have to work late. Love you x”

He blinked a few times but the words didn’t change. The text was clearly not meant for him. Or maybe it was, he rationalised. That was one way to break up with your boyfriend without having to have the conversation.

He ran a tired hand over his face and put his phone back in his pocket. He wouldn’t need flowers after all. He tried to remember how much stuff he’d left at Jamie’s place during the few months they’d been dating and wondered if there was anything he’d miss if he didn’t get it back.

“I am sorry but it turns out I don’t actually need flowers after all,” he said, his eyes floating over the various buckets of colourful blooms in front of him.

“Am I dreaming or is that you, Harrington?” The voice sounded surprised and familiar and Steve turned around to face its owner.

“Hargrove?” Steve said in shock, stepping closer to the counter. He hadn’t seen Billy Hargrove since graduation fifteen years ago. “What are you doing in Chicago? I always thought you went back to Cali…”

Billy shrugged and Steve took a moment to really look at him. He still had those light brown, almost golden, curls that Steve had always wanted to run his fingers through, piled high in a bun, his face fuzzy with scruff, blue eyes trained on Steve. That part at least was familiar. Steve let his eyes move down, taking in the white tee, tight across the front under the black apron with the shop’s logo on it, Billy’s biceps bulging when he crossed his arms over his chest. Steve’s mouth felt very dry all of a sudden and hoo, was it always this hot in this store?

Billy raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He did, however, run that tongue of his along his bottom lip, another familiar sight, one that resonated inside Steve’s chest, in a place he’d been ignoring for years.

“Um, sorry, didn’t mean to…” Steve fumbled, fidgeting with his fingers. Fuck. He was being so awkward for no reason. He was usually a little bit better at human interactions.

“It’s okay, pretty boy, I know my good looks can be distracting,” Billy replied with a chuckle and Steve felt his face heat up. “To answer your question, my car broke down outside of St Louis and I realised I’d been kidding myself. There was nothing in Cali for me anymore. And I couldn’t leave Max alone with Neil.”

“Ah. I-I heard about him but Max never said—”

“I told her to keep a secret. Couldn’t risk Neil finding out. I made it back to Indianapolis on the Greyhound. Met a nice lady on the bus who offered me a place to stay for a while. Worked my ass off in a bunch of different jobs. Mona and her partner kinda adopted me, so when they moved to Chicago, I followed.”

“That’s why Max went to college in Chicago, isn’t it? Because you were there too?” Steve asked, a few things making more sense now that he knew about Billy.

“Yep. Got her out of the dorms too. She loved it at Mona’s as much as I did.”

Steve smiled. He was glad that Billy and Max had gotten away from his asshole father. He had only managed it himself recently, after more than a decade of working for his dad, being belittled every time Richard Harrington was in the office, no matter how good Steve actually was at doing his job. He’d jumped at the chance when he’d seen that job listing in Chicago and he’d cherished forever the memory on his father’s face when he’d handed in his resignation.

“That’s great, Billy,” he finally replied, and meant it.

“What about you, princess? What brings you to the Windy City?” 

“Oh, I live here too. Been here about three years, I think. I don’t have to tell you how good it felt to be able to tell my dad I was leaving and he could shove it.”

“Ooooh, go Stevie! Always knew you had it in you.”

Steve laughed and shook his head. “Took me twelve years but I got there in the end…”

“That’s what matters.” Billy grinned. “So, what are you after? Roses for your girl, on account of the day? Or something more original?”

“Oh, um, I, um…” Steve sighed. “I was gonna get flowers for my boyfriend, but after the text I got before, I don’t think I will.”

“Boyfriend?” Billy was staring and Steve realised he probably needed to elaborate a little.

“Yeah… My best friend Robin helped me realise some important things about myself after high school. She made being queer in Hawkins a lot easier. We were flatmates for ages then she moved to Chicago to be with her girlfriend. You know her, actually, Heather? Holloway?”

“Oh. Wow. Yeah, I remember Heather. So you’re…”

“Bi. Yeah.”

“And you have a boyfriend.” The way Billy said it, it wasn’t a question.

It left a bad taste in Steve’s mouth. He got his phone out of his pocket again and sent Jamie a text saying they were over.

“I had a boyfriend.” Steve snorted. “Whoever he meant to text when he texted me can have his cheating ass.”

“You don’t seem too cut up about it,” Billy said, his eyes roaming over Steve and Steve found that he liked it. All at once, memories of basketball training and all the posturing and looks Billy would send him in the showers and hallways of Hawkins High took on a different flavour. All the pet names Billy used to call him when they were teenagers… the same ones he’d used a couple of times in the past ten minutes they’d been chatting.

“I’d only been seeing him for a couple of months, wasn’t anything serious.” Steve decided to take a chance. He crossed his arms and leaned forward on the counter. “It does mean I am now free tonight…”

Billy mirrored his actions, the smile on his face genuine and warm. “Is that so, pretty boy?”

“Uh huh… yanno, in case anyone was wondering.”

“That’s certainly pertinent information.”

“I thought so.” Steve leaned a little closer, smiling when Billy did too. “What time does this fine establishment close?”

“Right now,” Billy replied, without a glance at his watch as he removed his apron and set it on the counter next to them.

“Really? Won’t you get in trouble with your boss for closing early on Valentine’s Day?”

“I’m the boss and I have a hot date,” Billy said with that smirk that had always made Steve’s blood boil. Only now he could name that emotion for what it was: lust. There was something else in Billy’s eyes, something more magical and durable.

“Anyone I know?” Steve asked, his heart beating double time in his chest.

Billy didn’t reply, instead he rounded the counter and came to a stop in front of Steve with a grin. He cupped Steve’s face with both hands and breached the last inches separating them, bringing their mouths together. Steve moaned, his hands on Billy’s wrists to hold him there. He opened his lips to Billy’s questing tongue the second he felt it, pouring all that he was feeling into the kiss, and getting it back ten fold.

Steve let go of Billy’s wrists to grab his waist and dragged him closer. He couldn’t get enough of Billy, hands roaming up his back and down to cup that ass Steve had been dreaming about for months after high school, sparking his bi awakening.

“Fuck, Billy, I’m sorry it took me so long to find you again,” Steve said, breaking the kiss to catch his breath, resting his forehead against Billy’s.

“S’okay, Stevie, you’re here now,” Billy said, dipping his head for a quick kiss. He buried his fingers into Steve’s hair and locked eyes with him. “Never letting you go now I’ve got you, though, I hope you know that.”

“Fine with me,” Steve said as he wrapped his arms around Billy’s middle, delighted to feel Billy’s hard body against his. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Steve. I don't know what flowers you like yet, so I got you a whole flower shop.”

Steve laughed as Billy locked up for the night then they went up to the apartment Billy was renting above the shop where Billy cooked them dinner. Then they spent all night in bed, worshipping each other, and it was the best Valentine’s Day Steve had ever had.

[gotham-ruaidh]

What I wouldn't give to see this scene in Season 7...

 “You dreamed about Brianna and the children? What happened?”  

    …“It is all right,” he said. “They are safe. I saw them in a town—it seemed like Inverness, but it was different, somehow. They walked up the step of a house—Roger Mac was with them,” he added, offhand. “They knocked at the door, and a wee brown-haired woman opened to them. She laughed wi’ joy to see them, and brought them in, and they went down a hallway, wi’ strange things like bowls hanging from the ceiling.

      “Then they were in a room, wi’ sofas and chairs, and the room had great windows all down one wall, from the floor to the ceiling, and the afternoon sun was streaming in, setting Brianna’s hair to fire, and makin’ wee Mandy cry when it got in her eyes.”  

      “Did … did any of them call the brown-haired woman by name?” I asked, my heart beating in a queer, fast way.  

      He frowned, moonlight making a cross of light over nose and brows.  

      “Aye, they did,” he said. “I canna just—oh, aye; Roger Mac called her Fiona.”  

      “Did he?” I said. My hands rested on his shoulder, and my mouth was a hundred times drier than it had been when I woke up. The night was chilly, but not enough to account for the temperature of my hands.  

      I had told Jamie any amount of things about my own time over the years of our marriage. About trains and planes and automobiles and wars and indoor plumbing. But I was nearly sure that I had never told him what the study looked like in the manse where Roger had grown up with his adoptive father.  

      The room with the window wall, made to accommodate the Reverend’s painting hobby. The manse with its long hallway, furnished with old-fashioned light fixtures, shaped like hanging bowls. And I knew I had never told him about the Reverend’s last housekeeper, a girl with dark, curly hair, called Fiona.  

      “Were they happy?” I asked at last, very quietly.  

      “Aye. Brianna and the lad—they had some shadows to their faces, but I could see they were glad nonetheless. They all sat down to eat—Brianna and her lad close together, leaning on each other—and wee Jem stuffed his face wi’ cakes and cream.” He smiled at the picture, teeth a brief gleam in the darkness.

      “Oh—at the last, just before I woke … wee Jem was messin’ about, picking things up and putting them down as he does. There was a … thing . . on the table. I couldna say what it was; I’ve never seen the like.”  

      He held his hands about six inches apart, frowning at them. “It was maybe this wide, and just a bit longer—something like a box, maybe, only sort of … humped.”  

      “Humped?” I said, puzzled as to what this could be.  

    “Aye, and it had a thing on top like a wee club, only wi’ a knob to each end, and the club was tied to the box wi’ a sort of black cord, curled up on itself like a piggie’s tail. Jem saw it, and he reached out his hand, and said, ‘I want to talk to Grandda.’ And then I woke.”  

      He leaned his head back farther, so as to look up into my face.  

      “Would ye ken what a thing like that might be, Sassenach? It was like nothing I’ve ever seen.”  

      The autumn wind came rustling down from the hill, dry leaves hurrying in its wake, quick and light as the footsteps of a ghost, and I felt the hair rise on nape and forearms.  

      “Yes, I know,” I said. “I’ve told you about them, I know.” I didn’t think, though, that I had ever described one to him, in more than general terms. I cleared my throat.  

      “It’s called a telephone.”

-- A Breath of Snow and Ashes

[bellarkeselection]

Two Dutton’s in the Family

Request from mackleann on Wattpad. Kayce and the reader get married and on that same day Jaime tells John he has a son.

My boots hit the wooden staircase of the front porch that were attached to the main house on the Dutton ranch. Today is the day I have been dreaming of since I had my very first ever conversation with Kayce John Dutton. The man that I was about to marry and become the future Mrs. Dutton. Everyone turns their heads my direction but my gaze remains attached to the deep brown eyes of my soon to be husband. “Remember if he ever hurts you I have a shotgun ready and waiting.” My father told me squeezing my arm that was looped through his.

“Don’t worry, daddy. I know he won’t hurt me.” I reassured him glancing up to him before we got to the end of the isle. He kisses my cheek placing my hand in Kayce’s giving him a stern but soft smile before sitting down with my mother and Kayce’s father John.

His sister Beth and brother Lee were sitting behind them. Then there was his adopted brother Jaime and his girlfriend behind them since Jamie and Beth have a bad history of fighting. My dress had a long train and a cut slit at my right leg. My hair was wavy and curled a little on the ends. The dress was short sleeved with lace that also was around my waist going along with my light brown cowgirl boots that were more comfortable than heels. “You look so beautiful.” Kayce smiled eyeing me up and down and I did the same to him.

