#and write jo interacting with children... my heart

[mrcowboydeanwinchester]

🧡 The Past and Pending 🐎

jo & young claire fic - 4.7k - rating: G - canon compliant - read on ao3

Jo watches the family hold hands over her shitty bar food and close their eyes in grace, in prayer. Even when they’re all hungry they take the moment to thank their god for their meal. Claire looks like a little blonde angel as she mouths along to her father’s amen. Jo supposes she once looked like that, too.

16th May, 2004. Nine years to the day since Jo's father's death, she is nineteen and working her usual shift in the Roadhouse bar. The Novak family stop by during a summer storm as they travel through the state, and Jo has the chance to bond with a seven year old Claire over horses, their love for their fathers, and leather jackets.

written for my 2024 jo's joyous birthday celebrations!! prompts were orange, horse girl, and leather jacket, which were fun to weave in. enjoy <3

read below the cut!

16th May 2004.

It’s been a slow day at the Roadhouse, the tepid May heat turning beers warm but the bouts of summer rain keeping Jo from her usual restless walks outside. The bar is gloomy and a little stifling and it’s nine years to the day since the death of her father. 

By the evening Jo is working the bar, in view of the entrance. Every time the door scrapes open and the creaky floorboard goes, she is hit with one of two alternating images. The first is her father, home from his hunt, leather jacket fitted on his solid body with a smile on his face. His arms are spread wide waiting for her hug. Each time it is not him, she is forced to remember how his leather jacket is hanging emptily from a hook behind the bar and that every time she pictures his face she gets it a little more wrong.

The second image is of Uncle Bobby, hunched and sad, his grief silhouetted in the doorway light as he brings the sorry news. Her dad’s leather jacket in his hands, all that was left of him. What news does he bring this time? How many dead? The first image fills her with sorrow, the second with fear, both memories rising to the surface on the anniversary like crumbs in beer.

Jo mindlessly wipes down the bar, any tears that land on the countertop instantly disappearing beneath the cloth. It’s just one of those days. Ellen is in the back, unpacking the delivery that came in the morning, also quieter than usual. At least they’re not screaming at each other. That’s something. 

The front door scrapes the floor as it swings open and Jo is called back to the present. She brushes her eyes once with the back of her hand, the one holding the rag, as if she’s only wiping sweat from her forehead. When she turns to face the new customers Jo knows no one will be able to tell she was crying. She’s good at things like that. 

“Heya, what can I get for you?” she calls over the bar, and then instantly sighs as she sees the newcomers. Neither of the images in her head have materialized, but a third, more frustrating one has: civilians. 

A man and a woman, married, but still fairly young, hover uncertainly in the doorway. The wife’s hair is that uninteresting midway between blonde and brunette, cut sensibly to her shoulders but clearly styled. The husband’s hair is much darker and would probably curl if not for his serious and slick side parting. The first thing Jo notices about them is their hair because this is the most immediately interesting thing about them; other than that, they look incredibly boring. Normal. 

Then, from behind the man’s legs, peers a young girl. A child with a sweet tangerine gingham dress and curious eyes, maybe seven or so. Jo watches the girl take in the Roadhouse, with its burly, surly hunters hunched uninvitingly over tables marked with the questionable stains from fights and alcohol which make every surface slightly sticky. 

The husband is shaking his head, gesturing round at the bar with a displeased hand. “We should go,” Jo catches him saying, “this isn’t our kind of establishment.”

Jo is too used to this happening to be offended. Besides, she always thinks why cater to civilians anyway, when they’re a hunter bar first and foremost?

But the wife stands her ground. “She needs to eat, Jimmy. We all need a break, we’ve been driving for so long. And the sooner we get home, the sooner we outrun that storm.” 

Jimmy sighs, then nods. The trio shuffle awkwardly towards the bar, the child nervous at her father’s heels. She’s very blonde, as blonde as Jo. 

“I know we look like it, but we don’t bite,” Jo says, mainly to the girl. She earns the trace of a smile for her troubles.

Jimmy has the decency to look a little regretful. “I’m sorry, it’s been a… long drive. We haven’t had to travel quite this far before.”

“Well, that’s what the Roadhouse is here for. What can I get you?”

The options are limited, so it doesn’t take long for the family to decide on burgers, fries, and juices all round. Jo manages to keep her face straight at the drinks order. Most of the Roadhouse clientele would drink the rainwater outside rather than order fruit juice. If it wasn’t obvious enough already, the glimmer of evening light making its way through the window catches on the cross pendant visible through the open top button of Jimmy’s collar, and confirms the family’s faith. 

They go and find a table, choosing one by the window, to sit and drink their juices at. Jo sets about sorting the rest of their order, pottering about between the kitchen and the bar to serve it all up. 

She’s halfway through plating the fries when movement catches the corner of her eye and she spins to see the young girl clambering up one of the high stools at the bar, the seat teetering a little under her weight.

“Hey,” Jo says, maybe a little meanly. Mostly caught by surprise. “What are you doing?”

The girl’s face falls into a round, guilty oh as she finally settles, kneeling, on the seat. “I just wanted to see what was behind.”

Jo nods, calming now that her initial panic at the girl’s movement has subsided. “That’s fine, just make sure you’re careful up there, alright? It’s a tall seat and you’re a—a small little body.”

“One day I’m going to be bigger and every seat in my house is going to be a tall seat,” the girl decides with a jut of her chin. 

The comment hits Jo at such an angle it cracks her, and she barks out a laugh. “Sounds like a plan, kiddo. What’s your name?”

“Claire,” she answers. Then, with the precision of a child who has had politeness strongly instilled in her, asks, “and what’s yours?”

“Jo.”

“I thought that was a boy’s name.”

“It is,” Jo says. She gets a familiar burst of pride with it, but it feels awkwardly shallow with Claire looking up at her, so she follows with, “but it’s a girl’s name too. My full name is Joanna-Beth.”

Claire breathes a little woah . “That’s such a pretty name.”

“Huh. Um, thanks,” Jo manages. She’s never liked it, the way her mom only uses it in anger, the way her dad never used it. Joanna-Beth is someone else. Joanna-Beth is a bad daughter. Claire, though, doesn’t know any of that. 

As Jo’s cheeks tinge pink, Claire’s mom comes hastening over, ready to lift Claire down from the bar stool and back to the table. 

“Is she distracting you? I’m so sorry. Claire, love, come on—”

“No, it’s fine, really,” Jo placates earnestly. “I really don’t mind it. I was enjoying our chat.”

Claire beams at her. “So was I, mommy.”

Claire’s mom looks between the two of them—Jo wonders what goes on in her head as she does, two such naive-looking girls set against the backdrop of the Roadhouse—and then nods. “Well, you just give me or Jimmy a shout if you need a hand.”

“Thanks. I’m not great with kids, so I might need to,” Jo answers with a smile. It’s the truth; she’s never had much practice.

The woman raises a doubtful eyebrow. “Well, you seem to be doing a good job so far.”

Jo nods, unsure what to do with the praise. 

“I’m Amelia, if you need me,” supplies Amelia instead.

“I’m Jo.”

“It’s short for Joanna-Beth,” Claire pipes up, the awe still palpable in her voice. 

Amelia laughs, nodding, and runs a hand through Claire’s sleek pigtails. “Pretty name,” she tells Jo, before heading back to her husband at the table. 

It’s the complement of the hour, it seems. Jo nods again, head bobbing unassuredly like one of the lame figures in Ash’s room, as she gets back to plating up the meals under Claire’s careful surveillance. 

“You’ve got horses on your butt,” Claire says after ten full seconds of silence. 

“What? Oh,” Jo laughs, turning in vain to glance at the horses embroidered over the back pockets of her jeans. She found them in the thrift store in town. They weren’t cheap, the horses stitched in mid-gallop over the pockets boosting the price considerably. But it’d felt wrong to leave the horses trapped in the sterile light of the thrift store. They deserve some warm lighting, Jo’d thought, where they can complete their run for freedom when no one is looking. The jeans are just a tad too small, so the plushy middle of her stomach bulges over them slightly, but she tries not to mind it. Anything for the horses.

“Do you like them?” she asks, wiggling her butt a little, much to Claire’s delight. 

Jo normally keeps her movements minimal, behind the bar, knowing how hunters’ eyes glue grossly to all the places she’d least like them look. She often feels like somewhat of a dancing monkey because of it, but here it’s an innocent movement with no repercussions other than Claire’s laughter.

“They’re so fun. I wish my dress had horses on like yours,” Claire says with a plaintive sigh which sounds amusingly beyond her years. 

“You like horses?” 

Claire nods eagerly. “For my next birthday mommy says I can have a riding lesson.”

“Woah! That’s so cool!” Jo says, and she’s genuinely quite excited at the idea. “I’m jealous, I wish I could ride. Then I could saddle up and go wherever I wanted all by myself.” California, she’d decided sometime long ago. Or maybe Arizona. Just somewhere west of this wasteland.

“I’ll come back and teach you once I know,” Claire answers, so earnestly Jo knows she fully believes it. 

Somehow, she can see it: Claire with her little arms crossed staring up at Jo perched precariously on a horse, calling instructions up to her. “I’d like that,” she says with a grin. “Where will you ride to, once you can ride absolutely anywhere?”

Claire considers the question deeply, the cogs whirring away visibly behind her eyes. “Well, I’d have to teach daddy and mommy how to ride too. I don’t want to go anywhere without them. But then I don’t mind.”

Jo hums. It’s a cute image, the three of them as one family riding off into the sunset. Not lost, because they’re together. It feels distant, familiar in the way the memories of a dream are; foreign. Whenever she has those fantasies of riding away now, she’s alone. She supposes that wasn’t always the case.  

“That sounds real lovely,” she finally gets out, staring down at the burger she has started stacking. She hadn’t really realized she was doing it, just running on automatic. Thinking of her father and running on automatic, the story of her life since she lost what Claire still has. 

But Claire’s concentration has dwindled and she wriggles in her seat. “Are you going to be done soon? I’m starving .” 

“Hey, you’re the one distracting me!” Jo rebuts, shaking her head clear with an exaggerated sigh for Claire’s benefit. “But tell you what, I have an idea to help you grow bigger so you can always sit on the tall seats.”

“What?” Claire asks, perking back up with excitement. 

Jo hunkers down to Claire’s level on the bar, resting her chin on her arms so they’re completely eye to eye. “If you help me carry the food to your table it’ll be like lifting weights and then you’ll get big and strong,” she says, voice low like she’s letting Claire in on a secret.

“You mean it’s ready?”

Jo pulls away with a roll of her eyes and fishes the basket of burger and fries from the countertop to present them on the bar. Impatiently, Claire reaches out to grab one, but Jo bats gently her hands away. 

“Hey, kiddo, gotta get down from the seat first.”

“I can do it myself!” Claire protests. 

But still, she doesn’t struggle as Jo comes around from behind the bar and helps lift her to the floor, Claire steadying herself against Jo’s arms. Once her feet have touched the floor, she prods at Jo’s toned tricep again with a podgy finger. 

“Your arm isn’t soft,” she points out, rather frankly. 

Jo gives her arm a squeeze in the same place Claire just did, to feel for herself. She always thinks she is too soft, too willowy; china doll in a bull farm. So although she trains as much as she can, shooting with her bow and arrow in the yard and sparring with the other hunters when they pass through, it never feels like enough. At least Claire thinks differently. 

“It’s because it’s all muscles,” she explains. She give the smooth, plushy skin of Claire’s arm a gentle poke in return. “See, you just haven’t got any yet.”

Claire frowns as she squints down at the difference between them. “I didn’t think girls could have muscles.”

Sometimes Jo looks at herself in the mirror and wishes she’d never trained at all. That she looked like all the other girls her age. Even like Claire. Here she is, jealous of a seven year old, yet knowing that this world of comparison is what Claire will inevitably grow into. Distantly and regrettably, she reminds herself of her mother.

“All girls can have muscle if they want to, and train enough,” she says, trying to keep her words on an even keel. It feels important. But she attempts to imagine little Claire in her gingham dress with muscly arms and fails. 

Claire giggles, gorgeously oblivious as she jabs at Jo’s arm again. “None of the girls at school or Sunday school are like you, Jo.”

Her throat gets a little dry. “Is that a bad thing?”

“Just a thing,” Claire notes absently, before taking the basket of greasy food from Jo’s distracted hand and sauntering over to her family with it clutched tightly in her fists. She hands it straight to her dad, who runs an affectionate hand over his daughter’s head.

“Thank you, sweetheart, this looks very lovely,” he says patiently, as she scrambles over him and onto her own seat. “Have you been kind to the nice lady?”

Jo doesn’t like that word but doesn’t have time to deal with that, recovering as she is from Claire’s rapid-fire insights. She follows the kid to the table and slides Amelia and Claire their portions, receiving grateful smiles from both Amelia and Jimmy. 

“Thank you,” the family chorus, their voices naturally falling in a pleasant harmony. 

Jo’s voice is lonely in comparison as she asks if she can get them more drinks. They turn down the offer and thank her again, Claire’s eyes glued to her food now that it’s properly in front of her. Slowly, Jo returns to her spot behind the bar, unabashedly gazing at the family from across the room.

She watches them hold hands over her shitty bar food and close their eyes in grace, in prayer. Even when they’re all hungry, when Claire has confessed dramatically to starvation, they take the moment to thank their god for their meal. Jo doesn’t think any food prepared by her hands is really worth it, but the prayer comes out in a low and sincere murmur from Jimmy’s mouth. Claire looks like a little blonde angel as she mouths along to her father’s amen . Jo supposes she once looked like that, too. 

**

The next half hour passes with little incident, aside from a repeat round of whiskey for Shawn, Jake and Caleb in the far corner. Jo mainly watches Claire and her family eat their blessed dinner and chat, the flow easy between them. They don’t talk like most people in the Roadhouse do. They sound posher, somehow, their sentences free from apostrophes and curses. Jimmy eats his burger with a knife and fork. 

Another shower of summer rain falls, the noise heavy on the Roadhouse roof. Jo expects it to pass, but instead the weather settles like that, a consistent rumble over the bar. The storm she heard Amelia mention earlier must have caught up with them, despite their desire to outrun it. 

Jimmy and Amela must notice this too. They peer out of the window by their table into the ever-murkier evening, resignation growing on their faces.

“We need to make a move,” Jimmy says. “Get ahead of this before we get stuck.”

As if to emphasize the point, a crack of thunder echoes out around the Roadhouse. The sound travels potently over the flat Nebraska plains and the din of the first clap gives even the hunters in the corner a start. Claire lets out a small yelp and buries herself into her father’s side. 

“It’s just thunder, sweetie,” Jimmy pacifies.

Claire mumbles something into his middle in return, but Jo can’t make it out. 

“You guys finishing up?” she asks, walking over and clearing the baskets. “I’d head out before it gets worse.”

“Yes, we’d like to,” Amelia agrees, “but someone here is a little bit scared of the thunder.”

“I’m not scared,” Claire grouches, lifting a protesting head from her dad’s chest. Jo knows a liar when she sees one, knows it as she knows herself. “I just don’t want to get wet.”

Jo choses bravado and Claire choses nonchalance, but it looks like they both bury their fear. She remembers the performances she used to put on for her father to show she was capable enough to keep up with him, how loved it made her feel when he believed in her. An idea, easily shattered, starts growing in her mind, and she surges forward with it before it can break. 

“So we gotta get you out to the car without getting wet, hmm?” Jo poses quizzically. Claire looks at her suspiciously, but nods along. “I have an idea,” Jo draws out, hands on hips. “We’ll have to go behind the bar to make it work…”

Claire leaps up from her seat, curiosity winning out over anything else. Jo hasn’t even got to ask Amelia and Jimmy’s permission, their looks of gratitude are already enough. They start gathering their jackets as Jo leads Claire around, to the tantalizing world behind the bar.

“Cool,” Claire whispers. It’s the closest thing to slang she’s said all day.

Jo smiles despite herself, then readies to go through with her idea. She’s sharing the one thing of her father’s which is truly hers. If it were anyone but Claire, she wouldn’t be doing it, but something about Claire makes it feel different—makes sharing feel more like a gift which grows rather than diminishes. 

“This,” Jo says, gently lifting the supple material from where it hangs dutifully on its hook, “is my daddy’s leather jacket.”

She takes a deep breath and kneels beside Claire, offering the leather up to her for her little hands to touch. Despite the warmth of the day, the leather is still cool, and Claire’s smile grows as she slides her chestnut-sized palms along the smooth material. 

The leather is brown and worn, but still in pretty pristine condition for a jacket now going on thirty years old. Jo doubts Claire even notices the small set of hand stitches around the collar from when she stupidly tore it and needed to fix it up. It had taken her a whole afternoon tucked away in her bedroom to stitch it back together, but she’d played her dad’s vinyls the whole while and the time had spun away quickly. Even her mom was impressed by Jo’s handiwork, in the end. This jacket is the one thing of her dad that Ellen lets Jo keep, and Jo keeps it well. 

Claire’s blue eyes are wide and wondrous in her head. “It’s very nice,” she says shyly.

Jo smiles. “I know. And it’s really special to me, because my daddy isn’t around any more, so we’re going to take good care of it together.”

“Why isn’t your daddy around?” Claire asks, her forehead wrinkling with the question. She’s a kid clearly trained in courtesy, but the constant frankness to her questions give her a harder edge. If the questions didn’t sting so much, Jo would love it about her. Claire continues, “my daddy loves me so much I think he’ll be around forever.”

“Well,” Jo says carefully, slowly, stringing her words along the tightrope of her taut throat. “Sometimes it’s not a choice. My daddy died nine years ago.” She swallows the ‘today’ she could add onto the end of that sentence, feeling that detail might be a little too much for both of them in this conversation. “Here’s something I find very important to remember: just because someone leaves, doesn’t mean they stop loving you. And it doesn’t mean you stop loving them.”

Claire looks as if she might start chuckling, but then catches onto the sincerity in Jo’s tone. Her mouth falls open slightly and her plump fingers squeeze tighter at the leather jacket. “I don’t want my daddy to leave me.”

“I bet he won’t,” Jo says, placing her hands over Claire’s. They’re so small beneath her own. Warm too, like holding a little heart between her hands. 

Jo looks up at Claire, at her sandy blonde hair tied neatly into pigtails and the pretty orange gingham of her summer dress. Seven years old and so sure her daddy will never leave her. It is only the crystal blue of Claire’s irises that differ from the umber of her own, but even then, Jo supposes that they both have their father’s eyes. 

“I think we’ve got the best daddys in the world,” Jo whispers. “They love us all the time. When they’re out at the shops, when they’re away with work, when they’re up in heaven. They love us right now.” 

She swallows, hard, blinking away the tears that are refracting rainbows in her eyes. There’s a burning in her throat but she’s glad she managed to say those words, to finally get them out into the precious ears of a young girl. She smiles. Her vision is still slightly watery but clearing when she realizes Claire is giggling, a sweet blush on her cheeks. Her laughter is light and bubbly, like a stream tumbling over rocks in the sun. Like if Jo bathed in it, she would feel clean.

“Come on, we can use my daddy’s leather jacket as an umbrella to run out to the car,” she says, the idea finally coming to fruition as she stands back up again and dusts the Roadhouse floor muck from her knees. “I’ll hold it over your head so you don’t get wet.”

Claire rolls her eyes, something Jo wasn’t sure seven year olds knew enough to do, but apparently so. “But then you’re going to get wet!”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m big and strong! I can take some rain.” Jo makes a performance of flexing her arms, the odd proportions of her wide-muscled shoulders and lean frame suddenly a cause for celebration rather than insecurity when looked at through Claire’s eyes. 

“Hmm.” Claire ponders hard at Jo’s words, those cogs visibly turning again in her brain. “Okay. But you’ll have to be fast to keep up with me!” 

The kid makes a dash for the door and is surprisingly speedy on her little legs, her gingham dress swishing behind her. Jo starts after her, pitching both arms upwards so the jacket hangs from them like a tent over Claire’s head. They dash out the front door and into the delicious rain, giggling all the way until it turns into full belly laughter. The lights of the car flash when Jimmy unlocks it, and Claire kicks up water as she runs to fling open the backseat door. Jo’s jeans are splattered with it, but the rain is coming down in sheets so her whole body is soon soaked through anyway. 

Another roar of thunder booms across the open space but Claire doesn’t even notice, too busy sheltering under Jo’s jacket as she scrambles up into the car. Jo slides the leather jacket on to free up her hands and help Claire wriggle into the backseat. The girl is a step ahead of her, and clicks her seatbelt into place with a smug little grin at Jo.

“See, I am faster than you!” 

Jo laughs, feeling rainwater pool in the corners of her mouth as she does so. “Okay, you win. But I did help keep you safe from all the horrible rain and thunder.”

“Yes, you did,” Claire concedes graciously. She clearly has a self-righteous streak. Smiling, she opens her arms wide for Jo to hug her, but Jo backs away.

“I’m very wet still, I don’t want to make you damp after all this.”

“Oh, okay,” Claire says, looking crestfallen. “But I want to hug you anyway.”

Jo pauses. “You sure?”

“Of course!” Claire says, the words come on, silly, evident in her tone. 

Jo grins, and wraps her drenched, leathery arms around Claire. Squeezes her tight. With her face buried in Claire’s hair, she inhales the strong and familiar scent of strawberry shampoo, the kind she used to use when she was small. She’s got a young girl’s warm body in her arms, and the scent of her dad’s leather and her childhood shampoo mix in the May evening air. 

“I want to be just like you when I grow up,” Claire’s voice whispers in her ear. 

Jo wants to sob, but doesn’t. She instead gives Claire one last, big, humongous squeeze and untangles herself, her arms leaving damp patches across Claire’s dress. Claire doesn’t seem to mind, she’s only seven. 

“I was just like you when I was small,” Jo manages to reply. She doesn’t know if that’s a good or bad thing anymore, or if it’s just—as Claire said—a thing. Some small part of her feels like she’s damning Claire as she says this, to a life like her’s. But then again—maybe it’s just a thing, and her life is neutral. There does not have to be a curse to pass on. She smiles. “It’s been really nice to meet you, Claire.”

“And it was nice to meet you too, Jo!”

They do a final high-five (Claire’s hands only spanning Jo’s palm) before Jo steps back into the rain proper, closing the car door in front of her with a wet thunk. 

The driver’s door opens and shuts beside her, Jimmy having climbed behind the wheel. Amelia’s footsteps splash around to the far side of the concrete and then the whole family is sheltered in the car, safely stowed together behind the windows.

In the low lighting of the Roadhouse sign, for a moment Jo looks into Claire’s window and only sees herself, rain pouring down her face and shoulders wide enough to fill her father’s jacket. Then the driver’s window rolls down and Jo steps to meet it. 

“Thank you,” Jimmy says. He has dark hair and a face she will meet again. “You were very good with her. Your parents should be proud.”

Jo goes to shake her head but then allows herself the nod, to tentatively agree. Her wet hair is plastered to her scalp, but the rain isn’t cold; it’s just right. 

“Have a safe journey,” she calls. Then repeats herself as the man revs the engine so Claire, winding the window down too, can still hear her. “Have a safe journey!” 

To where, Jo realizes she isn’t quite sure. 

Both her and Claire wave like wild things as the car turns back out onto the road, Jo chasing the car for a few meters, to Claire’s growing grin. As the car pulls away Claire’s blonde pigtails are the last thing Jo can make out of her.

She stands there, in the parking lot outside the Roadhouse where the dust is being beaten into the road by the summer rain. The taillights of the car rumble out of view and Jo still stands, waving, unsure if she’s just met the past or future, until her mother comes and beckons her inside. 

[the-hilda-librarians-wife]

Knowing you was a choice

Pairing: Raven Scientist (Victoria Van Gale/The Raven Leader)

Summary: Mere days after they met for the first time, Victoria pays the Raven Leader a visit and makes her a proposition (which has nothing at all to do with how her heart flutters around her, of course)Notes:

Notes: I was ready to write Victoria as being kinda cold and super awkwards around children, but then I rewatched The Storm and The Windmill and like. This woman wants to be a mum. She’s so good with kids. It’s not even Kaisa’s “I get a lot better with children because I am kinda like them”, Victoria is just straight up great with them (except with like. Weather spirit children ig lol). Anyway I just know that as someone who works with kids the raven Leader would be impressed by that, so thank you, canon, for helping me here

Also, yes. In my head Victoria is a Carlos from wtnv sort of person who just walks around with her lab coat for no apparent reason. You can’t take this away from me

Read it on ao3 or read the first instalment in this verse

As the Raven Leader, Birgitta had to always be ready for the most unexpected things one could possibly imagine. To swiftly get her children away from danger. To counteract the effect of a poisonous plant when one of them ate one as a dare. To properly chasten bullies who thought that there was any space for mistreating others in the Sparrow Scouts. To call the poor single mother of one of their newest scouts and say ma’am, I’m sorry, but I think your daughter is messing with forces unknown again. You name it.

She had not, however, been prepared to step outside of her office and find the woman she’d met at the hardware store staring intently at the map of the Sparrow Scouts grounds.

She was standing in front of it, her long hair falling like a mantle across her back, and her usual tight as a rod posture forgone so she could lean her torso towards the map. Gone were the casual clothes in which Birgitta had met her, replaced by dark blue overalls and a labcoat.

It was clearly a ploy. Nobody would find a map with a couple of buildings and colourful dots that symbolised camping grounds interesting enough to be looked at for more than ten seconds, and her contemplative look marked the lines of her face too sharply for it to be genuine. She wanted to be caught like this, but Birgitta was not about to point that out, much less complain. It would be a lie to say that her mind hadn’t been replaying their interactions whenever it was even slightly idle ever since their meeting.

“Oh, Birgitta, how lovely to see you here!”

The exclamation made her have to bite down on the inside of her cheeks to keep herself from laughing. She knew perfectly well that Victoria had allowed her to be in her field of vision for a couple of moments and only addressed her when she was close enough that, in her mind, it wouldn’t seem like she had been expecting her. It didn’t work.

