#cautious baby boy meets his future sister figure .

[stcries-a]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ➔   @idolheal​​​​​​​​ ,   plotted  starter .

footsteps  and  posture  remain  cautious  as  crimson  gaze  locks  onto  the  stranger .   creatures  big  and  small  entered  his  territory  all  the  time ,   be  it just  passing  through  or  looking  to  challenge  the  pack   . . .   but  it  had  been  a  long  time  since  a  human  entered  this  place .   could  you  blame  the  young  boy  for  being  on  edge ??

❝   you .   explain  yourself ,   why  you  here .  ❞    finally ,   grey  haired  child  works  up  courage  to  speak ,   body  hunching  akin  to  being  on  all  fours .   he’d  certainly  bolt  it  if  she  made  any  dangerous  moves  at  this  point .

[letstalkaboutfandomsbaby]

hi so you know the nanami headcanons with him being a momma boy and his upbringing, well what would happen if you know…him bringing chubby reader to meet them and his family loves her. all fluff up here

OMG PLEASE im crying, im fucking sobbing good lord, gimme a minute—

CW: chubby fem reader, fluff so much fluff omg, not beta read bc my two brain cells are at full capacity and can't do it sksksk

Okok hold on ok—

Let's backtrack

Nanami may be a momma's boy, but he doesn't really talk about his family

Tbh you thought he was an orphan until you walked in on the end of his phone conversation with his mom (you asked who he was talking to and when he said it was his mom, your jaw DROPPED like?? Were you ever gonna tell me tf sksksk)

It's not that he doesn't want to talk about his family: he just doesn't necessarily find himself exciting or interesting like he'd much rather focus on you

But he wants to take the next step

Kento adores you and wants to spend the rest of his life with you, so he wants his family to meet you

He brings up the idea of spending the weekend at his parents' place and meeting his whole family and you're so excited!! Yes! Let me meet your family jesus christ Ken it's been like six months of dating wtf

You pack up your things and start your mini roadtrip on Friday: Nanami only worked a half day, so the two of you ate lunch and then got on the road

His parents lived a couple hours away in the country, so you had plenty of time to ask him questions about his family

What are his parents like? Does he have siblings? Oh, he has two older sisters: what are they like? What was his childhood like? Did he have any pets when he was little??

Nanami finds your curiosity adorable and humors you by answering your questions as best as he can

The two of you arrive at his parents' house around dinnertime!!

You're met with a pleasant little cottage surrounded by farms and woods, like it's so cozy and cute and you're elated

You're bouncing with excitement as Nanami takes your suitcases out of the car, leading you to the house

"Fair warning: they can be a bit... clingy." KENTO PLEASE WE HAVE BEEN DRIVING FOR HOURS AND I'VE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS FOR MONTHS, I DON'T FUCKING CARE

Nanami knocks on the door and it opens soon after

"There's my little Kenny!"

Cue a tiny woman greeting Nanami with open arms, pulling him down to her level for a hug, making him chuckle

You're standing back, a bit cautious. Your nerves are starting to get the better of you, making you worry that his mother won't like you

"Hello, Mom. How are you?"

"I'm overjoyed!" She let's him go after a minute or so. "Now where's this Y/N that I've heard so little about? I have to catch up with my future daughter in law while I have the chance!"

Oh ok, she's excited to meet you so there's nothing to worry about 🥰

Nanami steps aside to introduce the two of you, but his mother pretty much barges past him

"Oh my stars, look at you! My goodness, aren't you just the prettiest thing? C'mere, lemme get a look at you."

His mother proceeds to twirl you around and compliment your outfit, telling you how you're so lucky to have a figure that fills clothes so well ("I would kill for hips like yours")

Nanami has to stop his mother from talking your ear off, convincing her to continue the conversation inside so he can put down your suitcases

The three of you head inside, Mrs. Nanami taking you into the living room while Kento takes your things to your room

She starts asking dozens of questions sksksk

When did yall meet? Where was it? Was Kenny awkward when he asked you out, he's always been a shy kid so it wouldn't surprise her—

Suddenly yall are talking about how Nanami was as a kid and she's pulled out a photo album with all his baby pictures 🥺

Nanami was the cutest baby! So sweet! So chubby! Just had the roundest cheek imaginable and they were so pinchable!!

Mrs. Nanami is reminiscing a lot sksksk

Once Kento returns to the living room, Mrs. Nanami has reached his teenage emo phase and is complaining about how her sweet baby boy wouldn't let her love on him the way he used to and how she didn't have many pictures because he hated being photographed—

Bruh, Nanami is so fucking embarrassed wth sksksk

His neck and ears are turning red as he suggests moving to the kitchen so he can help his mother make dinner, but Mama Nanami ain't havin it and just wants to show you how cute her wittle bubbaloo was when he was younger 💕

You're just sitting back and enjoying the playful banter between mother and son when the door opens and Mr. Nanami arrives home from work

Kento greets his dad in a professional manner (like "hello sir, it's good to see you. Are you well?" It's just v awkward tbh sksksk) and introduces you to him

His father is respectful and kind, but not as friendly as Ken's mom, so it's a little jarring ^^;

You move to the kitchen where Kento and his mama start dinner, and his father goes off to get changed, eventually going back to the living room to reading a newspaper

You're not sure where to go like should you stand awkwardly in the kitchen or sit awkwardly in the living room with his dad, but before you can decide, Kento lifts you up and sits you on the counter

"Stay here," he says in a calm almost demanding tone before he turns back to the stove with his mother

They're kinda in their own little bubble, catching up on certain topics while you just 🧎‍♀️ sit at the counter not knowing how to contribute sksksk

But once they start cooking, Ken starts bringing small bites over to you so you can taste test dinner

Like he's still talking with his momma but he's also focused on you and tells you to open up and listens carefully when you tell him your thoughts and he's just 🥺💕 such a sweet man!!

Yall eventually have dinner and retire to bed

You and Ken gotta squeeze into this fullsized bed from his childhood but it's not so bad having to sleep on your big strong man 🥴

You wake up the next morning to Nanami cooking french toast for everyone with fresh berries from his mom's garden and it's sooooooo good and his mama is so proud of him and his cooking skills

His mom planned a whole day for the four of you!! You go to the local market for groceries and after lunch you go on a hike to a pretty lake and it's just a really nice day where his parents get to know you 🥰

It's about an hour before dinner when you hear the front door open

"Alright, alright, calm down! Go find your grandma!"

Cue two little boys running into the living room cheering as they almost tackle Mr and Mrs Nanami

Who's here? It's Nanami's sisters and their families!!

His sisters, Momoko and Mitsuki, are literally so pretty wtf

They don't have blond hair?? They have straight, brown hair that goes down past their shoulders and hazel eyes and they're tall and thin and stunning—

"Oh my god, is this Y/N? Kento, you didn't tell me she was so pretty!"

Wait what?? 🥺

His big sisters fawn over you, talking about how they've wanted to meet you for so long and how they can't believe their little brother found someone as pretty as you and are you sure you really like him bc you seem way too good for their lil dumby dumb brother—

"Alright, that's enough," Kento interrupts the conversation, his two nephews hanging off of his body

ALSO KEN WHEN WERE YOU GONNA TELL US YOU HAVE NEPHEWS?? HUH??

"I also have a niece" WHATTTTT?????

Cue Mitsuki's husband coming in with a little girl 🥺💕 she's so cute, she's in a little dress and she's got precious chubby cheeks and a little cap—

Mitsuki asks if you wanna hold her

UHHHHH YEA I WANNA HOLD THE CUTE LITTLE BABY, PLS GIVE HER TO ME 🥺😭💕

You get to hold Nanami's wittle niece and she's cute and precious and you love her 💕

Holding a cute baby almost makes you forget that you boyfriend has been keeping information away from you

Don't worry Ken, we're gonna have a talk about that later 😒

The energy has COMPLETELY changed from what it was just an hour ago

There's so much energy and life in the little house, but somehow it's just as intimidating as Kento's dead silent dad

Kento and his mama make dinner, there's a shitload of small talk while they cook, and you all sit down to share a meal

You are bombarded with questions from the Nanami sisters

Similar questions to what his mama asked, but they don't hold back on roasting their younger brother

"So how did a pretty girl like you ever end up with a dweeb like Kento?"

"Was it a blind date? I bet it was a blind date."

"Did he have to bribe you to go out with him?"

"Let me guess: he took you to an expensive restaurant on your first date? Since food is the only real personality trait he has—"

"Alright, we get it—"

"Quit yelling, Kento, your girlfriend's gonna break up with you."

"I wasn't—"

"Look at him! He's getting all red!"

"Please stop—"

"Kento always gets soooo embarrassed when we talk about him! No clue why"

Dinner is just entertainment at this point, with you barely answering questions as the sisters bounce off each other's statements as Kento tries to cut them off and get them to stop, as well as their mother chiming in with her own comments

Their husbands seem to be used to this, quietly eating and tending to the children

You're just 🧍‍♀️ not sure what to do! Do you say something or stay quiet or???

Dinner is over before you know it but the conversation doesn't die down after the dishes, and suddenly you're all moving outside to the back porch where the sun is setting and Mr. Nanami is bent over by the firepit while the kids are running around and everyone is catching up

You're still a bit stand-offish unsure if you fit in. I mean, their family is so lively and beautiful! You just feel out of place—

"Darling." Kento interrupts your thoughts, his hand on your elbow. You meet his gaze and feel your face burn when you see the loving look he's giving you. "Would you like a smore?" Suspend your disbelief and pretend it's normal to make smores in Japan

You don't feel so nervous after that 🥺💕

Kento is a gentleman and toasts a marshmallow for you so you don't have to sit near the fire smoke and when the sun goes down and it gets chilly he gets a blanket for the both of you to share and he's so sweet literally perfect 🥺💕💕💕

"Are you lovebirds gonna stare into each others' eyes all night or are we gonna have a real conversation?" OMG NOW HIS SISTERS ARE ROASTING YOU WTF SKSKSKKS

It's a good thing tho: they're roasting you bc they're comfortable with you and see you as family 💕

You start talking with his sisters about your job and your own life while Ken goes to help his dad tend to the fire

Kento is shocked when he feels his dad pat his shoulder

"She's a very nice girl, Kento. You did well."

Nanami rarely hears praise from his father so he's a bit taken aback.

"... Thank you sir." It goes quiet for a bit. "When... when did you know that you wanted to marry mom?"

"Hmm... probably our third date." His father leans back in his chair, sighing loudly, folding his hands over his stomach and looking up at the stars. "We went to a movie. I can't remember what it was called. All I can remember is that you mother found the movie hilarious and was laughing so loudly that people shushed us several times... I can't explain it, but every time she laughed beside me, I just kept thinking 'I want to spend the rest of my life with her'." Damn dad, didn't know you were such a romantic at heart 🤧

Nanami goes quiet, staring at the fire before he looks over his shoulder at you.

His younger nephew has fallen asleep on your lap, wrapped up in the blanket with you, your chubby cheek resting against his head

You look tired, but when you look up at meet Kento's gaze, you smile, making his heart pound.

For a moment, he thinks about the small box sitting at the bottom of his luggage, hidden away from you, and he knows deep down that he won't have to return it.

[goldeneyedgirl]

TwiFicMas Day 11: AU Shadow to Light

Tonight's offering is an AU to STL that I've been playing with - if Mary-Alice had fled the army when she was assaulted, rather than stayed. This will absolutely be a one-shot piece, just an exploration of exactly how close Mary-Alice was that day to a very different future.

I hope everyone is staying safe these holidays - it looks like my sister won't be home for Christmas because she's come in contact with COVID which is really scary. Be smart, get vaccinated, and wear a mask <3

tw: rape/assault mentioned, not graphically.

There’s a girl in the tree outside the kitchen window.

Esme notices her early in the day, when the dew is still sitting on the lawn. She’s small and pale and ragged, and she’s half-lying over a branch, her chin on her hands as she watches the Cullen house. She doesn’t flinch, doesn’t move. Just watches.

It might be one of Carlisle’s friends, but the boys have all gone hunting and she cannot ask. They won’t be back for four days - another bonding trip; Jasper has been doing so well with the family, but they are all careful to reinforce the familial bond, to remind them all of the affection, respect, and enjoyment they get from being apart of a family. It sounds mercenary, calculated, but it works for them. The same way she and Rosalie prize their time together.

Esme thinks about calling Rose but she doesn’t. Instead, she goes outside, smiling as she walks towards the little mite in the tree. She’s not a newborn - her eyes are black, and she’s so still. Her eyes meet Esme’s, and the woman thinks of animals. Animals dying slowly, in pain, hoping for some kind of divine intervention.

“Hello,” Esme smiles up at her, seven feet in the air. “I’m Esme Cullen.”

There is no response. The girl jerks backwards to flatten herself against the trunk, her limbs pulled tight against herself. And without breaking Esme’s gaze, she ascends higher up into the branches. Putting more distance between herself and Esme.

“I’m not going to hurt you?” Esme offers, suddenly concerned. Perhaps she’s not a friend of Carlisle’s, but some nomadic little waif, seeking out her own kind but too fearful to engage them.

The girl turns her head away to the house, and no matter what Esme says to her, does not say a word.

She stays in the tree.

—

It is only a month or two after their arrival, Maria begins to rebuild the army. She is cautious in her selection of soldiers. The first few are harmless – Reina is the vainest creature on the planet, and Felipe is strong but as dumb as a brick. They are both obedient, respectful, and learn their roles quickly.

It is Derrick she does not like. He looks innocuous, baby-faced, but there’s something foul about him. His sly smirks and calculating gazes do not put anyone else on edge, but she stays away as best she can. The newborns are kept in the cellar, but she is finally granted a reprieve from the ‘barracks’, and shares a tiny room with Ariana in the farmhouse proper.

For a little while, she thinks that is enough to protect her from a nebulous threat she doesn’t entirely comprehend.

He finally corners her in the barn, after training. It happens so quickly, and he is so strong, then he has her pinned, his arm around her throat. She cannot move, and she isn’t stupid – so much as a murmur, and he will take her head clean off.

There is nothing she can do.

The things he whispers in her ear are vile, but she is silent, trying to still her unnecessary breathing.

Fear creates predatory behaviour. The Major taught her that.

But it doesn’t help her now; it doesn’t stop him in his assault, his arm still tight and unrelenting. He goads her, clearly eager for her to provoke him into beheading her.

This is not how she dies.

She is rage wrapped in ice and stone. Instead of crawling into a corner of her mind, she tries to drag a vision upon herself so she can figure out what she does next.

But she doesn’t know, so she cannot make that choice, and when he finally releases her, she runs. She runs and runs, until she can see the ocean and there is sand underneath her bare feet. It is there that her rage burns out, and she just feels hollowed out and dirty.

She can still smell that bastard on her. That is easily fixed; the heavy, salt water of the Gulf of Mexico wash away his scent, and leaves her hair gritty and her dress stiff. But the feeling of him pressed up against her, of his arm around her throat, the scent of his hot breath, his mocking words…

She wants to be sick. She wants to vomit up her last meal into the sand. She wants to rip and tear and destroy. She wants to scream and cry, cry real human tears. And she knows if she goes back to the house, goes back and tells Maria what Derrick did to her, she probably wouldn’t care. It’s the flip of a coin whether Maria would raise her eyebrow as if she was whining about the weather, or if she’d destroy Derrick. And even then, it would be more about putting Derrick in his rightful place than what he’d done to her.

If she wanted something done about him, wanted him destroyed, she’d have to do it herself. That’s the truth.

No one has ever protected her for her sake. No one has ever comforted her, ever defended her, ever protected her. In battle, she was the shield that protected the Major and Peter and Maria and Charlotte… She’s always been the one on the frontline, the one that is expendable.

And she’s so very, very tired. She wants…

She wants…

She wants the Major.

She wants the Major who once beheaded a newborn for arguing with her on matters of battle strategy. Who brought her back a dress from a hunt in town one night, because they hadn’t found anything to fit her half-decently in months. She wants the Major, who always made sure there was paper for her to fold, waiting for her on the window ledge.

She wants the Major. He’d tear Derrick apart, slowly and painfully and not just because Mary-Alice was the Major’s property. It would be a lie not to acknowledge it. But because she was distressed. Because she wanted to feel safe. He’d let her light up the body as well, fold her against him and stroke her hair.

Or maybe that was wishful thinking.

Except… it doesn’t have to be.

She’s already wading out to the water before she can wrap her head around what she’s doing. There’s nothing she’s really leaving behind - the Major’s dog-tags are safe around her neck, the only thing in her quarters are a ragged dress, a book she cannot read, and dozens of folded animals and flowers. Nothing worth staying for.

Swimming isn’t something she’s ever done before, but she’s going to try. She’s going to try her goddamn hardest and maybe by the time she’s finished, the only thing she’ll smell on herself is sand and salt and sea.

—

Rosalie is less worried about the girl, and more irritated. “She needs to leave,” Rose says between gritted teeth as she paces in front of the window. “What does she want?”

“I don’t know,” Esme sighs. It’s been a debate since she told Rosalie about her. “She hasn’t tried to hunt, and she looks thirsty. She won’t speak to me… she looks so sad, Rosalie. I just want to help.”

“If she wants help, she has to ask for it,” Rosalie snapped and turned on her heal to march out the back door.

The girl looks at her curiously, but does not leave her perch.

“What do you want?” Rosalie half-yells, and the girl says nothing.

“If you aren’t going to talk to us like a human, you need to leave!” Rosalie insists. “We don’t want you here!”

The girl shrinks into herself, somehow getting smaller, her chin resting on her knees. But she doesn’t budge.

“Rosalie,” Esme sighs but Rosalie already regrets her words, at the way the stranger seemed to shrink away.

//

It’s not an easy escape.

But it was never destined to be.

She is awkward in the water, but fast, keeping as deep as she can because she’s scared she will be caught out by someone. Not just Maria, but Valeria’s people or Emile’s. The fear is like a live-wire in her head, on her skin. It’s all she’s known for days.

The visions hit her lazily. Maria had assumed that Derrick had destroyed her after his assault, and he had been executed without ceremony - he was too dangerous to keep, in a myriad of ways. She was assumed to be dead, but despite two nights of searches, no one had found evidence of a pyre.

That should be a comfort.

Emile is prowling further up the coastline and that is powerfully inconvenient - she wanted to leave the water as close to Alabama as possible. Instead, she’ll go as far as Florida - no matter how good and terrible and vicious Emile is, even if he ever managed to claim Georgia, Florida is a land unto itself.

If Florida ever falls, the South is lost.

Valeria is still hovering around California and that’s good, even if Valeria puts Mary-Alice’s teeth on edge; the woman makes her feel like a trigger about to be pulled. And she hates that. She hates things she can not tease apart and understand - that’s the only reason she got that far in this life, after all.

She swims with panicked urgency, as if she can outrun all the horrors she has left behind. And maybe being so deep in the water, having the grim and blood washed off her, should feel like some kind of baptism. But instead, it feels heavy, it feels dangerous, it feels like something she wants to be rid of immediately.

But the feeling doesn’t ebb when she finally makes it to Florida in the dead of night. She’s shaking for some reason, and her hair and dress feel horrible against her skin and she doesn’t feel better at all. She still feels like a rabbit in the underbrush, trying to dark and scurry to safety.

But her safety is not easy coming. Is anywhere safe?

What will the Major say or do when he sees her?

What if… what if he tells her she’s being silly? A bad soldier. That she was wrong to leave Maria over something so petty. She could have destroyed the newborn herself.

She can’t stop shaking.