He was wearing a white dress shirt with a black dress jacket, pants and tie. His curly was combed a little but it was still a mess like I liked it to be. Finally he had his familiar black dusty cowboy hat on his head which would be weird anyway except Montana. “You are rather handsome in a suite and tie.” It was rare that he wore stuff like this but I must admit it was making it hard for me to not just drag him towards the house and upstairs to his room right now and I had to imagine he was thinking the same about me.

“We are gathered here today to join together Kayce John Dutton and Y/n M/n L/n. Now I shall let the couple say their own vows if they have some prepared.” The paster declared stepping away from us smiling at the two of us.

Clearing my throat I intertwined my hands with Kayce’s struggling not to cry through my vows. “Kayce, the day we met you were literally my knight in a cowboy hat that night at the bar. When you gave that drunk a good lesson in manners. I didn’t move back home with my parents and expect to find the man that I wanted to marry. Yet standing here I don’t regret how we met at all. You are kind, brave, funny and a gentleman who will do anything for the people he loves and his family. That is everything I want in a partner, so thank you for asking me to marry you.”

“Oh Y/n, damn that’s gonna be hard to beat but here I go.” Kayce chuckled causing everyone to chuckle alongside him. He squeezed my hands in his larger ones throwing his head back for a second. “Y/n, I love you. You are so sweet, fierce, stubborn and you can ride like the wind on anything you set your mind too. And I can’t wait to call you Mrs. Dutton and have little kids running around this place.”

Reaching up I wiped away some tears not caring if I was messing up the little mackup I had put on. The paster returned placing his hands over ours shifting his gaze between the two of us. “Now Kayce will you take this woman to love and cherish from this day until the end of your days. And promise to protect her from any danger and always support her?”

“I do.” The youngest Dutton child responds.

The paster turned to stare at me asking the same question. “Y/n will you take this man to love and cherish from this day until the end of your days. And promise to protect him from any danger and always support him?”

“I do.” I responded back smiling towards Kayce.

Beth rose to her feet coming over with the rings that belong to John and his late wife Evelyn. Kayce and I each took one where I slipped his ring on his left hand. He slowly slide his mother’s ring on my left hand intertwining our hands together once more. We were grinning so big and bright just waiting to hear his next words. “By the power vested in me by the great state of Montana. I now pronounce you husband and wife, Mr and Mrs. Dutton. You may kiss the bride.”

Kayce quickly yet gently cupped my face in his hands pressing his lips down against mine. Leaning up on my toes I wrapped my arms around his neck kissing him back deeply. He tilted his head to the side deepening the kiss especially when my fingers ran through his curly locks. His hat fell off his head when I did so where he moved his hands down my waist tugging me against his chest hearing everyone begin clapping. Leading into the reception after taking a bunch of pictures we were sharing our first dance as husband and wife until Jamie slowly rose to his feet walking over to my new father in law. “Uh dad, I’m sorry to tell you this here since it’s Kayce and Y/n’s wedding. But I can’t wait any longer so you should know that I am going to have a child.”

“That’s great, son.” John rose to his feet where Kayce and I paused our dance smiling at the pair. John was always worried with having an heir to keep the legacy of the ranch. So now that he knew that he wouldn’t be as concerned as he was beforehand.

Intertwining my hand with Kayce’s I laid my head on his chest grinning ear to ear. “Do you think anyone would notice if we slipped out the back of the barn and went to the old cabin that Lee doesn’t use.” Leaning up on my toes I whispered in his ear smirking when he met my gaze kissing the crown of my head.

“The only person we’d have to worry about is Beth but don’t worry I think she’s about to have a fight with Jamie in a second. So let’s go, Mrs. Duttton.” He loops his fingers through mine tugging us around the doorway leading me out into the darkness with the moon shining above our heads. We ran up the wooden stairs until he picked me up suddenly bridal style.

I squealed loudly wrapping my arms around his neck. He was holding underneath my ankles and his other arm was holding my back until we entered the bedroom where he tossed me down on it gently. “Kayce!”

“I have been waiting so long for this, darling. I’m going to make you never want to leave this bed because I love you so much.” He hovered above me leaning down crashing his lips onto mine. Running my fingers through his hair I unbuttoned his shirt tossing it and the tie across the room.

He broke the heated kiss moving his hands underneath my dress slowly shrugging it over my head tossing it gently onto the edge of the bed. He then unclipped my bra smirking when our eyes scanned over one another so ready for what was coming next between us. “I’m in the same boat, Kayce. Thankfully we can have a honeymoon otherwise I don’t think I would let you leave this room ever.” Wrapping my arms around his neck our lips met again with me crawling up into his lap.

“I love you so much…” He muttered in between kisses lowering me onto my back never breaking the kiss and moaning a few times when I tugged his curly hair tightly.

He buried his face in the crook of my neck trailing kisses downward causing me to moan with him slowly making love to me. “I love you too, cowboy.” We were both so caught up in the moment of passion and love that we could completely ignore the fact that we slipped out of our wedding reception.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[bobfloydsbabe]

Hiya! Soooo, for your blurb night, may I request fluff for Jas and Jake, preferably having to do with when Jamie first calls them "mom" and "dad"? Bit odd, I know, but I need domestic fluff! 😊

Effie! Thank you so much for participating in blurb night. Believe it or not, I actually had a rough draft of something exactly like this, so I polished it up for you. Enjoy!

chosen family

SUMMARY: Jake and Jas get new titles thanks to their adopted daughter Jamie.

WARNINGS: None.

WORD COUNT: 0.65k

“Do you want me to drive you to school?” Jake asked, handing Jamie her water bottle and backpack. “Skip the bus.”

Jamie stood from the small bench in the hallway, her shoes neatly tied, and she accepted the items from Jake.

She shook her head. “Caro is taking me,” she told him with a broad smile on her face. “She’s dropping Dalia off, and they offered to take me. I already told Jas.”

Jake grinned. “Before or after her coffee?”

Jamie snorted. “After,” she said incredulously. “I don’t have a death wish.”

Jake laughed. Even though Jas’ morning moods had evened out significantly since she left the Navy, it was still best not to speak to her before her first hit of caffeine set in.

At the sound of a car horn, he opened his arms, offering Jamie a hug. She stepped right into his embrace, leaning her head on his shoulder. 

It had been five years since Jake and Jas first started fostering Jamie, and four since they adopted her. The physical affection happened slowly, but now, at 13, she gave it freely and willingly.

The horn sounded again, and Jake let go of Jamie. He brushed a loose coil of her dark hair behind her ear, but it bounced back to its original position. “Be good, kid.”

She opened the door and revealed Caro’s car parked on the street, Dalia hanging out of the passenger side window, waving at her friend and honorary uncle.

Jamie sped down the driveway. “See you later, Dad,” she shouted at him, climbing into the backseat and closing the car door.

Jake barely registered the car driving away or the front door hitting his back as it swung and tried to close.

Jamie had called him dad.

It was the first time he’d heard her say it, and his heart pounded in his chest. He had accepted, been okay with the fact that Jamie would likely never call him anything but his name. Jake wasn’t her biological father, just as Jas wasn’t her biological mother.

He sucked in a deep breath and headed back inside the house, where he still had half an hour before he needed to leave for base.

He was in a daze as he picked up the phone and called Jas, unsure if she could even answer in the middle of her shift.

“What’s up?” She asked when she picked up on the fifth ring.

“Jamie called me dad.”

The sound of rustling papers stopped, and the line went quiet. Jake heard Jas’ breathing, but not much else.

“What?”

“She called me dad,” he repeated. “Jamie called me dad.”

Jas snorted, a sound dangerously similar to that of their daughter. “You sure?”

“Yes,” he told her firmly. “Caro probably heard it, too.”

He didn’t know how he expected Jas to react, but it definitely wasn’t her laughter carrying through the phone. He’d known her for almost ten years, and they’d been married for six. He should have been able to read her by now, but he couldn’t. She surprised him at every turn, even a decade into their relationship.

Her laughter eventually died down. “It was probably a one time thing,” she said. “Don’t get your hopes up.”

Jake knew she was right. The chances of Jamie calling him dad again were slim, but he couldn’t help the tentative hope that surged at the thought of her being comfortable enough to see him as her father in more than just a legal sense.

“Just wait,” he warned, a smile creeping onto his features. “One of these days, she’ll call you mom, and we’ll have a very different conversation.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“You’re infuriating, Doc.”

She chuckled on the other end of the line, and Jake could picture her beautiful features as she did. “You’re one to talk, Seresin.”

A week later, Jasmine Lane burst into tears when Jamie called her mom for the first time.

[professional-termite]

MallCop HM 2023 Harriota AU

This is an idea that me and @youngstarfishphilosopher were talking about so here's the idea so far...

-William Gracey and Allistair Crump are both rival store owners in New Orleans in this AU. I think Gracey's store would be called The Haunted Mansion Store and would sell themed products, with local legend Constance Hatchaway being a large part of it (she's pretty much the store's mascot). Crump's store would be called Hatbox Supply or something, which earns him the nickname Hattie by the townsfolk.

- Gracey's store is a lot more successful than Crump's because Gracey is just a better businessman in general, so Crump ends up trying to sabatoge the store a lot. Crump ends up paying Kent Owens, the now middle-aged, broke, estranged son of the local priest, to help him steal stuff and sabatoge the store.

- In order to combat the thieves, the rich Gracey ends up hiring Harriet Lee and Leota Curtis (yes I'm giving them both Jamie Lee Curtis references for last names, be quiet) to be the security guards. Leota is something of a local legend, retired cop and town hero, and is a MASSIVE inspiration to Harriet, aka the reason why she tried to join the police force in her 20's. She didn't pass at the academy, however, and ended up working in security.

- Ben Matthias and his adoptive father Bruce Matthias are 2 store regulars, and close friends of Harriet. Ben's wife recently died, which caused him to quit his job, so Bruce ends up spending a lot of time trying to get Ben to apply at Haunted Mansion so he can begin living a normal life again (and also stop living with Bruce, because Bruce works as a professor and can barely afford to feed himself, let alone a depressed Ben).

- Gabbie and Travis Hauss (get it because in the movie they owned the house so their last name is Hauss) are 2 other store regulars, and family friends of Gracey's. Ben is broke as hell and can't cover all his groceries when Bruce sends him out, so Gabbie helps cover some of his stuff because she's rich and nice, which is how they meet.

- Ben catches Kent screwing with the shelves and ends up calling security (Leota) on him, but when Leota starts getting really mean towards him for being, like, an idiot and a failure for being unemployed and essentially disowned by his dad (cuz yk Leota is friends with Kent's dad and also in on all the town drama), Ben steps in and defends him (cuz even though he's trying to sabatoge the place, Kent is really really bad at causing any real trouble, and he wasn't stealing stuff either, and Ben takes pity). Ben tries to clarify that he doesn't really like Kent, but Ben got him off the hook, so Kent has decided they're friends now. There is no escaping him.

