#anyway I love the deeply messy books they NEED to adapt the rest. it only gets more insane and incomprehensible

[pk-heart]

The School for Good and Evil movie being just mid is its best case scenario sorry

[chaotichuman0090]

"His safest place" | Kayden Vescovi x Josephine Everhart

A/n: YESSS it's finally here!!!! My first fic! 🥳🥳 Well it was done a while ago (after a lot of planning), but I'm posting it now because I finally have some spare time and space lmao.😅

That being said, I didn't expect it to be so long (no pun intended). I should've probably split it in two parts but eh...

It's been a nice experience. Might do it again sometimes. I'd also prescribe a dose of Kayden to everyone here. I mean, just take a look at him.... *whew* 🥵

Oh, by the way, tell me if you catch any mistakes or weird typos, please. (english is my second language so I might get things wrong sometime).

This is set a few months after the end of the book.

Pairing: Kayden Vescovi - MC (Josephine Everhart) | The Royal Masquerade |

All characters belong to Pixelberry.

Vonberry is the name I gave to my dear bear cub, bless him! 🧡

Words: 3370

Warnings: N*FW content (basically the whole second part, no pressure; almost smut at the end of the first part too. Almost because... I just thought it would be too much for a first attempt)

Tagging: @walkerswhiskeygirl @masquerade-reimagined @kayann9

P.s. Thank you guys for your support!! I appreciate it and it helped a lot! Sorry to keep you waiting though..

I can't wait to hear what you think of this. Big hugs!

If you'd like to be tagged in future let me know!

Okay. Enjoy!!!

Annalisa paced the outside of Josephine's house, growing slightly unpatient, yet still feeling overjoyed at the thought of seeing her sister after so long.

It was well past noon when she arrived after a whole day journey. It didn't took much for her to take matter into her own hands and went to see how she's doing.

And today was a day she was looking forward to.

She scowled at herself and leaned her back against the railing and examined the little garden in front of her. Last time she had seen her sister was after King Fabian's coronation.

When she finally felt like she had enough of wating she decided to go inside, leaving the door open on her way in.

The sweet, delicious smell of fresh baked goods instantly reaches her nose as she quickly moved closer, she heard the faint sound of Josephine's voice and stops into the doorway without announcing herself yet.

"Vonberry, I told you before, you are not allowed in when I'm baking, you little... oh.." Josephine looked behind and stopped abruptly. It was safe to say she was taken aback by the person in front of her.

"Annalisa?"

She didn't have enough time to react as her sister enveloped her in a big hug that reminded them both of all the moments they've spent together at the Everhart estate.

"What... what are you doing here?" She stammered on her words, her eyes glossy and full of emotions accompanied by a big smile on her face.

"Well, forgive me for wanting to see how my dear sister is doing." Annalisa remarked quickly, puling back from the hug."I only hope you missed me just as much."

"You know what I mean." Josephine said, looking fondly at her.

"I suppose you've been quite busy."she said, looking around the messy room, with a grin on her face. There was flour and pastries of all kinds spread on the counter.

"I think I had spent all morning here."Josephine let out a long breath, the corner of her mouth curled upwards.

"Did you came all the way here alone?"She asked her sister, surprised.

"I did not came here on a fancy carriage with two white horses and dozens of sevrants anyway, if that's what you're asking." Annalisa stated with a lightly amused tone, expresing how giddy she felt about their reunion.

"I always knew you had an odd sense of humor". Josephine's eyes glimmered, matching the smirk in the corner of her mouth.

Their sweet joyful laugh echoed through the halls, in the whole house. Josephine decided to finish her task later, before joining her sister at the table, proceed on serving a cup of tea and carried on with the conversation.

"So, tell me, how did you adapt to your new life? And Kayden?" The question gained Annalisa a funny look and a quiet snort. To her disbelief she continued ..."He better treat you well or so help me-"

"Of course he does. He's... a dream come true" Josephine responded quickly, reminiscing about their wonderful, precious memories together, with a soft smile plastered on her face the whole time.

" I know, sister. I was merely joking." An easy smile replacing her previous frown.

"Anyone can see it on his face. He loves you with all his being. He would give his life only for you to be happy. It's a strong love. It's unbreakable." Annalisa said while looking her in the eyes.

"Speaking of which," Josephine spoke after a small pause. "I presume things are going well with Percival." She looked up, raising a brow, a teasing smile on her lips.

"Oh, you know how self-restraint he can be sometimes," Annalisa declared nonchalantly, "But we balance each other, since I'm an excellent lover, so to speak." She remarked with a grin, nodding proudly to herself.

A brief utterly childlike laugh escaped Josephine's lips, dissolving soon into a fit of laughter and her sister followed her soon.

"You're a breath of fresh air, Annalisa!" She said with a shake of her head.

The truth was she couldn't wait to spend the rest of the day in the company of her dear sister, catching up after long time away.

After Annalisa left, Josephine began preparing diner for her and Kayden, deciding on a delicious roasted chicken over a bed of fresh, hearty vegetables.

Everything was done by the time Kayden arrived home and she carefully put the meal on a tray with legs, picking out a few baked rolls as well, and took them to the table.

Needless to say the food tasted delicious as usuall, the rich aroma of the dish making her mouth water.

They ate in comfortable silence, listening to the wind gusting through the tree branches outside.

He watched her pick a small piece of meat off with her fingers and pop it into her mouth, chewing slowly.

A sweet smile reached her lips as she looked up at him, watching his hand that is holding the wine glass while picking at the food in his plate.

"I can tell your mind is full of busy thoughts without reading it. How can I help?" Josephine asked with evident concern, placing her hand on top of his.

Kayden looked down at their hands and mumbled something inchoerent, then cleared his throat.

He gave a quick shrug as a response while keeping his eyes on the table, looking lost in thoughts.

Slowly, he stood, and rounded the table to her, offering his hand. After a few moments she took it and he helped her stand but didn't go anywhere.

"Dance with me?" The question left his lips hesitantly, almost like he tried to restain his desire.

She agreed, allowing him to twirl her around, soon developing into a mix of passion and heavy, graceful footsteps without the steady drum of music.

They moved together, her arched back over a bridge of emotions, relishing the way their breath quicken with each step, feet guiding them across the floor, spinning, dibs, slow sways and more.

They danced for a while, the candlelight flickering shadows across the room. Nither of them said anything, feeling content with the silence.

Kayden was holing her, but not the way he held her the first time they danced, months ago, or even after that. He didn't hold her like she was his saving grace, his light in a world of darkness. Instead he held her softly and sweetly like they've been lovers for years. Like she was his safest place.

Josephine held him back that way, as she imagined a wife would hold her husband, lovingly, wrapping her arms tighter around him, closing her eyes and leaning in to rest her head on his chest.

Kayden welcomed her embrace, holding her tighter as well.

Their pace slowed and they stayed in one place , moving as only seemed natural.

"I love how we're always in perfect sync". Josephine said with a small smile playing on her lips.

Kayden did not reply to her straight away, instead he debates on a way to express his next words.

"With all the time I spent working these past few days," he continued carefully "I neglected you."

"Forgive me." Kayden's voice sounded tense and concerned for a moment; he looked deeply into her eyes, before kissing the top of her head.

"You need a break you know" Josephine gave a quiet sigh then raised on her tip toes to give him a delicate kiss filled with desire and devotedness, her hands sliding from his jaw to his hair, lips not breaking apart as their emotions took hold on them.

"I am taking a break now and... plainly wishing you would join me in our room later." His breathless, husky voice was close to her ear now, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Careful, Kayden. I might just keep you there for good." Josephine went on, waiting for a reaction from him. Kayden just raised an eyebrow at her and smiled subtly.

"Or perhaps I have planed to spend my night with a new book." She teased , exchanging a smile with him.

"I don't believe that even for a moment." He murmured in a deep and low voice, his warm breath close to her forehead.

The two of them were aware of the unconditional love they held for each other. They whisperd it with each glance of their eyes and each brush or their lips.

Kayden was open now. He told her many things, stories of his life when he was a child, growing up at the Vescovi estate, as his father son, still unsuitable for that also. He told her how that place became devoid of any significance, of life, as he grew older and more resentful by it every day.

Josephine understood that he'd been spurred on by whispers of untold secrets and the unmistakable feeling of guilt and inadequacy resting on his shoulders for too long.

It brought her back to the realization that he was still haunted by old pains. Things that happened in the past that he'll never get over. She couldn't bear to watch that pain flood his eyes, not again. It would not be the reason it came back again.

But she knew well that whatever was holding him back before, would not hold him back from now on. In a whole chaotic and nosy world, they managed to find each other. She swore to cherish every moment she has by his side.This world has already lost its magic for some, that she knew.

Spine tingling sansations, carrying so much emotion that she believed they'd had both gotten enough, still they find themselves observing the backside of his palm reaching out to the surface of her neck, under her ear before leaning forward to place a few more kisses and soft bites. Truthfully, she was unable to find the right words, her whole body burning with passion as she felt a flooding urge in other hidden places, that Kayden was well aware of.

"You've had a long day too. What is absolutely necessary right now is a... foot massage." His tone making it plain he meant more than he said."I believe that would be rather satisfying."

That sounded more like a promise, she thought.

She hummed in agreement, followed by a short laugh, her head hiden in the crock of his neck.

"I'm glad you find me amusing" Kayden quipped instantly. Not waiting for another response, he lowered her in a graceful dip, her long hair now swaying close to the floor.

Josephine can only stare up into those impossibly beautiful brown eyes, watching with bated breath as they morph into her own, seeing their entire future layed out.

Kayden pulls her back with him squeezing her hands gently before releasing them and took a step back. His eyes lingered on her with anticipation of his next words.

He was tall, ethereal, intimidating and formidable to her.

"Take off your dress!" said Kayden, his voice soft but demanding, nodding to her simple thin red dress that she had on.

Josephine starts to strip the material off her skin, taking her time, while silently enjoying his half-lidded eyes still gazing hungrily over her. Upon seeing the way he was looking at her sent shivers down her spine.

