#comes back and his stepson is in. coma

[pomieszanesny]

Bro... q!Roier...

[mvltisstuff]

Eddie Diaz x female reader

Eddie and reader are childhood sweethearts and have been engaged for 4 years with their wedding is in a few months, reader is also a firefighter with the 118 & also maddie’s best friend. Reader is also close friends with Ravi and Buck. Reader is walking home one night alone after collecting food for Chris and Eddie when she gets mugged and attacked and left for dead in an alleyway, she has multiple injuries such as a gunshot or stab wound, dislocated shoulder, dislocated knee, broken arm along with cuts and bruises to her face. Someone finds her and she ends up in the hospital in a coma, eddie has a breakdown in the hospital and Chris also visits reader crying. Reader wakes up and panics about the wedding as she needs physical therapy on her knee that was injured, worried that she won’t be able to walk down the isle to Eddie, she has a panic attack and everything goes wrong. Maddie tries to help her through it. You can decide on the rest. 🩶🩶

sorry this is so long😅🥲

hope you’re doing well and having a great summer ❤️‍🩹🤍 xx

let the light in - e.d

summary: request

eddie diaz x reader

gif from @housewifebuck

a/n: this request is from quite some time ago, but it’s been in the drafts for too long! i apologize and hope you enjoy <3 also this is not proofread btw 😭

each hit to her body ricocheted through her muscles, feeling the marks and scars form on her skin. it was a foreign feeling, one of fear and pain. y/n was helpless on the ground of the alley, and there was nothing she could do.

her heartbeat thumped in her ears, and she was horrified that she might not even look the same, let alone be the same. she faces things like this every single day, saving someone’s life but she could barely manage to save her own.

she only wanted to bring home food for chris and eddie, her beloved ones who instantly became her family. she was almost like a mother to christopher, and he was connected to her as she was always there for him.

the moment eddie proposed to y/n, he knew that there would be no hesitation. he had never felt this way about a woman before, let alone want to live with her until their hair turned grey. every single part of y/n left eddie enamored, just falling for her all over again. her persistence and attitude was nothing but precious to him, and he couldn’t help but love every part of her.

he waited for her to come home, knowing that she would be stopping at the grocery store. it was late, the sky dark and the streets only illuminated by the street lamps. he knows how tough she is, and she’d be ok. so, he patiently waited at home with his son, the worries in the far back of his head.

as y/n’s body was dragged about and penetrated with sharpness, all she could think about was her fiancé and stepson at home. the two people she loves most in this world. it was so hard not to give up and let these criminals take her life, but she knew neither of them could deal with her life being stripped away.

let alone the 118. bucks been her best friend since day one, being the first supporter of her and eddie’s relationship. he completely adores her and her humor, along with her strong work ethic. ravi has always looked up to her from the moment he stepped into the station on his first day. she assisted him and taught him with kindness, but didn’t go easy on him. she’s the reason that ravi is the firefighter he is, and he idolizes her for that, in and out of work. hen and chimney have been alongside her, running into each building and saving a civilian. she was almost too good to be true, and the people who attacked her had no idea.

the men heard the crumbling of rocks underneath tires, and scurried away into the midnight. y/n was left there to rot, laying on the hard ground and feeling herself bleed out. her entire body was in agony, but it was nothing compared to the thought of losing herself.

her weak fingers traveled to her pockets, taking out her phone with a shattered screen. surprisingly, the group wasn’t smart enough to steal it, and she thanked god for it. her blurry vision was tempting her, minutes away from fading into complete darkness. her mind was shrouded with negativity, but a flicker of hope came in when she heard maddies voice on the other side of the phone.

“maddie.” y/n groans, practically inaudible. maddie freezes at the letters of her name leave this woman’s mouth, being strictly confused but also horrified. “y/n.”

the slightly collection of blood in her mouth made the words jumble together, maddie using every ounce of brain power to put the pieces together.

“i’m sorry, i didn’t-“ the light goes off in maddies brain, finally being able to put the letters together, forming y/n’s name. “y/n?” she hears a painful groan of agreement from the muffled earpiece. “can you tell me exactly what happened?”

“they tried to kill me,” y/n informs her, slowing her breathing but it only makes her head spin faster. her eyes are closed, fighting the unconsciousness that’s begging to take over. “maddie, i’m not gonna be able to stay awake, but… i-i’m somewhere near the interchange.”

“y/n, honey, you have to try and stay awake for me, okay?” maddie begs, her eyes filling with moisture as she hears y/n’s small voice come through the phone in stutters. “y/n?” the phone lands over her torso, beginning to be stained with blood as y/n’s mind is shrouded in black, unable to process anything any longer.

eddie sat in the living room with christopher, watching a show for chris to practice his spanish. they were both invested in the plot, but also trying to expose christopher to the language.

eddie adored nights like this with his son. christopher is his sun, and his world revolves around him. he protects christopher with every ounce of his being, and there’s not a moment where he regrets any of it. the room was dimmed, the wick of the candle radiating a sweet smell as the words on the tv came through.

there was excitement in his mind as well, knowing y/n would be home soon to greet them. her alluring smile would be seen the moment she stepped in the door, and her bewitching voice became music to the boys. instead, when he heard others car doors slam, he was confronted with silence from his front door afterwards.

the next 15 minutes passed slowly but surely, and there were no signs of y/n coming home. he checked his phone only to find no messages or calls. his thoughts began to run through everything that could’ve happened, and he attempted to focus on the brighter ones. he finally heard the knock on the door, the pounding coming off assertive. somehow, he still wanted to find optimism and it could’ve been y/n.

when the door swung open, a burly man who was slightly taller than eddie stood in front of him. he had on a jacket with the LAPD, and eddie’s heart fell at the look on his face. it was blank on the outside, but eddie could tell he was here to deliver something horrid. he listened as the officer deeply uttered his first and last name, christopher lifting his head to the door at the unfamiliar voice.

in this line of work, eddie knew exactly why the man was here. “where is she?” eddie’s voice crackles, showing weakness when he’s so used to being strong.

the ride to the hospital was silent, deafening silence that only turned up the volume on eddie’s fears. the chugged through his head like a train on tracks, and he could barely see straight. he had absolutely no idea what to expect, only knowing that his girl was in the hospital. for all he could know, she could be wide awake or she could be in the morgue.

it felt like someone had grasped his heart, restricting him from breathing as he saw the almost empty waiting room. he desperately looked for anyone, finally landing his eyes on maddie.

“maddie!” he shouts, stomping over to her in anxiety. “what the hell happened?”

“i got a call,” maddie told him, her voice shaky and uncertain. “i could barely even tell who it was -her voice was so different- she told me that they tried to… they tried to kill her.” maddie mumbles the last part out, not wanting to imagine her closest friend’s life being taken.

the room started becoming blurry, all sights and sounds around eddie becoming irrelevant. it felt like he was the only person in the room, and someone from above was pointing and laughing at him. it was like a gunshot, being thrown back at the sudden force, or in this case, the sudden news that someone had attempted murder on y/n.

“i called buck, he’s on his way,” maddie says, fidgeting with her hands as she looks into eddie’s distant eyes. “eddie, sit down-“

“what room is she in?”

“i don’t know if you want to see her like this so fa-“

“maddie, i love you like a sister, but if you don’t tell me what room she’s in, i swear…”

“she’s in 319,” and that was the last thing eddie heard before taking wide steps through the hallways, his feet swiftly carrying him through the hospital as he eyes the door numbers. 316, 317, 318, and the one that held y/n inside. he prepared himself for the worst, but nothing could compare to actually seeing it.

each cut on her face was surrounded by a thick bruise disguising her angelic features. her soft, welcoming expression was replaced with discomfort and tightness. her eyes were tired and screwed shut, begging to remain closed and her lips were tightly coiled around the thick tube down her throat. the mechanical breaths pumped through her body, and eddie only hurt himself more with every step he took to her room.

she heard the thumping of footsteps down the hall, and prayed that it was eddie on his way to save her. she wanted him to just pick her up and they could run away, live their life and forget about all that happened that evening. she wanted to smile, but the look on his face was only disappointing.

his face looked as if someone had landed a punch to his gut, leaving his stomach dropping and shakiness building through his hands. he could barely figure out the words to say. his beautiful girl, the one he lays with at night and the one who kisses him with her soft lips. the one who he cries to and laughs with, and someone tried to steal it.

she had a long, white cast over her leg, being slightly elevated in the bed. he could see the bandages all over her body, and the thick wrap of gauze around her belly. he didn’t have any idea what to say, and it brought eddie back to the former years.

before he and y/n dated, shannon had passed away as eddie watched the life leave her eyes. he felt everything, the guilt, the grief, the anger. it took too long for things to return, but he never, ever wanted to experience that again. he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t manage to push through losing y/n.

y/n wanted to move so bad, she used all fibers of her muscles to try and bring herself up to meet eddie, but she was only met with his frozen figure staring down at her own. someone had put chains on her body, restricting her from moving or speaking, let alone open her eyes. she wanted to be caught while she was falling, but was just left dangling in the air without a hand to grab onto. just by the aura eddie reflects, she knew he was there.

he stepped closer, running his smooth fingers down her rough wounds, brushing her silky hair down. the hissing of her intubation flooded the silent room, realizing that it’s the only thing keeping her alive.

the door had remained open, the doctor entering the room and knocking on the open door. he stepped out and stood in front of the bed, carrying binders and charts in his arms. he looked through them, explaining each familiar term to eddie as he went down the list of y/n’s injuries. the doctor knew eddie well, him returning to the hospital to drop off a patient, or god forbid a patient himself. he let eddie sit alone next to her in the room, watching the very small movements of her chest.

the next person came rushing in, much faster than the doctor had. buck swung the door open, maddie trailing behind him in hesitation to see her friend like this.

