#SIXTEEN STICKS AS A PREGNANCY CRAVING

[biitchcakes]

@thesilverandjetsystem sent: 🍿 - Popcorn! Do they have butter on their popcorn? Extra salty? Do they get any of the coloured popcorn at movie theatres or just the usual stuff? // ( accepting )

EXTRA butter — this is the woman who ate sixteen sticks of butter in one sitting while she was pregnant, so she wants that popcorn so buttery she can see her reflection in the sheen on her fingers.

The salt is deffo covered by the butter at the rate she uses it, I'd say.

No colour, she gets just regular popcorn when she goes to the movies — except she goes over and loads it with all that butter just mentioned. Occasionally she'll flavour the popcorn with buffalo or nacho cheese from the shakers they've got in cinemas. But she's definitely most about the classic butter taste. She kind of likes caramel popcorn, but she's more into savoury flavours.

[fuuka-preg-blog]

My First Blog Post

Date: Sunday, June 14th, 2009 Hi Tumblr! To be honest, I've been sitting at my computer for about 20 minutes trying to think of how to start this blog. I don't expect to see much traffic here (if any at all). I wouldn't normally write a blog in the first place, but my counselor told me that having a journal would help me process things. One of my friends suggested using a blog for journal entries, so, here I am!

I think I'll just get to the point. I'm creating this blog because of something I'm currently going through. Calling my situation "life-changing" would honestly be an understatement.

I guess I'll start in the beginning. A few weeks after I started 11th grade last April, I could tell something wasn't right. I started every morning feeling sick to my stomach. I felt ridiculously hungry, but I'd get severe heartburn and other discomforts after eating, enough to make me lose a lot of sleep. I was getting really bad brain fog, enough so I could barely pay attention during class. My school uniform was also getting tighter around my waist. I could've sworn I was even getting cravings.

I... spent some time with my ex-boyfriend during the break between 10th and 11th grade. I don't want to go into detail, but I always made sure to use protection. But these symptoms could only mean one thing.

It took a while, but I finally got myself to take a pregnancy test. I think I took more than ten separate tests. I didn't want it to be true. But every single test was positive.

I was pregnant.

I went to school every day feeling petrified. I was so scared. I didn't know what to do. My parents would disown me if my grades weren't good enough for them, who knows what they'd do if they learned their teenage daughter got knocked up by a boyfriend they never knew about. Not only that, I'm the shortest and skinniest girl in my grade. Some girls in my class have thighs wider than my waist. I'd love to be a parent someday, sure, but I'm only sixteen and I don't graduate high school for two more years. I don't feel mentally or physically prepared to be a mom.

The next couple weeks of high school were a total blur. I was only about six weeks pregnant, but somehow my belly was already sticking out a bit. I thought it was just bloating at first, but it never went away, it only grew. Even though it was already May, I had to wear a loose jacket so nobody would see my stomach. The morning sickness also got worse, I'd still be nauseous by the time class started. I started showing up at school early just so there would be less people around in case I needed to throw up.

...I just realized it's probably not fun to read that last part. Sorry! To be honest, though, I feel a lot better getting this off my chest. I promise the rest of the post won't be as depressing, a lot of nice things happened too!

This was just about when I met my friend, Yukari. I didn't know her very well at the time, I knew she was in my grade, she was pretty, and popular enough for me to know her name even though she wasn't in the same class as me.

Apparently, she was in the archery club, so she would sometimes come to school before class to practice. She later told me she'd been hearing me in the girls' bathroom for several days before going in and checking it out.

To be honest, I was terrified when I heard Yukari knock on the bathroom stall and ask if I was okay. I considered her as one of the last people I'd want to learn about my situation. She's such a social butterfly that the news would have spread like wildfire. Thankfully, I was wrong about that.

As soon as I came out of the bathroom stall, she asked what was wrong. I had no idea what to tell her, but Yukari only took one look at me and figured it out on her own. A girl throws up every morning without fail. She wears a loose jacket to school in May. She has bags under her eyes, looks like she hasn't slept in days. And when asked "are you okay?", she's too scared to tell the truth. I must have been so gross, I was sweaty and I probably smelled like barf, but Yukari just smiled and pulled me into a hug. I won't lie, I started bawling like a baby into her shirt. Nobody had ever been so nice to me before. Yukari just held me tight, she told me she wanted to help, everything would be okay. I cried even harder hearing her say that. I'm actually crying a little bit right now remembering this.

I remember meeting up with Yukari after school, she took me to the pharmacy in Paulownia Mall and bought me some medicine to help with my symptoms. For the first time in weeks, I stopped feeling nauseous and I could actually think straight.

We sat down together to figure out what I should do. Yukari mentioned that she lives in the dorms with the student council president, Mitsuru Kirijo. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell the daughter of the school's owner that one of the students got knocked up, but Yukari told me she was sure Kirijo-senpai would know what to do.

When I met with Kirijo-senpai the next day in student council room, I was prepared to hear that I'd be expelled or suspended, that a pregnant student would damage the school's reputation. But instead, Kirijo-senpai handed me some printouts and calmly listed out accommodations available to me. She went over different nutritionists, physical therapists, and even pregnancy-focused massage parlors. She offered to accompany me to any of them, saying they would offer the best treatment possible if a member of the Kirijo family was with me. I couldn't help but cry a little bit again, I wasn't expecting that kind of support. I started to feel like things would work out.

That didn't last long, though. The day after I talked to Kirijo-senpai was the worst day of my life.

On the morning after my talk with Kirijo-senpai, instead of my alarm clock, I woke up to my mother screaming at me and yanking my bedsheets away. I had overslept for the first time in my whole life. But I soon discovered that was the least of my problems.

The night before, I noticed my midsection was poking out so much that my jacket could only barely cover it up. But when my mother yanked the covers away, I couldn't believe what I saw when I looked down.

My belly looked like it doubled in size overnight. My womb was about the size of a golf ball last night, and now it was almost as big as a baseball.

My mother screamed at me, my father overheard and joined in. For fifteen long minutes, they shamed and berated me, calling me lots of horrible four and five letter words. When they were done, I had tears streaming down my face. Before they walked out of my room, they told me to get dressed and go to school. But once I leave, I'll never be allowed back into this house.

I packed my school bag full of anything I wanted to keep. I knew whatever I didn't take with me would end up thrown away. I couldn't stop crying. I was terrified, but I was also furious. I cursed my small, skinny body, This belly wouldn't be so noticeable if I wasn't so scrawny. If I had a body like Yukari's, I wouldn't show this much for at least another month or two.

My eyes were still red from crying by the time Yukari met up with me on the way to school. She noticed my coat couldn't hide my pregnant belly anymore. Once again, I didn't need to say a word.

When Kirijo-senpai heard what happened, she got Yukari to take me to her dorm room to let me get some rest. I was about to protest, afraid to impose, but then I realized how heavy my eyes were. I had been putting up with these early pregnancy symptoms for a full month. I couldn't remember the last time I'd gotten a good night's sleep. Maybe talking with Yukari and Kirijo-senpai helped me relax, so I was far less anxious than usual when I went to sleep last night. Maybe that knocked me out hard enough for me to sleep through my alarm.

I remember Yukari gently guiding me to her bed, then waking up twelve hours later. I didn't even remember laying down. When Yukari told me it was already evening, I still felt like I was ready to go back to sleep.

Kirijo-senpai was waiting for us in the lounge. She told me that we needed to discuss some things, but first, she sat me down at the table and brought out an enormous plate of food. Normally, I try my best to eat politely, but I was so hungry that I didn't even care.

After dinner, they led me to one of the dorm rooms, and when they opened the door, I couldn't believe what I saw. All my belongings were waiting right there for me. Kirijo-senpai told me it didn't take much to convince my parents to part with all my belongings. I couldn't stop myself from crying again, I was so grateful for their help.

I took the next day off from school to get more rest. I spent the whole day thinking about how I won't be able to hide my pregnancy at school anymore. The next day, I felt a lot better, but I didn't feel ready to come to school. I told Yukari that I wasn't sure how to tell everyone I was pregnant. She told me not to worry, she'd be right there with me whenever I feel ready to make the announcement.

I decided to show up at school around lunchtime. I sent Yukari a text let her know I was coming. I couldn't stop thinking about what to say to everyone, I felt like no matter how I phrased it, I probably wouldn't get a great reaction.

But when I arrived at my classroom, I saw something I couldn't have possibly imagined.

"SURPRISE!"

The classroom was decorated, complete with balloons and banners reading "Congratulations!". The chalkboard was covered with little notes of encouragement, and a few cute doodles of baby stuff like cribs and pacifiers. I saw Yukari smiling over at me from the other side of the classroom, she wasn't even in my class, but she still went out of her way to organize this for me.

I cried, again. But this time I was smiling while I cried. I'd never felt so happy before.

Everyone in my class started being really nice, they asked if I've thought of any names for the baby, if it's a boy or a girl, when the baby's due, all kinds of things like that. Yukari was worried I'd be overwhelmed, but I didn't mind at all.

Also, while I was absent, Kirijo-senpai apparently called an entire assembly about me. Yukari had seen people bullying me before, and told Kirijo-senpai about that. Things could get out of hand if they didn't act quickly. I was told that Kirijo-senpai said something along the lines of: "Sometimes, accidents happen. And when they do, our school will strive to support and accommodate our fellow students on their path to success."

Also, I'm not 100% sure, but I heard someone say she ended the assembly with her signature dagger-like glare, saying "Any reports of discrimination or harassment against Yamagishi will treated with a zero-tolerance policy." I feel very lucky to be on Kirijo-senpai's good side.

To be honest, I felt embarrassed she went to all that trouble, and I still kinda do. I told Yukari I don't feel worthy of that much effort, but according to her, Kirijo-senpai had her eye on me since long before we met the other day. I only kept my grades up because of my parents, but she still "sees great potential" in me after seeing how high my grades have been since middle school. She even brought up the projects I submitted back when I was a member of the computer club in middle school. It's hard for me to believe what she says, I still don't feel like I'm anything special. But I feel grateful to have friends like Yukari around to help me convince myself otherwise.

Oh, that reminds me! After the surprise party, Natsuki-chan just walked up to me and started being nice to me! It was a bit of a shock, up until now she would always poke fun at me and call me names, but now she wants to take me out shopping for "baby bump outfits" sometime! Apparently, I'm not the first pregnant teen she'd be spending time with, so she knows a thing or two about what would look good on me. Also, she's the one who told me to write this blog in the first place!

Whew, that's a lot of text. I'm surprised Tumblr lets you write this much for a single post. If you're still reading, thank you! I only have a few more things to write, but trust me when I say that nothing I've written so far can compare to what happened next.

I started feeling much better after the surprise party, but I could still feel something was a bit off, specifically that growth spurt. I felt like my belly was a lot bigger than it should have been, even on my scrawny body. I brought this up with Kirijo-senpai about two weeks ago, and she took me to get looked at.

After measuring me, they told me that I'm definitely larger than expected given the estimated time of conception. I told them about the fatigue and the morning sickness, and they said my symptoms were significantly worse than they should have been.

These were all indications of a multiple pregnancy.

At the time, I never even gave it a second thought. Every pregnancy is different, so I assumed this was nothing but a false positive. I also read online that Japan has a lower twinning rate than most other countries. Plus, I'm only sixteen. The chances of me having twins would have to be at least one in a billion.

I thought about this through the week of school, until Kirijo-senpai brought me in to get an ultrasound last weekend.

I remember feeling really nervous. I couldn't see the monitor well, there were multiple technicians whispering to each other. I felt a pit in my stomach. Something wasn't right.

When they turned around, they looked like they saw a ghost.

They found three babies in my womb. I was having triplets.

Not even twins. Triplets.

Remember in the beginning of this blog entry, when I said calling my situation "life-changing" was an understatement? This is what I meant. I said earlier that it was a one in a billion chance for me to have twins. A triplet pregnancy must have been one in a trillion.

Kirijo-senpai refused to accept what she heard. She made the technicians check again, and again. After hearing the same answer for the tenth time, it had to sink in. The impossible somehow became possible.

Everyone at the clinic was trying to smile and congratulate me, but as soon as I came home, I cried into Yukari's arms. This was not good news. A singleton pregnancy would already strain my scrawny little body. There was absolutely no way I'd be able to successfully carry and deliver triplets.

At least, that's what I thought.

I woke up the next morning to Kirijo-senpai knocking at my door, telling me I won't be attending class that day. She had bags under her eyes as she told me she had a car waiting for me outside. She was up all night scoping out the best medical professionals in the area. From morning until evening, we drove to several different universities and advanced medical centers. Kirijo-senpai was able to force herself into their busy schedules for my sake.

I honestly didn't expect to hear any good news, but with each successive appointment, I felt my spirits lifting a little. Kirijo-senpai feverishly wrote down notes during each appointment. They found reports of pregnancies similar to mine, and use any available historical data to determine the best treatment for me.

Kirijo-senpai's notes spanned dozens of pages, writing down details on nutritional intake and exercises, or anything that can help me grow three entire babies.

But one of the proposals stood out more than the rest. A cutting-edge, experimental stimulant to increase litter size for mammals. This treatment invokes "increased ovulation" and "rapid and adaptive cell production in the uterus walls". This enables the mother's womb to expand beyond its typical limit, and results in litters that are double or even triple the expected size.

This treatment was sponsored by American beef and pork distributors and had been in progress since 2004. Within the past year, they were able to reach a 100% success rate in lab rats, and recently achieved the same with cows and pigs.

At its current point in development, it could be sold for billions, but the team wanted to see if their infusion could benefit in the medical field.

Normally, the infusion is applied before conception, but there have been cases where they discover the subject was already pregnant during the infusion. Even without the increased litter count, the subject's uterus expanded beyond its typical limit, resulting in longer pregnancies and larger babies. The team decided the next step in this direction was to observe primates with this infusion. All twelve subjects experienced slightly longer but noticeably more comfortable pregnancies, and delivered big healthy babies.

Kirijo-senpai and I saw where this was going. This could completely turn the tide for my situation, plus any future pregnancies similar to mine.

I received the offer to participate as their first human test subject. I won't lie, I didn't even hesitate, I agreed immediately. I'm a huge nerd for cutting-edge scientific experiments like this, so I was feeling giddy at the thought of being able to participate.

Of course, Kirijo-senpai was concerned about potential risks. The research team emphasized that I had no obligation to participate, but if I wanted to proceed, it would need to be as soon as possible, two weeks at most.

I thought about it for a long time since then. I'm not as much of an optimist as Yukari and some of the experts I talked to. I think that infusion is my only real chance at getting through this pregnancy. It's not fun to think about, but whether or not I follow the diet and exercise instructions from those experts, it would only result in my triplets being born slightly less prematurely. The chances of survival for my triplets, and maybe even for myself, would still be pretty low. I'll definitely think about it some more, but I feel like the infusion is my only real option here.

Sorry! I just realized this got all gloomy again. It's almost been a full week that Monday full of appointments, Yukari and Kirijo-senpai have been helping me get the hang of those diet and exercise plans. Also, the nutritionists told me that as long as I get the nutrients they laid out, I could eat as much of anything I wanted otherwise. My parents never took me out to eat, and I'd never tried fast food before, so Kirijo-senpai just handed Yukari a credit card and told her to make sure I'm eating well. I've been to lots of different restaurants in the past few days, and all of them have been amazing. Yukari says I eat a lot for a girl my size, but that's because I'm "eating for four now". It's a little embarrassing when she says that, but I also kinda like hearing it. Maybe it's my maternal instincts kicking in.

I've also been going out with Natsuki and her friends after school. She's been taking me to lots of different clothing stores and picking out all kinds of maternity clothes for me. She's really sweet. She doesn't know about the triplets yet, Yukari and Kirijo-senpai are the only ones who know. I'm thinking I'll tell everyone about the triplets after I make the decision about the infusion.