It takes another day to get a clear vision of the Major, she’s too jumbled up to focus enough. She’s tucked herself up on the underside of a bridge, her knees tight to her chest as she waits and she finds herself rocking. There is no calm to be found, not in a million different stimulants, in the scent of people and the sounds and the pounding fear in her head. She’s thirsty again but she doesn’t want to hunt. Doesn’t want to leave her ledge. Just wants someone to turn the word right-side-up again.

After hours of waiting, she finally has her vision. He’s in Wisconsin. With the Cullens. In a house with a blue door, surrounded by trees. He’s laughing in the vision, with the Cullen men. He’s clean and he’s more relaxed than she’s ever seen him.

Wisconsin. It’s further than she’s ever run in her whole life, and she’s not entirely sure how to get there, but she’ll figure it out.

She leaves Florida as soon as it gets dark.

—

[larryfanficwriter98]

Chapter Twelve

Fake It Until You Make It Real

**Side note- 1. It’s a long one. 2.Daniel is Hannah’s boyfriend (not sure if I’ve explained that yet). 3. Fizzy (or Félicité) is not in this story, she was a teenager, not an adult so I do not feel comfortable writing her in like I do with the adults. Also because the adults play essential roles in this story while the sisters/siblings do not. I have not decided if mentioning her at all is in my comfort zone and respectful in my personal opinion with my writing so if you would like her to be mentioned briefly let me know, however she will not be a living or recurring character. If she is mentioned it'll be as respectful as possible with Louis obviously mentioning her or something along those lines. I do not want to come across as rude or disrespectful when it comes to her or any other character who is longer with us, but like I said it did not feel right to write her in just for it to not play a key role in the story and be a brief sentence. I try not to make them (siblings and all) key roles in my stories out of respect since theses stories are about Harry and Louis only, but obviously they'll be mentioned every now and again. Again I'm trying to write this as carefully worded as possible so sorry if it doesn't make sense or comes off badly.****

Harry was up early the next morning as he prepared to make enough donut holes for over a dozen people, most of them being kids. He was excited to finally have the house filled with kids and family and glad today would be warmer than yesterday according to every weather app and website he looked at yesterday before falling asleep with the kids in the bed after they had all cuddled up for a movie in his room. Harry was pulled from his thoughts by arms sliding around his waist and a face pressed against his back making him jerk not having heard Louis.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just didn't hear you I was a lost in my thoughts." Louis hummed snuggling into his back, Harry didn't need to look at Louis to know his eyes were still closed and that he was wearing one of Harry's sweaters that fell to his thighs, his briefs probably was just peeking out at the ends, "what are you doing up of you're tired?" Harry asked amused.

"You took your body heat with you." Louis mumbled; it was barely audible, but Harry heard him well enough making him grin.

"Sorry." Harry said, "I had to start breakfast."

"What are you making?" Louis asked resting his chin on Harry's shoulders looking over into the fryer, "ooh something deep fried I like it already."

"Powdered sugar donut holes with little plastic spiders on the piles so they look like spider eggs." Harry said excitedly as he showed Harry the picture that was with the recipe in his homemade seasonal recipe book. Louis was silent for a few seconds before he laughed shaking his head.

"You're lucky you're cute Harold." Louis said pressing a kiss to Harry's cheek before he laid his cheek against Harry's back again.

"You're cuddly this morning."

"I'm tired this morning and you're warm."

"Just admit you're cuddly."

"Never." Louis said kissing his shoulder, "Alright what do you need me to do before everyone arrives?" Louis asked stepping away from Harry and grabbing a mug for his morning tea.

"I think we're all ready for visitors but you - oh baby proofing! I bought baby proofing things this week they're in the basement."

"You bought baby proofing stuff?" Louis asked.

"Well, I've never had babies here so yeah I'm about to have two one year old roaming the house. I figured you were the best one to do that stuff since we never really did Hannah and I, I mean."

"You never baby proofed?" Louis asked looking at Harry who shook his head.

"I bought a large pen and we kept Maddie in there during the day except for naps and such but we did tummy time in there and she crawled in there. When she started walking and wanting to roam, we completely sealed off the living room and kept her there. We didn't have a need to baby proof. I mean obviously we made the room was safe and her crib was where it should be and all of that stuff, but we didn't really have a lot of furniture or outlets so." Harry explained shrugging at the end, "obviously if you and I have a baby one day this house will need to be thoroughly baby proofed and we'll probably spend more money on gates than we will on anything else, but our apartment was probably the size of the living rooms combined. It wasn't that big."

"Not even married yet and you're already thinking about trapping me with a little baby. The audacity." Harry grinned looking over at Louis.

"I'd be more worried if I didn't know you have a Winnie the pooh outfit in the basement storage for a baby girl. Still on the store hanger that is at least a year old."

"It was on sale." Louis said sipping his tea as he walked towards the basement door, "at least you have a warning of what the theme of the nursery is going to be. You can pretend you had a say in it now and suggest Winnie the pooh before I have to go behind your back and do it myself."

"You're lucky I approve otherwise we'd argue."

"No, we wouldn't." Harry chuckled as he heard the basement door click behind Louis before it opened again, "oh by the way its seven months old thank you very much. Not a year. I bought it in March. It was last one of its size and it spoke to me Harry. It said buy me and so I bought it."

"Remind me to never let you know where the credit card is." Louis laughed closing the door behind him.

****

Three hours later both of their families were there, and everything was going smoothly. Anne had looked so shocked and heartbroken but excited when she saw Maddison that Louis had almost cried. He knew his mother had to look away to keep from crying as well. After that however everything went smoothly, and Louis could tell his mother was absolutely in love with Harry.

"So is a baby in the near future for you two?" Anne asked as they stood in the kitchen moving the pudding cups onto the decorative trays. Harry was outside with his mother talking about recipes or something that Louis didn't pay much attention to.

"Not so near that I'll be showing at the wedding but yes it's been discussed. We both wanted to wait until he had custody though so we're not dealing with too much. With my mom an hour and a half away and you guys in London, Liam and Niall working most of the days Harry has off, and Zayn being the only real available last-minute option we don't want to deal with a pregnancy during the craziness that is sure to come." Louis explained looking at her briefly.

"Right, I understand that. So sometime in the next or two."

"Yeah, I think so. I hope so at least. I loved being pregnant with Freddie, it wasn't the greatest experience with my partner, but take him away it was great. Harry is such an amazing dad to Maddie, and he is stepping into the role with Freddie so easily. He missed a lot of Maddie with his school and Hannah doing what she did I know he feels more guilty than he lets on about that."

"He loves her to death and Freddie. You can see it when he looks at them. And you, of course. I thought Harry was in love with Hannah but him looking at you doesn't even come close to him looking at her."

Louis blushed, there was that four-letter word again so soon in the real timeline yet so casually being mentioned today. Harry and he have been carefully avoiding that word, they knew it was too soon, or maybe that was their excuse, so they didn't have to say it so soon. He didn't know. What he did know was that he and Harry both had a conversation about that word and that they wouldn't say it until they meant it. If anyone asked, they would say it wasn't something they just casually said or whatever felt right in the moment. So far no one seemed to notice or think anything of it if they had noticed.

"He's great. I'm really lucky to have found someone like him." Louis freely admitted, "even now he just...I don't have words to tell you everything that I want to list." Anne chuckled nodding

"I'm so proud of him I just wish he would relax a little with saving so much. He was such a careful spender always terrified of spending too much and ending up barely making ends meet."

"Really? I've always thought him a little, not careless, but definitely not cautious. He definitely doesn't come off as a rich boy just someone who has enough money to not blink yknow."

"Yeah, he's very humble, I think. Doesn't show off his wealth any more than he does unconsciously. Though a lot of that is from his childhood, I'm sure he's already told you about that, so I won't go too much into it, but it was hard. Especially since I can see how much they remember it now as adults, I always wished they were too young to remember or maybe it'd be pushed as they got happier memories. I overcompensated a lot when they were teenagers."

Louis nodded even though Harry hadn't actually told him anything of his childhood except a brief mentioning that his mom had been a single mother with two kids. Nothing in depth that would explain what his mother was talking about. And looking back that was Louis' fault, Harry always asked about him and Freddie and their lives. Louis was always too happy to tell anyone about Freddie and his baby years, Louis has never asked Harry about anything. By the way Anne was talking it was obviously not something Harry would just casually mention and had to be asked about it to talk about it. The door slid open before either of them could continue talking and Harry walked in with his mom, the kids, and dogs running into the house.

"What are you two talking about?" Harry asked wrapping his arms around Louis' waist from behind resting his chin on Louis' shoulder.

"Just this and that." Anne said with a shrug, "I asked him about grandbabies."

"I asked Harry about grandbabies too." Jay said.

"Our mothers are conspiring against us." Harry whispered just loud enough for the mothers to hear him; Louis chuckled nodding.

"I think so too. Though my mother should be ready for a break from kids. She has twin toddlers at the moment."

"I can send yours back to you after cuddling them." His mother said.

"Yeah, I've already tried that." Harry told him, "she's prepared."

"Of course, she is. We're going to have to rearrange weekends around, so every grandparent and honorary uncle has quality time."

"Just imagine the weekends without kids though. I'm sure we can think of something to pass the time away."

"HAROLD!"

"What? Practice makes perfect." Louis slapped Harry with the closest item which happened to be a spatula. Harry quickly dodged the swats as he ran out of the kitchen.

***

Trick or Treat was a long three hours filled with adorable kids coming up to them with large grins and most of them greeting Harry by name. Afterwards they spent a few hours laughing and talking in the living room before Harry, Anne, and Jay went into the kitchen to start the pot pies and other food.

"DADDY! I NEED HELP!" Maddie shouted as she came running down the stairs out of her costume, but her hair piece was tangled in her hair which was a whole mess.

"Sweetie, I can't right now, and I told you not to touch your hair without help, didn't I?" Harry said gently.

"But daddy please. Mom said if it gets stuck again, she'll cut my hair." Maddie said crying, "I didn't want it to get stuck and have it cut."

"Maddie sweetie as much as I want to help you I really can't. I told you not to touch your hair now out of my kitchen with your hair please and thank you."

"But daddy you have to help. It hurts and it's a knot and mom says she'll cut it." Maddie pleaded crying more.

"Your mother isn't here to cut it Mads. You'll be fine for an hour as soon as I'm finished, I'll handle your hair, okay?" Maddie stomped her feet and folded her arms pouting.

"But daddy-"

"Maddison. Not right now. In one hour, I can help but I can't right now and that is something you'll have to accept."

"Grandma-"

"Maddison Rayne." Maddison made a closed mouth scream towards Harry as she stomped her foot again before she ran upstairs slamming a door closed. Louis only lasted a minute before he snuck upstairs and poked his head into Maddison's room seeing her sitting on her bed crying.

"Hey, can I come in?" Louis asked getting a nod, so he entered the room closing the door behind him, "you know Maddison I have a ton of sisters and each other has had at least ten knots I've helped get out of their hair all without scissors." Louis told her.

"Really?"

"Of course. I know we haven't had me and you time to talk about your dad and I, but I am marrying him. I'm marrying you too essentially. I know I said I become your stepparent when I say I Do with your dad, but even right now you are my stepdaughter. That means if your dad is busy doing whatever he us doing and you need help you can always come to me and if I can, I will help you as much as you need me to."

"I didn't want to bother you...Daniel doesn't like it when I ask him for help. He tells me I'm not his responsibility just because he's with my mom."

"I'm not Daniel. You are my responsibility this week as much as you are your dads. You're my daughter too, you never have to call me anything you don't want to either it be Papa or Mr. Tomlinson. The title doesn't make the parent, the love and support does, and I love you and will always support you and I will always have your back. In one hour, we can trick your dad into going outside and we can throw water balloons at him as payback for making you cry." Maddison giggled as she wiped her eyes and face with her sleeves and looked at him.

"Really?"

"Yes really. Now how about I help you with this tiara and we paint each other’s nails in a fall color? Sound good?"

Maddison smiled and nodded climbing onto her knees and hugging him tightly. Louis kissed her head rubbing her back before he got up and went to grab the hair things for Maddie's hair in the kids shared bathroom. Maddie had a light pink basket full of curly hair care products and decanters as well as combs and hair accessories. He grabbed it and headed into her room sitting them upfront of her floor length mirror on her closet door and got to work. He never had to deal with curly hair like Maddie’s, but he soon got the hang of it and they never noticed when Harry came up only to stand in the doorway watching as they sang Disney songs and Louis carefully detangled her hair. Maddie had dressed up as Rosie the riveter and Harry had done her up in an updo with her bandana looped through her hair, so it hadn't fallen off and thus when Maddie tried to undo it all she had ended up with a mess. A mess that took over an hour to undo but once it was finished and Louis was able to come through it no problem he went and got the nail polish form her kit.

"Thank you LouLou." Maddie said as she hugged Louis around his neck once their nails had been dried. Louis grinned as he hugged again rubbing her back.

"You are most welcome. You can ask me for help anytime." Maddie nodded, "now how about we go downstairs, and you say sorry. Just a tiny one."

"Okay." Maddison held Louis' hand as they head out of the room and down the stairs. Harry was in the living room with Freddie lying beside him as they laid on the loveseat and watched Wall-E together. Maddie skipped over and carefully crawled on top of Harry situating herself comfortable as she cuddled up to him.

"I'm sorry daddy."

"Thank you, sweetie. I love you you know that right?"

"I love you too Daddy. I was scared but I didn't have to act like that."

"It's okay. Your emotions still get the best of you at times. Your nails are very pretty."

"Thank you LouLou and I paint each other's nails and looky he got my hair untangled without scissors." She said sitting up and pulling her hair over her shoulder to show him.

"I see that. He might be better than me with all the practice he has with his sisters." Harry said as he looked up at Louis.

"Not with curly hair mind you, but enough practice it didn't take us that long to get the worst of it." Louis said folding his arms on the air of the sofa and leaning down to press a chaste kiss to Harry's puckered lips, "besides I'm a big softie when it comes to tears, I only last a minute after she ran upstairs."

"That’s because you're a great Papa who doesn't let a baby cry for more than a minute."

"You mean I'm weak."

"You went through a c-section and want to do it again. I'd call you incredibly strong before I ever call you weak. As much as I wish I could carry sometimes I do not want to go through that and if I had I'd never do it again."

"The only reason I'm so willingly to do it again is because I know this time will be different. I'll have a cute doctor fussing over me as much as I fuss over the baby. I may even be able to have him do the heavy lifting for the first few weeks."

"The lifting, the carrying, the picking up, the bending, you name it, and I shall do it for as long as you need." Harry said pulling Louis back down for an awkward but sweet kiss, "also I'm more than cute I'm drop dead sexy when I'm awake at three on the morning making sure your stitches aren't infected and you're not in pain."

"Oh, right my bad." Louis said rolling his eyes as he straightened up and moved off to where he heard Zayn, Liam, and Niall were at in the other living room drinking and playing FIFA.

"Hey, grab a beer and join us. You have enough designated sober for you and Harry to drink a little." Niall said.

"Let me guess Harry said not unless I did it." Louis guessed folding his arms watching as Liam and Niall blushed guiltily, "I don't care if he drinks you know."

"We know that, but he respects you too much and he probably doesn't want you to think badly of him with y'know his past drinking problem after Hannah kept Maddie from him." Louis also didn't know about that but didn't let it show as he left and grabbed two beers from the fridge then headed to Harry and put one on his chest.

"Will you drink before your friends decide I'm a bad influence on you and controlling you through telepathic connections or something." Louis said.

"What if I don't want to drink."

"All your friends are doing it." Louis teased waving the can upfront of his face making him laugh.

"Peer pressure. Really."

"Yes, now chug it and shut it." Louis said kissing his cheek before heading back to the other room and grabbing the spare controller as he flopped on to the large beanbag chair that the lads had dragged upstairs from the basement living/gaming room.

****

After dinner Louis took his family to the basement where the guest rooms were located for them there were a total of four guest rooms down there, one with a queen size mattress, and two rooms had two twin size bunkbeds with the stairs in the middle and the last one had two full size bunkbeds with the stairs in the middle. Louis helps his mom set up the travel crib then held get the twins ready since Dan was still with Harry getting the bags. The evening turned late and one by one everyone was in guest rooms or bedrooms and Harry and Louis were finally alone and relaxing on the couch with Louis’ back pressed against Harry's front.

"We should get to bed." Harry said.

"I know but I can't get up. I'm tired. Besides, I've got questions for you that I know I will forget if I sleep on them."

"Oh? And what are those questions?" Harry asked amused.

"Niall mentioned you had a drinking problem? When Hannah left?"

"Oh that? Yeah, I guess. I was pissed and my lawyer said there was nothing that could be done until we proved paternity, so I drank and went out to the clubs a lot. It got a bit...obsessive I guess but I never really considered it a problem. Like I could stop I just didn't want to. I was stupid the first six months but then the DNA test came back, and my lawyer said I had to get my life together and so I did. Instantly. One weekend I was at the pubs and the next I was home or working. Guess it didn't really occur to me to tell you that." Louis nodded understanding where Harry was coming from.

"Is that why you won't casually drink?"

"No, I just don't want to be unavailable for Maddie or Freddie if they need something. Liam and Niall don't understand that, I get it y'know they don't mean any harm by it and a few beers never hurt anyone, but I've always been scared of drinking one night and not being able to drive Maddie to the hospital because the ambulances were out of order or something. I don't know. It's a weird parenting nightmare I get every once in a while."

"I will never let you get so drunk you wouldn't be able to function as a father around the kids. That's where I draw the line but drinking with your mates with a dozen people here sober is completely fine. No one will think twice of that."

"I know I just feel wrong...like I'm being judged or something. Choosing beer over my kids. I never want to do that."

"And you never will." Louis promised, "your mother mentioned something today as well. Well, a few things."

"Oh God. Whatever it was I swear there's an explanation."

