#and to constantly have to know where the three closest bathrooms are bc if my stomach starts bubbling i have Minutes to find one

[magnus-and-the-dragon]

today is one of those days that i am acutely aware how fucking limited i am by anxiety and ibs and it’s just so FRUSTRATING

[fincalinde]

random question friday: what sport do you think lxc would play?

Random question Friday I answer several Tuesdays later! This fox cannot be tamed.

So lucky for you this happens to be a subject near to my heart and those closest to me are at dire risk of having it outlined to them at any given moment that LXC is without a doubt a tennis player. Here are my reasons three:

Tennis is a sport associated with wealth and social status. It has traditionally been a sport of the middle classes and above, which I have been informed is also true in China and is one of the reasons for the tennis boom there in recent years. As the leader of a prestigious clan, LXC is at the pinnacle of his society and in a modern AU would therefore participate in such sports.

Tennis requires extraordinary mental discipline. When you're on the singles court you have to solve your own problems and your own mental strength is vital because there's no team playing around you and every single point counts. That mental discipline is not a million miles from the kind of discipline required to become a truly powerful cultivator making maximum use of their talent.

Sexy Wimbledon whites.

I happen to love tennis so I'm aware I have a shocking bias, but I think it's just two keen interests I have happening to fit together surprisingly well.

As a bonus, this is my opinion on professional playing styles for the tennis AU I will never write but have bored on about privately for the past three years:

LXC - your classic elegant all court player, the most powerful one-handed backhand on the tour, as much as he enjoys singles in his heart of hearts he never has more fun than when he's playing doubles with a good partner

JGY - counterpuncher, scrambles like you would not believe, literally never knows when he is beaten and has pulled out more wins from match point down than any other player, has a completely undeserved reputation for gamesmanship via taking bathroom breaks and medical timeouts as a strategy (EVERYONE DOES IT)

LWJ - technically an all court player but drifts into pusher territory a little too often because he likes to hit perfect shots until his opponent makes a mistake - however when he does step up to play offensively, beware

WWX - loses points he should win because he's hitting tweeners for the lolz, gets seriously injured playing doubles with JC and changes his playing style drastically to shorten points, becomes serve and volley king and still hits tweeners and underarm serves whenever he wants, literally the worst doubles player known to man

JC - offensive baseliner constantly being berated by his mother (coach) to COME TO THE NET and can never volley as well as WWX does, hugely outstrips WWX in ranking after the Incident and is constantly paranoid that without said injury WWX would always have beaten/outranked him

NMJ - servebot, breaks rackets on court, has been defaulted from matches for rage hitting balls, is the toughest prospect out there on grass and hugely respected for it, retires early due to health and becomes his brother's very ineffective coach

NHS - defensive baseliner bc that's the farthest position from the balls shooting at him at 200kmph, hasn't even cracked the top 200 and all his tour-related costs are covered by NMJ, has won a couple of doubles titles where NMJ did all the work, still somehow makes more in endorsement deals than most of the rest of the cast put together

[ddaenggtan]

forever rain | knj - teaser

Being dead isn't anything exciting. Just a lot of walking the same halls of the same apartment day after day after day. Things change when the new tennant arrives, though. Kim Namjoon isn't anything you could have expected; not the way he's so careful and gentle with his plants because he breaks so many other things, not the way his friends joke that he's psychic because you refuse to let him get in the face one time, and certainly not the way he comes home after literal months spent moving things away from table edges for him and announces that he knows he's being haunted and he has some questions for you. You didn't know ghosts could fall in love, but he makes you feel alive again, like you're standing in the rain while thunder crashes around you. You should've known nothing good would come of falling in love with someone living, though. You should've known that heartbreak was the only way this could end...that the rain doesn't last forever. 

part of the Love Yourself Collab, please please please go check out the other fics. Everyone involved is so freaking talented and I have been vibrating out of my skin with how excited I’ve been to read all of these. 

pairing | kim namjoon x reader (unspecified gender, even!)

genre/warnings | ghost!reader, slight fluff, there are a lot more for the actual fic so definitely read those when it comes out, i’m not kidding i definitely want you to come and yell at me in my ask when you finish it, but pls don’t send things about what happens bc ur mad about it bc u didn’t read the warnings, y’all are a smart bunch but i know firsthand how skipping warnings can punch u in the gut so just,,,,,,,read the warnings on the full fic lmao

a/n | this is just a teaser for the full fic which is gonna post,,,,,,,,,,,,at some point lmao who knows i haven’t actually decided yet!!! yay me!!!! hahahaha stress!! it’ll definitely go up on my ao3 as well, so if you have alerts on for me there, you’ll get notified that way! for now, have this! and don’t kill me when the rest comes out!!