Soon after she's done and left only in her undergarments, Kayden moves closer to her and brushed the hair from her face, sweeping all of it over one shoulder before gripping it in a strong fist like he can't hold back anymore.

He crashed his lips down on hers, his hands burried withing the strands of hair, urging her towards him. His other hand pressed at the small of her back and drew her closer, just as he angled his head to kiss her deeper, mingling their scents along with their lips.

Josephine felt like she was losing not only her footage but also her mind. She griped onto his broad shoulders, trying to get even closer, if that was possible.

He hummed something against her that got drowned in a kiss, but whatever he wanted to say was not important, she gathered as his lips moved down to her neck, tracing the pulse pounding against her skin with his tongue. A soft moan found its way out of her parted lips as Kayden firmly gripped her waist, trailing kisses down the exposed skin along the way, making her back arch up.

He took a moment to let her breath and, with a quick movement, tossed his shirt to the side,while she starts undoing the buttons of his trousers, letting them drop to the floor.

They stumbled carelessly around, heading for the bed, Kayden letting them both fall onto the soft matress. Their limbs were entangled together, under the warm quilts of the bed, hidden from sight; it was a special moment which only they were witness to.

_________________________________________

It was well past midnight when Josephine woke up suddenly, sensing the coolness of the room that was illuminated only by the starlight and the bright moon through the tiny window, casting them in blue shadows. She turned around in bed and sat still, rubbing her eyes and blinking slowly and just laid there wondering what cound have interrupted her sleep this early but did not ponder over it too much.

Shortly after, she found herself musing on the unforgettable events from last night, blood rushing to her cheeks at the thought. Looking over at Kayden who was still sleeping soundlessly next to her, his lower body covered by the blanket and his arm draped over her side of bed.

She had a crooked, sleepy grin on her face and brought her hand up to his face, touching his lower lip with the tip of her finger.

She was looking at him in awe, taking in the smoothness of his features illuminated by the moonlight. Kayden. Her Kayden.

After a few moments of deliberation she moved carefully, not to disturbe him, and climbed on top of him, straddling his hips.

Gently touching his cheek, she ever so slightly brushed her lips against his jaw. Of course he was too deep in his sleep to notice but it made her heart dance.

She then began nipping at his ear lobe, softly, with just a right hint of passion, then worked her way back, trailing lingering kisses from his stubbled jaw to his neck, down to his defined collarbone.

Josephine's hands travel from his chest down to the taut muscles of his stomach, sliping lower, caressing him through the material of his briefs and he harden further beneath her touch.

She could feel his arousal where she was straddling him as she pressed down on his hips, and it sent a bolt of heat straight to her core. She drew a slow, careful breath and her hands tightened around his shoulders.

A grunt slipped out of his parted lips, the sound matching the dark look in his now open eyes. He always found appealing that lascivious yet lovely look on her.

He lifted his hips, pressing his hardness against her and Josephine sighed and instinctively rolled her hips against him in return. Kayden hissed against her lips and his hands moved down, holding her tightly to him as he repeated the action.

Kayden kept his eyes closed momentarily and he took a deep breath, and then his eyes opened. Holding her gaze he rolled her on her back in a swift movement and pinned her beneath him before grabbing her face and slammed his lips to her.

This kiss was almost explosive, with the way they’d been teasing each other all day, and she moaned when Kayden nibbled on her lower lip before he dragged his mouth down her neck to the sensitive spot there. She practically melted against him, and she felt him smile against her as he tugged at her skin with his teeth, then lavished the spot with his lips and tongue.

Shifting his body and lowering his head, he circles her nipple with his tongue before tugging gently with his teeth, heaving her instantly whimper softly and arching into him.

"Ohh, don't stop." She gasped, panting for breath, her heart hammering in her chest, not daring to look away.

"Oh, I assure you, we're not finished yet." Kayden said, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips as he does so. He gave her that smoldering, piercing gaze that made her swallow hard and made a shiver run down her spine.

She knows that he's playing with her, making her wait when she can hardly bare it.

"I need you... please." her voice broke in a throaty whisper, and hearing that was all it took for him to stop and look at her one more time before his touch stirred every nerve in her body and brain.

She drew a sharp breath as he entered her in one, long, steady push; pulling all the way out, before he slid inside her again until he filled her completely.The muscles of her thighs tremble and then relax as his thumb massaged high on her inner thigh while his mouth worked its magic. 

Kayden quickly wraps a hand around her wrists and pins them above her head as he thrusts his hips into her, picking up his pace. Instantly she noticed that his eyes held a row intensity, never looking away from her.

Josephine savored the feeling of him inside her, moving only to lock her legs around his waist and pull him deeper.

Repositioning a hand between them, his fingers moved with purpose, using firm movements that weren’t too hard; slow enough to draw things out, but fast enough to keep building her pleasure.

He felt her tighten around him as he continued to thrust deeper into her, the action setting off another shattering moan from her.

A deep groan escaped his lips as the tension inside him coiled tightly and his thrusts becoming more erratic every passing second.

His hips now jolted hers, spearing her with each thrust until she was reduced to shuddering gasps.

"Kayden!" She gasped, barely able to get his name out, her toes curling and back arching into him as pleasure radiated throughout her body.

Kayden followed her shortly and, after a few more deep strokes, his body went rigid, shuttering in pleasure as he found its release, breath hitching and fingers digging into her flash.

Right after that, he collapsed on top of her with a heavy sigh, burying his head in her chest, still moving shallowly into her spent body, while she tenderly ranks her fingers through his hair, crooning at him.

He took a few moments to breath, then rissing up slowly, his strong arms supporting him above her, he kissed her swollen lips twice and paused and gave her a look that Josephine could only describe as love.

"What is it, love? Are you well?" She asked but he knew she was just teasing now from the evident gleam in her eyes.

"Trust me, I am. I'm just... taking you in." He whispered, not being able to retain the intimate tone in his voice.

"But I think I'll spare you the details." He chuckled when her face flamed up a little, being aware that she caught on the hint.

After what seemed like ages he moved himself from atop her, settling on his side and tugged the sheets around their bodies before wrapping her tightly up against his chest while pressing himself in closer somehow, to her, despite already leaving no space between them.

Josephine could sense the corners of Kayden's lips lifting up to a small smile before silence fell between them. She let herself get confortable in his soothing arms, in the quietness of their house, savoring the blissful afterglow, as every bone in her body relaxed and her covered chest slowly rose and fell, gentle breaths escaping her mouth.

The world can wait, Josephine thought. As far as she's concerned this man in her bed is the only world that matters, and she intends to give him just as much love and care, if not more so, as he gifts her.

[lastbluetardis]

Family of Six (2/14)

After James and Rose bring their newborn twins home, they work to find a balance between all four of their children, and each other. Ten x Rose AU, Soulmates AU.

This chapter: teen, 5500 words

Ages of the Tyler-McCrimmons at the start of the chapter: James: 39, Rose: 33, Ainsley: 9, Sianin: 5, Twins: almost one week

If you like reading my stories, consider leaving me a tip? Or leave a reply on this post to tell me what you thought? And as always, reblogs are very much appreciated so more people can see this.

Chapters will be posted every other week --- next update: July 23rd

AO3 | TSP | FF | Perfectly Matched Series

Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch5 | Ch6 | Ch7 | Ch8 | Ch9 | Ch10 | Ch11 | Ch12 | Ch13 | Ch14

Despite not having had a baby in the house in nearly five years, James and Rose fell back into their old habits faster than they expected. Contrary to popular belief, they found caring for newborn twins to be relatively easy. Well, as easy as it can be when caring for any young infant. But it didn’t feel like double the amount of work—instead, it was as though the normal amount of work had simply been applied to two babies.

Though they needed tending to every couple of hours, the twins couldn’t exactly do much apart from eat, sleep, and poo. And unlike their other children, wherever James and Rose set the twins down, they were always in the same location when they returned.

While James and Rose appreciated their babies’ lack of mobility, Sianin did not.

“They’re so boring,” she grumbled as her mother temporarily abandoned the coloring book they were doing together so that she could feed the babies.

“That’s their job right now,” Rose replied, arranging the U-shaped nursing pillow to give herself and the babies better support. “They’ll get more fun when they can start interacting with you.”

“I want to play with them now.”

“I know, but they’re too little to play like you. You have to play to their level for a while, like Ainsley does for you.”

Sianin blinked up at Rose as though she’d never considered the possibility that Ainsley had to alter how she played in order to include Sianin. 

“They’ll start smiling in about a month or so,” Rose continued. “That will make it more fun.”

Sianin huffed out a disbelieving breath.

“It will,” Rose assured. “I remember when you were a baby, Ainsley would spend hours on the floor with you doing anything she could to make you smile and laugh. It’s more fun than it sounds, I promise.”

Sianin didn’t look convinced, but she set down her crayons and scooted closer to her mother. She didn’t have an open arm, otherwise Rose would have drawn Sianin into her side, but Sianin rested her head on Rose’s shoulder and peered down at the babies’ faces.

“Does that hurt?” Sianin asked, pointing to the babies latched to Rose’s breasts.

“Not usually,” Rose replied. “When their teeth grow in it’ll get uncomfortable at times. But that’s when we’ll start transitioning them to solid foods.” She stroked her fingertips across her babies’ scalps and watched them nurse. “So what do you think of your sisters?”

“They’re boring,” Sianin repeated, making Rose snort. “And loud. And messy.”

Rose frowned. “Isn’t there anything you like about them?”

Sianin reached out and traced her fingertips down Hannah’s arm until she got to her tiny hand. The baby clamped her fingers around one of Sianin’s and held on tightly.

“I dunno.” Sianin tapped her finger to make the baby’s hand bounce. “They steal you and Daddy a lot.”

“I know. They’re really little and need loads of help and attention,” Rose said, her heart aching that Sianin didn’t seem completely thrilled about having baby siblings.

“Maybe it would be better if there was only one,” Sianin suggested, and Rose couldn’t help but laugh at her daughter’s hopeful expression.

“We can’t exactly return them,” Rose chuckled.