"No but now I know I've gotta ask her for the good stuff. No, she mentioned your childhood very very very briefly. Like she completely skipped over it thinking I already knew. Which if you don't want to tell me that's fine." Harry tense for a second before he sighed and scooted Louis closer against his front, "you don't have to-"

"My mom was young when she fell pregnant with my sister. She got kicked out of her rich family’s home with nothing but a bag of clothes and a fee bundles of cash. She was able to get a job as a waitress after dropping out of school and she got a studio. My dad, my biological dad that is, he didn't want to lose the money from his money and my mom was young and naive, so she stayed with him. When I came my dad left after taking the money my mom glad hidden away for emergencies. Fast forward two years and my mom was poor, like poor poor. I was potty trained because my mom couldn't afford diapers and because of this the carpet in the living room smell horrible. We had a beat-up couch with a pull-out bed that smelled. When I got older, I remember being so embarrassed by it, obviously I couldn't control it and mom and Gem always said it wasn't my fault, but I hated it. Obviously, it wasn't only me, Gem had accidents too, but it was mostly me. Anyway, my mom spent everything on the electric and water, the two most important things. Then she spent it on her phone so she could be called into work y'know. Then the little she had left was just enough for bread, peanut butter, and sometimes a fruit of our choice to share. So, for most of my childhood we ate peanut butter toast for breakfast and peanut butter bread folded up for lunch and dinner. I can’t eat peanut butter to this day, like plain peanut butter. I can eat it with something but not ever in large amounts.” Louis shifted around so he was able to look at Harry, he played with a bracelet Maddie had given Louis to give to Harry a few weeks ago during art. He was clearly thinking about it from the faraway look he had on his face, “My mom suddenly stopped wanting us to go to the stores with her and she’d bring home groceries. Real groceries. She’d cook and we ate vegetables and fruits and had food we were allowed to snack on. Gemma and I thought she was stealing and so we started telling mom to stop and that we were fine. We met Robin a few days later, mom done everything to get rid of the smell that lingered in the studio apartment.” Harry’s lips twitched in a small smile that only now looking back on it all was he able to release in light humor,

“She bought a mattress from a goodwill and got rid of the couch and had the mattress on the floor for all three of us. I remember mom had us all showed that morning because the water was being shut off the next day and so we all helped do laundry in the bath and then hung them to dry. Robin walked into the door in a lab coat and Gemma started freaking out, crying. She thought mom was giving us away, up for adoption, Gemma was begging mom not letting her get a word in to explain. She told her she would go without food so I could eat and that she would help out as much as she could and went on this rant. It was like she was prepared to plead our case and I don’t doubt she was. I started crying when Gemma went on and on because I was scared, and mom just looked so helpless and guilty. After mom was able to calm us down and explain Robin was a friend of hers and was a doctor, we slowly opened up to him. I was practically his son within a month. He and I just grew close because I asked him about his work, I knew doctors made a lot of money so in my mind I would become a doctor and help my mom out with money. It made perfect sense. Mom and Robin moved fast, I don’t know if mom was just desperate at first or if they had known each other longer than they let on, Gemma and I never asked because Robin was our dad and mom married him. I know mom loves him now, I know mom has loved him for a long time, not sure how long, but long enough that it doesn’t matter anymore to me to know the truth. They met when mom was at work, he’s been a regular for years, but mom never had him as a customer, barely even saw him before then. One day she had him as a customer and I guess they just hit it off. He saw her at the store a few weeks later after a few more times meeting at the restaurant and he told me something just told him to give her his groceries. So, he did. Mom said she was having a bad week that week and that home life was stressful, and her boss had almost fired her so when he gave her his groceries she just cried and told him everything. Just ranted. Poor guy was just trying to do something nice and got ranted at. He drove her home and started tipping her bigger and then asked to buy her and us dinner without us knowing of course. They never really did give us a complete timeline, but they made it sound like it was going on for a few months at least before mom introduced us.” Louis was smiling, chuckling when Harry empathized with Robin being ranted towards, “When I was old enough to realize what happened, like why things changed so dramatically for us, I wrote him this long letter for Father’s Day because it was coming up and I have it to him as soon as he woke up and I left for school. I was pulled out of school not an hour later by Robin and we had a father son week, he literally kidnapped me and took me to Greece only telling my mother when she called him frantic that I wasn’t home after school and Gem hadn’t seen me all day. When we got back Mom was there waiting for us and ripped us a new one right in the middle of the airport. Not giving a damn about who was watching us. That lecture lasted an entire month.”

“Your mom says you’re too cautious with your spending because of it. Is that true?”

“I guess in a way. I mean I have a lot of money from all different kinds of things and this house is completely paid off, I don’t have any debt or loans. I know how much I have in my savings accounts and all of that stuff. I know how much I have inside this house and how much I carry with me. I guess that is something we should talk about whether you want to join our bank accounts or keep them separate or what.”

“Yeah, that is something we should talk about but after I’ve had sleep.” Louis said resting his head in his hand as he stared at Harry, “I couldn’t even imagine it. What you went through. My mom wasn’t the richest, but always made the end meet in the end and we were always full. She may not have been, but we were. She’s a nurse which was good money for one two even three kids, but then more and more babies came. I don’t even know when she found the time or energy. Nor do I want to, but still. She worked so much and did so much in so little hours that sometimes when I look back, I feel like she had magic to make the time slow down. I have no idea how she did everything and still had time for every child that needed her. I guess that’s why I stepped in so early, I saw my mom needed help and so I was there. Changing diapers, feeding babies, changing clothes, burping. Whatever it was. I don’t why I ever thought I wouldn’t be a carrier; I was bloody natural at seven years old.” Harry laughed shaking his head.

“You are a natural. Thank you by the way for earlier with Maddie.”

“Of course. You don’t need to thank me for that. She is my soon to be stepdaughter after all. I don’t think Daniel has left a good idea of what a stepparent is supposed to do and its easier spending time with her when we’re in familiar school territory. It’s different here, I guess. More…personal, I keep forgetting she’s still a child, only six. She had to grow up so much around her mother…she’s completely different here than she is there or with her. It’s like she isn’t afraid to express normal attitude and emotion. Like earlier Maddie has never even remotely given attitude to anyone that I’ve seen.”

“The first time she came over she had this huge tantrum, she had behavioral problems so bad, and she just broke everything she could possibly reach and then she cried. At first, I was mad yknow, she broke a tv, she broke mugs, plates, literally everything. But then I thought about it. I remembered what my mom used to tell me that the child acts up the most around a parent they trust. So, I sat down on the couch and I waited. I waited over two hours I think when finally, Maddie came over and started crying. She was three at the time I think, maybe four, I’m not quite sure so at that age she didn’t have all the proper vocabulary to tell me what she was feeling, and she was behind on her development anyway. I just remember holding her as she sniffled herself to sleep and then I got up and I felt like such a failure. My baby was hurting, and I couldn’t do anything to help her because I got a job that took so many hours of my life away and there was no routine or schedule. So, I promised myself that even if Maddie came over and broke everything in the house each and every visit, I would do everything I could to get her over here as often as possible. I started looking for someone to settle down with, it wouldn’t be casual it wouldn’t be testing the road, it would be the long haul. I started with women; I knew my best bet was getting a housewife. A normal life and family. One a judge couldn’t look at and disagree with. Never went past a first date because obviously by then I had explored through drinking and pubs and everything else I much preferred the male body. So, I started dating men and as you know men didn’t want babies in their twenties. They want casual sex and relationships and that was it. I stopped about a year ago, gave up and resigned myself into not getting my daughter at all and quitting my job and finding something else to do. I started looking at jobs and things to do with my degree with better hours. I was very desperate to just find something to help me so I could help my daughter. Then the hospital announced they were opening a bigger pediatric ward with scheduled days and routine weeks. But it wouldn’t be ready for two years. Then Hannah told me about Daniel’s potential promotion, and I knew I didn’t have two years.” Louis knew where it led to, where the desperation of a father wanting to do right by his daughter led. He grinned and leaned over pressing a not at all chaste kiss to Harry’s lips.

“Lucky for you, you found me then huh?” Harry laughed but nodded pulling Louis in for deeper kiss, “I am not having sex with you with our families here.”

“Buzzkill. Come on let’s get to bed. Any later and none of our families is getting cooked breakfast in the morning.” Louis followed Harry upstairs after they turned off the lights and set the alarm, Gizmo and Bear following close behind them only for Bear to enter Maddie’s room and Gizmo to enter Freddie’s. When they entered the bedroom they crawled into bed and cuddled up together falling asleep almost instantly.

[princessselene126]

TLC Second Generation (Wincin)

Alright folks, Winter and Jacin have eight children. Yes, you heard me right. Six of them are adopted and two are biological. Initially they didn’t plan to have any kids at all. With how Winter’s mother died they were concerned about the same thing happening to her, and they also didn’t think that they’d want to adopt because they were content alone. Yeah… that changed pretty fast. 

Unlike the others, these kids are in the order of when they came into Winter and Jacin’s life, not when they were born.

Codex “Dex” Clay was born on 15 March 129TE, adopted 133TE

He has Indian features. Dark brown eyes and jet black wavy hair. He’s skinny and lanky. He stops growing at 5’10”

About 4 years old when they find him. They don’t know his actual birthday so they have it set as the day he was adopted.

Asexual™ 

Winter found him in an alley next to a bioelectricity security block factory that she and Jacin were checking up on outside of Mumbai. 

She was cautious when she approached him, asking his name and where his parents were. When he said he didn’t have any parents, Winter offered for him to stay with them until they could find him a family. She didn’t plan on keeping him in the beginning because she wasn’t sure she was fit to be a parent.

When Jacin sees the malnourished child for the first time his first thought is “we need to get some nutrients in that boy stat.”

After taking care of him for a few weeks, Dex already starts to look fuller and happier than when Winter found him. They bring up starting to find him a family, but he starts to cry. He thinks Winter and Jacin are his family. He wants to stay with them.

Winter and Jaicin are hesitant, but they can’t say no to this little boy they’ve already grown attached to. “Look at him, Jacin. He needs us.”

So that’s that.

He was very shy at first, but warmed up to Winter immediately. Jacin took a little more time, but he got there after a few weeks. He continues to be shy whenever he first meets someone for the rest of his life, but after a few conversations, he gains a lot of confidence and talks to people like they’re his best friend.

He’s smart, very strategic. He’s great at chess and other strategic games. There’s this one video game that he’s gotten so good at he’s now one of the top 10 players in the world.

He’s kind just like Winter. He remembers the time he spent alone on the streets as a small child and doesn’t want anyone to ever feel that way. So when he gets older he starts charities and organizations to help out homeless kids.

He’s also pretty responsible because he’s the eldest in his family and of all the rampion kids

Andromeda “Star” Caemron Clay was born on 10 April 135TE, adopted 10 April 135TE

She’s named after the galaxy/constellation and her biological mother.

She has Asian features. Medium brown hair and black eyes. Her skin is on the lighter side, kind of like Uncle Kai’s. She’s generously curvy and 5’4”

Uses glamour to make her eyes pale blue, add a beauty mark to her cheek, and constantly change her hairstyle and color

Bi Babe™ 

Can manipulate bioelectricity pretty well

One of Winter’s servants (Caemron) fell pregnant after a… non-consensual night. Caemron didn’t want to keep the child but she also didn’t want to abort it. Winter found her crying in a closet about it one night. She consoled the Caemron and said not to do anything yet, that she’d help her figure it out. 

That night Winter goes to her husband and says “We’re adopting a baby.” Jacin blinks a few times, asks if it’s really a good idea to do that now that they were finally getting Dex settled. But once he hears about what happened to Caemron, he can’t help but agree. They could take care of a second child, no big deal.

And since Caemron knew her baby would be in good hands, she agreed, thanking Winter over and over again.

When Andromeda was little Jacin and Winter called her their star and the nickname stuck, so everyone calls her Star instead of Andromeda

Because she was adopted at birth, she’s never known a different life. Of course she knows that she’s adopted, she doesn’t look a smidge like either of her parents. She knows that Caemron is her mother and they spend time together.

Caemron was the one to teach Star how to sew and embroider. She’s really good at it and enjoys making things for her family. Those drapes? Star made them? The dress her mother wore for the peace ball in New Beijing? Star made that too.

She’s an excellent violin player as well.

Many would think that because she enjoys traditionally feminine hobbies, she would act more feminine too… yeah no.

Star is incredibly outgoing and loud. If her favorite sports team loses, the entire house will know about it. Whenever they visit the Benoit-Kesley farm, she’s the first one to jump in a mud puddle or into a hay pile. Of course she’ll mend some of Scarlet’s clothes while she’s there, but not during the day when the sun is bright and the air is crisp.

Summer Solstice Clay was born on 5 June 136TE

Her middle name was decided right away, and Jacin suggested that her first name be Summer because she’s due in summer and it matches her mother and grandmother’s names.

Summer gets her mother’s curly black hair, high cheekbones, full red lips, long lashes and darker complexion. She gets her father’s piercing blue-gray eyes, and more muscular stature. She’s a little curvy, but not like her mother. Basically looks like an Amazon warrior. She’s 5’8”

Lovely Lesbian™ 

Technically has the ability to manipulate bioelectricity, but she’s more like Jacin and can’t do it very well.

Summer was not planned… at all. Winter and Jacin were busy taking care of one month old Star when they found out Winter was two months pregnant. There was definitely some panicking over how in the stars they would take care of 7 month old and newborn at the same time. When they eventually calmed down, they were happy, though concerned about Winter’s health. Winter was perfectly fine though, maybe even better than Scarlet was during her pregnancies. 

Anyway Summer is the apple of her father’s eye (snow white pun intended)--a daddy's little girl since the moment she was born, and that has yet to change. 

When she was little Jacin would curl up in bed with her and read her stories about princesses that saved the day, no princes required. She took those stories to heart, declaring that she would never need a prince herself--boys were gross.

Even though Jacin is now a doctor, he maintains his guard required physique for a long time and teaches Summer how to fight and shoot a gun. They consider training sessions their bonding time. “There’s no better stress relief than kicking someone’s ass” according to them

She enjoys spending time with Star outside getting dirty. They cause Scarlet many headaches whenever they visit the farm because they track mud everywhere. 

She’s more mischievous than her sister though… so mischievous that Jacin jokes (in that dry voice of his) she should live with the Thornes because she’d fit in better. Summer just gives him a pretty smile and then convinces him to get her a puppy for saying such a mean thing.

Oh yeah, she loves animals like her mother. They still live in the palace and so she visits the menagerie often. She and her mother make sure all the animals have enough room to roam and wander around without being cramped like they used to.

Alexandra “Alex” Evret Clay was born on 31 July 139TE

Dead name is Alexander which meant “defender of the people.” Before she transitioned, Alex made it feminine but kept her middle name because she liked honoring the grandfather she never knew.

Her skin is perfectly between her mother and father’s, so a medium brown. She has straight black hair. Eyes are dark brown, and she too inherits high cheekbones and long lashes from Winter. After transitioning, she develops slight curves. She’s 6’0”

Trans(mtf) Demisexual™

Starts going by she/her when 12-13

Can manipulate bioelectricity extremely well just like Star. Before she transitioned, she would use her bioelectricity to appear female.

After having Summer, Winter and Jacin decided to have another child since Winter handled pregnancy well. Winter easily got pregnant again and they agreed that Alex would be their last child. They were kind of right… Alex was their last biological child.

Alex always knew she was a girl. She loved wearing dresses and trying on makeup, and she never felt masculine. She felt awkward in her body--like something wasn’t right. There was a voice inside her head that kept asking “but what if I was a girl?”

She told her parents when she was 12-13 and they understood. They’re fully supportive, having known that their child was trans for a while already. The only thing they ask of Alex is that she wait until she’s done growing to transition because otherwise the procedure could negatively affect her. She agreed and they started calling her by she/her pronouns. 

The nice thing about the future is that gender change surgery is perfect now. She has fully functional female reproductive organs and she doesn’t have to take estrogen her entire life because they implant something that produces it naturally.

She’s elegant. The way she walks and carries herself is so much like Winter Alex loves getting dressed up and going to balls and galas and feels at home in luxury. 

She’s kind like her mother. This girl has a heart of gold. She would give up the luxuries she adores so much in a heartbeat to help someone.

She’s smart. She wants to be a doctor like her father one day, specifically one that does surgery for gender transitions. Because she’s gone through it herself, she thinks she’ll be able to relate to her patients better than doctors who haven’t gone through it themselves. 

The only real flaw Alex has is that she’s not very reliable when it comes to her family. When she does eventually become a doctor, her patients are her first priority. If something feels wrong to them, then she’ll make house calls

Tadita Clay was born on 14 December 131TE, adopted 8 August 141TE

Her name is Omaha and means “runner.”

Native American features, dark brown eyes, straight black hair, and a round face. Her skin is tanned. She’s skinny and has a boyish figure. She’s 5’5”

Uses glamour to make herself appear a bit curvier when she’s older, but doesn’t make any significant physical changes.

Straight

Can manipulate bioelectricity, not perfectly but not poorly either

Tadita’s father dragged her into the hospital one day after she’d broken her arm “falling out of a tree.” Considering her eye was starting to bruise and she had trouble breathing, Jacin didn’t buy that story for a second. He asked the father to head back to the waiting room, claiming it was standard procedure.

Once the man was gone he asked about what really happened. Tadita was hesitant of course. She’d seen other doctors who didn’t believe her when she told them what her father did to her home. But she knew that this doctor was married to Princess Winter… and if he was married to her than surely he would believe what Tadita said.

So when the ten year old girl started crying about how her dad hit hit her if she didn’t do what she was told, Jacin pulled her into his arms and promised her it would be okay.

Jacin comes home with Tadita that night and Winter smiles at the little girl, welcoming her to their family.

It takes many years for Tadita to work through her childhood with therapists.

Because of her background, she’s incredibly shy and timid. She has trouble looking people in the eyes when talking to them.

She has pretty bad anxiety. Unexpected loud noises scare her and make her want to hide. She obsesses over being on time for things. A wrong sentence she said years ago haunts her when she tries to sleep at night. She knows there’s nothing she can do to change it, but she still worries.

She has the patience of a saint. Which is good because she went from having no siblings to having four in the span of five minutes. She’s always willing to play with her little sisters when they ask her.

She’s an excellent writer. Part of her therapy was to write a journal entry every day about whatever she wanted. It started as therapy but transitioned into a hobby and eventually a passion. She’s always writing about her day or about some random idea she got while helping Caemron with laundry.

Now the last three kids were all adopted at the same time. 

Cleopatra was the daughter of a Lunar ambassador who got lost on a trip to New Beijing when she was nine. Her family went back without her much to Kai and Cinder’s frustration. Kai and Cinder sent people all over the city to find the girl, but she never showed up, eventually she was presumed dead and people stopped looking for her.

Cleo uses her glamour to trick people because she’s now a poor street kid

When Toni was five, his father ODed (and his mother died years before), leaving him in foster care. He didn’t stay there for very long though. He ran away from the mean lady he lived with the first chance he got. 

Three years of living alone and only taking care of herself later, Cleo finds Antonio dirty and crying in an abandoned building. 

Without a second thought, Cleo basically went "well I guess this is my child now, I'm taking care of him and will bite the hand of anyone who goes near the precious baby. 

They were on their own for two years before Niko came into the picture, a very touchy ten year old who got caught trying to steal food. 

A policeman was trying to ship Niko off to a home, or possibly to a juvenile detention center, before Cleo came in, worked her magic and pretended to be Niko's mom. 

Niko tried to leave after that, like “thanks for the favor, peace out” but Cleo wasn't having that shit

The three of them were their own little street family after that, often plotting little schemes to get food, or cash from rich people's pockets.

It's Cress who notices Cleo one day when she and Winter are walking around New Beijing. There's this clearly rich guy, and he's doing his absolute best charming a girl who looks so young in comparison to him that Cress shivers. Cleo moved in close to the guy, her arms wrapping around to steal the expensive portwatch on his wrist.

Winter asks her what's wrong, and Cress points it out 

Since she has the bio block, Winter immediately understands what’s going on. She and Cress follow Cleo and are about to confront the teenager about but they stop in their tracks when they see the girl greet two young boys and say “Tonight we eat like kings.”

Winter is gonna make sure these kids eat like kings every damn night. She walks over to them. Cleo is a street kid and not an idiot so she gets defensive, pushing Toni and Niko behind her.

When Winter says “let’s get to the palace and get you kids some real food and clothes,” Cleo is hesitant. She looks at Toni and Niko and realizes that the best thing for all of them would be to go along with it, so they do.

It was the best decision she ever made.

Cleo is 16, Niko is 11, and Toni is 8 when the enter the family

Cleopatra “Cleo” Clay was born on 1 January 130TE, adopted 29 Feb 146TE

Her parents named her after Cleopatra VII because lunars are obsessed with great leaders.

Middle eastern features, full lips, green eyes, olive skin. Looks kinda like a faminine version of Wolf actually. Her hair is dark brown and often worn in a braid or braids. Figure is pretty average, not fat or thin. She’s 5’8”

Pansexual Homoromantic™

Can manipulate bioelectricity extremely well, probably the best in the family.

Since she grew up as a motherly figure to Niko and Toni, she’s a natural leader. She may have come into the rampion family much later than the others, but she immediately fills a parental roll with Dex, Lovell, and Tadita. Those four are in charge when their parents are away.