...wow, that was a lot. I doubt anybody read this all the way to here. But, if you're reading this, thank you!

Kirijo-senpai is taking me in for another checkup later today, then we're getting dinner. I'm guessing she wants to discuss the treatment. I'll write more posts as I go. Bye!

[tiderider1]

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍  :    npc’s  of  the  jolly  roger  crew  .

𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓  𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄  :    Chris  De'Sean  as  Galen,  the  oldest  son  of  Damien  Salt.  Galen’s  father  has  been  a  member  of  the  Jolly  Roger  crew  for  decades  and  was  among  those  pirates  imprisoned  on  the  Isle  of  the  Lost  when  James  Hook  was  resurrected.  Damien  Salt  enjoyed  his  life  as  a  roaming  pirate.  His  love  for  the  sea  and  his  love  of  brawling  is  something  that  he  passed  down  to  his  children  and  Galen  spent  the  majority  of  his  childhood  and  adolescence  boxing  for  script.  Beside  his  childhood  best  friend,  Aleena,  Galen  would  discover  his  fondness  for  music,  and  would  go  as  far  as  to  duet  with  Aleena  when  she  performed  at  Club  Crossover.

Harry  and  Galen  grew  up  together  aboard  the  Jolly  Roger  and  were  on  reasonably  good  terms  until  Harry  left  the  ship  and  joined  Uma’s  pirate  crew.  Galen  was  among  those  Harry  attempted  to  recruit,  but  he  reluctantly  turned  down  the  offer  as  he  didn’t  want  to  leave  his  father  or  siblings.  Harry  and  Galen  would  cross  paths  often  during  the  pirate  boxing  matches  and  when  Uma  disappeared,  Galen  began  working  casually  with  Harry  as  an  informant  and  occasional  man  for  hire.

When  Harry  took  control  of  the  Jolly  Roger  some  years  later,  Damien  Salt  is  among  those  of  the  original  crew  that  Harry  spares  and  brings  back  to  the  Isle.  Galen  is  among  the  first  to  join  Harry’s  new  crew,  and  becomes  Harry’s  First  Mate.

𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑  :    Aurora  Burghart  as  Liara,  daughter  of  Red  Jessica.  Red  Jessica  was  affected  by  cursed  treasure  prior  to  her  imprisonment  on  the  Isle  of  the  Lost  and  this  curse  influenced  her  pregnancy  with  Liara.  Upon  the  barrier’s  fall,  Liara  soon  discovered  her  ability  to  “leech”  magic,  absorbing  it  and  containing  it  within  herself  or  channeling  it  into  power  of  her  own.  Liara  has  a  tense  relationship  with  her  mother,  as  her  mothers  optimism  became  increasingly  overwhelming  on  the  Isle,  to  the  point  where  Liara  was  often  convinced  that  she  suffered  from  delusions,  creating  a  fabricated  reality  in  order  to  survive  the  horrors  of  the  Isle.

Liara  left  her  mothers  household  when  she  was  sixteen  and  fell  in  with  Harry  Hook  shortly  after  Uma  disappeared  from  the  Isle.  While  Harry  was  temporary  Captain  of  the  Lost  Revenge  crew,  Liara  worked  closely  with  Harry  and  the  crew  as  a  spy,  informant,  and  thief.  She  hoped  to  secure  herself  a  place  on  the  Lost  Revenge  crew  but  when  the  barrier  fell,  she  was  forced  to  enrol  into  the  Isle’s  Witch  School  in  order  to  master  and  train  her  unique  abilities.  She  continued  to  work  with  Harry  and  the  Lost  Revenge  crew,  but  could  not  commit  full  time.

When  Harry  returned  to  the  Isle  sailing  the  Jolly  Roger,  Liara  had  graduated  from  her  classes  at  Witch  School  and  signed  onto  the  new  crew's  roster  as  the  ship's  Quartermaster.

𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃  :    Jojo  Macari  as  Stick,  son  of  Pip  the  Pirate  Genie.  Despite  Pip's  good  nature,  under  the  oppressive  laws  of  King  Adam,  his  powers  as  a  genie  were  under  constant  scrutiny.  Having  already  been  labeled  as  something  of  a  troublemaker  due  to  being  a  Pirate,  the  moment  Pip  used  his  powers  to  travel  between  Neverland  and  Auradon  without  the  appropriate  paperwork,  he  was  condemned  to  life  on  the  Isle  of  the  Lost.

Imprisoned  again, ��but  this  time  without  his  powers  and  abilities,  Pip  was  forced  to  find  new  ways  to  survive  the  island.  Here  he  met,  befriended,  and  fell  in  love  with  a  young  woman  and  together  they  had  their  son  Stick.  However,  inevitably  Captain  Hook  discovered  Pip  and  his  lover,  as  well  as  his  son,  and  lashed  out.  Stick's  mother  disappeared,  Pip  was  grievously  wounded  and  Stick  was  held  captive.  During  his  imprisonment  aboard  the  Jolly  Roger,  Stick  met  Harry.  Harry  would  help  Stick  escape  from  the  Jolly  Roger  for  no  other  reason  than  to  thwart  his  fathers  plans  of  using  Stick  to  lure  Pip  into  an  ambush.

Harry  didn't  meet  Stick  again  until  after  the  Cotillion  Riots  when  Stick  appeared  at  the  Lost  Revenge  demanding  to  be  made  a  pirate.  Harry  denied  him,  telling  him  he  knew  nothing  about  being  a  pirate,  and  for  two  years,  Stick  worked  to  change  that.  After  the  barrier  falls,  Stick  finds  himself  attuned  only  slightly  to  his  fathers  nature  as  a  genie.  He  can  often  sense  or  “hear”  the  wishes  of  those  around  him  if  he  focuses  hard  enough,  and  uses  that  to  manipulate  people.

When  Harry  returned  to  the  Isle  sailing  the  Jolly  Roger,  Stick  was  among  the  first  to  join  his  new  crew  and  Harry  made  him  the  leader  of  his  Vanguard.

𝐆𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑  :  Ryan  Destiny,  as  Aleena,  daughter  of  Bones.  Bones  raised  Aleena  as  a  single  parent  after  her  mother  Donna,  a  siren  imprisoned  on  the  Isle  for  murder,  was  killed  soon  after  Aleena  was  born.  According  to  her  father,  Bones  and  Donna  loved  each  other  and  had  a  good  relationship  until  her  demise.  Bones  was  a  member  of  a  pirate  band  and  was  best  friends  with  Galen's  father,  Damien  Salt.  Bones  would  write  and  compose  various  songs  about  her  mother,  using  music  to  tell  Aleena  about  her  mothers  life  and  keep  the  memory  of  her  alive.  Aleena  took  after  her  father  and  is  an  exceptionally  skilled  musician.  She  performed  often  with  her  fathers  band,  until  she  began  composing  and  writing  her  own  songs.

Like  Galen,  she  grew  up  with  Hook  siblings  and  considered  herself  an  ally.  She  worked  at  Club  Crossover  as  a  Hostess  and  performer,  and  would  feed  information  to  Harry  for  the  Lost  Revenge,  both  when  he  was  First  Mate,  and  when  he  became  temporary  Captain.  After  the  barrier  fell,  Aleena  discovered  her  siren  abilities,  learning  how  to  hypnotise  people  with  her  voice  which  she  uses  in  brawls  and  fights  in  order  to  lower  the  morale  of  her  enemies  and  boost  the  morale  of  her  allies.

While  Aleena  loves  the  life  of  a  musician,  she  believes  that  she  needs  to  seek  out  adventure  and  excitement  in  order  to  broaden  her  musical  skill  and  when  Harry  returns  to  the  Isle  sailing  the  Jolly  Roger,  Aleena  snatches  her  chance  to  become  a  pirate  and  is  made  a  Gunner.

𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐏𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐑  :    Ian  Alexander  as  Asher,  son  of  Bill  Jukes.  While  Asher’s  father  was  a  member  of  the  Jolly  Roger  crew,  Asher  was  raised  by  his  mother,  Ava  who  worked  at  the  Siren’s  Song.  He  experienced  various  struggles  with  self-identity  and  sexuality  growing  up  on  the  Isle  and  was  a  victim  of  bullying  for  the  majority  of  his  childhood  and  early  adolescence  until  he  attended  Champion  Night.  A  yearly  event  hosted  by  Captain  Hook  where  a  member  of  every  pirate  crew  participated  in  a  bare-knuckle  boxing  match  for  a  prize.  Asher  watched  Harry  fight  and  win  Champion  Night  and  it  was  this  moment  that  compelled  Asher  to  seek  to  become  a  pirate  himself.

Due  to  his  much  smaller  frame,  Asher  struggled  with  feats  of  strength  and  brute  force  so  turned  his  sights  to  becoming  a  sharpshooter.  Asher  trained  with  crossbows,  hunting  bows,  and  small  arms  such  as  pistols  before  eventually  getting  his  hands  on  a  rifle.  Asher  trained  tirelessly  to  master  his  skill  with  long  ranged  weapons,  and  only  approached  Harry  after  the  barrier  was  finally  removed  from  the  Isle  as  he  worried  that  Harry  would  leave  the  island  and  he  wouldn’t  be  able  to  follow.

Harry  was  initially  reluctant  to  consider  Asher  much  of  anything  as  Asher  had  never  been  aboard  a  ship  and  knew  nothing  about  sailing,  however  Asher  proved  himself  to  be  a  skilled  fighter,  and  after  several  weeks  of  Asher  dogging  Harry’s  every  move,  Harry  finally  relented  and  began  teaching  Asher  the  basics  of  life  aboard  a  sailing  ship.

When  Harry  returned  to  the  Isle  sailing  the  Jolly  Roger,  Asher  leaped  at  the  chance  to  join  his  crew.

𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐍  :    Luciane  Buchanan  as  Morven  Keara  Le  Beak,  daughter  of  Beatrice  Le  Beak.  Morven  lived  with  her  mother  for  the  majority  of  her  life,  learning  how  to  be  a  blackhand,  a  sneak-thief,  and  a  pick-pocket.  She  helped  her  mother  lie,  cheat,  and  steal  from  the  other  prisoners  of  the  Isle  until  she  was  recruited  by  the  thief’s  guild  known  as  the  Knaves.  Morven  craved  the  chance  to  step  out  from  under  her  mother’s  ironclad  rule  and  she  took  her  opportunity  with  the  Knaves  to  do  it.  Her  knowledge  of  the  North-Eastern  part  of  the  Isle  made  it  her  territory  to  pick  and  pillage  from.

Not  long  after  the  Cotillion  Riots,  Morven  was  captured  by  a  group  of  rogue  Bogs  Boys.  She  was  held  prisoner  for  days,  trapped  and  used  for  cruel  entertainments  until  their  hideout  was  assaulted  by  Harry  Hook  and  the  Lost  Revenge  crew.  Harry  pulled  her  from  the  cage  locked  hole  that  the  Bogs  Boys  had  thrown  her  into  and  secured  Morven’s  services  ever  since.

Morven  has  worked  as  a  thief  and  a  spy  for  Harry  for  several  years.  She  spent  time  with  Noelani,  the  Lost  Revenge’s  surgeon,  and  interned  briefly  at  Dr.  Facilier’s  arcade  but  when  Harry  returned  to  the  Isle  sailing  the  Jolly  Roger,  Morven  could  not  have  signed  on  faster,  becoming  the  crew's  Surgeon.

[heyitsani]

I Will Hold Onto the Afterglow

Word Count: 2240

Rating: Teen and Up

Warnings: Tooth-rotting fluff

Pairing: Jason Todd/Dick Grayson

Notes: This is a total fluff piece that I finished because @hedgebelle requested some soft Alpha!Jason.  So blame Hedge.

This is part of my Conversations in the Dark series, but can really be a stand alone if you want.  But should you want to read the other pieces, you can read them here.

You can also read this on AO3 here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took a moment for Dick to figure out what exactly had woken him.  The sun was just starting to stain the sky with reds, oranges, and yellows, filling the room with just enough morning light to see more than just shadows shifting.  And Jason was still a warm, solid line pressed against his back with one arm bent to rest under his pillow and the other slung low against Dick’s hip.  But those reasons only served to show him he shouldn’t have woken up so suddenly.  And there definitely had to be a reason since sleep had been so much easier to achieve this pregnancy and Dick found himself eternally thankful for that. Another pregnancy like James’ was not something he wanted to endure.  Nor did he want Jason to experience that particular stress again.

But in the early morning stillness, he still wasn’t sure why he had awoken the way he had.

And then he felt it.

Just under the hand he had resting on his swollen belly, a small nudge.  The fluttering of butterfly wings was a sensation he had been feeling for a few weeks now, but this kick he had definitely felt with his hand as well as his belly.

“Jay,” Dick whispered, watching his hand jump again.  When Jason made no movement to show he had heard Dick’s call, he tried again.  “Jason.”  Nothing. Sighing, he shifted and glanced over his shoulder.  “Jay!”

And that was enough to jolt his mate into the waking world, causing him to sit up abruptly with wide, panicked eyes.  “What’s wrong?  Is it the baby?!  Is it James?!”

“Jay,” Dick rolled onto his back, amused with Jason’s reaction.  Without further explanation, he grabbed his mate’s hand and placed it on the spot where he had been feeling the kicks.

And then he waited.

He waited and watched Jason’s panic turn to confusion and then suddenly morph into amazement.  “Is that…?”  Dick nodded with a wide smile.  His pregnancy with James had left him feeling so miserable all of the time that he hadn’t wanted anyone to touch him.  Looking back he wasn’t sure Jason had ever gotten the chance to feel James kick. Dick knew he personally had never taken much joy in the feeling.  It had only served to make him more uncomfortable.

Now though?  Apparently, they would both get the chance to fully enjoy the things had they hadn’t been able to last time.

“Wow.”

Dick watched Jason stare at the place where his hand sat on Dick’s stomach, feeling and watching the movement.  His scent blossomed into something flowery, soft and rare, something reserved only for Dick and James.

And now their daughter too.

Which reminded him.  “We need a name.”  Jason only hummed in response, moving to rest his cheek against the spot where the kicks were slowing down.  “I thought we could do a family name for the middle name again but not for the first name.”

“That sounds good. Grayson-Todd carries enough weight as it is,” Jason said softly, looking at Dick with the most peaceful of looks. And though he was engaged in the conversation, Dick knew his focus was on listening to the baby in his womb.  “Mary?”

“Or Catherine.”

He watched Jason consider the option before his mate shook his head.  “I’d rather Mary.”  Dick tilted his head slightly and moved a hand to card through Jason’s hair.  “She might have raised me as best as she could given her addiction and the circumstances, but I don’t want our daughter to carry that legacy.”

“She would be her own person.”  Frowning, Jason turned his face to place a kiss against Dick’s stomach before pushing upright.  Dick remained silent as he watched the man look out the window, but he did push himself into a more upright position.

When Jason looked back over to Dick, the older man wasn’t surprised to see conflicting emotions swirling in his turquoise eyes.  “She will be, but I want her to have the name of someone who was good and loving.  One day she’ll ask about the namesake and she should hear about a mother who would have given everything for her child.”  Not one who would have given up her “child” for her next fix, went unsaid and it made Dick’s heart ache.

“Mary it is then.”

Jason only smiled and leaned forward, pressing his mouth to the corner of Dick’s in a brief kiss before standing from the bed and stretching his arms above his head.  “What does the princess want for breakfast today?  I’m going to go make sure James is up for school.”

Dick considered the options he knew Jason would allow him, a deep longing for his usual cereal striking him, before shrugging.  “Fruit? Whatever else you want to make is fine,” he rubbed a hand over his belly.  “She doesn’t seem to be craving anything in particular this morning.”