The creak of the front door pulls you from your thoughts, and the echo of a voice makes you narrow your eyes. Your first instinct is to slam some windows to scare off whoever's in your apartment, but you repress the urge. You'd die of boredom if you could die again, and whoever this is could provide a few hours' entertainment at the least.

You pop your head through the bathroom wall to see what's going on, and wow, who let an actual giant into your apartment? Fucking with the pipes could definitely wait for this guy.

"I know it's last minute, yeah," He says into the phone that's held carefully between his cheek and shoulder. His arms are loaded down with boxes and he's angled away from you just enough that you can't see his face, but he's tall and broad and wearing what looks like the world's comfiest sweater, and you want to badly to wrap yourself up in him. "But you know Joon needs the help. Don't pretend you aren't constantly willing to put off your thesis, I know for a fact that you went out to look at stationery with Tae last week, and everyone knows that's the most boring thing on the planet."

He's quiet, listening to the soft crackle of a voice from the other end. You slide through the wall completely, hovering as close as you dare to try and hear what the other person is saying. Tall, Broad, and Comfy scoffs.

"He can stare at one sheet of paper for at least ten minutes, Yoongi. Do I need to remind you of the time he spent an entire fucking hour debating which set of holiday scrapbook to buy because, and I quote, 'this one has the really nice rose pattern on it that would look great with the invitations, but, oh, look at the pinstripes in this one!'" His voice morphs into what you guess is an approximation of whoever Tae is, and you laugh at the high-pitched, nasally tone.

Tall and Broad spins, eyes narrowing as he looks around the room, and fuck, he's literally gorgeous. You've never seen someone more attractive in your life or your death and it would probably knock the wind out of you if you actually had breath. Comfy McGorgeous turns back around and sets the stack of boxes in the corner, continuing his tirade about Tae and stationery while simultaneously trying to talk Yoongi into coming, you assume, to help Joon move. You don't know who any of these people are, but they're already proving to be the most entertaining bunch that's ever graced these walls.

The door to your apartment flies open, making both you and Boyfriend Material whip your head around.

"Christ, Jin, you couldn't hold the fucking door open for us?" Someone grunts. Beauty Von Softness - or, Jin, as you should probably refer to him - winces and strides over to do just that as two more guys stagger in with a couch suspended between them. The second they're in the door they drop it to the ground and flop onto it, panting and sweaty.

"Listen, I was busy trying to get our resident hermit out of his cave to help us carry some of this shit," Jin spits back. "And you all know what it's like getting him out and about."

"Did you tell him that there's pizza after we're done? Because I've found that food is the best motivator for him," the guy closest to the door says. His hair is soft-looking and long and you wish you could pet it.

The other guy, the one who cursed Jin out and has the softest pink hair you've ever seen, laughs. "Jeongguk, you always think the best motivator is food."

"Well, yeah, because it is."

"For you, maybe. Other people require actual rewards."

"But food is a reward," Jeongguk mutters into the fabric of the couch. Jin tsks and smacks As Yet Unnamed on the back of the head.

"You're lucky I hung up on him when you bombarded your way into this place, or he'd definitely not come help us," Jin says as he leans against the back of the couch.

Unnamed starts to say something else but is cut off by someone running straight into the end of the couch. They all shoot to their feet, spouting apologies as the three of them maneuver the couch into the apartment properly.

"Sorry, sorry, Jimin distracted us from properly finishing our job," Jeongguk says quickly. He looks to the stranger with a small apologetic smile, and you're pretty sure if it were humanly possible, there would be actual literal stars in his eyes.

"Oh, it's okay, Jeonggukkie. I should've been looking where I was going." New Challenger walks straight towards where you stand, and you realize seconds before it's too late that he is not aware there is a massive stack of boxes in his path. Instinctively, you shove them to the side with your foot. Tall And Oblivious sets his boxes down without any trouble, none the wiser about any of it, and the three near the couch are too busy bickering in hushed whispers to have noticed you doing anything.