She’s a really good listener when it comes to people younger than her. Older people (aka authority figures) not so much. Cleo is always willing to lend an ear to her siblings or any of the rampion kids. A lot of people wouldn’t think this about her because of her street time, but they’d be surprised. She helps them work through feelings about crushes or friends or parents.

She’s a very good judge of character. Living on the streets for six years will teach you when someone is or is not genuine in actions/motivations. This is the main reason she agreed to go with Winter in the first place.

when someone first meets her, she can come across like she's a bitch, but she's just trying to gauge the type of person they are. Jacin does the same thing, so he respects her and they get along really well

Feels the need to help Winter and Jacin out a lot because they took her in. She does dishes and cleans up toys and that type of stuff, even though they have maids to do it. Don’t get Jacin and Winter wrong, they’re glad she helps out, but they wish Cleo didn’t feel like she had to pay them back for being decent people.

Niko Clay was born on 1 February 135TE, adopted 29 February 146TE

His name is a form of Nicholas and means "victory of the people”

Pale skin, hair so blond it’s almost white, and deep set, stormy blue eyes. He has a lanky build and is thin, a swimmer’s body. Tall 6’2”

Asexual™

Trouble maker, but not in a bad way. He pulls pranks on his family often. Dye in the shower, filling an entire room with balloons, putting sugar in salt shakers, etc, etc.

Daring. This boy has absolutely NO fear whatsoever. He’ll jump off the barn into hay piles with Jolee. He’ll swim as deep as he can into Artemisia Lake. He just does anything and everything he can to “live life to the fullest.”

Too smart for his own good. It’s more street smarts and common sense smart than book smart though. He does poorly in school, but if you need him to help fix something or help you around the city, he’s your guy.

He has some selfish tendencies. Used to only looking out for himself, so it's a bit hard for him to transition out of that. He gets a bit better about it though, he slowly starts looking out for others in his family, not just Cleo and Toni.

Athletic, loves to swim and is really good at it. I’m not sure if the world still hosts the Olympics, but if they did, he’d be the michael phelps of the third era. He’s also really good at fencing. It’s not useful for anything really, but it’s really fun for him to do.

Also likes video games. He and Dex have tournaments together. Dex usually wins since he’s nationally ranked, but Niko puts up a pretty good fight.

Antonio “Toni” Clay was born on 4 April 138TE, adopted 29 February 146TE

His name means “priceless”

Latin features, tanned skin and medium brown hair. He has dark brown eyes and a baby face. He has a heavier build, but is strong. 5’7”

Straight

Toni has some depression problems that don’t set in until after puberty. He doesn’t understand what’s going on for a while, doesn’t know why he suddenly feels so sad or empty. There are times when he gets overwhelmingly tired or anxious for seemingly no reason at all. Thankfully Jacin notices what’s going on and gets Toni the help he needs.

Minor PTSD issues similar to Tadita’s. He was in the room when his father ODed and though he couldn’t understand exactly what was going on because he was so young, he does remember it as a traumatic experience

He wants to make people happy, so they don’t feel the same way he does inside.

Very funny. Uses humor to cover up his sadness. Sarcastic, dry, raunchy, and (on rare occasions) self-deprecating. He’s just always cracking jokes.

He managed to get into theater at a young age. One of the first things they did as a family after Cleo, Niko, and Toni were adopted was go to a performance in Artemisia. He was absolutely entranced, the entire time and after the show declared “I want to do that.” It’s a great way for him to express himself. 

Got very into archery before he realized he was depressed. He likes drawing the bow and then letting go. It feels like he’s firing away all the demons in his head.

Second Generation Masterlist

[theawkwardterrier]

things left behind and the things that are ahead, ch. 28

AO3 link here

Peggy tells him she’s pregnant on Christmas morning, after they’ve exchanged gifts. He finds himself overcome with giddy laughter all through their breakfast, and has a baby announcement card mocked up before supper. The following February, she miscarries. It happens again that summer, and then midway through the next year: that process of hope, ever more careful now, then despair, swallowed and borne and hidden by each for the other.

Steve knows it’s him. In Peggy’s other future, with her other husband, she had two children. He’d met them. Peggy tells him fiercely that she won’t allow him to feel guilty about it, that he certainly didn’t go into fertility specifics with her elderly self so he might not know everything that he thinks he does. He feels guilty anyway.

“There are other ways to have kids,” Bucky points out around a bite of hot dog as they take in a ballgame. (Steve’s been trying to get to as many Dodgers games as he can. They’ll be moving the team next year.)

Steve takes a bite of his own, pretending to mull over what Bucky has said while already having rejected it in his mind. But it comes back that night as he finishes washing up and starts down the hallway to join Peggy in bed. He passes by the little room that they always keep closed now. They’d been nearly five months along last time. Halfway had seemed a safe enough time to buy the few things now gathering dust: a rocking chair, a blanket, a little stuffed bear.

How would it feel to have a baby lie beneath that blanket, to sit in the rocker and soothe them to sleep? Even if it were a baby that didn’t share blood with him or with Peggy, Steve thinks suddenly that it can’t feel as bad as keeping that room shut forever.

He sits staring at his book, propped up against his pillow. Finally he turns to Peggy, waits until she can tear herself away from her novel to notice.

“What would you say,” he asks carefully, “about adoption?”

She bookmarks her page thoughtfully, staring at him for long, slow moments. Finally she says, “I’ve actually been wondering about it myself.”

They don’t adopt a baby at all. It becomes obvious pretty early on that the babies are the easiest to place, that this is what most of the other couples are looking for. Instead they are introduced to Rosie, four years old, stubborn and furious in a way that puts both her parents to shame. One look at her clenched fists behind the yard fence at the Sheltering Arms Children’s Home, at the way her hair has been crammed into bristling pigtails for their meeting and how her face is as red as her name, and they know they have to take her home.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy.

They learn quickly to put anything they don’t want broken higher than the reach of a four year old on a chair. Peggy takes her time getting ready in the mornings, knowing that any perceived weakness or retreat will be latched onto, but she breathes a sigh of relief every time she gets to drive away from the house. Steve figures that outings are a no-go just yet after she bites a boy who tries to take her swing at the park hard enough to bring blood. He becomes expert at fitting in bits of housework around the times Rosie exhausts herself and collapses into a nap.

“Giving up now will only make things worse for her later,” Peggy says one night in the dark of their bedroom, and Steve can tell just from her tone that she’s setting her jaw the way he’s familiar with from European battlefields. “It will only teach her that other people are not to be relied upon or trusted, that those who promise to love you will give up.”

She’s right. She’s right, and Steve has to keep reminding himself as he closes all the windows so the neighbors won’t also have to listen to Rosie shrieking unceasingly that she hates him, hates him, hates him.

Sometime in 2014, or perhaps 2015, he read an article about how important early childhood education is for development. The question of sending Rosie to kindergarten is not so much a discussion as an accepted impossibility. Steve makes first grade his goal instead. When she pounds her feet on the ground or smacks the walls, he puts pillows beside or beneath her and reminds her not to hurt herself, bandages her fingers if she does. While she shouts, blistering up with rage and curses that he didn’t even know someone could learn that young, he sits quietly beside her with his sketchpad, taking deep breaths in and out until she starts to copy him without realizing. If she throws a tantrum during dinner, she has her food in her room and they ask if there is something to do to make it better for tomorrow. He knocks on her bedroom door and waits before he ever walks in. When he gets the urge to yell, he turns away.

One afternoon she steals his wedding ring while he is washing the lunch dishes and flushes it away before he can get it back from her. He sits on the rim of the bathtub with his face in his hands and for the first time he thinks with a bit of relief about waking up alone in that SHIELD-constructed room, about the realization of the snap: I have been through worse than this, unrelenting and encompassing and hopeless worse.

And then he feels her close to him. No hand on his arm or nuzzle against his shoulder, but soft peanut butter breath and a tiny voice saying, “I’m sorry I did that. I want to get it back,” and even if it is too late for some things, it is just the beginning for others.

When Rosie enters her first grade classroom, it is with reminders to count to ten and then to twenty, with a warning that hurting someone else was not acceptable (they’ll get into the nuances of this later), and with a note from her father that says that she should be excused if she feels that she needs to be. When the teacher and then the principal ignore this last, they learn just why it’s a mistake to try that with Grant Carter. (When the principal retires the next year and her replacement is equally dismissive of such indulgent special instructions for a second grader, it becomes quickly and terrifyingly apparent that it’s even more of a mistake to try that with Peggy Carter.)

In third grade, Rosie wins the spelling bee, has a playdate with one of her vast array of friends nearly every week, and leaves the class only twice between September and December. Her teacher describes her as bossy and stubborn and self-righteous and smart as a whip. Bucky reads over her report card while twirling spaghetti around his fork, and reminds Steve with stifled laughter that Mrs. Leary did always say that retribution would be visited upon him for his behavior in her class.

Just before Christmas, as they decorate the tree together, Rose mentions to Peggy, though certainly loudly enough for Steve to hear from the kitchen, that she is the only one of her friends who does not have a brother or sister and that it would probably be a good idea to fix that.

“Hmm,” Peggy says casually, focusing on ensuring that the ornament she’s just hung isn’t too heavy for its branch. “Your father and I will have to think about that,” as if Steve hadn’t suggested something similar only two nights before.

It will never be entirely clear precisely how old Emma is. Apparently the children’s home had estimated nearly two, but she was left with only a short note with her name and an apology, so no one really knows. It’s speculated that she likely lost her hearing shortly before being left there, probably due to illness, and that her family felt that they couldn’t take care of her after that.

Peggy and Steve made it clear from their first meetings years ago that the sorts of things that might deter other couples - older age, race or ethnic background, “difficult” personality, medical issues, the circumstances of birth - don’t matter to them. And still, even the afternoon Emma is placed in their arms, the adoption caseworker lets them know that they can still change their minds.

“Why on earth,” Peggy asks, rising, Emma's eyes following her with cautious curiosity, “would we want to change our minds?”

She’s a sweet little girl, healthy now and smiling, and Steve is incredibly worried about her. He shows up at the New Jersey School for the Deaf before the adoption is even completely finalized, asking about sign language lessons. (When Howard recounts the story, Steve is always storming in and pounding on the superintendent’s door, but there was actually mostly a lot of showing off Emma in her soft, pretty dress to the school secretary, followed by polite but slightly confused conversation over tea. Generally, hearing parents who arrived looking to speak with the superintendent sought promises about perfect speech and reassurances of future employment, and had no interest in learning to sign themselves even if they were going to allow their children to do so.)

He and Peggy actually buy a second car so he and Emma can drive regularly to the Trenton home of Caroline Linzer, a Deaf former teacher from the school who had left to raise her own children. Mrs. Linzer is warm and funny and reassuring, patient with Steve as she leads him through the alphabet, numbers, basic vocabulary, and then slowly on to conversation with Emma watching all the time. He’s still scared that there might have been too much of a delay between when Emma lost her hearing and when she started learning to sign. He doesn’t know enough about brain development and childhood language acquisition, and neither does probably anyone in this time. He has another of those moments - a surprise each time - of missing the internet with all of its knowledge and answers. He wishes, in a way that he never expected to, that he could open up an email and contact the lead experts in anything, and have them eagerly respond for Captain America.

It seems to be alright, though who knows what might have been otherwise. Their dinner table is soon full of signed chatter, Emma putting together fragments of sentences with her chubby fingers, Peggy’s quickening hands admonishing Rosie for flicking food at her sister even as Rose protests in both sign and sing-song that “she likes it, Mumma!”

“The first legislation about public schools accommodations won’t be passed until the mid-seventies, I think,” Steve tells Peggy as they wash up from dinner while the girls play in the next room. By their guess, Emma isn’t even three yet, but it’s probably already too late to lay groundwork for a change before she’s ready for kindergarten. And would they even want to? The School for the Deaf is bigger and farther away, not the familiar neighborhood grade school where Rosie has been growing up, but would it be better among peers there than to be the only child in class with an interpreter, if they could even find one willing to do the job?

Steve drives Emma over to the nursery at the School for the Deaf himself, every morning. He lays to rest the image of his girls walking to school beside each other, but the reality of Emma running to greet her friends in the schoolyard, grinning and heedless with hands alive before her, is better anyway.

They have a family meeting about adopting more kids. Well, technically they have one meeting where they agree that maybe adding a brother to the family actually sounds like a good idea, and then they have a second discussion when the caseworker presents them with two files from Boystown; the state will split up siblings if it means making a sure match for one, but will certainly seize on the possibility of placing both in a home together, and how could Steve and Peggy consider taking one of these children without the other?

“Would you make us split up?” Rosie demands fiercely, clutching her sister too tightly, while Emma chants in fluid, furious sign, “Brothers should stay together! Brothers should stay together!” They don’t seem to notice that neither of their parents are actually opposing them.

“That last room can likely fit an extra bureau,” Peggy says, and Steve nods.

“Bunk beds could work.”

Their first worry is that the new additions won’t be able to pick up sign, that they will all end up divided along who in the family can communicate with who. But they watch Emma and Rosie demonstrating with patience the correct way to form letters, the facial expressions that go along with certain words, and they begin worrying instead about their oldest two. Rosie’s big sister authority has been accepted easily until now, but with another oldest sibling now in the house, one closer to her age and with a forceful personality to match hers, things are changing.

“I can’t help but think,” Peggy says, after they’ve broken up a bristling argument over whether it’s possible to cheat at The Game of Life (strangely, the opinion of both sides is yes and that the other one had done it), “that this might be a real piece of luck for Rose, finding another child who doesn’t simply allow her to have her way.”

Steve asks, not really wanting to know the answer, “But will the house be standing when she’s fully learned that lesson?”

They’re still working through that situation when Steve starts noticing something that he can’t help but focus on instead. There must have been signs earlier - dress-up clothes clung to after playtime, people examined with careful, wondering eyes as they passed in the street - but Steve first sees this: it is a Saturday, not quite turned to spring and Nathaniel is getting over one last cold, so Steve has taken the other children to try the new bakery in town, an attempt to leave the house a little quieter for him. The kids are pointing to their favorite pastries, leaving finger-smudges on the display case. Emma blinks a cookies! sort of charm up at her father. One of the bakery employees - an older woman, neat, flour-dusted apron, curled hair tied back - passes them to get back behind the counter.

“What beautiful daughters you have,” she tells Steve, smiling. He glances over, seeing what she does: three small forms still bundled in coats, hair blond, darker, and darkest peeking out from beneath knit hats, all to the chin or longer. Steve is still waiting for warmer weather to take them for spring haircuts.

“We’re two daughters and one son,” Rose corrects the woman, and as she trills, “Oh, my mistake!” before disappearing into the back, Steve watches two children return obliviously to picking treats and one turn away, sudden light suddenly dimmed, arms hugged against skinny chest, staying quiet, quiet, quiet.

The weather gets warmer, and Steve, acting on a hunch, asks who would like to get a haircut instead of simply adding it on the calendar. In the end, he goes to the barber and so does Nathaniel and that is all.

He tries to make himself as approachable as possible, says that he will answer any question, that there is no need to worry. But he wonders if the question has already been asked and harshly answered by someone else - another parent, a teacher - in a different way than Steve would.

One day, during homework time for those who have it, Rose finishes early, and then it is just two of them in the kitchen. Steve is thinking through the grocery list to the soundtrack of small feet swinging in that familiar, beloved, and entirely irritating way.

The question, when it comes, does not sound as expected.

“My first parents used to take us to church before they died.”

“We can go if you want,” Steve offers, mind still partly on the grocery list, partly on the muffins he and Emma have just put into the oven. He and Peggy haven’t really thought much about what to do if this stuff came up, though they probably should have considering the back and forth about what children they should even be allowed to be matched with in the first place based on their “mixed marriage” (Steve was down in the records as Catholic, Peggy as Anglican, which apparently counted as Protestant). But none of the other kids remember their lives with their birth parents much, not even Nathaniel who has someone to remind him, and so it hasn’t seemed much more than intellectual until now.

“No,” he hears back hurriedly, and Steve looks up to see blue eyes pointing themselves down toward the math workbook on the table. The feet have stopped their swinging. Steve goes alert, the muffins forgotten. “I just wanted to know…Do you think that people get made wrong sometimes?”

Steve is likely not really prepared for this conversation. But he supposes that he’s more prepared than he might have been.

He stands and comes over, crouches beside the chair and says carefully, “I think everyone is exactly right the way they are, including you. But if you feel like something is making you confused, you can tell me and I’ll try to help.”

A tiny headshake, nervous, tentative, which is not normal at all. Steve’s heart breaks a little. He tries something else.

“If you could pick any name for yourself, any name at all, what would you pick?”

“I already like Andrew, promise! When we looked up our names in Boy Scouts, the book said it means brave. And it’s the name my first mom and dad gave me.”

“And I’m sure that your first parents would know that if it’s not the right name for you anymore, we can change it. I know they would be happy if you picked a name that you liked better,” Steve fibs.

For a moment, Steve worries that the pencil is going to break in that little fist. Then, the voice, small and trembling and fearless: “Andrea also means brave. I checked.”

Steve smiles. “Yeah, it does.”

Peggy knows people who are gay or lesbian, “confirmed bachelors,” presumed spinsters. There are Angie’s theater friends and people she met in the war, men and women alike. Their kids call both Josie and Violet “aunt” now. None of that has ever troubled her, nor has countering ignorance or hatred in that area.

Questions of gender are something else. It isn’t something she has encountered much more than anyone else, and the things it implies in this era are almost entirely lurid and wrong. Steve remembers them discussing Christine Jorgensen a few years back when the headlines were everywhere, and how he had tried to explain how things would come to be understood later, at least as he understood them himself.

“What would you have done if this had happened...then?” she asks, waving a vaguely future-ward hand over their late night (technically, early morning) tea. He can’t tell what she thinks just yet.

The idea of Steve having had children in the future is nearly laughable. Tony, then. What would Tony have done if Morgan had come to him and said he’d been wrong about having a daughter, or at least not entirely right? Said, “Gender neutral name, Pepper’s a genius,” probably, and then protected his kid with everything in him.

“For now, we listen,” Steve says. “Later, it might mean finding a doctor, but for now we listen and see and try to make the best choices, the way we would for any of the kids.”

1963 suburban New Jersey is not exactly where and when Steve would have chosen for this, but in another way, this is what he chose, to be with his wife and his children here, as much as he wishes things could be different.

“I like to pretend that when people call me Andy, it’s really Andi, like a girl,” Steve hears one night at bedtime, whispered while Nathaniel is still brushing his teeth.

“You are Andi,” Steve whispers back, tucking the blankets in tighter. “I’m always calling you Andi.”

They have to keep it in whispers for now, and Steve hates that, because Steve has never been able to be quiet about things that are right. But this time it isn’t about him getting his face bloody in an alley in order to stand up, it’s about his child, who has friends and kind teachers and people who smile in passing in the street, and who would lose all of that and maybe more out of ignorance about the truth.

Being at home seems comfortable enough. They haven’t mentioned anything to the other kids yet; Andi says it is okay, that it would be good, but they know that Rosie especially might have a hard time not letting something slip. The ASL that they use as a family doesn’t need pronouns and Emma made a name sign that can just as easily stand for Andi. At school, though, there is a particular expectation of who Andrew Carter should be which would be dangerous to deviate from. Steve sits in uncomfortable silence with the idea that Andi doesn’t seem to even consider asking for anything to be different, with the realization that he wouldn’t be able to grant such a wish, at least not now.

(There is, he and Peggy have realized, likely only one thing to be done.)