- Now that Kent has chilled out, he and Ben make a promise to each other to go job hunting and get their lives back together. Crump gets really pissed that he lost Kent as a pawn and starts actually causing damage to the building.

- Long story short, the whole thing turns into an investigation (that the actual police won't touch since there's no evidence), so Leota and Harriet become an unofficial cop duo and start collecting evidence to prosecute Crump for the various crimes he's trying to commit in order to shut down The Haunted Mansion Store.

This is just a basic outline of the story, I might polish this and turn it into an actual thing later but uhh yeah :D (also yes ofc there's background Ben x Kent how could I resist...)

@creative-soul-22 thought you might be interested in my hm brainrot so enjoy

[flyinghome-againstthewind]

Beside the Seaside: Ch 1

read on ao3

next chapter

Summary: 

The Second World War has ended but returning to their lives from before the war proves difficult for many. For widower Jamie Fraser, the physical and psychological scars he now carries threaten the peaceful life he wants to provide for his young daughter. In an effort to start over fresh, he moves them to a coastal town in the Highlands and buys a seaside inn.

Claire Beauchamp returned from the war with an orphan in tow, intent on adopting the boy and starting the family she and her husband had longed for before the war interrupted their plans. But in gaining her son, she loses her marriage and now must cobble together some sort of life for just her and Fergus. To try and mend their fractured relationship, she takes her son on an extended stay in the Scottish Highlands.

November 1945

He had the car drop him off at the end of the lane rather than Lallybroch’s doorstep. Stood there for a minute with his bag thrown over one shoulder and his uniform growing damp under the steady rain.

It had been raining the day he left Lallybroch, and it gave Jamie a strange sense of no time having passed between that day and this one, even though everything about his life had changed in those five years. Yet Lallybroch looked the same. The heavy stone walls built by his ancestors had stood for two centuries and it heartened Jamie to see the place untouched by the destruction of war. The walls of it, at least.

His feet felt leaden with every step that brought him closer to his home. He wasn’t ready for who he would see. He wasn’t ready for who he wouldn’t see here ever again. And while he’d carried some of these losses for three years now, he hadn’t been home without them yet. It would be real, inescapable, the moment he stepped foot inside.

Jamie had hardly passed under the archway of Lallybroch before the bellowing of several dogs inside the house announced his presence. Ready or not, the front door flew open, and there was his ma. His throat constricted at the sight of her, and he’d all but blinked and she was in front of him, throwing her arms around his neck.

“Oh, my lad! My son,” she sobbed into his neck, her voice nearly drowned out by the heavy rain.

Ye’re a braw lad, son.

The words came to mind of their own volition, a memory triggered by his return. Not spoken by his mother, but his father on the day Jamie left for training. His da had driven him to the train station after Jamie had said goodbye to everyone else, giving Jamie a prolonged moment with Brian Fraser. But the entire drive and all through waiting for Jamie’s train, the two of them hardly spoke. What was there to say in such circumstances? Brian had fought in the Great War, and he’d hoped to spare his own sons from such a fate. That was no secret to Jamie, and he’d already witnessed Brian’s quiet grief when Willie left months before. Knew that his own leaving was twisting the knife further in Brian’s gut. So they’d stayed quiet. When the train pulled in and began to fill with soldiers, Brian had clapped Jamie on the shoulder and, when Jamie moved to hug his father, had kissed his cheek, something he hadn’t done since Jamie was a boy. “Ye’re a braw lad, son,” he had said, giving Jamie’s shoulder a wee shake. When his father spoke again, his voice was thick with emotion. “Make sure ye come back home.”

Jamie felt his chest tighten with the memory and his arms squeezed around his mother. He had done as Brian had told him ‒ he had come home. But not before he could see his father alive again, now dead and buried in the Lallybroch family cemetery. Those words became the last thing his da ever said to him, and among his long list of regrets in life was the hour that Jamie wasted in silence with him on that day.

“Oh, my Jamie,” his mother was saying now. She pulled back to look at him, framing his face in her cold, wet hands. His jaw tensed.

Ellen MacKenzie Fraser had always been the stubborn pillar of strength in their family but in the last six years, she’d had to weather more than a fair share of grief. She looked more frail than he’d ever seen her before, and that left a cold feeling in his chest.

“Jamie!”

His gaze lifted to the doorway to find Jenny rushing down the steps, clutching her round belly ‒ he hadn’t realized she was pregnant again, hadn’t seen word of it come through in any of his letters from home.

He opened one arm to embrace his sister, bringing the three of them together. The unwelcome thought came as he held them; they were the last three Frasers standing, their family gone by half in the space of a bloody war.

“Och, it’s pouring buckets out here!” Jenny fussed. “Come inside and get warm.”

He picked up his bag from the ground and followed Jenny in, his mother’s hand on his back the whole way, like she needed to touch him to know he was real.

Stepping inside Lallybroch felt like stepping back in time ‒ everything exactly as he remembered it from before. He half-expected to see his father and his brothers when he rounded the corner into the sitting room, so inseparable were they in his memories of this place.

Instead, he caught sight of another familiar face. “Ian!”

“Good to see ye, Jamie.” His best friend strode across the room, his gate completely changed from the confident ease with which Ian used to carry himself. Until he saw that, Jamie had almost forgotten. Ian’s prosthetic leg wasn’t visible under his trousers, but to anyone who had known him before, his uneven strides were a dead giveaway.

Jamie embraced his friend ‒ his brother-in-law now too, he reminded himself ‒ and noticed Jenny then corralling a small boy towards them. “This is our wee Jamie,” she introduced with a proud smile. “This is your uncle, mo cridhe,” she said to the boy, “the one you’re named after.”

Jenny and Ian’s son was scarcely more than 3 years old, and he smiled shyly up at Jamie. His namesake. He had known this; Jenny had written to him with news of his first nephew while Jamie was nearly on his deathbed. At the time, it had been a comfort. Another reason to make it home. But now, looking down at the wee boy, all Jamie could think was that if his nephew had been born a few months later, he would be Willie’s namesake instead, or their father’s ‒ as he ought to be. Not saddled with Jamie’s name. Not when Jamie had done nothing for this boy to be proud of.

“Hello, laddie,” he said with a slight nod.

There was a gentle touch at his elbow and he turned to find his mother at his side again. “Someone else would like to see ye.” She nodded towards the doorway opposite them, and Jamie’s gaze flitted over to see a girl of six years of age in place of where he had left a wee babe. His stomach twisted into knots. She looked so much like her mother, it gave Jamie the strange sense of seeing a memory come to life right before him.

He skirted slowly around the others and paused six feet away from where his daughter stood. And lowered himself slowly to one knee.

Faith bolted like a spooked deer, and he was left still on one knee in the middle of the room. The others had gone terribly silent while his face burned hot with humiliation.

“She’s a shy wee thing sometimes,” Jenny said quickly.

“Give her some time,” Ellen said, and then smiled gently at her son. “Your homecoming was all she could talk about for the last week. I expect her nerves just got to her, poor wee thing.”

Jamie stood and wordlessly rejoined the adults, let them draw him into mindless conversation, but his gaze kept slipping back to the doorway through which Faith had disappeared.

  ----------

He set his bag on the bed and slowly, methodically, began to unpack ‒ wholly aware of the small presence lingering at the threshold of his room, curiosity having gotten the better of her. But he wouldn’t spook her away by turning to look.

Instead, he pulled a stack of bound letters from his bag and set them out.

“Are those letters?”

The sound of her voice was a revelation in itself, some new knowledge of Faith for him to file away. He chanced a glance over his shoulder at her.

“Aye. All my letters from home while I was away. They’re mostly about you.”

That piqued her interest, and Faith took a few steps into the room.

“Updates on how much you grew… from your grannie and Aunt Jenny and‒” He looked over at her, curious. “Do ye remember your grandda much?”

Faith shook her head.

“No,” Jamie sighed. “I expect ye would’ve been too small when he died. Even still, he wrote me letters about you before he was gone. Your Uncle Robbie, too.”

Something unreadable flickered across her face, and he wondered what it meant to her, the reminder of loved ones lost before she ever had the chance to know them. And if he hadn’t made it home, she never would’ve known him for herself either.

He sat on the edge of the bed and reached for the stack of letters. When he met Faith’s gaze, there was a yearning there he thought he understood, even amidst her apprehension.

“There was never a single day I didnae think of you, and wish I could come home to you.” His stomach was in knots again, just to be speaking to her. He’d envisioned this day so many times, and admittedly, it hadn’t gone as he’d hoped thus far. “I ken you don’t remember me, but I remembered for the both of us, aye? I carried these letters with me wherever I went.”

“Can I see them?” Faith asked softly.

Jamie smiled and held his hands out to her, and when she stepped closer to him, he pulled her into his lap. The last time he’d done that, she had been barely a year old. “Lord, you’re almost too big for this.”

“No, I’m not!”

“No,” Jamie corrected himself, pressing a delicate kiss to her hair. He’d imagined doing just that, kissing the top of her head, for so long, he felt his throat swell with emotion at the realization that he didn’t need to dream it up any longer. He cleared his throat. “No, you’re right.”

Faith hadn’t needed further prompting and untied the bundle of letters in Jamie’s hands. He watched as she opened one and recognized his ma’s fine penmanship. “Can you read?” he thought suddenly. He couldn’t remember if that was something Jenny or his ma had shared…

“Aye, I’m in school.”

“I knew that,” Jamie said with a slight smile. “Suppose you would know how to read then.”

“And Grannie’s been teaching me too.”

They fell silent as Faith slowly read the letter in her hand. Jamie skimmed the familiar contents of it. “I remember this one. You were about three at the time and no one could find you. The adults were running all over Lallybroch trying to find ye, and ye were just in the pantry, helping yerself to the biscuits Mrs. Crook had made the day before.”

Faith made a face at that.

“Did no one ever tell ye that story?” Jamie laughed.

“No.” She was smiling, though, at the picture he painted for her.

“Ye always were a canny lass. Here, this one has a portrait of you when you were just a wee thing.” He had so few pictures that had made it to him on the front lines, but of the ones that did, he could find the well-worn envelopes in the dark simply from touch. He pulled the small photo out from where it had been tucked carefully within a letter and studied the image of Faith. She would’ve been about the size she was during the biscuit incident, he realized.

“What happened to your back?”

“What?” His gaze snapped to Faith, but she was looking at the letter that had come with the photograph. The one he’d received while recovering…

“Nothing to worry yerself about.” He snatched the letter out of her hand and began to fold it carefully around the photograph, keenly aware of Faith’s unwavering gaze. “Why don’t you pick another letter?”

She sighed and did as he told her, but he couldn’t help feeling something had shifted between them, that he’d taken a misstep already.

“Why isn’t this one opened?”

Her words landed like a swift kick to the gut. Of course she had found that one within the stack.

“Don’t‒ Don’t open it,” he managed to say gently, even while his heart tried to march right out of his chest. His hand covered hers where Faith had started to tear at one corner. She looked up at him, brows furrowed together in confusion.

“But why‒”

“It’s nothing to concern yerself with.” He wanted desperately to rip the letter out of her hands, but he was on such shaky ground with her as it was. “Please.”