“I’m sure that’ll change in the next hour,” Jason teased before leaning over to give him another kiss. Then without another word, his mate was gone from the room and Dick was left pondering if he should hop in the shower or just stay in bed.

Before he could make up his mind, James was sticking his head into the room with a smile.  “Morning, Dad,” his son said, moving into the room so he sit down on the bed where Jason had just been sitting a few minutes ago. “How is she today?”  He questioned, carefully placing a hand on Dick’s belly.

“Kicking up a storm. She woke me up early.”  Dick laughed when James’ eyebrows shot up at a tiny jolt against his hand, tugging it away in surprise.  “Just like that.”

James just stared at his belly with wide eyes and Dick took a small sniff of the air to try and decipher what his son was thinking right then.  There was surprise, but there was also something a little bitter. Something that had been an undertone of James’ scent since Dick and Jason had revealed what had really happened with Dick’s pregnancy and birth of him.

“Jamie,” Dick said softly, leaning forward to place a hand on his son’s cheek.  He waited for the familiar sapphire eyes to look at him instead of his belly before he continued.  “Is there something you’re worried about?”  

“Does it hurt?  When she kicks?  Can she hurt you?”  And Dick didn’t mean to laugh at his son, he really didn’t.  But he couldn’t help it when such an innocent question was presented to him.

“No, baby.  No,” he chuckled softly with a shake of his head. “When I was pregnant with you, my stomach hurt all the time, so I didn’t get to enjoy these moments.  But now that I feel fine with your sister, I get to enjoy them.  When she’s bigger, I’m sure they’ll be uncomfortable and occasionally painful if she gets a rib. But no,” he promised, “right now they do not hurt.”

James didn’t look like he was fully convinced but would drop it none the less.  Dick had a feeling he would probably question Jason about it later and that was fine.  Jason was good at quelling any fears James seemed to come up with.  And he was also good at clearing up whether Dick was lying about how he was feeling or not in order to make someone else feel better.

“Hey you two.” Speaking of the devil.  “Breakfast is ready.  You staying in here, Dickie?  Or you want to come eat at the table?”  Looking between his son and his mate, Dick thought about it.  

“How about we all eat here?” Jason gave him an unimpressed look, but it fell short when Dick saw the corner of his mouth tick upward.  His mate gave a nod and looked over at their son.

“Come on, kid.  Help me carry the food.”  James silently scrambled off the bed and followed Jason out of the room and Dick sighed, relaxing back into the pillows.  He might only be about sixteen weeks, but the pressure on his lower back was already starting to get uncomfortable.  As was the weight in his chest with each passing week.  He just felt heavy.

Not fat, just heavy. Like he had weights tied to him, dragging him down.  And even though he didn’t have a normal pregnancy with James, he knew what he was feeling was how most pregnant omegas felt while pregnant.  It calmed a lot of nerves to know just how textbook normal this pregnancy had been up to this point.

“Here you go, Your Majesty,” Jason teased as he reentered the bedroom, carrying a tray of what smelled like waffles and Earl Grey tea.  Despite Jason’s initial displeasure of Dick continuing his caffeine intake, he had backed off once their OB-GYN had told him that some caffeine was just fine. Dick smiled brightly at Jason as his mate placed the tray over his lap, puckering his lips to silently ask for a kiss. “Greedy,” Jason teased when he leaned down to give into the request.

“Eww,” James muttered when he entered the room and took up a spot at the foot of the bed, plate resting on his lap before handing the other to Jason.  “Can’t wait to have a sister who can be grossed out by you two with me.”

Dick laughed as he took a bite of his strawberries that sat scattered over his waffle and looked at Jason, who was rolling his eyes as he pointed a syrup covered fork at their son. “You remember these comments when it comes time for you to bring home a date for Dad and me to meet.”  James’ eyes went wide at the ominous threat and Dick just tossed a strawberry at his mate.

“Stop it,” he chastised Jason, who effortlessly caught the strawberry and popped it into his mouth.  “James, whenever that time comes, I promise I won’t let your Papa embarrass you.”

He was surprised when James snorted a laugh in response.  “Please,” he laughed, “you’re way worse than Papa!”  Dick’s jaw dropped in surprise and his eyes narrowed when Jason let out a loud laugh.  His mate simply kept laughing, trying to chew the piece of waffle he had in his mouth at the same time.  

“How am I worse than Papa?”

“You fawn, Dad,” James said as if it explained everything.  And apparently that was enough of an explanation for Jason because he kept chuckling as he ate, but Dick was still confused.  “You gush.  You get overexcited.  It’s just who you are.”

Frowning, Dick looked down at his plate and pushed a few pieces of waffle around as he considered what James said.  He didn’t say it like it was a bad thing, but now Dick wasn’t so sure.  Had he been making his son uncomfortable all these years without even realizing it?  Did people think down on him for the way he treated his son?

“Hey,” Jason’s voice broke through his downward spiral and Dick looked over at him.  “It’s not a bad thing, Dickie.  People love when you do it to them.  You don’t realize how many people preen under your attention.”

“But it’s apparently embarrassing.”

“I was joking, Dad,” James spoke up, voice hesitant and scent going sour with guilt.  “You really aren’t embarrassing.  I don’t mind it at all.  Sorry.”

Shaking his head, Dick sighed.  “You don’t need to be sorry, Pup.”  And though he meant it, he could tell James didn’t believe him.  There was a moment of silence before Jason stood and gave Dick a pointed look toward his plate.

“We need to head out James or we’re going to be late.”  His son looked over at the clock by the bed and groaned.  

Standing and rounding the bed, he pressed a kiss to Dick’s cheek.  “Bye Dad, love you,” he said before he hurried out of the room with his plate in hand.  

“You good?”  Jason questioned.  

Dick looked up at him and blinked a few times before nodding.  “I’m good.  Just hormones, I think.”  Jason hummed and leaned forward to give him a kiss.  “Are you home today?”

“Mmhmm,” Jason confirmed, as he pulled away and moved over to his dresser to quickly change out of the sweats and t-shirt into a pair of jeans and a black Henley.  Dick let his eyes drift over Jason’s body as he changed, enjoying the ripple of muscle and stretch of skin.  “I can smell that.”

Dick let out a snort. “Of course, you can,” he rolled his eyes.  “You can take care of it when you get back from dropping our son off at school.” His smile widened when Jason all but stalked over to him and claimed his mouth in another kiss, this one filled with much more meaning than the previous ones.

“You’re damn right I can,” he growled softly when he pulled away.  “That better be finished when I get back.  And you better be right there with a hell of a lot less clothing.” Dick raised a challenging eyebrow as Jason headed for the door when James’ papa! rang out, letting them know he was ready to go.  “Food done. No clothes.  Love you!”

Dick laughed as Jason hurried out of the room and didn’t stop even after the sound of the front door of the penthouse opening and closing hit him.

[amymel86]

Inspired by this post

A while ago I made @vivilove-jonsa​ a promise - that I wouldn’t post anything new (bar my drabble event entries) until I’d finished Redamancy. I could work on new things - but not post.

So here’s my chance to sort of cheat (Ssshhh! No one tell Vivi!)

This is a kind of modern post-apocalyptic ish au (and is currently untitled) - basically a couple of decades after a global pandemic, the majority of the world’s female population is left infertile and the government are providing incentives and schemes to try and boost the efforts to repopulate.

Guess which girl is left fertile?? (I know, I know, predictable, right? I don’t even care - I’m having fun) 

You’ll see this is very rough - there’s notes in there for myself where I’ve not made up my mind about stuff - even stuff that’s already there may well get changed. 

But I’d like to share some of what I have already if you guys don’t mind (and Vivi doesn’t kill me)...

I’d also like to invite other authors to share some of their WIP!

“They’re offering money now,” Anya’s plummy whisper carried through from the kitchen. Sansa paused. She’d been getting ready for hers and Harry’s night out - one of many, but she loved them. She adored the heady buzz of her dirty margaritas and the belly-warming glow she felt when Harry would keep her close, proud to have her on his arm. Sansa found that she craved distractions and her well-to-do boyfriend certainly was that. “There’s a whole package of incentives, Harry, you really should consider it.”

With fingers rolling the cut jet beads of her long-looped necklace, Sansa hovers between seconds, waiting to hear Harry’s answer. She’d asked him before; about having a baby. The new normal is not having to worry about all that – or worrying far too much.

Just over a decade ago, the highly contagious disease, [[NAME DISEASE]] spread its vicious reach throughout the population of Westeros; a disease that the infected had a coin’s toss chance of surviving, but left a staggering amount of surviving women barren. Left in the virus’s wake, there were also women like Sansa – anomalies. With seemingly no medical explanation, the [[disease name]] allowed them to keep hold of both their lives, and their ability to reproduce.  

Sansa had thought, what with her having the rare ability to give Harry children, he would have been enthused by the idea when she’d broached the subject. Instead, he’d brushed it aside, seemingly uninterested.

And now his mother is getting involved. Anya Waynwood; a greying woman whose age has left her no less formidable both on a personable level and on a business one. Sansa knows this since she works directly under her at Waynwood’s Estates and Lettings.

“Think of it,” Anya whispers, filling the silence, “a baby of your own, with beautiful sandy hair and chubby cheeks. Just like you. You were such a happy babe.”

“Mother,” Harry starts. Sansa can hear him place his beer bottle down on the polished marble kitchen island. She begins to worry her lip as she listens. “Just because Sansa’s a peach, it doesn’t mean we’re going to have a baby.” She winced at that. ‘A peach’ – it’s not quite a derogatory term for a woman like her – a fertile, but it’s not considered polite either. Still, it’s better than when creeps find out what she is and start to tell her she’s ‘ripe for the plucking’... she supposes. She’s a novelty to them – her and women like her. They’re the kind of guys that search that subsection of illegal porn dedicated to the genre of ‘peaches’ for filthy connoisseurs with a breeding kink.

Harry’s not like that. He’s always been careful when they were intimate... well... he’s always finished in a way that would be biologically impossible to result in a pregnancy anyway. And... he cares for her... doesn’t he?

The thing is, Sansa really would like to have a child. The gods allowed her that ability for some reason, surely? Having a child might bring a sorely missed smile to her mother’s face – a smile that hasn’t really appeared since the virus took father and Robb away. They could bundle up their precious babe and take a trip up north to Winterfell and-

“I don’t even like children,” Harry continued, making Sansa frown. “I can’t even remember the last time I saw anyone under the age of... I don’t know... sixteen? I wouldn’t know what to do with a baby.”

“Well, that’s what Sansa’s for.”

Sansa rolled her eyes so hard they hurt. She’s tempted to go out there and show her face so that this conversation can peter off into the silence that that particular comment deserves. She could picture Anya’s expression perfectly during her next words; brows raised in expectancy, a devious twinkle in her eye and her coral pink painted lips twitching upward in a smirk.

“The government are offering a 15k incentive for the first baby, and all medical bills taken care of. There’s even talk of a new housing development especially for breeders. Now doesn’t that sound like it’s worth considering?”

Urgh. ‘Breeders’. Sansa hates that one too. There’s been rumours of these ‘repopulation incentive packages’, but she hadn’t realised they’d be so... generous. If-... if Harry’s convinced then she could send some extra money up to her mother for Bran’s chair – might even be able to get some to Arya wherever she is, off backpacking, living from youth hostel to youth hostel.

“Mum,” Harry lowers his voice, the deep timbre of it only just making it to Sansa’s ears. She moves closer to the bedroom door, tilting her head as if that would help her hear better. “I... I can’t.”

“Nonsense, of course-“

“No, Mum. I can’t. I can’t have children. I’ve been tested.”

Sansa’s heart thumpity-thumped against her ribs. She’s not meant to be hearing this... and yet at the same time, she feels like she should be hearing this.

Anya sounded aghast. “What do you mean? Of course you can have children!”

“You remember Cissy and Saffron?”

Harry’s exes. But he’d said that Sansa was his first girlfriend who was also a fertile so why-

“Your other peaches? Yes.”

Oh.... Oh no.

“Well it wasn’t like I was careful with them. It never happened because it can’t. I can’t... It just... never happened and so I got tested and I’m... I’m okay with never having kids.”

Sansa’s gut started to roll.

Where was that damned dirty margarita?

***

“And what’s your marital status, dear?” the older woman asked over her wire-rimmed glasses.

Sansa swallowed. “Single.” It hadn’t taken long for her to come to the conclusion that Harry was no different than all the others. She, as ‘his peach’ was purely a status symbol to hang on his arm. Oh, she could kick herself now for all the times she enjoyed his attentions and how he loved to show her off. Why hadn’t she seen it sooner? Harry didn’t care about her. He didn’t see a future with her. All he cared about was his own significance and status. But, of course, as soon as she’d broken things off with her darling son, Anya had made her working life a living hell. Sansa needed more options but she knows Anya is loathed to give her a good job reference and she’s hardly qualified for anything above partying her life away to distract herself and minimum wage. She can’t afford to stop sending her mum money for her medication, and Bran needed his physiotherapy sessions and a new chair. All the equations point towards sticking it out at Waynwood Estates but -

“A pretty thing like you? That is surprising!” the woman – a Mrs S Mordane as per the name plate on her desk – says with a small smile.

Sansa shrugs, not wanting to get into the nitty-gritty of the failings of her love-life – and especially not with a stranger in a little cubicle at The Vale Council Offices. She clears her throat. “I-I heard there was some sort of matching service?”

The woman’s eyes light up behind her spectacles. “Oh, yes. Is that something you’re interested in?”

Well, she needed to do something.

“I... I don’t know. Can you tell me more?”

A bundle of leaflets were handed over to Sansa before Mrs Mordane tap-tapped on her computer to print out even more information for her. “We have a whole host of potentially lucky fellas for you to choose from. They’ve all been extensively quizzed and along with the answers from your questionnaire –“ she paused, nodding her head towards the handful of papers now in Sansa’s grasp, “ – we’ll be able to narrow down who might be best suited for you.”

Sansa’s eyes fell to the leaflet on top. There was a photograph of a smiling, gummy baby. “A-and then what?”

***

“That fucking dipshit crook! I’m gonna fucking kill him the next time he’s at Hobb’s I’ll-“

Jon opened his trailer door with a creak and a slam to see what all the racket was about. It was Mance, of course. No one else ‘round here for miles anyhow. He squints his one good eye at the sun reflecting off the sandy dirt that led up to Mance’s farmhouse.

“I’ll kill ‘im, Jon! I will!” the man exclaimed when he’d caught sight of him, right before he kicked up some of the dust beneath his tattered leather boots.

Leaning his shoulder against the door frame, Jon smirked as his sight adjusted to the blinding sun. “Who you killin’ this time old man?”

“That damn bastard Slynt, that’s who!”

Jon straightened. Slynt owned a chain of used car lots in the area. His branches in the two nearest towns always sent cars for fixing straight to him and Mance. It was a slow but steady influx of work and meant that Mance could afford to keep his property and his land from falling into the hands of the tax man – which also meant Jon could continue to live there too; in his trailer parked up beside the farmhouse.

They really needed those cars to fix.

“Shit.”

“Yeah. ‘Shit’ is ‘bout right, boy.”

***

It didn’t take too long for Mance to come and find him later that day. Normally, unless they’re working on a vehicle together, Mance leaves him well enough alone until dinner time which suits Jon just fine. But here he is peering into the old barn, finding Jon working on the project he has going for himself. The old man had told him not to purchase it – the broken down compact utility tractor – but they’d been visiting a farm closure auction for possible parts and Jon fancied himself to be able to fix up the piece of machinery and sell it on. Turns out, it needs more parts replacing to get it going than he’d originally anticipated, but Jon was nothing but determined to make this baby purr into life again. Jon straightened, wiping his oily hands in an old rag while his one good eye followed Mance as he approached.