It is already close to summer, and they pack up as soon as school is over. Howard thinks nothing of letting them take over the secluded beach house he bought in Maine. (Apparently he “picked it up” a few years ago, an idea that Steve can barely think about in reference to a carton of good ice cream, much less a whole house that its owner has apparently never used.) The kids spend most of the day running in and out of the water or building castles, while their parents lounge on the sand and occasionally call them over to eat or reapply sunscreen, such as it is. (Steve is extremely diligent about this, regardless of how effective this decade’s variety might actually be. None of his kids have his Irish skin, but they don’t have his healing, either, and he tries to help avoid sunburn and skin cancer alike.)

Andi’s dark hair, uncut for months, continues to lengthen; by the middle of July, it is a sort of thick shag and still growing. Peggy brushes it into a ponytail every morning and redoes it as the activity of the day musses it back up.

It is Peggy’s first vacation in a long while, though she leaves them for a few days every other week or so; work and responsibility is still calling and she can’t entirely forget it all. She does stand firm in her promise to avoid thinking about those sorts of problems when she’s with them, and it’s beautiful to see her glowing from the sun, relaxing with a book or loud with laughter as she chases one or another of the children down the beach. The housekeeper Howard sends over once a week agrees to stay for an evening, and Steve takes Peggy dancing. It’s only a visiting trio on stage at the local community center, just this side of the high school dance that Steve never attended, but with them, it’s always more. Among the couples, Peggy leans into his chest, sweet and upright and familiar now. She is more his partner now than he ever dared hope.

During the last week of July, it rains for days in a row, and midafternoon on the third, Steve and Peggy exchange a glance and know that it’s time to break the news to their children.

They talk to Andi first, and Steve, eagle-eyed, sees the rise and fall of those narrow young shoulders, the way they do not brace themselves but relax: a sigh, a finally, finally.

They find everyone gathered in the great room, cushions dragged into a nest on Howard’s shined, artfully rustic wooden floorboards with the kids settled in a semicircle on top of them. Books and games are scattered around, playing cards hiding at random beneath the pillows; they’re getting down to the last of the indoor entertainments, anxious for the weather to clear and allow them to break back outside. Steve seats himself on the stone ledge by the raised fireplace and Peggy sits beside him.

“We have some things to tell you all,” Steve starts.

“Is this about Mom’s work? Nate says you’ve been doing a lot of secret talking,” Rosie demands, fingers flashing, apparently having appointed herself to speak for the group. Nate has the sharpest eyes, the most acute nose, for these sorts of things, but he does not look troubled, merely curious. He has his bear sitting in his lap, as if Edward is an attentive part of the family meeting as well. “And we all know that a lot of Mom’s work is secrets,” Rose finishes keenly.

(Steve knows that Nate probably didn’t phrase it exactly that way, and not just because Rose puts her own spin on things. He and Peggy have always said that none of their children need to call them Mom or Dad until they are ready. With Emma it was barely a question, barely a thought, but it took Rosie more than a year. It hasn’t been quite that long for Nate, but he apparently still hasn’t quite settled into the idea. He mostly avoids calling them anything, which Steve admittedly prefers to the insults with which Rose once addressed him.)

“It is about my work, a bit,” Peggy says carefully. “Your father and I moved years ago because Uncle Howard and I were starting an office in New Jersey. But part of my job has always been working with our elected officials and my colleagues in Washington - that’s difficult when we don’t live nearby.”

“What Mom does is very important,” adds Steve. “When she needs to go away for meetings - I know it’s hard for all of us. And we decided that it might be easier for us to all be in Washington together.”

“We’re moving?” asks Nate, more clarification than anything.

Rose’s hands echo him explosively. “We’re moving?! What about our friends and our school? What about Nana and the aunts and uncles, everyone? I don’t want to leave our house!”

Emma looks between them all, flighty curls shivering as her head turns. She looks down at her own lap before she adds, “Everything will change if we move.”

“Some things will stay the same,” Peggy says. “You will have school and friends - new school, new friends. Our family, that will still be the same. You’ll still do chores.” That actually teases out a bit of laughter.

“But some things will be different.” Steve moves his gaze to each of them in turn. He catches Andi’s eye last. He leans forward. He’s practiced this; his ASL is still not entirely fluid, and probably won’t ever be, but he wants to be clear. “Here is something that might seem different. When babies are born, we make guesses about what kind of people they will be when they grow up. Some are right and some are wrong. But when we make guesses - we can push people to be different than they want to be. Maybe we think we’re right or maybe we forget to ask how they feel.”

“I don’t understand,” Rose says, flicking the sign beside her shaking head, mouth puckered downward. “Why is this about moving?”

“Because when we move, I am going to be a sister instead of a brother and you should all call me s-h-e. Everybody thought I was a boy and pushed me to be a boy and told me it was not allowed for me to be different but that was wrong - Dad says, and also Mom. Some people might still be mad if they find out, but when we go to Washington, I am going to be a girl named A-n-d-r-e-a .” She spells out the new name; who knows if she will keep her old name sign or take on a new one. Then she adds, shoulders firmly set but not stiff, “Everybody should call me D-r-e-a. I decided.”

Rose has questions. Emma has quieter, more hesitant ones. Peggy and Steve begin trying to answer them as best they can. Nate leans his head onto Drea’s proud shoulder, tucks Edward more tightly against his side, and lets his eyes fall shut.

The three girls make their feelings about the move apparent: Rose clearly displeased, Emma worried but with some interest, Drea boldly excited. Nate listens to the others but keeps his own counsel about how he feels. So, after days of watching him for clues, Steve simply asks him.

It is a hot morning and they are walking together into town on a few errands: dropping off some library books, picking up more tape for the boxes even now piling up back at the house. Steve waits until they are past the toy store and its many distractions before he asks, “What do you think about us moving someplace new?”

Nate tilts his head. “I don’t know yet. Maybe it will be scary, but I think it will also probably have good parts. That was what happened when Drea and me came to this home.” Steve realizes with a pang that Nate, just turned four, has already lived in three different places. He puts a hand onto Nate’s shoulder and squeezes a little. Nate looks up at him. “But we aren’t there yet, so I don’t know how it will feel.”

“It’s okay to not know,” Steve tells him as they come to the corner and wait for the cars to pass.

Nate responds, “I know that,” and laughs at his own joke. Steve laughs with him, watching that sweet, gleeful face, not caring that he is stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

“I think it’s our turn, Daddy,” Nate says, taking Steve’s hand so he will notice that the cars are stopped for them. “Daddy, look, it’s our turn to go.”

Steve swallows. He smiles. “Yes, it is,” he says, and keeps ahold of Nate’s hand as they cross the street together.

The house Peggy found in Maryland could fit their old place in twice and still have room left over. Rosie has maintained an impressive sulk through their return from Maine, all of the packing, their various goodbyes, and the drive down south, but even she drops the attitude to race through the new space and argue about who gets which room.

Steve, unpacking bags from the car, keeps glancing up to take in the bits and pieces of this new place, the things he missed in the pictures that Peggy brought back: the windows, all of them, everywhere, and their shutters; the heavy wooden door which hangs open into the summer air so that he can hear the kids screaming excitedly from room to room; the path and the lush areas of the yard which will be perfect for flowers in beds and borders.

He feels a hand on the small of his back. Peggy, who slides an arm around him and presses her mouth to the side of his neck, holding there for a moment.

“How long do you think we’ll be waiting,” she asks, “until someone comes along offering a pound cake and hoping for some gossip about the new neighbors?”

“Well,” he says, sliding an arm around her waist, “we have trees, probably a mile of driveway, and I think we are officially on the outskirts of town. So I'd say we'll have at least fifteen minutes to ourselves.”

“Sounds lovely,” she says. “Some time to settle in, just the family.”

“Just the family,” he repeats. He could mention that it’s just been the family for the two day drive from Jersey. Instead he glances at her, leans back a little to take in the house beneath the broad blue of the sky, beginning to be filled with the voices of their children, the joy and life and everything that they can bring to this place. He holds her against him. Just them, just all of them here together, here at the heart of things.

More chapters here

[the-canary]

Haunted - B.B (1)

Summary: Princes aren’t meant to be with scarred witches. Neither of you meant to take your side of this challenge or the war so seriously. (Witch!Reader/Prince!Bucky Barnes) 

A/N: I have been thinking about a witch!mc for awhile, but I didn’t know what setting I wanted her to be in until I saw @polaroid-idiocity‘s prince!bucky moodboard and it sort of all fell into place. I’ll admit I am taking stuff from here and there in terms of folklore from The Ancient Magus’ Bride.  

Feedback is always appreciated. 

“Mama! Mama!” a little girl demands to her mother as it strikes time for her bedtime. Blue eyes meet green ones, as the child frowns due to the lack of attention. The woman stops and looks up from her desk and looks at the book her daughter is holding.

The red-haired queen doesn’t say anything as a small smile blooms on her face, she pushes away from the table and the forms she was going to pat a place on her lap. The little girl squeals in excitement and runs over to her mother, like placing the book in front of her.

“What is tonight’s tale, love?” she questions softly as she kisses her daughter’s forehead. Chubby hands pat the leather bound book. The queen glances down and can’t help but frown at the title for just a moment.

“Papa brought this one from his trip!” the little girl grins. Her face crinkles up at the thinking about her father, the king was always traveling to each corner of the kingdom sending gifts to his children and wife when he could, though the queen wished nothing more for him to be by her side.

They both knew that was impossible though.

“And what did Papa tell you about?”

“That it’s about the bravest person he knows!”

Queen Natasha frowns but at the sight of her daughter’s smile, she shakes her head just a little and opens the book as little Princess Jaime settles in for the tonight’s tale.

“So, the name of this story is the Prince and the Witch.”

--Here’s the thing, Prince James was the most beloved prince of all the land. A rainbow had dawned after the heavy rain that befell the kingdom the night before, and everyone knew that the baby -- the boy, the man, the one-day future king-- was going to be a very lucky man. Prince James excelled in everything he did from studies to fighting, to archery -- you could name and he was able to do it.

He was also very handsome with bright blue eyes and chiseled jaw. He was a literal dream, and even though he knew, he was still a humble man.

(Queen Natasha tries her hardest not to roll her eyes to be back of her head and keep reading.)

His father adored him. His people looked up to him and his sisters and cousin loved him. He even had a beautiful future fiance from a Northern kingdom, a Princess Natalia, that he knew he would come to love, but not everything was perfect for the young prince.

Prince James Buchanan had the sight, an odd thing from his mother side and he sadly knew how that ended for most people, his mother being a warning for what happened to people like him.

From the day he was born, he could see things that others couldn’t. Things from the shadows and brighter than the sun sort of creatures talked to him all the time, they had even tried to even take him more than once when he was a child. He spoke of it often as a child, his mother loved his tales of whatever he saw in the garden that day, as his sisters asked a million questions -- even his cautious younger cousin couldn’t help but be a little curious every now and then.

However, first, his mother died --an incident near the wading pool where the fairies tend to play too much-- and then the war comes...and people, including the good King George, always changed with war.

Prince James forgot about the pool and his friends that constantly called out to him. He was a man with one single mission regardless of anything else -- to protect his kingdom from the invading Hadria above all else.

It was a trap, an ambush. One of Prince James’ own men had sold him to the enemy and many lives paid the price as he fought back tooth and nail. The Winter Soldier, as he was known over time in his battles with the Kingdom of Hadria,  wouldn’t go down without a fight -- he had done so until there was a swing to his back and he ended up falling into the river falling beneath the bridge close to the encampment.

They had always said that if you died a slow death, you might see your life flash before your very eyes -- but, James didn't have that experience. Instead, as his black Armour was slowly taken off of him by the current and other natural blockages that belonged to the river, he heard them chattering and whispering about.  

Isn’t that the prince?

Betrayed? Dishonored? Overthrown?

Those mythical creatures of the forest and fae that tended to play with human hearts, that drowned people when they weren’t careful enough or even stole their identities if they knew their name well enough. James used to live off of all those stories once, but for now with his barely conscious thoughts -- he thought about Steve waiting back home, of getting another one of Natalia’s letters, of his baby sisters. Things that reminded him of the home he hadn’t seen for a good two years now, in a war that had been going on even longer than that.

James thought of sweet things, of home and revenge in what he thought would be his certain death.

He doesn’t expect to be opening his eyes to such a bright light goodness knows how many days afterwards. The golden light is shining bright through the window right in front of him and James isn’t exactly sure where he is, but he feels the exact same energy from the river run through the little room, which sends him on high alert.    

He is quick to pick of the footsteps and meowing coming from another room. He gets up slowly, the best he can and pulls himself into a crouching position with the small bed frame behind him to he can get a clear view of the whole room -- a small bookcase with a table filled with cups and various jars.

James is also preparing to ram through anyone that is going to open the door.

Jacopo, he hears a voice before anything else happens, before he can even move or think as a hooded figure opens the door and an even brighter, golden light envelope the room and sends James crashing into the wall before he lays in a slump on the bed.

“Don’t you think that was too much?”

“You never know with these types of people, Jaco.”

His head is thumping in pain as he fight to stay awake, but instead he is moved around like a rag doll to lay down once more. There’s meowing and the those figure is standing above James. Their eyes meet, blue clashing with flashing gold that is melting into something darker.

James with his last fleeting thoughts thinks of what this person could be.

Witch.    

It’s the last coherent thought he has before collapsing completely, as the hooded figure sets about their work once more.  

[jbuffyangel]

Blessed: Arrow 7x13 Review (Star City Slayer)

It may be difficult to form coherent thoughts right now because of all the screaming, but I shall do my level best fam because WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Warning: gif explosion ahead.

Let’s dig in...

Olicity and Mia Smoak

OLIVER AND FELICITY ARE HAVING A BABY 

AND IT’S A GIRL

AND SHE GROWS UP TO BE KAT MCNAMARA FROM SHADOWHUNTERS

I AM DYING Y’ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE’VE WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS DAY!!!!!!

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EVERYTHING IS AMAZING!!!!

Of course, there are plenty of other things to discuss in the episode and we’ll get to it, but right now I want to bask. 

This reveal was EPIC. 

It actually exceeded my expectations because I didn’t think we’d get all the goodies all at once. “Star City Slayer” is basically my Christmas Wish List and Beth Schwartz just put delightful rainbow colored check marks after each request.  *falls to knees to worship Beth*

We knew Arrow was dropping a bomb because Kat McNamara gave us all a heads up in her promotional press tour for “Star City Slayer.” But it’s wasn’t just one bomb. It was several.

First, Felicity is alive which DUH. 

This reveal felt fairly perfunctory and it tells me the Arrow writers didn’t really expect us to believe Felicity was truly dead because, as I always say, they ain’t that crazy. You do not throw out the lightning in the bottle. You keep the lightning in the damn bottle for as long as you possibly can until she starts screaming to get out and you are absolutely forced to let her go otherwise you’ll be charged with kidnapping.

But was I laughing my ass off at all the antis who thought this was their year and Felicity was truly dead? You’re damn right I did. SUCK IT HATERS!!!!

Everything was revealed to us in the last three minutes of the show, which felt like the writers throwing a confetti and glitter bomb at us in a dark hole. 

AND I WILL TAKE IT. Please and thank you. 

We already had a mountain of evidence Mia is Olicity’s daughter, but there are extremely big hints throughout the episode telling us exactly where we are headed.

There is an absolutely beautiful transition from Felicity’s face in the darkness to Mia’s face.  In fact, Felicity’s face almost melts into the Mia’s, so it is pretty damn clear Gregory Smith (the director) is trying to draw a substantial connection. These kinds of shots are important guys. This is how Arrow Arrows. Transitions, cuts, focused shots – it’s all trying to tell the story visually. When Arrow cannot give us the answer directly then they will drop crumbs the size and weight of anvils.

Dinah and Zoe are using Felicity’s Archer program to find where she planted the bombs, but thus far haven’t been able to locate them. Roy believes Felicity could have hid the bombs in the old, but still secret, Team Arrow bunker. But of course we know two people who are already in the bunker!

Mia and JJ tranquilize everyone, tie them up, and begin the interrogations. I like these kids. They’re nifty.

Mia wants the codes to the Archer program from William so she can find Felicity. Nobody questions Mia’s ability to kick William’s ass, least of all William, so he doesn’t last long. He also wants Mia to stop hitting Zoe. Awww… this is the Arrow equivalent of these kids playing Legos together.

Mia tells William Felicity is alive. It’s unclear if Mia knows because she has actual proof or if this is more a gut feeling type of thing. Either way it’s significant. Felicity’s circle of trust is pretty limited in the future. If she trusts Mia then she is incredibly important to Felicity. The only other person Felicity has reached out to for help was William, her son, and she sent him to get Roy, the brother-in-law (I’m just calling it like I see it).  QUEEN FAMILY REUNION!!!!

This whole “Felicity is evil” angle is total crap too. Toss that nonsense out the window.

I think Felicity, Mia and JJ are trying to stop the destruction of Star City by infiltrating the Glade because Rene’s Chief of Staff is evil. Even if I’m wrong about plot points I am not wrong about Felicity being one of the good guys.

Mia can’t quite figure William out and the feeling is mutual. 

William not a vigilante like Zoe, but finds himself embroiled in this bomb plot.

The differences between the two aren’t difficult to see. Mia is street and William is luxury condos. William is tech and Mia is Krav Maga. William is gentle and Mia is punch first ask questions later. To say these two come from different worlds is an understatement and yet they find themselves circling around each other. 

She mistakes his interest in Felicity as romantic and we all gagged right along with William.

Mia’s reaction to Felicity being William’s step mother was a massive tell, which means Oliver isn’t the only one in the family with a terrible poker face.  

Source: plotbunnyshipper

It was similar to Mia’s reaction when William told her Felicity was dead. 

There is a person who cares under that hard exterior. There is someone who loves under all that pain. Sounds like someone else we know doesn’t it?

Oliver made his famous chili tonight, which is something the comic canon nuts have been after for years. But Arrow is going to put their spin on it. The comic canon folks will get their chili, but Oliver is making it for Felicity and William (and not LL like they want and ridiculously still believe they’ll get). It was two spicy for William, but Felicity was having seconds because SHE IS INCUBATING THEIR LOVE CHILD!!!!

Source:  lucyyh

Stan the Fan, who was fantastically creepy, put some kind of drug in the chili to paralyze Oliver, Felicity and William. They went to the hospital and Felicity commented on the “mountains of blood” staff took to confirm there were no lasting effect.

DID SHE SAY BLOOD TEST? 

I didn’t jump off the ground quite yet at this point. It was a fairly offhand remark from Felicity and I wasn’t sure if they’d reveal she was pregnant at the same time they confirmed Mia’s identity. I know I know. It makes complete sense to do it at the same time, but since when does Arrow ever make complete sense? I was being cautious.

And then all the bombs drop. 

Source:  oliverxfelicity

Felicity gets a call from the hospital regarding her blood test and SHE’S PREGNANT!  THIS IS WHEN THE SCREAMING STARTED!!!!

We immediately cut to the flash forwards.  Mia & JJ are fighting Dinah, Roy, Zoe and William. This is a fantastic fight sequence. It really feels like the old guard meeting the new. Roy gets the upper hand on JJ, but Mia gets the upper hand on Dinah. That’s my baby girl!!!!

William nervously holds a gun on Mia, but she’s cool as a cucumber. She knows he won’t shoot.  

And why? *saythewordssaythewordssaythewordssaythewords*

Source:  katie-mcgraths

BOOM!

BLACKSTAR IS MIA SMOAK!!!!!!

THAT’S DAMN RIGHT SHE IS!!!!!!!!!

My screaming went ultrasonic STG. 