She looked down at the letter in her hands and instead of opening it, she flipped the envelope over. “Who’s Cpl. W. Fraser?”

“Faith‒”

“They’re a Fraser, does that mean‒”

“FAITH!”

He didn’t recall the movement, but it must’ve been him; suddenly they were no longer sitting together. He had Faith by her shoulders, her feet firmly planted on the floor, and the rest of the letters scattered on the floor between them. He couldn’t be sure if it was his raised voice or the shock from her feet being set on the ground, but Faith’s mouth had snapped shut.

“There are going to be things I cannae tell you. Things you must not ask me about. This is one of those things. D’ye understand?”

Without breaking eye contact, Faith simply dropped the letter. Jamie watched it land at her feet and when his gaze slid back up to her, Faith’s eyes were filled with tears.

“A leannan…”

He let go of her shoulders, reaching to frame her scared wee face in his hands, and for the second time that day, he watched her flee through an open doorway.

   ----------

January 1946

Jamie could hear the screams above the incessant gunfire. It was Angus crying out, but in the blast of a bomb, the men had all scattered in the woods and Jamie was trying desperately to pinpoint where Angus had ended up.

He stepped towards a small clearing, and the steady pulse of a machine gun had him lurching for cover. His heart hammered in his chest.

Baser instinct told him to fall back to safety ‒ relative safety at that, if he could find it ‒ but the anguished screams of a man he kent well kept him rooted at the base of a tree, formulating a plan.

All the while, Angus screamed, and it made Jamie’s blood run cold. Shut up, ye wee fool, he wanted to yell.

He stepped back, planning to loop back around and avoid the clearing, and a sudden pain burned through his leg.

 Jamie screamed as the bullet pierced through him, his breath becoming ragged.

It was dark in the room.

He wasn’t in that forest anymore, but the sound of Angus’s screams still rattled in his brain, the scarred path that the bullet took through his leg still burned as though it had just happened. His hands fisted in the bed sheets as his heart raced.

He was at Lallybroch…

He was at Lallybroch…

He was at Lallybroch…

Jamie reached for the lamp at his bedside table and switched it on. Light flooded the room and he caught sight of the flicker of red hair in the doorway to his bedroom, there and gone.

Shit.

Had he woken her with his screaming?

He threw off the covers and scrambled for the door and then stopped himself. He had worn pinstripe pajama pants to bed but preferred to sleep shirtless, and his back… His scars upset Faith, he knew. Christ, he couldn’t comfort her if she couldn’t stand the sight of him.

He found his discarded white undershirt from the day before and quickly threw it on, vaguely aware of Jenny’s bairn wailing at the top of her lungs. At some point, the sound of Angus’s dying screams in his mind had blended with the baby’s cries. He shook his head, as if that could dispel Angus’s voice.

Had the baby woken Faith and caused her to seek Jamie out? She had never done that before and if this was the first…

He rounded into the hallway and nearly collided with Ian. “Jesus!”

“Easy, man. Steady,” Ian said, even as it was Jamie gripping his friend by the elbows to ensure he didn’t topple. “I’m alright.”

He realized he was squeezing Ian’s arms in a vice grip and suddenly let go. “I’m sorry. I saw Faith. I‒”

“Your ma is with her. She’s alright. You, though… You look like hell, Jamie. It’s the middle of winter, and you’re sweating like a pig.”

He glanced down at the undershirt he’d thrown on and saw it was already sticking to his skin, soaked through in some spots. Sweating like a pig alright, but despite this, he felt rather cold.

“Jamie?”

He got the distinct impression this wasn’t the first time Ian had said his name to get his attention, only the first time in that moment Jamie recognized it. “Aye?”

“D’ye need a drink? Something to take the edge off?”

“No. No, I‒” He scrubbed a hand over his face, which was also damp with sweat. His breathing was still ragged, he couldn’t seem to slow it down. “My mother is with Faith?”

“Aye. Do ye need anything, Jamie?” Ian asked again.

“No.” He realized the baby was still crying down the hallway in Jenny and Ian’s room. “Is wee Maggie alright?”

“Aye, she’s just fussy and won’t sleep. I’m sorry she woke you again.”

Jamie shook his head dismissively. Wasn’t the bairn’s fault that he came back broken. He wondered, not for the first time, how Ian could carry on the way he did ‒ to be a husband and father seemingly without being haunted at every turn by what they’d lived through. It left him with no small amount of envy, ugly as it was. “It’s alright. I’m fine.”

The pity in Ian’s eyes made his skin crawl, so he backed into his room and shut the door without another word. His head fell forward against the door with a dull thud.

   ----------

March 1946

Jamie had hardly slept the night before, so he spent longer than usual on his appearance, shaving his morning shadow and smoothing his short crop of curls with pomade to look presentable. He hadn’t worn a uniform in months, but the habit of making sure his state of dress was orderly and without fault had lingered; when he emerged for breakfast, his pleated trousers and collared blue shirt hadn’t a wrinkle in sight.

Faith was the first to catch his eye as he entered the dining room, and she smiled faintly at him. He bent to kiss the top of her head before seating himself across from her.

“Good morning, Jamie.” His mother’s greeting was half-buried behind her tea cup. She had wee Maggie in one arm and sat on an angle to keep the baby from reaching her breakfast. He gave her a tight smile before he began filling his plate.

Mrs. Crook entered the room and set the paper next to Jamie with her own greeting and then plucked Maggie out of Ellen’s arms so she could eat without the bairn encumbering her.

“Och, thank ye, Mrs. Crook. She wants to reach for everything in sight.” Jamie felt his mother’s gaze out of the corner of his eye, scrutinizing him. “And how did ye sleep last night, Jamie?”

“Fine. And you?”

Ellen’s gaze flicked to Faith before she answered, and he knew his daughter’s presence was the only thing saving him from his mother’s fussing. “Fine, thank you.”

He wondered absently if Jenny had said something to her about the argument they’d had last night. Or worse, if his mother had heard it. They were no strangers to sibling squabbles but Jenny seemed to relish the chance to push his buttons lately, and Jamie was powerless to back down from a fight with her, some dormant childhood instinct rearing to life and making him look foolish. They were at each other’s throats any chance they got these days, worse than they’d ever been as bairns.

“And what about you, wee Faith?” he asked, trying to divert his thoughts.

His daughter’s face glowed at being included in their conversation, and she proceeded to give an animated recounting of her dream the night before, wherein she had gone to play in the woods and met a fairy who brought her to her fairy home at the tops of the trees.

“I thought fairies lived in a dun,” he teased.

Faith just shook her head. “This one didn’t.”

“How did ye get all the way up to her home then?” Jamie asked her, skimming the paper as she spoke.

“She took my hand and we flew, Da.”

“I see. Like in your Peter Pan book,” he grinned. They’d been reading it together before bed, a few nights ago. “And ye had a nice time with the fairy?”

Faith nodded her head. “A wonderful time,” she told him seriously. “I was verra sad when I woke up.”

The edge of his lips quirked into a smile. “That does sound lovely, a nighean. I’m glad ye had a nice time wi’ your fairy, but I must insist that if you should meet anyone in the forest in real life, even a lovely fairy, that you dinna go anywhere with them,” he leveled his gaze at her, only partially teasing her. She sighed loudly, and it made him chuckle.

Faith had been the bonniest baby he’d ever seen ‒ even when she was born early, so small and weak. He’d taken one look at her, his miracle girl, and felt shocked with how much he loved her, right from the start. And when Jamie had left for the war, she could hardly toddle about on her own. It had been a shock, too, to have to learn who his daughter was all over again when he’d returned.

She was still skittish as a colt around him sometimes, but Faith was also such a loving child, and so inclined towards her whimsical world of makebelieve, it made Jamie’s chest ache with wanting to protect her from the world’s ugliness as he knew it.

But how could he do that when his own nightmares kept Faith at arm’s length? He frightened her, he knew ‒ his scarred back, his lingering combat stress… How could he protect her when the ugliness was within him? His mother was the one Faith turned to for comfort, the one she sought out when she needed to ask permission. In the months since he’d come home, he still wasn’t a proper father to her.

Not like he was before.

His gaze fell to an advertisement in the paper and before he could stop it, God help him, an idea began to take root.

   ----------

“Ye did what?”

“I bought an inn,” Jamie repeated slowly, ignoring Jenny’s incredulous look. “It’s over in Nairn. It has twelve bedrooms. It’s in town and close to the water. Needs a bit of work, but it’s got good bones. And it’s good work, I’m good at it. Ye ken I am.”

“But you’ve only just come back home. Now you’re going to leave again?”

He didn’t answer her. He knew his sister would be the strongest opponent to him leaving ‒ Jenny had watched three brothers walk out and only one made it back. She’d hate him for a long time for walking out again, no matter the circumstances.

Ian shifted his gaze warily between the two siblings and wisely stayed out of it. But even without saying a word, Jamie knew Ian understood.

“And what about Faith? You’re just going to leave your own bairn behind again?”

“Leave?” he roared. Jenny could always deliver words as effective as a slap to the face. Leave her again? “I didn’t have much choice before. And, no, I’m no’ leaving Faith behind. She’ll come wi’ me.”

It was obvious Jenny had never considered that, and she seemed to like that even less, but she’d stayed silent in the wake of his outburst.

“It’s only Nairn,” Ian added to diffuse the tension. “He’s no’ even going far.”

   ----------

His mother had only asked him if he was certain it was what he should do.

“I’m no’ meant for this place, Ma,” he said quietly. “Willie was supposed to take over the running of Lallybroch. Da had prepared him for it. And besides, Jenny and Ian have been taking care of it just fine since…”

Ellen nodded slowly, a sad smile on her lips. He meant what he said ‒ he wasn’t meant for this place ‒ but his true regret in all of this was that he had been the son that returned to her, when it should have been Willie, their father’s pride and joy, or Rob, their mother’s miracle. He had only ever been just Jamie, unextraordinary middle son.

“Ye ken,” Ma began, “Willie did whatever Brian asked of him. He was always eager to do right and succeed. But Brian had a way about him. Something in him made you want to follow him, and it’s not something you can teach. Willie didn’t have that, hard as he tried. He could’ve run the business but he couldn’t have guided the folks here in the same way Brian did. But you have always had that quality, my Jamie. Since you were a lad, others have followed your lead. You take care of people. And whatever you do, wherever you go, you’ll bring that with you.”

Jamie swallowed thickly, his gaze sweeping over the land he’d lived on all his life, and the responsibility he used to wish would fall to him instead. “Ye dinna hate me for leaving?”

“No,” she sighed, and gave him a look that felt like she could see right through him. She patted his hand. “I want you to have peace, Jamie. However you can. And I dinna think you’ll find it here. Not right now, at least.”

He nodded, feeling something ease in his chest to have his mother’s blessing. He could never have the kind of life he wanted, he could never be the kind of father he wanted to be, while the ghosts of his past were hounding him. And so many things about Lallybroch kept him tightly wound, ready to snap.

A fresh start. That was his best chance ‒ his and Faith’s.