“I been thinkin’.”

Jon snorted quietly.

Mance ignored him. “With what we got in the bank, those council folk will be sniffin’ ‘round here, comin’ to take my land from me in little more than 4 months – 6 tops.”

Fuck. OK, he knew they’d needed Slynt’s cars but he hadn’t known it was this dyer. He felt his tongue roll around his mouth as though he could find a solution between his teeth. “We need more cars to fix.” Mance pierced him with a ‘no shit, dumbass’ kind of look making Jon sigh. “We can go into town, post flyers, fix folk’s cars up ready for their M.O.Ts, fuckin’ clean and polish ‘em too if it comes to that.”

“[[INSERT NAME OF TOWN]] has a population of about 200, 202 if yer countin’ us. And half of ‘em are either poor as dirt or just as handy with a wrench as you an’ me. Ain’t nobody keepin’ us afloat from that town, boy.”

Jon’s gaze drifted around the dusty old barn. “We could go further afield, to [[INSERT TOWN]] or [[INSERT TOWN]], even go as far as [[INSERT TO----]]

“It’s not gonna work, Snow.”

“Well we gotta try somethin’!” Jon hollered, slamming the rusted hood of his tractor down with a loud clang. He paced away, dirty hand running through dirty hair. “What about the land?” he asked, staring at the ancient farming equipment abandoned in the corner of the barn, left unused for a few decades a least. “Your family used to farm the land. We could too.” He turned to look at Mance. Sure, they’d have to clear at least one field of decaying vehicle carcasses and other miscellaneous rusted objects, and the rest is currently being strangled by a carpet of brambles. But they could do it, couldn’t they? The Rayder’s used to be grain farmers before the land was handed down to Mance and he, already a mechanic by trade had had no love nor want to carry on the tradition.

Mance blinked at him, his lips twisting in consideration. “That would take a long time to get going, Snow. Longer than we can afford.”

Jon felt a prickle up his spine. The words ‘well have you got any smart ideas, then wise-ass?!’ right on the tip of his tongue when Mance interrupts.

“I’ve been on the phone with a woman. A woman at the council.”

Jon flung his arms into the air, giving his back to Mance while he shook his head in dismay. Great. Now they know we’re in trouble. They’ll be sniffin’ ‘round here sooner.

“She was talkin’ ‘bout a scheme,” the old man continued

“Financial aid?”

“Not exactly. You sign up for the scheme an’ if yer selected they... well, they go easy on yer for taxes an’ they give yer some money too.”

Jon turned to face him again, a furrow to his brow. “That don’t sound right. Why would they go easy on taxes and give us money? They ain’t gonna do that, old man.”

“They will if there’s gonna be a wee baby on the property.”

What?!

[imagine-mr-markus]

Birthday Candles

I had to write sumn for my fave Dad on his birthday, but i got a teeeensy bit distracted watching Hellbenders so its a leedol late, sorry! But yes, here we have some tasty tasty fluff of my boys in honour of The Birthday. And not an all an apology for the fact that the next two I’m working on are just Angst of my Cyberlife Boys, absolutely not

Hank Anderson, at the ripe age of 53 and 364 days, fucking hated birthdays. Hated the smell of cake and frosting and the cheerful wishes of others. What he hated most about them, however, was the birthday candles. The smell of them, the sight of them, even the fucking mention of them was enough to sour his mood beyond recognition, no matter how good it had been before. It hadn't always been like that; in fact, it had only been like that for two years and three hundred and twenty-nine days. Twenty-five thousand, four hundred and sixteen hours. One million, five hundred and twenty-four thousand, nine hundred and sixty seconds. The calculations flash irritatingly behind his eyes like they always have, and he shakes his head as his mood dips. He knows exactly why he hates those brightly coloured little sticks of wax so vehemently.

 They'd been Cole’s favourite.

 It had been a kinda stupid tradition his own mother had started when he was a kid to wake him up at exactly midnight on his birthday with a cake. There would always be another cake later, one for the party and the guests, but at midnight, when the world was quiet and the lights were out, it was just for the two of them to sit and eat a slice after he'd eagerly blown out the candles. Melissa had thought it was the cutest shit to grace this earth and had insisted on carrying on the tradition after they started dating, and he could easily admit that it was appreciated. It'd been part of what kept them together in the long stretch of time when they'd nearly fallen apart after pregnancy test after pregnancy test came back negative. But no matter how bad the fight, every birthday was ushered in with birthday candles and cake at midnight. It had only gotten better after Cole was born, the joy of the new baby and their much firmer foundation on marriage making for a much more relaxed morning. As soon as Cole had seen birthday candles, he’d been enraptured in the way only a child could be, and the new tradition that Cole always helped blow out the candles was born. For a solid portion of his life, Hank’s favourite smell in the world was the smell of the sweet smoke from the vibrant little pillars of wax.

 But not anymore. Not for one thousand and fifty-nine days.

 In the time Connor had been living with him, two hundred and ninety-eight days, his brain helpfully supplies, he's gotten much better at dealing with problems without the use of alcohol. In fact, he hasn't had anything stronger than a beer in months. But tonight, tonight the bar looks more tempting than he'd ever care to admit. He tilts his head slightly as he eyes his keys, fingers itching to make a break for it before Connor gets home. He could do it. Could grab his keys and be out the door. Connor would be disappointed, but he'd understand. Connor was good like that. He could-

The sound of the door startles him out of his reverie, the excited tapping of big paws on the floor following soon after.

 “We're home!”

 Hank turns away from his keys abruptly, mustering a smile as he looks towards the Android stood in the doorway.

 “Hey, Connor. How was your walk?”

 The kid offers him a smile before he bends to undo Sumo’s leash.

 “It was good! It's getting chilly out, but the leaves are starting to change! I like the orange ones best.”

 Some of Hank’s misery eases at Connor’s easy enthusiasm, and his smile is more genuine.

 “That's good. I like the orange ones too.”

 He pauses a moment to gather himself, mentally flipping the bird at his cravings for booze before continuing.

 “So, whaddaya want for dinner?”

 Connor doesn't need to eat, but after the revolution Kamski whipped up some fancy ass robotics that allows him to if he wants. It's nice to sit and eat with somebody again, even if the kid is way too addicted to coffee now that he can taste it. Connor tilts his head as he moves towards the kitchen, an easy grin pulling at his mouth.

 “Can we get Chinese?”

 Hank shakes his head fondly at the kid. Another one of his favourites was Chinese takeaway, and they'd eaten it with fair regularity. Although, Hank is kinda grateful. The kid’s been trying to learn to cook, but his skills aren't…. incredibly tasty as he insists on doing it ‘the human way’. The familiarity of it all helps ease the weight on his lungs, helps pull some of the itch from his fingertips.

 “Yeah, Con. We can get Chinese.”

  _____________________________________________

 “Hank, wake up!”

 His eyes snap open at the sound of Connor’s voice, hand going for his gun as he searches for what made the kid wake him.

 “What is it? What's wrong?”

 “Nothing. Happy birthday!”

 He looks at Connor properly, taking in the sight of the kid grinning at him excitedly from beside his bed. He's dressed in Hank’s old clothes, a hoodie too big even for him swallowing the Android whole and pair of ratty flannel pants from Hank’s much younger days hanging off his frame. He's got flour down his front and a streak of bright blue frosting on his forehead, LED shining a bright, contented blue at his temple as his eyes sparkle with excitement in a warm, flickering light. And before he even looks down at what he's holding, Hank knows it's cake adorned with candles. He can smell it, the sugary sweetness clinging to the back of his throat and the scent of melting wax in his nose. A sharp pang of something ugly strikes at his chest, a deep hurt pulsing behind his ribs and a flare of an irrational fury between his lungs. He can feel his face twist with it, and he sees Connor’s expression fall as his LED spins yellow.

 “Did…. did I do something wrong? I thought this is what family did on birthdays.”

 The kid looks heartbroken at the thought that he fucked up, doe eyes falling to look at the cake as his mouth turns down like he's about to cry. The expression pulls at that softness in him he had kept buried for so long, the gentle instinct to comfort and console. It was an instinct he'd always had; part of the reason people had been surprised he'd taken the promotions from beat cop upwards when he was one of the few cops who could handle kids well. It was where he'd gotten the idea for kids of his own, and that feeling had only grown exponentially once he did have a kid. Melissa had been a great mother, but it had always been Hank who would roll out of bed whenever Cole cried in the night, and Cole had very clearly been Daddy’s Boy. Melissa used to joke that if they ever had another she had dibs, but the fact remains that Hank has always been better with kids because he's a fucking bleeding heart who can never turn down a crying child. And he may logically know that Connor is not a child, but that doesn't change the fact that with his lower lip stuck out slightly and his big brown eyes ready to fill with tears at any moment and drowning in clothes too big for him, he sure as hell looks like a little boy that's been scolded. And that sets off that tender heart of his hard enough he grimaces before what Melissa used to call the “Dad Spirit” switches on. His tone gentles out of reflex, and he adjusts himself on the bed to sit up properly as he sighs slightly. He softens his shoulders, looking at Connor earnestly with forgiveness and apology in his gaze.

 “No, Connor, you didn't do anything wrong. I was upset, but not at you, alright?”

 Connor blinks up at him hopefully.

 “Really?”

 Hank can't help the little curl of his mouth at Connor’s question, nodding a little. He's bracing himself for what comes next, but for just a second, it's alright.

 “Really, kid. Now c’mere, lemme see it.”

 As quick as it had gone, that unbridled excitement is shining out of the kid’s every goddamn pore as he eagerly presents the cake. Finally, Hank forced himself to look at it, and he nearly loses his goddamn mind right then and there. It's ugly, there's no getting around it, but endearingly so in that way that screams of love poured into the batter. The cake is uneven and lopsided, and smothered liberally in baby blue frosting. There are candles neatly sunk into it, and Hank knows without a doubt there are fifty-four of them arranged precisely in concentric circles. And there, in the middle, spelled out in neat lettering that he can recognise as Connor’s own personal font (though the frosting is wobbly and has been badly fixed) are the words “Happy Birthday, Dad!”. A shaky smiley face has been added beneath, and its obscenely cute. There's suddenly something in Hank’s throat. Connor has never called him Dad before, and it makes his own mouth wobble treacherously. He coughs a little before speaking, ignoring how thick his voice is.

 “You make this yourself? I thought you didn't have any cooking protocols.”

 Connor looks almost ridiculously proud of himself as he nods excitedly

 “I did! I was tempted to download necessary coding, but I wanted to do it like a human, so I followed the recipe in the cookbook above the refrigerator! This one was labelled as your favourite!”

 His mother’s cookbook. He hadn't touched it in years, and the only time Melissa had ever gone near it was for that specific recipe. The last time he'd used it, he'd been making Cole’s cake. Connor had found it, he'd made him his mother’s birthday cake, and Hank isn't crying, he isn't goddamnit-

 “Hank? Are you alright?”

 He clears his throat again and scrubs a hand over his face to wipe away any damning evidence.

 “Yeah, Con. I'm alright, just got something in my eyes. C’mon, the candles are starting to drip onto the cake.”

 He crosses his legs so there's room on the bed, and Connor moves easily to perch in front of him. It takes a second of him considering his own legs with a yellow LED before he crosses them like Hank’s, a pleased little grin turning his mouth. You wouldn't know it if you only saw him at work, but the kid was gangly and faintly awkward when it came to anything related to sitting. It had taken months for Hank to break his habit of sitting ramrod straight with his knees together and hands on his thighs. Now the kid would sprawl all over the couch, but he was still like a pubescent boy learning how to use his own limbs and how to arrange them, almost like a fawn learning to walk. It shouldn't have been as adorable as it was, but Hank has given up on trying to deny how fond he is of the kid. He shakes his head as Connor sets the cake down on the bedspread, and he stares at the cake for a long moment with a strange mixture of joy and grief and fondness and sadness in his chest like a bruise. He lets out a slow breath and looks up at Connor with a smile.

 “Well? Are you gonna sing to me or not?”

 Connor brightens and nods, but a brief show of yellow spins at his temple before he turns his head.

 “Sumo! Come here!”

 There’s a quiet boof from the living room before big paws thud towards the room, and the shaggy dog trots into the room to sit beside Connor expectantly. The kid gives the dog a fond pat before turning back towards Hank. His smile widens as he takes a deep breath, something he doesn't technically need, before he starts to sing, and Sumo awoos quietly with him in an odd harmony.

 “Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday dear da-ad

Happy birthday to you!”

 Ok, Hank is crying. He’ll admit it. It's one thing to see it written out in the cake, it's another to actually hear Connor call him Dad. And while it's not a surprise, he's thought of Connor as family for a while now, it brings a painful lump to his throat and a feeling filling his chest to hear someone refer to him as Dad and mean it. It's a feeling he hasn't had in one thousand and sixty days, and he had missed it dearly. He scrubs at his eyes again, sniffling a little.

 “C'mere, kid. Help me blow out the candles.”

 Connor gives him a brilliant grin and scrambles to sit next to him, carefully manoeuvring around the cake. He picks it up to settle it on their knees, Hank’s right knee supporting the left side of the plate and Connor’s left supporting the right.

 “Ready, kid?”

 “Ready, dad!”

 That feeling clogs his throat again for a second before he offers Connor a nod. He bends closer to the cake, and Connor follows suit as they inhale. He blows out a good chunk of them, and Connor catches the rest with ease before laughing a little. It's not exactly a new sound, but Hank feels downright fucking blessed to hear it if he's honest with himself. Connor doesn't laugh too often, not outside the house, and it still feels special to hear the kid be so human. He's still fucking crying, but they’re good tears. Cathartic is the word, he thinks. A fork is offered to him, and he takes it gratefully. The hurt weighing on him hasn't gone away, he doesn’t think it ever will, but it's shifted, moved some, become lighter, and he rolls his shoulders back slightly as he sits up a little straighter. He's moving to take a bit of the cake when Connor gasps beside him, and he turns with a raised eyebrow.

 “What is it?”

 “I almost forgot!”

 The kid plunges his hand into his pocket, pulling out a very familiar, very worn old Polaroid camera. Hank blinks at it, taken aback. He hadn't known he'd still had that around the house.

 “The fuck you find that thing?”

 Connor beams at him.

 “In the boxes in the garage, along with the photo albums! They were shoved in the back, but I found them while I was cleaning over the summer. It's where I got the idea to make you cake!”

 There's that funny rolling in his stomach again, like overwhelming happiness and sadness mixing like oil and water in a shaking bottle. But it's… it's good. Like the tears. Cathartic. He nods, gesturing with the fork.

 “Alright, well let's get this show on the road. I wanna eat my cake.”

 Connor laughs again, and Hank grins at him as he slings his own arm over the kid’s shoulder to bring him closer as he raised the camera.

 “Sumo! Come get in the photo!”

 The dog bounds easily up onto the bed, big head bumping at Connor’s forehead as he sniffles at the frosting there. Hank chuckles and shakes his head as he looks at the camera, making sure the text on the cake is visible as Connor presses the button. The flash is temporarily blinding, but he blinks it away as the camera spits out the sheet of thick film. Hank doesn't shake it like his mother used to, he knows better than that. He wants this one pristine if he can help it, especially because he's going to want copies of this shit. Eventually, maybe soon, maybe not, he'll stick it in the photo albums Connor found. The ones he hasn't had the guts to look at for years. But maybe…. maybe with Connor sitting next to him, he can focus on the good times as he tells him the stories about the photos. The kid is still pressed firmly into his side from Hank’s arm around his shoulders, and it's a good feeling, to sit beside someone. No, not just someone. His son. He knows Cole is never coming back, his little boy is gone, but maybe someday he'll see him again. And with any luck, he'll get to introduce him to his older brother.  Well, younger brother? It's a comforting, if slightly confusing thought, and Hank grins as he transfers his fork to his other hand so he can keep Connor close while he digs into his birthday cake. The photo develops a little while later, and Hank loves it. You can see that he's been crying, but his smile is easy, and Connor has his nose scrunched up as Sumo licks his forehead, and the cake looks even uglier in the flash from the camera and it's absolutely perfect. He’s gonna need a copy for his wallet AND his desk, goddamnit, and he might even feel brave enough to put one of his pictures of Cole beside it. It's only right that both of his boys be present, really.