Yes, Van Gale, how lovely, she thought, how lovely that you would find me in my workplace. During working hours. Directly outside my office.

What a dork.

“Ditto!” She said instead. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Oh, you know-” Victoria flicked her wrist with feigned nonchalance, making Birgitta want to burst out laughing again. She wondered if the scientist had any idea of the meaning that kids gave to that gesture these days. “Just wanted to revisit some memories from my time as a Scout. I haven’t been here since I… left. I see a lot has changed. The grounds are a lot bigger than I remember.”

At the mention of her pet project, Birgitta beamed.

“Not to toot my own horn, but most of the expansions were done after I became Raven Leader.”

Victoria gave her a lopsided smile and an impressed look that said ‘go ahead, I’m listening’. It was one of the things that had drawn Birgitta to her when they first met. The woman no doubt had a vast amount of knowledge and experience with the most diverse things, but instead of treating her like she was anything less for not having a fancy job or a privileged education, she seemed truly fascinated to hear what she had to say. It was endearing, to say the least.

She invited Victoria for a walk, and after the woman accepted, she began telling the tale about how she had been promoted from being one of the event organisers to Raven Leader much younger than most Leaders before her. How she had seen the potential for their organisation to do and teach much more than they had been able to at that time. How she convinced the board to let her organise a fundraiser to buy a larger piece of land for the Scouts, and her research to find the cheapest one that still offered as much safety to the children as possible. In the end, she’d come across the perfect slot, far enough away from the town that it could easily be considered the wilderness but close enough that weekend trips there weren’t hard to convince parents to allow. She had gotten a special price since there were rumours of that land being ‘haunted by nightmare spirits’, but she had known how much people loved to exaggerate their ghost stories. Still, the fundraiser hadn’t been successful enough to buy it (baked goods only allowed you to save so much money), so Birgitta had put her own life savings into the purchase, trusting her instincts that with more space, the Sparrow Scouts would flourish even more. It had undoubtedly paid off, not to mention that Birgitta herself was named as one of the owners to the land, side by side with the organisation she led.

Victoria took in her story as they walked side by side, first through the corridors of the main hall, its walls covered in pictures and portraits and trophies from local competitions which they encouraged their scouts to take part in, and then through the outdoor areas, which were prepared to accommodate a variety of activities. Birgitta had nothing if not a steel determination, and anyone who heard her tales from working at the Scouts would have picked that up. It was the trait that Victoria admired the most in any person. Even though her brand of ambition was much different to Victoria’s, more warm and thoughtful where hers was cold and borderline machiavellian at times, it made her admire her instantly.

This cloud of admiration, however, was not sufficient to make her mind hazy enough not to pick up on information that could be useful to her. 

Magic was something that liked to huddle together in odd places. Spots that were haunted by one type of spirit usually hosted many more of them, which you could find if you knew how to look. And legends were always based on some sort of truth.

Those were things that had been clear to her even as a young scientist who thought logic should always prevail over the mystical, and the years had only confirmed her suspicions that the line between those two wasn’t as solid as most people believed.

She stored those thoughts away for another moment. Right now, just smelling the flowers was enough. Literally, that was, because the Raven Leader had led them to an area with flower beds.

“We used to send our scouts to earn their Friend of the Park badges in actual parks, bringing life back to some area that needed it.” She explained as they walked by a bed of violets. “But last time we did so one of the groups had a bit of a… Vittra problem, let’s say. So we decided to move that activity inside our property to avoid displeasing any more nature spirits. I honestly didn’t expect for it to work so well, but for some months now it seems like everything we plant flourishes. It’s amazing.”

Victoria had to bite her tongue. She wanted to brag, to say that of course nature was blooming, ever since she’d managed to manipulate smaller weather events she’d made sure Trolberg’s crops could thrive under the most favourable weather conditions. Most people were attributing her work to that year’s grandiose appearance of the Great Raven, but she was content knowing that the credit was, in fact, hers. Nothing wrong with taking yourself for something of a messenger of the gods, she thought. To Birgitta, though, she <em>wanted</em> to reveal how it was all her master plan, and hopefully get some points with her in the process.

Not yet, though. There were things that were still missing.

“I forgot to ask, how is your arm?”

Snapped out of her musings, Victoria needed a moment to remember what she was referring to. The same moment that she remembered, she began noticing the pain again.

“Oh, I think I’ll live, don’t worry.” She grimaced, happy when Birgitta chuckled instead of looking down at her for her weakness. It probably would have been more dignified to pretend she wasn’t feeling anything at all, but something told her that Birgitta would see right through her.

“I’m sorry I let you carry all that.” The Raven Leader apologised, beckoning her to walk further away from the building in which she did all her paperwork and held ceremonies for the Scouts, as if she hadn’t been carrying much more than the other woman. “Sorry if this comes across as intrusive, but have you ever tried yoga? It’s a nice way to build strength and take care of your joints. Plus, you look like one of those people who can’t turn their thoughts off. It would do you good, I promise it’s lovely.”

Refraining herself from saying that she wouldn’t be caught dead doing yoga, Victoria let out a hum that she hoped would come across as thoughtful. “Well, do you have any instructor to recommend to me?”

“Every day there’s a collective session at Vine Park at five in the afternoon, whenever I go it’s a good time.” She stopped walking and turned to her with a smile. “We could go together, one day.”

The huff of laughter that came out of Victoria’s lips could mean anything from joy at Birgitta wanting to do something with her to indignation at the mere suggestion.

“Haven’t you seen me embarrassing myself enough, Birgitta?”

She chuckled again, and kept walking through the grass paths, trusting that Victoria would follow her.

“I haven’t seen you embarrass yourself at all. All I saw was you being courteous.”

It would have been very useful, in that moment, if it were possible for someone to high five themselves. That not being the case, however, Victoria was limited to simply looking pleased with her apparently successful plan. Though Birgitta noticed the way she stood up straighter, she didn’t comment on it, and kept on guiding her to the place she wanted her to see the most.

The instruments were placed on a metal table. There were currently no children around it, but every morning a group of Sparrow Scouts was invited to write down their measurements and share them with the rest of their peers, so they could guess how the day would go. Not that it worked with scientific precision, but it was a nice way to make them earn their weather watching badges.

Once they were close enough to the Sparrow Scouts’ makeshift weather station and the shapes of the homemade machines were recognizable, Victoria looked at her with a question mark clearly stamped on her eyes. With a proud smirk, Birgitta gestured for her to go ahead, making Victoria trot the last few metres that separated them from the table.

Upon it were instruments she recognized like old friends, but much less complex than she ever remembered seeing them as. A barometer made with a coffee can, an anemometer of paper cups, a sling psychrometer built from a bottle, a wind vane with a paper plate as the compass and rain gauge that was basically an empty olive jar.

“Birgitta, these are amazing!” They weren’t exactly accurate, but just the fact that they existed filled Victoria with barely contained energy. “Did your kids make these?”

“They did!” She walked to her side, closely observing Van Gale as she filled her eyes with the instruments. “We recently introduced a weather watching badge. Building these is the first part of getting it. The scouts that are aiming to get it also have to take turns to get their measurements for a couple of weeks.”

“How many of them are trying it?”

“Oh, I’d say around fifteen scouts. I think all of the more quiet kids chose this activity.”

“Do you think they’d like to visit the bureau?”

The words had been out of Victoria’s mouth before her brain could process or filter them. Logically, it was a terrible idea. A bunch of kids snooping around a lap where she did her most important and secretive research could not go well, especially not with the containment station being built. But even after she had said it, she couldn’t find it in herself to want to take it back. She loved what she did, and one of her life’s most painful failings was never having had someone to share her passion with. The idea of a group of kids, filled with curious energy as children always were, being willing to learn more about the science of meteorology, and maybe even being inspired by a visit to an actual station, was far too exciting for her to regret.

Birgitta blinked. Funnily enough, she hadn’t seemed to have been expecting that. Which was sweet, Victoria thought, because it meant she had just wanted to show her their instruments to let her know her line of work was valued by her and her scouts, instead of trying to get something out of her.

“Well, I think they’d love that.” She said at last. “But wouldn’t it be too much trouble for you?”

“Nonsense! It has been far too long since I’ve had visitors. I would love to have you and your young aspiring scientists in my lab.”

Since she sounded and looked like she truly meant it, Birgitta smiled.

“In which case, I should probably get your phone. Let’s get back to my office so I can write it down.”

She would have added that it was only for arrangement making purposes that she wanted to get her number, but she’d never been a good liar. Birgitta had simply seen the opportunity and taken it.

As they walked away, she noticed how Victoria kept on gazing happily at the homemade instruments, and smiled. She often felt that this world lacked passion. It had transformed most people into thoughtless machines who just went about their routines without ever being able to dream of more. Not Victoria, though. This woman was brimming with it, and Birgitta hoped nothing was ever able to take it away from her.

“What drew you to science?” She asked, unable to contain herself. At that point, Victoria already knew all about what had made her come to the Sparrow Scouts, and why she didn’t want to leave any time soon, but she still knew very little about the weather woman. Seeming surprised to have been asked that question, her face became wistful as she thought of an answer.

“I think wisdom lies in not denying things simply because you can’t understand them.” She began. “But there’s a beauty in logic, and in the power that it gives to humans, and that has always fascinated me. How we’re able to tame and control even that which is so much bigger and stronger than us through understanding it. I fall in love with it a bit more every time I think about this.”

Leaves crunched under their shoes as they walked, and butterflies fluttered by. It wasn’t the answer Birgitta had been expecting. Something like “career day at school opened my eyes” or “I found an interesting book in the library” were more the line that most people followed. That wasn’t to say that the explanation she got wasn’t much more interesting, though.

“Well, I don’t know.” Her voice was thoughtful, not judgemental. She made sure of it. “I think there’s a lot of beauty in what we can’t control. Whenever it storms I can't help but think how gorgeous it is, that nature is so much more powerful than us and constantly reminding us of that. Makes me feel like I’m part of something bigger.”

Victoria remained in contemplative silence, fidgeting with the hem of her lab coat. She made an interesting figure, a serious academic in her research clothes strolling around on the grounds of a children’s scouts unit. Figuring she had nothing to lose, Birgitta continued.

“Take the heart, too. Where would the fun be if we could actually take its reins and place our feelings where we want them? The unexpectedness is one of the most exciting parts of the journey, don’t you think?”

Unbeknown to the Raven Leader, Victoria’s own heart did a somersault in her thorax. Maybe, just maybe, she could see the credit in that philosophy.

                                                    ………

On the day they had chosen for the Sparrows Scouts visit to Trolberg’s Meteorological Bureau, the sun rose early and brightly. Victoria, for once, woke up before her alarm even rang - or rather, before it splashed water all over her - filled with excited energy that made it impossible for her to linger in bed.

It had been ages since she’d had people there. Ever since she’d begun tinkering with weather manipulation, visitations had been closed and she’d always make up an excuse or another when people asked her to go in (“Sorry, miss Hallgrim, a class full of children near my delicate equipments isn’t something I can allow” and “Forgive me, deputy, but the Town Hall has declared that my research wouldn’t need to be supervised by the Patrol. Will we need to take this to the mayor?” had both become her classics). It was only now, on the verge of opening her doors again, that she had realised how much she’d missed it. The presence of other people in her lab, the opportunity to share a bit about what made her get up every morning, the faces people made when they realised that something they had thought was boring could be cool, actually. 

She missed being listened to.

There was a large cardboard box on the entrance corridor, and as soon as she’d set the coffee machine on, she put it on a taller cupboard and out of a small person’s reach. In the past, when school buses would frequently park by the foothill and release dozens of children into the station, she’d had a small gift shop with trinkets for them to take home if they wanted to. This time, she had ordered the same gifts she used to, but she knew damn well she wouldn’t charge for them. She wanted Birgitta’s kids to have something to remember that afternoon by.

She spent the morning in a lovely mood, making sure to check all of her machines and to lock everything that shouldn’t be seen by anyone but her out in the garage. She used very little equipment nowadays, since most of her predictions came from the weather she conjured up herself, but she’d be damned if those kids didn’t leave there feeling like they knew exactly how each of a meteorologist’s tools worked. 

When the time they had agreed on came, Victoria was waiting for them on the other side of the cable car. She had asked Birgitta to advise the children to bring coats, since no matter the weather in town, the Bureau was high enough in the hill it sat on that its surroundings were always snowy, and visitors tended to get chilly halfway through the climb in the cable car. It wasn’t something she even noticed anymore; after she had started wearing her thermal jumpsuit, the only moments she paid any attention to temperature were when she was studying it, but she didn’t want her guests to feel any discomfort. Sure enough, the kids that were coming out of the bus which had just parked near her were all leaving with warm pieces of clothing in their hands, if not already on their bodies.

With each child that left the bus, Victoria tried to look more welcoming. She wasn’t exactly used to children, but she did really like them. Children were curious, and didn’t allow people’s opinions stop them from doing what they enjoyed, and those were things she held the highest respect for. It felt important to cause a good impression and to leave a positive mark on them. Maybe she could be a positive memory in their lives, maybe even push them towards an interest in the sciences, and it all depended on how she carried herself. 

The fact that Birgitta cared about the opinion of those children in particular didn’t hurt either, of course. 

“Welcome, everyone!” She exclaimed once the last child climbed down, noticing how they stared in awe first at her, and then at the Bureau, which was for the moment being only a blur in the distance. “I’m so glad to have you all here. I heard you lot took an interest in meteorology, is that right?”

Birgitta climbed out of the bus just as the children were making a chorus of affirmation.

“Victoria!” The children stepped out of the way so that their leader could walk towards their host. “Thank you so much for having us here. The children were so excited that some of the scouts that hadn’t even been working on the badge wanted to come. I thought it might be better to leave it for a later date, though.”

“Nonsense, the pleasure is all mine!” Victoria kept her eyes firmly on the other woman as she walked closer, reigning her surprise in when she hugged her in greeting. She hoped her cheeks weren’t pink enough that it couldn’t be attributed to the cool air. “But yes, probably better to bring more children when we have more time to organise this. We’ll already have to split up to get them all there as it is.”

She gestured towards the cable car with her head, and Birgitta’s mouth parted in surprise. When she’d been warned that that was the only way up to where Victoria lived, she hadn’t imagined the ravine that separated the hill they were in from the mountain which held the lab at its peak.

“Okay. How do you suggest we do this?”

The cable car could safely hold about five people, so Victoria’s suggestion was four rides to get them all up. On the first ride, the Raven Leader came along, leaving the bus driver to watch over the rest of the children, and stayed waiting with them on top of the mountain, just outside the Bureau. Victoria remained in the car during all the rides, in order to be an adult presence on them and so she could already begin introducing the kids to her work. Once the last batch had been safely dropped off at the top, Victoria climbed down with them and took the lead of the group, guiding them to the front door.

“Welcome all!” She exclaimed, her voice filling the room as the children behind her began to poke their heads inside and gasp. “To the Greater Trolberg Meteorological Bureau!”

She’d had her forecasts for the day previously recorded and had scheduled them to be aired at the right times, so that upon her guests’ arrival she could give them her full attention, and that was what she did. Even though there were clearly a few kids in the bunch that didn’t really care about being there and probably had only been working on the badge because they thought it would be an easy one, the excitement and curiosity of most of them more than made up for it. Even the more quiet kids, who seemed to be of the ‘likes to sit quietly and read in the back of the classroom’ sort grew comfortable enough to interact with her through the course of the visit.

And then there was Birgitta. The woman tended to stay behind the group so she could watch over all of them, but Victoria was proud to realise she seemed to be enjoying her monologues as well. With each instrument whose utility she explained, Birgitta seemed to join in on the children’s interest in them. She made a mental note to ask her later about which part had been her favourite. Judging by her face though, Victoria guessed it would be the history of Meteorology, which she had introduced them to as soon as they were all safely inside the lab.

Truth be told, the Raven Leader was impressed with Victoria’s effortlessly articulate speech. Since she had asked her to talk about herself every time they had been together so far, Birgitta had assumed she simply didn’t like to talk all that much, but it seemed like she’d been completely wrong. Whether it was because she had home field advantage, or because of knowing an absurd lot about that topic, or simply because she had a gift, she didn’t know, but she for one couldn’t tear her eyes away from the scientist as she went on about her work, and it seemed like most of the children couldn’t either. 

Their questions were another thing she handled beautifully. Birgitta had experience with taking her kids to meet professionals, since she thought it gave them good resources to make a well informed choice when they grew up and had to choose their careers. Many of said experts seemed to have no idea of who their target audience was, and only left the kids with even more doubts. Victoria, on the other hand, was well aware that she was talking to children, and took that into consideration without ever acting condescendingly. Birgitta had always thought that being able to explain something to someone who knew nothing about the subject was the true sign that you had a good grasp of it, and she stood corrected.

The last thing she had shown them had been the recording booth, and after that, they were heading towards the exit again. Victoria was just wondering if it would be selfish of her to offer them coffee just so she could stay near Birgitta for a while longer, and if she even could offer caffeine to children that young - she’d started at five years old herself, but on hindsight that maybe was why she’d turned out like that - when one of the kids sighed.

“Finally.” Either he thought he was whispering and had poor control over his voice, or he simply didn’t care about people overhearing. “That was boring.”

Everyone turned to him with a chastening glare, and the Raven Leader called his name warningly. He was one of the kids that had spent the entire visit with his arms crossed, either talking to his friends or looking around with annoyance. Another kid by his side, one who had spent their time there similarly, looked like they wanted to agree, but thought better of it when they noticed the stare everyone was giving him.

Birgitta had already begun telling him how that was impolite and inappropriate behaviour, and Victoria had to give it to her, those kids must really respect her if even the more difficult ones looked regretful to have been scolded. Without needing to raise her voice or be anything other than kindly stern, she’d managed to get him to blush and look down at his feet. It was when she was about to tell him to apologise that Victoria put a thankful hand on her shoulder. She stopped talking and looked at the scientist, who gave her a lopsided smile.

“That’s okay.” She assured, turning to the kids. “I know meteorology isn’t for everyone. Nothing ever is! Maybe our young friend will find an interest in some other science, or in something outside of it! I’ll agree with your Leader that you probably shouldn’t go around saying that the things people love are boring when they can hear you, but I’m grateful that you took the time to be here and hear what I had to say anyway. At least now you know your passions lie elsewhere! Isn’t that right?”

The children agreed, especially those that had been the most interested, nodding enthusiastically. Gosh, Victoria thought, talking to children is so much better than to adults.

“I do have something that I think you’ll all find interesting!” She declared, walking towards the shelf where she’d left the box with gifts, missing how Birgitta was still looking at her with a baffled expression as she did so. Even though she had had her ego hurt a little by how she hadn't been able to capture some of those kids’ attention, the collective cheer when she presented them with a roll of stickers was the most validation she’d gotten in recent years.

She cut a piece of parchment paper containing two stickers with the Bureau’s symbol for each kid, watching how some of them stored them away like precious things while others rushed to glue them to notebooks or water bottles they had brought with them, or to their friends’ foreheads.

Birgitta approached her when the last kid had received their gift, her hands clasped in front of her. The soft smile that was on her face as she  looked at the kids’ happiness remained when she looked over at Victoria, sitting on the floor with the cardboard box by her side.

“I knew there was a reason why I liked you. Anyone who has that many stickers is to be trusted.”

Chuckling and secretly thanking her past self for remembering to order the gifts, Victoria cut two more stickers from the roll, offering them up to Birgitta.

“Well, I truly hope you’re right!”

Birgitta blinked when Victoria held up the piece of paper at her, and then huffed out a small snicker as she picked it up. Immediately, she glued one of the stickers to her shirt, just above the Sparrow Scouts symbol. She smoothed it over as best as she could, but a couple of creases remained. No matter. She’d stick the extra one to a more regular surface when she got home, so she could keep a reminder of that day.

“Thank you.” Victoria had still been looking at her, and she met her gaze with as much open honesty as she could. Not only had her kids learned a ton of new things, but they were also going to leave with a joyful memory and a happy feeling, and that was exactly what she loved about that job; nothing was worth more than giving that to the children, and Victoria had really gone out of her way to make that happen. It would be a lie if she said she hadn’t enjoyed herself as well. “You really didn’t have to do this.”

“I wanted to.” The scientist shrugged. Birgitta offered her a hand to get up from the floor, which Victoria gladly accepted. Her job offered constant workout for the brain, but not really for the muscles, after all. When she managed to stand up, they were standing directly in front of each other, just one or two inches of height difference between them. They smiled, and Birgitta decided to call for the scouts before she did something stupid, like ask Victoria out in front of a bunch of loose lipped kids. 

There was no chance after that for Victoria to distribute the other types of gift she’d ordered, and she had come to the conclusion that doing so would be too much, anyway. But she stood by the back of the group as they left, and before the boy who had been called out could leave, she tapped his shoulder, making him turn to look at her with surprise. 

“For you.” She whispered, handing him a pencil with the rainy cloud logo on it. “So you can write your own story.”

The child was speechless for a moment, holding the pencil like it was precious. Smiling to herself, she was glad she’d decided to give him that; she could never know what was going on in those kids’ lives, so it would never be her place to make any judgements. She herself hadn’t been an easy child to handle, but what adults had labelled as flaws of character had been the very characteristics that had enabled her to get as far as she did. Though it was rare that she had contact with any people at all, let alone children, she had long ago vowed to herself to be the sort of adult she wished to have met as a child.

Snapping her out of her thoughts and making her gasp, the child threw his arms around her neck, hugging her for just a moment before he realised what he was doing.

“Thank you, Miss Van Gale.” He said when he drew back, even though Victoria had not yet fully processed what had happened. “I promise I will.”

He walked away with quick strides to catch up with the rest of the group. From the doorway, Birgitta observed in silent wonder as one of the most hard headed kids in the Scouts passed by her while cradling a pencil delicately in his hands, leaving behind a stunned scientist.

                                                     ………

Much later, well into the evening, Victoria found herself reading in the room that doubled as her office and her personal library. In a hidden corner of the Bureau, there was a metal ladder that granted access to the upstairs area. When she took over the weather station, it had been a space reserved for storage, but she’d long since then transformed it into her home. Apparently, meteorologists of the past made a point of going home every day, but Victoria truly didn’t see the point in taking the cable car every morning and every night, not to mention the short road to the city. By staying there, she could work more and be closer to her lab, with the bonus of avoiding the commuting. It wasn’t like she had anything waiting for her in Trolberg, anyway.

The most complete book on Weather Spirits she owned was open on the desk in front of her, and she sighed as her focus on the tiny letters wavered. She would kill for a warm beverage just then, but she knew she’d regret it deeply if she drank a cup of coffee that late, and she had run out of cocoa mix.

Screw it. She didn’t want to go to bed at that moment, so her only option was coffee if she wanted to be productive at all while she remained awake. Her current chore was finding any more meaningful information in that book that could help her know how to create an efficient containment station for a weather spirit, but so far she’d been luckless. No one had tried what she was about to, ever, which meant that her task would involve a lot of trial and error.

As soon as she found a spirit to begin with, that was.

When she straightened her spine, since she’d been hunching over her desk, leaning on her elbows, a few vertebrae popped. It reminded her that she’d have to climb down the ladder, and then come back up holding a cup, since she’d installed the coffee machine downstairs to be closer to it while she worked, and she groaned.

While she was having trouble summoning strength to do the trip, her cellphone began ringing in her pocket, startling her. The scientist rarely even got any calls, let alone that late at night. Fearing that it was someone from the City Hall wanting to discuss funding cuts to the Bureau, she peaked at the caller with suspicion, but let out a pleased sight when she realised it was, in fact, Birgitta on the other line.

“Hello there!”

“Hi, Victoria.” Her voice on the other side was soft and low, making her picture the woman getting ready to go to sleep. She imagined that by that time most people were, anyway, if not already deep in slumber. “Sorry for calling you so late. I hope I’m not disturbing.”

“Oh, not at all! You don’t need to worry about that, it’s a pleasure.”

Okay, that was too much. It was too much, right? Or was that just polite? Victoria wasn’t really sure, but she knew her palms were getting sweaty for no reason. Thankfully, Birgitta chuckled.

“Well, good to know. I just needed to call you before I lost the nerve. I was wondering, would it be alright if I went to your place again some day soon? Or we can do this somewhere else, if you’d rather.”

“Oh, that’s okay!” Victoria said, still paying enough attention to the book in front of her that the true meaning of what she’d been asked went completely over her head. “Better to wait a few weeks so I can organise myself to receive more children here, but I’m not averse to another tour.”

There was a beat of silence in the call, during which Birgitta was rubbing at the space between her eyebrows and seriously rethinking her opinions on how fun it was to not be able to pick who you’d fall for.

“I actually meant just the two of us… maybe we could have some coffee? I still owe you for helping me with the bags.”

After opening and closing her mouth a couple of times, Victoria figured it would probably be a lot more useful if she could actually make it so words came from it, and tried to assemble her thoughts into something vaguely coherent. She was a scientist, for goodness’ sake, she could say yes to a date.

“Of course!” She managed to answer at last, instantly making the Raven Leader release the tension that had been on her shoulders. She hadn’t misinterpreted things, after all. “I’d love that. I… I’ll probably go down to the city for groceries tomorrow. Are you free?”

“I get out of work at five tomorrow, is that good for you? You could meet me in my office and I’ll take us to a coffee place I like, how’s that?”

Victoria’s smile was brighter than the rays of sun she’d learned to conjure. “That sounds perfect! See you?”

“You definitely will. Goodnight, Victoria.”

[imnotoverlyobsessive]

Lost in Translation: Part Two

PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE AUTHOR’S NOTE TRANSLATIONS ON AO3

What had she done?

What had she done?

Every one of her nerves was still tingling and pulsating, but she still bent down and snatched up her nightgown and dressing gown, sliding each one on with quick, aborted movements.

Laurie snapped out of his own shock at her motions. “Amy?” he asked hesitantly.

She didn’t say anything. She had begun hurrying towards the door, snatching up a pair of slippers and tying her dressing gown as tightly as she was able.