[arkunder]

OH, i have a small headcanon/idea for the thing with how mikey & michael from the slasher band au are related.

the idea being that mikey & michael are like, step-brothers. judith is michael's older sister, and laurie is mikey's younger sister, hence michael's description mentioning his "step-sister" laurie. they're technically cousins but mikey & laurie were adopted into michael's family at some point & they changed their last names to myers or smth like that.

Because of you I decided to finally sit down and think about this, so I present…

So I thought about Mikey and Michael being step-brothers for a while, but something about that made them feel… to close? So I felt that them being cousins worked better. As well I really wanted both to have their own sisters so I made the incarnations of Laurie, Judith, etc into their sisters. Also made Laurie’s “Adoptive parents” into her bio parents and also made Jamie Lloyd into her sister.

Not sure where to put this bastard, probably Mr. Myers and Peter Myers father, making him Mikey and Michaels grandfather? Guess the Myers just really like the name Michael 🤷‍♀️.

[equallyshaw]

the medicated series feat. jamie drysdale pt 3

warnings: nothing.

word Count: 2.39k 

- The Medicated Series: features OC's with medical issues such as depression, anxiety, physical disabilities such as MS or Rheumatoid Arthritis as well as any other autoimmune disease such as Crohn's, endometriosis, infertility, etc. (not an autoimmune but you get it).

- one more part after this🥹

← part two - epilogue →

────────────

three years had passed. a college degree completed, graduation, early success in her ms treatment, a proposal, a dog adopted, a small surfer house- a mere two houses down from the beach and no trevor as a roommate anymore. as well as the sudden passing of her and ej's father. which meant, he would not be there on her big day or any big day of her's in the future.

sofia had come a long way with jamie, he was there every step that he could be. though, ej made sure of that 24/7. she was completely still and living in the moment. she had obstacles still no doubt, but jamie loved her. he loved every moment that he had with her, sometimes drifting off to what the future may hold. and what it might not hold. some days the two of them sat in silence, as they both grieved the life that may never be. her grieving for her own and him for her. so when he proposed the previous year, she was had a moment of shock before feeling calm. this was meant to happen, she knew it, jamie knew it, trevor and ej knew it, plus the few other friends and family that had come out to southern california to see the proposal. so when she turned around to a group of cheers, she clutched her heart and smiled widely at jamie. tears brimming her eyes and his. her family and friends greeted her, with ej wrapping her in a bear hug and spun her around. jamie looked over as soon as he heard her laugh, he'd know that laugh anywhere. in a heart beat.

sofia walked out towards where jamie was standing with his back towards her. her hands shook as she walked up towards him, just buzzing with butterflies. she stood a few feet from him, and began to laugh. the photgrapher and videographer caught this moment on camera, getting his reaction as well. "whats so funny?" jamie asked wanting to turn around but he was waiting for her signal. she threw her head back, "i dont know." she said on the verge of tears. "whew, okay. dont wanna ruin my makeup that took an hour." she said laughing with the photgrapher who had captured the whole thing. "can i turn around now?" he asked, getting impatient.

she nodded, "yes you may." she smiled and he turned around slowly. his eyes grew wide, and he brought a hand to his mouth. he clasped his eyes shut and tried not to cry. "oh hun." she said grabbing his hands. "dont cry bubba." she said, "youre gonna make me cry." she frowned and he smiled sniffiling. "god you look gorgeous..beautiful. i dont have any big words to use." he said stepping back and admiring the dress, and his soon to be bride. he shook his head in awe, she was better than he had imagined. he pulled her in and spun her around, her laughing contagious. he dipped her, before kissing her cheek. they stood up, "i thought you were gonna try to kiss me there." she smiled, leaning in closer. he smirked, "that would defeat the purpose of our first kiss today." he said looking down at her lips before looking into her eyes. "alrighty james- time for me to go." she smiled beginning to walk off. jamie stared at her until she stepped inside but before she did, "my name's not james!" he yelled and she giggled. trevor walked out a bit too soon, "oh daaaaamn! you look good!" he said stepping back like jamie did and admired her for a second before looking at jamie, "you see this! she cleaned up nicely." trevor joked pointing at Sofia. sofia stuck her tongue out before stepping inside and found her mom.

jamie stood next to trevor who was his best man, charlie his older brother, who was his second best man (per mason), mason himself. her bridesmaids went first along with trevor's fiance who was her maid of honor. who she had met their freshman year at university. it was a match made in heaven, according to trevor.

sofia stood facing ej, who stared at her. he knew how much she wanted their father there, and so when she asked him to walk her down the aisle, he knew how hard it was. he grinned, putting his arm out for her to take it. she smiked, taking in a huge breath. "you ready?" he asked softly and she nodded. everybody stood up, as she walked out into the open. everybody took in her classic updo and classic dress, paired with a beautiful bouquet of peonies. sofia smiled at the two parties the first few steps, before coming eye to eye with jamie. she saw the tears that he tried to wipe away. the sun, the atmopshere, the timeless decor and the fact that he was about to marry his best friend and partner for life, made him emotional. she smiled widely at him, as they now only stood a few feet away. ej and jamie shook hands. ej turned back around and kissed her temple before stepping next to his wife jackie, and the landeskogs. she took jamie's hand and rubbed her thumb on his. "hi." she mouthed. he blushed, "hi." he mouthed back and they now stood face to face for the two parties to see.

jamie placed his hands softly on her cheeks, pulling her in for first kiss as partner's for life. she blushed into the kiss, grasping his hands with her own. they pulled apart, and rested their foreheads against one anothers before grabbing one another's hands and turning towards the crowd. she took the flowers, raising it to cheers. they began the descent down the aisle, and as they passed eliza and cale, the two quickly embraced eachother, a friendly hand finding one another. "thankyou. thankyou for everything." sofia smiled widely, and eliza smiled pulling her in for a quick hug. "go on!" she smirked, pushing the new bride playfully. sofia and jamie walked down the path, greeting different family and friends before heading off for some private time before they took photos.

sofia laid down on the bed that the two had in their private villa for the evening. tomorrow, they would be heading out to southern italy and then to paris. "im exhausted." she mused, turning over onto her stomach. "me too." he grinned, laying down on his back and looked down towards her. she smiled, and scooted herself up to kiss him. "i love you james drysdale." she grinned before standing up. "my names not james, mrs drysdale!" he said playfully, while pulled her onto him. she giggled, "mrs. drysdale huh?" she said coyly. "i like the sound of that." she mused, pecking him. he pulled her back down for another one, and another and another. she pulled back, "you know you gotta blame tyler for that name, he's the one that said it that night i met you two. remember?" she quizzed and got up to grab some champagne. he nodded, standing up as well. "trevor just looooves to pull my leg huh?" he joked sipping some of the glass she had given him. "yeah, for sure." she smiled. she walked over towards the window and looked down at beautiful laguna beach. "i just love it here." she sighed, leaning back into jamie. "i know me too." he smiled, placing a kiss on her head. "promise me that even if you get traded...we get a off season home here?" she asked looking up at him now. he smiled nodding, "ofcourse. anything for you." he smiled. the door opened and all they heard was claws scratching the floor. "ozzie!!" they both said excitedly and looked down to find their irish setter jumping. after the two moved into their now home, they adopted a small enough dog that even of her bad days and when she was alone, eliza could still take care of it and still function. ozzie was perfect for her, for them.

sofia and jamie held eachother in their arms, as the two sat next to one another, listening to Trevor speak. multiple times she hid her face in his chest out of embarresment or she could not contain her laughing. after trevor finished, it was sofia's. sofia as soon as they planned the wedding, wanted to do something that was not common and that was give a speech. the two had exchanged vows at the ceremony, some private words before and after. and now sofia was saying something little for the crowd. a public ancedote for their closest.

"james drysdale." she simply stated, garnering laughs from the people that knew about the inside joke. "you did this bro!" jamie joked pointing at trevor who playfully defended himself. "alright alright, yes! we can thank trevor for the mix up of jamie's name. i just love it too much to get rid of it now. i even contemplated putting it on the invitations but jamie said no." she said playfully frowning, earning a laugh from the crowd. "where do i begin?" she started...giggling herself. "my my my, trevor zegras ofcourse had to measle his way into mine and victoria's life all those years ago our sophmore year of school. mr knock off kurt russell himself." she paused, laughing at another inside joke which half the hockey room knew from his time in the nhl. "but yeah he decided he was gonna come bother us when we were eating some fish and chips after surfing in redondo beach and he was SO annoying. and then he called his friend over, and i was internally cringing. i was praying to the universe, that i could somehow leave but vic said 'no'." sofia began again, "then jamie begrudgingly came over and introduced himself to us. i actually choked on my coffee when he did. no like actually choked." she said as the crowd laughed.

jamie looked down embarrassed, because he knew what was next. "and then i proceeded to cough it all up on jamie...and trevor with that gigantic laugh here decided that it was the funniest thing on the planet." sofia playfully glared. "i was absolutley mortified! victoria and trevor exchanged numbers as jamie stood their staring into space, and i sat there thinking: is he really not gonna give me his number? well ok, there goes my self esteem." she said shrugging. trevor laughed his wicked laugh, remembering the full scene replaying it in his mind. "a few weeks later, turned into a month and i was down in newport beach and with ej as he was visiting anahiem for a game, and i decided that i was gonna get mr big foot over here to atleast attempt to surf. i got him to but it was not graceful." she smirked, as ej rolled his eyes. "he kept falling and falling. and after some time, he headed for the beach. i watched him up the shore and took in the waves that were crashing into me. and i kid you not i had a literal jumpscare seeing this guy come up next to me. i quickly looked around for trevor because at the time i could not stand that dude.

jamie see's me looking around and goes, "wow, that hurts my self esteem. i remember whipping my head towards him and glaring so hard. i hadn't realized i whispered that when i had first met him." the crowd laughed as she covered her mouth. "i glared at him, before rolling my eyes and began to paddle back out. but no, jamie said nope. youre gonna continue talking to me." she smiled looking over at jamie, who's mind was currently replaying the scene. "he called for me, and as soon as i went to stand up to you know- cruise the wave, i quickly lost my balance. and therefore to this day i dont surf with him ! but!" she segued, with the crowd eating it all up. "but! that day i learned how much of a sweetie pie he was, one that would not take "im fine" as an answer even after 25 minutes. nor was he intimidated by my big bad older brother who had faced him the previous night. nor did he judge my addiction of 1980's movies and froyo. nor my cat who fell in love with him the very moment they met. just like ester, i fell in love too. that was his final game of the year and he spent a month of his offseason with me as i finished my finals and spring semester. he accepted my okay ability of surfing, which for the record- has improved very much. he took in my ability to finish madlibs in about 90 seconds even if it does not make sense. or the fact that i have nespresso pods that will last me for the next year or two." she paused looking back at jamie. "you gave me your heart from the very first day you met me-- well the second time you met me." she grinned causing him to blush. "jamie, you gave me your word from the very beginning that you'd be there for me through thick and thin and you have done just that. even before this thing." she joked throwing up her left hand, her ring twinkling.