The newcomer straightens and turns to look at them all with a bright smile, and you think you might actually see The Light in the way his cheeks dimple. If you thought the other three were beautiful - which they are, no doubt about that, you're seriously wondering why the hell a bunch of supermodels are moving stuff into your apartment - then this guy is easily an Actual Fucking God or something. His brown hair is soft and shiny, his smile is warmer than the sun, and you're fairly positive that for the first time since you died, you feel goosebumps along your arms.

"Seriously, Namjoon, we should've realized you'd be up soon. You stay, start unpacking while we go get the rest of the furniture." Jimin shoves Jeongguk out the door while he's speaking, ignoring the taller's complaints, and Jin just shakes his head at the sight.

"Yoongi'll be here soon, he's finishing up another draft of his thesis. Hobi and Tae are stopping to get the pizzas and then they'll be here, too." Jin's voice is calmer than it was Jimin and Jeongguk, more soothing, and it makes you curious. Not only because of the tone change, but because you know Hobi, he owns the building and is the one who rented you the apartment when you first moved in. One of your favorite things to do is scare him when he comes by to make sure everything’s ready for a viewing.

"What? No, I said I was gonna pay for pizzas!" Namjoon looks distinctly more upset about this than someone should over not having to pay for pizza, at least in your mind, and it only makes you more curious.

"Yeah, but you also just moved out of your old apartment because it was too expensive, and had like an hour to load everything into a truck, so you're gonna let their trust fund asses pay for pizzas. We're seven adult men, and Guk could eat an entire horse and still be hungry. I'm not letting you pay for that."

Silence hangs in the apartment for a while before Namjoon gives a soft thanks to Jin. They share a smile before Jin makes his way back out. You follow each step, shadowing him all the way to the door before you're stopped. You lean your entire body forward, struggling against the invisible barrier keeping you inside, and the force of it nearly slams you back into the wall when you sag in defeat.

You aren't sure why you try anymore, but you know yourself well enough to admit that you're not going to stop until you can at least make it to the hallway.

[plastic--hearts]

twelve days

day fifteen of ‘one day, one fic - september’ prompt: you have fire powers and i have ice powers and one day you save my ass and even though we’re supposed to be rivals, you’re actually really really cute and warm can i just stay in your arms forever bc i am perpetually cold pairing: socky word count: 2213 note: writing this fic proved to me that I can’t write superhero stories, so humans just casually have powers in this au, nbd.

Sanha hated him. He hated him so much. He didn’t understand why Bin seemed to like him as much as he did. Was it because they could both manipulate fire? If that was the case, it was a dumb reason.

This was why Sanha was walking just a little bit faster, leaving the two of them behind. He didn’t want to stand next to him, he didn’t even want to breathe the same air as Minhyuk.

Minhyuk was just a jerk, for lack of a better word. He was standoffish and constantly annoyed by Sanha. No matter how much Sanha had tried, they could never keep a conversation going between them. And so, after a while of trying in vain, he gave up and decided that it would just be easier to hate Minhyuk than to try and befriend him.

And yet, Bin still got the three of them to hang out together. Sanha tried to understand why Bin thought that was a good idea, he really did. All Minhyuk brought was a damper to the mood. It was obvious that he didn’t want to be there, just as much as-

“Watch out!”

Everything happened so fast, Sanha’s brain barely had time to process it. He had just been walking down the sidewalk, and all he knew now was that he had a pair of arms wrapped around him and that a black car was zooming past on the street in front of him, the driver yelling something out of the window.

He leaned back slightly into the touch for reassurance, figuring that it was Bin since the person was so warm. Sanha was perpetually cold due to having ice powers, so sometimes he liked to cuddle up against Bin - on the days he’d let him, of course.

“Watch out, Sanha,” Minhyuk’s voice murmured, entirely too close to his ear.

He sprung out of the hold and turned to see Minhyuk behind him and not Bin, and he visibly winced. “Oh. Thanks.”

Minhyuk scoffed. “Wow, nice way to thank someone who saved your life.”

“What do you want me to say?” Sanha rolled his eyes, turning forward again. “Thank you. Let’s go.”