“jesus,” buck whispers under his breath, stepping closer to eddie who’s elbows kneel on his knees. “you holding up?”

“i’m fine,” eddie tells his friend, fully aware he’s far from it. his eyes wander down to the ring in maddies hand, the one eddie remembers shining in the little box. it’s been years, but with their schedules, they could never find a date. they found their perfect venue and time, and y/n was so excited. now, it was questioned whether or not she would even make it to their wedding.

“i’ll call her family and take care of stuff for her and work,” buck assists, patting eddie’s shoulder before moving back out of the room with his cell phone. maddie takes this opportunity to step closer to eddie, and try to touch his heart to help ease the pain.

“you need to eat, or walk for a bit, eddie.” maddie tells him, lightly throwing her arms up and receiving zero glances from him. when she notices the distance in his eyes, she knows exactly what he needs. “eddie!”

he perks up, looking into maddies soothing eyes and seeing her begin to walk toward the door. “she’ll be ok for a minute, please just come with me.” she pleads, finally achieving to get eddie out of the uncomfortable hospital chair.

eddie follows maddie through the halls like he’s just a kid, letting his mother lead him through. it was a strange feeling, one that was out of his control. the control that he’s so used to having. maddie sauntered casually through the thick white walls and metal stretchers in the halls. she looked up and down the stretch of area, seeing no nurses or doctors. she swung open the storage closet, yanking eddie in and standing in front of the door. she leaned against it, looking into eddie’s exhausted eyes. they were so close to breaking, and maybe that’s exactly what he needed.

“it’s ok to let yourself take a break.” maddie says to eddie, watching him place his hands on his hips and allow his tired eyes to well up. “do whatever you have to. scream, cry, lay on the ground, throw those lap pads. it’s clear as day that you’re about to fall apart and you can’t carry this weight and be there for her at the same time.”

he spun around, spitting out a dry chuckle and losing the eye contact. he couldn’t face it, he couldn’t handle someone watching him look so weak. however, when maddie turned around, he knew that she was safe, and that he was too.

first, his breathing starts to pick up along with the sharp burning in his nostrils. it was as if the gears of an attack started turning, and eddie knew now that there was nothing to stop them.

his hands began to shake, messily frizzing his gelled hair as his fingers ran through it. his already tightened chest had began to feel like it was being crushed, and someone was wrapping their strong fingers around his heart.

the tears started coming in constant streams down his cheeks, leaving shiny residue on the soft skin. he tasted the salty cries on his lips whenever he took a deep inhale. with a strange sensation, there’s a feeling of lightness throughout his body. he knows too well that y/n remains helpless in the other room, but he also knows that he can’t control it.

in such a simply way, eddie cries. he cries for his son, who he knows is going to be completely shredded by the news of y/n’s condition. he cries for her parents, thinking about someone’s little girl in that bed. he cries for himself, watching his beloved fiancé lose herself. of course, he cries for y/n and how everything she loves has vanished due to the villains in this world.

when maddie turns back around, eddie is hunched over with his head in his hands. his fingers aggressively swipe at his eyes and cheeks, trying to rid any signs of upset in his face. maddie gives him the smallest, but the most reassuring smile that he’s gotten in a while. she opens the door, stepping out and they both walk back to y/n’s room.

eddie didn’t want christopher to see y/n so vulnerable like this. y/n had been a role model to chris since the day he met her, becoming an instant prized person in his life. christopher knew y/n was hurt, buck being the one to break the news as eddie physically couldn’t form the words. a few days had passed, and christopher still had not seen y/n, or barely even known what happened. someone did something bad, and that’s the only thing he could handle hearing.

christopher begged to see y/n to his dad, who tried to hide the situation from him as long as possible. he allowed eventually, becoming aware of the unfairness, and that christopher deserves to see favorite person, too.

buck walked into the doors with christopher, eddie meeting them at the front. eddie had become more accustomed to the sight of y/n on the bed, and her limp figure resting silently. he couldn’t help but let out a cheesy grin at his son, seeing him excitedly walk in to see y/n.

“dad!” he shouts, stepping closer to eddie who then embraces him.

“hey, chris!” he replies, thrilled to see his boy after the past few days from hell.

“is y/n better yet?” he asks, and the naivety almost breaks eddie.

“uh, not yet, buddy,” eddie mumbles. “she’s still sleeping.”

“can i please see her?”

“you can, of course, but christopher,” eddie kneels down to match his height, placing his hands on christopher’s sides. “i want you to know that she doesn’t look normal right now. it’s okay to be scared.”

“are you scared?”

eddie looks at the ground, not wanting his son to see him in his moment of weakness. he looks at buck, who wears the matching expression of glumness on his face. “yeah, i am. but, it’s going to be ok.” he takes christopher to the room, greeting everyone else who came to visit her.

hen leans against the wall of the room, toward the end of her bed. chim sits against the window, a grimace formed on his lips. ravi had come to visit, only being able to watch y/n on the small mattress. bobby watched, painfully, from the corner as well. athena had stopped by, but she was still on duty and had to leave.

christopher walked in, stepping up toward the bed and seeing a smile form on everyone’s face. they adore him, but he doesn’t understand how they can smile right now. “can she hear me?”

“i think she can,” hen replies, giving another grieving, but comforting expression

“y/n,” he begins. “i know you’re really hurt, but we all need you to come back. it’s not your fault, but you have to come back to us, and dad. everyone is here for you, and we all love you. you’ve always taken care of me, and i need you. you can’t let the bad guys win.”

eddie leans against the doorframe, his hand over his mouth and tears sprinting back down his face. he attempts to choke back the audible sobs, but the silent weeping in the corner almost felt worse.

the days passed, slow and agonizing days of seeing her only linear condition. it felt like nothing was going anywhere, until the doctors came in to check her on the week mark.

“her brain function is looking pretty good, it’s honestly best that the coma saved some of it. her heart rate looks extraordinary, and her white blood cell count is good, mr. diaz.”

the good news comes light as a feather to eddie, barely touching the optimism in his head. he knows he should be happy, but until he sees that beautiful face that he calls his awake and alert, nothing will be the same. he knew he should be grateful that she’s even breathing, but what he would give to be able to bring her back to the surface and hold his hand.

as much as it stung his heart, life continued without y/n’s consciousness. he had a child who had needs, a family who had needs, the person inside of him that also had needs. he was too smart to know that he was destroying himself every minute that he spent next to her brittle body. maddie swore to spend every second with her that eddie couldn’t be.

she sat besides her, spoke to her, told her stories and read her books. maddie always let y/n cry on her shoulder, now it was maddie weeping on her bedside. hours ticked by on the shiny hospital clocks, and the sun crept down and dimmed the sky along with the room. maddies eyes were pushed with weight, her own sleepiness covering her thoughts. she allowed herself to slump back on the chair, pulling her legs up and her breathing began to shallow, lulling herself to sleep.

the next time she awoke was around six in the morning, the morning sky slowly being illuminated by the orange sunrise. the light outside was glorious, the painting on the horizon better than any artist could create. the swift streaks of clouds only simply covered the sliver of sun peeking out.

when maddie stretched out her arms, she smiled at the warm colors outside the big glass window, she searched around the room, noticing the soft sound of fabric shuffling on the bed.

it was almost like a ghost had appeared and laid in the bed, moving itself around over the sheets. maddie directed her eyes closer, seeing y/n’s fragile fingers twitch and run over the smooth bed.

“y/n?” maddie asks, her voice still weak from her slumber. she begins to sit up, faster than before, to examine y/n’s face. there’s a brighter color to her features, her cheeks became more pigmented and she looked more full. she didn’t just look like another body in the hospital, waiting for her heart to give up on itself.

the more words that left maddie’s mouth, the more flickering she saw on y/n’s face. her heart was pounding against her chest, feeling the anxiety rise through her spine. “hey, y/n.” she whispers, giving a reassuring squeeze to her hand. after a few moments that felt like centuries, y/n’s eyelashes fluttered a bit, and her red, tired irises were finally revealed again.

eddie was laying on the couch, unable to sleep in the bed that once held the couple together. it felt eerily cold without her, his hand subconsciously floating over to run a hand over her back, only to be confronted with the chilly satin. he never wanted to leave y/n, but he also know that she would never want him to fall apart in the hospital watching her. he so badly wanted his eyes to finally shut, being able to give him even an hour of rest. someone had their fingers holding open his eyes, painting horrible images in his mind.

he turned on his back, his arm behind his head and staring into the bumpy, popcorn ceilings of his home. the home he shares with his son and his fiancée, the two people he cherishes the most. now, it was filled with darkness and loss and he prayed that he could get it back.

something grabbed ahold of his mind, halting his thoughts with the blaring noise of his ringtone. when he saw the ID of maddie illuminate his phone, he thought of the worst. either y/n was dead, and he never gets to see her again, or nothing has changed, and there is only more of an agonizing wait.