"even though i have seriously embarrased you in front of people that will no doubt use the info to taunt you on the ice..its all out of love. i promise." she mused, she looked towards the crowd, "promise me you wont go too hard?" she quizzed, while walking over towards the three hockey tables. they all agreed, laughing and hollering. "now, with all that said. i love you so very very much jamie. thankyou for being my biggest supporter, best friend, and fish and chips partner. i love you my love." she smiled as she walked back over towards him. he walked over towards her, taking her hand so they could do their first dance as husband and wife. "thought you weren't gonna go so hard?" he joked and she giggled. "only for you jamie." she smiled up at her blue eyed boy, "only for you." she mused and he grinned before kissing her deeply. and passionately.

•

────────────

hope you all enjoyed!!

@jamiedrysdale: married the absolute love of my life yesterday. here’s to being your partner for life, my love.

123k likes, 2.9k comments

Tag: sofiadrysdale

||

@trevorzegras: BEST WEDDING EVER…!

@sofiadrysdale; even better than urs??

@victoriadiaz: seriously z??? RuDe

@jackhughes: congrats J! So glad I could be apart of your day

@masonmctavish: a wicked night!

@sofiadrysdale: can’t wait to take in the world with you, Thankyou for everything 🫶🏻

@jamiedrysdale: me too- you have no idea 🥹

@ozziedrysdale: mama and papa got married

@jamiedrysdale: love u oz

@sofiadrsydale: love u my sweet bug!

@calemakar: had an amazing time yesterday! Thankyou for having us.

@jamiedrysdale: ofcourse! So grateful for you and E!

@erik6johnson: may or may not be hungover still

@sofiadrysdale: EJ!!!!!!

@trevorzegras: same ej same…bar in ten?

@erik6johnson: already there

@anahiemeucks: crying. Sobbing.

•

@sofiadrysdale: instagram handle has been changed…it feels official.

Tag: jamiedrysdale

13.9k likes, 788 comments

||

@victoriadiaz: yes! The insta handle has been changed !!!!

@mel.landeskog: ofcourse! insta matters the most

@elizamakar: sof!!! Still sobbing

@sofiadrysdale: now I’m sobbing

@gabelandeskog: little sof isn’t so little anymore 😭😭

@erik6johnson: youre telling me

@jackiejohnson: he’s been crying for months now

@jamiedrysdale: insta handle looks good 😏

@sofiadrysdale: I think so too !

@anahiemducks: congrats!! Our ducks family is growing 🫶🏻🫶🏻

@sofiadrysdale: love you guys!!

@calemakar: I think I want some fish and chips. You around?

@sofiadrysdale: the one time u want some I’m not there 😭😭

@sofiadrsydale: I think I need to make a scene to get this plane to turn around

@jamiedrysdale: fish and chips?!!! Why didn’t you say something at the party?!

@trevorzegras: screaming crying throwing up

•

@trevorzegras has posted to public: wedding of the century

—

Hope you guys enjoyed!! Please like and reblog :)

Tags: @fallinallincurls @nicoleloveshockey @hockeyboysarehot @slutforfreddy @jayrami3 @nolanmoylee @hockey-lover-22

[renee-writer]

The Changeling Chapter 17

AO3

“I would be a Fraser, like William?” He barely holds himself still, wanting to jump about. Here, in Lord Jamie’s  study, it isn’t the place for it.

 

“Aye, just so. Would you like that?”

 

Would he ever! He never had a real father, a last name he could be proud of. To have both in this man who has treated him with such kindness and respect, he can’t imagine anything better.

 

The Lord and Lady have brought him in for a serious discussion. At first he thought they were sending him away. Loss, after all, is all he knew. His first time, his mam. When they explained that they wished to adopt him, making him a permanent member of their family, he couldn’t believe it.

 

“Fergus?” Lady Claire gently prods him.

 

“Aye!” his face splits into a wide smile, “Aye, I would love that very much!”

 

He can contain himself no longer. Jumping up from his seat, he runs over to them. Lady Claire’s open arms meet him. He holds tight to her as tears fall down his face. He mourns the loss of his mam once more and celebrates the new mam and dad God has provided for him.

 

It is much simpler then it would have been in his original time. When the priest comes to baptize William, Fergus Fraser is officially named. He is baptized as well, just in case.

 

“Mam! Come quick.” She drops the bandage she was rolling. Her son’s  urgency had her thinking something was wrong.

 

Hurrying after him, she stops dead at what she sees. “Oh William!”

 

“He is walking! We’ve been practicing, him and I. He held my fingers. Then he figured it out all on his own!” Fergus beams with pride. William toddles over to his mam, who holds him in her arms, crying.

 

“Oh my brilliant lad, lads!” She draws Fergus into her embrace as well, “I am so proud of you both.”

 

As they don’t know the birth date of either of their sons, they make them they day they found them.

 

William turns one a few days after he took his first step. They celebrate.

 

“What would you have done in your time?” Jamie asks her.

 

“A party with balloons, a clown, cake, and lots of presents.”

 

“What is a balloon?” the other terms he recognizes, though why a clown would be a child ‘s party he can’t fathom.

 

 “Rubber egg shaped filled with air. The children would bat them around.”

 

He shakes his head. Every time he hears more about her time, Fergus ‘ as well they imagine, he finds it more queer.

 

“Well, we can do a cake and presents, anyway.”

[sabineelectricheart]

The Good Ends to a Long Engagement

Summary: The Wards receive a visit from a few Oregon friends and Baxter comes to a very important decision.

Rating: K - Intended for general audience 5 years and older. Content should be free of any coarse language, violence, and adult themes.

Words: 2400

Notes: It came out as Main Character Bashing Week, but that’s not what I meant with it. I don’t think Cove would be a deadbeat, but, well, that isn’t any help against being eaten by a shark or something.

The summer was upon California once again. Days are getting longer and the extra sun shoots up the temperatures, a nice day to spend on the beach or by the pool.

Jamie is lounging on the kitchen table after washing up the lunch dishes, as her fiancé prepares a pair of cups of coffee for them to share. Baxter has sent his stepson upstairs to prepare for receiving visitors anytime soon, so the couple has a few moments of silence between them, something that rarely comes by when there are children involved.

"It will be good to see Frankie again, huh?" The woman says, conversationally, as she wipes the back of her neck with a towel.

He hands her the cup of coffee and takes the chair next to her.

"Yeah. Yeah, it should be interesting." He responds, not very enthused.

Jamie laughed softly. Although the people coming over were his childhood friends, coming from his hometown, she knows that the only one happy about the development would be herself, and maybe River, her son, if he is sufficiently convinced by the prospect of playing with the closest thing to a cousin he has.

Liz never got around to motherhood, being more than happy as a cool aunt, Terry and Miranda still had not found a footing, financially-wise, in expensive South California to apply for an adoption and the Adams had a little baby girl, who was adorable, but could not play with a ten-year-old boy. Neither his father or step-father had any siblings, so his closest friend in age amongst extended family was Asher Second, and they got along famously.

She and Francine Second had bonded over the experiences of single motherhood over the time they spent over in Golden Grove for Thanksgiving. The pair exchanged numbers and talked at length over the months, culminating with an invitation for them to come down to Los Angeles for a visit. The Oregonian woman asked her friend, Renee Murray, to come along for the ride and share the drive, so the Wards would be hosting four people for a couple of weeks, along with baby Sawyer Second.

Baxter detested going back to Oregon for visits, but he disliked it even more having Oregon come down to California. He likes Renee well enough, and does not particularly dislike Frankie, but he is certainly indulging his fiancée and step-son on this one.

“Don’t be sour, love. It’s going to be fun!” She said, lifting the cup to her lips, then made a face. "Ugh. This is yours."

"No, I don't…" Baxter tried the cup in his hand, sure his face was unintentionally mimicking hers. "Yeah, this is definitely yours."

"I bet Sawyer is so big by now!" The seamstress said as she took her cup from him. "I remember how big River got during his second year. It just seemed like I'd blink, and suddenly he was reaching for things he couldn't even see a week ago…"

She shook her head, smiling at the memory. Her little boy was so cute as a baby! A little head of blond hair he got from his granddaddy, those chubby little fingers reaching for the seashell mobile they made for him…

Her fiancé hummed his acknowledgement, but he elected not add anything to the conversation. He does not understand much about children that young, even if he is good with River these days.

“Every new job I took, I had to make sure I could child-proof it. He was always getting into things, always so curious…" She trailed off. "I wonder how Frankie is getting along."

"I heard that she had to stop working on a project she was making a lot of leeway on when Sawyer got sick last year." The ma said. "I know how that feels, to an extent, but I'd imagine being a single mother would complicate things."

The other mother nodded. "I'm sure she didn't mind, though. You realize pretty fast that putting your child before your career isn't a decision you have to make, it's the thing you just do. When River was born, I had to put a lot of things on the shelf."

River, while a well-loved and much-anticipated child, was not a planned one. She and Cove were not even twenty when he was born, and they both understood that they had to make sacrifices for the life that was coming to them. For him, it was pro surfing, and for her…

"Your singing?"

"Yeah. Couldn't play around with that when I had a newborn crying for me every few hours." She said, smiling softly. "There was college, too. Our disposable cash vaporized overnight, and we depended on Mr. Holden to pay our bills… I wouldn't have had that big wedding that every girl dreams of."

"You and Cove ever talk about getting married?"

Jamie shrugged. It has been so long since she thought of that, it feels almost foreign to think that she was once engaged to someone else, even if she loved, and still loves, that person dearly.

"I mean, after a certain time frame, it comes up in most relationships. We loved each other very much and, if we had the money for it, I’m sure Cove would go along with it, but, well, we never discussed it seriously. We were too young, just taking one day after the other, and then I popped out a kid! We figured we'd keep existing, keep putting River first, keep doing what we had to do. Besides, he was never one to want to agree to some big fancy party anyway." She said with a little laugh. "I don't think I was ever able to picture him at a wedding, even ours."

Her phone began to ring, or, rather, Baxter recognized it as her alarm tone.

"What's that for?" He asks.

"Ah! It’s two already? Frankie and Renée never drove in LA, so they’re a bit spooked by the heavy traffic. I proposed meeting them on a gas station off the freeway, so I’m heading over there." She explained, pushing her chair, picking up her purse and keys and walking over to the bottom of the stairs. “River! Come on, it’s time!”

“I’m coming, mom!” He called from upstairs.

“Would you like me to come with you two? I can bring your car back and you can drive Ren’s?” He offered, calmly.

She turned to him, smiling. “Ah, thanks for the offer, but I thought you’d have an appointment this afternoon, so I asked Miranda for help. I’ll pick her up on the way.”

A ten-year-old boy stumbles down the stairs and off the door. “I’m ready!”

“Say goodbye to your step-father before you go!” The woman shouted from behind.

“Bye, Baxter!” He says from the driveway.

“Bye, buddy!” The older man shouts back, laughing. "Between Renée and Miranda, how are you possibly going to entertain all those excitable kids?"

Jamie grinned at her fiancé.

"I’ve had plenty of practice, this will be a piece of cake. See you later, okay?" She said, leaning over to kiss him. "Love you."

"Yeah, love you. See you."

*_*_*_*_*

Still exhausted from the previous day's hair-raising client, all Baxter wanted was to rest for a while before his house was taken by Oregonians, preferably on the company of his lovely fiancée. Alas, no hope there.