 The smell of sweet candle smoke is heavy in the air, and he breathes it in. He can see Cole as he was the last time they celebrated together, green eyes sparkling and one of his front teeth missing from his broad smile as he shouted in the dark.

 “Happy birthday, dad!”

 Connor’s voice comes from beside him, and he turns to look at the kid as he smiles.

 “Happy birthday, dad.”

 He leans against Connor slightly, squeezing him gently.

 “Thanks, son. I'm glad you decided to celebrate with me.”

 And he means it.

 ___________________________________________________

 At the age of fifty-four years and one hour, Hank Anderson loves birthdays. He loves the birthday cake that's lopsided and the too thick layer of frosting and the cheerful wishes of the Android beside him. And most of all, he loves his favourite scent in the world.

 Birthday candles.

[softguks]

once more part two

note: here is the highly requested part two!! please let me know what you think. i’m really really sorry about how late this is, i’ve just been extremely disappointed in my writing lately.

warnings: angst, kind of single mom au??

pairing: shawn mendes x reader

part one

—

The world is not always sunshine and rainbows, and y/n knows this by heart.

She gazes down softly at the toddler who is almost two years old, gently rocking the fussing baby to sleep. Her eyes are warm and brown, caramel colored with hints of dark brown. Like all the colors of chocolate swirled together, holding the galaxy in all their beauty. The lights flicker gently in her pretty eyes as she babbles, giggling when her mother blows a raspberry on her tummy.

Y/n’s gaze is both soft and sad, the light smiles and soft glances hiding years of pain and sorrow. She remembers what it was like to be in love. To be so fiercely in love, falling too fast and too hard, enveloping her entire being in a hazy glow. It felt like a spark, excitement and pure love burning in her veins, sending the glow of a thousand stars plucked from the sky and into her eyes. She had once held so much love for him, her heart overflowing with love, filled to the brim and yet she craved for more. But the spark had eventually died out, both of them too scared to acknowledge what both of them already knew. It was a scary feeling, to know that the person you once imagined spending the rest of your life with, no longer loves and is as infatuated with you as before.

She remembers sitting on the blue mat in the doctor’s office, the scent of chemicals and lollipops in the air as her figure shook. She was scared, scared of what she’d already knew, scared of what she had vowed to never feel again: vulnerable and defenseless, her walls beaten to the ground as she clutched to the ledges desperately. Her suspicions were confirmed when the doctor gave her a warm smile, breaking the news she was pregnant.

She was already three months along, hiding the small baby bump behind baggy clothes and oversized sweaters. And in one of her darkest times, she found a spark of hope, a light that she would treasure and hold onto, even if it didn’t last.

—

[ not quite two years ago ]

The birth of Emma was a painful one, but also one that y/n hopes to remember. She had never been so proud of how far she was able to come without someone. When it was just her and her long shifts, struggling to support her little family. She remembers the fear and dread tingling in the pit of her stomach when the doctor told her that Emma might not survive.

She was born two months premature, her lungs hadn’t fully developed and so the little baby was placed into an incubator for two weeks, with her crying mother by her side ever day, praying for a miracle.

Y/N brushes a strand of wavy brown hair away from Emma’s face, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead as she blinks back tears. “Hi! Baby, I’m your mommy. I’m your mommy! I can’t believe I’m your mommy.”

[ present time, at the coffee shop ]

“Hey, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”

Y/N scoffs, pushing her cup of tea away and scooting farther from Shawn. She can’t help but feel almost disgusted in his presence, frowning at him when he gives her a sad smile.

“I was wondering if I could visit Emma.”

She opens her mouth to speak, ready to argue against him when he cuts her off.

“I know it sounds shitty coming from me. I know it sounds pathetic and cliche, but I’m sorry. You-you don’t have to forgive me, but I need to apologize. Im sorry. I was...insecure and in a dark place, terrified you would grow tired of the constant distance and traveling part of my job. I was scared that you would leave me, and so I broke it off, trying to protect both you and me. I was wrong, so wrong, and I only hurt you more. I’m so sorry I was an idiot and for everything I’ve missed. I really want to be part of Emma’s life, if you won’t let me be part of yours. Please let me see her. Please.”

She’s never seen him so desperate, caramel eyes begging her with such desperation that she feels her heart melt. “Shawn, all I wanted was to be with you. I don’t care about the distance and the traveling. I know what I signed up for, and you left me. You didn’t talk with me, didn’t try to fight for us, you just broke up with me like I was nothing. I felt unloved and broken, like maybe I wasn’t worth fighting for and that nobody would ever want me. And going through pregnancy alone was so hard, Shawn. I really hope you mean your apology and that it’s not just to lessen the guilt that you feel.”

“I promise I’ve never been more sincere about anything in my life. But please, can I see Emma?”

She knows she shouldn’t see him, she’s read enough stories to know how it ends. But it feels real, it feels warm and gentle to know that he’s willing to try. She’s never been a person to give second chances, but maybe she’s willing to make an exception this time.

—

“Emma! Emma, baby, come here! Mommy’s home! Thank you so much Ally, for babysitting her. You are a life-safer.”

“Of course, Emma’s such a sweetheart. I’ll be back on Tuesday?”, Ally shyly asks, the sixteen-year-old waving at Emma.

“Thank you!”

“Mama! Mama!”, Y/N grins down at Emma, who’s currently too lazy to crawl to her mother and decides instead to repeatedly whine, waving her arms and sticking her pudgy fingers in the air. She’s lifted off the carpet and into the comforting arms of her mother as she stares at the man in front of her. “Tom? Tommy?”

Y/N laughs, shaking her head and pointing to Shawn, slowly saying his name out loud. “That’s Shawn. Shh-aaa-www-nnnn!”

“Shaw.”, the toddler declares, giggling when her mother tickles her tummy, pressing wet kisses over her rosy cheeks.

“You can hold her.”, Y/N’s voice is soft as she carefully hands Emma to Shawn, where their eyes lock. Her eyes are the same exact shade of toffee brown as his are, and Shawn is entranced by the child in front of him that’s his. His daughter. Emma. His Emma. He’s never been so awestruck, this toddler who he’s barely known for five minutes is tugging at his heartstrings and he knows he’s whipped. He knows he’s willing to die for her already and as he bounces her in his arms, pressing his nose to hers, he finds happiness again.

“I’ve met her for not even five minutes and I would die for her.”, he states confidently, heart lifting when Y/N laughs.

“She has that effect on people.”

The trio is interrupted when the doorbell chimes through the house, bringing Y/N out of her thoughts as she rushes to the door, grinning.

“That must be Tom!”, she calls out cheerfully, unlocking the door.

“Wait. Who? Tom-who?”

part three is coming! please reblog and leave some feedback if you liked it!

permanent taglist: @sunrise-shawn @curlsofshawn @tell-me-when-ur-ready @particularnervous @artemissravenclaw @heyits-claire @shawnieeboyy @turtoix @leiamutuals @waiting-to-be-myself @michellemxndes @devilmendes @imaginashawnns @hollandraul @goldenmndes @ly--canthrope @shawns-sunflower @peacedolantwins2 @justanotherfangurl272 @meowinggiraffe-blog @emma1the3queen @shawn-youth @feliciaceciliamariajacobsson @loserloverb @ykicantbefoundwithyou @tastebaldwin @ashwarren32 @madeinthemidnightmemories @causeshesinlovewithme @mendes-monarch (lmk if you want to be added/removed)

[kettlewrites]

composure — bc

summary: in sickness and in health, til death do us part but what if it wasn’t death in particular that set you two away? [2.4ishK words]

warning: major angst, female reader (sorry!), age up chan (maybe like late twenties, just know he isn’t twenty-two), miscarriage, profanity, sad chan sitting in the darkness of his office crying, vic is sad and sorry for this, happy ending i promise, no proofreading/caps like always!

everyone thought that the two of you had moved too quickly with your relationship. only being together for a couple of years before getting married and moving to the other side of town to settle down in each others arms. although you always disagreed because what did other people know about your love.

that love that had consumed the two of you and had blinded each other from the other’s flaws. everything was perfect as long as at the end of the night you held each other close and whispered sweet nothings before falling asleep being tangled in each others arms. and that’s how it was for at least a year into your marriage life with bang chan.

the domestic home life was everything you could ever wanted. the early morning laughs with each other when the other would get up for work or the late night dinner-movie sessions on the weekends when you two could finally wind down and relax. not to mention the way chan was so utterly in love with you and gentle whenever it came to the time that it was needed. you had scored the jackpot with him as he believed he had done the same with you. it was you and chan against the world, your love being the shield from the evil monsters that the universe had thrown at you.

this monster, however, was too strong and was completely tearing down the shield that you thought could protect the two of you from anything.

it had started on spring morning. the cherry blossoms were starting to bloom and the bees were buzzing around the sky to do their jobs. you had woken up to an empty bed, something that was common on tuesdays as chan had to take an especially early train to get to work on time. you had another hour before you needed to get up for your own shift, but something in your stomach make you launch yourself towards the toilet.

you had puked up your entire dinner the previous night, leaving yourself feel completely drained and weakened. you continued to think about what could’ve made you this nauseous. it wasn’t the food because chan would’ve been just as sick nor were you feeling feverish. then it had hit you when you curled over the pearl white bowl emptying what felt like nothing left in your stomach what it had been.

two weeks had past before you told chan. your hands were shaking uncontrollably as your face went pale when you sat across from him at the dining table. you still hadn’t found a way to tell to tell chan about that stupid stick that you were hiding behind your back. there were tears pooling in your eyes as chan sat there completely worried at you were going to say.

“what is it baby?” his voice was soft, he reached out his hand for you but pulled back once he realized you were going to reach for him.

you closed your eyes and took another deep breath, the tears that had pooled in your eyes fell down onto the glass surface. everything from your lack of composure made chan fear for the worse.

“i…” you had already talked to him about it, during the winter where the two of you were curled on the couch christmas night. he had given your his opinion on it, all in good terms if it had ever come to that point. he wanted it, but why were you still too scared to tell him?

was it the fact that it was proving everyones theory to be correct? that the two of you had been moving quite speedily in your lives at such a young age or was it the fact that you were unsure if the two of you were actually as ready as you said you were. no one’s ever as ready as they say they are, no one can ever be fully ready for any situation in a world with endless possibilities.

another stream of tears rolls down your redden cheeks as a soft sniffle escapes your lips.

“i’m pregnant.” and you felt your entire world come crashing down onto you as you placed the test on the table.

chan embraced you with the biggest smile on his face, his eyes upturning as his dimple was shining at the corner of his lips. he was over the moon and cried when he saw those faint two little lines on the plastic stick.

“why were you sad love?” he asks, his arms wrapped around you as you both sat on the couch, “it’s not like you knew i didn’t want one, we talked about it during christmas.”

“you remember?”

“it never left my thoughts,” he smiles, “just to know that we could have a little us running around.”

and that’s when you knew that everyone was completely wrong because whatever speed you both were going was the perfect speed for you.

he had accompanied you to the first doctors visit where they had confirmed that there was definitely something growing inside of you and that you were still on the earlier side of the things. when the doctor had offered to let the two of you listen to the faint heartbeat, chan had said yes in an instant crying when he heard the little thumps.

you were eight weeks in, a heartbeat and a crying husband at your side and somehow you were content with this. the next couple of weeks were spent making sure you were taking your vitamins and keeping in check with the app that chan had downloaded for you to track the timeline of your pregnancy. with every morning him kissing your cheek before work and every night kissing your swelling stomach before tangling his arms around you and drifting to sleep.

then you were done with your first trimester with just only a little louder heartbeat and a still crying husband who was telling his parents and friends about how his little angel probably had his nose and little dimples. you had been wary to tell people so early on but chan was persistent on at least telling his parents, so you have obliged.

“we’re so excited!” it was the only thing you had heard for the next week as word had spread fast. han jisung didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut and told your entire circle of friends even if there were only about ten of you.

as you passed sixteen weeks, you had built up a shield so strong with chan that you believed nothing could make it come crashing down. you had found it would be a girl, who would definitely be loved by chan with his entire heart, during your sixteenth week appointment. everything was fine. at the time you had believed that everything would be just fine as you entered the safe zone. oh how were you so naive.

it was close to the end of july, you were sitting on the couch with a small bowl of popcorn as you watched old reruns of a variety show you didn’t really get but there was nothing else on this late at night. chan had been running late at the office and you were just waiting for him to bring you back something you had been craving. you heard his rattling with the doorknob and felt your heart melt with he greeted you with a smile wrapped around his tired face.

“honey,” he coos with the bag of donuts in his hand, “i’m home.”

you greeted him back with a hello and took his kiss along with the donuts with a happy heart. nothing could take your smile from your face right?

you were seventeen weeks in, laying on the cold emergency room stretcher with tears in your eyes and your husband holding your hand tightly whispered that everything was okay on a loop. a weekend full of coming in and out of your doctors office because of some uncommon things you had noticed before you had found yourself laying right here in the hospital at four am. you closed your eyes as you listened around to the other patients in the room, your anxiety lacing itself on every part of your body.

you listened to the machines beeping with the doctors talking over their interns about the diagnosis of their patients. you had been holding your sobs as you didn’t want to be completely vulnerable on the stretcher. you had been here for an hour now, waiting for the doctors to come back with the test results.

and all you could think about was the shield you were holding up to help fight down this monster, but the longer it took for the doctor to come back the more you had felt that this might’ve been a battle you couldn’t win.

“i’m sorry.” it played in your head over and over again.

chan had driven you home after you scheduled the surgery with your doctor. the car ride was silent, it hadn’t been like this in the years that you both had been together. the only thing that could be heard was your silent sobs and chan’s occasional sniffle as he tried his best to keep his composure from breaking down.

a week had past, you were sore from the surgery but otherwise your doctor had said you were physically recovering fine. your heart, on the other hand, was not. you continued to beat yourself up and blamed yourself for everything.

“no one knows what could’ve done this.” chan tried to reassure you after the doctors gave you mindless answers of why or what or when or where or how.

and you snapped. not out of anger but instead out of frustration and grieve that you had snapped because you didn’t know how to deal with this pain that was consuming your entire body. when you snapped was when chan had lost it too.

your first real fight with your husband. you cried and screamed to the point that the home felt like it shook and you could hear you heart breaking into more pieces.

you didn’t speak to each other for the rest of that week. chan would sleep on the couch as you locked him out of the bedroom and he’d leave before you were up so you wouldn’t have to look at him. all you could do was cry even if you felt like there was no tears left in your body.

a week became two before becoming three, then you found yourself in a routine at where you hadn’t spoken to chan in a month. even if you did, it turned into bickering at the smallest things like if he left the trash bin open or you didn’t wash a cup you had left in the sink.

and you had to begin to think that this was it. the last straw that was pulled that caused the vows that were said to be completely broken. you were sitting on the kitchen counter, tears rushing down your face as you stared at the ultrasound pictures that were taped to the fridge because the two of you were too cheap to buy magnets. you stared at the note that chan had written to the baby the day after your first check up.