“eddie, you should get here,” was all he needed to hear over the phone before he roused christopher, dropping him off to get more rest at his tías, and eddie continued to speed over to the hospital.

the tube was gone. it was replaced with a skinnier cord, only pushing air into her through her lungs. her face, still bruised and scraped, but so alive. her eyes shined through the room, meeting eddie’s with a slight upturn of her lip. she was laying on her side with her hand under her cheek. the dark bags under her eyes were clear, but practically matching with eddie’s.

the moment he walked into that room and saw her, his rapid heartbeat began to slow, leaving a dropping sensation in his chest. he scurried over, not being able to stop himself from placing a long kiss on her lips, the ones that had just almost been taken from him.

“i am so, so sorry, mi vida, i wish i were here when you woke up,” he cries, tears welling up in his eyes.

“but you’re here now,” she rasps out, trying to lose the discomfort in her voice. “you’ve been here the whole time for me.”

“don’t ever leave me like that again,” he sighs, pressing his forehead against her own, letting her wired hand be placed on his cheek.

“i wasn’t scared of them,” y/n tells him. “i was scared that they’d take you away from me. i don’t ever want to leave you in the dust like i did last night.”

“last week, honey,” eddie grins with a bit of pity on his voice.

“oh, yeah,” she chuckles a bit, but afterwards grimacing at the pain in her abdomen.

“you should go to sleep, get some real rest this time.”

“i just slept for like, 160 hours, eddie.”

“i know, baby, but you still need to let yourself heal.” she smiles up at him, silently thanking him for his gentleness and tranquility. she nods, as he steps out to see the doctor. maddie returns back in, clutching her purse by her side and smiling her gorgeous maddie beam.

“hi again,” y/n smiles, seeing her best friend walk into the room once more.

maddie carefully walks in, placing her bag down and hugging y/n’s laying figure. “how are you feeling?”

“physically, a bit better,” y/n says.

“but what about the y/n i love. how is she doing in there?”

y/n pauses, all the thoughts rushing back through her head. every sentence screams through her ears, wanting to push itself to the front of her mind. every worry, every fear comes clean to the surface.

“maddie, i don’t know what to do,” her eyes begin to water, and her voice starts to tremble along with her hands. “we’ve been trying to plan this wedding for so long, and those men just took it all away from me. how am i supposed to just move on from that? i’m never going to be able to be the same after that. and eddie,” she sighs, pushing a long exhale out through her mouth. “i feel like i completely destroyed him with this. and now, i have to go to PT and i can’t even walk down the isle by myself! one of these days he’s gonna realize that i’m not worth anything anymore. i’m horrified that every day he has to take care of me, is just one part of him that doesn’t want me anymore.”

her breathing picks up, maddie trying to ease her but ultimately not being able to with just a simple touch. she looks at eddie, still focused on the doctor.

“listen, y/n/n,” maddie begins. “that gang took so much from you, but you have so many people on your side. they lost, you won. and with eddie, he would bleed himself dry if it meant you came home with him. every single breath you take is worth a million dollars to him. you are the most, fighter bitch i’ve ever met, and if anyone’s going to bounce back from this, it’s you. the moment you two kiss on that one night, all this worrying will be for nothing. he is your soldier, and he’ll never leave you. he would fight the gods if it meant he could keep you next to him every night.”

the tears fall onto her pillowcase, leaving several dark patches besides her face. eddie turns back around, letting himself back into to room only to see the upset written all over y/n’s face.

“hey, what’s wrong?” he asks, the sweetness in the delivery of his words. maddie looks up at him, her eyebrows tilting up together in a sadness for her friend. sharp inhales and gasps come through y/n’s body, using her shaking hand to wipe the wet tears from her cheeks. “you’re ok, baby, i got you.” he tells her, sitting besides her on the bed and caressing her side. maddie kisses her cheek, stepping out of the room to leave the engaged pair alone.

“i never want to be away from you again,” she sobs. “promise me you’ll never leave me, and i promise i’ll always love you.”

“i’ll make this promise to you until the day we grow grey hair, or the day you don’t remember me anymore. i’ll promise you this every single day. i mean it when i say i love you more than anything.”

[pedrospatch]

Moved On (Andy Barber x Wife!Reader)

A/N: Thanks for this request! I attempted an Andy Barber fic once but tbh I wasn’t happy with it and deleted so thank you for sending this one in so I could have another shot. <3 This fic takes place three years after the series. A few things deviate from the book/television series, but I you like this, anon.

Pairing: Andy Barber x Wife Reader

Warnings: Language, angst, Laurie Barber.

Length: 2.4k words

Andy crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the granite kitchen island as he watches you in pure adoration while you go about setting the table for dinner. He knows that he should probably be helping you out, but he simply can’t help himself as he stands there and stares at you in complete and utter awe—he never would have believed that this was the life he would be living. Sometimes he can’t believe this is the life he’s living, even after all this time. It often feels like a dream, a blissful dream he's afraid that one day he’ll wake up from.

If someone would have told Andy three and half years ago that one day he would be remarried to the love of his life, expecting his second child, and that his teenaged son would be healed, healthy, and happy, he would have scoffed right in their damn face. After everything that had happened—the murder trial, the near fatal car crash, and Laurie being put behind bars for nearly killing herself and their son, Andy could have sworn that his life was over. Laurie had been put in the psychiatric unit of a women’s correctional facility to serve her four and a half year prison sentence and shortly after that, Jacob had come out of his medically induced coma with an incredibly long and painful road to recovery ahead of him. Physically, mentally, and emotionally, Jacob had been wounded so deeply by everything that had happened and Andy feared he wouldn’t be able to be the strength his son needed to go on. He’d been left all on his own to pick up the shattered, jagged pieces of the world he once knew, with no idea of how to even start putting them back together again.

But then you happened.

Andy never saw this coming—never saw you coming.

When he first met you, from the first hello you two exchanged, Andy couldn’t have possibly imagined that you would end up being exactly what he and his son needed.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” You tease, smiling over your shoulder at him.

“Sorry, honey.” Andy chuckles and shakes his head, uncrossing his arms as he pushes himself away from the kitchen island. “What can I help you out with?”

“Can you pull out the salad from the fridge and bring it over to the table?”

He quickly nods and does as you request, bringing over the bowl of salad that you’d chopped up earlier to the table. He sets it in the middle of the table before taking his seat at the head of the table. “Where’s Jake? Let’s get him down here, I’m starving.”

“Jacob!” You call out loudly. “Dinner’s ready! Let’s go, shut off that video game!”

Andy frowns. “Video game? Isn’t he supposed to be studying?”

“It’s Friday, so I let the kid live a little.” You wink at your husband as you take a seat beside him and drape a clean white cloth napkin across your lap. “And besides, he’s been doing really well in his classes. His counselor e-mailed me the other day. Jake’s grades have never been better.”

“He has a good influence.” Andy reaches over and places his hand over yours.

At that moment, your seventeen year old stepson comes down the stairs and takes a seat across from you. He has a white envelop clutched in one of his hands.

“What do you have there, bud?” Andy questions suspiciously as soon as he sees it. He raises an eyebrow at his son. “You’re not in any trouble, are you?”

Jacob doesn’t reply, and instead, he simply shoots you a nervous glance.

“Go on,” You encourage him, grinning excitedly. “Tell him, Jake.”

Andy glances between the two of you, confused. “Tell me what? What’s going on?”

“It’s an acceptance letter,” Jacob informs him, handing it over. “My first one. It came in the mail earlier today.” He shoots his father a sheepish look. “I was going to wait for all three of us to be together to open it, but I couldn’t wait and neither could she,” he explains, tossing you a quick smile. “We figured we’d just tell you over dinner.”

Andy opens it and he beams with pride as his blue eyes glaze over the document in his hand. “Northeastern University?”

Jake nods. “I’m going to e-mail the school and commit first thing on Monday for the upcoming semester.”

Andy’s smile fades ever so slightly. “Commit? Already? Are you sure this is where you want to go? You’re still waiting on other letters, Jacob. Isn’t it a little too soon to make the commitment?” he asks, setting the letter down. “You still have a couple of months left in the school year. Don’t you want to wait?”

“Not really. This school is the closest to home, dad. I don’t want to move somewhere too far for college, especially since I want to be close enough come and see my little sister after she’s born.” Jacob turns from his father and his eyes meet yours. “I want to be a part of her life as much as possible. I can’t do that if I ship myself off too far for school.”

You place a hand on your growing baby bump. “He’s got a point, Andy.”

“Well, if that’s your decision, than you have our full support.” Andy puts a hand on Jacob’s shoulder and gives it a squeeze. “I’m so proud of you, Jake. We both are. We know you’ve got a bright future ahead of you.”

“Thanks, dad.”

After dinner, Jacob excuses himself from the table to watch television—normally he’s the one to help you clear the table and clean up, but Andy decides to give him a pass for the night and volunteers to help you himself. You’re in the kitchen tossing scraps into the silver, stainless steel trash can when Andy walks in, takes the plate from your hand and sets it down on the counter. He then grabs you and takes you into his arms, pressing his lips to yours in a long, slow kiss that sends chills up and down the length of your spine. As his hands start to wander, you break away from him ever so slightly, resting your hand gently on his chest.

“Mm, someone’s feeling extra affectionate today,” You murmur against his lips.

“I’m just really happy, is all. Ridiculously, deliriously happy.”

“Oh?”