“Can’t we just… give one away? She could get adopted.”

“‘Fraid not,” Rose answered. “Besides, how would you pick which one to give away?”

Sianin shrugged. “Close your eyes and point.”

Rose shook her head, then leaned down and pressed a kiss to Sianin’s head. “Even though you might not like them very much yet, your Daddy and I already love them both as much as we love you and Ainsley.”

“Really?” she asked dubiously.

“Really really,” Rose answered. “Could you imagine your Daddy or me wanting to give you or Ainsley away?”

“No.” She breathed out a sigh that was far too dramatic for a five-year-old. “I miss spending time with you and playing with you.”

“We’re spending time together now,” Rose pointed out.

“But it’s not the same.”

“Our routines are going to have to change a little bit. But change isn’t a bad thing, y’know.” Rose kissed Sianin again, wishing she could pull her baby into her lap. “Do you think Ainsley didn’t struggle with the adjustment that happened when you were born?”

“I asked Ainsley. She said she can’t remember but she always loved me and was happy to have a baby sister.”

Rose, remembering back to the many tantrums Ainsley had thrown when they were busy with the new baby, smiled. 

“I’ll tell you a secret.” She leaned in close until her lips were at Sianin’s ear. “Ainsley didn’t like having a new baby around for the first few months either.” Sianin’s eyes went wide, and Rose winked. “But now look at the two of you. You’re best friends. I hope that you have the same relationship with these two that you have with Ainsley.”

Sianin sat silently for a few minutes, resting against Rose’s arm.

“I guess they’re kind of cute,” Sianin said eventually, though her tone was reluctant.

“I think so, too,” Rose agreed.

“Their faces aren’t as smooshed anymore.”

Rose laughed. “All newborns have smooshed faces. Even you and Ainsley. Go grab a photo album so you can see.”

Sianin slid off the couch and trotted to the bookcase, collecting her and Ainsley’s baby books. She carried them back to the couch and climbed up beside Rose and opened the album across her thighs.

“See. Ainsley’s face was smooshed, too,” Rose said, looking at Ainsley’s newborn photo. In her opinion, her children were all the most beautiful newborn babies in the world, smooshed faces and all.

Sianin giggled and opened her album next.

“I was a fat baby.”

“All babies are fat,” Rose said. “That’s half their charm.”

“But look.” Sianin pointed to her height and weight measurements, then to Ainsley’s. “I’m fat.”

“You were perfectly average,” Rose said firmly. “Ainsley was a few weeks premature—a few weeks early—so it makes sense that she was smaller. And as for these two, twins tend to be smaller because there were two of them growing in my belly at once.”

“I suppose,” Sianin allowed.

She flipped through the photo albums lazily, giggling as Rose recounted various memories associated with some of the photos. Like when Ainsley was a wee toddler and went through a phase of refusing to wear clothes. Or when Sianin had colored all of her toenails with permanent marker.

Rose was relieved that Sianin hadn’t stayed disappointed that their coloring session had been put on pause, and she hoped her daughter adapted soon to the new family dynamic.

She had to admit, she hadn’t considered the notion that maybe one of her children might not want a baby sibling. It made her heart hurt, especially since she and James had tried so hard and for so long to have a baby. Was she a selfish mother for focusing on her own happiness at the arrival of the twins instead of Sianin’s? Was she a neglectful mother for not realizing how apathetic Sianin was to the presence of the babies?

Something cold twisted in her chest, and she tried to banish those negative thoughts. Surely Sianin would come around? And if not, Rose would simply have to try extra hard to make sure she spent as much baby-free time with her daughter as she could. Though she prayed it wouldn’t be like that; she wanted nothing more than for all of her children to love each other as deeply as she loved them, even if that was a high bar to set.

Rose swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat. “I love you loads, Sian.”

“I love you too, Mummy,” she answered, turning her face to kiss her mother’s shoulder.

A few minutes later, the front door opened.

“We’re back,” James called out unnecessarily.

“Why don’t you go help your dad and sister put away the shopping?” Rose suggested to Sianin.

Sianin closed the photo albums, put them away on the bookshelf, then went to the kitchen. 

Rose looked down into her youngest daughters’ faces. Maddie had finished nursing and was staring at Rose’s chest, blinking slowly as a bit of milk dribbled down her chin.

“Was that yummy?” Rose brought the baby up to her shoulder. She rubbed and patted Maddie’s back, coaxing out not only a burp, but some spit-up as well.

“Bet that feels better,” she whispered as the warm, viscous liquid rolled down her chest. Since the onesie was soiled anyway, Rose shuffled the baby so the outfit sopped up more of the sick. “Mummy will get you all cleaned up in just a minute. How about you lie down while I burp your sister, eh?”

She made quick work of getting Hannah burped—spit-up free, thankfully. With Hannah content and drifting off to sleep, Rose wiped up residual milk from the corners of her mouth and chin, then set the baby in her cot.

When she turned to take care of Maddie, Ainsley skipped into the room.

“Hiya, Mum,” she said brightly, then crouched down beside Maddie. She wrinkled her nose and said, “Ew.”

“Ew indeed,” Rose said, though the mess on the baby’s clothes was fairly mild. “Can you grab a new outfit for her?”

Ainsley sped off down the hall, returning with a long-sleeved, long-legged onesie.

“Can I do it?” Ainsley asked as Rose went to unsnap the buttons on Maddie’s soiled onesie.

“Sure,” Rose said. She gestured for Ainsley to kneel beside her. “Remember we have to be very, very gentle with her head and neck. Move slowly.”

Ainsley unfastened all of the buttons on Maddie’s onesie, then eased her sister’s arms out of the sleeves. Rose talked Ainsley through working the fabric up the baby’s torso, and how to hold the back of her head and neck while pulling off the fabric.

“Well done,” Rose praised. “Naked baby: check.”

Ainsley laughed, then rolled up the tiny onesie and dropped it to the floor.

“Let’s change her nappy while she’s naked,” Rose said, seeing the colored stripe indicating the nappy was wet. 

Rose made quick, efficient work of changing and cleaning Maddie, then set the soiled nappy to the side to supervise the rest of the dressing process.

“Next we pick her up and put her on the new outfit,” Rose instructed, hovering her hands over top of Ainsley’s just in case her nine-year-old didn’t support the baby properly. But Ainsley picked Maddie up, only looking a little awkward while doing it, and she set the baby down on the fresh outfit that Rose had opened up and splayed out on the sofa.

“Next we’re gonna guide those little arms through the sleeves,” Rose cooed, both to Maddie and to Ainsley. “Be careful to not get them stuck. She might be extremely floppy and flexible, but you can still hurt her if you move too fast or try to force her limbs through.”

After a bit of finagling, Ainsley got the baby’s arms and legs into the proper locations.

“Now we kiss that little belly.” Rose peppered kisses to Maddie’s bare torso, careful not to touch the umbilical cord stump. Apart from some flailing limbs, the baby didn’t react. “Then we zip her up and it’s all done.”

Ainsley zipped the front of the outfit closed and beamed at her mother.

“Well done, sweetheart.” Rose kissed her eldest’s temple. “Do you like helping with the babies?”

“Yeah,” Ainsley said, nodding enthusiastically. “They’re so fun!”

Rose was pleased that at least one of her children enjoyed being a big sister. Stifling a sigh, she kissed Ainsley’s head again.

“Thank you for everything you do to help, Ains.” She cradled her daughter’s jaw in her palm, tilting her head up to look into her eyes. “I really, really appreciate it.”

Ainsley’s cheeks flushed with the praise and she flashed a wide, toothy grin that looked achingly like James’s.

“Mummy, can we go back to coloring now?”

Rose looked over as Sianin walked into the room.

“‘Course,” she answered. “Give me five minutes to clean myself up, though.”

Rose stood, then picked up the soiled onesie and nappy.

“Should I move her?” Ainsley asked, nodding to the baby on the sofa.

“Nah, she’ll be okay for a few minutes,” Rose said. “Can you make sure she doesn’t roll off though? She shouldn’t be able to, but just in case.”

Ainsley nodded, then focused all of her attention on Maddie. Rose’s heart clenched to see Ainsley playing with the baby, even though the baby didn’t have much of a reaction yet.

Rose chucked the nappy in the bin and the onesie into the laundry pile, then went down the hall to her bedroom. As soon as the door closed behind her, she sat down on the edge of the bed and kneaded the heels of her hands into her forehead.

“What’s the matter?”

Rose yelped and jumped; she hadn’t realized James had been in their loo. He held up his hands in apology. She sighed. “I dunno.”

James frowned and came to sit down beside her. Before he could, though, he must have seen the baby sick caked onto her neck. “Just a sec.”

He went into the en suite, turned on the faucet, and came back with a damp flannel. He mopped up the lingering spit-up, then sat down beside her.

“Was everything all right when Ainsley and I went out?” he asked softly, wrapping his arm loosely around her waist. “Were the babies awful?”

“No, no. They were perfectly fine.” Rose leaned against her husband and was quiet for a minute. “I don’t think Sianin likes the babies.”

Her eyes burned and her nose stung at the admission.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“It’s just… she never wants to help with them. She doesn’t want to interact with them. I asked her today if she liked them, and she couldn’t find anything good to say. She even suggested we give one of the twins away.”

James’s snorted, but wrapped his arm tighter around her body.

“I’m serious, James. Did we make a mistake?” Rose whispered, a tear falling. She wiped it away impatiently. “Should we have realized ages ago that Sianin isn’t the type of kid who would do well with a younger sibling?”

“I think it’s a little early to be jumping to conclusions,” James said carefully. “We’ve been home for all of four days. You and I both know it can take quite a bit of time to get used to the new routine that comes with having a baby. Or two, in our case.”

“I know, I know,” Rose grumbled. “I just… I don’t want any of my babies to be unhappy. And Sianin seems unhappy.”

“Give her more time, love,” he said gently. “I think she’ll come around.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not just trying to make me feel better?” Rose asked.

“I always try to make you feel better,” he said. “However, I truly believe that Sianin will adjust. It might take her more time than Ainsley, is all. But if she still has her heart set on giving one of the twins up, let’s keep Maddie, eh? She’s quieter.”