He blinked at her in confusion. “Where are you-“ his words were cut off by the soft shut of their bedroom door and the sound of bare feet running on the floor.

————

It was late and Amy wasn’t sure where she should go, but she knew she couldn’t stay at the house.

He’d find her at the house, and she needed some time to process what she’d confessed to him, and to prepare herself for his rejection.

And prepare herself for her rejection of all… future advances.

Eventually, she decided on Jo’s new house. It was slightly farther away than her mother’s and therefore, she was very much hoping Laurie wouldn’t think to look for her there.

And, if she were truthful, she just wasn’t up to interacting with children, even Meg’s, although her house was closer, too. She’d be alright with it one day, but, well. Not yet. She wasn’t sure when she’d be able to see a child and not think of Laurie.

Jo answered the door. Still up writing, Amy assumed.

“Amy?” her sister asked, clearly shocked at Amy’s presence. And also possibly the fact that her face was streaked with tears. “What are you doing here? What’s wrong?”

Jo ushered her sister inside. She’d be marrying the professor soon, and as such, he’d yet to move in.

As soon as Jo got Amy into the light of the fireplace and saw the true extent of her state of dress, her eyes widened. “You must be freezing!” she exclaimed. “Come sit by the fire and warm yourself.”

Amy nodded, obeying her sister’s command and wiping away a few tears.

She was soon wrapped in a warm blanket with a hot cup of tea in her hand, and Jo was demanding answers.

“Did Laurie do something? By God, I will slaughter that boy-“

Amy laughed through her tears. “He’s three years older than you!”

Jo waved a dismissive hand. “Once a boy, always a boy.”

Amy laughed again.

“Now then,” Jo continued, ready for an assault. “What did he do? I could get away with his murder, you know.”

Amy sighed and shook her head, taking a sip of her tea and setting it aside. “He didn’t do anything. It was me who made a mistake.”

“Alright,” the elder of the two said slowly. “Then what did you do?”

Fresh tears began to fall, and Amy watched them plop down onto her shaking hands. “I told him I love him.”

Jo raised her eyebrows. “And that’s… bad?”

“Yes it’s bad!” Amy exclaimed. “Of course it’s bad! It’s disastrous!”

“Why? I mean… you’re married. Isn’t it a good thing to be in love with your husband?” After a brief pause, Jo added, “you do mean you’re in love with him, I assume, and that you made that quite clear?”

Amy nodded tearfully. “It was incredibly obvious how it was meant.”

“So, again,” Jo said, “how exactly is you confessing being in love with your husband a bad thing?”

“Because he doesn’t love me back,” Amy whispered miserably. “Or if he does, he’s not in love with me, at least.”

“Whyever would you think that?” Jo asked, surprised.

Amy watched the flames in the fireplace, listened to the crackle of the logs burning.

“I’m just a replacement for you,” she said softly.

Jo blinked at her. “Amy,” she said patiently, “please know that this is meant in the most loving way possible, but you would be a terrible replacement for me.”

Amy looked at her in mild surprise. Partially at her words, and partially that they clearly weren’t meant to be offensive.

“We’re very different people,” her sister went on, “and I’m quite sure it’s impossible for anyone to be with you if it’s me they’re yearning for, or vice versa.”

The younger of the two sighed. “He doesn’t want me. He just wants a wife he thinks is pretty.”

Jo let out an incredibly unladylike snort that almost certainly made Aunt March roll over in her grave.

“No,” she said. “Clearly you weren’t paying attention to how he looked at you during your wedding. Through the entire thing, I might add.”

Amy leaned back against the couch, pulling the blanket tighter around her. “Again, he just thinks I’m pretty. That’s all.”

“No,” Jo said again, shaking her head this time. “Men don’t look at a woman like that just because they think she’s pretty. You really ought to pay attention to how he looks at you.”

Amy didn’t quite believe her. She must’ve been misremembering. Still, she asked, “how does he look at me?”

“He looks at you like…” Jo thought for a moment, sipping her tea as she did so. “Like you’re the moon as well as every star in the sky.”

Amy opened her mouth to rebuke this, but a sudden banging on the front door interrupted her before she could speak.

She looked at the door, and then at Jo, her eyes wide and terrified.

There was a slight neigh of a horse outside. How had she not noticed it before?

“Josephine March!” came Laurie’s voice through the door. “I’m fairly certain my wife is in there, and I swear to God, if you don’t bring her out right this minute-“

“Oh, dear,” Jo whispered conspiratorially, taking another sip of her tea. “He’s using my full name. Whatever shall I do?”

Amy would’ve laughed if she hadn’t been so scared.

“Jo,” she hissed desperately. “I know- I know what he’s going to say to me, and I need a day, or a week, or preferably a year, to prepare myself for it. I can’t see him now!” Amy pleaded.

“You don’t know what he’s going to say,” her sister pointed out.

He was still banging on the door.

“And you know he won’t leave until somebody answers,” she went on. “He knows very well that I'm home.”

Amy thought for a moment, trying her damnedest to ignore her husband at the door.

“You’re right,” she said with a nod, standing. “Give me a minute or so. I’m going to go hide. You tell him I came by, but I left, and I don’t want to see him anyway.”

Jo gave her that look older siblings often do that says, “this is a terrible idea, but I’m not going to fight you on it.”

And so Amy rushed off to the smallest guest bedroom. Laurie would expect her to hide in Jo’s room, not a tiny guest room.

The bed was high up off the ground but had a bed skirt, so Amy wedged herself beneath the bed, being sure to keep the blanket around her. It was cold without the fireplace lit, after all, and the slippers she wore weren’t exactly insulating.

The sound of a door opening reached her ears.

“What do you want, Teddy?” she heard Jo snap.

She had to strain her ears to hear his reply.

“Is Amy here?” he demanded.

“She was, but she left,” Jo lied expertly, having been covering her sisters’ tracks since childhood. “She doesn’t want to see you, anyway, though, so really, you should just- hey!”

There was a scuffling, and then the sound of shoes on hardwood floors.

“Oh, sure,” her sister snarked sarcastically. “Come right in and make yourself at home!”

“Did she tell you?”

Jo sighed in annoyance. “Tell me what?”

“That she told me she loved me, and then she just- just left!” he nearly spat the words.

Oh, dear. Oh no. He wasn’t just mad. He was furious. She’d only seen him this way a handful of times in all the years she’d known him, and she really, really hoped he didn’t find her.

She could practically hear Jo cross her arms. “That,” she said firmly, “is between my sister and I.”

“She’s my wife now, Jo!” Laurie insisted, sounding tremendously frustrated. “You were just at the wedding!”

“Hm,” Jo hummed. “I do seem to recall something like that, now that you mention it, but even so, she doesn’t want to see you, and would very much like for you to leave her alone.”

She heard her husband snort. “Yeah, well, tough.” There was silence, and then more shuffling. Amy heard her sister sigh again, and then Laurie raised his voice. “Amy!” he called out.

She tried to ignore it, ignore the way he said her name, the way it echoed around the house.

“Amy,” he called again, “if you don’t come out and I find you, I’m going to be very upset indeed,” he warned.

Jo groaned, and Amy could picture her tilting her head back in frustration. “Honestly, Teddy, just go home-“

“Not without my wife,” he insisted firmly.

She heard him step into the room to the left of her; Jo’s room. There was another bedroom to her right, as well. He was rifling around, she could tell. Jo was objecting quite vocally, but he was clearly ignoring her.

He left the room and she heard him shut the door behind him.

Footsteps.

Closer.

And then-

The door opened.

Amy stopped breathing. Her heart stopped. She ceased all movement. She didn’t even blink.

Don’t look under the bed, don't look under the bed, don't look under the bed, she chanted over and over again in her mind, and then she resorted to prayer. Dear Lord, please don’t allow my husband to look under the bed and see me. Don’t allow him to find me. Just give me some more time.

For a few heartbeats, Amy couldn’t hear a thing. She didn’t even hear Jo’s groan of, “fine, have it out, but do not spend your wedding night here!” over the roaring in her ears. Then the padding of bare feet across hardwood floors.

She kept praying he wouldn’t look, wouldn’t find her.

No such luck.

Because Laurie’s stupid, attractive, beautiful, stupid face appeared in her line of vision.

“Amy,” he breathed in relief.

The woman in question squirmed, trying to scoot herself away from him, further underneath the bed.

“Nuh uh,” he said firmly. Oof. There was his angry face. “Either you come out or I’m getting under there with you.”

She blanched at that. She did not want to be in such close proximity to him, so she extradited herself from beneath the bed and promptly squeezed herself in the space between the wardrobe and the wall before he could process what she was doing.

He could neither reach her nor join her, and he hadn’t even said she couldn’t hide there, only that she couldn’t hide underneath the bed, so she’d found a loophole.

Problem solved.

Except, no, not so much, because he was in front of the crevice in just a few seconds, looking very cross indeed.

Even more so, if that were possible, than he had been before.

“Amy,” he said, sounding more dangerous than she could ever recall hearing him, “come out of there.”

There wasn’t enough space for her to shake her head, so she said, “no, I… I don’t think I will. I’m perfectly fine right here, if you don’t mind.”

His eyes blazed.

“If I don’t mind?” He sounded disbelieving. “Of course I mind that my wife ran from me, is hiding from me!”

She flinched when he called her his wife.

He noticed, letting out an agonized groan and raking a hand through his hair.

“Amy, come out,” he begged. “Please. Let me…” he trailed off, looking at her terrified expression, the way she squeezed herself further against the wall behind her. “Let me take you home.”

“No thank you,” she squeaked. “I’m quite well right here, but I appreciate the offer.”

He sighed and looked at the beams in the ceiling.

her husband briefly, only to find him smiling softly at her in a way she found most unsettling. She looked away from his gaze, doing her very best to ignore it, and allowed him to wrap an arm around her waist.

“We’re going to talk about this as soon as we’re home, you realize,” he told her as they walked through the quiet house.

Jo must’ve gone to sleep.

Upon being told this, Amy immediately decided that that wouldn’t do. She knew Laurie cared for her, of course he did. She didn’t doubt that. Perhaps he even loved her. But was he in love with her? No, of course not. She was fully cognizant of that face, and would vastly prefer not to hear it, as it would simultaneously be both incredibly painful and tremendously unnecessary.

————

The ride back was silent, Amy refusing to let him anywhere near her, scooting away whenever he tried to touch her.

Upon their arrival, she attempted to head in a different direction as soon as they stepped through the elaborate doorway.

Laurie grabbed the sleeve of the coat he’d given her. “Where are you going?”

She looked at the floor silently with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Amy,” he said slowly, “were you going to run and hide from me again?”

“…no?” was her hesitant squeak.

“Good God, woman,” he groaned in frustration. “Just- just come back to our room with me, alright? I’m not going to hurt you, you know.”

Well, no, she thought bitterly. Not physically, at least.

She said nothing, so he stepped around her to face her, cupping her cheeks and looking into her eyes.

“Amy,” he said softly, his gaze flicking briefly down to her lips. “Come upstairs with me,” he begged. “Don’t run from me. Don’t hide from me.”

God, but when he looked at her like that, spoke to her like that…

Amy nodded, earning a sweet, gentle smile.

Leading her back to their bedroom, he shut the door quietly behind them and lifted the coat from her shoulders.

Shucking off his shoes and socks once more, he sat on the edge of the bed, patting the spot next to him with a small smile.

Not wanting to argue, she sat as far from him on the bed as she was able. He rolled his eyes slightly but seemed to accept it regardless.

“Amy, why would you run from me?” he asked her gently. “Why would you hide from me?” When she said nothing, he spoke again. “Did you not mean what you said?”

Well. Not much point in lying to him about it, was there?

“I meant it,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

“Then why?” He scooted closer to her, and she looked away from him until he cupped her cheek, turning her face towards his. He was far too close for comfort. When had he moved towards her? “Did you think I’d be upset?”

“No,” she said hoarsely, shaking her head. “That’s not it, I…” She couldn’t tell him. She didn’t want to be rejected. Why bother if she already knew the answer?

“Tell me,” he murmured, stroking her cheek with a calloused thumb. “Tell me, mia amata.”

Tears filled her eyes again, and she looked away from him again. “…I don’t want to hear your response,” she told him miserably.

He blinked in confusion. “Why not?”

“I already know what you’ll say,” she explained, “and I don’t want to hear it out loud.”

He was silent for several seconds, looking at her with wide eyes. “Amy,” he said slowly. “Do you think I’ll… reject you? Me, your husband?” He sounded almost like he couldn’t believe his own words.

“Of course you will!” she snapped through her tears. “I know you don’t love me- at least, not like that- but I- I don’t want to hear it!”

Then both of his hands cupped her cheeks, and he was leaning forward. “I love you,” he whispered. “I’m very, very much in love with you.”

Amy squinted at him, finding herself very skeptical indeed.

He chuckled at her expression. “I love you, Amy,” he told her again, his voice still soft. “I’ve never wanted to be with anyone the way I want to be with you.”

She examined his face, the lines of his features, the look in his eyes.

“I don’t believe you.”

“No?” he laughed softly. “Well…” he trailed off, sliding a hand down her neck and into the neckline of her dressing gown. “I suppose I’ll just have to spend the rest of my life convincing you, won’t I?”

And then he kissed her, and fireworks exploded in her veins. Too overcome to stop herself, she kissed him back, pouring all the love she felt for him into it.

He pulled her against him, and she whimpered when his tongue brushed against hers. Sliding her fingers into his hair, Amy allowed herself to have this, to have him.

“Laurie,” she moaned when he pressed hot, open-mouthed kisses to her neck.

“Esatto,” he murmured against the skin of her neck, kissing her there again. “Gemi per me, amore mio.” He began to suck her neck then, and she wrapped her arms around him.

“What- what does that mean?” she panted. “Translate, remember?”

He hummed against her, untying the ribbons that held her dressing gown closed. “It means, ‘that’s right, moan for me, my love’.”

“M- my love?” she squeaked. She had not been expecting that.

Sliding her dressing gown off of her, he kissed her shoulder. “Mhm,” he agreed. “Amore mio.” He slid the sleeve of her nightgown down her shoulder and kissed it again. “Mia amata.” Another kiss. “Il mio tutto.”

“What about- ah!” her words were momentarily cut off when he closed his teeth around a tendon in her neck. “What about those?”

“Mia amata means ‘my beloved’,” he breathed against the newly tender skin of her neck. “Il mio tutto means ‘my everything’.”

Amy pulled back from him. “Do you mean it?” she asked sharply. “Are you certain you’re not mistaking what you’re feeling for something other than being in love?”

He grinned. “I’m certain,” he assured her. “Let me show you how much I love you.” With that, Laurie was pulling off her nightgown and guiding her to lay down on their bed, kissing her collarbones and cupping her breasts. “God, Amy,” he groaned. “You’re so beautiful.”

Then he was trailing kisses down the length of her torso until he reached her hipbones. “Do you remember how I touched you here?” he asked with a gentle kiss against her flushed skin. Amy nodded, biting her lip nervously. “I’d like to kiss you there, as well.”

“Why?” she asked breathily, feeling terribly nervous.

“Well,” he began with a grin. “A multitude of reasons, really. First, I love you, and I want you to feel good. Second, I want to be the one making you feel good. Third, watching you fall apart was the most incredible thing I’ve ever witnessed, and I’m quite eager to see it again.”

Amy gulped.

She was starting to wonder if maybe, just maybe, he truly did love her.

“So,” he went on, “may I?”

She nodded, still hesitant but choosing to trust him (he loved her, he loved her, he loved her, God but she hoped he loved her) and he slipped between her thighs, spreading her open for him. She could’ve sworn she heard him growl, but her observation was lost when he flicked his tongue over that same part of her he’d focused on before, sliding his fingers in a teasing circle around her entrance.

Recalling how divine it had felt when he’d put them inside of her, she canted her pelvis towards him with a whimper. He hummed against her, licking at her again, slowly with barely-there touches, and oh, but she wanted.

Fearing she’d sound lewd, sound vulgar, she clamped her mouth shut against her moans as he laved at her.

“Let me hear you, amata.” Yes, that was most definitely a growl, no mistaking it. “Hold in your cries, quiet them at all, and I’ll stop,” he warned, his breath fanning over her sensitive skin.

No, no, not that! Amy thought desperately. Anything but that, don’t stop-

Clenching her eyes shut nervously, she nodded her understanding.

“Look at me,” he murmured, his lips brushing against where she needed him. “I want you to see who’s pleasuring you.”

She obeyed, and he smirked in satisfaction, resuming his delicious ministrations.

The pressure of his tongue was firmer now, and when he thrust his fingers inside her, she couldn’t have stopped herself if she’d tried.

She screamed.

It felt incredible. Laurie didn’t so much as flinch; in fact, he seemed encouraged by her reaction, reaching up to grip her breast and lifting his eyes to meet hers as he lapped at her.

Amy didn’t know whether to be ashamed or delighted by the way he was looking at her. He looked like he wanted to consume her.

“Laurie please Laurie Lauriepleasepleaseplease-“ she moaned loudly, lifting her hips towards him.

Trailing his hand down from where he’d been squeezing her breast, he pressed down on her hipbone, holding her in place. His other hand continued to pleasure her, his fingers thrusting in and out repeatedly as he licked her until she thought she might explode.

Her moans were essentially nonstop by that point. “Laurie, God, please- I need you, please, I need- don’t stop, don’t stop, Laurie-“

She was barely enunciating, her words blending together like paint on a canvas, and he still wasn’t stopping. He didn’t even slow down; just kept going, and she knew it was nearing, what he’d given her before. Her fingers fisted in the blankets of their bed, her toes curling, her hips trying to lift up of their own accord only to be stopped by the hand that held her down.

She closed her eyes. She couldn’t help it. And then he closed his lips around that part of her and sucked, and she burst.

Amy let out a long, high-pitched scream that more than one of the household staff heard. Her body convulsed. Her legs shook.

When it was over, her entire body continued to tingle, as if there were bubbles in every nerve, every vein.

Barely processing that he’d pulled his fingers out of her and was crawling up her body, she kept her eyes closed until she felt a hand on her cheek.

“Amy?” came her husband’s soft, gentle voice.

Blinking her eyes open blearily, she found him gazing at her with obvious adoration.

“Are you alright?” he asked as he stroked her cheek. When she nodded, he smiled. “Did you like it?” Unable to speak, she nodded again. “Good,” he said with a grin and a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Because I would very much like to lick you as frequently as you’ll allow.”

After several seconds, she was granted the ability to speak again. “Can I… can I do that for you?” He froze, his eyes widening. She quickly rushed to explain. “I’m…

I’m fairly certain we won’t be able to…” Amy gulped, finding herself unable to finish her statement. “So if possible, I would like to give you what you gave me.”

Laurie smiled at her then, as sweetly as ever. “It’s possible,” he assured her. “But making love is most certainly possible, as well.”

“Is, um.” She gulped. Again. “Is that what it’s called?”

“It’s called a number of different things,” he told her with a tilt of his head. “Making love is one, yes. Sex is another. Copulation or intercourse are also used.” He thought for a moment. “Shakespeare called it the beast with two backs.”

Amy stared at him. There were so many different terms for this thing she’d never heard of a mere twenty-four hours ago. “And what do you call it?”

“Making love, as I said,” he told her with another smile. “But that’s primarily with you,” he murmured that part, brushing the backs of his fingers over her cheek.

Her lips parted.

He stared at them and continued. “I’ve been known to refer to it as sex. Or even fucking, on occasion.”

She blinked. He’d mentioned that one before. “Fucking?”

He groaned and leaned his forehead against her shoulder, as if he hadn’t expected her to repeat it.

“It’s, well. It’s the same as the others, essentially,” he explained patiently, his voice muffled by her shoulder. “Although, if it’s called that specifically, it’s usually a bit more… animalistic.”

She squeaked, not knowing what to say to that. Animalistic sounded painful.

“That isn’t to say it hurts,” he rushed on, raising his face to hers again when he heard the sound she’d made. “It’s not something I’d…” he coughed. “Do with you, not right off, and only if you wanted me to.”

Amy could barely breathe. “Why would I want you to?”

He was blushing rather terribly. “I’d make it feel very, very good,” he assured her.

Finding herself very skeptical indeed, she raised an eyebrow at him. “And you… want it that way?”

“I want you any way you’ll have me,” he responded softly, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. “Plus,” he said, “I’d like to… claim you, I think.” His hand slid from her cheek down to her waist, brushing the side of her breast as he went.

She thought for several moments. “What makes you so sure it would work?”

“Well,” he began with another grin, trailing his hand from her waist to between her legs again, where she was still wet and quivering. “I’ve prepared you for me already,” he explained. “And I think I’d like to prepare you further.”

He then proceeded to do just that. Twice. She’d screamed so much her throat was raw with it.

She was positively drenched. She could feel it.

He kissed her neck, then sat up on his haunches and gazed at her in such a way she briefly thought of a blazing fire. “Touch yourself,” he rasped as he yanked his shirt over his head. “Put your fingers between your legs and touch yourself as I touched you.”

She shook her head emphatically. “I can’t do that!” she insisted, scandalized.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” he assured her with a sweet smile. “It’s just me.”

“You say that like I haven’t…” loved you since I was a child, she finished mentally.

Leaning over to shower her face with kisses, he spoke softly. “There is nothing you could do that I wouldn’t cherish,” he assured her. “Please touch yourself for me, bellissima.”

“W- why?” she managed to force out.

“Because I want to watch you.” He was unlacing his pants one moment and kicking them off the next, and he nodded encouragingly at her.

Feeling horrifically embarrassed, Amy obeyed, pressing her fingers in the same place he had.

Untying the cord that held his undergarments up, he yanked those over his hipbones, too, and she noticed that they protruded from his body, and then…

Dear Lord, Amy thought. It had only been a few hours prior, but she’d forgotten, somehow, how very terrifying that part of him was.

And then he did the strangest thing: he wrapped his hand around it and began to stroke himself, watching her all the while.

“Cup your breast and pinch your nipple,” he commanded softly. She did so, continuing to rub between her legs.

This only lasted for a couple of minutes before he launched himself at her, attacking her with kisses and grasping hands.

“Amy,” he groaned into her mouth. “I need you.”

She felt empty. Terribly, terribly empty. Thinking of his… what had he called it? His cock? Yes, his cock. Thinking of his cock, she found herself rather liking the idea of him putting it inside of her.

“I love you, Laurie,” she told him quietly. “I’m yours to do with as you will.”

He slipped a hand into her hair, kissing her like a man starving, then trailed more kisses down to her jaw and along the length of her neck.

“And I’m yours,” he swore against her skin. “Always, dolce moglie.” She gave him a look and he chuckled before adding, “sweet wife.” Pressing a kiss between her breasts, he went on, “never feel as if you have to say yes to me, Amy.”

She blinked in confusion. She’d sworn to obey him, after all.

“I want you to enjoy this as much as I do,” Laurie explained. “I want to make you happy, make you feel loved, because you are.” He trailed more kisses up her neck and continued. “I want to make you scream again,” he murmured. “I want to make you just as desperate for me as I am for you. I want you to be begging for me, to be shaking from needing me so badly.”

Amy gnawed on her lower lip pensively. “If… if you’re sure it’ll work…” She was being uncharacteristically timid, she knew.

“It will,” he promised, kissing her deeply. “Let me show you how I can make you feel, amata.”

“Okay,” she whispered, and he kissed her again, his tongue brushing against hers. He cupped both of her breasts, pinching her nipples lightly, and she whimpered into his mouth, feeling a muscle deep within her clench when his cock brushed against her skin.

Then he pulled up from her, spreading her legs so he could kneel between them. Fighting down her embarrassment at the exposure yet again, she watched as he took his cock in hand and pressed it against her center, his eyes never leaving hers.

Then he rubbed the tip against that spot, and she jolted with a gasp that ended in a whimper.

“So wet for me, aren’t you, darling?” Laurie groaned, rubbing himself against her entrance now without actually going inside. “So ready for me.”

That muscle clenched again.

Empty.

“Laurie,” she pleaded. “I- I need-“

“I know, love,” her husband assured her. “I know.”

Then, slowly, very slowly, he began to push himself inside of her. Barely anything at first, and then-

Ouch.

That hurt.

It was a strange sort of pain; reminiscent of if she’d held her arm up whilst painting for too long.

He’d stopped, however.

“I was afraid of this happening,” she grit out.

He shook his head. “No, it’s temporary, I promise. It’ll go away.”

Amy looked at him skeptically.

[bayleavesfromthevine]

That's exactly how Gojo gets Utahime. He always making up something using Megumi as an excuse and by then Utahime already caught up to his scheme but she still goes because she is a good teacher and she goes above and beyond for her students!

Write the fic! Write the Fic! Write the Fic! It would be hilarious just to see Gojo being his most brat self because Utahime is considered the best/most popular teacher (the man never lost before so that definitely hits a nerve) and I bet that Utahime would just be so smug about it ( she finally get to beat him on something!).

It would be hilarious and the students would probably enjoy it a lot! They probably have a whole group chapter where they plan ways to tease Gojo 😂

Yeah, you right! Shoko would have a bigger role in Panda and Megumi lives. Tho we don't know exactly when Utahime became a teacher so she may have interacted more with them when they were little.

(like idk if she could became a teacher immediately after graduating? or if she need some field time - especially when there is so few sorcerer for the amount of curses and those fours years that Nanami where gone it meant that basically Gojo, Utahime, Shoko, Mei Mei where the ones on the frontline - i mean they probably have another sorcerer's around but we don't see them - and we know that Utahime didn't have her scar during the hidden inventory arc so she may have been fighting?)

So what I meant to say it's that maybe she was more around when Megumi and Panda were kids. She could be their fun aunt (tho Gojo would probably make fun of that and say that she would be the killer joy aunt 😂)

Yeah, Megumi sister, Tsumiki can't see curses (since Toji isn't her dad). Well in the manga is stated that Gojo helped them get money support on the condition that Megumi would become a sorcerer later and they didn't mentioned anything else.