So, he went up to his study and settled on the couch. His attempt to read a book under the cool hum of the AC turned into an unplanned nap.

When he awoke, more than an hour had passed, and he could tell from the sounds downstairs that the house was definitely up three kids under the age of thirteen. And judging by the crying that suddenly wafted up from the bottom floor, Sawyer was definitely one of them.

"Oh, oh, hold on there, little baby." He heard Jamie say from the other room. "Come here, lay down."

Baxter rose automatically, but he stopped, unsure of what he could really do to help. He was good with River. He was good with Asher. He had met Sawyer only once and was still very unsure of how to act around toddlers. Better to leave that up to the resident child expert.

He eventually wandered down the stairs anyway when his fiancée’s voice shifted out of speaking. He found her sitting on the couch with all three kids around her, smiling at them as she sang some song he did not recognize. The scene gave him pleasant domestic feelings, which he was slowly growing used to experiencing.

The event planner leaned against the wall, watching. She was smiling, her arm around River, Asher sitting on the ground in front of her, and Sawyer laying on her back, her head tipped to the side to see her as she sang.

" Close your eyes, have no fear. The monster's gone, he's on the run and your mommy’s here. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Beautiful boy.”

Asher was subtly rocking from side to side with her lyrics. River was smiling, looking at her in that quiet, contented way he always did whenever she sang. Sawyer was, for once in his life, still, as if mesmerized by Jamie's voice.

"Uh, Baxter?"

The man jumped.

"Renée." He cleared his throat. "Didn't see you there."

"You never see me coming when you’re like that, with hearts on your eyes." She said, teasing.

The man narrowed his eyes at the cheap shot. “Don’t you think it’s a bit hypocritical of you bringing that up, huh?”

“That’s what childhood acquaintances are for, love. Besides, Frankie and Tamarack turned out to be great friends to me when I needed those, so rest assured I ate my words heartily.” She smirked. "But, being perfectly honest, you did look particularly deep in thought today. What's eating you, my friend?"

Baxter looked back toward Jamie. She smiled when she sang. She made one believe that the lyrics coming from her were the most profound words in existence.

He bit his lip. "Renée?"

"Yeah?"

Baxter waited a moment, thinking, then shook his head, turning to leave. "Never mind."

*_*_*_*_*

"That was a good day!" Jamie said as they ascended the stairs. "I just hope I wore them out enough that poor Frankie isn't exhausted trying to keep them entertained before bed."

"Frankie expressed a clear interest in having them for the night." Baxter pointed out. "It isn't as if you passed them off onto her. Plus, this is good. Because I, uh, I need to talk to you. We-We need to talk."

The woman cocked her head. "Like, we need to talk? Or we need to talk?"

"I don't know what that means."

She let out a quick laugh.

"I'm sorry." She sat on the edge of the bed. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing!" He said quickly. "I mean, no, not nothing. Nothing is what I did… Mean to say, I guess. Jamie?"

She tipped her head forward. "Yes?"

"I… You, you said to me earlier that you'd given a lot up when River came along, because he came first." He frowned, uncomfortable with his staccato sentences but unable to transition into a more efficient method of speaking. "You gave up things. Singing, vacations, free time, a big wedding. All of that."

He cleared his throat, hoping it would reset his speech. It is a difficult thing he has to say, but still, he would think he got the worst part down a long time ago.

"And I know nothing… Nothing has come up with us, really, we have work, and River, and work, and I know I said work already but we work a lot." He paused for breath. "I can't give you a singing career or all those hours you worked that second job back. I can't give you… I can't bring Cove back for you. For you and for River."

"Baxter…"

"Please." He said quickly, firmly. "Please let me finish."

She nodded.

"I know our relationship is… It is different from what you may have expected when you were younger, it is different from most, and I know I can be a bit challenging sometimes with this feelings stuff, but I know how I feel about you, and I don't see that going away, and…" He paused. He really should have thought this through. He knew what he wanted to say but it is hard to get it out. "I want to marry you, Jamie."

The problem of how to say it sorted itself out, in the end.

“Not as in getting engaged. I remember that we are engaged, that we’ve been engaged for well over a year at this point.” He said, with a bit of humour in his voice. “I want us to go on to the next phase, I want to plan our wedding, I want to call you my wife.”

Jamie blinked in surprise, her mouth falling open just slightly. She is not sure where he had been going with his speech, but she had not been expecting that, he was certain, but he forged on.

"Together, you and I, we made so many beautiful weddings, we made sure many a couple had their dreams come true, and I want that for us. A big party, with everyone we love, with all the little silly details that we find so beautiful, something that we will remember and tell our great-grandchildren. No expense spared. That last job we took, well, you know what it paid, and we have no greater need for it."

He dropped to the ground, he was several paces from her, and walked on his knees to her. Her own knees were a foot or so apart, and he pushed them to their respective sides so he could scoot closer to her, simultaneously and awkwardly shifting to rest on only one of his.

"So, what do you say?" He asked, giving her a small smile. "You and me? Big party?"

Jamie smiled at Baxter, amused. Ah, her silly little man, how she loved him.

"I think I'd like that big party." She said, her voice full of emotion.

He held up a finger. "Only if you spend the rest of your life with me afterwards."

Tears escaped her eyes as Jamie grinned, giving a happy laugh and kissing his face all over. She leaned forward, whispering his name and curling her arms around his neck.

*_*_*_*_*

Our Life Masterlist

[agir1ukn0w]

ok so I have just now finished ymata and I need everyone in the Mat Baynton fandom to listen to me very carefully:

✨JAMIE’S. NOT. DEAD!!!!!✨

How do I know this? For one thing, the way that his character has been built up over the whole season, not only with the son-of-god thing but also with who he is as a person, STRONGLY indicates that he’s not the type of character you can just throw away like THAT. For another thing, he’s one of the main characters, which should grant him at least a little bit of plot armor. And for a THIRD thing, THEY NEVER ACTUALLY SHOW HIM DIE. We see him crawling towards Rajesh and the cloud of ash moving towards them, just barely covering them. Right after that it cuts to the bunker where the last thing we see is Ariel smiling. BUT THEY NEVER SHOW JAMIE OR RAJESH DYING.

If ymata had been renewed for a second season, do you really think they would just have killed off Jamie FUCKING Winton? The Messiah (supposedly), the hero, husband of Layla and father of Frankie, adopted son of Paula, step son of Dave and (through her marriage to his biological father) Celine, future half-brother of Celine’s unborn child, nephew of Rhonda and Scotty, son of Jude and TWIN BROTHER of Ariel? Jamie is too damn important and this show is too damn good for them to have just let him die at the end of the first season. If there had been a second season, you can bet that the writers (if they had half a brain) would have made sure that he, and possibly even Rajesh, survived miraculously, and they would have revealed this either straightaway in the first episode or later on as a twist.

tl;dr: JAMIE WINTON IS ALIVE and he’s going to find his way back to his family if it’s the last thing he does.

[presidentcircles-assistant]

some OCs i don’t mention quite as much:

Vincent- A Circle, the son of Dean and Carmen, who are both very vain and stuck up. Vincent has their snobbish nature, but is a lot more reserved, mostly as a result of the fact that when he was born, his Sides regressed from his parent’s; his father had 45, while he had 28. Such a giant step backwards doesn’t give him the brightest reputation. Most Circles are content with choosing any wife, no matter the family she comes from, but Dean hadn’t been. He refused to marry anybody unless she proved her heritage to be 100% perfectly regular. As a result, he was alone for a very long time until a rich Line named Carmen heard about him and proved that her ancestry was completely regular, and they married. When Vincent was born, they were both in disbelief, unable to accept that they had spent all their lives abstaining from anyone who wasn’t perfectly regular just to get repaid like this, and they both blamed the other, saying they had been deceived. Still, though, neither of them would be caught dead with a child that went against everything they stood for, and they hid his side count from the world, maintaining a good enough façade of a happy marriage. At least, until he turned 12, when a doctor that couldn’t be bribed into silence ending up revealing their secret. It completely wrecked Vincent and his family’s status, and any political job he might have taken to follow in his father’s sidesteps rejected him, not wanting his kind to represent them. Vincent now works as an archivist, an easy enough job that he’s passionate in. He’s content, and his family’s riches keep him afloat (if anything, just because they feel bad for what they created). He hasn’t married yet, giving the reasoning that nobody in their right mind would want to marry someone who would send a family’s sides backwards. Though he keeps to himself, he isn’t at a complete loss for acquaintances; he can always be seen hanging around Fraser, an old Pentagon that served as a medic in a war, who knew Vincent when he was just a young Circle. He can also always be seen visiting a merchant called Equilateris, who owns an old, family run clothing shop.

Equilateris: An Equilateral, coming from a long line of similar Shapes who have been desperately trying to break into the Square class. His two older brothers were born Squares, much to the delight of his father, Ed, and he was born as an Equilateral, much to the disappointment of his father. After having 2 other, better children, Ed couldn’t be bothered to give him any sort of meaningful name. And besides, ‘Equilateris’ reminds him to always think about how much of a dead weight he was to the family tree, motivation to make something of his life. Equilateris doesn’t care much for the family business, but carries it on, if only because his brothers are all lawyers and he has no other relatives who would swap places with him. Although, he has always taken an interest in radios, and makes side money with a radio repair business. He tries his angle at other electronics as well, and is well versed in them, but they don’t interest him quite as much. His eldest brother often drops off his kids at Equilateris’ shop while he’s off at his own job; Jamie, Sam, two Squares, and Virgil, an adopted Equilateral from an Isosceles family; and they’re a constant presence, usually causing trouble. Well, mostly the Squares; Virgil is always silently watching, never uttering a word more than required of him. The most notable customer there is Vincent, though he doesn’t seem to actually have any real reason to be there so often.

[lalinna]

The Psychic was Right - And That Makes Her Irrelevant Going Forward

First of all, I'd like to preface this by saying I am 90% sure that this is not where the show is going and that my take is almost certainly wrong. Still, I like it, so bear with me.

Oh, yeah, SPOILERS FOR TED LASSO 3x08

Ok, so this week, in an episode that was very significant for many characters, we saw Ted holding the f**** green matchbook.

OMG, what does this mean???

As far as this theory goes, nothing. And everything. Nothing when it comes to the possibility of them becoming an item, but everything in regards to the key word in the psychic's prediction: family.

It seems like everyone is waiting for this last prediction to come true. We've seen the green matchbook multiple times, now (I'll come back to it). We heard the shite in ninning armor line. Rebecca was upside down and drenched in the Amsterdam episode. So the final one, the big one - is Rebecca going to have a family?

Yes. Obviously. Except she isn't going to, she already has it. It's A. F. C. Richmond. This is not a cop out, in fact, I think it perfectly fits the found family theme that the show touches quite often.

Rebecca was married before, but she and Rupert, one thing they weren't, was family, and that extended to the team he was so convinced he loved, but which he ditched with surprising ease, and that she hated, until it stopped being an extension of Rupert and became HER team, populated with people she actually cares about.