“Mhm.” Andy moves his mouth to your neck and starts to trail his way down to your chest.

You laugh, lightly pushing him away. “Let’s finish cleaning up first, lover boy,” You tell him, eliciting an impatient groan from him. “I cleared off the dishes for you, can you just load them into the washer for me?”

“Fine.” He playfully rolls his eyes. “But wait until I get my hands on you later tonight. I had dinner, now I want my dessert,” he smirks at you. “My sweet tooth is aching for you.”

“Jesus, Andy! Jake is in the room next door! Save it for the bedroom,” You remind him, blushing as your attention turn back to the trash can. You grab at the bag, tying together securely before pulling it out of the component. “I’ll be right back, I’m just going to go take this outside.”

Andy shakes his head and reaches out. “Sweetheart, let me do that for you—”

“Andy, I’m pregnant, not wounded. I’m perfectly capable of taking out the trash,” You tell him, shooting him a look. “I’ll be right back.” You make your way through the house and out the front door, stepping out into the chilly, evening air. You walk down the long driveway towards the black garbage can, lift the lid open and quickly toss the bag inside, letting the lid slam shut. As you turn and begin to walk back up to the house, you stop when you get the sudden feeling that you’re being watched by somebody. Furrowing your eyebrows, you slowly turn on your heel and let out a gasp when you see her standing there right beside Andy’s Audi.

Laurie Barber.

You and Andy have been hearing faint whispers around town about Laurie’s possible early release due to her improvement and good behavior. After the car crash, Laurie and her defense lawyers had taken a plea deal from the prosecution in order to avoid having to go to trial. While her sentence may have been light considering the serious nature of what she had done, the mandated court order to stay away from Andy and Jacob had been much harsher. She was not allowed to come into contact with either of them after her release or it would violate the terms of her probation. And yet, here she is, standing right in front of you, outside of your family’s home.

You stand there, frozen solid on the spot, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

Laurie stares at you, her eyes falling to your swollen midsection.

Instinctively, your hand goes to your stomach.

Her eyes flicker to the diamond ring on your finger. “You must be his new wife,” she says, rigidly. “I heard he remarried. But I didn’t know he was having another baby.”

You open your mouth to speak, but nothing comes out and you clamp it shut.

Unsure of what else to do, you give a small nod of your head.

“I’d heard the rumors that he’d completely moved on,” Laurie says. Despite the stiff, and cold tone of her voice, you can see that her eyes are brimming with tears. “Part of me refused to believe that he could forget about the life we had together, just like that. That he could move on so quickly.”

“Laurie, you shouldn’t be here,” You finally manage to say. “You need to leave.”

“How’s Jacob?”

“Laurie, please, you need to leave right now before Andy sees you—”

She ignores you, firmly repeating, “How is Jacob?”

You let out a small sigh, feeling conflicted.

One on hand, you can’t stand the woman for what she had done. But then, on the other, you can see the remorse in her eyes and you know that she’s desperate to hear about her son. “He’s doing great, Laurie,” You tell her. “Jake is thriving. He’s doing well in school, he’s been accepted into a good university. And most importantly, he’s healthy and he’s happy.”

“I need to see him.”

“You can’t. The judge ordered you to stay away from him.”

Laurie steps forward and grabs your arms. “Please! I need to see Jacob—”

“Get your fucking hands off my wife!” Andy’s growl comes from behind you, startling both you and Laurie. He snatches you out of her grasp and pushes you behind him, his broad shoulders squaring protectively. He speaks again, his tone venomous as he faces his ex-wife for the first time in over three years. “What the fuck are you doing here, Laurie?”

She lifts her chin, a tear sliding down her cheek. “I’m here because I want to see my son.”

“After you tried to fucking kill him?” He nearly shouts. “Are you fucking insane?”

“I made a mistake, Andy! I wasn’t in the right frame of mind! After everything, after the trial, everything was just falling apart and I couldn’t take it!” Laurie shouts back at him. “It was a fucking terrible mistake!”

“A mistake that nearly cost our son his life!”

You step beside your husband and place a hand on his chest. “Andy, please! You need to calm down before Jacob overhears and comes outside.” You look up at him, your eyes meeting his. You can see the anger, the pain, all of his emotions swimming in them and your opposite hand slips into his, lacing your fingers together. You give his hand a small squeeze. “Please, just calm down.”

Andy nods in agreement and takes a deep breath before turning back to Laurie. “I don’t know where you got the nerve to show up at my door,” he says. He’s certainly calmer than before, but there’s still an angry edge to his tone. “How you can even show your face around here after what you did is beyond me.”

“I’m sorry,” Laurie whispered. “For everything. Andy, from the bottom of my heart, I’m so fucking sorry. You have to believe me, I wasn’t in a good place. Mentally, or emotionally.” At this point, the tears were now streaming down her face. “I love my son, and I live with the guilt and the shame of what I did every damn second of every damn day. I never meant for any of it to happen, Andy. You have to believe me. I love Jacob.”

Her apology doesn’t faze Andy, but it fazes you.

Perhaps it’s the pregnancy hormones that have you on the sensitive side. But you just can’t help but to feel some sympathy for Laurie Barber.

“Please. I just want to see my son. I want to tell him I’m sorry. At least let me do that,” she pleads. “Let me apologize to him, face to face.”

Andy is about to protest when you place a hand on his arm to stop him.

“Let us talk to Jacob, first. And if he decides he is up to seeing you, then we can contact our attorney. They can speak to the judge and perhaps we can arrange something if he allows it.” You glance between Andy and Laurie. “It’s a decision that Jake should make. And everyone will respect his choice as well as the choice of the judge. Can we all agree on that?”

“Okay. I can agree to that.” Laurie nods. “Andy? Do you agree?”

His lips press into a tight, thin line. “You’re lucky my wife is here to be the voice of reason. Because if it were up to me, you’d never fucking see him again. Not a fucking chance. Now leave my property before I call your probation officer.” He grabs your hand and starts pulling you towards the house. “Come on. Let’s go back inside.”

“Wait!” Laurie reaches for your opposite hand, holding you back.

Andy’s nostrils flare. “Don’t fucking touch her!”

She ignores him, her desperate eyes meeting yours. “If Jake decides that he wants nothing to do with me, can you just do me a favor?”

You nod slowly.

“Look after him for me, please. From a mother to a mother. Please, just look after my boy for me.”

“That’s what I’ve been doing all along, Laurie,” You tell her in a low voice. Before you can stop yourself, it slips out, “I’ve been the mother he’s needed for the last three years.”

Laurie releases you, feeling stung by your words.

“Let’s go,” Andy says firmly, pulling you towards the house.

[littlespoonevan]

*waves*

pssst ciara — hey — hey ciara!

you know what’s a stones throw away from a possible coma storyline people are talking about? an amnesia storyline 😌😏

(I debated bringing up the wyws fic re: come but figured this was funnier since bucks not in a coma in your fic 😘)

askdjfh listen amy, i've said it before and i'll say it again: if they want to take the plot of buy back the secrets and make an episode out of it they have my full and express permission. i don't need credit. i will not be asking for royalties. just give me buck with amnesia looking at his dynamic with eddie and chris and coming to the logical conclusion that this must be his partner and his stepson ok that is payment enough 😍

[agentcable]

Chicaog Fire Season 5 Ep. 7 "Lift Each Other"

Dawson and her brother Antonio host a family reunion when their parents come to Chicago for their anniversary. Boden takes matters into his own hands after a secret involving his stepson comes to light. Casey tries to save a young boy at a warehouse. Otis and Kidd square off at a mud race.

If you want to watch the series for yourself, stop reading! This post contains spoilers to the storyline.

Lt. Matt Casey is on a double date with his girlfriend Gabby Dawson and her brother, Detective Antonio Dawson. Antonio and Casey agree the women are alike. Gabby asks her brother if he told Brett about the party. Sylvie is surprised and doesn't know what she's talking about. Casey tells Brett to run while she still can. He's already committed to their parents' anniversary. Gabby says it will be fun. Antonio tells Brett she can come on Saturday if she's free.

Chief Boden and his stepson James are walking into the firehous together. James wants to make it his permanent home. He'll finish senior year at Boden's house. Boden says it would be nice, but his mother won't agree. He promises to ask.

Brett asks Gabby lots of questions about the parents' pary. Gabby says to relax and it will be fun. James is changing clothes in the firehouse changing room when Joe Cruz ntoices bruises on his back and upper arms.

Cruz goes to see Lt. Kelly Severide, but before he can tell him what is going on, the alarms go off and the trucks and ambulance leave. Security called the crew to a factory where kids were screaming. The kids were playing Avengers and jumped. One is on the ground and the other is hanging from the rafters. Casey and Severide climb the scaffolding to reach Wiley. They try to free him, but Severide needs to break his ankle to set him free. He's not breathing, his face is blue. They get him down, Casey breathes for him, and Gabby and Brett take him to the hospital. James watches as Severide and Casey congratulate each other on the rescue.

When the truck retuns to the firehouse, Christopher calls Brian and Stella for a favour. Herrmann tells them to cover the "Mud 100" for Molly's.

Cruz tells Severide about the bruises on James. He says it's not from falling, but from being beaten up. Severide asks if he's spoken to Boden. Cruz says he doesn't want to ruin things between them. Severide says he should talk to James first.