He heard Bin mutter something, but didn’t pay attention to it. Whatever it was, it probably wasn’t important.

--

“I’m not going to be eternally devoted to you for pulling me away from a speeding car,” Sanha stated plainly, crossing his arms as he stared at Minhyuk who was sitting across the table from him.

“Don’t cause a scene,” Bin hissed from beside Minhyuk. “We’re in a restaurant.”

“I don’t want your eternal devotion, god no,” Minhyuk then replied, ignoring Bin. “One favour.”

“I won’t cook for you, nor will I clean.”

“I don’t want to be poisoned.” Minhyuk rolled his eyes, leaning forward slightly. “Walk Totoro for two weeks.”

Sanha groaned. “I still can’t believe you called your tiny dog Totoro.”

“Are you going to do it or should I come up with something harder?”

“I’ll do it,” Sanha sighed. “I’ll do it.”

--

“She’s a hound from hell,” Sanha muttered to Minhyuk after the first time he walked Totoro. He shoved her leash into Minhyuk’s hands before promptly turning on his heels and exiting his apartment.

The following time, Minhyuk invited him in for a glass of water or a snack which, despite his growling stomach, he promptly refused.

On the third day, however, he reluctantly agreed to enter Minhyuk’s apartment. Before this week, he had never been in Minhyuk’s apartment, always opting to wait outside when Bin would swing by to pick him up. He was pleasantly surprised, though, at how neat it was. Minhyuk seemed to be very organised, which wasn’t something Sanha would’ve guessed. The front door let into the living room where resided an old, maroon couch which clashed heavily with the modern-looking round armchair to its left. In the corner of the room was a clear plastic storage box, filled with what appeared to be blankets, with two colourful bed pillows resting on top. To the right of the couch was a counter with three stools, separating the living room from the kitchen. On the wall behind the armchair were a couple doors, which Sanha figured led a bathroom and a bedroom.

He followed Minhyuk to the counter, taking a seat at it while Minhyuk walked past it into the kitchen.

“I have iced tea,” he said, peering into his fridge.

If he had been facing him, Sanha would've glared. “Just because I can manipulate ice doesn't mean I want iced tea.”

Minhyuk groaned, closing the fridge door. “Not what I meant. For that, I'm giving you water.”

--

The fifth day brought a revelation.

“You sleep on your couch?” Sanha was baffled. Minhyuk worked pretty hard at his dance studio, he should be able to afford a proper apartment.

Minhyuk shrugged, making himself comfortable on the armchair. Beside him, propped precariously on the windowsill, was a little fan blowing in his direction. “It opens up into a bed. We don’t really need more space than this.”

“We?”

He gestured to the dog lying on the carpet at his feet. “The two of us.”

Sanha scoffed. To think he was beginning to feel bad for Minhyuk.

--

Day six, and Sanha was already tired of their arrangement.

“My other idea would've been way worse,” Minhyuk told him when he complained, falling onto the couch beside him. “You should be thankful.”

Sanha flicked his fingers at him lazily, sending a flurry of snowflakes his way. Minhyuk opened his palm to receive them and the two watched as the snowflakes melted away and even fizzled a little before they even touched his palm.

“How cute,” Minhyuk commented, eyes meeting Sanha’s. “I guess your powers are fitting.”

Sanha most definitely did not blush at Minhyuk’s indirect compliment. Definitely not.

--

On the ninth day, Sanha came to the bitter conclusion that he liked sitting beside Minhyuk. He liked the way heat radiated off of the other, warming the frozen tips of his fingers and easing his muscles. It was a warmth similar to Bin’s, but not quite the exact same. Bin’s skin was always burning to the touch, whereas Minhyuk seemed to be more conscious and in control of it, which intrigued Sanha - although he would never admit it.

When he left Minhyuk that evening, he almost wanted to hug him, just to see what it would feel like.

--

He partially found out what it felt like on the tenth day, but no thanks to him. Minhyuk was the one to initiate it tentatively, wrapping an arm around Sanha in an awkward side hug and squeezing before releasing him quickly.

“Thanks for walking her,” he mumbled, eyes not meeting Sanha’s.

He almost looked unsure - but Sanha knew Minhyuk better than that, and Minhyuk oozed confidence with everything he did. It couldn't be uncertainty.