But A.F.C. Richmond is much more than her team. It's Jamie's, the guy with such a difficult relationship with his own father. It's Roy's, the guy who lost his grandfather before he could see him become great. It's Sam's, the player with a wonderful family that lives so far away. It's Ted's, whose life was turned upside down when his marriage ended, and who misses his son so much. It's Keeley's, it's Higgins', It's Beard's, Trent's, it could even be Nate's again.

This is A.F.C. Richmond's family, this is Rebecca's family. Symbolizing their bond is that little green matchbook, a souvenir from when the family got together to celebrate Sam's new restaurant, the same family who was also there to help him rebuild after intolerance tried to destroy his achievement. That's why we keep seeing it, because every member of that family has one of those.

So there you have it. All the psychic's predictions have already come true. Rebecca has a wonderful family, so we don't need fortune-telling anymore. Screw destiny, the characters are in charge of their futures.

What would this mean for Rebecca's romantic future? Well, I think it means she will get what she wants, which appears to be another family, now a nuclear one. And she'll get it because she's an amazing badass who will make this happen, because she's so cool and so awesome that's easy to fall in love with her. And the having children part, well, there is always adoption, and there is always the possibility of step kids.

I was about to say that my money is on Dutch Guy, but... nah, it's not my money that's on Dutch Guy, I'm just projecting, because he's so my type. I mean, yeah, he's kind of a manic pixie dream dude, but he's MY kind of manic pixie dream dude. So before I get even more sidetracked, I'll just say that Rebecca's hapiness, at least according to this theory of mine, is no longer tied to any psychic predictions. She will build her own story, and I am confident that she will do it well.

[abbatoirablaze]

Good Girl's Club, Nia's Baby

Word Count:  1.3k

“I NEVER THOUGHT THAT YOU WOULD KNOW!” she all but screamed, finally caving to the line of questioning from her ex-boyfriend.  Her eyes flickered to the sleeping infant, and then back to him, “YOU WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO KNOW!”

“I’M NOT BLACK, NIA!” Lance all but yelled in reply.  When he noticed Ari giving him a sideways glance from down the hall he frowned and lowered his voice, “neither one of us are black, and yet our daughter is…I don’t know how you possibly thought that would work out.”

“I cheated on you, okay…” she shrugged, not thinking too much about it, “it was when you were off taking those interviews across the country for different schools…and I mean…we had sex when you got back so the timing was close enough…there was a chance in my mind that it could be yours…so I thought…if everything was fine you wouldn’t have to know.”

“Jesus, Nia…” Lance groaned, rubbing his temples, “you said you wanted more commitment so you moved in with me…then you said I needed a job that would be a career, so I started taking more interviews at schools.  I bought the house for us…hell, you had me geared up to propose to you when I found out about her…”

“Guys…maybe you two should take a break from the conversation.”

Both Lance and Nia looked at the door where Britt stood, gently rocking her now partially awake grandchild.  Both of them looked at her in shock, surprised that they hadn’t noticed her wake or begin to cry.

“Whatever, grandma…”

Britt frowned at the sarcastic tone from her once-best friend.  Lance sighed, “Nia…she’s your best fucking friend…be nice to her for christ sakes…she and your dad didn’t have to come out to help us while I move out and yet here they are…they’ve been here around the clock to hel-”

“What…you going to flirt with my stepmom now that we’re done, Lance?  Good luck taking on my dad.”  

“I never fucking cheated on you, Nia…”

“I-“

“Guys…”

“Jesus, Britt…I don’t fucking care…I don’t even want her.  I’m giving her up to her father in a few days anyways…”

“Don’t say that, Ni…”

“Kaya’s father already said he’d take her…h-he was really excited about it.”

This time it was Ari who appeared in the doorway, a frown across his face, “you mean she’s leaving?  J-just two weeks with me and I’ll never see her again?”  

“She’ll be close,” she admitted with a small tinge of guilt in her voice, “Cami was asking me if I’d be willing to let her adopt her, but she’s still dealing with Steve and the divorce…not that she won’t end up calling her mom anyways…but you know Steve…he’d make it look like she was racing three demon babies instead of three little princesses…did you hear about how he is trying to get Stephanie and Jamie to call Peggy mommy?”

“Witnessed that firsthand,” Ari admitted sadly, the fact that his daughter completely changed the subject while muttering the quick hint about her daughters parentage going over his head, “we were over helping her get the place all tidy because Steve wants them to do a home inspection visit…to prove she’s a suitable mother.”

“For America���s golden boy, he’s a real asshole,” Lance grumbled, shaking his head, “who’d have thought…right?”

“See…all problems are forgotten when we bitch about Steve,” Britt said thoughtfully, handing a now sleeping Kaya off to Ari, “Lance…Ni…you two need to just take a step back and breathe…okay?”

“Nick’s going to be here in a few minutes…my boxes are already by the door…”

“You’re really doing this, Lance?” Nia asked, crossing her arms nervously, “y-you’re really leaving me…”

“Yeah,” he admitted sadly, “I know that you cheated on Bucky with me a few years back…but I-I can’t deal with this.  I can’t be that guy hoping you come home every night…hoping that we have a future together, when I’m just left raising the child that the guy one day won’t want.”

She nodded, the words catching in her throat.  She didn’t care to fight for the relationship…not when she knew that Lance had been willing to commit.  He’d become very much interested in a fairytale romance, like Bucky had been, and that was too much for her.  She watched his friend Nick come in, and they made a short conversation before he walked back out with a box.  Him and Lance began to alternate, until Lance came into the room. 

“I’m sorry Ni…”

She shuddered when he pressed a firm kiss to her temple and turned to pick up the box.  But she kept her upper lip firm and let him walk out of the bedroom with his final box. 

“Y-you okay kiddo?” Ari asked softly, watching his daughter bite her lip hard enough to draw blood.

“I-I’ll be fine.”

“How long do I have with Kaya, Ni?” he asked sadly, looking at his granddaughter’s sleeping face, “B-before you give her to the father?”

“He won’t be far dad,” she sighed, running a hand through her hair, “hell you guys will get to see her when you go to the tower to visit Buck or Cami…”

Ari’s brow furrowed as he looked at his daughter curiously, “Ni…who’s the father?”

“…how mad would you be if I said it was Sam Wilson?”

“I should fucking kill you…you know that, right Wilson?”

Sam gave his best friend a guilty look as the two of them did fight simulations with redwing, while he launched knives at it. 

“We were drunk, Buck…”

“No one calls me Buck…”

“Fine, Ja-“

“Don’t even say that…only she gets to call me that,” Bucky grumbled, shooting a glare at Sam, “and she gets to call me it for…reasons.”

“Is one of those reasons because she takes your c-“

“Finish that sentence and I’ll personally cut yours off…”

“Look…she and I were a one-time thing,” he shrugged, “Cami brought her to the tower for a party…she told me she was single.  Hell…Cami introduced her to me…I think you’ve got it wrong thinking she likes me…”

“I know my daughter,” he growled, “she’s pushing you away because she doesn’t want to be hurt again…she’s still dealing with Steve…”

“America’s golden boy my ass,” Sam hissed.  He stopped controlling Redwing and turned to Bucky, “you know that mother fucker had an in-home visit scheduled to prove she’s an unfit mother…flirted like hell with the female inspector.  I was ready to strangle that son of a bitch, man.  That’s some really fucked up shit your best friend did to your daughter….”

“He’s not my best friend anymore, Sam.”

“Still pretty fucked up.”

Bucky threw a knife at Redwing and it hit it a spot where the joint connected, sending the drone to the ground.  He turned to Sam, “you tell my daughter yet the girl she was going to take from her best friend is your kid?”

“No,” Sam said slowly, nervously almost, “I mean…I know that the girls will be happy.  They loved the idea of the baby around, but-“

“It’ll prove that you fucked a girl…”

“Nia and I meant nothing.”

“You don’t put a baby in someone who means nothing…”

“Look, Barnes…not all of us fuck for love 100% of the time,” Sam chuckled, “just because you and the ex-wife fuck like rabbits and are in love with each other st-“

“You really think she loves me still?” Bucky asked hopefully, no longer interested in talking about Sam’s problems as soon as she was mentioned. Sam chuckled, clapping his friend on the shoulder. 

“When women say ‘I love you,’ during sex, they mean that they love you…”

“I thought it just…well…you know…”

“No…it doesn’t mean that they love ‘it’…it means that they love you…she loves you man…” Sam laughed, “Stark’s billions may have made the walls partially soundproof, but I think y’all broke the sound barrier last night when you promised to give her another child…”

Bucky blushed a deep scarlet, “y-you heard that?”

“I think the whole tower heard it…Buck.”

[legends-of-time]

The Strength of a High and Noble Hill (Outlander)

Chapter 3: Peaceful Family Life Disrupted

Masterlist

Once in Scotland, Claire, Brian, Fergus and Jamie settle into farm life at Lallybroch with Jenny, Ian and their family. Jamie's sister, Brian's Aunt Jenny, is a strong authority figure despite her being barely five feet tall. Brian can see his aunt has the same deep blue eyes that are slanted like his father's, but her hair is dark. Brian's Uncle Ian is an unassuming character but he has an undeniable authority. He's taller than his wife and has brown hair and brown eyes and walks with a wooden peg leg that sits below his right knee. Both are happy to meet Brian and, in a way, he becomes part of the brood.

Fergus easily integrates into family life. From what he has heard about his adoptive older brother, Brian believes he deserves it, to experience a family. Fergus and Young Jamie, the eldest of Brian's cousins, become fast friends and partners in crime. More than once, Father has had to scold Fergus for his foolhardy plans which often involved Young Jamie, who's only a few years old compared to Fergus' almost 10 years. But that doesn't matter to Young Jamie who runs after him with his black curly hair like Jenny's bouncing away and with wide brown eyes inherited from his father. Margaret, Maggie, his younger sister would pout and grumble as she tries to follow them on her nearly two year old legs, her mother smiles at her when she stares at her with wide blue eyes and pets her strawberry blonde hair.

Brian flops over on his blanket from where he'd been watching his mother and aunt work to look at his companion that lies next to him. Katherine, more commonly known as Kitty, grins and gurgles at him from the basket she lies in, staring at him with her mother's and uncle's blue eyes. His youngest cousin had been born a short while after the France trio arrived. Brian smiles back at her, petting her hand in greeting.

Jamie is an attentive father. At meal times, when all gathered round the table, Young Jamie and Maggie hitting the table legs in impatience, Kitty babbling away, his father would be occupied with entertaining Brian, who is always determined to lock his tiny fingers onto Jamie's curls. Curls that he has no doubt inherited himself. While everyone around them is engrossed in dinner or conversation, his father always remains fully attentive to him, grinning tightly and speaking softly in Gaelic as he bounces him on his knee.

——

April 1745

The first year of Brian's life is almost complete. He's not quite walking at this point but he can pull himself to stand and can take a few steps while holding onto furniture much to the delight of his parents.

But things soon change. News arrives that alters everything. Brian can't gather much as he's put down for naps in another room often or the adults don't talk about it fully when he's around. All he knows is that his father has received a letter, an urgent one and they must depart immediately. What Brian knows for certain is that he's coming with them as his mother refuses Jenny's offer to leave him with her.

——

A/N: Please leave comments on how you're enjoying this story and what you think.