Brett keeps asking Gabby about the family gathering. Gabby says she doesn't ahve to come if she doesn't want to. Brett says she'll go, but is worried how her family will view her as Antonio's new girlfriend. Gabby laughs and says his family doesn't know he got divorced because they don't care. Gabby says it's a wild party where everyone gets drunk. Brett asks if they acan drink before the party. Gabby says she was uncomfortable seeing her partner at work kissing her brother.

As Brett an Gabby leave Chicago Med, Wiley's parents show up. They say he slipped into a coma on his way to the hospital. He's in the ICU. He was upside down too long and hand a heart attack. Casey is upset when Gabby says they don't know if he'll make it. He asks her to let him know when she goes on another run.

Severide follows Jams into the bathroom. They talk about the call with the young boys. When James leaves, Severide calls him back in. He asks if he is okay. James says he's fine.

The alarms go off agian, and it's another call. They arrive at the scene and the truck driver is freaking out, blaming the woman. The druck driver is ordered to move back, but he refuses and attacks James. Capp grabs the passenger, while James stands frozen as Severide pries the driver's side door open and the ambulance arrives. Severide asks James if he is okay, but James jumps. Severide knows something is wrong, but tells him to load up the truck.

Otis is upset with Stella because they have to eat stew again. He says it's the same thing she cooks every time. She laughs and says when it's good, don't change it. Herrmann says they can compete on the Mud 100. Stella bets she can beat him. Randall bets on Otis. Herrmann bets on Stella. Otis says he'll see her at the start line. She says, "Be ready to get dirty." Herrmann says they should give Molly's a t-shirt.

Severide meets Boden in his offic.e Boden makes jokes about the department trying to eat healthier. Severide asks Boden if James has had any troubel at school. Boden asks what he means. Severide tells him that Cruz saw him changing out of his uniform and saw bruises all over him. At a call, two idiots got into it, and James' reaction was like he was scared. Severide says it's probably nothing. Boden thanks him for looking out. Sevreide says he always will.

Wiley's father arrives at the firehouse and is greeted by Casey and Gabby. He's crying but says Wiley is OK. His wife says he's a nervous wreck and needs to walk. He brings baked goods to the firehouse. He asks Casey if he saw Wiley. Casey says that he gave Wiley CPR and was breathing when the paramedics arrived. He keeps crying but shakes Gabby's hand and thanks them. No one knows you can do CPR until you have to. Gabby says it breaks her hear. Casey talks to Severide about the warehouse rescue. He's questioning everything he did. Severide says he was unstoppable and didn't stop until the kid was breathing. Anything after that was out of their hands. Casey says the kid is in a coma. Severide says he knew.

James is resting upstairs in the firehouse. Boden comes to see him. Casey is also in his home office, stressing over Wiley.

The next morning, Boden tells James he heard he had a rough call. James says he likes it there and that the guys there are great. As they leave the firehouse, Gabi asks Casey if he got the dry cleaning. Casey says the party isn't for 12 hours and she needs time to look amazing. He should get her flowers. He asks if they're giving her parents a gift certificate. She says the flowers aren't for them.

Mouch, Herrmann, Stella, and Otis leave the firehouse to talk about their bet. Herrmann bets $200, and Mouch accepts. Casey gets flowers for Gabi but stops by Chicago Med. Maggie says Wiley died last night. Maggie says he did all he could and gave his family a chance to say goodbye. Casey is upset and leaves Gabi's flowers at the nurses' station.

Boden goes to a restaurant where his ex-wife works. She says the restaurant is her new boyfriend's and she just helps with the books. Boden finds out the boyfriend lives with her now. She says James wants to stay with him, but he's never around. Maybe more time with Boden is what he needs.

Todd comes out and introduces himself to Boden, offering him food. Boden declines, and Todd leaves. Boden asks about James's school and friends. His grades are A's and B's, and he hangs around with boys. She says they can talk about what's best for James when he's ready. She leaves.

At the party, Antonio and Brett look amazing, as do Gabi and Casey. Antonio is concerned that neither of them have heard from their mother. They are told to take their seats. Their father stands up and says his wife was his rock and salvation. He stops and says he can't do this. He says they're getting divorced and drinks. He says it was mutual, but she says it wasn't. Antonio tells him to stop embarrassing his mother. Antonio tells his father to apologize to his mother. His father says he doesn't need to. Antonio attacks his father. Brett drinks. Casey grabs Antonio, while Brett chases Gabi. Brett and Antonio take their mother upstairs. The father is drunk at the bar, and everyone else has left. Gabi cries and says she was blindsided. Casey says she handled it badly. Casey says her mom probably didn't tell her because she was with Louie. She says it's no excuse. He says he loves her and will always be there for her. He holds her as she cries.

Mouch is at Molly's when Stella and Otis come in muddy. He asks who won. Otis won. Stella says he's part mole. Herrmann is upset that he lost the bet. He just got everything cleaned for $500.00. Otis tells him, "You aren't going to like this…" All the muddy marathon runners come into the bar. Otis says the first round is on him. Everyone is chanting, "Mud Run."

James is having breakfast with Donna and their son. Boden says they want James to live with them for the rest of the school year. Boden says there are rules in the house. One is to be honest with each other. James says he understands and Boden asks about the bruises. James lies and says he fell at school. Boden says okay and leaves.

James asks Boden for help. He fell down the stairs, but someone hit him. Boden asks if it's someone from school. James says no. The next second, you see Boden screeching at his ex-wife's new boyfriend's restaurant. He beats Todd up.

Boden is suspended for bad behavior. Boden says the guy was beating his stepson. Steve says he understands and that he's only suspended for one shift. Donna and James support Boden and leave together. Steve says he'll be replacing Boden, who was suspended for one shift. He tells them they have a job to do and moves on.

Brett asks Casey how Gabi is. She's in a fog. Brett says Antonio is getting back in shape to beat up his dad. Casey asks Severide if he heard from Boden. He hasn't, but they're throwing him a suspension party.

Brett meets Gabi and says she had a nice time. They hug. Gabi says she's sorry. Brett says if she wants to see a horror show, she should come to their family reunions. Gabi laughs. The alarms go off and the crews are called out again.

They find a man stuck in a truck. The grain is sinking and drowning him. Casey grabs his hand and says he won't let him die. The crew makes a box and pulls the grain out to get him out. They pull him out on a pulley.

Casey is stunned. Gabi and Brett bring in the patient. As Brett looks for more papers, Maggie asks about Casey. Gabi says he was fine. Why? Maggie says he took the boy's death hard. Gabi asks what she means. She says Wiley, the boy from the factory, died. Gabi brought flowers, but the kid was gone. Maggie thought Casey told Gabi, but he didn't. Maggie says the boy died Saturday morning.

James's mother comes to Boden and Donna's house. She talks to Boden and says she didn't know what was going on. James is on the stairs. His mother says she left Todd. James hugs her as she apologizes. James asks to stay with his mom at his grandma's house. Boden says yes.

At Molly's, they joke about another mud challenge. Herrmann doesn't want to. Cruz asks if they're doing the polar plunge. He saw a flyer and all the money is for charity. Stella says she's part penguin, and Otis says he's a polar bear.

Brett and Severide are at Molly's with Antonio. Antonio says his father told him he should have divorced his mother 30 years ago. He did the math and couldn't tell Gabi. Severide says his dad has had a lot of wives. 40 years is a good run.

Antonio asks if Severide will ever settle down. Severide says he's married to the job. Boden comes in, and Severide goes to see him. Boden says James is more worried about his mother than himself. Severide says they'd love to have James on truck 3. Boden says he'll tell him, but he needs a drink.

Gabi returns home to Casey and kisses him. She says he knew the boy died but was more concerned with her having a good day. He hugs her and says they lift each other up. She's done that for him a million times.

[blogparanormalexpresso2stuff]

Dead for 24 Hours! w/ Jay Martin

Jay Martin grew up on the South Side of Chicago and later, at the age of 24, moved to Columbus, Ohio with his family to provide them with a better life. After arriving in Columbus, he experienced many obstacles, including family deaths and multiple health diagnoses such as Lupus, severe depression, severe anxiety attacks, a pulmonary embolism, and angina.

On August 18, 2016, while coming home from work one evening, Jay suffered a fatal heart attack that left him clinically deceased for nearly 24 hours. Miraculously, he was able to come back to life and, while in a coma, experienced 26 strokes. Today, he still resides in Ohio with his wife, his youngest daughter, his stepson, and his four adult children.

Connect with our guest:

✨ Jay's Links:

Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1984307568/...

Website: http://www.dalethsanctuary.com/

Social media: https://www.facebook.com/NasiUzziel?m...

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr_martin77...

Facebook business : https://www.facebook.com/DalethSanctu...

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✨ Betty's Links

FB: buddhabetty

IG: buddha.betty

YouTube: @buddhabetty

Contact: exploretheextraordinarypodcast@gmail.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:

Explore The Extraordinary is a groundbreaking podcast brought to you by the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS). Exploring everything from near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, lucid dreaming, encounters with divine beings, and more, this podcast delves deep into extraordinary experiences and perspectives that challenge our understanding of the world around us (and our place in it). Through thought-provoking interviews, insightful discussions, and personal anecdotes, Explore the Extraordinary offers a unique platform for listeners to broaden perspectives and contemplate profound mysteries of human (and spiritual) consciousness. Join us on this incredible journey of discovery as we explore the fascinating realm of the extraordinary.