Well as a fan, I would like to think that Gojo wouldn't let those two fend for themselves and would help them in some way and try to be an active part of their lives and if he couldn't be around maybe get help from his closer circle? Like Nanami, Shoko, Yaga, Utahime would be way better at parenting than him but it would be funny seeing him try 😂

I can see Utahime telling him that Megumi and Tsumiki are kids but way more mature than him 😂

Yess! It would be so amazing! Gojo and Todo are the source of stress of many people so the team up would be hilarious! Really, this manga has so much potential with teams up with Gojo and the students which we would love but Gege is focusing in ripping out our hearts in every need update 😂

Plot twist: Megumi catches on that Gojo is using him to get to Utahime, so Megumi sabotages Gojo (much like in the jujusanpo, only WORSE). Megumi would probably tell Utahime every embarrassing thing Gojo has done in the past decade without ANYYYY hesitation. RIP Gojo lmao. 

tbh I will probably write the fic lmao - I’m working on two angsty, Gojo-the-Hoe-jo fics right now (one of which is a follow-up to my other angsty hoe fic) and neither of those have happy endings, so I’ll probably need the fluff hahaaa 😭

Utahime would be that aunt who gets you clothes for holidays, but hides money in the sleeves (with a note that says “save this for your schooling!!!” or something lame like that lol). She would also buy those educational toys? You know, like those puzzles that low-key teach you geography - or even a subscription to a children’s science magazine (National Geographic’s version of this comes to mind). Like, she tries to be fun, but also tries to help children learn (in a fun way!) which is very cute of her.  

Every day, I wake up and pray that Gege will show us young Gojo trying to parent Megumi and Tsumiki from childhood into their teenage years. Like? Did he teach them to ride a bike? Did he give them an allowance? Did they have curfews??? If Tsumiki ever went on her first date, did Gojo threaten the poor kid who dared ask her out?? DID GOJO PUT TRACKERS ON THEIR PHONES?? And what about when they both hit puberty?? WHAT DID HE SAY TO THEM? (Imagine, for a moment, Gojo giving those two “The Talk.” Whatever he’d say would probably traumatize them in less than a minute, bet.) The relationship we’ve seen so far between Gojo and Megumi seems too akin to a father and son bond - Megumi actually has a lot of ideas/thought processes/characteristics that are very clearly due to Gojo’s influence - so I imagine that Gojo, whether he intended to or not, was present for most of the big moments in Megumi and Tsumiki’s upbringing. So. I need answers. Gege PLEASE. 

[dracosollicitus]

hi! congrats on the milestone! i’ve thought for so long about a sad, aching reypoe once (2007) au mainly just by listening to the soundtrack. or if you prefer something happier, they could have Major jo/bhaer energy if you were to embark on a little women-ish au. congrats again, feel no obligation to do these, i appreciate your writing all on its own!

ohhhh I have also considered the pain of a poerey Once AU - and I think I’d leave the ending as sad/bittersweet as it is in the film. Busker!Poe definitely has its appeal as he makes music with the reluctant Rey....

But! I feel like quarantine has us bummed enough - so let’s do a little sweet (okay it’s slightly sour) Rey/Poe interaction as Jo/Bhaer! (4/10 requests filled for the celebration!)

***

“What do you think?” Rey twisted her ink-stained fingers together, leaning forward towards the rickety old desk. Outside the window, the sun shone down and illuminated the back of Mr. Dameron, who rubbed at his beard and studied her manuscript. He hummed and flipped a page. “Well?” 

“Well, I think it would help me read if you would allow me to do just that,” Mr. Dameron looked at her over his spectacles, clearly amused, and Rey grumbled and folded her hands together as primly as she could on her knee, which resumed bouncing as soon as he looked back down at her pages.

She crossed her legs and re-crossed them, chewing on her tongue as she studied the spines of the classics that stacked up behind him in the little boarding room. Children shrieked and screamed in the street outside, but he read on, steady as ever, flipping, flipping - driving her mad - before he turned the last page. 

He tented his fingers and looked at her for a long time. Unable to bear it any longer, Rey burst. “Was it good?” She cleared her throat, nervous suddenly. “Did you like it?”

“It was good,” he said after a long time, tilting his head. Rey nodded, her heart in her throat, waiting for him to say more, to tell her it was good (because in her heart of heart’s she knew, just knew that she had rarely met a man as smart as Poe Dameron, and therefore his opinion meant a little something because he was clever and not useless and dithering). 

“...And?” She prodded, still unable to wait. “Did you like it?”

“And.” Mr. Dameron sighed through his nose. “It’s ... unimpressive.”

Rey jumped up from her chair, her hands balled into fists. “What about my work did you find ... did you find lacking, Mr. Dameron?”

“You call it your work.” He gazed up at her steadily, and Rey flushed, furious and embarrassed. “But it doesn’t feel like yours.”

“They’re my words,” Rey said hotly, hating the tears that burned in her throat. “It’s my story -- how can it not feel like mine?”

“These are not stories of the human spirit,” Mr. Dameron explained gently, his eyes soft. But Rey couldn’t hear that softness through the roaring in her ears.

He picked up the last page and glanced at it again. “These are ... they’re finely written, Ms. Kenobi, I don’t want you to think otherwise, but these ... these are written for a profit. Not for you to capture your soul, the ins and outs of your excellent mind.”

“And you know my mind so well?” Rey demanded, scooping up the pages. She snatched the last one out of his hand, talking over his protest, “I think you’re - you’re wrong.”

“I might be,” Mr. Dameron agreed readily. “But Ms. Kenobi - Rey - you asked my opinion, and my opinion is that your story ... is not captured in these pages. I don’t want you to cheapen yourself-”

“These stories sell.” Rey waved the manuscript, ears burning. “I make money from these stories, and I support my family with them, and - and - I won’t let some two-bit, puffed-up professor mock me for making a living.” 

“I’m sorry, Rey, please, I truly meant no offense-”

She shook her head and interrupted him again. “My story, whatever you think it is - it won’t sell. Believe me, I tried, but nothing came of it. No publisher wants a story about a no one.”

“No one is no one.” Poe stood, his voice soft. Kind.

Rey tossed her short hair out of her face and clutched her manuscript to her chest. “That’s easy for a man to say. Good day, Mr. Dameron. Don’t bother knocking at my door again.” And she swept out the door, kicking it shut behind her.

She didn’t know it then, but it would be the last time she saw Poe Dameron for ten months.

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 16X10

So, I watched the Grey’s Anatomy Station 19 Crossover Premiere over the weekend. I have to say overall I really liked it! The pacing of Station 19 was a bit slow for me but other than that it was great! The fast paced Grey’s Anatomy episodes are my favourite! So I really liked this one. My heart went out to Bailey in these episodes. All the Ben and Bailey moments and they’re excitement over the new baby made me cry. Poor Bailey. She loses her pregnancy, almost loses her husband, and then her residents’ lives are left hanging in the balance. In the aftermath of the crash, Helm needs surgery; Schmitt collapses; Simms needs major facial and neurosurgery, and Parker goes AWOL and needs treatment. 

I really like Meredith’s monologue in this episode. Being the best really is a catch 22. The amazing thing is no one else can do what you do. The terrible thing is no one else can do what you do. I loved the moment between Bailey and Schmitt in the supply closet. In other news, Jo totally stole that baby! Her drunken panicking about the cops is hilarious. But then we find out it’s only Meredith. Crisis averted! And she’s got wine! She came to drink with Alex because quote “Cristina sent an obnoxious Irishman as a gift” and he stole Alex’s old job. I love her. Never change Mer. Never change. 

I loved her line, “That’s what I said when I stole a baby,” about Zola and Link’s response, “Why are people stealing babies?” Mer gets it. Link is confused. To be honest Jo talking to the baby in a baby voice about how Meredith is a convicted felon is everything. Cut to the hospital where Amelia and Tom are bantering back and forth. I love their banter. Amelia is looking for Maggie because she just found out that Link might not be the father only to find out from Tom that Maggie quit. Yikes! 

And as usual DeLuca mouths off to his superiors and defies orders before being put promptly in his place. How is he still Chief Resident and why does he still work here? In real life that would get you fired real fast. Parker’s storyline this episode got me hard. I really like him and watching him repeat the same thing over and over again while he suffered from PTSD and head trauma was heartbreaking. I’m glad they got him the help he needed in the end. Bailey’s line, “Wouldn’t be the first time,” about her residents really got me. RIP George O’Malley. I still miss his character.

We all deserve a partner as amazing as Ben Warren. My god that man is supportive. His wife just suffered a miscarriage, he’s suffering the loss of a child, and he’s not okay, but he puts all that aside for Bailey’s sake because as he says to Webber, “Miranda comes first,” That’s true love right there. Side note: I like that Amelia and Teddy are becoming friends. I’m over this whole women on women hating each other over a man thing. That always pissed me about Addison and Meredith. Meredith never intentionally did anything to her and Addison was the one that cheated yet she treated Meredith like crap. 

Eventually Jo does in fact take the baby she stole to the hospital’s nursery and in walks not her husband, but Dr. Cormac Hayes! Cristina’s Yang’s present, the new Chief of Peds, and Meredith’s new love interest. Swoon! Oh course, Jo is a weird hot mess because she’s drunk haha. Watching Hayes check the baby out using technical terms while using a baby voice so as not to scare him warms my heart. I loved Jo’s line, “Oh you’re him!” when she figured out who Hayes was and then tried to hide it so as not to scare him off. I feel like that’s going to be an ongoing plot point and I’ll be interested to see how he finds out that and how he reacts to being brought to Grey Sloan on false pretenses and the fact that all of Meredith’s friends went along with it.

The scenes with Jo and Cormac in the nursery are very revealing. He’s comments imply that he might have worked for Cristina previously which is interesting and thickens the plot considerably. I really like Hayes as a character so far. He checks all the right boxes and in his interactions with Jo this week we got some more insight into his character. Hayes is shown to be competent at his job and as someone who is willing to roll with the punches. He feels compassionate towards others in difficult situations, which includes both scared birth mothers and safe haven volunteers, and doesn’t judge them or their choices. 

What Jo initially thinks is a bad idea turns out to be rather genius. Hayes advocates for the baby hatch/box/chute because it gives birth mothers who are scared and frighten a safe way to help the child they’ve given birth to have a better life and know that they will be taken care of. They help hospital staff help those babies the best way they can. Hayes recognizes that that’s what Jo is trying to do to for this particular baby and is sympathetic. Already that puts him leagues above most of the other men on Grey’s especially with Alex MIA. 

I’m also excited by the prospect of finally seeing Meredith date somehow her friends and family like and who has the potential to be a real partner to her and a real stepfather to her children. They’ve established that Cormac has teenage sons of his own which means there’s the potential there for their kids to interact and to see Meredith and Hayes re-build their lives together and merge their families. That’s way more interesting to me than the whole ‘love interest of the week’ thing they’ve been trotting out for the last little while.

It’s true that Hayes is obnoxious and arrogant at time, but the show has also established that he’s got the skills to match and can admit when he’s wrong. Before the break we saw how he was impressed by Meredith’s skills, but not intimidated or jealous of her and that is exactly what Meredith needs. Someone whose on her level and who gets it, but who understands that he can’t possibly compete with her because she’s just that good. 

I was really worried when Schmitt collapsed in the OR. I’m glad he made it. I loved Mer and Schmitt’s banter afterwards. She’s got all the jokes. I’m not an Owen fan and these days I’m not much of a Jackson fan, but his line to Owen was EPIC! “I figured ‘cause you have two kids together, you live together, you marry everyone, but I guess you have been busy haven’t you?” Jackson spilling the tea! 

In other news, I still hate DeLuca with the passion three thousand burning suns. He’s assigned to help Elliot, the patient whose heart hasn’t restarted whose wife just had a premature baby and he spends the whole time acting like all of it is beneath him. God what an ass. He breaks up with Mer over his own insecurities and then instead of apologizing like Link told him to he mopes around the hospital and stares at her creepily and then texts her the next day wanting to talk. Ugh. Also, I hate that he calls her Mer. 

That’s what her friends and family call her. DeLuca barely knows her. From the minute he took an interest in her and she indicated that she might like him back he started acting like they were madly in love and acting like they’d known each other and been together for years when they’d barely been dating a few weeks and she was adamant he wasn’t her boyfriend. God I hate this guy so much. He’s such a loser. Can they just write him off already so Mer can live her life in peace? In happier news, I was ecstatic when Elliott’s heart started beating again! His poor wife. And then we’re back to Jo and Hayes. The baby’s good to go but he sees how attached she is so he suggests they wait a while longer before calling social services. 

We also learn some important information about Hayes in this scene. We learn he’s a father to two teenage boys and was in residency when his boys were infants. We also learn that Hayes is a member of the ‘it’s okay to steal cute babies’ club! He’ll fit right in with Mer and Jo! Although maybe not with Link. I really love Link and Jo’s friendship and the scene at the end with them was super cute. I loved how Richard was there for Bailey in the OR when she needed him. I’m happy that they’re friends again. Poor Bailey the scene with her and Richard in the OR made me cry. She’s not fine. “She just was. And now she isn’t.”

Admittedly, I don’t like Owen as a character but that was a good save with Simms! If he hadn’t caught that Simms would be dead. After the surgery is complete Jackson and Owen talk to Simms’ Grandmother where they learn that when Koracick moved to Seattle and wanted Simms with him he paid for his grandmother to move there too. I loved their exchange. “You know how emotional he is.” “Koracick? Of course, yeah super emotional guy.” LOL. But seriously though that was really sweet of him. He’s an ass, but he’s an ass that cares when it counts. 

I like that Koracick thanked Owen and shook his hand. That was good of him. If the situation was reversed I don’t know if Owen would do the same. The Schmico scene at the end was cute! I think there’s an interesting parallel here between the Schmico scene and that Calzona scene from several seasons back. And just then, Hayes is standing at a nurses station, when Meredith comes around the corner! Squee! 

Straight up, Meredith and Hayes were in a scene together for all of 5 seconds this episode and they had flat out more chemistry than her and DeLuca have ever had! Or most of her other recent love interests more that matter. I said what I said. They talk for a few minutes and then Hayes walks off to go do something. At which point Jo walks up to Mer and says, “I have to say I kinda see it.” Jo Karev: A woman after my own heart! Sing it sister! Grayes all the way! 

Meredith is displeased as she finds him obnoxious to which Jo replies, “Don’t be mad at me. He’s Yang’s gift.” Haha I love it! I want my best friend to send me a man. Anyone else? In other news, Owen finally proposes to Teddy! I’m not a towen shipper, but I have to say this proposal was really sweet. Amelia decides to learn from her mistakes and tell Link the truth only to have Owen and Teddy announce their engagement right in front of them! Yikes! 

And Koracick sees the whole thing from a far. Oh boy. RIP Tomaltman? Korackman? Whatever we were calling it it’s dead now. Amelia can’t bring herself to come clean after that and who can blame her? I wouldn’t be able to either. So instead she tells Link they’re having a boy Oh boy. Here we go again. We then cut away from the hospital to find Maggie drunk and passed out on the couch. Oh dear. 

Someone won’t stop knocking at the door so she gets up to answer it. And look who it is. It’s none other than her ex DeLuca. Man this guy is the gift that keeps on giving! He tells her that Elliot’s heart restarted which is nice of him. He should have stopped there and left. Instead he asks if they can talk and Maggie being grateful let’s him in. He then proceeds to complain to his ex-girlfriend whose obviously hurting about how he blew it with her older sister. 

God this guy is such an ass! He breaks up with Mer over his own insecurities and then has the audacity to go to his ex whose her sister and ask for advice to win her back while Maggie herself is hurting. Screw this guy! Then he tries to act like he didn’t break up with Meredith while also admitting that he meant what he said. Wow. He’s both a gaslighter and a complete idiot. As Maggie says he, “Hurt someone whose had more than enough hurt for a lifetime.” Maggie gets it and DeLuca needs to get the hell out. 

He keeps talking about how he wants to undo the hurt he’s caused as if they got into a minor fight. Buddy. You don’t undo it you idiot you just move on and let Meredith and her sisters live their lives and leave them alone you jackass! And as if DeLuca’s idiocy isn’t bad enough, we then find out that Maggie’s being sued for wrongful death for what happened with Sabrina. 

Also how does DeLuca not comprehend that someone with the last name Webber is related to Richard and Maggie? Man, this guy is dumb. We then cut back to the hospital to find Bailey alone in her office, but not for long. Richard and Meredith come to her office to comfort her. Mer brings her tissues and donuts and holds her hand while she tells her that, “I had a miscarriage once. I never felt so lonely.” God Grey’s just break my heart why don’t you? And then everyone laughs about the donuts Meredith brought. My heart.

Well that was intense! Now onto next week’s promo! Oooooh and it looks like things are heating up between Mer and Hayes! In the bad news column, it looks like DeLuca continues to try and gaslight Mer with the whole ‘I didn’t dump you, you just interpreted it that way’ thing and it looks like Mer is having none of it thank god! In other news it looks like Teddy somehow lost her engagement ring and Amelia finally comes clean with Link! Can’t wait!

Until next time! 

[kriscme]

One Life To Live

Hi Readers, here’s the latest chapter.   Thanks to Ronja for allowing me to write fanfic of her Hunger Games fanfic “The Chance You Didn’t Take” which you can read on AO3 and FanFiction. Chapter 27 The gates of Victor’s Village looms closer with every step.   I wish I could grab Marcus by the hand and run back into the woods.  To live in the concrete house by the lake, just the two of us, and live on wild greens, berries and katniss roots.   To make love long into the night, and then bring out our sleeping mats as we did last night, to lie beneath clear skies to watch for shooting stars.   Marcus would point out the constellations – big bear, little bear, lynx – and I’d say they look nothing like them, and then we’d take our sleeping mats back into the concrete house to sleep in each other’s arms until the morning light.  And we’d live it over, and over again, so I’d never have to face what lies beyond those gates. It’s not long to the wedding and I dread the thought of it, but I have to go.  If I don’t, there’ll be talk.  Flavius keeps me abreast of all the gossip. The relationship between Peeta and Lace isn’t popular, and this wedding is seen by many as the ultimate betrayal, so invested were people in our romance.  I don’t know if Peeta is aware of it; he seems to live in a fantasy world sometimes. But Lace surely would.   To protect him, I have to appear as if I’m fine with it.  And that means fronting up to the wedding, all smiles and best wishes for the happy couple.  But I’m far from confident that I can pull it off.   And there’s after.  Living across the road from them.  Knowing that Lace occupies his bed every night.  His happiness, her smugness.  The pain of interacting with him.  What are we now, anyway?  Not friends anymore, not really.  Acquaintances?  Fellow veterans?  And they intend having children too.  Five of them. It will likely be straight off, if Peeta has his way.  And when they’re old enough they’ll go to school.  The school I work at.  And be in my classroom.  I’ll never be free of them, even if I do move out of the Village.   Not only would I need to change houses.  I would need to change jobs.  Maybe even change Districts. As we pass through the gates, I can’t help but drag my feet.  Marcus turns his head to peer questioningly at my face.   I pick up my pace to catch up with him.  We’re nearly at my house. “I’m just tired,” I tell him.  “And hungry.” “You’re a woman of immense appetites, Katniss Everdeen,” he says, pulling me towards him to give me a quick, hard kiss.  “And whose fault is that?” I retort.  “If you weren’t so good at cooking and – “ “Fucking?” asks a disembodied voice.   A female shape emerges from the shadows of my porch. It’s Johanna.  She appears to have been waiting for us.   “You’re late,” she accuses.  “You said you’d be back around mid-afternoon.” I scowl at her.  I know what I said, but I don’t like her tone.  I’m not obliged to be back at a certain time to please her. Besides, what’s she even doing here? It’s not like I invited her over and wasn’t here when she arrived.   “We came back a different way.  It took longer,” I say curtly.  That’s all the explanation I want to give, but Marcus, perhaps to diffuse the tension, steps in to give Johanna a brief welcoming hug. “Katniss had something to show me.  Would you believe an oak with a circumference of over 23 feet?  At least three hundred years old.”   “That’s nothing,” says Johanna dismissively. “In 7 we have trees much bigger and older than that.” “Is there anything we can help you with?” I break in.  I’m not in the mood for a contest over which district has the biggest trees.   All I want is to offload this heavy pack, have a bite to eat and then go to bed.   “I need to speak with you.   That’s if you can spare the time,” she replies, her voice edged with sarcasm.  What is her problem?  She hasn’t been this hostile towards me since the Quell.   I turn to Marcus in exasperation.  He takes the hint and moves towards the door.  “Why don’t I see what I can scrounge up for supper? Will you be joining us, Jo?” I can see the struggle in her face.   This is food and Johanna will rarely pass on an invitation.  “No thanks,” she says, and I can see it’s hurting.  “I shouldn’t stay away for too long.” After Marcus closes the door behind him, I hoist my pack from my shoulders and drop it to the floor.  My feet are tired and I sit down on the top step, motioning for Johanna to do the same but she remains standing, arms crossed in front of her.   Before I can even open my mouth, she lets me have it. “Are you with Marcus now?” she demands. “None of –,” I begin, but then think better of it.  I don’t want to add fuel to whatever fire is bugging Johanna.  I start again.  “I don’t know.  Maybe.” And that’s the truth.  I’m not so naïve to believe that a weekend of sex makes us boyfriend and girlfriend.  Nothing’s been said about feelings, or our future. “But you’re fucking him?” Johanna persists.  It’s more a statement than a question. “We’ve had sex, if that’s any of your business,” I say stiffly. “Of course, it’s my business.  It became my business when you involved me in this whole sorry saga with Peeta.”  My irritation with her rises another notch.  It was her idea to get involved, not mine.   “Not that you shouldn’t fuck him,” she continues.  “Peeta’s had his fun, so why can’t you?  Heck, I’d even say fuck the entire district; you don’t owe him anything.   But it doesn’t help, you know.   Not when I’ve been working my arse off to get the two of you back together.  But today I really could have used your help.   With Peeta having flashbacks every five minutes and Haymitch next to useless.   Aurelius says it’s the stress but – “ “Wait!  Slow down.  I can’t make head or tail of what you’re on about.”  I shake my head in confusion.   “What stress? And why isn’t Lace taking care of him? It should be her responsibility, not yours.   I don’t –” “They broke up.” It takes a few seconds to sink in.  And when it does, all I can do is stare at Johanna thunderstruck.  “But why?” I eventually get out.  “Is it because she lied?” Johanna shrugs.  “I asked him that.  He said they both lied.”     She comes to sit down beside me on the porch step, having calmed down a little.  “When he came home last night, he didn’t seem too bad, just really flat, like he had nothing left.  But this morning, he started having those flashbacks he gets where he has to clutch the back of a chair or something.   I went to Haymitch for help but he chose last night, of all nights, to go on a bender. I couldn’t get one sensible word out of him.”   “Sometimes a jug of cold water thrown over him helps,” I say absently, still stunned over the news of Peeta and Lace’s breakup.  Despite myself, a kernel of hope takes root in my heart.  Could the breakup have been over me, even just a little bit?  But then just as quickly, I squash it down flat, stomp it back down into the earth, and bury it deep.  Fool!  When will you learn? My gaze settles on his house across the street, only a very short distance away, and I wish I could be there with him.   I feel bad that I wasn’t, but I know I wouldn’t have been wanted even if I had. He has enough to deal with without adding his current awkwardness with me to the mix.  How can you feel right accepting comfort for heartbreak, when the very person who’s doing the comforting is heartbroken over you?    I’m very grateful that Johanna is taking care of him, but I can’t help feeling jealous too. She gets to be the one to protect him, when it used to be me.   Johanna’s voice snaps me back to attention. “So, I got on the phone to Aurelius and told him what happened.  He said emotional stress exacerbates his condition and to increase his meds.  Which I did, but he still kept on having them. A couple of hours ago I slipped some sleep syrup into his tea, so he could get some rest, and he’s now sleeping it off.  I don’t want to be gone too long on the chance he wakes up.  Although I did give him a big dose.” If it was the same as I gave him in our first Games, he’ll be out until at least noon tomorrow.  “How did you get him to drink it?  He would have noticed the sweetness.  He doesn’t take sugar in his tea.”   “I think he wanted to be knocked out,” says Johanna.  “He was exhausted.” “Do you know who broke it off?” I ask. It seems to me that it must have been Lace since he’s taken it so hard.   “No.  I couldn’t get him to talk much.”  She lets out a breath and shakes her head.  “What a mess! The reception will have to be cancelled, though I doubt he’ll get his money back at such short notice.  And what he’s spent on clothes for himself and the wedding party.” That’s news to me.  Surely Peeta wasn’t paying to outfit the entire wedding party.  Who was to be in it, anyway?  And then it dawns on me.  Of course, friends and family of Lace.   “At least there’s one blessing, Lace’s relatives are still in 8 so he hadn’t yet paid for hotel rooms for them all.  He’d booked the best rooms for them too.”  Johanna rolls her eyes at this.   I narrow mine.  That bitch! And after I had warned her not to encourage Peeta’s extravagant spending on this wedding.   “Do you think he’ll be alright?” I ask.  “He’s already gone through so much.” “Yeah, I think so,” she answers.   “He’s had a lucky escape if you ask me, although it might take a while for him to see it that way.  That relationship always seemed off to me – like they were trying too hard.  I would have given it a year if they’d married.  Eighteen months, tops.” “Maybe,” I say uncommittedly.  I don’t know if I agree.  What I do know is that Peeta would have given it everything he had to make it work.  And if a mutual love of swimming pools and dining out at restaurants is a good foundation for a marriage, then they had it.  They both wanted kids too and that’s something I can’t promise him.  Peeta would be a wonderful father. If anyone is to be a parent, anyone can see it should be Peeta.   “So, is it serious between you and Marcus? Because you might have a shot with Peeta now,” says Johanna. “No!” I burst out, and Johanna’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise at the ferocity of my response.  “I don’t have any chance with Peeta, none at all, so you can give that game up right now.  He knows how I feel about him.  He guessed from something Haymitch told him and he’s been avoiding me since.  And I’m tired, Jo.  Tired of getting my hopes up and then having them dashed.  I’ve spent the past year trying to remind him what we were to each other, and failed.  But the simple truth is that, if he loved me, he wouldn’t have got with Lace in the first place. I’m not . . . I just don’t want to go there anymore.  I’ve had enough. ” “Wow! That was extreme,” Johanna says, shooting me an incredulous look.  “I thought the mission was to help Peeta find himself.  Which would also include regaining his attraction to you.  I assume then that you’ve given up?” “Not given up.  Faced reality.” I say.