Rose laughed out loud and pinched his ribs.

“You twat, you’re not supposed to have favorites!”

“I’m not picking favorites. I’m merely picking what’s best for my eardrums.” Rose could hear the grin in his voice, and just like that, most of the weight lifted from her shoulders.

Rose snuggled closer into his side and breathed him in for a few minutes. She would have gladly stayed there for hours. It was quiet in their bedroom, and he was soothing. It would have been so easy to lie back and take a nap, especially if James curled up beside her.

“I should go back out,” Rose said. “I told Sianin we’d keep coloring.”

James pressed a kiss to the top of her head and then stood up, holding out his hand for hers. She stretched her back once she was standing while James went to her dresser and rooted through the drawers. He returned with a new shirt for her.

When she donned it, he slipped his fingers loosely through hers and brought them to his lips for a kiss.

“We’re gonna be all right, Rose,” he said. “I promise. There hasn’t been a challenge yet that we haven’t overcome together.”

Rose squeezed his hand. “I think you’ve found a side gig as a motivational speaker.”

He stuck his tongue out at her, but opened the door for them to walk down the hall. Now that the barrier of the door was gone, they realized one of the babies was fussing. Not full-blown crying, but raspy whimpers that threatened oncoming wails.

“Everyone all right?” Rose asked dropping James’s hand to speed ahead of him into the living room.

Ainsley was sitting on the floor with her elbow on the couch cushion, peering down at Maddie.

“I dunno what she wants,” Ainsley said, stroking her index finger down the baby’s cheek any time she let out a noise.

“Come here, my sweetheart,” Rose cooed, lifting Maddie to her shoulder.

“Mummy, you said we’d color,” Sianin whined, coming over to tug Rose’s hand.

“In a minute, love,” she replied. 

Sianin stomped her foot and tossed her head back in an exasperated growl. “Give her to Daddy. You promised you’d color with me!”

“Sianin Noelle, do not tell me what to do. That’s disrespectful,” Rose said. “You need to be patient.”

“I’ve been patient,” Sianin groaned, flinging herself onto the couch rather dramatically and folding her arms in front of her chest.

It would have been a funny picture if not for the attitude.

“I think someone needs to go sit quietly in the laundry room for five minutes to calm down,” Rose countered. 

Sianin huffed out a breath and crossed her arms tighter around her chest. “No, I don’t.”

“I think you do. Now, Sianin,” Rose said firmly. “Go sit quietly and calm down. I’ll be in in five minutes.”

Sianin’s eyes filled with tears. Her face crumpled as she launched herself off the sofa and ran down the hall.

Rose watched her go with a low exhale.

“Shit,” she whispered to herself. She nuzzled her nose across Maddie’s scalp, but not even the scent of her baby was enough to soothe her.

“Should I talk to her?” Ainsley asked, looking down the hall after her sister.

“No,” Rose said. “Let her cool down by herself for a bit.”

James came up beside Rose and wrapped her in his arms, being careful not to smoosh Maddie between them.

“It’ll be all right. I promise,” he whispered into her ear. He softly kissed the top of her head. “Here. I’ll take her. You go take a breather, too.”

Rose sniffed against the tears in her throat and nodded, giving the still-fussing baby to James. She walked into the kitchen and got herself a drink, listening to the sounds of James cooing to Maddie.

She kept her eyes on the clock as she sipped her water. The instant five minutes had passed, she walked down the hall. Sianin had closed the door to the laundry room, so Rose eased it open and peered inside.

Sianin was sitting in the corner rather than the designated time-out bench. She’d hugged her knees to her chest and looked up with red-rimmed eyes when she heard Rose enter. The moment she saw her mother, Sianin’s face twisted and more tears leaked down her cheeks.

Rose crouched down in front of her daughter and opened her arms for a hug, if Sianin wanted. She did. Uncoiling from the floor, Sianin careened into Rose’s chest, sending Rose off balance and tumbling onto her bum.

“Breathe, Sianin,” she murmured, hugging her tightly with one arm as her other hand stroked Sianin’s hair. Her daughter trembled as she clung to her. “Breathe.”

Sianin sobbed into Rose’s neck, sending Rose’s heart splintering into a million pieces. She continued stroking Sianin’s back until the worst had passed. It took a couple minutes, but Sianin finally stopped shaking and wasn’t breathing as erratically.

“Your quiet time is over, but do you want to stay in here for a few more minutes?” Rose asked, pulling back to look at her daughter.

Sianin’s face was bright red and streaked with tears and snot. Rose pulled a crumpled tissue out of her pocket and dried Sianin’s eyes, cheeks, and nose.

“Will you stay with me?” Sianin asked, her voice warbling.

“Of course,” Rose answered. “Let’s move to the bench though. The floor isn’t comfy for Mummy.”

Rose was quite proud of herself that she managed to leverage herself to her knees then to her feet all while keeping Sianin in her arms. When Rose was seated on the cushioned bench, Sianin straddled her thighs and tucked her face into the side of her mother’s neck. Rose rocked them slowly from side to side and hummed a jingle from a radio advertisement that had been stuck in her head all morning.

“I love you very, very much, Sianin.”

Sianin sniffled.

“You understand why I sent you for quiet time, yeah?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry I told you what to do and was dispectful.”

“Disrespectful,” Rose corrected gently. “I need you to learn to be more patient, okay? I’d said I would color with you, and I will. But you need to wait until I’m not busy.”

“Why couldn’t Daddy take Maddie?” Sianin asked miserably.

“Because I had her,” Rose said simply. “Sometimes passing a baby off to multiple people makes their fussing worse.”

Sianin heaved a heavy sigh, but said no more. She instead kept her face buried into Rose’s neck.

“I know you’re used to it being just you and Ainsley,” Rose said, “but now you have to share me with Hannah and Maddie, too.”

“I know.”

“Your daddy and I are trying really hard to make as much time for you and Ainsley as we can, but sometimes the babies need our attention first. Can you promise me that you’ll try really hard to be patient with me and Daddy? ‘Cos we’re still learning too.”

“Yeah.”

“Good girl,” Rose said, kissing Sianin’s hair. “Do you want to go back out to the living room and color?”

“I don’t want to color anymore,” Sianin said.

“Oh. Then what would you like to do this afternoon?”

“Can we make a cake?”

“We sure can.” Rose nudged Sianin. “Up we get.”

Sianin clambered off of Rose’s lap and rubbed her arm across her nose. Rose reached down and combed her fingers through Sianin’s hair. “We need to schedule a haircut for you, little missy.”

Rose pulled the back of Sianin’s hair up and over her head until it fell in front of her eyes. Sianin laughed and ducked out from under Rose’s hands, smoothing her hair out of her face.

“I’ll try and make an appointment for next weekend,” Rose promised. “For you, me, and Ainsley. The three of us can get out of the house for a bit and do something together. Would you like that?”

Sianin nodded vigorously, then led the way to the kitchen where James was showing a pacified Maddie the artwork taped to the fridge.

“And here we’ve got a blossoming tree that your big sister Ainsley painted a few weeks ago,” he said. “Look at all the colors. We’ve got pinks and whites and green and brown. Isn’t it so lovely? And lookie here’s one that your clever, talented, beautiful Mummy drew.”

He winked at Rose, who rolled her eyes at him. She then approached Sianin and said, “Right, let’s…”

They were interrupted by a very loud and sudden wail from the living room. James strode towards the noise and Rose made to follow. When she turned around to Sianin, she saw the five-year-old’s shoulders were hunched.

“Hey, Sian…”

Sianin spun around and flinched, her eyes widening. “I’m sorry!”

Rose frowned and ignored her wailing baby for another minute to crouch in front of her other upset child. “Hey, hey. I’m not angry. I was just going to suggest you work on getting the bowls and ingredients together while I help your daddy calm your sisters. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Sianin let out a breath and the tension left her shoulders. “Okay.”

“I’m not angry or upset with you,” Rose said, grasping Sianin’s hands in hers. “Okay?”

Sianin nodded, then moved about the kitchen.

“Er, Rose, a little help?”

“Coming,” she called out.

When she arrived in the living room, she saw Ainsley had her jumper tugged up over her nose. Rose understood why a moment later when the stench of a dirty nappy assaulted her.

“We’ve got a blow-out,” James said grimly as he picked Hannah up out of her bassinet. He gingerly held her out in front of him, keeping his arms and hands free from her bum.

“Ick,” Rose said, wincing. “Your turn to deal with that.”

“I don’t suppose I could offer a trade?” he said.

“There’s absolutely nothing in this world that would entice me to trade with you,” Rose said, giving him a sympathetic pat on the back.

James groaned in defeat, then carried a red-faced, screaming Hannah down the hall to the nursery.

“That was disgusting,” Ainsley commented from the sofa. 

“Just a bit,” Rose admitted. She then turned to Maddie, who had begun whimpering again upon being set down. “Come to Mummy, my love. Your daddy got pulled away to clean up your sister. But you can come with me and we can make a cake with your big sister, Sianin.”

“Cake?” Ainsley asked, perking up.

“Yep, Sian and I are going to make one. Want to help?”

“Yeah!” Ainsley jumped off the couch and headed toward the kitchen

“I’ll be in in a minute,” Rose said. “I’m going to grab the baby sling.”

Rose ventured down the hall and into the nursery. James had Hannah stripped naked on the changing table and was working on wiping her down.

“I chucked that onesie,” he said without looking at her. “That was never going to get white again—not enough bleach in the world.”

Rose chuckled at him, not bothering to reply as she grabbed the baby sling they’d picked up in Bora Bora a few years ago. She set Maddie down for a few seconds to start the process of wrapping it around herself, then she securely strapped the baby in, too.

“How do you make baby-wearing look sexy?”

James was facing her, holding a naked and placated Hannah, with a somewhat glazed look in his eyes. He absently ran a wipe down Hannah’s now-clean bum.

“I could make anything sexy,” Rose boasted, sticking her tongue out at him.