✨ Join IANDS: https://iands.org

[hargrove-mayfields]

more religious Billy pls

trigger warnings for homophobia, child abuse and religious trauma.

From family, to friends, to neighbors, everyone around Billy always said, people like Billy were never supposed to get their happy endings. You sin, you repent, you get to live it up in paradise. But if you don’t repent, you go to hell. It was simple the way they taught it.

And that’s exactly the problem. Billy never knew exactly how he was supposed to earn forgiveness when his sin was just being himself, simply existing, but he tried, for years he did.

He went to every Sunday service and prayed each night like a good Christian boy was supposed to. He did everything he could to make up for being the way he was, from asking out all the pretty good girls at school to participating in the anti-homosexual pushback at the town hall even if he did go home and cry so hard he threw up after that, but those things were all just a performance, cowardly, futile attempts at pleasing the big man in the sky (and at home) that were getting him nowhere near any closer to the pearly gates.

Eventually he breaks. He starts drinking and smoking and screwing around with as many men as will take him out for the night. He grows his hair out long and pierces his ear, gets a tattoo and wears makeup he stole from the church store to sneak it to a gay bar. But still in the end, he just feels worse.

In the moment it’s like a high, like he’s finally getting to see even just a glimpse of who he, who Billy Hargrove really is and not just he was told he had to be, but Neil makes sure to remind him how wrong he is. He cuts his hair with a knife and beats him bruised and bloody, he makes the family go to church on Wednesdays instead of just Sunday, he puts the Bible on his night stand every night and he prays and prays and prays the gay out of that boy, most nights making Billy do it too through his tears.

And Billy tried, desperately he did to believe that all they said and did to him was wrong, that he could be who he wanted without all these rules just to please some unseen dictator that may or may not even be real, but the things he had been taught were so deeply ingrained into his mind. He knew he wasn’t bound for anything better, and he blamed himself for that.

On the floor of the mall, he doesn’t mean to think about it, what will happen after the fact.

He knows he should be thinking about how Max’s life is going to be once he’s not there to protect her, how everyone’s lives will be plagued with all of the destruction he caused, the grief that would come from the deaths of the people he killed. The irony of the Saint-Christopher pendant around his neck when he’d attempted to carry a child to her death instead of to safety.

As much as he’d like to see a familiar face, between everything he’d done, what he put Max and her friends through, all that had happened this past week, he knows he doesn’t have a place in paradise. Not that any of that even matters. He’d had a special spot in hell reserved just for him since he told his momma he had a crush on a curly headed boy named PJ in the second grade and the poor woman almost fainted.

Billy is terrified to be facing it now, but all his life he’d known this was coming, and he thinks he deserves it all the same.

Except, the next time he opens his eyes, he doesn’t see that he’s surrounded by hellfire and tortured souls, instead he’s staring up at a white tiled ceiling, the sound of the steady-unsteady beeping and whirring of machinery filling his head.

He tries to speak, but he doesn’t think anything comes out. A panicky little redhead leans over him in the bed to press one of the buttons. He looks at her face and he concentrates hard, and thinks he knows her, but he doesn’t know her.

A nurse comes at his sister's signal, and they first make sure he’s fully responsive, which is somewhat hard when he can’t speak, and then they inform him he’s been in an induced coma for months. They tell him that anything he saw on the other side wasn’t real, and he was alive that whole time. It doesn’t do much at all to comfort him though. How can it, when he doesn’t even know who he is?

He learns that his name is William, Billy according to the snappy girl who he knows is his little sister now, but whose name he can never seem to remember. His name feels strange in his throat when he repeats it back like a question, “Billy..?” That doesn’t feel like who he is, not anymore at least.

They have to teach him literally everything all over again. All he knew how to do when he woke up was facial expressions and vague, but very painful as he learned, gestures with his hands. Anything else was fair game.

It takes a whole year in the hospital, things going so slowly because of the pain, but even more so because of the setbacks he faces.

Two days after he woke up, when he still couldn’t speak, Neil had showed up. It wasn’t for a visit or even to see his son was going now that he’s finally awake. Neil is there to first ask him what he saw when he died, and when Billy just stares blankly, his vocabulary still too small to articulate anything, to accuse him of being the devil and deliberately mocking Him by coming back.

Needless to say, Neil isn’t allowed in for many more visits.

But it still resets those two days of progress they’d made, and it was like he’d just woken up that same day. This would keep happening every time anything distressing happened around Billy, and they had to find the perfect balance between having too many nurses and visitors in the room at once that he’d get overwhelmed and distracted, or not enough and get lonely and regress.

But once they’re out of the woods with that, things go mostly smoothly. Eating and drinking and walking, he’s gets that all down pat pretty easily, but his memories just aren’t coming back to him. He remembers a few insignificant childhood memories, but it’s mostly the bad things, things like his mother leaving or his father kicking him out for a week when he was fifteen, and so on. He still has no idea what happened to him though, and Max and her mom and the nurses are all telling him these stories, trying to persuade him into remembering, but something is just not clicking.

That is, at least, until he’s allowed to visit with Steve again.

Doctors worried showing him someone who had so many bad memories associated with him might be confusing to Billy, so they held off on allowing visitation from Steve, or anyone else who wasn’t immediate family, but he was at the hospital a few times dropping Max off when Susan was working, and he wasn’t allowed to see Billy then either.

They planned on keeping it that way until they could either be sure Billy’s identity was more secure, or if they were really desperate to get Billy's gears turning, and unfortunately the latter came first, so seven whole months after Billy woke up, Steve is allowed in his room.

The thought process was that the boys were on the basketball team together, at least until Neil pulled Billy as a punishment just before the season ended, and even if all he remembers is beating Steve up, he’s still a familiar face, and it might help, so once when Steve’s about to turn around and walk out like he always does, Max comes back out, wide eyed and flustered looking, and tells him he’s allowed to come visit with her brother.

Nobody can understand why Steve is so teary eyed, or why he says Billy's name with so much desperation, but his reaction quickly gets ignored when Billy responds with a simple, “Stevie.”

It shocks everyone, Steve was the first person who Billy remembered without months of work, sometimes he still called Max by her mother’s name if he was having a hard day, but with Steve it was like there was nothing even wrong. Like it had only been a couple of days since he’d seen him.

Before, if they asked Billy anything about high school, he couldn’t tell them much other than the bad things. But with Steve, those memories that had once been impossible to touch, the blurry images of a past he wasn’t even sure belonged to him, were unlocked, and with time Billy returns to himself. Remembers everything.

His overall progress goes much quicker after that, to the point where they’re planning on letting him out as soon as his medications are all in order, and still nobody can figure out what is so special about this boy.

That is, until a nurse walks in on them, holding hands and sitting on the bed, foreheads pressed together like they’d just been kissing. She goes a little pale in the face, but she says she’s not going to tell. That doesn’t stop half the ward from knowing in less than a week.

Nurses refuse to care for him. Susan starts standing by the door in case anyone comes in. They are told their love was sinful, but it was exactly that that had saved Billy.

Without Steve and what they had, Billy still would have no idea who he was. This wasn’t something the hospital would ever actually admit to Max or his parents, but after so long, they were sure he was never going to have his sense of self back. Because while physically he was recovering, until he had that extra push, he just wasn’t himself.

That was more of a blessing than any holy figurehead could offer. When he finally, after a year and a half in the hospital, got to come home, into Steve’s care because Susan refused to take her stepson back to Neil, his space with Steve offers Billy more comfort and safety than any isolated house of God or reformation camp ever could.

And most of all, Billy isn’t afraid to be himself anymore.

[eenasbabysmom]

Fic ideas that keep me in a fog at inappropriate times throughout the day, Part 2C (the finale!)

-Genderswap Jiang Yanli & Jiang Cheng:

-It turns out XY had come to LP for two reasons: the Ghost Flute and XXC, who he had heard was in LP and he is still obsessed with him.  Army destroyed, WN taken back, he unleashes his final weapon-a Fierce Corpse Song Lan that is also controlled through nails.  WN and JC work together to subdue SL and they end up destroying a good chunk of the buildings just outside LP to do it; JC holds SL down with Zidian while WN digs out the nails.  Meanwhile, XXC and WWX are tackling XY and they almost take him, but XY manages to nab a-Qing and uses his poison powder to blind her before running away.

-JC offers shelter to XXC, SL, and a-Qing, puts WWX into a cell, and WN is banned on penalty of death (permanent) from LP.  She’s only allowing WN to leave because he helped her deal with SL and over the years, her hatred has settled on WWX who she blames more for losing control of his puppet-but that doesn’t mean she will suffer WN’s presence in her home, where her children live.

-XXC makes a plea for WWX’s release, points to the mess in Lanling and the evidence that JGS had been manipulating events for a long time to obtain a Stygian Tiger Amulet of his own.  Tells JC about the year WWX has spent with him and a-Qing, trying to grow and develop MXY’s fledging core, all the tests XXC had done to ensure that he was not possessing MXY but had been invited in by the troubled young man.  JC won’t release him, but doesn’t torture him or hurt him, and sends inquiries to her husband in Lanling to try and verify what she is being told.

-JGY becoming suspicious of his wife’s questions, because she’s as subtle as a brick to the side of the head, tells of his worries to his er-ge who has come to help him in Lanling with the sect and his stepson/nephew.  LWJ being there as well, overhears the conversation, his mind already programmed to go from zero to Wei Ying in a second flat-immediately flies off to LP to confirm his suspicions.