As Sanha left the apartment and made his way down the stairs, he was still wondering what it would be like to hug Minhyuk.

With a moment of reflection, he also wondered where his hatred went.

--

On the twelfth day, Sanha was acutely aware that his task would soon be ending. Deep down, he didn't want it to end, but the second he acknowledged those feelings, this whole thing would be game over.

He was glad to be done with the dog walking. He was looking forward to spending his evenings at home, catching up on dramas or doing some last-minute schoolwork.

But when he got back to Minhyuk’s after the 20 minute walk and crashed on his couch, all his will to fight was out the window.

He liked Minhyuk’s company. It appeared that, without Bin, Minhyuk was soft-spoken and gentle, and actually pretty funny - it was crazy to think that Sanha had found him standoffish.

“Whatcha watching?” Sanha asked, eyeing the tv cautiously.

“Some cheesy horror movie,” Minhyuk replied, eyes flickering from the tv to Sanha and back.

“Oh.” Sanha didn’t want to watch it. He was terrified of horror movies: when Bin had put one on, a few weeks ago, he fled at the sight of the creepy house itself and didn’t leave his room until he was certain that it was over.

However, he didn’t want to leave Minhyuk, nor did he want the brunet to see that he was scared.

So, he stayed, whimpering whenever one of the characters opened the basement door or when they called out “Who’s there?” a little too loud.

“Come here,” Minhyuk finally murmured, lifting the arm closest to Sanha. When the pink haired boy didn’t move, he rolled his eyes. “I know you’re scared, Sanha. Come on, I won’t bite, promise.”

After a moment of consideration, Sanha gave in, moving closer and letting Minhyuk drape an arm around his shoulders. He sighed softly but happily at the warmth the other boy emanated, subconsciously leaning in closer.

The two of them kept watching the movies in relative silence until a face appeared on the screen out of nowhere, startling Sanha. He quickly burrowed his face against Minhyuk’s neck, feeling him chuckle softly and then wrap both his arms around him.

Sanha breathed out softly, not wanting to pull away from the embrace. His skin was tingling as Minhyuk ran his fingers gently through his hair in an attempt to make him feel safe. He closed his eyes, focusing on the feeling.

The next thing he knew, he was being shaken awake my gentle, warm hands. He blinked reluctantly and opened his eyes to see Minhyuk looking down at him, an amused smile on his face.

“The movie's over, Sanha,” he said softly.

Sanha yawned, rubbed his eyes, then moved out of Minhyuk's arms in order to stretch out his long limbs. “Alright,” Sanha murmured, yawning again. “I'll be off.”

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” Minhyuk asked, ignoring Sanha's statement. He stood up and stretched as well, then turned off the small tv before turning back to Sanha with raised eyebrows.

Sanha simply looked at Minhyuk, his brain taking a moment to process the words. “Uh, yeah, sure,” he finally replied, whining a bit when the other boy laughed at him.

“Alright, stay there, I'll bring you something.” And with that, he walked the short distance around the counter and into the kitchen, Totoro following eagerly behind him.

Sanha yawned again and stood up in an attempt to wake himself up but immediately plopped back down on the armchair. He pulled his legs up to his chest and closed his eyes again.

“Sanha, I can see you, you know,” Minhyuk called out, causing him to open one eye.

“I'm tired,” he mumbled, closing his eye and turning his head into a more comfortable position. Within minutes, he was asleep again.

When Minhyuk woke him up for the second time and shoved a set of clothes in his hands, he was too tired to argue otherwise. He dragged himself to the bathroom and changed into the clothes, chuckling a little at the pyjama pants that were a little too short on him. When he stepped out of the bathroom, he saw that Minhyuk had opened up the couch and made it, and was currently setting some sheets down on the floor. Sanha just stood there, unsure of what to do.

“You can get in bed, you know,” Minhyuk said when he looked up and found Sanha still standing by the bathroom. “I'm taking the floor.”

Sanha shook his head. “I'll take the floor. I'm not even supposed to be here.”

Minhyuk smiled and shook his head as well. “I'm okay. I have Totoro. You sleep now.”

“Yes, mum,” Sanha murmured, earning himself a laugh. He climbed onto the bed and lay down, pulling the blankets tight around him as his eyes followed Minhyuk around the room. He watched him click the light off, then closed his eyes, wishing him a good night.