“Yes, you could,” he murmured.

He stepped up to her and hauled her in for a long, hard kiss that sent delicious tingles through her body. Both of her hands were free, thanks to the sling, and she used them to first cup his cheeks, then scrape her nails against his scalp. She smirked against his mouth when she felt more than heard him moan. She dragged her teeth against his full bottom lip as she broke the kiss.

“You’ll be the death of me,” he gasped, looking dazed. His dark eyes made something clench deep in her belly.

“And what a marvelous death it would be,” she said, winking. “Go on. Get her back in a nappy before she decides to poo all over you as well.”

He grimaced and muttered something that sounded like, “You sure know how to ruin a mood,” before he turned away from her and complied.

Maddie, meanwhile, was resting contentedly at Rose’s breast. Her fat cheek was cushioned to Rose’s chest and she was blinking slowly as she sucked on the side of her fist.

“Time to bake your first cake,” Rose whispered, leaning down to press a soft kiss to the top of Maddie’s head.

When she returned to the kitchen, Ainsley and Sianin were already getting to work on the cake. All of the ingredients were sitting on the counter, and Sianin was carefully scooping a teaspoon of baking powder into a large bowl. There was no recipe book in sight.

“Let’s not be too hasty,” Rose said, moving to the cabinet to retrieve the cookbook that contained the chocolate cake recipe.

“What?” Sianin asked, frowning. 

“We need to make sure we add the correct amount of all the ingredients if we want it to taste good,” Rose said.

“But I did,” she insisted.

“What have you added so far?”

“Flour, sugar, and now the baking powder,” she answered.

“How much did you add?” Rose asked.

“One and three-quarters cups of flour. Two cups of sugar. And a teaspoon and a half of baking powder.” She pointed to all of the measuring cups and spoons as she spoke. “I was gonna put the dry stuff into the bowl ‘til you came back. Was I s’posta wait?”

Rose flipped through the pages of the recipe book until she made it to the marked page of the chocolate cake recipe. With amazement, Rose saw that Sianin did in fact measure out the appropriate amounts of the ingredients.

“How did you know how much of everything to add?” Rose asked

Sianin shrugged her shoulders and began fiddling with the tab on the salt canister. “Daddy lets me measure the ingredients when we bake together. But only the dry stuff. I accidentally dropped all the eggs on the floor once and he said I needed to get a little bit bigger before I could do it all myself.”

“How much salt are you gonna add?” Rose asked, cocking her head at her child.

“A teaspoon,” she answered. “Can I?”

Rose nodded, and Sianin turned back to the bowl. The tip of her tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth as she focused intently on pouring the salt.

“Oops,” she said when a rush of salt came out and overflowed the teaspoon. “What do I do now?”

Rose stepped up to Sianin and took the heaping teaspoon from her daughter. She poured about three-quarters of the teaspoon into the bowl, then dumped the rest into the sink. “There. That’s probably about one teaspoon. Hey, Sian?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s very impressive that you remembered exactly how much of everything to add to make the cake,” Rose said. “I’m very impressed.”

A proud smile crossed her daughter’s face. “Thanks, Mummy!”

Rose supervised Sianin scooping out the remaining ingredients, double checking the recipe book but amazed that Sianin’s memory was spot-on.

“Oops, try and level that out a little bit,” Rose said when Sianin was about to dump a heaping quarter cup of cocoa into the bowl. 

“Nuh uh,” Sianin countered. “When Daddy and I make it, we do a normal half and a big quarter. It makes it extra chocolatey. Daddy says he adds a little less flour and a little extra oil to…” Sianin’s brows furrowed in concentration before she said, “To copmensate.”

“Compensate?”

“Yeah, copmensate,” Sianin repeated.

Rose didn’t try to correct her again. Instead, she said, “Let me double-check with Daddy really quick though, baby. Wait just a minute.”

Rose went into the living room, where James was curled up on the sofa and cradling a sleeping Hannah to his chest. He was reading a book aloud to her, only it was a book James had been reading for himself over the past few days instead of a children’s book.

“Our daughter is a genius,” Rose murmured into his ear. She ducked down, being careful not to crush Maddie against the back of the couch, and planted a long, smacking kiss to his cheek, then reached down and stoked the tip of her index finger against Hannah’s hand, which was clenched into a fist in James’s shirt.

“Oh? Which one?”

“Sianin. She remembered exactly how much of every ingredient to add to make a chocolate cake.”

“My clever chef,” he said proudly.

“Your clever chef is also insisting that it’s a heaping three-quarters of a cup of cocoa powder, then a bit less flour and extra oil to ‘copmensate’,” Rose said.

James’s face softened at the botched pronunciation. “She’s my clever, clever chef.”

 “All right. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t trying to make this an overly-chocolatey cake.”

“Well, she is, but no worries, it’s an authorized recipe modification.”

Rose pecked another kiss to his cheek.

“Aye aye, captain,” she said. Then she glanced down at the book in his hands. “Agatha Christie? Really? That’s not exactly child-appropriate.”

“It’s not like she can understand anything,” James said. “She’s been sleeping through this riveting tale anyway. I guess people being murdered one by one on a remote island is a bit too boring for her tastes.”

“Or maybe it’s you who’s boring.”

“Rose Tyler-McCrimmon, you take that back!” he exclaimed, pouting.

She gave him a wink, then went back to the kitchen to finish the cake.

Rose was relieved that Sianin’s mood improved over the course of the afternoon, and by the time they were icing the cake, it was as though their earlier fiasco hadn’t even happened.

If you’ve made it to the end, consider leaving a comment or reblogging? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[mrmichaelchadler]

Terrific New Adaptation of Little Women Reminds Us of This Story’s Greatness

“Love is a great beautifier,” Louisa May Alcott wrote in “Little Women,” her 19th century novel about a family of sisters, their admirable parents, and the men who wander across their paths. The March girls—affectionate and steady Meg, stubborn and imaginative Jo, gentle and timid Beth, and dramatic and vain Amy—have maintained a reliable presence in American cultural consciousness ever since, with a number of adaptations for film, television stage, and opera. Love is a great beautifier, and over the years, it’s colored this story, for this writer at least, with a kind of sepia-toned affection. The March sisters have become a fondly remembered avatars for their boldfaced traits, loveable and larger than life—a state that’s been somewhat reinforced in the many adaptations in which they’re centered. Scenes, not events. Characters, not people. Dolls, not women, little or otherwise.

Heidi Thomas and Vanessa Caswill’s adaptation changes all of that. This “Little Women,” a co-production between BBC Drama and PBS’s “Masterpiece,” is full of living, breathing, flawed, messy women. It’s no surprise that Thomas, who created “Call the Midwife,” would be so thoroughly devoted to making sure her characters stand on the firm, realistic ground. That’s not to say this take on Alcott’s story is dour or gritty in any way—like “Call the Midwife,” this is a production that’s deeply affectionate toward its characters, the lives they lead, and the time and place from which they’ve emerged. But none of that fondness, none of the sweetness, renders the March women (or the women of “Call the Midwife”) anything less than fully, achingly human. It’s Alcott by way of Linklater, Lonergan, or Ozu, and it is terrific.

Meg (Willa Fitzgerald), Jo (Maya Hawke), Beth (Annes Elwy), and Amy (Kathryn Newton) are sisters. The oldest, Meg, is fast approaching womanhood; the youngest, Amy, is only inches into her adolescence. Regardless of age, they share burdens both common and uncommon to women their age: a father (Dylan Baker) at war, a few curls burned off, a mother (Emily Watson) disappointed, a lingering illness, a judgmental aunt (Angela Lansbury) who means well, low coffers, hurt pride, idle gossip, pickled limes. You get the idea. They’re encouraged to bear these trials with dignity and kindness by their parents, and to work to master their flaws. So they do, and so they change, and grow up.

That’s it, really. “Little Women” is the story of how the March sisters grow up. In the hands of Thomas and Caswill, they do so believably, and that means with plenty of stumbles and the occasional moment of ill-grace. I can pay this adaptation no greater compliment to say that Elwy’s Beth March is more than a kindly tragic figure here—and yes, I’ll refrain from further spoilers about that, if you can have spoilers for a book that’s been out for a century and a half. Suffice it to say that this Beth does more than pull on the heartstrings, struggling in many of her scenes to master a tendency often summed up as ‘shy.’ This Beth isn’t shy, she’s anxious and afraid, and watching Elwy guide her character through both mastering and failing to master that fear is a surprising, affecting pleasure.

That’s true of nearly all the series’ characters—the female ones, anyway. All four of the sisters are capably, compassionately portrayed: Hawke’s Jo rivals the greats that have preceded her, Fitzgerald gives Meg and earnest youthfulness and makes it impossible to forget her age, no matter how quickly she matures, and Newton’s Amy is both deeply sympathetic and a total asshole—a balance not all Amys have been able to strike. But it’s Emily Watson’s Marmee that’s the true revelation here. There’s a wonderful sequence in the novel in which Marmee comforts an ashamed Jo that she too has a temper: “I am angry nearly every day of my life, Jo, but I have learned not to show it,” she says. When Watson says it, I believe her. Her Marmee is warm, but not saintly; that temper, and the sometimes titanic effort it takes to master it, lingers beneath the surface of every scene in which she, or any of her tribe, encounter difficulty.

That Watson is a gifted performer is no shock. That she, Thomas, and Caswill have breathed such life, blemishes and all, into a character that’s easy to idealize should not be unexpected, and yet it is. The same can be said, to a lesser extent, of Angela Lansbury’s Aunt March, who plays a steely-eyed old biddy whose humor comes not from an author’s need for comic relief, but from a lurking sense of humor that seems hard fought and often haphazardly hidden.

If there’s a loose peg or rusty hinge in the performances, it’s to be found among the gentlemen of the cast. None of the men are disappointing, per se—Michael Gambon and Dylan Baker are both unsurprisingly great in paternal roles, and Julian Morris and Mark Stanley, as two of the March sisters’ besotted admirers, bring great tenderness to their performances. But this simply isn’t a story about the men. When characters like Amy, often rendered in rather broad strokes, are brought to such detailed life, it only underlines how thin the development of the male characters is by comparison. It’s true of the novel as well as Thomas’s adaptation, though neighbor Laurie (Jonah Hauer-King) was better served by Alcott, as well as in previous adaptations.