-LWJ and JC fight on the docks of LP, Bichen versus Zidian/Sandu, over WWX, who is let out of his cell by XXC, led there by an anxious Jiang Rusong who is worried about his mother.  WWX flailing over his nephew and crying over the news of his niece named after their dead brother, but also stumbling out to put his body between his soulmate and his meimei.

-Accusations all over the place, Zidian used against WWX despite LWJ trying to shield him-WN erupts back on the scene and demands that JC do Empathy on him to understand the truth of what had happened.  JC only relenting after a screaming accusing rant that leads to LWJ correcting her false belief that WWX killed Jiang Yan-that even in the midst of the fighting at Nightless City, the corpses had steered clear of all YMJ members.  That it was a Jin disciple who really killed JY, trying to kill WWX, and that WWX tore through the Jin delegation in his grief over his brother’s death.  That he wouldn’t leave the battlefield from where he had been curled over JY’s body, that LWJ had wrestled him away back to the Burial Mounds with WWX cursing him the entire way.

-JC finally agrees to Empathy.  She sees through WN’s eyes what happened: that JY had been captured and brought back to LP after the initial fall; that WN and WWX had broken in and got him out, that JY’s core had been melted and all his health problems and the effects of the torture converged to put him in a coma, that WQ couldn’t wake him, that JY was going to die because even though his core had been weak, it had been keeping him alive all this time, that without a core, it was only a matter of time.

-JC sees WWX stumbling upon the research with the cores, convincing WQ to do the procedure, the two days of conscious torment/torture that WWX put himself through to save their brother, how WWX and JY are recovering but get news that Wen Chao is on his way to check the Supervisory station.  WWX makes plans with WQ and WN to get JY to his Meishan relatives while WWX goes out to draw away the Wens.  JC sees how WQ and WN are punished for suspicion of helping WWX and JY, sees WN being taken to the prison camp, sees the Jin soldiers abusing the Dafan Wen, sees WN die, sees his resurrection, fast forwards to life in the Burial Mounds, the ambush at Qiongqi path, the events leading up to JZX’s death, WN being captured, being put under the influence of the nails, of witnessing years of collaboration between JGS and XY, seeing them plot against WWX before the Nightless City slaughter, sees them working on developing an amulet, on getting rid of NMJ-of using her husband to deliver the deadly artifact, XY’s descent into madness and the plans he makes to wipe out the Jin sect, everything down to the last few days

-JC emerging shaken, grief-stricken, and still so angry.  Shouting at WWX for giving away his core, for not telling her and JY as to why he turned to demonic cultivation, for not trusting them to help him because of some stupid instinctual drive for self-sacrifice.  Demanding to know what she should do with all this new information, if that is meant to excuse how JZX died, how her brother died, how WWX killed himself in front of her eyes-what is she supposed to do now with the nine years of grief and hatred she held for WWX?  Is she supposed to be sorry for him, to grovel at his feet?  Should she apologize for mistaking him and his reasons?  Or condemn him for not speaking the truths that would have made things clearer?

-JC decides to do neither; ordering WWX to leave LP with XXC and LWJ, that she will continue to shelter a-Qing as she recovers but the others must go (including the fierce corpses).  LP goes into lockdown after they leave and JC calls for help from her Meishan relatives before leaving her young children behind in LP while she travels to Lanling to help sort through this mess.

-NHS picking up the trail of WWX and putting his scheme back into play.  WWX and co on the hunt for the demonic arm and other body parts after stumbling upon rumours that the YLLZ had returned and was responsible for the slaughter at Mo Village a year past and Lanling just a few months past.  The hunt leads them to picking up XY’s trail again, and it all points to Lanling once more. 

-WWX and LWJ go back to Lanling, WWX hiding in the company of LWJ and they start snooping, armed with WN’s memory of a hidden vault in the former sect leader’s rooms.  WWX enters as a paperman, has a heart attack immediately upon entering before JC is there with her husband and it’s been a long few months since they last saw each other, and JC went through a lot of emotional distress recently, and she and her husband have been having a lot of stress-relieving fucks all over Koi Tower and are in the middle of fucking in JGS’s former rooms when WWX enters

-Obviously traumatized, WWX dashes for the mirror and ends up making enough sound that eventually JGY and JC notice, decouple, and try to find the source of the ruckus.  Leads to a merry chase around the rooms and hidden vault, which JGY and JC are seeing for the first time, and eventually the paperman (which JC immediately recognizes) knocks over a strange box on one of the shelves and it topples to the floor, revealing NMJ’s head

-around this time, XY attacks XXC and SL, but is actually aiming for the recovered parts of NMJ’s body.  Uses demonic cultivation enough to confuse SL and get him to attack XXC-WN is occupied trying to contain him.  Once he has the body parts, XY races off to Koi Tower to find the head.  Apparently his plan is to put together NMJ’s body, thinking the resentment in him will make him the most powerful FC and he wants him under his control.  XY manages to take Jin Ling hostage and forces JC and JGY to hand over the head.  In Glamour Hall, we have the Guanyin Temple scene adapted for this AU.

-JC, JGY, WWX, LWJ and Jin Ling are main hostages.  XY has small army of FCs and some Jin disciple that he had swayed over during his time under JGS.  XY forces WWX to bring NMJ back to life and under XY’s control.  LXC and NHS interrupt the proceedings, then we find out Su She is in on the scheme-he binds their spiritual power and reveals he had been helping JGS in exchange for financial backing and now helps XY who has promised to help him destroy GusuLan or kill the Twin Jades (some shit like that-does anyone really care about Su She’s motivations?  He’s a dick-that’s his motivation).

-WWX brings NMJ back, but can’t control him.  NMJ rips apart XY and the minions while JC and JGY get to JL.  Su She decides to duel LXC because he’s a fucking idiot, but has his spiritual energy while LXC does not.  LXC takes a sword to the side (he’ll live) and then LWJ steps in and kills Su She.  WWX is trying to get NMJ under control and manages it until NMJ sees JGY and loses his shit.  JC tries to help, but spiritual power binded.  WN steps between NMJ and her family, fights him off until SL arrives and helps him subdue him.  NHS takes this as confirmation that JGY helped kill his brother and demands that WWX return da-ge’s consciousness to confirm it.

-JC stands up for her husband, who barely even saw NMJ before his death.  JGY stays quiet, watches his wife defend him and looks over at NHS and sees how this is not going to be let go.  Passes his stepson/nephew over to XXC and asks that JL be taken out of the room. Confesses to a shocked JC that even though he didn’t kill NMJ himself, he knew JGS wanted him dead-that JGS told him to give the cursed object to NMJ and he handed over cursed object as a gift knowing full well that it would probably harm NMJ.  That he didn’t try to stop it, because he couldn’t stand up to his father at all.  Says the only time he had had been six months ago, when JGS finally ordered him to kill JC and JGY said no because he didn’t want to kill his wife.  That he made contact with XY secretly and helped him plot out a way to kill JGS and certain members of the Jin sect in return for the Ghost Flute-how he couldn’t fulfill his end of the deal because he couldn’t get it away from JC and that’s why XY ended up in LP because he was tired of waiting for JGY.  

-JC is furious, but still refuses to let NHS have JGY because negligence doesn’t mean intent, because if it did she was within her rights to ask for WWX’s head and for NHS for returning WWX to life.  JGY sees better how this isn’t going to end well for his wife and lets the final secret drop-tells her that JZX wasn’t supposed to be at QP, but that JGY sent him by telling him that JC had heard Jin Zixun had gone to confront WWX there and she was panicking and was trying to chase after them.  How JZX told JGY to keep JC at Koi Tower and flew off to his death, because JGY thought if JZX was dead, then JGS would have to accept JGY as his rightful heir and only son.

-At this final betrayal, JC leaves JGY for NHS to handle.  LWJ and LXC want there to be a trial, but NHS and JGY don’t.  JGY gives himself over to NMJ and NMJ snaps his neck before spiritual backlash threatens to demolish Glamour Hall.  They all escape in time to see the whole thing collapse, trapping JGY and NMJ a la Guanyin Temple.

-WWX’s name isn’t cleared, but he continues on life as MXY, now as a Gusu Lan disciple because LWJ and LXC welcome him into the sect.  NHS is going to be Chief Cultivator, XXC and SL collect a-Qing and go to start their sect based on merit thing.  WWX stays in Gusu for less than a year when he hears that JC is going into seclusion and he immediately leaves for LP.  Begs before her closed door to let him help her like he hadn’t been able to help their brother.  Reminds her that too many Jiang children have been left by their parents.  Fic ends with the door opening and JC coming out to speak with him, calling him “A-Xian” for the first time in ten years.

[hitchell-mope]

Hypothetical titles for season six of 88

The parent whisperer. Six months on from the photon blast at the paradise club, Lucia is in a coma, Findlay and Sidney have almost no memories of the Casket case and Drummond is trying to help Birch by translating what his parents do remember into something they can work with. First appearance of Freddie Prinze jr and Sarah Michelle Gellar as famed married memory retrievalists Dr’s Deucalion and Kimberly Wilkins.

She is risen. Lucia wakes up from her coma with plenty of questions and unfortunately not a single answer.