‘be healthy, mom and dad love you.’

that’s when you had lost it completely, finally realizing that you had made a mistake in avoiding him for so long. you made your way to his office, hearing the somber music being played on the speakers you had gotten him during valentines day, hesitating as your hand hovered over the door handle. you softly opened the door, seeing your husband being taken by the darkness of his office.

his face being lit by his computer screen and the lamp that was turned to face the wall. you could hear his muffed sobs as he stared at the scan of the ultrasound pictures as he continuously asked the screen why as if it would answer back to him.

“chan..” you called out for him softly, afraid of how he’d react of you snooping on him.

chan rushes to wipe his tears away, unknowing that you had already been watching him cry over the last few minutes, and turned to face you.

“yeah?”

you reach to turn on the lights before leaning against the door frame, a saddened expression on your face. everything about your body language was reflected with his, the both of you were suffering without each other.

“we should talk about this.” you mumble, your heart beginning to speed up as you felt the anxious feeling start to take over, “i’m sorry for continuously snapping at you chan.”

his expression softens and that same smile that you had fall in love with all those years ago wrapped onto his lips, “thank god i thought you wanted to… end us. i was so scared of losing you too.”

you don’t know what caused you to start crying at that very moment, the fact that chan thought you wanted to divorce or the fact that you both had come to that point where it was in the air. within an instant, he quickly wraps his arms around you to help you calm down saying that he was sorry for even bringing it up. it took around a minute for you to stop sobbing into his chest and another minute to the point where you both were sitting in his swivel chair.

“there was nothing you could do you know.” he finally says, his breath against the crook of your neck, “but we can always try again because we’re still young and we have so much time.”

“i know.” you whisper, listening to the sound of his heartbeat which reminds you of the time he cried listening to the baby’s.

“we’ll get through this,” he laughs, “we always get through it together.”

you lift your head to look at him, that same smile made you reflect one to him.

“god you know that i love you right?” he says before pressing a kiss against your forehead

“i love you too channie.”

and even if the world was a horrible place, full of monsters that will always continue to break down your shield. you had the love of your life there to help build it back up. because like it always had been, it was chan and you against the universe and you both were always ready to get that little ’us’ whenever time was ready.

[psychospeak-blog]

Won’t Go Slowly // 20

One // Two  // Three // Four // Five // Six // Seven // Eight // Nine // Ten // Eleven // Twelve // Thirteen // Fourteen // Fifteen // Sixteen // Seventeen // Eighteen // Nineteen

One thing that you'd discovered about your pregnant self, was that your body really, really liked water.  Whether it was dipping your toes in the lake or relaxing in your tub, you were usually pretty content when part of your body was touching water.  

Your phone vibrated, and you reached over to look at it.  

Tyler: Whatcha doing?

You: Taking a bath.

You set your phone back down, grabbing your book, and getting comfortable once again.  You'd read about 5 more pages when you jumped at the sound of your front door opened, but you relaxed when you hear the unmistakable noise of dog's nails clicking along hardwood floor.  

You tensed again, however, when the bathroom door opened, and Tyler and all three of his dogs just waltzed right in.  

" What are you doing?" You exclaimed. You had a bath bomb in, not bubbles, so it wasn't even like there was anything covering you at all.  

"Coming to hang out with you," he said.

" I'm in the bath," you said tersley.

"I know," he said, "We were out for a walk and they said they wanted to come see you, so I texted you to see if you were home."

"The dogs said they wanted to come see me?"

"Mhmm," Tyler crossed his arms, leaning back against your bathroom counter.  " And there's three of them and only one of me, who am I to argue?"

He was looking at you, and you slid down a little further into the tub, even as the dogs kept stocking their noses over the sides, "I'm not dressed."

"So? I've seen you naked before ," he said easily, an eyebrow raised like he didn't know what the big deal was.  And then he gasped dramatically, bending over to try and shield all the dogs' eyes with his hands.  

"Yeah, they saw me naked way before you did," you said with a laugh.

"Unfair," Tyler said with a pout, "Also, they're way too young to see boobs."

You rolled your eyes, pointing to counter behind him, "Can you hand me that towel?"

"You're getting out?" He asked, "Why? You look comfy."

"Because you said you wanted to hang out."

"We can hang out in here," Tyler shrugged.

"You want to hang out in my bathroom while I'm taking a bath?"

"If you're comfy, sure," he said, taking in the way your legs were crossed and your body was curved in on itself.  "You know, I can get naked too if it makes you more comfortable."  He started miming like he was going to take his shirt off.

" No!" You said in alarm.  You were already feeling sick enough that your own naked body was disgusting you.  You didn't need anymore nudity.  

Tyler laughed, sitting down on the bathmat you had under the sink and crossing his legs at the ankles, resting back on his hands, Marshall and Cash flopping down beside him.

"Can you close the door at least?" you asked, "You're letting all the steam out."

Tyler laid on his back so he could push the door shut with his hand, and then sat back up.  Gerry, however, still had his head leaning over the side of the tub, and began lapping at the water.

"Out," you said firmly, pushing at his chest, mainly because you weren't entirely sure what was in the bath bomb, and didn't really want him consuming that.

"Gerry, don't drink that," Tyler said, pulling at his collar.

"You should get them water."

"They're not thirsty," Tyler said, sitting back, "Why do you have stuff floating in the water?"

"It's seaweed," you said, laying back and letting your eyes close halfway.  

"Seaweed?" Tyler questioned, and you didn't even have to look at him to know he was frowning in confusion.

"It was in this bath bomb with lavender and lemon that's supposed to be good for headaches."

"Oh," Tyler said, and then in a softer voice, "You have a headache?  Sorry, are we bugging you?"

You shook your head, "No, it's better now."  Even though having Tyler and three large dogs shoved in your bathroom with you was a bit much.

"Have you been drinking lots?" he asked, "Of water, not alcohol."

"Uh...I had lots of lemonade," you said, "But my sister sent me all these herbal iced teas that are flavoured like mojito and sangria, and there's a peach one too.  Actually, a pink lemonade one and there's something with pineapple that's really good, too.  And no caffeine or anything, so it's just like drinking water.  I really like them."

"Yeah, because I couldn't tell from the way you just went on about them," Tyler said sarcastically.

"Well, plain water makes me sick, and I have to drink something, so I was excited."

Tyler gave you an amused smile, "Did you eat anything today?"

"Potato chips."

"Real food," he huffed.

"Well, I made an acai bowl this morning that looked really good," you said, and Tyler looked hopeful, "and then I started eating it and I threw up."  His expression dropped.

"Do you want me to make you a grilled cheese?" he asked.

"Would you?" you asked hopefully.   It was kind of the only thing substantial that you could keep down.

"Yes," he said with a bit of a laugh, pushing himself up off the floor, opening the door and shutting it behind him, leaving you in the bath with three dogs staring at you.

"Tyler?" you called, and the door popped back open, and he stuck his head on, looking at you questioningly.  "Can you leave the door open a bit in case they want to get out?"

"Yeah, they're not going anywhere if you're here," he said, shutting the door behind him.

You fixed your hair, setting your head back and relaxing once more, and ignoring the crashing sounds that seemed to be coming from your kitchen.  After only a few minutes, Tyler stepped in carrying a bowl of water, setting it down in the corner.  Gerry sniffed it, but seemed unimpressed when he realized it wasn't food.  "Told you they weren't thirsty," he said, flashing you a smile.

"Don't burn my sandwich," you warned, taking a sip of your lemonade.

"Don't worry, I got it covered," he said, leaving the room again, even though you were pretty sure you heard him mumble a 'shit' from the other room.  

"You're so lucky your dad doesn't have to cook your food," you said to the dogs.

"What was that?" Tyler said as the door swung open again, and he handed you a plate.

"Mmmnothing.   Thanks," you said, taking the plate, looking down at it, and laughing.  He'd cut the sandwich into four pieces, drawing smiley faces on each with mustard, and it looked like he tried to make ears or something with potato chips.  Well, except for one, "Why does this one have a sad face?"

"Because it makes me sad that you're putting mustard on grilled cheese," Tyler replied.

You laughed, picking up a piece and looking at the thick layer of cheese, "Oh my god, how much cheese did you put on this?"

"It's got calcium, it's good for you and baby," he said, adding firmly "Eat it."

You did as he said, enjoying it, and you saw him take his phone of his pocket out of the corner of your eye, but you thought nothing of it until he pointed in your direction, squinting.  "Did you just take a picture of me?!"

"Yeah," he said noncommittally, still looking at his phone.

"What the hell, Tyler!" you exclaimed.

"What?" He asked, "It's cute.  Don't you want this for memories?"

"What?" you barked.

"You, eating a grilled cheese sandwich with mustard, which is your number one pregnancy craving. You could put it in a baby book, or whatever. I'm sure your kid would love to see that one day."

"But I'm naked!" You said, "I really don't think my kid is going to want to see their mother naked after a certain point."

"Well," Tyler squinted, looking at the picture on his phone, "I bet you could put stickers over your nipples or something."

"Tyler," you said through pursed lips, "get rid of it."

"Uh..no," he said, stepping back and taking in your glare, leaning against the counter.  "You're just bitch and pregnant right now.  Once your mood swings the other way you'll see how adorable this is."

"Tyler..."

"Eat your grilled cheese."

You rolled your eyes but took a bite anyways, and then a deep breath.  "I don't really want a naked picture of me on your phone," you said, and he raised an eyebrow in question.  "I know you, and I do not want you to accidentally post a naked picture of me to your social media."

"Well, I'll have you know I have a whole folder of naked pictures on my phone and not once have I ever accidentally posted them," he said, fumbling with his phone, "But I wasn't gonna keep it anyways, I'm just gonna e-mail it to you."

He tapped at his phone a couple of times and then held it up to you to prove that it was, in fact, deleted.  But then your phone pinged  a familiar tone.  " You sent it to my work email?!" You had sudden visions of being called down to HR and having to explain why there was a picture of you eating grilled cheese naked in the tub in your inbox.

"Ooh!" Tyler said, "I should get one with the dogs in it."

"Tyler..." you warned, just imagining him laying on your bathroom floor and trying to get all the dogs and you arranged in a photo.  And you really just wanted to enjoy your snack.

" I'm sure there will be other opportunities..." he said, trailing off and looking down at the middle of the tub, right below where you were holding the plate.

You glanced upwards, shooting daggers into the side of his head.  "Can you...not stare?"

His head shot back towards yours like he just remembered you were attached to the body   "I was looking at your belly, you perv," he said, going back to sit down on the bath mat.

" Why? There's nothing there."

"Yeah, there is," he replied confidentially, laying down and rubbing Cash behind the ears.

" It's just because you know I'm pregnant," you said.

"Do you pants fit?" He challenged.

"Well, I mean, I haven't really been wearing pants lately..." You said, you'd been sticking mostly to dresses.  But all your other clothes seemed to fit the same.

"See?" Tyler said.

"No, it's probably just because I'm eating, or the water" you said, " I'm barely even eight weeks pregnant."

He shook his head adamantly.  "It's different.  Trust me," he said, putting an end to he conversation, "when do you think you got pregnant, anyways?"

"Uh...about eight weeks ago?"

Tyler rolled his eyes at you.  "I meant what time."

"I don't know."

"Do you think it was that time at Top Golf?" he asked.

"I don't know, Tyler," you said, "There were a lot of times."

"Yeah there were," he said cockily, looking at you like he wanted you to give him a high five, which was just not going to happen, "I was just thinking, how cool would it be if it happened at Top Golf and your kid became an amazing golfer."

You laughed, partly in disbelief and partly in amusement.  "I don't think it works like that."

"You don't know that," he said, glancing at you like he was a little bit annoyed that you would even think that,  "They have those little plastic golf clubs for kids, right?"

He was pulling out his phone, and you could only assume that he was now online shopping.

"Tyler," you laughed, "the baby is the size of a blob, remember? The child's not even going to be able to walk right away, either."

"I know," he responded, "But you could sit the baby somewhere and he or she could look at them and get inspired."

"Tyler," you laughed.

"What?" he asked, "I'm not saying force the kid.  Just...it'd be so cute."

"And here I thought it'd be hockey sticks you buy first."

"Damnit," Tyler mumbled, and you looked at him in question.  "We should have tried to conceive the kid in an ice rink.  Why didn't I think of that?"

You looked at him in disbelief.

"I'm kidding, babe, your kid's gonna be awesome no matter what," he said, "But it would be super cute.  Admit it."

**

"Tyler, we have to leave in five minutes," you yelled.  It was actually 10 minutes, but you were giving him a little wiggle room.  You were supposed to be driving him to the airport, and you expected him to actually be ready to go by the time you arrived, but apparently he still had a few 'last minute things' to do.  The plan was to take his car, only because there was no way the three dogs and all of his stuff would fit in yours.  Actually, you should probably check to make sure that you had enough room to fit a car seat and a stroller sometime over the next 7 months or so.  Especially if it was during the summer and you were trying to take the baby and the dogs somewhere.

"I just have to throw a few more things in the car," Tyler said, looking at where you were laying on his bed, curled up around the dogs.

"What do you need me to get?" you asked, starting to sit up, but Tyler held up his hand.

"Stay there, you're not carrying anything.  Other than that baby inside you,"  he laughed at his own joke, leaving the room, and you laid back down, setting aside your phone because you didn't feel like watching the clock anymore.  Your hands ran over the warm, furry bodies that were surrounding you, gentle caring eyes glancing at you.  

Tears sprung to your eyes, because that's what it was like now that you were pregnant.  Your emotions were always right there, on the surface, threatening to spill over at any moment.  "I'm gonna miss you guys," you said, your voice wavering, burying your wet face in fur.

"Oh, babe, don't cry," Tyler said, and you looked up to see that he was standing in the doorway.

"I'm not crying," you said with a sniff.

"No?" Tyler quirked his lips, coming over to lay down beside you, running a finger over your cheek, "What's this then?"

"Tyler..."

"It's gonna be okay, babes," Tyler said in a light voice, and then patted the dogs, "C'mon, guys, get her.  Give her kisses. Give her love."

And then, of course, you were swarmed by three dogs, standing above you all trying to lick the salty tears of your face.  You were laughing, the mattress dipping as the dogs walked around you, until Tyler's hand hovered above your belly as if to protect it from being stepped on by an errant paw.  And then you were crying all over again.  

He looked at you, his expression softening, placing a kiss on the swell of your cheek, right were you supposed your tears were collecting.  "We've gotta go," he said, but he didn't make any attempt to move, his hand coming up to swipe his thumb gently across your cheek.  "You want one of them to stay with you?"

"Tyler, you can't do that..."

"Yeah, I can," he said, "Which one do you want?"

"No, you can't separate them from each other," you said, sniffling because that idea was suddenly so sad to you, "They're brothers."

"Well, I'm not leaving them all with you," he said with a bit of a laugh, "Sorry. But you can choose what one you want. And we can trade at Christmas, or whatever."

"No, you can't separate them," you cried, "And they need to be with their Dad."

"Okay, okay," Tyler said, gently, like he overly cautious of saying the wrong thing.  "I'll take them all.  But we gotta go.  I'm sorry."

You pushed yourself up off the bed, and Tyler disappeared into the bathroom, coming back with a box of Kleenex, pressing it into your hands.  "You better take this with you," he said, and you laughed.  You always got a little misty eyed when he had to leave at the end of the summer, but it had never been this bad.  And you hadn't even left the house yet.

"I tried to look up ways to get pregnant women to stop crying," he said, as you walked out to the car, "But all it did was list all the different things that made pregnant women cry.  There was a lot.  Like hundreds.  Probably thousands.  I'm kind of scared."

"Tyler," you scolded.  

"What?" he asked, "I don't like it when you cry."

You got into the passenger seat while he loaded the dogs into the car, but he opened your door a moment later.  "He wants to ride with you," Tyler said, and Gerry jumped in, sitting down on the floor and settling his head in your lap while Tyler walked around to the driver's side.