However, Minhyuk's blankets were much thinner than the ones he had at home, so it took Sanha no time at all to start shivering. He pulled the blankets up closer, tucking his hands between his legs and curling up on himself, but it was all to no avail.

Finally, he bit the bullet. “Minhyuk?”

He heard a grunt, followed by a soft, “yeah?” accompanied by the sound of sheets rustling.

“Can- Would you- Do you have another blanket?”

Silence befell them for a moment before Minhyuk answered, “No, I'm sorry... Are you cold?”

Sanha hummed. “Yeah, a little.”

Minhyuk didn't say anything else, but Sanha heard some more rustling and then felt the bed dip beside him. He felt the sheets being tugged out from where he had tucked them under him, just barely able to make out Minhyuk's shape in the dim light. A moment later, Minhyuk settled beside him. “Is this okay?” he murmured.

Sanha nodded, before quickly replying verbally when he realised Minhyuk couldn't see him. “Yeah.” He could feel the heat radiating off of the boy, which was already enough to make him feel more at ease. When he was certain that Minhyuk had fallen back asleep, he inched closer until he was just barely touching the boy before letting himself be lulled to sleep by the buzz of the city below him.

[lostmagic]

is Ellie old enough to get a fic written about her? bc that'd be cute. maybe a bonding fic with her and one of her siblings or the Minkus kids?

(so I kind of changed the prompt a little and decided to write about Ellie’s relationship with each of the kids, but I like the way it turned out.)

Being the youngest in the family is hard, but being the youngest in a family of five plus and extended family of seven is even harder. When Ellie was first born, the kids were all ecstatic to have a new baby around. A few months of diaper duty and spit up later and they were over it.

**********

Lottie had always been the closest with Ellie because of being Maya’s little helper. Due to the smallest age gap between the two of them along with the shared interests, it was much easier for the two of them to bond over tea parties and dress up games. As the two got older, their bond remained strong. Lottie made sure to watch every episode of that new princess show with Ellie everyday after school and even introduced Ellie to the wonders of Tangled! Their shared love for Rapunzel ensured for many entertaining games and Ellie loved having such a cool big sister to play with.

**********

No one really knew how close Austin and Ellie were but them, to be honest. Growing up with a twin sister had been annoying at times, but it made bonding with a younger one much easier. Austin spent a lot of time teaching Ellie to ride a scooter, but Ellie spent an equal amount of time playing with her makeup on Austin’s face. No one knew about this bond because Austin swore that if Ellie ever told anyone that he let her put makeup on him, the shadow monster would eat her up. Ellie didn’t believe in such silly things like monsters that came out of her closet, but just to be sure she never told a soul. She also made sure her closet was locked at night, but that was obviously so that her clothes didn’t run away.

**********

From the time that Ellie could walk, she was constantly following Ethan around. Every Friday Night Feast she would follow him like a shadow, always trying to mimic what he did. No one understood it, but it was cute so they didn’t ask.

“Hey Elle bell?” Ethan scooped her up one night after she had tried to accompany him to the bathroom. “Why do you always follow me around, huh?”

Ellie giggled in his arms and brushed a stray curl off of her face. “I dunno, Ethie. I always have!”

Maddie laughed from the couch at the innocent response and earned a glare from her baby sister. Ethan bounced her up to regain her attention. “I know you have, but why? Do you remember?”

The six year old wrinkled her nose in thought. “Well maybe it’s because you look like a prince.”

Ethan rose an eyebrow. “I do?”

“Mhm,” Ellie nodded in enthusiasm. “You kinda look like Prince Charming.”

Ethan grinned, his ego inflating massively. “I guess you’re right, Ellie.”

**********

Maddie and Ellie’s relationship consisted of Ellie being completely spoiled by her older sister. Maddie had always been rather generous, but with a baby sister to splurge on she had gone from generous to ridiculous.

“Ellie!” Maddie called as soon as she entered the house returning from a shoot in New York City. “I’m home!”

Ellie came bounding in from the living room and ran immediately to her oldest sister’s arms. Lucas laughed, carrying Maddie’s two suitcases in his hands behind her. “Nice to see you too sweetheart.”

“I missed you so much!” Ellie bounced up and down on her toes, the excitement too much for her small body to handle. “You were gone forever!”