It’s so much goodness all it once I almost hyperventilated. 

This reveal was like setting off fireworks in this dystopian nightmare world. 

I AM ALL IN ON THE FLASH FORWARDS.

Is it awful William and Mia don’t know each other? Of course it is. My heart is broken Oliver and Felicity didn’t get to live an idyllic life, raising their babies in peace, and the city is still a hot mess 20 years in the future. I wouldn’t have picked it as a storyline, but if I was writing this show then Olicity would’ve been married in Season 3 and we’d be on our second set of triplets by now.  

I don’t know how the family became splintered, but I am dying to find out. I want to see Felicity reunited with both her son and daughter. I want to know what the hell happened to Oliver. I absolutely want to see William and Mia’s relationship as brother and sister develop. It reminds me of the Season 1 between Oliver and Thea or more accurately Oliver and Emiko now. If everything is a mess in the future then at the very least I want to see the Queen family fighting to make it better. SIGN ME THE HELL UP!!!!!!

It’s not just about the Queen family either. Roy and Dinah officially confirm Connor Hawke is John Diggle’s boy JJ. Finally someone from present day recognizes these kids. 

It’s clearly been YEARS since Dinah or Roy have seen JJ. What the hell happened? Where is Diggle? (Thank you David Ramsey for confirming you’ll be in the flash forwards).  If JJ is working with Mia and Felicity then hopefully it means Diggle is as well.

“Star City Slayer’ felt like the birth of new OTA (William, Mia and JJ). Did you notice how JJ came running in as Mia interrogated William and Dinah, all protective and concerned for her? My ship is setting sail!

Kat McNamara said in her TVLine interview, “Beth has said they’re trying to combine the best qualities of Oliver and Felicity — his physical strength and her intellectual strength. “ 

And she is the best qualities.

Mia is the perfect blend of Oliver and Felicity. Everything we saw in the show was put there for a reason - the scotch,

the fight style, 

her reaction to Oliver’s documentary, 

her reaction to Felicity’s death, 

Mia’s intellectual smarts 

along with her street smarts. 

It was all to show Mia’s connection to her parents. We didn’t imagine anything family. This fandom called it right from the start.  

Let’s rewind a bit and go back to present day. I love how Felicity finds out she is pregnant. A blood test is irrefutable proof. Sure, pregnancy tests have come a long way, but you always get a blood test to confirm. I was happy to skip the whole “Is she sure?” trope.

It’s the perfect way for this child to happen.  I never thought this baby would be planned. Look at Oliver and Felicity’s lives! It’s going to be difficult to find “a good time” and Felicity is extremely pragmatic. I like how Mia’s arrival is unexpected. That’s life folks. If you want to make God laugh tell Him your plans.

If you are screaming “But birth control!!!” lemme tell ya I know plenty of folks who have gotten pregnant on birth control. It would be easy to miss a step here or there given the craziness of Oliver and Felicity’s lives.  I am also of the opinion Oliver “The Sex God” Queen has super sperm.

Felicity is understandably stunned, but she instinctively puts her hand on her belly as she watches William being ushered away to Central City with his grandparents for a “normal life.” 

This is the life Oliver and Felicity chose, but it’s not the life their children chose. Felicity’s desire to protect William and her unborn child is completely understandable and what any mother would do. This news is unexpected and life changing, but Felicity’s hand over her belly shows her instantaneous love. Even though this child was unplanned it is already adored.

Source: olicitygifs

I’m not sure if the costume department specifically chose red on purpose, but Felicity finding out she’s pregnant dressed in a red sweater is a beautiful visual call back to Arrow 3x01 “The Calm.” 

This is the episode where the seeds of this future were sewn. Their dinner at the Italian restaurant didn’t meet the qualifications of a first date, even though it came with all the nerves, because Oliver and Felicity already knew each other really well.  They were already in love.

This was never about one date, a one night stand or even a fling. Oliver put those days behind him the minute he realized he loved Felicity Smoak. 

It was always about forever for him.

Oliver is not a man of many words and it’s difficult for him to talk about emotions or the past. But Oliver owed Felicity the truth after their “ruse” to stop Slade. She needed to know there were no lies in that “I love you.” 

Oliver tells Felicity how much she means to him and the life he dreams of having with her.  

Felicity waited two long years to hear everything Oliver said.

This is why their breakup was so painful. 

Oliver wasn’t just saying no to a relationship with Felicity. He was saying no to everything he dreamed. He was walking away from lazy days in bed, 

failed omelets, 

love ferns, 

brown bag lunches,

soufflés, 

ying yang kisses,

Christmas trees, 

vows in the park,

homework help,

video game wars,

breakfast for dinner, 

Thanksgiving,

and experimental cookies.

Oliver said no to a home, children and a love strong enough to build it all around.

Oliver could picture that life any time he looked at Felicity. He saw their children in her eyes. He knew exactly what he was giving up.  Oliver gave himself one moment to live that dream 

and love the children who would never be.

Anytime you think Oliver only loses I want you to think back to “The Calm.”  You think back to the beginning of the series and remember how far Oliver Queen has come. Remember everything he has built with his blood, sweat and tears. We’ve gone from a man who was emotionally cut off, suffering under the weight of his pain, because of his self hatred and guilt, 

to one who believes he deserves to be loved, fights with everything he has to hold on to love, and shines his light for the world to see.

The fans didn’t introduce the Olicity baby into the story. 

The writers did and they did it for a very specific reason. 

This has always been what Oliver is fighting for. Arrow is not just about saving Star City. It’s about saving Oliver Queen too. Felicity’s love and the family they will build together is his salvation. 

This family is everything Oliver dreamed of. It’s everything he believed he didn’t deserve. It’s everything he’s fought to earn. Love, family and purpose. This is what it means to be alive. From the moment Oliver stopped surviving and truly started living again, this is the promise he’s always been headed towards.

Mia is the fulfillment of that promise. 

She is the final piece to the puzzle.

Mia closes the loop around the life Robert and Moira Queen wanted for Oliver.  The life they died to give him.

Maybe the Queen family is broken and splintered in the flash forward, but they will be put back together. Don’t doubt it for a second. Arrow is mass array of broken pieces which will ultimately fit together to unveil the final image. Salvation for Oliver, Star City, his family and the team is all the same thing. It’s all connected. You don’t get one without the other.  Oliver will save his family just like they saved him. 

It’s also important to remember how far we’ve come as fans who love this romance. We were told constantly Olicity would never happen. The NOlicity haters, L*urivers and antis from every nook and cranny said everything we saw on screen was our imagination. There was never a chance for Olicity. The writers would never abandon comic book canon for a love story of their own creation.

And yet… they did. Felicity became the female lead. Olicity became the central romance of Arrow.  We didn’t imagine anything. Everything we saw was intentional. It was real. The smile was magic. 

Her belief made him believe. 

The lie was the truth. 

The kiss led to 

the sunset drive. 

Everything broken 

would be repaired. 

Shame 

would bring forgiveness.  

The bouquet 

promised the wedding.

And the dream 

would become a reality.

Oliver and Felicity are blessed, and we as fans, are blessed to have them as our OTP.

Olicity and William Clayton

Oy. What a couple of weeks with William. He still hasn’t coughed up a reason for his expulsion, so Oliver and Felicity play good cop/bad cop with him over breakfast. 

Is anyone surprised Oliver is the good cop? No. 

He wouldn’t have been on the damn boat banging his girlfriend’s sister if Robert and Moira Queen said no when he was two. The fact Oliver continually found himself in trouble with his parents is a clear indication whatever discipline the Queen’s used didn’t work. 

In fact, I remember Oliver having this fight with Moira in Season 1 over Thea. It’s a different story when it’s your kid, you’ve been in prison for several months and you just want bond with “Buddy.” Well, hike up the big boy pants and strap on those green tights Oliver. You’re a father now which means NO PANCAKES.

Felicity is the most adorable bad cop to ever walk the face of the earth, but her husband knows better than to question her benevolent rule. 

Bae is still Queen.  Felicity says one word and it’s see ya pancakes. 

Oliver even takes William’s knife and fork away. I died. He’s like a light switch she can flip on and off. Let’s see what else Felicity can make Oliver do!  Sounds like a good use of 45 minutes to me!

Source:  myhauntedblacksoul

I have to be honest if I was expelled, refused to explain why, copped an attitude and stormed out on my parents I would not live to tell the tale. Instead, I would be buried in the backyard next to our pet bunny Petunia. I had no desire to piss my parents off. I valued my life thank you very much.

William does unload on Oliver and its pretty friggin great. The attitude needs to go, but William makes some valid points. 

There’s been a lot of discussion about the “mistakes” Oliver has made and what he needs to do to be a better leader. I’m drawing a blank whenever this topic comes up around the Newbies because they are all awful and Oliver should’ve let them rot in Slabside.

However, the next phase of the Oliver Queen evolution is listening and his teachers are his wife and son. Keep your expectations low fam. Oliver is still a heterosexual male. There’s only so much listening he’s physically capable of doing.

William is cheesed off Oliver went to prison without discussing it with either Felicity or him (FACTS KIDDO), because his father does whatever the hell he wants to do (TRUE STORY). Simply because Oliver was heroically falling on the sword doesn’t erase his inability to ask for opinions. 

Oliver feels this is an unfair characterization, but we only need to look at Felicity’s face and to know William’s remarks are on target.

Source: olicitygifs

Felicity changes into her good cop hat and approaches William with Oliver’s world famous chili and a Rubik cube lesson. 

(FLASH FORWARD CALL BACK!)

Source: ebett 

Oliver acknowledges William’s right to be angry and apologizes. The kid has been through a lot in the last couple years, which is why Oliver wants to bring him home. 

It is at this point Samantha Clayton’s parents show up on Oliver and Felicity’s doorstep.  

That’s right folks! A ticked off William called Grandpa and Grandma to complain. Jeez William. This is how those awful Lifetime movies about custody battles begin. Put down the phone dude.

I’m laughing right now because I’m imagining calling my grandfather to complain about my parents. He would have reached through the telephone to bop me on the head. Then he would’ve said my parents were amazing, I’m the luckiest girl on the planet and I should apologize right the hell now. Then he would’ve sent me fifty bucks. My Papa was the best.

Grandma and Grandpa Clayton have a different approach. They want custody of William. Sigh. I’m not saying they don’t have a point. They didn’t know Oliver was the Green Arrow and the dude is convicted murderer. He just did time in a maximum security prison! Also, he knocked up their daughter and his Green Arrow activities are pretty much the reason she’s dead. So Oliver isn’t going to win the Claytons over anytime soon.

They may think it is an open and shut custody case, but WHERE THE HELL WERE THEY? 

There were plenty of times the Claytons could have intervened, but it takes William calling and complaining for these two to get off their asses? The kid was put into Witness Protection for god sake. Open and shut I think not.

Obviously, Oliver goes growly papa bear and tells them nobody is taking his son. Damn right. He didn’t even get that mad at the Claytons until they insulted Felicity’s ability to parent. I thought Oliver was gonna put an arrow in them. DO NOT SPEAK ILL OF THE WIFEY. HE WILL COME FOR YOUR LIFE AND A LIFE IS WHAT HE WILL TAKE.

I know William is going through stuff, but this is a really dick move. He knows Oliver and Felicity adore him and threatening a grandparent custody battle simply because he’s mad at Dad is completely inappropriate. Anyone can discipline this child at any time. I’ll wait.

Oliver finally finds his angry voice! 

There ya go big fella. It’s the same one you use to interrogate suspects, but with less torture.  And they say the hood didn’t prepare him to be a family man. Pfft.

Oliver and William basically have it out. 

As parent versus child fights go this is a pretty good one. Obviously, Oliver wants to have his son home and give him a normal life, but there is no normal when you are running around in green leather pants shooting arrows every night. 

Am I saying Oliver and Felicity should immediately ship William off to his grandparents? No. There’s a way to build the Queen family version of normal. They’ll do breakfast for dinner, but will occasionally be held hostage. It’s a give and take.

Parents have jobs where their lives are at risk every night. Do police officers ship their kids off to the grandparents? No. Do John and Lyla, who work for the least secret spy agency in the world, ship JJ off to Lyla’s parents? No. Zoe isn’t going anywhere. So why is William flipping his shit?

Source:  olivergifs

Because William lived ten years with his version of normal and that life was with Samantha. It was a life with no masks, kidnappers blowing up islands or incredibly dull mob bosses. As wrong as it was to keep Oliver out of William’s life, Samantha did insulate their son from all the crazy.

William’s mother died pretty recently and this child has adjusted to a lot. He meets his father, but loses his mother. He gets to live with his father and gains a step mother, but he has to move away from his friends, school, grandparents and city. Then, just when he’s adjusted, everything is torn away again. His father is sent to prison and he’s put into Witness Protection with his stepmother. I understand why William is having difficulty adjusting to the Green Arrow life.

Felicity broaches the subject, but even discussing letting William go tears Oliver apart. 

Source:  olicitygifs

Felicity thinks William is old enough to decide for himself what kind of life he wants to live. And right now that life is with his grandparents.  So Oliver lets him go.

Source:  thegayfleet

This is why I’m still mad with writers for killing Samantha. 

If the intent was to protect William from all the insanity of Oliver’s life then why kill his mother? Why bring back Raisa? Why send him off with the grandparents when William simply could be splitting time 50/50 with his mother in Central City? 

Samantha’s existence didn’t preclude Felicity from having a relationship with him. It would have been interesting to see Oliver, Felicity and Samantha co parent.

The only reason Arrow killed off Samantha was to make Oliver a full time father and for the whole father/son sin cycle to continue. Eh. That was never a good enough reason for me, but especially now because they are looking for an escape hatch to throw William out of.  If the endgame was always to route William back to Central City then they should have left his mother alone.

The argument Oliver and Felicity can’t provide William protection or a normal life, when they achieved those things all last season while living a pretty idyllic life, is a lot of nonsense.  Yes, I know Oliver went through a time in Season 6 when he hung up the hood, but Felicity was still on the team. And Oliver suited back up eventually. William could adjust to the new normal just like JJ and Zoe have.  Are JJ and Zoe getting shipped off to their grandparents? No.

It’s difficult to believe Oliver and Felicity willingly letting William go, even though I understand the kid’s frustration and anger. 

Oliver is right. William can’t call his grandparents for back up anytime he’s mad at his parents. But by letting him move to his grandparents, Oliver and Felicity are just reinforcing this behavior! The Queen family needs to learn to fight without someone packing up and moving.  

Perhaps, if we didn’t have the flash forwards we would see Oliver, Felicity and William work through this, but the writers want some distance between the three to sell the future storyline. I’m still not even sure this is the “abandonment” William is still bitching about 20 years from now, because guess what son? You left Oliver and Felicity! Not the other way around. It still boggles my mind Oliver and Felicity would allow this given how hard they fought to reunite their family this season.  

It seems a little ridiculous to me William peaces out after his dad is released from prison or Felicity being so willing to let him go.  William’s present day storyline feels slapped together with tape and glue. It flies in the face of everything this family established in Season 6 for the sake of the flash forwards. I’m having a very difficult time buying any kind of separation between William, Oliver and Felicity no matter how ticked off this kid is.

Of course, as William is walking out the door Felicity finds out she’s pregnant with his sister. I have no idea why William doesn’t know about Mia. I don’t think Oliver and Felicity said goodbye to him forever in “Star City Slayer” so there’s a lot of plot holes needing to be filled. I can’t even venture a guess and I really don’t want to. There’s too much information we don’t have and it feels like a fruitless endeavor. My plan is to wait and watch.

Curtis Holt

The Olicity baby wasn’t the only thing on my Christmas Wish List! Beth booted Curtis Holt off my show too !!!!!!!! YAHOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Honestly, I felt a little bad for Echo because this was the least important development in the episode. The Olicity baby bomb blew him out of the water.

No, it doesn’t bother me he isn’t dead. I’m perfectly fine with Arrow shipping Curtis off to Washington D.C. for his dream job. I didn’t need him dead. I needed him GONE.

At first, I wasn’t quite sure what route Arrow was going. He tells Diggle about the job in DC but then John, who is determined to piss me off at every turn this season, offers Curtis a bigger job at ARGUS. 

He’ll be in charge of their science division because what would we do without Curtis! HE IS SO VITAL. 

Dammit Diggle! You had one job! JUST LET HIM GO.

Curtis goes out into the field with the team to hunt the Star City Slayer and I felt certain we were headed into L*urel L*nce territory. She decided to suit up “one last time” before taking her DA job and then BAM! Arrow right to the gut.

Amazingly, Curtis makes it out relatively unscathed and he even saves Dinah’s life with one of his T-spheres. I think. I didn’t really care other than he wasn’t dead. I was too busy thinking, “Shit he better not take John up on the ARGUS job.” 

But I was prepared folks. As long as I got an Olicity baby I was prepared to deal with whatever other disappointments came my way.

But NOPE! Beth decided to be Santa Claus and give me allllllllll my goodies.

Curtis decides to take the job in DC. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The minute Curtis said it I went online to buy him 15 plane tickets – one for him and his 14 PhDs.

Of course, he gives full ownership of Helix back to Felicity. 

See this is why he needs to go. He acted so magnanimous - like it was his to give. Curtis gives Felicity some pompous talk about finding her purpose. OMG THIS GUY IS TOO MUCH. IT WAS HER COMPANY AND YOU ROAD ON HER COATTAILS. MAYBE SHE WOULD HAVE HER “PURPOSE” BY NOW IF THE WRITERS WEREN’T CONSTANTLY SIDE LINING FELICITY TO GIVE YOUR USELESS ASS SOMETHING TO DO. Ugh. Is the plane here yet? I’m so done with this douche.

Anyways, what matters is Curtis Holt is GONE!!!!!!! 

And it looks like we’re full steam ahead on Smoak Technologies. 

Source:  felicitysmoakgifs

I don’t know why Arrow continually compartmentalizes Felicity. It seems to me she could be deputized and work with Team Arrow as Overwatch while creating Smoak Tech. Maybe that will happen, but for now it seems only one activity at the time. But at least her storyline won’t be stripped and ransacked to serve Curtis Fucking Holt anymore. WE CONTINUE TO BE BLESSED FANDOM. ALL MY PRAISE TO JESUS AND BETH SCHWARTZ.

Stan the Fan

Last, but certainly not least, “Star City Slayer” finally delivers a villain worth watching. Stan the Fan is back and is more creepy, diabolical and terrifying in one episode than Diaz was for a year and a half! 

Brendan Fletcher is a genius and the smartest move Arrow made was not killing him off at the end of the episode. WE WANT MORE STAN!

The back story even made sense. WILL WONDERS EVER CEASE? 

Stanley was abused and tortured by his parents until he finally killed them. Stanley’s older brother, who always tried to protect him, was horrified when he found out.  So, Stanley killed him too. Now he seeks out older brother types to look up to and endear himself to. Stanley tries to protect his new “big brother” just like his brother did for him. He kills anyone he believes are bad for the person he admires – friends and enemies alike.

Okaaaaay. My man Stan has some legit issues. 

Oliver: My teammates would never hurt you.

Stan: But they’re still bad for you!  Worse even because they don’t understand you.

Soooo… not for nothin’ but I found myself nodding along with Stan the Fan. 

He was making many of the same arguments many of us have made about the Newbies. 

Is Stanley wrong? Are we wrong? HELL NO THEY ARE THE WORST! Is it a little worrisome I’m agreeing with the psychopath? Well sure, but I think it’s find to agree with crazy people when they make sense.  Did Stan back into the right opinion via Insanity Street? Sure, but facts are facts no matter what route you choose.