"You ready, mama?"  he asked, as he put his seatbelt on and started the car.

"Don't call me 'mama'," you said, taking a tissue from the box you had sitting in your lap and wiping at your eyes.

"You don't like it?" he asked, with a frown, backing out of the driveway.

"No, it's gonna make me cry more," you said, and he laughed, settling his hand on your knee.

"I'll see you in a few weeks, you know, Y/N," Tyler said.  They had a game in Toronto in October, so it really wouldn't be that long, "And I'm still going to talk to you all the time."

"I know," you said, running your hands over Gerry's ears.

"Are you even gonna miss me or are you just upset the dogs are leaving?" he asked with a laugh, "'Cause I was planning missing the hell out of you, but if you're only gonna miss the dogs, I'm not going to miss  you."

You looked at him, your cheeks twitching with emotion, fresh tears running down your face, "Of course I'm going to miss you."

"Awe, babes," Tyler said softly, rubbing his thumb where it laid over your knee.  "It's going to be okay.  You know what you can do anytime you miss me?"

"Hmm?"

"Just watch me on T.V.  Or, if I'm not on T.V., there's always YouTube," he laughed loudly and so did you, through your tears.

"Seriously though," he said, glancing at you, "I'm always just a phone call away.  You know that."

You nodded, scrunching the used tissue in your hands.  It was going to be completely disintegrated by the time you opened your fist.  Tyler kept glancing at you as he drove.

"Are you actually this sad, or is this hormones?"

"I think it's a bad combination," you sniffed.

"Like grilled cheese and mustard," he quipped.

You laughed, staying quiet until you arrived at the airport, and Tyler parked, looking over at you.  "I'm going to go check my bags.  You say goodbye to the dogs, okay?"

You nodded, climbing into the backseat, Gerry following you, and let yourself be surrounding by them, making sure to place a kiss on the top of each of their heads.  You were thankful that it took Tyler awhile, eventually putting them on their leashes and taking them to the grass next to the parking lot so they could sniff around a little bit.  Tyler was smiling when he came back, walking towards you with hands stuck in his pockets.  "Did you guys tell Y/N you love her?" he asked.

"They did," you said, laughing under your breath, handing the leashes over, because it occurred to you that it was probably time for them to get going.  "Ty-" you started, taking a step towards him, but he held up his hand.

"Let me take them in, and then I'll come back to say goodbye to you, 'k?"

"Okay," you said, petting them all once more, trying to keep it together as Tyler walked away with them, which was incredibly difficult, especially because they all kept looking back at you, like they didn't understand why you weren't coming.

You paced, walking around and rubbing your hands up and down your thighs, but your eyes were misty when Tyler started walking back towards you.

"C'mere," he said, opening his arms wide, and enveloping you in a hug.  Neither of you said anything, and he just held you, one hand rubbing up and down your back soothingly, the other braced around the back of his head, holding you to his chest.  "I love you lots, 'k?" he said against your hair after what felt like a couple of minutes."

"I love you, too," you mumbled against his chest.

He pulled back slowly, looking you in the eyes.  "You take good care of that baby.  And yourself, alright?"

You nodded, "I'll take good care of the blob."

Tyler smiled, "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Never," you said, even through your tears.

He laughed under his breath, his hands running up and down your sides.  "You gonna be alright?"

"Yeah," you confirmed.

"I want you to go home and make yourself a grilled cheese sandwich.  You'll feel better," you laughed, even as he leaned forward, pressing a kiss to your forehead, "I'll text you when we get there, okay?"

You nodded, his hand settled on your hips as you looked at each other, both of you full well knowing that the inevitable had to happen.  "I'll see you soon," he said, kissing you on your forehead once both, and then pressing the keys into your palm, his fingertips slowly pulling away. He gave you one last smile, and then he was gone.

You went around to the driver's side, not daring to watch him walk away, but you glanced in the direction of the door once you buckled your seatbelt, and he was standing there, exaggeratedly blowing you a kiss and then making a symbol of a heart with his hands, and you laughed, waving goodbye to him and then shooing him inside before he missed his flight.

[nastybuckybarnes]

Quiet (Part Sixteen)

A Bucky X Fem!Reader series. 16/16 

(Gif from Google)

Summary: Steve Rogers makes an accidental discovery while on a simple hydra base raid. You. He brings you back to the Avengers Tower where they all try to figure you out. Your... interesting way of communicating makes that especially hard. Until one super-soldier proves otherwise.

Series warnings: Angst, Fluff, Smut, Pregnancy, Injuries, Violence, Sickness, a few mild spoilers (maybe), Nudity, Embarrassment, Language,

Chapter warnings: Angst, Feels, Fluff

Word Count: 1,639

A/N: This is the end of ‘Quiet’! I may post alternate endings to this a bit later but it really depends on how I’m feeling about this. So, I hope you enjoy the final part of this series!

Quiet Masterlist

"(Y/n) it's been nearly two weeks! Tell him!" 

You shake your head at Nat and walk into the kitchen. 

"What's been nearly two weeks and tell who what?" Bucky sits at the counter, watching the two of you with weary and tired eyes.

Ever since Steve and Nat found out, you've been spending more time with them and less time with Bucky.

"Bucky I think you need to take this conversation to your room." Nat pushes you into the elevator and Bucky follows silently, a million thoughts running through his mind.

She's cheating on me. She's cheating on me with Steve! That's why they've been spending so much time together. This has been going on for two weeks? Shit Buck, you gotta fix your game.

All the while there are trillions of thoughts running through your mind.

How do I tell him? What if he doesn't want it? God what if he laughs at me? What if he hates me? What if he's mad? He's gonna be so mad. He'll leave me. He'll leave me for someone better. Someone without his burden.

The doors open and the two of you walk silently to his room.

Once the door closes behind both of you he turns to you.

"You're cheating on me, aren't you?" 

You scoff at him, "James, grow up." 

He throws his hands in the air, frustrated. "Well what is it? Apparently it's been going on for two weeks without me knowing!" You flinch and close your eyes.

"It's been going on for a lot longer than that," you breathe.

"What is it? Tell me." His voice softens and tears pool in your eyes.

"I'm scared."

"Of me?" He asks quietly.

You shake your head quickly, a few tears slipping down your cheeks.

"Of how you'll react. I don't want you to be mad or hate me."

He walks away from you and rubs the nape of his neck. "You don't love me anymore. You love Steve and you want to be with him instead."

"Bucky. That's not it either." You bite your bottom lip and try to think of a way to phrase the confession.

"Then what the Hell is it, (Y/n)?! I'm your partner! I'm supposed to be the person you're closest too! Why are you being so distant?!" 

The tears are streaming down your face quickly now. 

"Because I'm scared! I'm terrified because I don't want you to leave me!" 

He groans, "(Y/n)! Tell me, dammit!" 

You ball your hands into fists.

"This is exactly why I haven't told you yet! Because when you get mad you scare me and that isn't healthy for the baby!" The words fly out of your mouth and everything in the room stops. 

The only sound is the quick thudding of your own heart.

"What?" He turns to you, any traces of frustration or anger gone from his face. You look down at your hands, fear coursing through your veins.

"I'm pregnant, Bucky. With yours." 

He crosses the room quickly and hugs you to his chest.

You immediately start sobbing.

"Shh. It's okay."

You sniffle and wrap your arms around him. "You don't hate me?" You ask quietly. He chuckles and pulls away to look at you.

"Of course I don't. (Y/n), I could never hate you for having my baby. I'd never leave you because of it."

He crouches down so that his face is level with your stomach.

"Can I?"

His hands reach for the hem of your shirt. You pull it up and watch as his eyes widen.

"How long?" He whispers.

"Um... fourteen weeks? Fifteen maybe." He kisses your stomach gently and runs his flesh hand over it.

"Hi baby. It's me, your daddy. I just want you to know that I love you very very much." You run your fingers through his hair and smile lightly. "Are you sure you're only fifteen weeks? You seem... bigger than that." You giggle and pull him up then kiss his lips.

"You remember our four month anniversary?" He nods. "That was our first time. And now here we are." He chuckles then kisses your lips.

"I love you so much. I wish you told me earlier so that I could've been there more." You shake your head and look up into his eyes. 

"I guess this means we need to tell the others," you breathe. He chuckles then nods. "Or you could just change into a shirt that shows off your bump and we pretend no thing's different," he suggests. 

You giggle and nod, walking to the closet.

You peel your shirt off and gasp as Bucky wraps his arms around you. He spins you around and looks you up and down. "Is it weird that seeing you like this is turning me on?" He asks. You blush and turn away from him, putting on a tighter shirt than the one before. You put on a cardigan then take Bucky's hand and pull him out of the room.

The two of you walk into the commons room and you raise your eyebrows as you see Thor, Tony, and Steve talking to, no, reprimanding Peter.

"Wait a minute... I'm grounded?" Peter is clearly astonished with the news.

"You hacked into the Iron Legion system and nearly blew up your school. Again! Of course you're grounded!" Tony exclaims.

"You disobeyed both Tony and I." Steve is the image of disappointment.

"Yes. And now we shall bury you until you've learned your lesson!" Thor raises his hammer up for emphasis.

Tony and Steve jump in front of him as he takes a step towards Peter. 

"No! Thor that's not how grounding works!" Tony exclaims. Thor lowers his arm and cocks his head to the side. "Is this not punishment?" Steve nods at him. "What better punishment than that of being burried alive for a few days?" Peter backs up to the doorway and looks around frantically, his eyes resting on you.

"Hey look! It's (Y/n) and Bucky and she's..." his eyes widen, "pregnant as fuck!"

He clamps a hand over his mouth and Steve glares at Tony.

"Look at that. Peter has such a potty mouth on him because of you." Tony rolls his eyes and takes another step towards Peter.

"No spider-ing for two weeks. No electronics, no Lego, no star wars. Nothing." Peter gawks at Tony. "Mama widow! Tony just grounded me!" Peter exclaims, looking at Nat who sits on the couch.

"Good riddance. Having you running the Iron Legion was terrifying." His jaw drops. "Nat!" 

She laughs then looks at you. "Wow. You look bigger, (Y/n)," she notes.

This gets everyone's attention and they all turn to you.

It's silent for a few minutes before Thor laughs.

"Lady (Y/n)! I offer you the biggest congratulations!" He exclaims. You smile and hug him. "Thanks Thor," you whisper. 

"(Y/n)! Congrats! We’re so happy for you!" Wanda and Pietro hug you.

"Tony?" You ask shyly.

He takes a deep breath then smiles.

"I better be a grandfather or a godfather. No in between." He hugs you and kisses your cheek.

"And Barnes," he turns to Bucky, "you better take damn good care of this little one." His hand rests on your stomach and you giggle.

"Don't worry. I will." Bucky kisses your temple then rests his hand on the top of your bump. "(Y/n), Mister Barnes. Congratulations on sucessfully copulating." Your cheeks burn and Bucky laughs. "Thanks Vis."

Steve and Nat wink at you as Bucky pulls you to the couch.

"Congrats you two." Sam pats your shoulder then walks into the kitchen. "Yeah. I'm happy for you guys." You smile at Bruce then sigh.

"Now Peter. Don't think I've forgotten about your punishment." Tony turns back to the teen and crosses his arms over his chest. 

"Hey! I..." He runs out of the room with Tony running after him.

Thor sits next to you.

"May I?" He asks. You nod and push Bucky's hand out of the way.

Thor rests his gigantic hand on your bump then closes his eyes and nods, pulling away after a moment.

"I could tell you what you're having, if you'd like?" You look at Bucky then shake your head. "Surprises are always nice."

Thor nods, "very well. Let me know if you change your mind."

You both nod and Bucky rubs your stomach again. 

"Wanda! Steve! Let's throw them an amazing baby shower!" Nat whisper-yells. You laugh and she smiles. 

"You know, I'm so glad Bucky knows. Now he can get you all the food to satisfy your weird cravings." You stick your tongue out at Nat and she chuckles. "You've got some strange cravings?" You nod and look up at Bucky.

"I really love bacon wrapped pickles, fries dipped in vanilla milkshakes, and frozen yogurt. Oh! And Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Any kind. With soft pretzels." Your mouth waters and you sigh longingly. 

"How about something healthier? I wanna keep you and munchkin healthy." He gently pokes your stomach and you giggle. 

"This is so exciting! I love babies!" Clint exclaims out of nowhere. You roll your eyes and pull Bucky's hand under your shirt to rub soothing circles on your bump, content with your -growing- family.

~

[kinghoranshit]

This is Love (LT) Ch 7

Word Count: 1,563

I shot up in bed with only one apparent thought on my mind.

In-and-Out Burger.

I wanted it. It sounded so good. Louis.

I reached over to shake him awake. "Louis. Wake up. Louis, baby, I want something."

"What, Mads?" He stirred, rubbing his face.

I smiled. "In-and-Out."

He shot me a look. "And what am I supposed to do, love? In-and-Out is only in the States."

Now, I gave him a look.

He sighed heavily, rolling over to get up. "Be back in sixteen hours."

Something occurred to me. "Isn't Liam in LA?"

"Your point is?"

I huffed lightly. "Call and tell him to bring me In-and-Out. Less time and you don't have to go anywhere."

"You're very smart."

I stuck my tongue out as I watched him pull his phone out and call Liam. The time difference was a pain, but luckily Liam did pick up. It was like two in morning in LA.

"Yeah, Liam, mate. Could you please bring me In-and-Out?... No, in a week, yes, right now! Maddy wants it right now... Please... Fine, I'll tweet it... Just a few burger meals with fries... Thank you, mate, see you in seven hours."

"Seven hours is gonna feel like forever. This craving is eating at my insides."

Louis chuckled. "Darling, I'm sure it's the baby... When do we find out the sex? It's been two weeks since I got back."

I small smirk played on my lips. "I made the appointment a couple weeks back. It's later today."

"Grand." He smiled, then leaned over to give me a kiss.

***

There was a knock at the door, causing Katie to stir. Of course, she was sleeping on the futon. Honestly, I sort of forgot she was still here. She would leave for Bali soon. I didn't know what to make of that.

I smiled widely at the thought of it being Liam. I sprung from the bed and rushed to the front door. Liam was scratching the scruff on his chin when I opened the door.

"Gimmy!" I snatched the white paper bag from him. It occurred to me that it was probably cold by now. Oh well, that's what microwaves were for.

I took out the boxes and warmed them up one at a time.

"Whoa, what's Liam doing here?" Katie groaned.

"Bringing me In-and-Out, that's what," I replied, biting into a cheeseburger. The savory taste was undeniably pleasing and comforting.

I heard Katie's bare feet sticking onto the wood flooring and I prepared to defend my food.

"Oh, come on, Mads!" Katie cried. "It's been years since I've had their food. Just one?" She shot me puppy dog eyes and jutted out her bottom lip. I knew for a fact that worked on Niall when she wanted his food. And it worked on me too.

I sighed heavily. "Fine." I found what I thought was the worst burger of the bunch and handed it to her. She eyed the others and rolled her eyes, but she ate it with a smile and stole a few fries along the way.

"Now that my job is done, I will be heading back to LA," Liam announced.

"So soon, mate?" Louis mused.

"Yeah," Katie chimed in. "These two are gonna be gone all day. Give me company at the shop?"

Liam ruffled a hand through his slightly long hair and, finally, stated, "Alright."

She smiled. "Yes!" Now, she looked over at me, slightly amused. "So, you find out what gender passion fruit is today?"

For just waking up a few minutes ago, she was already on point with the name calling.

"Passion... fruit?" Liam asked, clearly confused.

I laughed lightly. "Passion fruit is the baby. Every week Katie changes his or her name to the size of the fruit he or she should be."