“Humph!” snorts Johanna, unconvinced.  “Well, it’s your call but before I let it go for good, I want to tell you a theory I’ve been working on.  Just don’t say anything until I’ve finished.” “Alright, go ahead,” I say wearily, scrubbing at my forehead.  Johanna will do what she wants to anyway. “Well,” she starts, with the air of someone telling a story to a small child, “it involves this man – let’s call him Peeta – who had his mind shattered into a million pieces by an evil troll – we’ll call him Snow – and when his mind was put back together again, some of the pieces were in the wrong place.  And his love for his teenage crush – Katniss, we’ll call her – had gone AWOL and had been replaced with a conviction that she had never loved him, and never could.  And then along comes this other woman – known as Lace, although it’s not her real name – and even though she’s a giggling idiot, she knows how to pander to his ego - which is in the toilet, by the way - with lavish displays of admiration and affection.   “But then one day, he wakes up, and realizes that what he loved about Lace, was really his own needs reflected back at him. And also that she was a lying deceitful bitch.  At the same time, he’s come to realise that it’s Katniss he really loves, but he thinks that not only has he ruined any chance he might have had with her by being with Lace, she’s now with another man, who not only likes the things she likes, but has two legs, no burn scars and isn’t a mental mess.  So, to be fair to Lace, he breaks it off with her, and to be fair to Katniss, he leaves her alone to live her life.  But then, the whole situation becomes too much for him and it brings on flashbacks, one after another, in rapid succession.  It’s fortunate that a loyal, resourceful, amazingly intelligent friend is there to give aid.  She then tries to talk sense into Katniss, which, as usual, is a waste of time.  But she tries anyway, hopeful that one day, something might get through to that brainless head of hers.” “That last part was completely unnecessary,” I say.  There’s no gain in rising to Johanna’s barbs, any more than there is to Max’s teasing. They really are alike.  Maybe that’s why they fight.   As for her theory, it does have some plausibility, but it’s still mostly wild speculation. “Is there something you know that I don’t?” I ask.  “Or did you make that up?” Johanna shrugs.  “I made it up.  But you have to admit it makes sense.” I roll my eyes at her.  “For you, maybe.” We sit in silence for a few moments until Johanna slaps her thighs and gets to her feet.   “I should get going now, just in case.  I don’t want him waking up to an empty house.  Oh, and Katniss, if you’re going to fuck Marcus, you should do something about birth control.  Sex has consequences, you know.” “Yes, I do know that.  My mother is a healer, if you recall.  I know how to take care of myself.”  What I don’t tell her is that in 13, all female military recruits were given five-year contraceptive implants before they were sent into action.  Johanna wouldn’t know this because she failed the final test having succumbed to her phobia of water, a consequence of her torture in the Capitol. Something I’m sure Johanna wouldn’t like to be reminded of.   Before she leaves, she says, “I’ll keep you posted, and I think you should visit once things settle down a bit.  He needs to know he’s not alone.” I nod because it’s easier than arguing.   I’m pretty sure that Peeta won’t want to see me.  It might even bring on another flashback.   I watch Johanna walk over to Peeta’s house and close the door behind her.  And then I open the door of my own house to where Marcus is waiting.  He’s set out a platter of cheeses, pickles, carrot sticks, crackers and fruit.  And some kind of spread that he made from a can of chickpeas he found in the pantry. There’s also a plate of Peeta’s cookies and a pot of tea.   “Peeta again?” asks Marcus.  He pours out two mugs of tea and sets one in front of me. “How did you guess?”  I hope we weren’t speaking so loudly that it could heard from inside the house.  The dining table is not far from a window. My face reddens at the thought, especially since there was talk about Marcus and fucking.   “Because whenever you and Johanna have one of your private talks out there on the porch, it’s about him.  I hope everything’s alright.” He makes a plate of food for himself while he’s speaking, his expression unreadable.  I get the impression that he’s well and truly over Peeta Mellark.   I come straight out with it.  Word is going to get out anyway.   “Peeta and Lace have split up. The wedding’s off. Peeta is . . .” I pause here.  I don’t want to give too much of Peeta’s mental state away.  People, Marcus included, already think he’s unstable.  “Peeta’s very upset about it,” I end up saying. His hands still for a moment, poised as he cuts a slice of cheese to add to his plate.   “That’s . . . unfortunate.  I suppose it had something to do with the incident at the pub last week?” “I’m not sure.  Probably.”  I don’t really know, but Johanna said something about both of them lying, so I think it’s safe to assume.  “Johanna wasn’t very clear about it.” I take a cracker from the platter and nibble on it.  My appetite seems to have dried up for some inexplicable reason.   Something is wrong, and I don’t know what it is.  The air almost crackles with it.   “How do you feel about it?” he asks, eyes intent on mine. I don’t answer immediately, unsure of the motive behind his question.  Is he asking my opinion on the break-up – whether I think it was good thing, or a bad thing?  Or is he asking how it’s affected me emotionally?  I decide the first option is the safer of the two.

“It’s sad.  They seemed very compatible.  But I guess if you don’t have trust in a marriage, then it’s unlikely to work in the long run, so perhaps it’s for the best.”  I shrug my shoulders slightly to simulate indifference and sip my tea. “It’s hard for me to comment exactly, without knowing the details,” I add. “The devil’s in the details,” he says, almost distractedly. “But you’re right about trust.  No relationship can be successful without it.”   And then he returns to his food, and nothing more is said about it.  But something’s not quite right.  The only thing I can attribute it to is the news of Peeta and Lace’s cancelled wedding. Perhaps he thinks our relationship is at risk now, when nothing could be further from the truth.  There’s no chance that Peeta and I will get back together. Lace out of the picture won’t change that.   Later that night, after a quick shower, I pull from my closet a filmy negligee the colour of apricots.  It was part of the wardrobe Cinna designed for my wedding to Peeta.   I never got the chance to wear it, nor the matching nightgown, so light that it’s almost transparent.  I trail the gauzy fabric through my fingers, noting how fragile it is.  It would be so easy to rip from neckline to hem, that it makes me wonder if that’s its intended purpose.  My mind can’t help but imagine how Peeta would have reacted to seeing me in it.  Or how he would react if I showed up at his house right now, with only this sheer, flimsy garment to cover my naked body.  Probably it would send him into a flashback that he’d never come back from. I take a critical look at myself in the full-length mirror.  The soft orange complements my olive skin and my hair, freed from its braid, ripples down my back in silky waves.  My body is slender and small breasted, but still feminine, the waist curved and the hips rounded.  My nipples stand out in hard peaks against the gossamer thin fabric and the dark triangle of my pubic hair is clearly visible.  I turn my back to peer over my shoulder.  My best asset, my “derriere”, as Effie would call it, is high and round.  The burn scars, most prevalent on my back, are barely noticeable now, thanks to the skin treatments, except for a few spots where the skin looks slightly melted.   Not too bad, Everdeen.  Not too bad at all.   My feet are silent on the carpeted floor to the guest room.  I rap lightly on the door and he tells me to come in.    He’s toweling himself dry but he stops the instant he lays eyes on me.  And when the towel drops to the floor, forgotten, I see that I’ve achieved the exact response I was hoping for. The love-making this night is wild and uninhibited.  It dawns on me that Marcus had been holding back, perhaps in deference to my virgin status, but now that’s abandoned.  My theory about the nightgown proves correct.  Marcus rips it right down the middle and then slips it off my shoulders in one movement, taking the robe with it.    I didn’t know that humans could make love like animals, with the male thrusting from behind. I’d always assumed it was face to face like the illustration in the tattered text book we were provided with in the meagre sex education classes at school.  But I love it, so animalistic and exciting, the way he pounds into me, his hands holding my hips firmly in place.  The way I can’t help but arch my back to welcome him in with every thrust.   But after our passion is spent, my thoughts return again to Peeta.  How he’s feeling, how helpless I am to help.    I try hard to recreate the magic of the concrete house by the lake, where I could lie in Marcus’s arms, warm and snug and drift into a dreamless sleep.  Because I know instinctively, that the nightmares will return tonight, as bad as ever.  If only Peeta had never come back to 12.  He would have got the treatment he still desperately needed if he had stayed in the Capitol.  He wouldn’t have met Lace, and she him.  And as for me, I was resigned to the fact that I had lost him and I know now that I would have recovered from my depression eventually.   His return simply sparked a false hope that I’ve been battling ever since. So here I lie, in the arms of a man who is as close to perfect as you can get, and my head is full of Peeta Mellark.

[australian-desi]

Qurbaan Hua ~ Episode 5-9: Of IVF Being Horrible, Windchimes, Cunning Aunties and Disgusting Husbands

Gonna dive right in

Episode 5

Mans has gone from “me and Meera have been dating for 6 months” to screaming “I LOVE YOU MEERA” at the top of the mountain 

Time for another coincidance - it’s purnima so he’s going to go ask for a mannat and on this day different people from different faiths go to this certain place for their wishes and prayers - and we all know what that means

Also now that I’ve watched a few episodes, I have to say I really like the styling  for Chahat they’ve given her a mix of ethnic and western wear and the fancy clothes she wears are really pretty (so far) and I hope it stays this way

I am a complete slut for mannat scenes and this one was very pure

Why can’t these people say Saraswati, it isn’t that hard

Also it’s 2020, surely it’s time we understand just because a woman is pregnant doesn’t mean she’s disabled and needs to be carried everywhere

Also, Naveli (Anjali2.0 and Neil’s cousin) is superrr suss

SHE TAPED HIS FACE OMG IM MORE IMPRESSED BY HER BY EVERY MINUTE

And she’s given him meds to give to the people he interacts with coz he causes them headaches (and he’s held onto it the whole time coz Pehle Pyaar Ka Pehla Tohfa) 

Awww our OTP has ‘Bhags stamp of approval’ 

They’ve also touched her feet how cute

Episode 6

So Ghazala has ruined Chahat’s mum’s sharara and like this is what I mean they’ve written her horribly, like why would someone go out of their way to hurt a kid like that - her mother’s dead what more does she want

And daddy dearest has another pooja to attend so he’s said no to attending his daughter’s baby shower, something Neil is now salty about

For a doctor, Chahat’s dad is quite daft 

And for a pandit, Neil’s dad is quite mean

Nice touch by Ghazala by turning this whole thing on Chahat, and thankfully her dad believes her

Episode 7

So this Kamini wannabe of a mami has said that Saraswati’s baby is najayaz, and at this point I really have got to ask - how the fuck did she jump to that conclusion?????

Apparently coz she was barren for 8 years, so how can she be pregnant now, so something must be up 

The logic fails me here, IF SHE WAS BARREN/WAS UNABLE TO GET PREGNANT, HOW TF IS THE CHILD ILLEGITIMATE???

OMFLLLLLL SHE’S SAYING THAT COZ THE CHILD WAS CONCEIVED FROM IVF, THAT’S WHY IT’S ILLEGITIMATE 

I CANNOT

I’M SO CLOSE TO QUITTING 

DO THESE DUMBASS PEOPLE NOT REALISE THAT AN IVF BABY IS ALSO A BLESSING IN ITSELF, IT’S NOT 100% GUARANTEED TO GET YOU PREGNANT EITHER BUT IT HELPS 

By this logic they shouldn’t use annnnyyyy modern technology 

I understand Neil now, and why he’s so done with this bullshit

YAAASSS NEIL, GO FUCK THEM UP 

Look Chahat, I love you and all, but like listen to Neil when it comes to his crazy psychotic family

Also do not tell me like the Oberoi family, this whole family cannot have 1 smooth sailing function/party 

We love a sibling duo that had to raise each other because their parents were dead/useless 

I’m so fucking done, now not only does your doctor have to be of the same religion, he/she has to be from the same caste 

YEH DOCTOR DHOOND RAHE HAI KE RISHTA 

Neil’s trying to talk some sense to these people, but as usual, he gets shut down for talking sense 

OMG HE’S COME OUT WITH FACCSSSS AND HAS GIVEN HIS DAD AN ULTIMATUM - His daughter or his dharm 

Also by saying that if he’s so for modern technologies in other areas, why is he against iVF 

Omg daddy pandit finally got some sense - this was an exhausting feat

Poor tacky Kamini, unlike the og, this one’s plans always fall short 

Neil, take Saraswati and just get the fuck out of here, this dumbass mami has come with a plan and is not going to rest until one of these kids gets disowned 

Episode 8

So Vyasji in a twisted turn of events has accepted Neil’s gf, as long as their kundlis meet 

Let’s be real their stars ain’t aligning in this life 

Chahat is talking to her mother through this windchime she made with her mother’s jhumke (I guess its a coping mechanisms) about how she’s gotten a cake ordered and needs to pick it up

The windchime has told her that she needs to learn how to cook to get married 

Basically even if your Indian mother is dead, her ghost will still taunt you on your inability to get married even when you are a doctor 

She has decided she will marry a chef so that she doesnt need to learn how to cook 

The foreshadowing, the cluelessness

Omg Neil’s dad writes with ink and a peacock feather (why did I think this man would write with a pen like a normal person)

He’s literally whipped out a chart and started making Neil’s (ex)gf’s kundli RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS DAUGHTER’S BABY SHOWER BECAUSE #priorities 

Anjali2.0 is literally sitting there praying as if Vyasji is sitting there calculating her Year 12 results and not a kundli

And we’ve got an “asambhav”, but we all knew that - Neil’s literally smirking coz he knew no matter what, the stars won’t align 

Omlll he’s inherited the whole “I write my own destiny” from Arnav 

“Main uss ladko ko kabhi nahi apnaunga” “Toh kya faraq padta hai, main usse apna chuka hoon” Boisss I really like this dude 

I wish I had this confidence but alas, I do not

And Neil has decided to leave the chat, go to Delhi and get married there, while giving everyone a fuck you (except his sister ofcourse)

Little does he know he isn’t even gonna make it to the bloody bus stand before he ends back here 

Anjali2.0 is begging her dad to stop him, but he’s talking about the stars and shit 

And right on cue Chahat and Neil are walking on the same bridge, none of them paying attention, they crash and just like that, the cake has fallen into the deep sea, adding to the pollution 

OMGG THIS MAN TOLD HER HOW ALL DADS ARE USELESS AND SHE GOES “oh hello, tumhe bohot saare childhood issues hai, lekin mere baba aise nahi hai ... woh mere liye taare bhi tod sakte hai” 

THIS IS WHY WE NEEDED A FEMALE LEAD IN THE MEDICAL FIELD - SHE UNDERSTOOD WITHIN 2-3 MEETINGS HOW FUCKED UP OUR DUDE IS 

and now he’s sarcastically congratulating her on her father because “aur ek mere baba hai jo hamesha taaron mein uljhe rehte hai, aur vaise tumhe tumhaare taare todne waale baba, bohot, bohot, bohot hi ziada mubarak” 

LOLLL SHE’S PULLING AND DRAGGING HIM TO GET HER THE SAME CAKE AND HE TRIED TO GIVE HER MONEY TO BUY A NEW ONE, AND SHE’S LIKE NOPE, THE BAKERY I GET THIS FROM IS CLOSED AND SO YOU WILL PROVIDE ME WITH A NEW CAKE 

Lolll I never knew he will be stuck here because of a cake 

AND NOW SHE’S TAKEN HIS BAG AS HOSTAGE AND HE’S LITERALLY SCREAMING THAT SHE’S LOST THE PLOT 

But personally, I feel she gained it 

Turns out the shop that she got the cake from, is his friend’s shop, and now he’s baking the cake himself because my man is also a pastry chef 

And he’s friend has left the chat because he doesnt want to get beaten up 

So it’s time for the kitchen romance.tm

Omg he told her he’s a chef and she’s so turned on 

OMGGGGGGG IM DEDDD 

But should’t she tie her hair #justsaying

Now back to the Neil’s crazy fam, where the only other person with sense, Anjali2.0 has also said to her dad, that Neil was always right about him 

Yesss gurlll, give it back to him

She’s telling him off how he forego his religious beliefs for her, but why can’t he do the same for Neil

I actually like her so much and the way she’s written

She’s also telling him how she tried to make sure that Neil never felt their mother’s absence (a responsibility she didn’t to take up), because her dad never let Neil feel loved 

OMG SIS SAID THAT BY BEING HEAD PRIEST, YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN YOUR DUTY AS A FATHER AND SHE DID NOT STUTTER 

Everyone is shook (including me)

I was not expecting her to give her father an ultimatum

So she said, that if he does not give Neil and Meera his blessing, he will see her dead 

OMGGG WHYYYAYFOIHFBEI THE ANXIETY 

Episode 9

We’ve begun with some cuteness regarding her rubbing flour all over face 

And like the idiot he is, he’s told her that her face is completely clean 

OMGGG HE’S GUIDING HER HANDS 

HOLY SHIT SISSS IS ALREADY IMAGINING HERSELF BEING MARRIED TO HIM 

Like same, but I also cannot 

Also I’m lolling at the fact she’s imagining their Nikaah, like his family won’t kill him for that

OMG THIS DICKHEAD HAS GIVEN THE CAKE HE MADE FOR HER DAD TO THE GAREEB CHILDREN LIKE SHE GAVE HIS SANGORIA TO THE GAREEB CHILDREN 

Awww I spoke too soon, she left the cake at the shop and he was just messing with her 

Guysss I really love their chemistry

He said that he won’t sit behind her, coz he doesn’t sit behind girls *rolls eyes*, but she’s not having it and reminded him that she beat him in a motorcycle race so he should suck it up

And they’ve had their first ‘accidental’ pressed up on each other fall 

A trope I do love with all my heart  

NOW HE’S COVERING HIS CHEST LIKE HIS IZZAT HAS BEEN LOOTED 

I’m hoping that Shyam1.5 isn’t as bad as his predecessors, but I do realise that is wishful thinking coz the couple scene where he talks to Saraswati was quite sweet

OMG THERE’S AN INTRUDER IN THEIR HOUSE AND I REALLY DON’T WANT SARASWATI TO GO CHECK, AND I’M FREAKING OUT 

She’s found Naveli’s earrings on the ground, Shyam1.5 and her are having an affair aren’t they

I FUCKING KNEW THAT NAVELI WAS SUSS AND SO WAS THIS HARAMKHOR SHYAM1.5 

I AM SO GROSSED OUT RN, WHAT IS SHE 10 YEARS OR MORE YOUNGER THAN HIM 

OMG HE’S ACTUALLY YUCK, LIKE SHYAM WAS YUCK BUT AT LEAST KHUSHI WASN’T HIS SAALI

AND WHAT TYPE OF COUSIN DOES THAT 

Saraswati please go fuck him up 

OMG OMG OMG YEH PADA THAPPAD!!!!!!! 

Well that’s another week done

[hwas-housewife]

honey part 1

neighbor!Joshua x Reader

words: 3.9k

Summary: it would be safe to say that if it weren’t for you moving across the street from Joshua Hong, you probably wouldn’t have met him. Nor would he have become your best friend. 

Genre: hecka fluff right now but I swear its angst if you start to squint and wait for part two

Warnings: none 

A/N: so this is only part one (obviously) but I’ve been wanting to publish this since I started writing it and couldn’t wait to finish it. I would highly recommend listening to “Reminisce about All” by Onewe when reading, it captures the overall feeling of the fic. thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy~

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hello! My name is Joshua, but you can call me Josh, and I live across the street,” the cute boy who had appeared unwarranted at your door introduced himself as he waved at your flustered expression.

“I’m going to be a freshman this coming year, by the way. What’s your name?” 

You may have only just met Hong Jisoo, but his cat-shaped almond eyes and bright smile made your heart flutter as he stood there with a kind expression, waiting for you to respond. 

“My name is Y/N,” you managed to stutter out, “Oh, and I’m going to be in seventh grade. It’s, uh, nice to meet you.”

“So, Y/N, do you like the neighborhood so far? I know there’s not many other kids around here but it’s not too bad, and I’m sure we can hang out too so it should hopefully be fun,” Joshua’s arm was scratching the back of his neck, something you began to pick up on as a sign of nerves.

“Well I did only moved in yesterday, so it’s kinda just been some unpacking…” 

Despite the kind intentions, the conversation was choppy at best. It’s not like you expected an in-depth conversation when your parents had summoned you from your unpacking to “meet the neighbor’s son that was so nice to stop by”. In actuality, his parents sent him over in the hopes of Joshua acquiring a friend in the neighborhood, not on Joshua’s own accord. 

If you were being honest, there was no way that this conversation would go well. You were an awkward, introverted 13-year-old who had never even socialized with classmates outside of school. You were merely hoping to survive this awkward greeting to escape back to your bedroom, where you were unpacking the remainder of your posters and wall decorations.

Why do parents love torturing their children? You were most definitely going to ask your parents later why they thought it would be a genius idea to let you talk to the neighborhood kid, not to mention he was a boy, all by yourself. You peered up at his tanned face, as Joshua met your gaze in a way that made you wonder if he too was inquiring about the same topic.

“Do you wanna come outside and hang out?”

Your eyes widened at the bold and brash statement, and you failed to hide your shocked expression before Joshua noticed.

“I mean, I guess you did say you were unpacking. Nevermind that was stupid of me to ask,” his shoulders shrunk as his face became that of disappointment and embarrassment. 

You would be a liar if you said he didn’t look cute with his face and ears tinted pink.

“Um, I think I can take a break from unpacking,” you smiled up at his taller frame.

His eyes lit up and the bright smile returned to his face.

Although the first interaction was still one of the clumsiest conversations you have ever held, the friendship between Jousha and you was anything but. That fated day concluded when the sun had set and you were being called back home for dinner, convenient seeing as how your house was directly across the street from his own. 

The next day, you were much less startled when a teenage boy knocked on your door and asked if you would like to hang out.

From then on, the two of you were deemed inseparable and would hang out nearly every day. Sometimes the two of you would sit on the steps in front of his house discussing comics or the most recent episode of an anime, other days you would lay in the yard, cloud gazing and discussing whatever came to mind. 

“Now that one definitely looks like a rabbit. The top cloud makes up the head and the one off to the side is the body. It even has feet!”

Your face contorted as you tried to see what Joshua was claiming to be a rabbit. Joshua leaned in closer to where you were laying as he pointed above your heads in the direction of the clouds he was referring to. You exclaimed proudly once you could spot the furry animal, your arms unwinding from behind your head to punch up into the air in excitement.

“It took you long enough,” Joshua smiled down at you teasingly.

“To be fair, that is one of the lumpiest rabbits I have ever seen in my life,” you retorted. 

Once the days become shorter and the leaves begin to change color, you both came to the realization that summer does not last forever, despite how much you wished it would. The day you went to orientation, your heart sunk as the reality of the situation finally hit you: Joshua was in a higher grade. And not only that, he would be at the high school while you were stuck in middle school.

The two of you would no longer spend every second around each other, as classes, homework, and after-school activities would take up the majority of your time. You sulked through the orientation as friends greeted each other with excitement, comparing class schedules and lunches. 

Even when you returned home and went to hang out with Joshua, you remained quieter than normal with a perpetual pout plastered on your face. 

“--and he waved back at me even though I thought he didn’t remember me. But then Hansol said the same thing about me! Isn’t that hilarious Y/N?”

Joshua looked over to where you were seated, next to him under the wide oak tree, as you peered out into the rest of the neighborhood. Your eyes were unfocused as if you failed to hear anything he had just said.

“Hello! Earth to Y/N! Is anybody home?” Joshua waved his hand in front of your face until you blinked a few times, shaking your head to escape whatever trance you were under.

“I’m sorry Shua, I can’t focus today. What did you say?” You looked over to the older boy, clad in a bright yellow t-shirt and shorts that he wore to his orientation that day. 

“What’s got you so down? You’ve been much quieter than usual and you haven’t smiled at any of my jokes today,” Joshua’s face morphed into one of concern as he maneuvered to sit right across from you.

“It’s nothing, really,” you tried to brush off his worry but your forced smile and shrug of your shoulders couldn’t fool Joshua, not after the two of you spent so much time together. He knew what you looked like when you were fine, and you were very much not fine.

“Try me,” he patiently sat, waiting for you to respond to his kind words.

You had developed a soft spot for Joshua over the past few months, and he really was the only person you felt like you could reliably trust to tell anything to. So, with even a little push, you caved.

“I--I mean--it’s just,” a heavy sigh escaped your lips as you tried to voice your worries, “While I was at orientation today it kind of just hit me that we won’t get to hang out as much once school starts and I won’t even see you at school, and you’re like my best friend and I don’t know I guess it hit me today and it made me really sad seeing everyone else and--”

Joshua managed to silence you when he placed a hand on your shoulder, giving your body a small shake.

“Hey Y/N, cheer up. It’s not like I’m moving away or anything. We still have to ride the bus together. And if you thought my mom would let me walk to the bus stop without waiting for you then you really must be oblivious to everything. Besides, won’t this just make when we do hang out even more special?”

You stared at his soft face, the smile that spread across his face warmed your heart and shut out all the worries that filled your head just moments ago. A halfhearted smile began to blossom on your face.

“I guess you’re right,” you sheepishly glanced into his eyes as he moved his hand that was on your shoulder to atop your head where he rested it. It was a common action that he began to do about midway through summer. He may have started it as a comment on your shorter frame in comparison to his, but it became a regular thing that occurred rather irregularly. It quickly became a comfort to you for some unknown reason, and Joshua seemed to pick up on that too.