Caswill and her team wisely let these performances and this great writing do most of the lifting, but rest assured that the direction, cinematography, costume and production design, and the simple but intoxicating score are all capable at worst, lovely at best, and thoughtful all the way through. That last is particularly true of the work done by editors Matthew Tabern and Hazel Baillie, who allow the March’s many Christmases to help mark passage of time, use clever juxtaposition to hint at corners of the story we might not see (a girl prepares to step carefully out of a boat; we cut to a downpour of rain), and have a keen sense of when to let the camera sit on Elwy’s face as Beth contemplates her fear, Watson’s face as Marmee masters her temper; or Newton and Hawke face as fury and shame do battle within Jo and Amy. It’s insightful, compassionate editing, and it makes this story sing.

“Simple, sincere people seldom speak much of their piety,” Alcott writes of Beth in one of the book’s more moving passages. “It shows itself in acts rather than in words, and has more influence than homilies or protestations.” The same, phrased different, is often said of great storytelling: show, don’t tell. Thomas and Caswill show us these women; and the capable actors who bring them to life do the same. We know what boldfaced traits these women possess, not because they’re avatars or classic characters, but because in this “Little Women,” we understand them. They show us who they are, and we, the lucky viewers, get to know them all over again. 

from All Content https://ift.tt/2rAYFUW

[quarantingz]

seven things i’ve learned so far in quarantine

wednesday, 29 april on my longer-than-what-i’m-usually-allowed lunch break

This entry stemmed from a prompt I had written on one of my contemplative yet meditative roadside walks a while back. Looking up at the trees and unabashedly into the windows of houses I’d pass, jotting down in messy prose what I see and describing it in detail in my Notes app. Revisiting places in my community that both look and feel familiar and observing them closely as if I’m getting to know them again for the first time has been a new-found hobby of mine as of late.

So I present to you, an elaborate list of seven things I’ve learned so far and everything in between, whilst in quarantine: 

Accepting, learning to be okay with and I’d even go as far as saying dancing with loneliness. This is a funny one. I realised after my breakup that I was taken for majority of my adolescence. At least the years where I was still learning how to be an adolescent. This meant that I based a lot of my decisions and sometimes even my happiness on the person I was with. Being the fragile, reserved and passive teenager I was, there were instances where I let people step all over me and take advantage of me. I can say this without feeling an ounce of bitterness now because they’ve already happened. I’ve already borne them. I got out of that labyrinth essentially. I think it’s important to look back on our past selves (and I’ve noticed my peers do the same which is amazing) as we tend to look over our growth and forget to give ourselves credit for overcoming hurdles that at the time seemed insurmountable but in hindsight (to quote Alyssa hehe) now seem trivial. I guess the challenges we go through get harder as we grow up. Like in a video game where the quests increase in difficulty the closer you get to finishing it. Anyway, I digress, so my point is that I got used to having someone to vent to when something particularly exciting or devastating happened to me. While I do think it’s important to open up to someone and not be shy about seeking comfort from them, we can only really rely on ourselves at the end of the day. It’s during these moments of solitude that we’re not influenced by anyone or anything. Perfect for self-reflection.

Doing things “while I remember” them. I thought to myself every now and then that if I had a memoir the title of it would be “While I Remember.” I think I can speak for both myself and Alyssa that we operate on to-do lists on top of to-do lists. To me personally, it was all a matter of quantity over quality. If I didn’t write something down the moment I thought of it, it’ll leave me entirely. As an easily-side tracked procrastinator, I loved putting things off in pursuit of something else that seemed more immediate. But for the last 2 weeks, I found myself taking the initiative to just do something while I remember and while I can. Like if an opportunity to do my laundry when it’s sunny out arises, then just take it. I guess this links to intuition as well. Relying more on intuition when I do things on a daily basis rather than thoroughly thought-out to-do lists has made me feel good recently. 

Active listening, being more attentive and sensitive to people and things. At a time where everything seems to demand our attention, I thought I’d never be able to focus on one thing ever again, whether that’s an episode of a TV show, a podcast or a video. Whenever I get some down time I’d put a film on, deceiving myself that I’ll watch the damn thing when I know I’ll just go on my phone anyway. About two weeks ago though, to my surprise, I managed to watch BlacKkKlansman without getting distracted which is worth scoffing at as it shouldn’t even be considered a feat lol. ANYWAY, let me ineffectively segue into mindfulness – something I’m still trying to get better at each waking day but find myself adopting more in daily activities, whether mundane or taxing. Like when I’m working out or stretching, I try to really focus on the physical sensations I’m feeling as I bend and manoeuvre my body in different forms and motions. Being mindful of my breathing, in for 8 seconds, hold, then out for 8 seconds or so, while doing a child’s pose or that yoga pose that I don’t quite know the name of where you place one bent leg on the other, kind of squatting back and putting your hands together as though you’re praying. Back straight, chest out and finding one spot in front of you to focus on as to maintain balance. Or when I’m running and my breathing starts to increase in tempo – inoutinoutinout, but surprise myself that I somehow haven’t fainted and collapsed on the ground 4 kilometres in. Which brings me to my next bulletpoint:

I learned that I can do almost anything so long as I put my mind to it. Like the fact that I and you too can make any edible substance from scratch, be it a tortilla, challah (Jewish braided bread) or buttermilk. Or even something inedible like a shelf. Although I don’t have the willpower to cross that one off my list yet. Going back to my observation of mindful running, I’ve also been describing my fitness progress to a few people as “running becoming second nature that it almost feels like walking.” I think that’s beautiful. How our bodies can quickly adapt to strenuous movement with training. That being said I also learned the importance of:

Rest (I’m looking at you Alyssa! Haha jk). It’s so easy to get into the rhythm of things and forget to take a breather. I’ve had my fair share of these “poor practices” in the last few years. Like doing uni work for 5 hours straight without drinking water, eating or even doing as little as getting up or looking at something that isn’t forcing blue light into my eyes for a couple of minutes, slumped over my laptop and later complaining about having a perpetually sore back. Also to bring it back to running again, insisting to my sister but more to myself that I can keep running even though my shins are practically crying out for rest. I know it’s hard to pause and take a break when you’re on a roll but resting proactively, rather than as a last resort after we’ve crashed, is integral to the function of our bodies. This book called Why We Sleep highlights that if sleep wasn’t so important then why has it evolved up to this point where we still need at least 7 hours of it for optimal physical and mental health as well as daily performance? Alyssa and I have tackled hustle culture a few times on this blog but it’s so important that we keep coming back to it. Then again we’re so hypocritical because we always seem to remind our loved ones to rest but we hardly ever do ourselves hehe. We’re getting there! No pressure.

Resourcefulness and/or as I like to call it “working with what you have.” I have been very adamant about cooking using ingredients we already have on hand as opposed to finding a recipe and flocking to the supermarket to get all the ingredients on the list. Hell, I sometimes even draw mind maps of meal ideas that share as many components with each other to make sure I get the most out of my money. I think I really did age 20 years since not being with my parents for 3 months, speaking of which, I think this turned out to be a blessing as it made me more intuitive and understanding of the struggle my mum used to, not really complain about but she sure wanted us to hear, that it’s hard to think of what to cook for dependants sometimes [most of the time]. Hats off to all mums out there doing the leg work for us!

Lastly, and I think this point actually ties everything I said together into a neat bow, I learned that life is indeed what you make of it. Emphasis on the doing word “make” as we often tend to be lived by external events and our thoughts when in reality, although these can attack us from different directions, we can choose whether we’ll let them affect us. I recently learned more about the Greek philosophy of stoicism which is living by the fact that “we don’t control and cannot rely on external events, only ourselves and our responses.” Again I think that’s beautiful. Hard to practice but beautiful nonetheless.

I’ll end this one with a line by Ottessa Moshfegh which I think encapsulates how I view and treat this quarantine period (or at least try to): 

“Here is how I spend my days now. I live in a beautiful place. I sleep in a beautiful bed. I eat beautiful food. I go for walks through beautiful places. I care for people deeply. At night my bed is full of love, because I am alone in it. I cry easily, from pain and pleasure, and I don’t apologise for that. In the mornings, I step outside and I’m thankful for another day. It took me many years to arrive at such a life.”

- p

[littlemissnack]

The Next Generation Part 3 Chapter 6

The story of Albus Potter, Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy, and the countless adventure’s they get into in there years at Hogwarts.

To start reading from the beginning click here: http://littlemissnack.tumblr.com/tagged/fanfiction

Here is the fanfiction link if you would prefer to read it on there: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9303697/1/The-Next-Generation

And Liveluvcreate:  http://www.liveluvcreate.com/fanfiction/book/the_next_generation-732.html

And AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/807773

And Wordpress: www.littlemissnack.wordpress.com

Or if you prefer to read it on here, here you go:

When Scorpius, Rose & Albus arrived back at Hogwarts after Christmas, Scorpius began experiencing an odd sensation he’d never felt before, he didn’t want Christmas to end. Scorpius knew without a doubt in his heart that this had been his favourite Christmas ever, even with Rose’s father’s snide remarks towards him. When he had arrived at the closest place that had ever felt like home to him, Hogwarts castle, he found himself sorely wanting to return to the chaos of the burrows. Scorpius had spent the rest of Christmas getting to know the other members of Albus’ family, especially Teddy and Andromeda, two members of his own family he’d never even met before. Scorpius couldn’t really describe to Rose & Albus the relief he had felt when he discovered there were members of his family like him who had chosen a different path. For all this life Scorpius felt so alone and different and meeting Teddy and Andromeda showed him he wasn’t. He had such a wonderful Christmas he’d almost forgotten entirely about the day Teddy took him and Albus to Flourish and Blotts to research, however he was quickly reminded of this when within an hour of arriving back Rose was planning to meet up with Thalia and Sienna the next day.