Liam nodded slowly. "Makes sense... So, what gender do you think it is?"

"A boy," I replied.

Louis scoffed lightly, "I think it's a girl."

I couldn't help giving him a look. "A girl? You want a girl?"

He smiled proudly. "Yes, I want a girl. Imagine how cute she would be with you as the mother."

I blushed furiously, and stuffed my face with more In-and-Out. I had no words. Curse you, Louis Tomlinson.

Katie laughed lightly. "Why do you want a boy, Mads?"

"Less maintenance," I answered easily.

"Ha!" Louis laughed shortly. "Trust me, love, we are not less maintenance. If anything, we're more. We're roudier. We're louder. And we want all the newest and coolest shit."

"And that's why I want a boy," Katie remarked. "I grew up with three guys in the house and have been around you bozos for almost five years. I know how boys are better than girls."

Liam narrowed his eyes at her. "But you're a girl..."

She nodded slowly, eyeing him. "Good one, Liam... Say stuff like that at the shop. We'll rack in more customers."

Louis snickered. "Katie-Kat, you'll be getting more customers with him there anyway."

"And even more once Louis and I show up after the ultrasound," I added.

"Yes." Katie pointed a finger at me. "Speaking of the shop. We gotta go Liam." She didn't wait to hear his response as she started pushing him out the door.

"I can walk!" he declared, like a child.

Katie put her hands up in defense. "Okay... Can you serve people or take orders?"

Liam shrugged. "I suppose so."

I shook my head lightly as they left, then looked at Louis. "The appointment is in two hours."

"About time," he remarked, situating himself next to me, and rested his hand on my belly. He softly pressed his lips on my temple and whispered, "I can't wait."

***

God, honestly, I never thought I'd have this thought, but I feel fat. I felt like my belly was protruding and the baby would just bust out any moment like, "Hi, mommy and daddy. I'm your son or daughter."

Maybe I was nervous about finding out the gender? Or maybe I really did feel the way I do? I was gonna go with a bit of both.

Louis wouldn't let go of my hand as we entered the doctor's office and checked in with the receptionist. He insisted on giving me support as we waited for the elevator to reach the stop floor where the ultrasound stations were. Whoever the workers were for creating this building were stupid to make the pregnancy on the top two floors. Wow... I needed to calm down.

The woman smiled at me kindly. "Move up your blouse please."

I only nodded and moved up my creme blouse enough. She squirted the blue gel onto my bump and I took in a breath at the sudden coldness of it. But that didn't last long as she began to smooth it around with the reader and our baby showed up on the screen a few seconds later.

Oh my God.

Louis's grip tightened and I looked at him to see small tears were forming. It wasn't long before one slipped and he wiped it away, clearing his throat, "Sorry."

"First time seeing it?" the woman asked, clearly amused.

Louis nodded. "Yeah, like this."

She nodded. "Are we finding out the gender today?"

"Yes," Louis and I both stated.

"Well... It looks to be a girl." She pointed to the screen, where the lower half of our baby's body was. There was no boy part, which meant our baby, was in fact, a girl. Despite personally wanting a boy, I couldn't stop myself from gasping.

"We're having a girl."

Louis chuckled. "We are! We must let everyone know!"

I shook my head. "Not yet. Please. Not until I tell Katie first."

"Of course, my love," Louis caressed and kissed my head.

"Pictures?"

I nodded. "Yes, please."

***

"Holy fuck! A girl?" Katie yelled.

Liam laughed and patted Louis's shoulder. "Congrats, Lou, mate."

I couldn't help laughing. "Yeah... I'm actually happy about it."

"Me too." She smirked. "You're gonna name her after me, right?"

"You wish, Katie-Kat," Louis remarked.

"I do. It's been a lifelong dream of mine for a kid to be called Katie Tomlinson."

Louis cocked a brow. "Really?"

She bellowed out a laugh. "No. Damn, Louis, you're losing your edge. I thought you were the sassmasta of doncasta? The king of sarcasm?"

Louis rolled his eyes and walked off, mostly likely to "steal" a cup of tea with milk.

"There's the sass!" Katie called.

I shook my head. "You two."

Katie smiled widely, scrunching up her nose. "So, you gonna have a baby shower then? Rack in some girl stuff?"

"I dunno, to be honest." I shrugged. "I think Louis would rather buy it all himself."

"Wrong answer." Katie shook her head. "Even a girl having a popstar's baby needs to have a baby shower. I'm planning one for you."

I knew there was no changing her mind. So, I nodded and sighed, "Alright."

"Yes!" Katie cheered.

I pointed a finger at her. "Don't be planning it while you're in Bali."

She held back a laugh. "Oh, I won't."

"Too much info." I scrunched up my nose and stuck my tongue out.

"Was not! I could've actually said it."

"Don't!"

A sly grin crossed her face. "Well... We're gonna-"

"No!" I covered my ears, beginning to walk away from her as fast as possible.

Next: Ch 8

[Masterlist]

[angelkitty54]

Welp it’s NaNoWriMo so I’ve been trying to get some writing done. It’s kinda late but I finally got started! (Yay!) It’s just a random snippet for the Forced Bonded AU (this story: post). It's set much later on in the story and is subject to change, but I wrote quite a lot (considering I haven’t written anything in a ages...) and felt like sharing, so here :)

Pairings: DickDamian Rating: G Summary: Dick hasn’t been feeling well lately, but an innocent comment makes him think he might not be sick after all.

It was just a joke. Raya was just fooling around, teasing him, to get a laugh out of him and everyone else. Dick understood it, really, he did. But still, the words lingered there in the back of his mind, like how the scent of burnt pancakes had stuck to the walls of their trailer for months after his failed attempt at cooking breakfast that one time.

They were just words, a silly joke and nothing more. But the little question of “what if” had been planted in his mind. What if he really was…?

“Hey, what if it’s not a bug? You could be pregnant you know!”

No, he couldn’t be. They were always careful. He’d never missed a pill, and Damian always made it a point to wear a condom. Except during his heat, because it was really the only way for him to get the alpha hormones he needed in his system, and to feed their bond as well. But even so, a few days after his last heat he’d had his period, just like it always did.

It was possible to get pregnant outside of a heat; unlikely, but possible.

And, yeah okay, maybe they had been less careful than usual lately. But the odds were still stacked against them... right? It wasn’t like doing it a few times here and there without protection would really result in— and he’d had his period so he couldn’t be anyway…

But what if he was?

What if he really was pregnant?

Nausea, mood swings, cravings and weight gain; all were signs he could be pregnant. They could just as easily be symptoms of a stomach bug or flu, or even the result of stress.

And things had been stressful lately. Things had been piling up ever since they’d started on the American Tour. Maybe it was just Damian’s stress at being back in Gotham City – the one place he’d been avoiding these past five years – that was affecting him as well. It was perfectly normal for Dick to be affected by his mate’s moods. Omegas were sensitive to those kinds of things after all.

There were dozens of logical explanations for how he’s been feeling lately. Yes, being pregnant was possible, but it was the least likely scenario.

If only his mind could simply accept the logic and move on. If only Raya never made that dumb joke. If only he could silence the voice in the back of his mind that kept whispering, “What if…?”

It’s stupid really. He should be able to stop it and move on. But he can’t. He can’t stop thinking about it. All because of one stupid little joke. How pathetic.

As it is the idea had glued itself in the back of his mind, stuck in his thoughts no matter where he is or what he’s doing. So it’s no surprise as he’s out perusing the isles in the nearby pharmacy – they are running desperately low on painkillers, medical threat, disinfectant, and gauze – that he stops when he sees them.

Pregnancy tests.

Dick isn’t pregnant. He knows he’s not. But his mind won’t stop whispering. If he takes the test, then he’ll have definite proof he isn’t pregnant and he can finally get rid of all this stupid anxiety.

The beta cashier doesn’t say anything at the five different pregnancy tests among his items. She does, however, take the time to eye Dick up and down as she rang up the rest of his items. Dick can barely resist the urge to fidget under the scrutiny. What kind of person did he look like to her?

He keeps his eyes down on his bags as he pays and then scurries back out onto the humid sidewalk with little fanfare.

There’s a park nearby with a public bathroom that looked relatively clean. He’ll do the tests there where he can ditch the evidence easily, instead of at home. If he takes them home Damian might find them and then—

The thought stops him in his tracks. And then…what? It’s just pregnancy tests. There’s no reason to hide them from Damian, from his mate. He’s not pregnant anyway, and even if he was, what does it matter if Damian finds out? They both knew of possibilities that came out of sex from the very start, getting a test every once in a while was normal.

There’s nothing to be ashamed of. He has nothing to hide. Not from Damian.

Nobody stops him on his way back to their trailer. Nobody is watching him. Eyes aren’t following his every step. He’s fine. There’s nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of. There’s nothing to fear.

Dick tells himself these things, but it’s not until he’s in the safety of his den – where his and Damian’s scents mixed together in a soothing pheromone cocktail – that he starts to believe them.

He still locks himself in their bathroom alone with the tests, after dumping the rest of his shopping on the bed and chugging a glass of water. He spends maybe ten minutes of so, jumping from sitting to standing and back again, while reading the instructions in each box over and over before he finally feels like he’s able to pee.

Waiting for the results seemed to take even longer. By the end of it he’d gnawed down both his thumbnails.

The first one came out positive. But the next is a negative! Another negative. Another positive. And, uh, the lines were really faint on the last one. It looked more like a negative, but it was hard to tell. A false positive then. Well, it had been the cheapest of the bunch.

He grit his teeth in frustration, throwing stick with the rest. So that was it then? He might be pregnant, and he might not be. He had nothing solid to support either side.

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

“Fuck. Fucking damnit!” He growls at the useless sticks, with his hands in his hair, elbows resting on his shaking knees.

He doesn’t know how long he stays like that, but he nearly jumps out of his skin at the soft knock on the door. “Richard? Are you alright?”

Damian.

He’s moving before his thoughts can catch up to him, flinging the door open and all but barreling into the alpha. There’s a grunt of surprise before strong arms are wrapped around him, callused hands awkwardly settling on his back.

A deep soothing rumble erupts from Damian’s chest, alpha pheromones fill the air blanketing them, and a hand gently trails up his back to rest at the base of his neck, fingers pressing tenderly into his skin. Classic alpha techniques used to soothe a distressed omega.

For once Dick can’t bring himself to care for the subtle manipulation of his inner omega. He presses his face into his mate’s neck and lets himself be soothed.

“Richard, what is wrong?”

Dick shook his head. His eyes feel hot and wet. God, why is he crying? Can he get any more pathetic? Stop crying damnit!

Damian’s voice is calm in his ear, “Are you hurt?”

He takes a deep fortifying breath, drinking up the safe feeling that comes with smelling his mate’s scent. “I think I might be pregnant.” He blurts out instead of all the other excuses running through his mind.

His mouth snaps shut and Damian goes completely still against him. He keeps his head down pressed firmly into Damian’s neck, afraid of what he might see.

The silence between them drags on until Dick can’t stand it anymore, the words start tumbling out before he can really process them, “It’s just something Raya said—you know how I’ve been sick lately? And she was just joking around, saying how it might be morning sickness. And, I don’t know, I started thinking and what if I am? Pregnant, I mean? I just—I don’t—”

Being pregnant; it couldn’t be more poorly timed. Dick liked kids, he always wanted them. Really, he did. He’d always pictured himself having at least one kid. Maybe two or three, or more? But he’d always thought it’d be something that’d happen in the future, in several years, not right now.

And Damian, he was…young. They’d been married for less than a year and mated for only a little longer than that. Nineteen seemed young, too young to be a dad. And what even was the age of consent in this country? It was different depending on which state you were in, sometimes twenty one sometimes eighteen, but for an omega it was sixteen in most places but not in others?

It was too complicated and it all seemed rather stupid. Really, who had the time to figure it all out? Especially for them, since they never stayed in one place very long.

Did Damian even want to be a father? They’d never really talked about it that much. It was too soon to think about. There was too much going on in their lives to be throwing a kid in the mix. He couldn’t be pregnant. He couldn’t be. He—

“Dick. Beloved. Hush, it’s…it’s okay…” Damian’s voice cuts through his thoughts. It’s then that he realizes he might have been hyperventilating, just a little bit…  

“I’m…” He starts but can’t even finish the half-formed thought, looking up at Damian’s face for the first time.

There’s a look in his eyes that’s just as scared and unsure as Dick feels. Somehow, in a strange sort of way, knowing Damian feels the same makes him feel a little bit better. They both in this together. It’s not just him. He’s not alone. And neither is Damian.

“Are you…” Damian stops. He looks away, takes a breath, then looks back and starts again, tentatively, “It’s okay, I just… You said ‘might be pregnant’. Do you…know for sure?”

Dick threw one last bitter look at the bathroom where the pile of completely worthless pregnancy tests sat, and felt like crying. “All I can tell you is that it’s a definite maybe.”

[dugoutofashes-blog]

[ @inxcorde ]

Pregnancy!au

To say she felt huge, was an understatement. She felt like a beached whale in the middle of summer and on top of that, everything she wore, she felt that much bigger. She wasn’t too far along, maybe about sixteen weeks almost 17. But with two babies she’s carrying, maybe it’s all apart of the territory. She craved weird things at weird hours, mostly when Jace was sleeping. But she noticed if Clary didn’t get her cravings her mood swings were worse and back with a vengeance. “Jace,” She said looking at herself in the mirror, her baby belly sticking out further than she thought was possible, or maybe it was just from her eyes. “I look huge in everything..”

[sonyagarlock89-blog]

Simple Tips To Achieve A Quick Way To Lose Excess Weight

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For 24 many years, Anne Collins has bеen active in helping individuals tо effectively lose excess weight without thе require to consider diet tablets. Collins has аlsо bеen a supply of inspiration tо thousands of people whо used to direct harmful abundance life. In the health and fitness world, ѕhe plays thе important function of a diet consultant, nutritionist and individual adviser. Her expertise hаs beеn printed in various newspapers аnd publications. Feed уour body frequently all through the working day. This actually works, eat 6 times а working day. Why you might ask? Well уоu can steer clear of starvation cramps аnd tiredness. You knоw aѕ well as I do that when уou gеt hungry уоu wаnt tо consume anything аt уour disposal аnd thаt сan bе anything, Most most likely some thing harmful. This technique wіll assist yоu control these cravings. Cut Out Hydrogenated Oils - Keep in mind when margarine wаs thought to be health ier than butter?. Scientists now suspect thаt thе explosion in heart disease сan be attributed to "bad fat" thаt increased thе shelf lifestyle оf processed food аt thе cost of health. Study labels, or even better, steer clear of processed foods entirely and stick аѕ close to nature аs feasible. You gained't burn up fat if уоu dоn't move. If уоu dоn't exercise, іt'ѕ time to include fitness tо уоur every day schedule. Go bicycling, consider а stroll, pop іn a workout DVD аnd gеt moving. Include movement tо every element оf your day. Consider thе stairs rather оf the elevator. Park further absent from the shop ѕо уоu have tо walk more. Go outside fоr a stroll throughout уоur lunch split. The more уоu transfer, thе much more fat you burn up. A mother who can't wait around until the halfway mark to discover out whether or not shе iѕ carrying а boy or a woman саn discover out as early аѕ 15 tо sixteen weeks of pregnancy wіth а 3D ultrasound. Thanks to thе 3D ultrasound, thе parents-to-be саn start planning their nursery and othеr gender-particular preparations over а month previously thаn theу wоuld wіth а 2nd ultrasound. Consider utilizing cloths and fabrics аs present wrappers. Utilizing fabrics as wrappers аre such a big hit in Asian countries particularly іn Japan. It's еven regarded as аs аn art іn Japan аnd it'ѕ known as furoshiki.