So, you smiled up at him as he rested his hand atop your head and smiled down at you, the only worry plaguing your head being the upcoming summer book report you had failed to accomplish yet, despite having the summer to complete it.

Joshua did indeed live up to his words. The first day of school, the two of you had organized a time to meet outside of your houses to walk to the bus stop together. 

After forcing yourself out of the comfort of your bed, you managed to get dressed and prepare for the exciting day ahead, exciting being a loose term. You walked out the front door and found Joshua waiting at the bottom of the stairs with his bag slung over one shoulder. 

He hadn’t noticed your presence yet and you took the moment to admire how good he looked dressed nice enough for the first day, but just messily enough to appear as though he didn’t put too much thought into his appearance. 

Whoever he was trying to impress better admire him because you definitely were. 

When you finally realized that you were ogling at your best friend and neighbor, you hurried down the steps to stand promptly in front of Joshua. 

“So, what do you think?” You asked him, gesturing to your outfit. A casual flowy skirt and t-shirt covered your body and a pair of sneakers topped off your first day of school outfit.

Joshua gave you a quick glance before nodding his head, “You look nice. Ready to walk to the bus stop?” 

Your cheeks tinted pink and you were happy for the dim light that surrounded the two of you. You nodded your head and began to follow after Joshua’s lead. 

The two of you managed to walk to the bus stop with much ease, seen as how Joshua had traversed the same path for two years already. While everyone else at the bus stop was silent, the two of you were stood waiting for the bus and talking.

You would have been extremely anxious for the new school day but Joshua’s constant conversation with you filled your head with words and jokes to the point that you forgot that it was the first day of school. By the time the bus had arrived, the sky had begun to lighten up and you could easily make out all of the features on Joshua’s face as he talked animatedly towards you.

The bus was rather pact, and finding a completely empty seat for the two of you proved difficult, but manageable. You quickly took the window seat as Joshua closed you off from the center walkway.

“Most of the teachers that you have I actually had when I was in your grade, and they’re pretty chill. I mean, I didn’t always do my work but if you actually focus they’ll love you,” Joshua was turned towards you to continue the conversation you two were having.

“Ok, cool. So I’m gonna totally be fine. And today will just be introductions so I have no need to worry,” you smiled up at him, reassuring yourself with your words. 

“Exactly. And I’ll see you after school on the bus so you can tell me all about it!”

Joshua was right about that, as he always was. The day flew by and you had no issues at all with any of your classes. You found him on the bus talking with some upperclassmen once school was out. And that became your guys’ routine.

The two of you would walk to the bus together, sit by each other on the bus, find each other after school, and walk home together. Conversations were filled with the school day, friend drama, and home life. And Joshua seemed to be right yet again. You cherished the time you did spend with him even more than when it was summer. 

He seemed to make the days a bit more manageable. 

And while your friends at school were developing crushes on fellow peers, you seemed to be developing a crush on Joshua. The realization came to you slowly, but surely. 

You found yourself in your bedroom one school night when it hit you. The problems of having a crush on Joshua, though, became evident rather quickly to you. For one, he was your best friend, and why would you want to destroy that. For two, he was your neighbor. If things went poorly between you two, you would still have to see him every day. 

It was quick to say that you shoved whatever feeling you had into the deepest darkest place of your heart, hoping to stifle it before it blossomed into more. 

A year later you managed to find your first relationship shortly after Joshua had found himself one. As much as a small part of you wished it was Joshua that you were dating, it was in fact not.

A classmate, Jeon Jeongkook, confessed his feelings for you one fateful day and asked you to be his girlfriend. You found yourself saying yes, despite being unsure of your feelings.

The relationship itself wasn’t special. You would eventually come to consider it one of the failed middle school relationships that occur within the early teen years. Joshua, on the other hand, managed to find himself in a stable and happy relationship.

You wanted to be happy for him, you really did. But not only did it pain you to see him happy with someone else, his girlfriend managed to steal your best friend from you.

So there you found yourself, alone for the first time in over a year, without a best friend and without someone to talk to. 

By the time summer had arrived, though, Joshua found himself a single teen and you found yourself with a best friend again. You welcomed him back with open arms, and any sadness you felt while you were alone had dissipated the second he knocked on your door asking to hang out.

The following summer was like that of years past, and the two of you went back to being inseparable. You managed to survive eighth grade with ease, despite your first relationship tanking, and were looking forward to your first year as a proper high schooler. 

Joshua was heading into his junior year of high school, and it was fair to say that he had only grown more attractive. Not only did you notice, but other girls also began to take notice of your neighborhood best friend. He somehow managed to grow even taller, and his shoulders had widened out. His cat-like eyes had become an even warmer shade of brown, and his black hair swooped over his face in a charming sort of manner. 

You were whipped and could only hope that Joshua would fail to notice.

You laid under the same wide oak tree that the two of you designated as your space many years ago, waiting for Joshua to return from fetching his guitar. Eyes fixated on the cloudy sky above, you managed to find shapes with ease as you reminisced of the many times Joshua and you would laugh out loud at your findings.

“Aren’t you a bit old to be cloud gazing?” Joshua’s voice called at you from nearby, but you didn’t move your gaze.

“Didn’t you used to do this with me when you were my age?” You retorted quickly, a smile taking shape on your lips with ease.

“Touche,” Joshua’s voice was much closer as he sat down in the grass next to your figure, guitar in hand.

“What song was it that you wanted to show me? Also, that cloud definitely looks like an airplane crashing into a mountain,” you pointed towards the sky as Joshua tuned his guitar.

“It’s called ‘Sunday Morning’ by Maroon 5. If you don’t know it then you should,” Joshua glanced over at you before he began to play.

The soft chords meshed with Joshua’s voice to create a beautiful sound, one that made you finally look over to where he was sitting. His legs were criss-cross and his guitar sat comfortably in his lap as he strummed. Joshua was looking out into the neighborhood as he sang softly yet confidently. 

As you lay there, hair and body sprawled out into the grass, you admired him. You only managed to half-listen to him, admiring the fact that such a beautiful person was your best friend, and that he was here sitting next to you, singing on a warm afternoon. 

When Joshua ceased to sing and play, you were taken by surprise, not realizing that the song had already finished.

“How was it?” He looked over to you, meeting your gaze with a humble smile. 

You looked away, a small blush taking form on your face and cleared your throat to respond to him.

“It was good. Really good.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re my best friend Y/N,” Joshua began to pout.

“No, I would tell you if your playing was out of tune or if your voice was pitchy,” you sat up to speak to him more directly, a coy smile on your face, “Actually, now that I think about it your playing was garbage and you can’t sing at all.”

“Hey! No need to be sarcastic either.”

Moments like these made your heart flutter with a small ounce of hope that maybe, just maybe, he liked you too. It’s not like he puts on mini-concerts for just anybody, but then again you aren’t just anybody to him.

And throughout the years you became reminded of such more often. It wasn’t until a year later where your relationship with Joshua became what Facebook would consider ‘complicated’. 

It was the last summer before you would lose Joshua to the real world. He had one more year of high school and then he would be off to college, where he decided to pursue music education. He once told you that he wanted to help other people find a passion for music as he did when he was younger. 

As the two of you had grown and matured, you both had moved on from the days where you would play tag and cloud gaze. Now that the two of you were older, his parents had invested in a pool that you two frequented more than not.

You would spend your days in an endless cycle of tanning, swimming, and all-around messing around in the water before you would be beckoned home for dinner.

After a long day of swimming and attempting to submerge Joshua in the water, ultimately leading to you being submerged more than him, your parents had hollered at you from across the street that dinner was ready. You begrudgingly left the cool water and wrapped a towel around yourself before padding your feet in the direction of your house.

“Y/N,” Joshua had called out from behind you and ran over to where you stood.

“I’ll be back here tomorrow around the same time unless I sleep past twelve. Which, to be fair, is a good possibility,” you turned and smiled up at your best friend.

His hair was matted to his face by the water, some of which was dripping off of his carved face as you stared at him for longer than you should have. It was rather obvious that you liked him when something as simple as him being shirtless made you blush and avert your gaze. 

“Are you really going to leave me without a hug? Cruel,” Joshua certainly made the comment with sarcasm, but even the thought of hugging him led you to blame the sun for your warm face. 

His arms opened wide to bring you into his warm and wet embrace. You leaned into his body and held on for longer than one might deem appropriate, but you didn’t want to let go. 

Joshua pulled you back away from him but still held your smaller frame in his lean arms. You glanced up at him, a question on the tip of your tongue, wondering what he was doing. But once your eyes met, you forgot what you were even thinking. Joshua was looking down at you with a fondness in his eyes that you don’t recall seeing moments ago.

And that’s where you and Joshua stayed, for what honestly felt like millennia. Joshua had never held you in his arms like this before, and he had never looked at you the way he was right now.

Your heart was hammering in your chest so furiously that you were convinced he could hear it.

“Y/N! Dinner is ready hurry on home.”

And as quickly as that interaction began, it was finished. At the sound of your mother’s voice, Joshua released you from his arms and tore his gaze from you to the grass in his yard. You jumped from surprise and looked away as well.

“I, uh, I’ll see you tomorrow I guess,” Joshua stuttered out a goodbye but you only caught part of it before you took off for your house.

You spent the remainder of the night and the following day attempting to interpret what that interaction meant. If your mother hadn’t called you for dinner at that exact moment, what would have happened? Would he have shoved you away either way? Or would something more have happened?

Your thoughts tormented you until you fell asleep and the next day you evaded every text that pinged your phone under the name ‘Shua’ until the same man knocked on your front door. One of your parents grabbed the door and called you out of your bedroom.

You begrudgingly made your way to the front door, facing the one person who has been on your mind all day.

“Y/N! Are you okay? You didn’t come over today and you didn’t answer any of my texts. Are you sick? Did you get hurt?”

The second Joshua saw you at the entrance to the house, he began his interrogation on you. Of course, it was like him to assume that you weren’t avoiding him. Over the duration of your friendship, you’ve merely argued back and forth jokingly, never once having a reason to avoid one another. 

At that moment you realized that maybe you were just overthinking things. That moment was a figment of your imagination, and that your feelings led to you thinking that something was going to happen.

“I’m okay, ‘Shua. I was just feeling a little sick, but I’m all good,” you smiled up at the dark-haired boy, “wanna hang out and you can show me that song you were working on the other day?”

Hearing your response led to Joshua mirroring your own expression, that being enough of an answer.

[latetothegreysparty]

Bedtime

I’ve really been in a writing mood these last few days, so here I am again writing late at night. Thank you to the anon who sent me a few prompts for giving me the prompt for this one. This is just a super fluffy story about bedtime with the Shepherd children.

Bedtime

“What was that?” asked April as Meredith placed a cheesecake in the middle of the table. Meredith, Amelia, and Maggie had decided to host a dinner party at the house for their friends when they had realized that, by some miracle, they all had the same night off. April, Arizona, Owen, Alex, and Jo sat with them around the table, sharing an evening of laughter and friendship. They had just gotten going on the subject of DeLuca and his relationship with the intern when their conversation was interrupted by a crashing noise.

“Oh crap, it’s probably the kids,” Meredith said as she began to cut the cheesecake anyway. “What time is it anyway? They’re probably starting to get tired and cranky.”

“It’s 8:45,” Amelia replied. “I’ll go up and put them to bed while you serve the cheesecake.”

“That’s probably a good idea. They’ll go down better for you. I can’t remember the last time I read them a bedtime story without hearing, ‘Mommy, do it like Auntie Amy! She does it better.’” Meredith rolled her eyes, and the rest of the table chuckled.

“Hey, don’t blame me for being the master of the princess voice,” Amelia said, winking at Meredith before standing from the table and heading up the stairs to go corral the Shepherd children.

As Amelia stepped into Zola’s bedroom, she was not surprised to find the three children sitting on the floor amongst a massive pile of toys. Bailey and Zola were smashing some cars and dolls together, and Ellis was sitting off to the side tiredly messing with a doll. “Alright, my favorite nieces and nephew in Seattle, it’s time to start packing up for the night.”

Zola regarded her skeptically. “Auntie Amy, we’re your only nieces and nephew in Seattle.”

“You’re still my favorite!” Amelia responded with a wide smile as she bent down to kiss Zola’s head. “How about we start packing this stuff up?” Amelia said cheerily. She found that cheerful tones went a long way when trying to get the kids to cooperate at bedtime. The happy voice seemed to work. Bailey and Zola began to pick up the toys and place them into baskets without argument. As Amelia helped them pick up the toys, she glanced toward Ellis and noticed that the toddler was nearly asleep. “Bailey, Zozo, your sister is pretty zonked,” Amelia said as she scooped Ellis off the floor and into her arms. “I’m going to go put her to bed while you guys finish cleaning up in here, and then I’ll be back for bedtime stories and goodnight kisses.”

Amelia carried the toddler to the bathroom, quickly brushed her teeth, and then took her to her bedroom and changed her into her pajamas. Ellis managed to stay awake for the whole process, but only barely. “Alright, my dear, let’s get you into bed,” said Amelia as she placed a kiss on the child’s cheek. Amelia pulled the covers back and set Ellis into the bed, then pulled the covers up to her chin and stroked her hair. She expected Ellis to immediately close her eyes and be asleep within moments, but instead was met with wide eyes and tears.

Amelia sighed deeply. She had forgotten about this particular challenge. Just two days ago Meredith had removed the crib from the toddler’s bedroom and added a full-size bed in its place. Ellis was still adjusting to her “big girl” bed, and bedtime had been rough the last two nights. “Oh, sweetie, is it scary in your big new bed?” Amelia asked, stroking the girl’s cheek and attempting to wipe some of the tears away. Ellis nodded. “Would it be less scary if Auntie Amy laid down with you for a little while until you got comfortable?” Another nod.

Amelia pulled back the covers, picked up Ellis, climbed into the bed, and settled the two of them into the bed. Almost immediately, the cries turned into soft whimpering as Ellis breathed in the familiar, comforting scent of her aunt’s shampoo.

As everyone downstairs laughed boisterously, their cheesecake consumed and plates cleared, Owen glanced up at the clock. “It’s nearly 9:30,” he said. “Shouldn’t Amelia be finished putting the kids to bed by now?”

“I can go up and check on her,” replied Meredith who had been in the middle of a story about a silly thing an intern had done.

“No, you stay and finish your story, I’ll go see what’s up,” Owen said as he stood up from the table and headed toward the stairs. He climbed the stairs and headed to Zola’s room where he could see light coming from underneath the door. When he stepped into the room, he was surprised to see Zola and Bailey alone in the room, sitting on the floor chatting. “Where’s your Auntie Amy?” he asked.

Zola looked up at him with curious eyes. “She said she was putting Ellis to bed, but that was a long time ago. I don’t know where she is now.”

“Have you brushed your teeth yet?” Owen asked. Both children shook their heads. “Okay, why don’t you brush your teeth and change into pajamas while I go see where Auntie Amy is. We’ll be back to tuck you in.” Both children wordlessly stood up from the floor and headed down the hall to the bathroom. Owen followed them out of the bedroom and walked to the bedroom at the end of the hall to see what was taking Amelia so long with Ellis.

Owen opened the door, and he swore he could feel his heart clench at the sight that greeted him. The room was dimly lit, bathed only in the soft glow of the lamp on the night stand. Amelia lay in the bed on her back, sound asleep with a sleeping Ellis cuddled up on her chest. Ellis had a fistful of Amelia’s shirt in her hand, and Amelia’s hand rested protectively on the child’s back.

Owen took a minute to admire the sight. One of the things he loved most about Amelia was how naturally caring for children came to her and how much she loved her nieces and nephew. He didn’t get to see her interact with Bailey, Zola, and Ellis as much as he used to, and he always considered it a treat when he got the opportunity to witness her bond with them.

Owen walked slowly to the side of the bed and paused for a moment as he attempted to figure out the best way to get Ellis off of Amelia without waking the child. After a bit of consideration, he carefully peeled back the blankets and then slowly and gently removed Amelia’s hand from her niece’s back. As Owen carefully slid his hands under Ellis and lifted her off of Amelia’s chest, Amelia’s eyes began to open. “Owen, what’s-” Amelia began to ask, but she was cut off by Owen gently shushing her.

“Shhh, you’ll wake Ellis,” he whispered. “Why don’t you climb out of the bed before I set her down so the jostling of the bed doesn’t wake her?” Amelia nodded and slowly stood up from the bed, blinking the sleep from her eyes as she did so. Once she had stood up, Owen gently placed Ellis back onto the bed, pulled the covers back up over her, and then kissed the top of her head before stepping back from the bed. Amelia turned around and headed for the door so Owen wouldn’t see the huge smile that overtook her face as she watched him care for her niece so effortlessly and lovingly.

Owen chuckled as the pair stepped out into the hallway. “You know, when you said you were putting the kids to bed, I didn’t think you meant you were going to bed too,” Owen teased.

Amelia gently pushed his arm. “I had a long day at the hospital, and then Ellis wouldn’t go to sleep if I didn’t get in bed with her,” Amelia whined. “I closed my eyes so she would too, and I must’ve fallen asleep.”

Owen laughed again as they made their way down the hall. “We’ve still got two more to put to bed. Do you think you can manage to get Zola to bed without falling asleep yourself while I put Bailey down?” Amelia stuck her tongue out at him as she entered Zola’s room.

“Alright, Bailey boy,” Owen said as he opened the door and strode into Bailey’s room, “are you all ready for bed? Do you have your teeth brushed and pajamas on?” Bailey nodded emphatically. He had a special spot in his heart for his Uncle Owen, and he always went to great lengths to impress him. For his part, Owen noticed and did his best to heap praise onto all of Bailey’s efforts.

“Great job, Bailey!” Owen said enthusiastically. “You’re so good at taking care of business.” He pulled back the blankets and stepped aside so Bailey had access to the side of the bed. “Now how about you hop in and I’ll get you all tucked in?” Bailey obediently scrambled up into the bed and laid down so that Owen could pull the blankets up over him. “Good night, little man. I love you lots,” Owen whispered before kissing Bailey’s forehead.

“Night, Uncle Owen. Love you,” Bailey whispered as he wrapped his tiny arms around Owen’s neck and hugged him. Owen smiled broadly as he walked out of Bailey’s room. He didn’t get to put the Shepherd kids to bed often, but he always enjoyed it when he had the opportunity.

Owen looked across the hall and found the door to Zola’s room open. He quietly crossed the hall and stopped in the doorway to Zola’s room so that he could witness the interaction between aunt and niece. Neither seemed to be aware of his presence. Zola was sitting in bed, looking up at Amelia who was standing beside the bed. “Will you read me a bedtime story, Auntie Amy?” Zola asked.

Amelia took a deep breath. “It’s very late, Zozo. I meant to get you guys to bed much earlier, but I was in your sister’s room for a lot longer than I should have been. Could you do Auntie Amy a big favor? Do you think you could fall asleep tonight without a bedtime story since it’s so late?” Amelia widened her eyes and tilted her head to the side a bit.

Zola looked at Amelia for a couple seconds before nodding solemnly. “Yeah, I can do that for you, Auntie Amy,” she said seriously.

“Oh, thank you, Zo! You’re my best helper. I always know I can count on you when things get a little crazy.” Amelia pulled the covers up over her niece.

“You’re welcome,” Zola replied as she snuggled down into the covers. “I love you, Auntie Amy.”

“I love you too, Miss Zozo,” Amelia whispered before kissing Zola’s forehead. “Good night.” With one last caress of Zola’s head, Amelia stepped away from the bed and turned toward the door. She was surprised to see Owen standing in the doorway, smiling widely. Owen stepped out of the doorway and into the hall to allow Amelia to exit the room.

As Amelia pulled the door shut behind her, Owen began to speak. “Sorry I stood there so long. I just couldn’t help watching you and Zola. You’re such a good aunt, Amelia. The kids are very lucky to have you.”

“You’re not such a bad uncle,” Amelia teased with a smirk. “Really, though, I’m glad the kids have you in their lives. It’s nice to have a man around every now and then when it’s normally just all of us women taking care of them. They’re lucky to have such a good male role model.”

Owen didn’t say anything in response, choosing to hug her instead. They stood there in the hallway for a few moments, wrapped in each other’s arms and thinking wistfully about how much they loved watching each other with the children. Owen sighed as he let his arms drop from around Amelia and stepped back. “Should we get back to the dinner table?” he asked, looking down at Amelia and tilting his head to the side.

“Yeah, we probably should,” she answered before taking his hand and heading toward the stairs.

[faithambr]

Picture Perfect Day (A completely unrelated modern AU)

(Author’s Note: So after writing my previous one shot, I’ve decided to do a follow up and make it a little bit fluffy. Also, grandkids alert!!!)

It was a warm, yet comfortable night in Ohio. It was the perfect weather to have the air conditioner turned down and the windows propped open. Despite the fact that the night was comfortably warm, the Bjorgman household had their windows propped open and a few ceiling fans going throughout the house. In the household, the young Bjorgman children were busy playing away with their older cousins while the adults were simply enjoying each other’s company. This seems just perfect. Anna had thought as she watched her nieces and nephew playfully interact with the little ones on the living room floor. 

“Haha, stop!” a little boy squealed out while being tickled by Anna’s nephew, Robert. “Stop! Hehehe!”

“Not until you give me back my phone, Clyde.” Robert smirked at the young boy in his arms.

“Never!” Clyde shrieked with laughter.

“Clyde,” a little girl called out while she was playing a princess board game with Savannah and Tammy, “give him back his phone or I’m gonna tell on you!”

“Okay.” Clyde agreed as he quickly pulled out Robert’s phone from his pocket. “Here!”

“Thank you.” Robert sighed in relief while being pulled towards the princess game by another little girl. “Jo Jo were are we going?”

“To the princess game!” Jo Jo exclaimed while she sat down right next to her older sister. “Bella and I want to dress you up as a princess.”

“Oh boy.” Robert rolled his eyes making the little girls smile with excitement. 

  Oh boy is right. Anna thought as she watched her nephew play the princess game with his cousins. 

Anna smiled at the thought of seeing her nephew being dressed up as a beautiful princess by his young cousins. She could tell that both Jo Jo and Bella were having a great time at choosing what necklace for him to wear by the way they were telling him that he’ll look beautiful with it on. Her heart soared from hearing some positive words of encouragement from both Savannah and Tammy. 

“Oh look at him, Mom.” Elsa’s oldest daughter, Eloise, pointed out while sitting on the couch next to her mother and Kristoff’s daughter, Lily. “Look’s like he’s gonna be a princess.”

“Of course.” Elsa tried to hide her laughter. “He sure does look beautiful.”

“Yep.” Lily giggled a bit, secretly thanking her daughters for doing that.

Well they sure do like playing that game. Anna thought as she continued on watching her family hanging out right in front of her. She laughed at every joke that Clyde was trying to pull on Robert and the girls. Her heart warmed up a bit more when she saw both her sister and Eloise carrying on their conversation with Lily. She knew that Lily was enjoying the conversation, due to her smile being so real and genuine. She even saw her niece’s eyes brighten at the idea of going back to college to finish up her degree in Education, just like her mother. 

“Mama Anna,” a small voice called while Anna’s pants were being tugged on, “Mama Anna!”

“What pumpkin?” Anna smiled warmly as she helped the little one into her lap.

“Can I tell you a secret?” the little one whispered as Anna leaned in a bit closer.

“Sure, Jenny.” Anna nodded.

“Papa Kristoff is letting me taste the sauce.” little Jenny let out with a toothy grin. 

“Really?” Anna quickly took a glance over at the kitchen. “That sounds fun.”

“Ya,” Jenny beamed, “Papa Kristoff and Angel told me that they needed my help with cooking.”

“Cool.”

“I know,” Jenny continued with excitement, “I told Mommy and she was excited for me.”

“I bet.”

“Jenny,” Angel called out from the kitchen, “it’s time to taste the sauce.”

“Okay.” Jenny answered as she got off the couch and waddled on over to the kitchen. “Papa Kristoff, I’m ready.”

“I bet you are .” Kristoff teased little Jenny as he held out the wooden spoon for her. “Now remember to blow on it first, then taste it.”

“I know Papa Kristoff.” Jenny smiled as she tasted the sauce. “Yummy, it’s delicious!”

It sure does smell delicious. Anna thought as she watched Kristoff allow Jenny to help out with the cooking. Her heart fluttered as she watched Kristoff teach little Jenny the proper way to stir the pasta in the pot on the stove. She saw the excitement in both of the girls’ eyes as they watched Kristoff dice up some vegetables and pour them into the sauce. 

“Dad was always great with kids.” a voice had interrupted Anna’s thoughts. 

“Yeah,” Anna agreed as Lily sat right next to her on the love seat, “he was always good with kids.”

“Well he did want more,” Lily stated, “but Mary told him that she didn’t want to have a large family.”

“True.”

“Now look at them.” Lily had pointed at her father and daughter at the kitchen stove. “He’s having a great time with his granddaughter while making spaghetti for dinner.”

“Yep.” Anna smiled warmly. “You know you were like that when you were Jenny’s age.”

“Really?” Lily quirks an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Anna laughs a bit, “you would get all excited about helping out with the cooking, when Samuel and Tim were little.”

“Oh I remember,” Lily recalled, “you and Dad would be cooking food together while I was the honorary taste-tester. Of course, Samuel helped out from time to time.”

“Right.”

“But no matter what, you and Dad had always made sure that us kids were taken care of.” Lily stated. “And I thank you for that.”

“Aww.” Anna blushed a bit. “Honey, you’re welcome.”

They continued on watching the scene unfold in the kitchen, until Lily had mentioned something else to Anna. “You know I wish that Leo was here with us.”

“How so?” Anna shifts a bit uncomfortably.

“To at least see the kids.” Lily sighed. “Look I know that he had left me when Jenny was born, but I personally think that he should at least see his kids.”

“I know,” Anna agrees, “but it was his choice to walk out on you.” 

“Yeah,” Lily sighs, “just like Mary, I mean Mom, told me to either move out or take care of it.”