I also completely understood his desire to hang out with the Queen family and make a new team just the four of them. I’ve had that dream myself. 

But let’s be clear - I’m not a crazy fan like Stan. I AM COMPLETELY RELAXED ABOUT OLIVER QUEEN!!!

Slicing Dinah’s throat was a step too far over the line though Stan my man. 

Source: arrowdaily

I just want her to take a job in Central City like Curtis moved to DC and bring Rene with her. Relocation would have been fine. You didn’t have to fricassee her vocal chords, bro.

I think the scariest movies are when you are physically restrained from defending yourself in any way. You can’t move or scream. The scariest Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode is “Hush” and it remains one of the most terrifying hours of television I’ve ever seen. I’m still traumatized.

Obviously, Oliver can take Stan the Fan in a blink of an eye so the paralyzing drug really shifted the power dynamic. It made Stan a real threat not only to Oliver, but his whole family. 

Source:  plotbunnyshipper

It’s completely unnerving to listen to a powerless Oliver Queen trying to reason with Froot Loops. Stephen Amell always does such a great job with making his voice melodic like Oliver is trying to lull Stanley into submission.

But you can’t fix crazy Oliver! I love how the Queen family worked together to stop him. William slides the bottle, 

Felicity pisses Stanley off to get him to attack her, 

and Oliver takes him out in one shot. BAM! 

That’s how we do! It’s gonna be so great when all four members of the Queen family are reunited, kicking ass, taking names and saving the city together.

Stray Thoughts

Wait. So Bl*ck S*ren isn’t even IN the episode where Mia’s parentage is revealed. HAHAHAHAHA. Obviously, KC was on her honeymoon and that’s lovely, but it never ceases to amaze me how wrong her fans are. Just when I think they’ve hit a new low they reset the whole scale by digging even deeper into the Pit of Wrongness. Am I being petty? YA DAMN RIGHT I AM.

Ben Lewis’ scream when Dinah shoves William off the platform made me laugh until I cried.

Roy’s parkour made its triumphant return!

When my parents asked me to unpack the groceries it wasn’t a request I could refuse. My parents are lovely people, but next to Oliver they look like the Gestapo! Someone in the Arrow writer’s room needs to take a parenting class.

Felicity’s apartment security system is great and everything, but can’t she install a camera or something so they can see who the unidentified persons are? It’s called The Ring. Quite handy.

Loved the pink. Felicity was checking off all her signature colors. Source:  lucyyh

Dinah lost her Canary Cry. Since she was having trouble dealing with being an outed meta it’ll be interesting to see what her reaction is. She doesn’t need to be a meta human to be part of Team Arrow. Although, I think this gives Team Arrow more of a reason to occasionally reach out to Bl*ck S*ren. 

This was such a mom moment. Source: EBETT

This was such a dad moment. Source:  olivergifs

Followed by another mom moment.  Source:  olivergifs

The woman loves her man and his chili. Source: feilcityqueen

This is the zenith of my shipper life. I have reached the top of Everest. Time to take stock of my OTP journey.

One taught me patience

One taught me pain

One taught me love

Thanks to @callistawolf for the review title!

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 7x13 gifs credited.

If you’d like to support the blog, please buy me a cup of tea!

[gadgetgirl71]

Top Ten Tuesday 15 September 2020

Welcome to this weeks Top Ten Tuesday. Originally created by The Broke & The Bookish, which is now hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week it features a book or literary themed category. This weeks prompt is:

Cover Freebie:

(choose your own topic, centred on book covers or cover art)

So I have chosen to list my favourite MC (Motorcycle Club) Covers.

Baker (The Devil’s Disciples MC #1) by Scott Hildreth

ANDY: I got a job next door to a tattooed biker named Baker. He was an outlaw, a criminal, a biker, a bad boy, and a thief. I should have run as far and fast as I could. Instead, on the day we met, I let him have his way with me. I couldn’t help myself. His intensity and swagger lured me, but it was the crazy sex that kept me coming back, day after day.

His sordid ways scared me, but I simply couldn’t stay away…

BAKER: When she moved in next door, I knew I was in trouble. She was sexy. She was irresistible. She had spunk. She was also the manager of a bank my MC robbed six months prior. She didn’t recognize me, because we wore masks during the robbery. If she ever found out who I really was, there would be hell to pay.

It would be nothing like the hell I’d be living in if my MC found out I was fucking her.

We’d issued an order to kill her on sight. She was off-limits if anyone ever was.

So far, the men in the MC hadn’t seen her. But, I couldn’t keep her hidden forever.

Beyond Reckless (Lost kings MC #8) by Autumn Jones Lake

Marcel “Teller” Whelan, Treasurer of the Lost Kings MC, has always been two things—honest and responsible. At ten years old, he was already taking care of his baby sister. At eighteen, he patched into the Lost Kings MC and took a major role in shaping the club’s future. Three years ago, he thought he’d met the perfect woman, only to have her reject everything he is—a Lost King. One bullet is a lifetime supply. Now, after an accident that left a girl dead and Teller almost crippled, he’s struggling through the darkest time in his life. His niece, sister, and Lost Kings MC family are the only things holding him together, but his reckless actions are bound to drive everyone away. Then, in the most unlikely place, he crosses paths with her again. The woman he once thought might be his perfect match. Love soothes our inner demons. Sparks fly for both of them. She’s the ride-or-die woman he needs, able to calm his many demons and bring the light back into his life. But she has a secret—one that forces him to lie to his brothers. In chaos we trust. When Teller’s brothers find out who he’s falling in love with, it will create a storm of chaos for the Lost Kings MC. But if there’s one thing Teller’s turbulent life has taught him, it’s that sometimes love is worth the chaos. Beyond Reckless is the 8th book in the popular Lost Kings MC series, but can be read as a standalone.

Big (Satan’ Fury MC #6) by L Wilder

How much would you risk to save the one you love? From NYT and USA Today Bestselling Author L. Wilder comes book six in the Satan’s Fury Series, a standalone MC romance.

Big: I don’t use a knife or a gun to get the guy I’m after. I find that my weapon of choice has a much longer, more crippling effect. With just a few keystrokes, I can have him scrambling for his life. I’ll take everything he’s ever worked for, everything he’s ever loved, and I’ll destroy it. That’s what I do.

My brothers don’t ask questions. They don’t want to know what I do behind the closed door. They know I bring results, and that’s all that matters. It’s my job to protect the club, and nothing is going to stand in my way–not even Josie Carmichael.

The girl with the tantalizing curves and emerald green eyes is an unexpected threat, but a threat nonetheless. It’s my job to take her down, but there’s just one hitch. I can’t get the smart-mouthed beauty out of my head. She’s trouble. The kind of trouble that would turn my whole world upside down, but I don’t give a damn. I want her.

Josie Carmichael will be mine, even if that means I’ve got to break her first.

Big is book six of the Satan’s Fury MC series. This book is a full-length standalone novel that’s intended for mature audiences due to the explicit language and violence. Reader discretion is advised.

Bull (Kings of Mayhem MC #6) by Penny Dee

She could be the end of me BULL: I lost my wife on a rainy night almost two decades ago. Since then, my heart has been a barren wasteland. It only knows love for family and the club. And for revenge. Then I meet Taylor and I know I’m doomed. Because she’s everything I didn’t know I wanted. Everything I’ve denied myself for years. But my club is about to storm headfirst into a war and I can’t afford the distraction. Yet I can’t get her out of my head. We both say we’re not interested. But we are both liars. TAYLOR: For years we’ve been running from my past. My kid brother and me. Hiding in the shadows. Now we have a chance for a new life in a new town … far, far away from trouble. I crave freedom and a quiet, simple life for us both. The last thing I expect is to fall for the enigmatic biker king, Michael “Bull” Western. He is magnificent. White-hot and scorching. With the touch of an angel and eyes of the devil. He could be the love of my life. But I have a secret. A very big secret indeed … Bull is book six in the Kings of Mayhem MC series. For mature readers 18+.

Claiming Mine (Unforgiven Riders MC #1) by Amy Davies

Sex, secrets and motorbikes.

When Ana starts working in a small but quaint café, after running from her old life, she never expects to be surrounded by sexy as sin men… Little does she realise they belong to the local motorcycle club. She’s had more than enough of controlling alphas in her life, but can she keep away from them?

Ace is the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Unforgiven Riders and yet another controlling alpha. He sees Ana’s reluctance to him, but Ace always gets his own way, and he wants Ana. Will Ace be able to prove his feelings for her and break down the walls of protection Ana has built around her heart? Can she let him in?

When secrets of Ana’s past are revealed and her life is threatened, it’s Ace’s job to save her. But will he be too late? Will Ace still want her when he finds out about her past?

Compass (Valiant MC #1) by Mary B Moore

Piper: When Hunter left, he cut me out of his life with no explanation. I sent him letters, but each time they were returned back to me. I had no choice but to raise my son alone and move on with life. I love being a mother, but every day I miss the other half of my soul.

Hunter: Four years ago, I joined the Marines. What I did for my country changed me. I saw my buddies, men that I’d fought alongside return home and set up their lives. Seeing them settling down, I took a risk and returned home to the woman that I’d left behind.

War changes a man. A majority of our military come home scarred inside and struggle to return to the civilian world. Learning from my friends in Piersville, I’ve established an MC called Valiant. Our training and military contacts will help assist the government with tackling the ongoing issues of human, drug, and arms trafficking along North and South America. Those responsible are like the mythical Hydra – cut off one head and two replace it.

I’m willing to fight that war, but more importantly, I’m going to fight the battle to get Piper back and become a father to my son.

Link’d Up (Dead Presidents MC #1) by Harley Stone

President Tyler “Link” Lincoln of the Dead Presidents MC, runs a club dedicated to helping military vets readjust to society. When his sergeant at arms is arrested for the attempted murder of a prominent Seattle figure, Link’s search for a lawyer brave enough to fight for justice leads him to an alluring defence attorney with a bleeding heart and a steel backbone.

This isn’t the first time Emily Stafford’s commitment to defending the falsely accused has put her in harm’s way. Smart, cautious, and independent, she knows how to defend herself. At least, she did until she joined forces with one sexy, overbearing, tattooed MC president.

Flames run hot as Link and Emily seek shelter in the club’s converted fire station, working against the clock to uncover the truth and save a somewhat innocent man.

18+ for language and sexual situations…

Primal Howl (Primal Howlers MC #1) by Piper Davenport

Orion: I’m the oldest son of MC royalty. My father founded the Primal Howlers and he expects me to wear his patch one day. The problem is, I don’t know if that’s what I want. Lately, I couldn’t give two sh*ts about anything.

Until her.

Raquel: I moved to Monument, Colorado to write my thesis and get some much-needed distance from my overbearing family. What I didn’t expect was to find is myself hung up on a biker who appears to have nothing to lose.

I, however, have everything to lose and I’m worried Orion just might be my downfall.

Stitch (Satan’s Fury MC #2) by L Wilder

From New York Times and USA Today Best Selling author L Wilder

Stitch: As the club Enforcer, Stitch is the man chosen to protect the club. There are no limits to his brutality, no lines drawn in the sand. The club is his life, and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep his brothers safe.

He’s a man who keeps to himself, guarding the walls that he secured so long ago. Then, one moment, one chance meeting, changes everything.

Wren: Life for Wren and her son, Wyatt, isn’t exactly easy. Yet, Wren faces each day with determination and courage. Wyatt is her joy and motivation; for him, she will find a way to make their lives better, even when obstacles are continually thrown in her path. The last thing she needs is another complication, but what is life without complications?

Stitch appears when they need him the most, protecting them when no one else can. Wren can’t understand it. She should feel threatened by his bulging muscles and menacing tattoos, but she’s somehow able to see past the mysterious biker to the man inside. She is drawn to him for reasons she can’t even begin to comprehend. All she knows is that her body craves his touch.

Can Stitch let his guard down and allow these two strangers into his heart? Can Wren see beyond the scars of her past long enough to let him in, or will her fear drive him away?

** This book is intended for readers 18 years or older due to bad language, violence, and explicit sex scenes.

Stitch is a standalone romance, but you may also be interested in reading Maverick: Satan’s Fury MC #1.

The Diary of Bink Cummings Vol #2 by Bink Cummings

Note: Must Read The Diary of Bink Cummings Vol 1, previously.

When changing life’s course you never consider what twisted curve-ball fate might dump in your lap. Growing up in the MC, then gaining my own personal independence was not only a curse, it was a blessing. So when I decided to say fu*k my past and embraced my future, away from the only place I called home, I tried to re-invent myself, by becoming the woman I am today. Until one day, fate reared its ugly head, forcing me to return to the place I ran from. The place where I had no choice but to face HIM. And hide the biggest secret of my life as I wallowed in silent fear, of the insurmountable repercussions it would evoke when anyone found out the truth.

Steamy Adult romance Warning: Contains Mature scenarios, and mass quantities of profanity. For Ages 18+

-This is not a Standalone.

I’m sure that some of the men on these covers are the same person! What do you think?

*** This majority of these books are intended for readers 18 years or older due to bad language, violence, and explicit sex scenes. ***

Until next Tuesday

#BikerErotica, #BikerRomance, #Bikers, #JustForFun, #MC, #MC-Erotica, #MCRomance, #Top Ten Tuesday, #TopTenTuesday, #TTT

[mandalorian-mayhem]

The Nwythons (edited)

This one is really long so it’s all under the cut

Usatau Zasa: The Mirialan mother of Nonicia, Rhorira, Yonnul, Lumaili and Akiwo. She was known for her kindness and perseverance, even when things were tough. Some time after Yonnul was born, she and her children were sold to the Hutts, though she never knew who had done it. During their time there, she was visited by Malus on multiple occasions, though she wasn’t sure why or how he had found her. Part of her wondered if her unfortunate circumstances were caused by him and it caused some distrust between them. He handed off his sons by another woman and she cared for them as if they were her own children. The day he had approached her with another set of twins (only infants at the time, she had had enough of him abandoning his family. She and Malus argued over his wanting to take only the force-sensitive children from her, completely ignoring his other children. During the argument, she threw a pot of soup on him and threatened that she would do much worse if he ever came near her children again. She inevitably dies in childbirth with her youngest son.

Dev Shodon: A human pirate. He started his own crew after the old one left him in jail. Before being imprisoned, he met Usatau and wooed her. He was called back to business before receiving word that Usatau was pregnant. He struggled with the news for a while, but was put in prison before he made his decision on what to do. When he finally got out of prison, he decided to start his own pirate crew to take the galaxy by storm. He stole a ship and traveled the galaxy looking for people who were loyal and good at what they could do. During his hunt, he met Daesha, a wild twi’lek who picked his pocket and had gotten him thrown in jail for her crimes. After that, he asked her to join his crew. Some time later, he finally got the chance to meet his daughter, Nonicia. While he asked, she wasn’t too keen on giving up the smuggling business for a life of piracy, though she wasn’t opposed to running cons with him.

Nonicia Shodon: The eldest daughter of Usatau and the only child of Dev. Born on Mirial. Despite hardly having the chance to know her father when she was young, she wound up being just as troublesome. She struggled to see her own siblings as her family and relationships with them suffered horribly, particularly when they wound up on Hutta. She made her escape by managing to cheat a man out of his ship and using it to smuggle out 3 of her siblings. After that, she hunted down her father reunited with him.

Malus Nwython: A Mirialan Sith inquisitor. As sadistic and cruel as they come. He was fairly good at hiding his cruelty from most others, though Idrinas and Coryn saw through his disguise. He hoped to prove that his bloodline was strong with the force and that his children would prove it, though few of them were born force sensitive. He had met Larana at the academy, Rainee in the Dromund Kaas markets and Usatau on Mirial. While he had several children, he never liked all the variables involved and instead chose to use his growing knowledge of genetic-engineering to create what he hoped would be the perfect force-user, winding up with Numelia and Uliccol, whom he handed off to Usatau. On multiple occasions, he was told to keep away from his children, but he was convinced that those who were worthy would find their way back. He managed to reclaim his sons Lotharel and Uliccol, though his daughter, Numelia remained cautious of him. He kept the twins very separate from Lotharel. Having hoped for his force-sensitive children to have found him, he took the chance to test something on Uliccol and Numelia, attempting to artificially give them the force. Numelia figured it out and left and his experiments continued on Uliccol. Lotharel was manipulated in other ways, having been told he was the last survivor of his siblings. Eventually, his children discover the truth. He dies at the hand of Yonnul during a battle.

Rhorira Nwython: The second child of Usatau and the first of Malus. Born on Mirial and raised primarily by her mother. Secretly, she enjoys knitting. She learned to be calm and kind from her, but not how to cook. She is as kind as they come and has a strong sense of right and wrong. Of all of her siblings, she is the one who looks and acts the most like her mother. When Nonicia made her mad dash off of Hutta, Rhori also escaped, smuggling her new baby brother out as well. She did her best to raise him alone, though she wanted to join the Republic military academy. Eventually he convinced her to send him off to a boarding school so they could both pursue their dreams. While she had high marks in the academy, she generally found herself toe-to-toe with Sivan Ailat. She worked hard, becoming the commanding officer of Nexu Squad. Being competitive, she challenged Sivan (whom she had never gotten the chance to meet) and Havoc Squad. During this competition, Rhori develops quite the crush on Sivan. In her personal life, she tries to maintain the peace between her siblings, though she found it incredibly hard to do when she found the death records of Uliccol and Numelia and had to pass the news to Yonnul. Things changed when she was looking at the information on the Republic’s most wanted and recognized the name and face of her little sister. She worked to reconnect with Numelia and Uliccol. She does, eventually, ask out her long-time crush and they begin a relationship. (She and Sivan do get married and live very happily together)

Yonnul Nwython: The second child between Malus and Usatau and the first of Malus’s children to be born force-sensitive. He never actually liked his father and gave him one of the many scars on his face when the man tried to take him for training. He was one of the ones to escape Hutta with Rhori and Nonicia after Usatau passed. Instead of following his sisters, he turned to the jedi to be trained. He worked hard and followed the code for a time, but it didn’t last. Instead he pursued a relationship with a fellow jedi named Sicarth, which ended after a battle the two both fought in where Yonnul lost his right arm. The stress from that and the news that two of his young siblings had died on Hutta sent him on a downward spiral where he picked up drinking and no longer cared for the code, though he never left the jedi. Eventually (after many frustrating incidents) he earned the rank of master and a seat on the council. His padawan is Pitha Batiss. He and his best friend, Hemile Kairn, wind up meeting in a bar (and going on a wild adventure) before going on a mission together with the spy, Theron Shan. Yonnul and Hemile became roommated and had a tendency to throw large parties in their shared home. They end up both dating Theron Shan (and tormenting Yonnul’s family).

Larana Cyress: The only daughter of a Sith lord and and Imperial Intelligence agent. Mirialan-human Sith lord. She was tricked by Malus into believing that he wasn’t truly as cruel as he was. She had a brief affair with Idrinas while they were both at the academy. It ended mutually and they remained good friends. She was the only one who knew of Idrinas’s affair with Lan Cai while it was going on. Around that time, she herself had an affair with Malus shortly before she realized the truth about him, resulting in twin boys. Her refusal to let him be a part of their lives was the ultimate betrayal to him and he decided to take her out of the picture. Unknown to anyone, she had survived the encounter (though she was badly wounded). She was taken in by the Grey Force-user enclave and nursed back to health. She remains there for the most part, though she is desperately searching for her sons. She falls in love with the woman who saved her life, later marrying her and adopting her daughter as her own. Some time in the future, her sons find her in the enclave.