Scorpius couldn’t fail to notice Albus’ smile widen as Sienna walked in or Thalia’s when she caught sight of Albus for that matter. Scorpius couldn’t pretend he wasn’t worried for the groups future if this continued. Anybody could see Thalia had feelings for Albus, and you’d have had to be blind not to see Albus’ growing feelings for Sienna. The only one Scorpius couldn’t figure out was Sienna. She kept her emotions so closely guarded he could never tell how she felt as easily as he could read Albus and Thalia. One moment she was kissing his cheek in the infirmary and the next she had slapped him, it was enough to confuse anybody. Scorpius had found himself wondering on several occasions how they would continue to work together as a group if Sienna did have feelings for Albus too. He wondered how hard it must be for Thalia to have to work with someone she had feelings for who had feelings for someone else. Scorpius found himself glad he had never got involved in messy feelings for multiple people. Scorpius’ thoughts were interrupted however by the arrival of Rose who promptly took he seat at what had by now become their usual table.

“Right. Welcome back everyone, I hope you two had a great Christmas. Now down to business, how did everyone get on with research?” Rose asked. Scorpius looked around trying to avoid eye contact with Rose and noticed the rest of the gang were doing the same. Sienna rolled her eyes at there nervousness and threw her bag on the table and took out the silver mirror which she slid across the table to Rose.

“I did every spell I could think of, dark detection spells, tracing spells, even a magic detection spell and I couldn’t find a thing. It’s like it’s a normal mirror again… except for the blood stains of course.” Sienna shrugged. Rose sighed as she took back the mirror.

“Okay so we’ve come with a dead end in the mirror department…. Thalia? Did you have anymore luck with the journal?” Rose tried to stay positive. Thalia bit her lip as she produced the journal from her satchel.

“….Not exactly. I got two more words…. I’m sorry I was trying all Christmas but this thing is hard! A lot of the writing faded so it’s hard enough to see without it being in code!” Thalia glared at the journal.

“It’s alright Tha, You’ll get there. We can start working on it together again!” Albus suggested. Scorpius couldn’t help but noticed Thalia blush and Sienna scowl slightly as he said this and wondered if Albus was aware of what he was doing to Thalia.

“Yeah you two need to be on journal duty.” Rose agreed “In the meantime though how did you boys get on looking up the staff and Morana?” Rose turned to Albus and Scorpius who looked at each other then down at the table refusing to meet Rose’s eyes.

“Well…We didn’t exactly….” Scorpius began nervously.

“We couldn’t find anything!” Albus blurted out. Rose sighed deeply.

“Seriously? You couldn’t find ANYTHING about the name Morana or a staff? Did either of you even look!?” Rose accused them.

“We did! Teddy took us the Flourish and Blotts before school started back up again!” Scorpius insisted.

“It’s not like there’s an entire section on women made of mist who may be called Morana and use creepy objects to get power!” Albus defended them. “Anyway what did you find then?”

“Well….” Rose began biting her lip.

“You didn’t find anything either!” Albus pointed at her accusingly.

“No okay! Your right it’s not like there’s a library section for this stuff!” Rose sighed in defeat.

“So we’re no closer to figuring this stuff out then we were before Christmas?” Sienna rolled her eyes leaning back on her chair.

“I guess we’ll have to continue our research here then.” Rose suggested earning a frustrated sigh from the rest of the group.

  The gang struggled to get anymore work done over the coming weeks as they all became too distracted by the excitement of their first visit to Hogsmeade. The quintet were struggling to keep there focus on the mist woman when the topic of Hogsmeade was much more exciting.

“I guess we can all have a look through Tomes & Scrolls to see if we can find anything else, it’ll be good to have fresh books to look through” Scorpius suggested. Sienna frowned.

“I’m gunna have to pass on that blondie, as exciting as book shopping sounds, I’d be crucified if Jasper’s lot caught me with you goody goody Gryffindors!” Sienna didn’t sound the least bit sad to have to miss book shopping, but the news made Albus frown.

“Maybe they’d be okay…” Albus began.

“You don’t know Jasper’s lot, all the slytherins are like Jasper and his little girlfriend Hydra and if I cross them I’ll have nobody in my own house, I’d never live it down!” Sienna sighed.

Thalia couldn’t help but notice that for the first time for just a split second she’d let her guard down and showed she was disappointed by the ever so slight falter in her reluctant smile. Thalia couldn’t help but wonder how hard it must be to have to keep up a persona for so long just to keep other people happy. She felt a twinge of guilt as she realised she’d never felt that pressure before. Thalia surrounded herself by people who loved and accepted her for every part of her and for every choice she made, Sienna had never been given that luxury. She’d been trained from birth to be the person other people wanted so she wouldn’t end up alone and years of conditioning had left her unable to change that need to fit in. Thalia began to think of the way Sienna resembled a chameleon, changing herself so much to adapt to her environment for self-preservation that nobody knew who she really was. Thalia was snapped out of her thoughts by Rose’s piercing voice.

“That’s okay Sienna we understand, we’ll go check it out and we’ll have a meeting after Hogsmeade next week to look at what we found.” Rose suggested.

“Sounds good, is that all we need to discuss? Because I am REALLY behind on professor Longbottom’s herbology homework and I need to start getting through it!” Scorpius admitted. Rose sighed in response.

“Come on, let’s get back to the dorm and I’ll help you get through it. You know you really should have got through this weeks ago!” Rose said sternly.

“Since your going to be helping Scorpius with herbology…” Albus sheepishly began. Rose rolled her eyes.

“What do you need help with?”

“I haven’t really done the transfiguration homework yet...” Albus stalled.

“The one that’s due tomorrow?! Honestly Albus!” Rose lectured as her and the boys began to leave. Rose stopped to turn towards Thalia.

“Tha? You coming? Anything I can help you with?” Rose asked patiently. Thalia looked between Rose and Sienna who was sweeping her blonde curls out of her eyes as she packed her satchel.

“No, I’m all caught up thanks though, I’m going to stick around for a bit though, you guys go on.” Thalia smiled as Rose shrugged and followed the boys. Thalia turned her attention to Sienna.

“Sienna? Can we talk?” Thalia asked nervously. Sienna raised an eyebrow but took a seat again.

“If this is about Albus again…” Sienna began

“No, no I’d rather not even think about that! Actually it’s about you. I was just wondering why you don’t ever want to hang around with us in public?” Thalia asked. Sienna chortled in response.

“Have you ever met Jasper and his cronies? They’d make my life in the common room hell if they knew I didn’t mind Gryffindor’s, yet alone if they knew I was hanging around with them! And that’s just Jasper, I can’t even begin to imagine the twisted things Hydra would make the other slytherin girls so to me! Trust me it’s just a lot safer for all of us if we hide us all hanging out!” Sienna grabbed her satchel and started to raise from her chair when Thalia grabbed her arm.

“Wait! Look I know Jasper’s not nice people but… surely not everyone in there is like that? I mean you’re a Slytherin and your nice, surely there must be other Slytherin’s like you? ones you could stick with in the common room?” Thalia suggested. Sienna gave a sad smile.

“Truth be told, I barely even know anyone in my house except Jasper’s lot. If Jasper tells us not to talk to someone we don’t speak to them. We do what Jasper says and in return… he protects us.” Sienna admitted. Thalia’s eyes widened.

“That’s not who I thought you were.” Thalia admitted. Her words hit Sienna with an impact neither of them were expecting. The room was silent for what felt like days before Sienna could finally speak again.

“You don’t even know me, so don’t act like you do just because we have a similar taste in boys! You know nothing about who I am!” Sienna’s eyes looked positively dangerous at that moment. Thalia knew the safer option would be to apologise and walk away but she also knew she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t try.

“Maybe I don’t know everything but from what I do know I thought you were stronger that that. I thought you were strong enough to think for yourself and stand on your own two feet and not let Jasper make all your decisions for you. You shouldn’t let him control you like that! We’re your friends not him!” Thalia pleaded. Sienna took a deep shaky breath to calm herself before replying.

“You goody goody Gryffindors think everything’s about being brave! Well it’s NOT! Some us don’t want to be brave, some of us just want to survive! And Jasper helps us do that!” Sienna snarled trying to break her arm free of Thalia’s grasp.

“Sienna, people who tell you who you can and cannot talk to are not your friends. People who control your actions aren’t your friends. If you cannot be yourself around Jasper, he’s not your friend. Look carry on playing Jasper’s little puppet if you want but if you ever decide you want real friends who will be there to support you for everything that you are and everything you want to be, then you know where to find us. We’re always here Sienna. You just need to figure out where you want to be.” Thalia released Sienna’s arm and quickly left through the library door before she could even reply. Sienna stared at the library door Thalia had walked out of in shock.

  The next morning Thalia couldn’t help but feel guilty about her talk with Sienna. She knew in her heart that she meant what she’d said to her but part of her felt guilty about the way she’d said it. Thalia could barely sleep that night thinking about how Sienna would react to there conversation. She knew deep down that she was right but she also knew that this friendship they all had was so important to Sienna and pushing her like that could have jeopardised it for Sienna. So when Sienna walked through the doors with Jasper and his gang the next morning for breakfast Thalia felt a terrible twinge as they all came towards them.

“Well well, Look it’s the Slytherin reject, the let down son, the ugly know it all and the freak together as usual! Well I suppose beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to friends” Jaspers nasty remarks were followed by a cruel screeching laugh from Hydra Dean who was clingy possessively to her boyfriends arm. Thalia couldn’t help but notice however Sienna had her arms crossed across her chest and her eyes had fallen to the floor pretending not to have heard.

“God, no wonder all your parents rejected you. If my children turned out to be freaks like you lot I’d leave too! Speaking of which, how is your mummy Scorpius? My dad heard from the ministry that your mother hasn’t turned up to any meetings for weeks now. Everyone’s thinking she’s done a runner! I bet she has hasn’t she! I don’t blame her, I’d rather live on the other side of the world than have a traitor son!” Jasper smirked as Hydra and the rest of his crew laughed as though this was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. Scorpius’ face was solid trying his hardest not to show any emotion. Rose’s face was flushing red with anger and Albus looked like he was about to climb over the table and smack Jasper’s face.