“Honey,” Anna had pulled Lily into a warm embrace, “when you came to your father and had told him what happened, he was upset but he knew that you needed some help. Therefore he opened his doors for you and your little family.”

Lily simply smiled at those words.

“Now look at him.” Anna continued. “He’s enjoying his time with his grandchildren on a regular basis.”

“Well, I guess so Mama.” Lily smiles warmly.

“Hey guys,” Kristoff called out from the kitchen, “come to the table, it’s dinner time.”

“Yay,” Clyde squealed in delight, “Robert you can sit right next to me.”

“Okay.” Robert smiled as he was being pulled to the large dinner table. 

 “Mommy,” Jo Jo pulled at her mother’s arm, “can you sit right next to me?”

“No I want Mommy to sit right next to me.” Bella argued as she pulled on her mother’s other arm. 

“Girls,” Lily said sternly, “you both can sit right next to me.”

“No, I want Mommy to sit right next to me.” Jo Jo snapped as she pushed her older sister away.

“Well I want to sit right next to Mommy, too.” Bella countered back as she shoved her sister away from Lily.

“Girls,” Anna warned as she got up from the love seat, “keep this up and you both will be heading to bed without dinner.”

“Got it?” Lily added while her two daughters had stopped at Mama Anna’s words.

“Yes Mommy and Mama Anna,” the girls chanted back as they walked on over to the table.

“Good,” Anna smiled as she walked on over to her chair at the dinner table, “cause I’m sure hungry for some spaghetti.”

“I know,” Kristoff joked while he placed the large bowl of spaghetti right in the middle of the table, “you’ve been telling me that my cooking is a whole lot better than yours.”

“Yep.” Angel giggled at his words while she sat down right next to her aunt. “Since the last time you’ve cooked, you’ve completely melted the spoon onto the pan and almost set the kitchen on fire.”

“But I didn’t.” Anna rolls her eyes. “Besides the kitchen was in need of an upgrade big time.”

“Right,” Kristoff agrees as he sat down next to Anna at the dinner table, “and from now on I’m in charge of the meal planning in this household.”

“Oh boy.” Elsa tries to conceal a giggle as she looked on over at her sister.

“Now since everyone is at the table,” Kristoff began while he held out his hands for both Anna and little Jenny at each side, “let’s pray over our food.”

“Papa Kristoff,” Bella asked, “can I pray?”

“Sure thing feistypants.” Kristoff grinned.

“Okay,” Bella began as she closed her eyes to pray, “Dear God, thank you for today. Thank you for the food and drinks. Thank you for Auntie Elsa and my cousins here today, Amen.”

“Amen.” everyone else said unison as they began to pass around the food.

“Mommy,” Clyde stated, “I want some juice please.”

“Here baby,” Lily helped pour her son some orange juice into his plastic cup, “now be careful when drinking out of your cup.”

“Yes Mommy.” Clyde smiled as he took a sip from his cup. “Look Papa Kristoff, I’ve got a mustache just like you!”

“Wow,” Kristoff had chuckled at his grandson’s orange juice mustache, “you sure do, buddy.”

“That’s cool.” Robert smirks while giving Clyde a small helping of spaghetti. “Here ya go, Clyde.”

“Thank you.” Clyde grinned at his larger companion.

“You’re welcome.”

“Papa Kristoff,” Jenny squealed in delight, “can I tell you a joke?”

“Sure thing sweetheart,” Kristoff stated, “what’s the joke?”

“Why did the chicken cross the road?” Jenny giggled at her words.

“Well I don’t know.” Kristoff shrugs his shoulders much to his granddaughter’s amusement. “Why did the chicken cross the road?”

“Cause he wanted to get to the other side.” Jenny continued causing her grandfather to laugh whole heartily.

“That’s a good one, Jenny.” Kristoff laughed while making everyone else laugh along. “I liked it alot.”

“It was just a stupid joke.” Bella casually mentioned while she was eating away at her plate full of spaghetti.

“Was not!” Jenny shouted. “Papa Kristoff thought that it was funny!”

“So, it was a stupid joke!”

“No it was not!” Jenny cried out at her oldest sister.

“Yes it was,” Bella snapped back making her baby sister cry, “just like you are, stupid.”

“Bella!” Lily gave her a serious look. “Apologize now!”

“Well you’re a dummy-butt!” Jenny countered back while completely ignoring her mother. “A big dummy-butt!”

“Barf-face!” Bella called out.

“Puke-brains!” Jenny countered back.

“Butt-head!”

“Butt-hole!”

“Enough,” Kristoff snapped making the girls stop in their tracks, “now you two apologize or…”

“You’ll be grounded for a week.” Lily had finished her father’s sentence. “Do you two understand?”

“Yes Mommy.” Bella answered. “I’m sorry for being mean and calling you names, Jenny.”

“It’s okay,” Jenny replied, “and I’m sorry for calling you those mean names, too.”

“I forgive you, too.” Bella had forgiven her baby sister.

“Thank you.” Kristoff remained serious at his two granddaughters. “Now let’s continue on eating our spaghetti.”

“Yes.” Anna held her love’s hand and gently squeezed it. “Thank you for the spaghetti Kristoff.”

“You’re welcome,” her love kissed her on the cheek, “but I couldn’t have done it without the help from Angel and Jenny.”

“Yep.” Angel nods in agreement. “I helped out with pasta, while Jenny did the taste testing on the sauce.”

“And it was a very important job, too.” Jenny smiled at those words.

“In which you did a very good job honey.” Anna had smiled at her youngest grandchild.

“Thank you, Mama Anna.”

“You’re welcome, Jenny.”

It was about 6:30 pm by the time their family dinner was over and everyone had finally retreated back into the family room to settle down for the night. At first Anna and Kristoff were sitting comfortably on the couch, with Angel happily all snuggled up in the middle, until one of the grandchildren had asked if they could watch a Disney movie. 

“Sure why not?” Kristoff shrugged his shoulders as Angel got up from the couch and began to look for some movies. “Why don’t you go on and help out Angel over there, Bella.”

“Okay.” Bella smiled as she went to help out Angel.

“Hmm,” Anna began while she snuggled up into her lover’s embrace, “I wonder what movie are we going to watch tonight?”

“I don’t know.” Kristoff kisses her cheek softly. “Beats me.”

“How about,” Angel began to shuffle through stacks of DVDs, “Tarzan? Or what about Toy Story? Or even…”

“Big Hero Six?” Bella pulls out the DVD.

“I’ve never seen that one before.” Elsa stated as she sat on the love seat with Savannah and Eloise.

“Really?” Clyde’s eyes had widened with excitement. “Can we watch it with you Auntie Elsa?”

“Sure why not.” Elsa had smiled down at her great-nephew, while earning a glare from her own kids. 

“Ah excuse me you four,” Elsa gave them all a serious look, “I’ve never seen this movie and I would like to see it. If you don’t want to watch, well suck it up and just watch the movie.”

“Yes Mom.” they all mumbled as the movie began to play.

“Mom,” Angel called out after she got up from the floor by the T.V., “I’m going to into my room and grab all of the pillows and blankets, is that okay?”

“Go for it, Angel.” Anna yawns while Kristoff grabbed a small blanket just for them to share. “Thank you Kristoff.”

“You’re welcome.” Kristoff murmured into her ears.

As the movie was playing throughout the family room, Kristoff was lost in thought about their family. He smirked at the thought of seeing her only daughter correcting her children’s behavior, just like how he did  all those years ago. He knew that his daughter had grown up into a beautiful woman right before his own eyes, yet he did expect her to overcome so many struggles in her life. From becoming a terrified pregnant teenager to a young single mother with the dream of becoming a mechanic. In the past, she was always getting her hands dirty, much to her mother’s dismay. Her mother, Mary, wanted to Lily to compete in beauty pageants, but as Lily got older she finally told her mother that she would prefer to be a grease monkey over a beauty queen. From then on, Lily continued on being at her father’s side, learning about cars and how to fix them. He smiled at the memories of teaching her how to change the oil, a flat tire, and even check on an engine’s basics. Now she could do all of that, without any problems. 

His heart leaped for joy as he watched the grandchildren laugh at all of the funny scenes in the movie. He knew that they were enjoying themselves along with their older cousins on the living room floor. He chuckled as he watched his grandson Clyde smiling away right next to his cousin Robert, probably even talking all about the superheroes in the movie. His heart fluttered as he watched Angel gently rocking little Jenny to sleep in her arms. 

“Enjoying the view?” a voice had interrupted his thoughts.

“Yeah,” Kristoff smiles warmly down at Anna, “the kids look like they are having a great time.”

“Yeah they sure are. “ Anna snuggles deep into his embrace.

“Okay kids,” Kristoff whispered as he knelt down to their level, “me and Mama Anna are heading to bed. If you need us, we’ll be right down the hallway. Okay?”

“Okay, Kristoff.” Angel yawns while snuggling up with the little ones surrounding her. “Goodnight, I love you.”

“I love you too, hun.” Kristoff smiled while Anna gave her daughter a quick kiss on the cheek.

“S, Dad,” Lily whispered just before she and the others had retreated downstairs to the basement for the night, “um Elsa and I are sleeping in my room, while Elsa’s girls will be sleeping in my girl’s room and Robert will stay in Clyde’s room.”

“Sounds good to me.” Kristoff yawned as he watched his daughter and the other family members head to bed. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

“Say my Reindeer King,” Anna whispered in his ear, “shouldn’t we be getting ourselves to bed, too?”

“Yep.” he agrees, knowing how tired he was. 

“So it looked like the kids had an amazing time tonight.” Anna stated while they both had tip-toed on down to their room.

“They sure did,” Kristoff stated as he opened the door for Anna, “as if they were really excited to see their heroes in real life.”

“Now that’s a picture that I would like to see.” his love chuckles as they began to get themselves ready for bed.

While the old couple was busy getting themselves ready for bed, Anna couldn’t help but gaze at her love’s body right in front of her. Her face had flushed as she watched her Kristoff slowly step out of their shower and began to put on some pajama pants. Her heart had started pounding as she noticed that his own body was looking more rough and sturdier as ever before. His muscles were more well defined, no thanks to all of his years in the automotive industry. His facial features and hair were looking a bit more rugged everyday, yet to most of their friend he’s nothing but a big softie. Anna didn’t even mind of the grey hairs that he had; in fact, she loves them. She loves it whenever he kisses her, his greying mustache and whiskers would brush up against her own skin. She loves it when she sees his old whiskey eyes light up during their conversations about their family and friends. Her heart even soared to the heavens at the thought of seeing where his happy trail was leading, even during those special intimate moments alone. 

“Enjoying the view, Anna?” a voice had interrupted her thoughts, causing Anna to blush deep scarlet.

"Well", Anna bit her lip, "yeah..." 

 "Hey," Kristoff strolled on over to her side, "it's okay for you to look at me that way. Plus I'll have to admit, I do that to you too."

 "Kristoff," Anna brushes him off, "I'm nothing but special."

 "Anna," Kristoff gave her a loving look, "I love the way your hair looks in the morning. Even with the grey hairs in it." 

"Kristoff..." 

 "I love your smile and freckles." he continued as he kisses her cheeks. "I love how your freckles are all over your body. And don't even get me started on those beautiful scars on your stomach." 

"You've told me before," Anna kisses him lightly, "they were just like battle scars left over from my past pregnancies." 

"Yes." 

"Kristoff," Anna giggled as he went to his side of their bed, "for a man of few words, you sure know how to make me feel amazing." 

"Well Mama Bulda would've had my hide," Kristoff grinned while they had settled themselves in bed, "if I didn't treat a woman right." 

"I can actually see that happening." Anna managed to crack a smile at his words while settling into his arms. 

"Yep." Kristoff rolled his eyes. 

"Kristoff," Anna yawned as she nestled close to his side, "thank you for tonight. The kids sure did have fun with their cousins." 

“You're welcome," Kristoff looked down at his piece of heaven, "but I would consider everyday special here." 

"Even if the grand kids are driving us crazy?" Anna asked. 

"Yes even when they are driving us crazy." Kristoff chuckles softly. "Plus those kids are amazing." 

"I know," Anna agrees, "and so is their mother." 

"Right," Kristoff yawns, "say it's getting late. We should get some sleep. Lord knows what those kids are probably going to plan an attack on us in the morning." 

"And my guess is that," Anna sighs just before sleep consumes her, "Angel would take charge and Lily would give them the seal of approval." 

"Probably," Kristoff grinned, "good night Anna. I love you." 

"I love you, too." Anna yawns allowing sleep to take over. "Goodnight." 

From then on, both Anna and Kristoff couldn't wait to create new memories with loved ones. For they habe thought that their memories would always be picture perfect.

[yakumtsaki]

Take your hands off me, I don't belong to you, you see, and take a look at my face for the last time, I never knew you, you never knew me, say hello.. ♪

WAVE GOODBYE. 

WHADDUP PPL. Much like Ronroneo, we’re back from the dead and ready for a whole new generation of Union fuckery. We’re also officially.. drumroll.. MIDDLE CLASS. Our shiny new house is based on this one by frottana-sims​, which I downloaded but dumbassly forgot to install, and since loading the game takes a hot half-hour I opted for this poor recreation instead. We start the extreme home makeover with an incredible budget of..

...Yea, I see the value of getting 6 pets to the top of their careers now. Included in this insane sum is the 20k+ that Wyatt and Jojo brought with them moving in, and at first I’m worried that we’re way too rich for only generation 2. Well, careful what you wish for, cause here’s our post-remodeling budget:

LMAO. It’s as if not a day has passed since Vic started this legacy with a dream in her heart and crap to her name. Let’s check out the new digs!

Everything was purple.. his pills.. his hands.. his foyer. 

As eagle-eyed readers may observe, both the hall and the living room were designed with nothing else in mind but whether they matched our cat paintings. Per legacy rules I use as little cc as possible, which isn’t that hard since I feel this bizarre, angular and hugely impractical couch really encapsulates Jojo’s essence. Like if he was a servant in Beauty and the Beast this would be his furniture form.

Apparently the only things I deemed important enough to capture were the cat portraits, so it looks like my Komeization is finally complete! Here’s some floorplan shots tho so you don’t get disoriented in our labyrinth-like mansion. Please note our amazing pink-blue-purple kitchen! Barbie’s Dreamhouse who??

And here’s the second floor, which also illustrates the exact point I ran out of money. Honestly looking back I don’t understand how the fuck this place cost 70k?? Like nothing is particularly expensive except the amazing vintage batmobile which was around 30-40k and some of the paintings? But I guess all the small things add up in the end + I’m super bad with money..

..and I’m not the only one. Jojo GET A FUCKING GRIP and A JOB. Literally no comment @ your cat wants, you inherited the jaw, wasn’t that enough??? ANYWAY. I know the question on everyone’s mind is how is Wyatt going to fit in with the Unions.. and all I have to say about that..

..is LOL. Truly the perfect career for when your mother-in-law is a criminal mastermind and your husband is a serial killer! I mean the jokes practically write themselves. At least he doesn’t want 10 kids or any shit like that, cause I’ve seen hell and it was the result of mixing Jojo/Wyatt genes in cas.

On top of gifting us with his future-probably-fug children, Wyatt also gives us the gift of our first ever kitchen fire when he decides to make dinner with 1 cooking point. His generosity really knows no bounds.

It’s all fun and games now but Wyatt deadass almost died in the inferno and was about to take poor, stupid Komei with him, who of course ran to the fire even though he was in the yard. Meanwhile Victoria was safely watching tv and didn’t move while Jojo..

..was doing this in the next room. Two types of sims I guess!

-So Wyatt, you’ve been here for almost an hour now, burned down our kitchen and I still don’t see any grandchildren. I thought you were a family sim!

-Haha oh mom, you’re hilarious! Ignore her, Wyatt, let’s enjoy your delicious pasta.. It was definitely worth almost dying for.

-Your mama is right, mon cheri, not only do you have an obligatión to your famille but I rolled the want to have a bébé the second we graduated!

-Well it’s still gonna be there when we aren’t broke, Wyatt, god!

-But.. bébés, mon cheri! Tons of bébés I can have but never interact with, in typical famille sim fashión!

-UGH thanks a lot for opening this gate, mom. If only you had found your love of children when I was living on cat food.

-Well it’s different when they are your children, everyone knows that.

-THAT’S NOT WHY PEOPLE SAY THAT MOM

-Honestly, Jojό, I’m prouder of taking down your répugnant suitόrs than I am of graduating with honors!

-Aww Wyatt <3

-And if I have to souffrir through a childless existence to be with mon amour, so be it (:

-Aw- wait what?!

-Really, c’est bien, Jojό, marriage is all about compromise, nό? I mean, not that I would know since we’re not even married yet!

-Wyatt we’ve been here for 3 hours.

-My point précisément.. C’est bien though!

-Can’t believe I’m saying this but I really regret murdering Ti-Ning. 

That makes two of us, Jo. Honestly even Francis would be better than this. Family sim spouse??? Tf was I thinking. 

Ah, some things never change <3 It’s a new day and someone very special passes by our lot..

UGH NO not you asshole, once again delivering bills at the worst possible time.

-Miss me bitch?? Lolol

ONE OF THESE DAYS DAGMAR. ONE OF THESE DAYS ISTG

No, it’s mismatched beard townie, whose regular outfit is simply iconic, and he’s waving at me! What a sweetheart! TAKE SOME NOTES DAGMAR YOU FROZEN-FACED FREAK

-Umm he’s actually waving at me, moron.

-WRONG, he’s waving at me!

Ok it literally doesn’t matter who he’s waving at. 

-Well c’est moi. 

OK WHATEVER WYATT GOD. Just go off to work in a position you’re criminally unqualified for and try not to die ok??

-Why would I mourir?

Hm let’s see, maybe because you’re a ‘SWAT Team Leader’ straight out of college with a shocking lack of skill points?? Jfc college degrees in this game are so fucking op it’s legit making me resentful of my sims.

In other news, major dicks Sophie and Victor have started constantly beating each other up and the only thing surprising about this development is that it took this long. Honestly these fights are peak #TeamNoOne. Please note Alegra who continues to give 0 fucks @ the bloodshed. What a gal <3

Burning with religious fervor, fundamentalist nutjob Sophie emerges victorious!

-I WALK WITH GOD BITCH

Tears. Literal tears. Victor is the most unbelievable creature I have ever played.

-The rampant violence in this house is a violation of human rights! I AM OUTTA HERE

Literally still cannot believe this happened, like the sheer NERVE is killing me. Victor has started every fight he’s ever been in for an astounding total of 40-50 fights, and as you all know he almost always wins. Like this one was what? The fourth one he lost?? AND YET HE RUNS AWAY LIKE HE’S THE VICTIM I HATE/LOVE HIM SO MUCH

Meanwhile this happens which, of course. Leave it to me to finally get a chance card right for the only sim who doesn’t even deserve the job he currently has.

..Police Chief Wyatt reporting for duty! And crime increased 80% overnight. 

In actual good and not lawsuit-waiting-to happen news, Wyatt brought Amanda, Vic’s only friend/lesbian crush with him! Amanda has the distinct honor of being literally the only non-Union non-Jojo person Vic has ever genuinely liked and hasn’t had an affair with. YET THAT IS.

Man, these are some fat fucking flies. I’m talking 10 plagues of Egypt teas. 

-I KNOW, where the fuck is Komei, what are we paying him for?

-I’m over here honey, talking to my least favorite son for the second time in my life, since apparently he’s sticking around.

-Yes, thanks for requesting a recount of the heir vote, dad. I will remember it when I decide where to scatter your ashes. 

-I TOLD YOU I WANT THEM MIXED WITH THE CAT LITTER 

Ugh Komei, please stop trying to bond with your son and do something productive instead-

-like finally convincing Neo to bang Sophie. She has refused 3 TIMES because there’s a rule I have to earn kittens by suffering. I mean Alegra refusing to procreate with Victor made sense, it was Victor, wtf is Sophie’s excuse? Waiting for marriage?

ABOUT TIME

YAS. CAT GEN 3 ON THE WAY. Human gen 3 will have to wait till I’m in the mood to deal with screaming infants aka it might take a while.

The science career FINALLY SHOWS UP after 5 fucking days, jfc. Love how Wyatt’s dumb ass started as a swat team LEADER but Jojo who has half the skills maxed starts as a science teacher. Also love the idea of Jojo as a teacher in general, I mean just imagine having him teach you science in high school. I would literally drop out.

Jojo returns from work, brings this rando with him and doesn’t get promoted. We can’t all be Wyatt I guess! We’re not completely broke anymore tho so..

It is time.

Gunther, Melody and Max Flexor on one side..

Craig, Brit Brit, Ti-Ning and Daniel on the other. What a bunch of assholes, Craig obviously excluded. Remember him? I invited him because he and Jojo are still semi-friends thinking he wouldn’t show up and yet here he is! What a good guy. 

-It’s at moments like this, watching your high school boyfriend get married.. that you really get to thinking..

Awww.

-..there but for the grace of god go I.

Less awww. You’re not wrong tho, definitely dodged a sociopathic bullet..

..not everyone is that lucky. WE GET IT WYATT YOU’RE CRAZY AND IN LOVE

-Mon bien adoré, I vow to aimer and honόr you and not cheat on you again or at least be more discrete about it <3

-And I vow not to kill you and feed you to the cats for as long as we both shall live <3 

Ah, true love, you guys. 

Too bad half our guests are inside dancing-

-OR HAVING COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE AND UNTIMELY THOUGHTS. TI-NING SERIOUSLY GO TO HELL. I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU HOW DARE YOU

Well at least Vic is excited which is more than I can say for Gunther who is literally LOOKING THE OTHER WAY. 

Time to cut the cake with the sky as our only witness, since everyone has taken a plate from the buffet and fucked off inside. Seriously WORST GUESTS EVER 

Not one to be outdone by his guests’ questionable behavior, Wyatt takes the time to remind us who he really is. 

-And n'est-ce pas forget it!

Despite all the obvious problems, like one of the grooms literally going to sleep, our party score is ‘good time’ which is a truly rare and exciting occurrence. With less than a minute left I’m feeling pretty confident that nothing can ruin this wedding!

Weirdly no one has touched the champagne even though sims in general are obsessed with it?? My best guess is everyone is at a loss for words at having to toast this union and who can blame them tbh. Thankfully Daniel steps up and I find it super sweet because I’ve forgotten that he and Wyatt are mortal enemies and it’s only by chance they haven’t beaten each other up on this instance like they have countless times before.

-Let’s all raise a glass to my beloved brother, Jojo, who generously woke up to attend his own wedding reception! Just one of many examples of his fine, giving character. Too bad he’s committing his life to a complete waste of space adulterous loser like Wyatt, who I’m not even convinced is really french, since his ability to speak and understand english fluctuates according to convenience. Man, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry, but this choice in spouse is just too tragic. Oh well! To Jojo!

NOICE, still a good time. SO CLOSE

AND YET SO FAR. Goddammit do you two mind killing each other on your own time and not literally 10 seconds before our wedding ends??

-DIE WHORE, THIS WILL TEACH YOU TO STEAL MY MAN

-THAT’S MY LINE SLUTBAG

-HA! ZUMBA, BITCH

-Wow, so glad I woke up for this, really got my bloodlust going! 

Indeed a roaring success if there ever was one. I mean how can this night possibly get any better?

.............of course.

Oh nice, I remembered to install an alarm for once! I’m also desperately trying to wake up Wyatt thinking that he’s fucking CHIEF OF POLICE so he might prove useful in this situation..

..especially since we get this cop of a completely untrustworthy Bieber hairstyle. Talk about striking fear in the heart.

Sadly it turns out that Wyatt could not give less of a shit that we’re getting robbed and picks this moment to head for wedding buffet leftovers-

-while Bieber cop prevails! This robber is awesomely named Russ Bear btw and I wish that was my name, sounds like a slavic medieval folkore hero. But I digress. Please prepare yourselves because our first robbery is about to take a dark turn.

-Ehh, you get at a certain level on la force, you just become desensitized to la criminalité..

-Oh don’t worry Wyatt, I totally understand.. I mean I’ve robbed so many houses in my time, I hardly blink anymore..

-So it looks like you and I are not so different after all.. ;)

.............

.....................

............................why. why has the universe chosen me for the greatest suffering the world has ever known. i try and i try but incestuous relationships just keep sprawling like mythical strangler vines. i bet this wouldn’t happen to someone named Russ Bear. fml

[lesfleursfortes-a]

GETTING  TO  KNOW  THE  MUN :

NAME :  Janille NICKNAME :  Jan, Neely, Jay, Satan, the Potato Queen FACECLAIM :   Maddie Hasson PRONOUNS :  she/her HEIGHT :  5′8″ BIRTHDAY :  March 26th AESTHETIC :  Iced mocha lattes, apple cinnamon candles, neon green, any Kelly Clarkson song, overflowing bookshelves, pillow fort in front of a giant TV screen playing Harry Potter LAST  SONG  YOU  LISTENED  TO :  "The Heart of Dixie” by Danielle Bradbery  FAVORITE  MUSE (S)  YOU’VE  WRITTEN :  Felicity Smoak and Maya Hart are honestly my children

GETTING  TO  KNOW  THE  ACCOUNT :

WHAT  INSPIRED  YOU  TO  TAKE  ON  THIS  MUSE :  I chose a multi-muse blog because it was the easiest way to play whoever I want without needing to make a million different blogs.  I have more freedom to switch out muses as I wish, or add more when inspiration strikes.  Each muse has some part of them that I can relate to, and those are the features that I am inspired by.  If I can’t relate to some part of a character, I’m very unlikely to play them. WHAT  ARE  YOUR  FAVORITE  ASPECTS  OF  YOUR  CURRENT  MUSE :  I love Caroline’s optimism, Erica’s loyalty, Felicity’s intelligence, Haley’s kindness, Jo’s perseverance, Maya’s creativity, and Melissa’s determination. WHAT’S  YOUR  BIGGEST  INSPIRATION  WHEN  IT  COMES  TO  WRITING :   A story/plot’s potential is honestly the most inspiring thing to write to.  Even if it takes a while to get there, knowing there’s something REALLY awesome on its way makes me want to write a lot haha FAVORITE  TYPES  OF  THREADS :    I am such an angst queen?  Angst, unresolved tension/feelings, unrequited feelings get me every damn time.  Also things that have been plotted really well and have a lot of development built in are super awesome. BIGGEST  STRUGGLE  IN  REGARDS  TO  YOUR  CURRENT  MUSE :   I think the only real struggle I’ve been finding is getting interactions for certain characters (like Lottie and Haley).  Their fandoms in the roleplaying community are pretty small, and while I love crossovers, not as many people seem to be interested for those particular characters.  More roleplaying partners/more variety in terms of characters to interact with mine sort of falls under this umbrella.