“It was only four days,” Maddie laughed. “I have a surprise for you.”

This caused an actual high pitched shriek of excitement to leave Ellie’s throat. “I wanna see! What is it?”

“Dad, can I have the bag?”

Lucas scoffed, dropping the two suitcases onto the floor. “Sure honey, here you go.”

Maddie ignored his sarcasm and turned back to her baby sister. “Alright, now you need to close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

Ellie giggled, following the instructions. “I can’t wait!”

Maddie reached into the bag and pulled out a pink teddy bear. She had gotten the bear at FOA Shwartz where she had seen it and known that Ellie would love it. She placed the bear in Ellie’s hands carefully. “Okay, now open!”

Ellie opened her eyes and they immediately lit up. “She is so cute! Thank you so so so much Maddie!” Ellie hugged her sister and then the bear. “She is so soft!”

“That’s exactly what I thought! I knew you would love her.”

“I’m going to name her Peaches because that’s what Andy always calls you! And Aunty Riley calls mommy Peaches too!” Ellie smoothed the bear’s fur down around the ears and smiled brightly at it. “I love her so much!”

**********

Although Ellie only had two biological sisters, Andy still definitely counted. Because Andy was over their house so much, Ellie used to think that she really was her sister.

“Andy, why do you leave so much?” a three year old Ellie asked curiously.

Andy turned away from the dollhouse that they were playing with and looked at the toddler. “What do you mean, sweetie?”

Ellie played with a long piece of her hair shyly. “Why don’t you sleep here with us?”

“Well because I have to sleep at my house silly,” Andy explained, still confused.

“But isn’t this your house?”

Andy looked at her big blue eyes and smiled softly at her. “No silly goose, I live with my parents. And Ethan, too.”

“Oh,” Ellie made it sound like everything had clicked into place. “So Uncle Farkie and Auntie Riley are your parents?”

This made Andy laugh. “Yep. And my Auntie Maya and Uncle Lucas are your parents!”

Ellie nodded and rolled her eyes. “Well I know that. But does that mean you aren’t really my sissy?”

“Well,” Andy tried to think of a way to explain it so that the toddler would understand. “We aren’t actually related, but because our families are so close we like to call each other sisters. Lottie and Maddie are your actual sisters, but you can think of me like a bonus sister!”

“Okay!” Ellie smiled brightly. “I like having a bonus sister.”

**********

Most people might think that the oldest of the family and the youngest of the family might have a hard time relating to each other, but Noah and Ellie didn’t have that problem. Much like Lottie, Noah was a big helper when Ellie was a baby. Many times she would only fall asleep if he were holding her. Maya and Lucas didn’t understand it, but Noah didn’t mind. He would rock her in his arms until her small eyes closed and he put her back into the crib.

As Ellie got older, the other three siblings took her over, but Noah and her always had a close bond. He took her to the park many times and even taught her how to cross the monkey bars. Unfortunately, that had resulted in him becoming a jungle gym himself.

“Woah,” he huffed out as a small body plopped onto his. He opened his eyes to see a small blonde head of hair and a toothy grin. “You’re gonna pay for that.”

Ellie shrieked when he threw his covers off and chased her from his room all the way down the stairs to the living room. When he finally caught her, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. “Lemme down! Lemme down!”

“Oh you want to get down?” Noah taunted, shifting her so that she was in the air above his head like Simba. He quickly released her and caught her again before she could hit the ground. “Are you sure?”

Ellie howled with laughter as he dropped her a few more times before finally throwing her carefully onto the couch. Once he had turned to leave, she pounced onto his back and climbed up onto his shoulders all by herself.

“Woah there monkey girl,” he laughed, holding onto her knees to steady her. “I see those gymnastics lessons are coming in handy.”

“You bet,” she laughed, leaning forward and blowing air in his face.

“Why I oughta,” Noah said in a funny cartoon voice as he leaned forward himself, reaching up to hold her shoulders this time.

“Noah!” Maya scolded, taking in the scene in front of her. “Be careful with your sister!”

“She started it!” he defended. After another stern look from his mother, Noah reached up and set Ellie on her feet before retreating back to his room.

When Noah was gone and out of ear shot, Maya turned back to her youngest child and held up her hand for a high five. “That’s my little monkey!”