“Jasper, I swear if you don’t shut up….” Albus threatened. Jasper rolled his eyes.

“Oh and what are you going to do? I’d be far more threatened if it were your brother or your famous father threatening me! Even your sister is more intimidating than you! You don’t have anything in you! You’re just weak. Tell me Potter, how disappointed was your father when you came? No one would even be able to recognise you in your own family you’re than unimportant! What a shame the famous Harry Potter got a son like you.” Albus fell back into his seat in shock trying desperately not to show how much those words effected him but much like Scorpius Thalia knew neither were doing a very good job at it.

“Lay off.” A quite voice came from behind Jasper. His crew split apart to reveal the blonde haired girl that had made the comment. Thalia’s caught her breath when she saw Sienna’s eyes daring to meet Jasper’s.

“What did you just say?” Jasper said slowly and dangerously. By now half the hall had turned to watch the showdown. Jasper had given her an out, a way to take back what she’d said. But Thalia saw a defiance in her hazel eyes that would make grown men weep, she saw Sienna’s posture straighten to bring herself to Jasper’s full height, her hands clench into fists by her side daring Jasper to fight back.

“I said. Lay off.” Sienna’s icy voice firmly stated louder this time. Jaspers glare deepened.

“What do you think your doing Sienna?” Jasper’s controlled voice getting even tighter. Thalia noticed that Albus’ mouth was hanging open at the exchange and Rose’s hands were covering her mouth in shock and Scorpius’ eyes looked like they were about to bulge from his head.

“Making a choice. I’m telling you right now Jasper. Lay off them or you’ll have me to deal with.” Sienna warned. Jasper’s eyes darted to the rest of the hall that was staring at him.

“What? So you think you’re a goody goody Gryffindor now? In case you forgot Sienna, you’re one of us. The sorting hat looked deep into your mind and saw that we were the same and you…” He pointed at the Gryffindor table in general then back at Sienna. “Are different. It’s not use pretending to be somebody you’re not Sienna. Your one of us, not them.” Sienna laughed cruelly at this making Jasper jump slightly.

“That is where you are so wrong. No one’s like anyone. We are all different. And thank Merlin I’m different from you lot because being like you guys, well that would be worst person I could be. You are right in a way though. I’m not a Gryffindor, I’m ambitious and vain, I can be self-centred and sneaky, I’m a slytherin. But just because I’m a Slytherin, doesn’t mean I have to be like you. It’s people like you that give us a bad name. So no I’m not a Gryffindor, but I prefer hanging out with them then jerks like you.” Sienna smiled towards the group. Albus caught her eye and for a brief moment Thalia noticed his silent admiration towards her. Jasper tried his best to regain his composure but Thalia thought his face still resembled a sour lemon.

“Fine. You want to choose to be a freak and a disappointment like them? Go ahead. But I’m warning you Sienna, you will regret this!” Jasper inched his face a millimetre from her but Sienna’s eyes only narrowed. She refused to show intimidation or fear as he glared at her.

“No I don’t think I am. I’ve got friends, I’ve got them, and I’d much rather them over you lot any day.” Sienna smiled. Jasper rolled his eyes and led the rest of his gang over to the Slytherin table as Sienna bravely took a seat next to Thalia at the Gryffindor table. The gang stared at her in amazement and pride.

“Sienna you just…” Rose began but found herself speechless for the first time in her life.

“That was AWESOME!” Scorpius beamed patting her on the back. She smiled at his confidently.

“I know. That git had it coming! No one tells me who I can and cannot be friends with!” Sienna smirked.

“You are truly amazing. Every time I think I have you worked out, you go and surprise me.” Albus couldn’t take his eyes away from her Thalia noticed much to her disappointment.

“Oh please Albus, you’ll never work me out!” Sienna laughed.

“Sienna… what you just did…. you can’t undo that. That was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen but… the rest of the Slytherins are going to make your life hell now!” Thalia sympathetically said.

“Yeah well let them try. You were right Thalia. I’m Sienna Vane, I am the boss not anybody’s servant!” Sienna smiled boldly at her. He smile wavered though as she saw Thalia’s face drop.

“I don’t want to be the reason the Slytherins give you hell though.” Thalia admitted much to the confusion of Albus Rose and Scorpius. Sienna smiled though.

“Thalia. You’re the reason I got away from those complete and utter vile people! You reminded me who my friends were. You reminded me that you are my friend not them! You’re not at fault, I owe you!” Sienna surprised everyone yet again by giving Thalia a bone crushing hug which Thalia reciprocated “Thank you” Sienna whispered as they hugged. Thalia smiled as the broke apart.

“Don’t thank me, I’m just glad you don’t have to hide behind those gits anymore!” The gang chuckled as the continued their breakfast talking nonstop about what Sienna was going to do now with the slytherins.

   The gang could barely hold in there excitement as they entered Hogsmeade for Sienna and Thalia this was there first time experiencing the village, however Rose, Scorpius & Albus had been here many times throughout there childhood. But the experience of going alone without adult supervision was thrilling to them. Rose was keen to head straight through the crisp snow to Tomes and Scrolls but the rest of the gang had managed to convince her to go to get a drink at the three broomsticks first. As they all took a seat in a quiet booth in the corner Scorpius’ eyes glanced around as he took his coat off until he noticed a familiar head of blue hair coming toward them.

“Teddy!” Scorpius exclaimed. Teddy beamed as he made his way to the gangs table. As he approached he noticed Teddy wearing a three broomstick uniform and carrying a waiters notepad.

“Hey dudes! What are you guys doing here?” He asked excitedly as he flipped his book preparing to take there order.

“Our first Hogsmeade weekend!” Albus smiled. Teddy shook his head in disbelief.

“Wow! I can’t believe you’re all old enough to be going on Hogsmeade trips! What are you all now 13?” Teddy asked.

“Well there 13…” Albus said pointing to Rose, Scorpius and Thalia. “…we just turned 14” he pointed between himself and Sienna who were sitting close.

“God! Seems like just yesterday you and me were playing catch with the bludgers in the garden Rosie!” Teddy reminisced. Scorpius couldn’t help but notice Rose’s face turn red.

“How’s Andromeda?” Scorpius asked keenly. Teddy smiled slightly.

“Grandma’s okay, she’s getting old though, forgot the levitation charm the other day bless her!” Teddy frowned. “She’ll be really excited to hear from you though! She’s missed you since you left after Christmas.” Teddy confessed. Scorpius couldn’t hide a smile.

“I’ve missed her too, Your grandmothers so lovely and caring.” Scorpius remembered fondly the few days he’d been able to spend with the closest thing he’d felt to a loving family in years.

“Hey! You remember what she said! Call her Aunt Drom! She’s your aunt too cuz!” Teddy grinned his hair turning from blue to orange as he did.

“Oh my god you’re hair!” Thalia jumped out of her skin as Sienna’s eyes bulged from her head. Rose stifled a grin at there reactions to this.

“Guys it’s cool, he’s a metamorphmagus, he can change his appearance at will. This is Teddy he’s…well he’s sort of an honorary cousin of ours since Albus’ dad is Teddy’s godfather. He and Al were practically raised together.” Rose introduced Teddy who smiled at the two girls who had yet to stop staring at his hair.

“And he’s actually my cousin….well second cousin anyway” Scorpius beamed.

“Teddy these are our friends from school, Thalia and Sienna” Albus pointed to each girl individually as Teddy put out his hand to shake both girls hands.

“Nice to meet you both Thalia and Sienna! … oh god the boss is onto me!” The gang followed Teddy’s eyeliner to see an old woman glaring at his from behind the bar.

“I’d better take your drinks, I’ll try come back to chat after.” Teddy frowned before putting on a huge fake customer service smile. “So are you guys ready to order?” He asked in his most polite voice.

“Yes we are, 5 butterbeers please” Rose said in an equally formal voice. Teddy winked at them as he went to fetch there order.

  The quartet had managed to convince Rose that they didn’t need to go to Tomes and Scrolls and that they should just enjoy the fun of Hogsmeade while they could. After a heated debate Rose finally gave it and let them do what they wanted, Albus took Sienna to see the shrieking shack while Scorpius and Thalia spent the rest of the day going between interesting shops. Rose however had decided that even if her friends weren’t going to join her she was going to try and research. Thalia couldn’t help but feel guilty that night thinking about how they had abandoned Rose to do the serious work while they went and had fun. Rose had brought a number of books back with her and whenever Thalia tried to speak to her to apologise she’d simply hold her finger out to shush her and she read. Thalia gave up eventually and slowly fell asleep. Her dreams came in terrifying flashes. A flash of an army, of a tomb, a sceptre, a tiara, the mirror, the mist woman. She heard glimpses of conversation too as the various scenes flashed before her.

“You nearly ruined everything! I need them alive now!”

“Use this to gather the muggles” Thalia saw a terrifying looking potion swirling red and black with black mist steaming from the top.

“Find the muggleborns, the half-bloods, the blood-traitors. The ones who doubt. Bring them to me”

Thalia had forgotten she was dreaming until suddenly she heard her name being shouted above it all, waking her with a scream. Rose was sat at the end of her bed he messy hair standing on end in her pale blue pyjamas looking concerned and pale. She glanced around the rest of the room and found the other girls just looked vaguely annoyed by her nightmare outburst.

“Rose I saw her again…. In my dream. I saw her and I heard her! The mist woman!” Thalia frantically tried to explain. Rose bit her lip nervously.

“Thalia…. You were doing it again. I thought you were going to start walking! You started reciting…. It.” Rose tried to speak in code but Thalia’s confused expression gave away her little knowledge. “The same prophecy you recited on the first day of the year… you recited it again.” Thalia felt her blood go cold. Her insides suddenly felt like lead. Rose quickly moved to comfort her seeing the worrying on her face she gave Thalia a half hug.

“Don’t worry about it and try and get some real sleep tonight. We’ll have a library meeting first thing tomorrow morning. I found something in the books.”