TAGGED  BY :  @hcuntedmuses TAGGING :  @standandfight, @lcvedher, @prcphesiied, @prcttyfangs, @underratcd, @moonoverbourbon, @allroundlostcause, @imnobodysson, @accidentprcne, @hereisthelie

[thesffcorner]

January Wrap Up

January was a great reading month for me; I read 12 books and 2 comics. Weirdly it was also a month of me reading out of my usual zone: I read 3 fantasy books, 1 sci-fi book, 3 urban fantasies, 1 poetry book, 1 contemporary romance, 1 mystery, 1 thriller, and 1 erotic thriller. So without further ado, let’s go from lowest rated to highest:

Corrupt by Penelope Douglas (2 stars):

Corrupt was a book I started in 2018 and finished in 2019. It’s not a book I liked, but I was committed to finishing it (even though it’s 500 pages) for 2 reasons: 1, I wanted to get to the ‘scene’, and 2, I had read 200 pages already and I was too stubborn to quit.

This book is a dual perspective: it follows Erica, a college student who has been in love with her best friend/boyfriend Travis’ older brother her whole life, and Michael, said brother who is a professional basketball player. When Erica was 16 something happened, which sent Michael’s 3 best friends to jail for 3 years; now they are out and plan on exacting their revenge on her, and destroying her life.

Do NOT let the synopsis fool you; this book is not nearly as suspenseful or interesting as it sounds. I have a long-ass rant review on this book, if you want more of my thoughts, but essentially it boils down to this: the characters aren’t actually developed or morally corrupt enough, for the thriller parts to work, and the sex scenes are badly paced and start too far into the book for those who are into this just for the erotica. Throw is some casual homophobia, alpha-male, casually sexist behavior, a passive main character and a basketball player who never plays basketball, and this was the definition of a wasted premise.     

You by Caroline Kepnes (2 stars):

I read You as part of the Biannual bibliothon, but also because I saw that the Netflix show had come out. The first 50 or so pages of this book were very interesting; I really liked the premise and enjoyed Joe’s misanthropic grumpiness. But soon afterwards I found myself mostly bored, and annoyed by all the characters, and like Corrupt before, I thought it was too long, and not thrilling enough for a thriller.

We follow Jo, a man with some trouble with social interaction, who works at a bookstore. When Beck, a pretty young masters student, walks into the bookstore and flirts with him, he begins stalking her in an attempt to become her boyfriend, and we follow his increasingly delusional and even life-threatening attempts to win Beck over.

The main issue I has with this book were the characters; I didn’t like Jo, I didn’t like Peach and I just wanted all of them to choke. I also didn’t find the second person narrative the book dipped into particularly compelling, because I didn’t like or relate to Beck at all; the only thing I enjoyed was NYC, and that one scene on the subway.

Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean (2 stars):

Empress of All Seasons was the first proper fantasy I read this year, and it was a disappointment. I really wanted to love it, and like many of the books in this group it started well enough; it was just too short and unfocused to deliver on its premise.

We follow three characters: Mari, a yokai animal wife, whose only goal in life is to go to the royal palace, defeat the four seasonal rooms and marry the prince, then steal his fortune and escape; Akira, the son of nightmares, Mari’s best friend and a half-human, half-yokai boy who gets involved in a yokai rebellion; and Taro, the prince, who has a strained relationship with his father the emperor, and prefers inventing metal companions, rather than spending time with people.

I think even just saying this synopsis, you will probably realize what the main issue with this book is; there is just too much going on and not enough time for any of it. In comparison with the other fantasy I read this month, this book tried to do too much and failed to deliver on most things, with underdeveloped characters, and a plot that felt like you were sitting on the fast forward button.

Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor (2 stars):

Binti: Home is the second of the novellas in this series, and it also got 2 stars. It suffers from all the same issues as Empress; too many plot threads, not enough time to develop any of it, with the additional issues of having plot threads left from the previous novella that are left hanging, and a much more confused main character.

We follow Binti as she travels back to Earth, so she can complete a pilgrimage that would make her a full Himba woman, as she’s having visions and experiencing bursts of unfounded rage after the events of her arrival at the university. She takes Okwu with her, as an emissary for the Meduse, but very quickly things start going wrong, when she comes into conflict with both the Khoush, her own family and the Desert people and their most sacred god.

My criticism stands; there is just not enough time to properly develop this plot, so things feel rushed and unmotivated. Binti is a character who doesn’t seem to progress; she’s constantly caught in a loop of self-doubt and self-loathing, which isn’t congruent with both her abilities as master harmonizer and her rebellious streak. Okwu gets no development, and the cliffhanger at the end is the only thing keeping me invested in this series.

Emergency Contact by Mary H K Choi (3 stars):

Emergency Contact was a book that I expected I probably won’t like, and I ended up liking, but only parts of. All the issues I had a feeling I would have I did have, and it was only really the humor and the sheer curiosity to see how the book would end was what kept me reading.

We follow a dual perspective between Penelope, a freshman in college who wants to be a writer, and Sam, a boy who wants to be a documentarian. The two meet in the coffee shop where Sam works, and after Sam has a panic attack which he confuses for a heart attack, Penelope helps him and they become each other's emergency contacts.

The parts I liked from this book were mostly to do with the side characters, Penny’s writing class and story, some of the jokes and writing, but what I ended up disliking were the weird passes Penny gets for her horrible behavior, the fact that Sam doesn’t get a conclusion, his entire subplot with his film and his ex, just… a lot of things. I have a more detailed review of this book, which you can read if you want more of my specific thoughts.

Fierce Fairytales by Nikita Gill (3 stars):

This is a poetry collection, that also includes some shorts stories, most if not all based around re-imaginings of fairy tales. There were some poems I liked, some I didn’t care for and some which I disliked. There was one poem and one short story I really loved too. For the most part, a rather average collection.

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (3 stars):

This is the first book is a series, which I originally wasn’t going to read, but I kept hearing about how good these books are, and with the fourth coming out and having to do with the Goblin Market, I figured I’d give it a try.

We follow Nancy, a girl who has just returned from a portal word, and arrives at Eleanor West’s home for Wayward Children, to learn how to cope with being back in the real world. In this school she meets others like her, but when her roommate gets killed and her hands stolen, things start going really wrong at this supposed sanctuary.

This got 3 stars, purely because of the characters. I loved most, if not all of them, and I wanted to learn more about the different worlds, though not necessarily go to the worlds. The mystery of the murderer mostly reminded me of the plot with the basilisk in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and as such I had a lot of issues with the decisions the adults in this book made. Can’t say I liked this book too much, but I am curious to see if maybe I’ll like the series when it focuses on the portal worlds a bit more.

Red Glove by Holly Black (4 stars):

Breaking in form a bit, so I can talk about this series in order. Red Glove is the second in the Curse Workers trilogy, and I really enjoyed it. I’m weird in that I tend to like middle books in a lot of series, and this was no exception.

In this book we follow Cassel trying to cope with the events from the previous book, when the FBI approaches him, after his older brother Phillip has been killed, to tell him that Phillip had become an informant.  This leads Cassel into making a complex web of deceit and cons so he can protect himself and the rest of his family from the feds and the Zacharovs, while also trying not to fail school.

I enjoyed this book more than the first in some aspects, mostly in how much it expands the world and the politics. I continued to love Cassel as a character, and I even cared about his romance with Lila. Solid second book, and probably my favorite in the series.

Black Heart by Holly Black (3 stars):

This was the third and final book, and unfortunately it wasn't as good as the rest. The ending itself was fine, and there were some very interesting plot points and twists I didn’t see coming. But the middle of the book dragged a lot, and what was up until that point a nuanced view of morality, personal responsibility and adulthood, felt a lot more simplified and black or white in this book.

We follow Cassel, who while stalking Lila with Baron, encounters a death worker who performs a hit for Lila, and pulls Cassel in a complicated plot to transform the Governor of New Jersey. There are a lot of threads in this final book, and Cassel has to pull the biggest con of his life if he wants to survive.

The issue, was mostly with the pacing; there is a whole section in the middle where absolutely nothing happens, and we spend so much time on a B plot that serves only to distract Cassel from the Governor Patton business and to get Sam and Daneca out of the ending. This part dragged the book down for me, even though the ending parts were great. I still recommend the series as a whole, and I’m sad there hasn’t been some kind of spin-off with Gage or even Baron’s FBI adventures.

This is Our Story by Ashley Elston (4 stars):

This was the first proper book I read in 2019 and I loved it. It’s a solid mystery with a great atmosphere and a pretty cool twist and a main character I really enjoyed.

We follow Kate, a senior in high school who interns for the DA in a small town in Louisiana. After a rich, private school student named Grant dies in what appears to be a hunting accident, Kate gets sucked into a mystery of who’d done it, because the DA doesn’t seem to think it was an accident.

I really liked this book; apart from the ending which was a bit over-dramatic, everything was well paced, well written and believable. Kate as a protagonist was great, I liked the love interest, the twists that happen and in general I am excited to see what else this author comes out with.

Check, please! Year 1 and Check, please! Year 2 by Ngozi Ukazu (4 stars):

I have read Check, Please! Before, while it was still coming out as a web-comic; I got to the winter break of year 4 and then stopped. I decided to reread the series and catch up, when I saw that the collected volumes of year 1 and 2 were on goodreads. And it was great decision.

This is just such a heartwarming and entertaining series. It follows Bittie, who at the start is a freshman in Samwell College, a Canadian university which is famous for its hockey team. Despite being more of a figure skater, Bittie gets an athletic scholarship to play hockey, and the the comic follows his 4 years on the team, as well as the many adventures of school, competition, love and adulthood.

Year 1 focuses mostly on the team, and Bittie’s struggle with checking; he has a tendency to freeze and even faint as a response to contact. We also see him develop friendships with other teammates, most notably the captain Jack, who has his own host of issues and baggage, being the son of an incredibly famous and well respected hockey player who won the Stanley cup twice.

Year 2 follows Bittie’s love life, as he develops a crush on someone from the team, and all the heartbreak and joy that come from it. It also sees Shitty and Jack graduate and play their very last college hockey season.

If I have to pick, I’d say I like year 2 a bit more than year 1, mostly because it seems both me and Ukazu got a better grasp on the characters and the style of the comic. The art likewise improved immensely, especially in the facial expression department. It’s a great series and I recommend you read it; even if you don’t want to/can’t support the e-book/physical bindup of this series, it’s all available for free on the website.

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden (4 stars):

I had no intention of reading this book, but I saw it was available, and read it. It was a great decision, because this is a fast paced, entertaining horror middle-grade, with some great characters and an excellent atmosphere.

Olivia, or Olie is a 6th grader, who used to be a great student, well loved on the softball and chess team, and well liked by her classmates, but after a traumatic event, she locks in on herself, and spends most of her time alone, reading books. When she sees a woman, trying to throw a book into a creek, she steals the book, and strange and creepy things start happening as she reads; and they all seem to be connected to the book.

This was just a lot of fun. I loved the characters, I really liked the atmosphere and the horror elements; there were some genuinely creepy scenes involving scarecrows, ghosts, haunted houses and corn mazes. The main villain, the Smiling Man was also creepy and clever, even though it was pretty predictable as to who it was, and I enjoyed the way Olie beat him. I’m so glad this will be a series because I can’t wait to read the rest.

The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke (5 stars):

The last book I read in January, and it was my favorite and the only 5 star read.

The Boneless Mercies follows Frey, the leader of a group of 4 girls and one boy who roam the land and perform mercy killings in exchange for money. After being hired to kill a sick child, Frey decides that she can’t go on with the job, and suggests that her group go and kill the Blue Vee Beast; a mysterious monster terrorizing that part of the land. On their journey, the girls encounter witches, magic and death, and Frey comes to realize that a quest for glory may cost more than she’s willing to pay.

I absolutely loved this book. It ticks all of my boxes; a group of competent and interesting female characters; a melancholic tone; a beautiful, gloomy atmosphere; a sense of a land lost to time, a world after the age of heroes has passed; explorations of death, grief, womanhood; romantic subplots. It’s a book told like an epic tale which makes sense since it’s based on Beowulf, and it doesn’t hold any punches; it’s relentless in the tone and the things the girls have to do to survive, things that haunt them even after the end. If you love these types of books, I highly, highly recommend it.

[angrycollectordaze-me-blog]

Paper代写：Children's education in little women

下面为大家整理一篇优秀的paper代写范文- Children's education in little women，供大家参考学习，这篇论文讨论了《小妇人》中的儿童教育。在路易莎·梅·奥尔科特的代表作《小妇人》中，书中体现的教育理念是把儿童看作有独立个体意识的儿童，充分地尊重儿童的主体性，让他们得到健康、全面、和谐的发展。这跟以人为目的，促使人的健康发展，在教育理念中确立人的主体地位，高扬人的主体精神，着重培养的是综合素质和创作能力的素质教育在本质上是一致的。

Louisa may Alcott is an American woman writer. Her masterpiece little women is a classic. The growth and life of the four sisters in little women deeply affects people's hearts. The educational concept embodied in the book is to regard children as children with independent individual consciousness, fully respect children's subjectivity, and let them get healthy, comprehensive and harmonious development. As Mrs March said, "I want my children to be beautiful, capable and kind, to be loved and respected, and to live a good and happy life, free from worry and sorrow." This is in essence consistent with the quality education put forward by China in the 1980s, which is "people-oriented, promotes the healthy development of human beings, establishes the subject status of human beings in the educational concept, advocates the subject spirit of human beings, and focuses on cultivating the comprehensive quality and creative ability of human beings". "Little women" even in more than 100 years later, still has a high reference value. This paper is explored from the following aspects:

Understanding the development process of children is the premise to cultivate their independence. We advocate the cultivation of children's independence, not to encourage them. Children begin to realize the existence of self, and enhance the positive interaction with the surrounding environment, which is the key period to develop children's independence consciousness and ability. At this time, educators should take the initiative to create an environment for children, according to the different ages of children, so that children can complete the task, to develop their independent ability. For example, Meg helps with the housework, takes care of her sister, and tutor children. Jo was taken care of by aunt march; Beth is mainly responsible for washing dishes and tidying up the room. Mrs. March knows that too much demand on a child may lead to frustration and loss of confidence. If the requirements are too low, the value of exercise will be lost, so the little sisters according to the age and personality characteristics to exercise their independence. From the perspective of psychological development, children's various psychological processes and personality characteristics are in constant change, among which some changes are essential and representative in a certain age stage. These essential and representative changes are the age characteristics of the age. Therefore, we see that only by understanding the general law of children's physical and mental development and the actual characteristics of children's age, educators can be targeted to put forward suitable for their children's development level requirements, gradually improve the child's independent ability, enhance the child's independent consciousness.

The key to developing children's independence is to give children the opportunity to face and solve problems by themselves. Children are children after all, they lack experience in getting along with others, their thinking is simple, their feelings are direct, their self-control is limited, and their quarrels are frequent problems. Most of the children don't have to worry when they have an argument. Once Joe was so depressed that he had a quarrel with his good - natured neighbour, Laurie. As is customary in China, parents who see their children in such pain will come to the door to make amends to their neighbors and help resolve their differences. But Mrs. March did not get involved with them. She thought the children should solve their problems by themselves. Later, after some soul-search, Jo wanted to make amends for the quarrel, and invited Laurie to dinner. In many cases, parents may handle problems well instead of children. However, children cannot perceive their own right and wrong, thus losing an opportunity to learn how to deal with problems, and thus failing to develop their ability to solve problems independently.

The cultivation of children's independence is a process of perseverance. In this environment, there is not only a clear self, but more importantly, mutual trust, support and encouragement, which is the true meaning of love as we understand it.

Respect for children, the first to maintain children's sense of self-esteem. The sense of self-respect and dignity is the most precious thing in human subjectivity, the core and cornerstone of basic personality quality, and the driving force for a person to form a sound personality.

The sense of self-esteem is the most sensitive and vulnerable place in children's mind. If educators intentionally or unintentionally violate it, the wound caused to children's mind will sometimes be hard to heal for a lifetime. Therefore, educators should take care to maintain children's sense of self-esteem whenever and wherever possible. So how does the work manifest itself? First of all, take a magnifying glass to find the advantages and advantages of children. All four of the march children had their faults, such as Meg's vanity, Jo's impetuosity, beth's shyness, and Amy's pride and selfishness. But they had no loss of self-esteem and lived happily, contentedly, and lovingly. Why? For Mrs. March valued the children's virtues, such as Meg's sweetness and gentleness, her love of acting, and her ability to write. Joe is lively and lovely, outstanding personality, good at writing, quite talented and creative, has a strong sense of responsibility for the family and society; Beth is beautiful and charming, kind and friendly, loves music, is good at playing, and is kind and selfless. Amy is charming and beautiful, elegant and noble, and loves art. Mrs. March looked at the children's good points and good points with a magnifying glass, so they did not hurt their pride. Therefore, as an educator, must be good at finding the eyes of beauty, hand with a magnifying glass, to find the advantages of children and strengths, in order to take the initiative to cultivate their sense of self-esteem, promote their talent.

Second, to treat children with a common heart to make mistakes. Making mistakes is often one of the important reasons why children lose their sense of self-esteem. Thus, when children make mistakes, educators need to help them recognize them without making a fuss and still be careful to maintain their self-esteem. Once, because of her pettishness, Amy set fire to a fairy tale written by Jo. It was her own work, and Jo swore that she would never forgive Amy again. Jo and Laurie go skating. Amy wants Jo to teach her, but Jo gives her the cold shoulder. Amy falls into the ice and almost dies. Jo was too contrite to accept herself, and remorseful of her coldness and bad temper, which had nearly killed Amy. Then Mrs. March said piteously to Jo, "don't cry. Just remember this day and make up your mind that it won't happen again. Joe, my dear, you think you have the worst temper in the world, but so did I. I've been trying to get over it all these years, just with a little self-control. Mrs. March's understanding and trust soothed Jo's bitter remorse and made her accept herself again. Her approach not only educates children, but also maintains their self-esteem.

The germination of self-esteem in early childhood is the foundation for the formation of self-esteem in later adult life. In the formation and development of self-esteem, educators play an important role in educating and influencing children.

Cultivating children's good personality quality is a crucial work, for a person's growth and talent has a very important role, it is not only the guarantee of the healthy growth of children, but also children to adapt to the internal needs of society. Love is a virtue, for children, educators should let children feel love at the same time to teach them to contribute to love, and then cultivate children's excellent quality. On the morning of Christmas day, under the guidance of their mother, the children gave the Christmas breakfast to a poor family, and made fire and cleaned for the family. They forsook their sweet breakfasts, and left merrily, a little bread and milk on Christmas morning, but there was not a joker in the town than the four of them. Because they get happiness and joy in the process of caring and helping others. For example, Jo reached out to Laurie out of sympathy for his loneliness and loneliness, Laurie's kindness and generosity, and beth's love for others before her. While they know how to show love for others, they are also loved by everyone. When such a child grows up, he is sure to be highly respected.

It is very important to cultivate children's sense of responsibility and cultivate their good personality. The sense of responsibility is developed in practice, so it is necessary to entrust each child with appropriate work tasks and roles, so that they can assume certain responsibilities in class and family, and bear the responsibilities in collective activities and social work. A sense of responsibility for small things is often the basis for a sense of responsibility for big things. Educators can develop children's sense of responsibility through the little things in life. The little sisters raise birds at home, provide birds with food and drink every day, but also accompany birds to play and chat. The little sisters are responsible for the bird, so the bird also brought them a lot of joy. But after a period of time due to the negligence of the children, the bird starved to death. At the same time, they began to understand the responsibility they shouldered. They should be responsible for the bird, for themselves and for others. Therefore, educators should start from every detail of life to consciously cultivate children, so that gradually become caring, compassionate, responsible children, children into the future to lay a good foundation for the society.

To sum up, we can see that little women presents us with scientific educational concepts in simple and simple language, and shows us how to cultivate children's independent ability, maintain children's sense of self-esteem, shape children's good quality and so on. It can be said that little women has practical reference significance and reference value for the current quality education in China. Quality-oriented education should aim at cultivating well-rounded talents. The implementation of quality-oriented education to achieve the desired goal, the first should start from children's education. So we each educator, the children should be regarded as independent consciousness of main body, as the hope of the future, if you really respect, care, understanding and trust every child, pay attention to cultivate children's independent ability, self-esteem, good quality, to constantly improve their personality, their quality and ability can obtain the comprehensive development and improvement.

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[megangow]

Community Engagement

Community Led Animal Welfare (CLAW)

 During the semester break; a group of us went to Community Led Animal Welfare (CLAW) to do our community engagement. Unfortunately we were unable to assist as we were informed most of the staff were on leave for the Easter holidays, which meant that there was nobody to allocate any work to us, however, we were allowed to play with animals and met lots of animals in need of basic affection. CLAW is a well-supported organisation; they receive donations and help from the surrounding community as well as all over Johannesburg. They have a veterinarian that performs surgeries at either a low cost or no cost and their help does not stop there, they assist the community in which they operate by providing low-cost veterinary care. For example, a young boy walked kilometers just so his sick dog could be tended to and CLAW did not hesitate to help. It is an animal welfare organisation that prioritises the needs of the animals and not the need for a good reputation or profit, which, in my opinion is difficult and rare to find. Upon arrival the centre looks extremely run-down and in a dangerous part of Roodeport, even the building seemed depressing. I hate seeing animals suffer, thus, I was nervous as to what I would find upon entering. As I walked in, a friendly staff member greeted us and we were welcomed in. We were informed that we could play with the dogs but due to the Easter holidays; there was nobody to allocate any work to us but we were more than welcome to just play with the dogs and come back another time. After about an hour of playing with the dogs it became clear to me that those animals have a lot of support from the surrounding community with regards to tangible donations but, these animals do not have the much-needed privilege that my pets have, affection. There was sand everywhere, not many trees, plastic sandpit-shells filled with food, some dogs lying by the building looking depressed and some dogs had to be locked up, it was heartwarming to know that these animals had been rescued and taken care of but at the same time it was heartbreaking because we could not take all of them home with us and provide them with love which is what they so desperately crave. We were fortunate enough to see five Greyhounds that had recently been surrendered but could not play with them, as they were high risk, we saw puppies and played with numerous dogs who we jokingly began to name. We made plans to return for our community engagement and as much as I will admit I was not looking forward to it I am so glad I went and I cannot wait to go back because just giving some form of affection to the animals made them happy and it changed their day. It made me realise that my pets are well looked after and very spoiled which made the community engagement an enlightening experience because things that I do for my pets on a daily basis these animals are denied because they have been neglected or abused which is heartbreaking because they are helpless and they do not understand why what they have been through has happened to them, thus, it was a great experience to get to spend a day with them. We have asked for permission to assist the centre and are in the process of making arrangements. I would like to continue going back after my community engagement hours are done to help where needed by even just providing the animals with some affection and much needed love. We thought of possibly having a bake sale to raise money for the centre as it is an organisation very close to our hearts. It was an enlightening experience and I am glad I decided to look past the depressing-looking buildings and make a difference in the animals’ day; I cannot wait to go back.

    Benoni Community Group

Given that our plans to go back to CLAW did not work out the way we had hoped, the Cat Club and I decided to do some good for our human community. Thomas did some research and found the Benoni Community Group. We got in touch with the community leader, Jo and made plans with her to go and help out on Friday, the 5th of May, it was disconcerting because we had no idea what to expect and I was not looking forward to the drive! I managed to go through my cupboard and gather up all of my old clothes – this was mutually beneficial because my cupboard needed a cleanout and I knew that my old clothes could bring a lot of people joy and keep them warm this winter. We got up very early on the Friday, which was very difficult for me because I had hardly slept that week and I had a Business Management test in the afternoon. We got to Jo’s house where we helped prepare food parcels, in preparing these food parcels I learnt more about what it is like to truly struggle financially as food has become fiercely expensive, even tin foods – it was humbling because most university students complain about their limited budget but are fortunate in that their parents would not let them go hungry. Upon completing the food parcels we transported them to the Daveyton Orphanage. Once we got to the orphanage, I was speechless at how the people were living and the children were living my worst childhood fear, they had nobody and all they craved was not toys or clothes, but affection and genuine care. We distributed the food parcels and interacted with some of the people and children. It was an extremely humbling experience because even though I knew people lived in bad conditions, it was even harder to face the reality of it with my own eyes. Unfortunately we could not take any photos as we were advised not to take our valuables with – I was kind of grateful for this as I do not think I would have taken photos as it would have felt like I was just documenting their lives for my own benefit and it felt good to just help out, I can only hope that I changed their lives as much as they changed mine because despite the poverty, the people were all so happy and did not stop smiling. We had to leave by two-o’clock as Lubzy and I had a test to write. The experience was a good experience; if I am honest it did make me somewhat emotional because it is hard to see the poor living conditions but, it made me realise how much I actually have and not just in the form of tangible assets. I would love to go back and help out again, it was an experience that keeps you grounded.

 Overall I enjoyed the community engagement we partook in, as they were humbling experiences. It is amazing to see that a small act of kindness can make such a difference to a person’s life. I think it is important to do community engagement as it makes you realise what the truly important things are in life. I will definitely be partaking in more community engagement activities as I thoroughly enjoyed making a difference in the lives of others but I realised that both the animals and the people made more of a difference in my life than I made in theirs.