Loreqo Cyress: The elder twin of Lotharel. After the supposed death of his mother, Loreqo and Lotharel refused to believe it and didn’t listen to any of their father’s demands. Because of this, Malus handed them off to Usatau, where he could keep an eye on them without having to actually put up with them. They forged a bond with their half-siblings and their adoptive mother, though they maintained that their mother was still alive and that she would come for them and would help Usatau off of Hutta. (Loreqo still believes that, had Larana found them there, she would have saved them). After Usatau’s passing, they were uncertain of what to do, considering the fact that Malus probably was aware of her death and they were determined not to fall back into his grasp. They asked someone to keep an eye on Numelia and Uliccol until Nonicia came for them before they took the chance to run to the Republic and joined the jedi. The two were inseparable and annoyed most of their instructors. During their first mission with their master, they and another padawan, Fallastia, ran off to prove that they could be trusted in a fight. The other padawan pushed Lotharel off a ledge and Loreqo lost all control, attacking her pretty brutally for harming his twin. He was caught in all of it and the order questioned him but he refused to speak from that moment on. Realizing his own weakness and spite towards the jedi, he ran away from the order, travelling the galaxy to find out what kind of person he might be without his brother. When he traveled to Miral, he found Usatau’s family, delivering the news of her passing in a written letter. After a time, he found himself travelling a particular pathway through the galaxy, selling his wares and keeping his identity as a former jedi a secret. It is during his travels that he meets Ghiwa, a Nautolan merchant, and (perhaps more importantly) Emin. The visits from Emin were always the most looked forward to, though he only rarely spoke to her (nonverbal communication had become common for him). Though there was a rough patch and building trust took quite a bit of time, he and Emin began a relationship. While he was mostly silent still, he did start speaking to her. He becomes more talkative when he receives a call from Lotharel.

Lotharel Cyress: The younger twin of Loreqo. After his fall, Lotharel woke up, badly wounded, on a medical ship with a seemingly distraught Malus. Lotharel’s memory was incredibly fuzzy and it was easy for Malus to pretend that he was looking for him and that he had been travelling the galaxy, looking for his only remaining child. Lotharel wasn’t sure how much to believe and inquired after Loreqo’s whereabouts. He was told that his brother had been killed by the jedi and that his other siblings had never made it off of Hutta. He became Malus’s apprentice after that, though he was suspiciously kept away from Dromund Kaas and Korriban. He fought in many battles in his father’s name. During on of these battles, he met Keth Bresek. She had asked him to run away with her, but, afraid of the unknown, he stayed with the Sith, which he later came to regret. After that, he focused on his work and became a brilliant strategist and warrior. He learned to respect Mandalorians early on, despite his father’s warnings. During one of his battles, he was reunited with Keth when he called for Mandalorian assistance. While he was uncertain of what to say or do in the situation, it was clear to him that he still harbored feelings for her, but wasn’t sure if he should bring it up to her, assuming that they had missed their chance (In fact, they had not). It was not long after that Lotharel met another unexpected person from his past, his younger brother Uliccol. This raised questions about what all his father had told him for years. He discovered that his siblings were alive, including Loreqo. He was made to call his family, ending with his twin. During another battle after this, Malus called Lotharel for aid in a fight, but he never provided it, giving Yonnul the chance to end his life for it.

Udo Lithal: A quiet worker on a cargo ship. He was kind to Usatau, but it was obvious early on that he was not interested in maintaining a long-term relationship with her. He was very pleased at the news of his daughter and would bring her things from all the places he had been. When Usatau passed away, he helped Lumaili escape to Republic space, where she was found by the jedi. He keeps an eye on her accomplishments and is always open to talking with her over a cup of caf.

Lumaili Lithal: The daughter of Udo and Usatau. She was born a force sensitive and was allowed to maintain communication with her father. She adored his visits, though they were few and far between. She would listen to the stories of great Jedi and was amazed by them. When the Jedi take her in, she keeps very strictly to the code, though her way of showing it comes off as fairly snobbish. She doesn’t agree with the lifestyles of her siblings at all and makes it well known.

Uliccol Nwython: Twin brother of Numelia. Genetically-engineered by Malus. He has a genius-level intellect and is a bit of an artist. After the others had left Hutta, he and his twin sister waited for the promised return of Nonicia, who never came back for them. While Uliccol wanted to wait longer, his twin had enough of waiting and convinced him that they should leave the planet. Using his expertise, he sliced into their records and listed them both as dead. After that, they stowed away on a supply ship and traveled to Imperial territory so they could search for their father. When they found Malus, Numelia was not impressed and wanted to leave, but Uliccol wished to stay. He worked hard to impress his father, but nothing seemed to work. When he was 17, he changed documents again to make him seem old enough to join Imperial Intelligence. He works as a watcher for a time, doing odd jobs for Sith who recognized his skill. His trust in Malus is shaken when he finds Lotharel during a job he was helping Darth Occulus (Talaar) with. This caused him to raise some questions and rebel against his father, particularly after he had fallen in love with Talaar. They leave the Empire, staying with Numelia. During his time living with his sister, she encouraged him to look into Malus’s other files, where he discovered many of his father’s dark secrets and that he and Numelia were both the products of genetic-engineering.

Numelia Nwython: Twin sister of Uliccol. Genetically engineered by Malus When she was a child, she was trained to fix things. Because of her small size, she was able to easily fit into spaces that others couldn’t. She kept faith that her sister would come for them for a long time before finally realizing that she would never return for them and telling Uliccol that they needed to make their escape. She was the one who figured out how to remove the collars on them and plotted their escape. She managed to steal a blaster from a guard before they stowed away. When they reached Malus, she was immediately wary of them and was the only one to realize what he was doing. After running away, she ran into a strange Zabrak, Rishuud, in the Dromund Kaas spaceport. He took her in and showed her the ropes of bounty hunting as a member of his crew (along with characters such as Eryata, Nundhiasa and Emlaiyalia). She stayed with him for some time before deciding that it was perhaps best to go and do her own thing. She winds up joining the Great Hunt, where she was mentored by Keth, and later became the Grand Champion (later she accepts the chance to become Mandalorian) She is contacted by Uliccol after she is named the Republic’s Most Wanted because she was recognized by one of their sisters. Having no love for the Hutts or slavers, she spent her time hunting down who she could, running into Talus in the process. Despite their differences, they became friends and she introduced hum to her old crew. She marries Torian Cadera and has 4 children. She does keep in contact with her old crew and sometimes continues to run jobs with them.

Orar Askaari: A human Mandalorian. He had seen Usatau’s argument with Malus and had watched her throw the soup and later throw the empty pot after him in a rage. He recovered the pot and returned it to her, asking if she needed help with anything. The two became friends after. He respected the boundaries that she had set and would visit her between jobs, offering his help with her many children to give her some much needed rest. In secret, he was working out how to free them all. Openly, he genuinely cared for all of them. This went on for just over a year before she was open to a strange courtship. It was when she told him that she was going to have his child that he knew he would have to put his plans in motion. Before he could, he was called to battle, but he swore he would return when he was able. He kept in contact, sending letters to Usatau, inquiring about her well being and how the children were faring. He found it suspicious when the letters stopped abruptly. When he finally returned to Hutta for them, none of them were there. Looking at death records, he found that his beloved had died in childbirth and that there had been no record of whether or not the child had survived (though the consensus was that they hadn’t). He also found the death records or Uliccol and Numelia. It is only when Numelia becomes Mandalore’s chosen and confronts her that he discovers his son is still alive and finally gets the chance to meet him.

Akiwo Nwython: The youngest son of Usatau. He was smuggled off of Hutta by Rhorira, who had told neighbors on the planet that he had died with Usatau. Rhorira raised him on her own and hardly spoke of their past. He began to think of her as his mother instead of his sister. She kept him safe and made sure that he was well educated, but it became obvious to him that she wanted more than to be a single mother working odd jobs. He had known from a young age that he wanted to go into then line of diplomacy and found a school specializing in it. She hesitated, but Akiwo assured her it was for the best. Not much happened during that time. He kept in contact with Rhorira and studied hard, returning home during his breaks. During his visits, he met Yonnul’s apprentice, Pitha, and Sivan’s brother, Sahdrein. They all became fast friends, being the same age. He started dating Pitha some time before they both agreed that they wanted to ask Sahdrein to be a part of their relationship. They maintain a loving polyamorous relationship and are finally all married.  He one day is contacted by Orar and finally gets the chance to speak to his father and understand the truth.

Bonus!

Rainee Ordan: A Republic SIS agent who found herself on Dromund Kaas on a mission. During her time there, she had unknowingly gained the attention of a sith lord. As a way to gather more information, she took the opportunity to begin a relationship with Malus. While she kept up the ruse for a time, she was eventually found out by him. She attempted to run, but was caught. Little know what happened to her after. (In truth, the man had several clones made of her. Whether or not she is still alive to this day is uncertain).

Cryzsata: One of the clones of Rainee. While some were seen as perfect clones, Cryz was not one of them. She was wild and always a little too on edge all the time. Still, Malus kept her and had her train as a spy. She excelled at seeing things that the others couldn't pick up on. After some debate, he shipped her and the other of his favorite clones to Imperial Intelligence, giving her the name Tenmo. She detested the name, what he had done and some of the work she was being made to do. She instead ran away and surrendered to the SIS, giving her name as Cryzsata. Cryzs came from her pronouncing CRS (cloned Republic spy) out loud. She gave all the information she had on the inner workings of the Empire, but had ruined any chance at being a double agent when she had left. She now works for the SIS. Those who knew Rainee find it hard to see a difference between Cryzsata and her genetic source.

Guilialia: Malus's favorite of the clones of Rainee. Considered to be the perfect clone of her. She is pragmatic and well-behaved. She was raised to be the perfect spy, but, unlike Cryzsata, she never really discovered what Malus had done or what he was up to. While she worked with Uliccol on occasion, she never mentioned about Malus and just continued with business as usual.

Sera Nwython: Older sister of Malus. She was wise and kind, but never made it off of Korriban. Her death was ruled accidental, but several mysterious circumstances raised some questions with her family. She and Malus were never close.

Artus: The eldest son of Numelia and the only of her children to be force-sensitive. He excels at close-combat and was taught the ways of the force by several relatives. While he was curious about joining the Jedi for a time, most everyone warned him off of it (including those who were jedi). He uses the force only as a last resort. He is trained by Cekke, Talaar and Yonnul.

Naiad: the second son of Numelia. Known for being a wild prankster and always getting himself into trouble that his mother has to bail him out of. He took after her more than either of them are willing to admit, picking up a blaster and learning the skills of a pyrotech. He never stopped being a troublemaker.

Cecima: The only daughter of Numelia. She is quiet and quick, always keeping an eye out for an opening. She worked to become a sharpshooter, taking the role of sniper at a fairly young age. She takes pride in her skill that she earned through pure determination. While she doesn’t prefer a more hands-on fight, she is definitely skilled enough.

Ritosh: The youngest son of Numelia. When he was born, something went wrong. It nearly killed Numelia and left him blind. While he was never made to feel like an outcast, he was constantly concerned that he would not fit in with his Mandalorian family. He attempted to run away from home on multiple occasions, but was always caught by his parents. He is trained by his father and brother in hand-to-hand combat.

Daesha Tualin: Female twi’lek. The first mate of Dev Shodon’s crew. She gained that honor when she got him thrown in prison after she stole his wallet. No one knows her real name, and she created the name she goes by. Despite their rocky beginnings, Daesha and Dev have a relationship resembling that of siblings rather than crewmates. Little is known about her except that she is from Ryloth.

Sivan, Keth, Hemile, Talus, Cekke, Sahdrein, Emin and Talaar all belong to @ikarralives

[sexysilverstrider]

Hey, so I saw those asks about Marth and Caeda meeting their tiny descendants and I just had to write a little something…Although this little something turned out a bit longer than I expected…But I hope you enjoy it!

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How had they gotten here? How do we get them home? Where did they come from? When do they come from?

These questions and many others had ran through Marth’s mind a few weeks ago when he and Caeda had entered the throne room of their castle to find three mysterious, confused, and deeply frightened young children.

The oldest was a girl around ten years old with long golden hair and a cautious but steady look in her eyes. In her arms, looking around curiously, was a baby girl who couldn’t be more than a year old, tufts of gold hair on her head. Beside the pair was a blue haired boy who looked to be four years old, looking at Marth and Caeda with distrust while clutching at the older girl’s dress in his small hands.

It had taken a lot of coaxing from Marth and Caeda to get the answers they needed from the children. The three were siblings, the royal children of a land called Ylisse, and none of them had any idea how they had arrived in Altea Castle. The oldest was Emmeryn, the boy was Chrom, and the baby was Lissa. Then came the more unbelievable revelation: the children were his and Caeda’s descendants.

It was a bizarre claim, one that under other circumstances Marth probably would never believe. But there was something about those children, who did somewhat resemble him and Caeda, particularly Chrom…those marks on Emmeryn and Chrom…the way his Falchion had reacted when Chrom had touched it while Marth was distracted. It was true, wasn’t it? These were his distant descendants who had somehow ended up in the past, in his time. And he had to get them home soon. Who knew what consequences this could have on the future the longer the children stayed here?

The children had been staying in Altea Castle in the weeks since their sudden appearance. With Marth and Caeda having only recently been married, letting the children’s existence be known outside the castle would cause unneeded scandal. Marth had plenty of historians and mages working on figuring out some way to send the children back to their time, but there had been nothing so far. If answers didn’t start coming soon then he’d have to go to Tiki and see if she can figure out an answer with Naga’s assistance. While that had been going on, Marth and Caeda had to juggle the expected responsibilities of being a king and queen and the unexpected responsibilities of being surrogate parents.

They had originally tried to let the servants of the castle care for the children, but it that idea quickly turned sour. Chrom was too wary and Lissa would cry so much, with Emmeryn being the only one who could keep them in check. Marth and Caeda were the only one who the children felt the most at ease with. It was understandable, Marth supposed. They were so young and trapped in a place they didn’t know. Of course they’d want to stay close to the two people they were most familiar with, even though the most they probably knew about Marth and Caeda were from history books. It had been a hassle but the king and queen soon adjusted to balancing politics with child care. And as the weeks passed, Marth got to know his descendants rather well.

Young Emmeryn was the easiest to care for, always so polite and mature, listening to them and helping when her younger siblings were too much. Marth couldn’t help but recall fond memories of Elice every time he saw Emmeryn with her siblings. Yes, Emmeryn was easy to care for…and yet, she was a puzzle for the longest time. Never talking of her worries, never asking anyone for anything, always keeping her thoughts to herself except for when she insisted that she was fine, that she was grateful for everything Marth and Caeda were doing.

The barrier that was between them only broke when Caeda happened to hear a sleeping Emmeryn crying. A little gentle persuasion was all it took for Emmeryn to finally talk to them. About how she wanted to go home, about how scared she was that she’d never see Ylisse again, about the recent death of her mother, about her father and his growing obsession with a devastating war between Ylisse and another land called Plegia, about how the people were angry and suffering and how she just wanted peace. Caeda held Emmeryn as she cried while Marth had left the room, those worries that Emmeryn had brought up hitting a little too close to home. She had stayed strong all this time for the sake of her siblings, but she was still a child herself…That night changed things between them. Whenever things became too much, Emmeryn was now more comfortable coming to Marth or Caeda for a talk, or simply just sit by them in peaceful silence.

Lissa, being a baby, caused her fair share of troubles. Caeda had joked, as Lissa yanked on her hair, that this would be excellent practice for that day she and Marth became parents. Marth had decided not to voice his thoughts that, after all this, it would be a good few years before he’d be ready to take a shot at fatherhood. Lissa had quite the set of lungs on her and a strong love for shiny things, especially Marth’s crown and Caeda’s lance. Marth was thankful the people of the castle chose not to bring up how exhausted he and Caeda looked after taking care of Lissa on some of her bad days.

But even with all of those issues, it hadn’t taken long at all for Lissa to charm Marth and Caeda. She had the most precious laugh and a smile that made all their trouble feel worth it in the end. After a long day of debating with officials or an exhausting battle, seeing little Lissa smiling and reaching out to them took the stress away, if only for a little while. Of course, they had run into a little trouble when Lissa started calling them “Mama” and “Papa” and worked quickly to try and fix that before any rumors started. Although, it had felt nice to be called that, if only for a little while. As Marth watched Caeda gently rocking Lissa, he couldn’t help but long for that day he and Caeda could do this with their own children.

Chrom was…an experience, to put it lightly. Marth felt that Caeda hadn’t been joking when she said she spotted a couple gray hairs on his head. The boy seemed to attract trouble wherever he went. Breaking expensive vases and statues, constantly getting unnervingly close to someone’s weapon (particularly Falchion), running off and hiding whenever he pleased. He was a troublemaker to the bone, Emmeryn being the only one who could really keep him in check. And there was that one time Chrom messed with Caeda’s pegasus…By the end of that incident Marth had a headache, Caeda swore she had an ulcer, and that pegasus probably had a death wish for Chrom. Honestly, with how much trouble young Chrom caused sometimes Marth wondered if the boy truly was a descendant of his.

However, at other times, he really could see himself and Caeda in the boy. He could see it when Chrom felt protective of his sisters, when he talked about wielding Falchion when he grows up so he can protect people, when he showed his confidence and his insecurities, when he revealed that endless kindness. And, despite how he acted at times, Emmeryn had informed Marth of Chrom’s willingness to put his trust in almost anyone. A worrying but rather admirable quality, Marth had to admit. And the boy was truly endearing when he ran up to Marth with a storybook and an eager expression on his face, or when he excitedly showed off a new sword move to Caeda using a small wooden practice sword.

Yes, the three children were certainly a handful to raise, but they were family to Marth and Caeda. So of course they would look out for them until they found a way to bring them back to their home, to their own time. Marth wondered if the children would forget about their weeks spent in Altea Castle when that day arrived. Actually, would Marth and Caeda remember them once they went back? How did this time travel stuff work?

“You worry too much, Marth,” Caeda whispered.

The children had all fallen asleep on the bed in the guest room Emmeryn had been staying in, Emmeryn and Chrom on either side of young Lissa. Caeda carefully arranged the blanket around them while Marth gently removed the storybook that lay on Emmeryn’s lap.

“The idea that they may forget all this is…sad,” Marth admitted, “But the thought that we may forget them is even worse.”

“Whatever happens will happen,” Caeda said as the pair headed to the door, “But even if they don’t remember their time here, it will take all the magic in the world to make me forget them.”

Marth chuckled at that, turning to look at the children. He smiled as he saw Emmeryn sleepily reach her arm out to her siblings, Chrom snuggling closer to his sisters as Lissa let out the softest yawn. He noticed Caeda regarding him with a fond expression.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I can tell what you’re thinking,” she replied, linking their arms and resting her head on his shoulder as she smiled at the children, “I feel the same way.”

Marth let out a sigh at that. The children had to return to their timeline. He would talk with Tiki tomorrow to figure something out with Naga. They may have no idea what brought them here but there must be a way to bring them home. It wouldn’t be right for them to stay here. Rumors and scandals aside, Marth and Caeda would only grow busier in the passing weeks. They had a country to rule, foreign royalty and dignitaries to talk with, alliances to form, people to take care of. As much as they both had grown to love Emmeryn, Chrom, and Lissa they also knew very well that they belonged elsewhere, that they would have to say their goodbyes soon.

But, gods, Marth and Caeda were going to miss them…

THIS IS SOSOOS GOOD AND JUST PURE FOR MY HEART JUST WHAT I NEED I LOVE IT SO MUCH I SMILED SO WIDE IN THE MORNING THANK U ANON THANK U SOSOOS MUCH