Cabal. Part one. The Deacon (Michael B Jordan) and the Diocese (Cobie Smulders) return. Leading to a secret of Lucia’s being uncovered

Abbess. Part two. Lucia must decide wether or not to go back to California and sort out the cabal. This episode marks Adelaide Kane’s first regular appearance as Lucia Christensen

Berserk and perverse. The lead actor in a Broadway revival of Jekyll and Hyde goes missing 9 days before opening night. The ensuing investigation reveals a hidden family link. Guest starring Bernadette Peters as madame Sophie Anne Brocklehurst, Dwayne Johnson as Sophie Anne’s husband Emmanuelle “Manny” Brocklehurst (formerly Leota) and Booboo Stewart as her stepson Zacharias “Lance Leota” Brocklehurst. The missing actor.

Mutter Alptraum. An old trauma is reopened for Winifred as Findlay and Sidney’s twin sons are lured away by the child murdering witch of Hansel and Gretel infamy. Guest starring Bette Midler as Mutter Alptraum

Captain astronaut. Drummond’s old imaginary friend from the 1990’s comes back in need of his help. Guest starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Captain Astronaut

As sane as you or I. The current Van Buren University President Arlene Jenkins asks for Sidney’s help after twenty students in Monroe Hall jump off the roof after one on one sessions with the in house psychiatrist. Guest starring Dakota Fanning as President Arlene Jenkins and Jeff Pierre as Dr AJ Thurston.

Go to Times Square, if you dare. Pixies get in the city’s power grid and cause a massive blackout. The worst hit is Times Square. Guest starring Matt Smith as the boogeymen

Iscariot. Jesse Christensen tries to patch things up with a very old friend. Guest starring Firass Dirani as Judah Isaacs

Idolatry shall be tolerated. As Godfrey’s court date looms, Jesse tries to reunite his siblings to free their father.

The five families of New York. Part one. Midseason finale. With Times Square still engulfed in darkness from the recent blackout. Jones calls a meeting of NYC’s five richest families. Guest starring Jeff Bridges as Minos Wilkins and Lou Diamond Phillips as Lionel Spratt.

The five families of New York. Part two. Midseason premier. While their fathers (and for Findlay, grandfather) hold their meeting. Findlay, Sidney and Jacob are forced to team up with Phaedra as EPG finally makes her reappearance while Deucalion and Kimberly cover for them. Guest starring Hilary Duff as Phaedra Wilkins and Melissa Fumero as Edina Poe Gauthier.

Annoying acquaintances. Findlay’s godmother’s daughter’s apartment is robbed forcing Findlay on an unwanted trip down memory lane. Guest starring Bridget Regan as Seraphina Carlsberg.

The fairy godmother of Fifth Avenue. Seraphina’s mothers check in on the robbery case. Guest starring Jodie Foster as the eponymous Ingrid Mason and Kathleen Turner as Esther “Essie” Mason.

Eleanor Roosevelt got the sympathy vote. Findlay finds herself in an argument with Phaedra as Sidney continues investigating the Carlsberg robbery.

The accidental bigamist. Complications arise after Sonya Sullivan is chosen as the new human head of The Magistrate. Paul Telfer returns as Magistrate Coleman Tarbh.

Always meet your heroes. Sidney has to guard his favourite comedian after a bomb scare. Guest starring James Corden as the comedian, Kyron Myron

Raven feathers. Godfrey’s release from prison coincides with a fresh spate of Edgar Allen Poe type murders.

Shootout! At the precinct. Ahead of the four part finale. Edina Poe Gauthier holds the the entire 88th precinct hostage

And so I lay me down to sleep. Part one. Having escaped from the precinct, Edina teams up with Judah to get revenge on the Wilmington estate

I pray the lord my soul to keep. Part two. Drummond undergoes an ill advised mission to what’s left of the paradise club

But if your soul is in heaven as well. Part three. Lucia brings out the Cabal from California to help fight against Judah and Edina.

I pray he sends me straight to hell. Part four. It’s judgement day for Findlay as she faces off against Judah and Edina alone. With tragic results. Guest starring Daniel Radcliffe as Death

[maychorian]

Excerpt:

Dana Winters knocked cautiously on the door of Wayne Manor, feeling strangely small. She had seen the manor frequently, of course, since it was next door to her boyfriend's house, but she'd never been inside. There had been a lot of upheaval recently, with Jack suddenly announcing that he was moving to Australia on an extended expedition. He had invited her to come with him, and she was seriously considering it, but it was big decision.

Part of the upheaval was that Tim had moved in with the Waynes, choosing to stay in Gotham to finish his schooling rather than going to Australia with his dad. Or he'd moved back in, actually, since he'd stayed with them while Jack was in his coma. Dana hadn't known that until recently, though she'd been aware that Tim was friends with Bruce Wayne's adopted son, Dick Grayson.

Yesterday, out of the blue, she'd gotten a call from the Wayne family butler, Mr. Pennyworth, saying that Tim would like to see her if she was willing. Of course Dana had agreed immediately. She had always liked Tim, and she wanted to make sure he was okay with all the big changes that were happening in his life. He wasn't really hers, not her son, not her stepson, not her charge. But he could be someday, maybe, and she'd always found the idea appealing. He was such a sweet kid. She hoped he and Jack had worked out their disagreement before all of this started.

The door opened, and Mr. Pennyworth stood there. He greeted her with a genteel nod and stepped aside to let her in. "If you'll follow me, Ms. Winters, Master Tim is waiting for you in the study."

Dana followed him down the hall, looking around at the antique furnishings and vaulted architecture. She hoped Tim didn't feel too out of place, living here. He'd always struck her as a down-to-earth and humble young man, despite the privilege he'd been born into. The Drakes were well off, but not hyper-rich like the Waynes. It must be quite strange to transition to this stronghold of old money, even though he'd lived here for a while two years ago.

In the study, Tim was reclining in a chair, lounging on a pile of cushions. Pain was lurking around his eyes, and Dana pulled up short in the doorway when she saw it. No one had said anything about Tim being hurt, and it made her heart lurch. She smelled the distinctive scent of analgesic pain cream, an aroma she was intimately familiar with because of her work as a physical therapist. She fervently hoped that his injury wasn't serious. Surely the Waynes would make sure he received the very best care, in any case.

Mr. Pennyworth announced her, but Tim was already sitting up with a ready smile at seeing her. He winced as he shifted in the chair, and Dana swept her eyes over him head to toe, trying to see where the injury was. Nothing was visible through his clothes.

"Hi, Dana," Tim said softly. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course, honey." Dana crossed to a chair near to his and sat down, folding her hands in her lap. "I'm so glad you invited me. Are you all right?"

[ramthepatriarchy]

I'm quiet. I always have been. I live in my own brain, going over things over and over again.

From a very young age I was exposed to pornographic material, from someone who was my guardian. As a kid, you don't realize what harm that can do and how can confusing it can be.

No one really wanted to spend time with me growing up, except for my Grandfather, who thankfully lived across the road. I was always bothering someone, I should occupy my own time. No one is here to entertain. I spent a lot of my life feeling lonely in a house that had more than two people.

I was a big girl when I was little. My family teased me relentlessly and told me if I didn't stop eating so much, I'd be so fat by the time I'm 16 that no one would ever love me. Doctor told my mother to leave me alone, she didn't listen. Now I'm 32, and go through periods of starvation if I feel like I'm gaining weight because if I'm fat "no one will love me." My cousins used to grab my fat and call me rice rolls, would make fun of my double chin, my fat arms. Once I left a pair of my jeans at my Aunt's house, her and her daughter both got into each of the legs of my jeans and took a picture, with smug looks on their faces.

When I didn't want birthday cake at my Uncle's birthday, my Aunt open handed slapped me across the face. I didn't want cake because they always shamed me when I would eat junk food.

Once, when I was a kid, my mother was so mad at me, she claimed she was going to find a foster family for me. She dropped me off across the road at my Grandfather's and took off. And didn't come back for HOURS.

I've been kicked out of the family home three times already, only to be gaslighted and told that I was NEVER told that. The first time I spent the night in the park. The last time I was kicked out, my stepson was there and I was coming back to take care of them. Mother adamantly said that I was NOT allowed to come back and then cried wolf to the whole community that I "dumped" them on her. Treated my new boyfriend like shit, even though she knew nothing about him, the situation and just assumed. It's a theme that she knows EVERYTHING.

When my mother and stepfather separated, all she could was badmouth him. Tell me how he was a fat, lazy prick that couldn't get his dick up.

I've often heard the phrase "if it wasn't for you and your Grandfather, I would have had a life" and "there's always just been... something off with her" as well as "I love you but I don't have to like you" and "who do YOU think YOU are?" Clearly not anyone you care about, that's for sure.

When I wiped out on my scooter at like 50 mph and smashed the whole side of my face up, she didn't take me to the hospital and just proceeded to wake me up every five minutes so I didn't fall into a coma. I'm still convinced that I managed to acquire some brain damage from that.

When teased relentlessly st school for being fat and a myriad of other things, her response was to "ignore them." The only time she came into school and caused a fuss is when I came down with head lice and had to stay home from school and she only protested because she couldn't have her fucking alone time.

Bled through my clothes in high school. Called mom to see if she could bring me a change of clothes, to which she yelled at me to use common sense and bring spare underwear next time. She didn't drop me off any clothes.

My stepdad is a long haul trucker so he'd be gone from Sunday night to Friday night. If I'd get in trouble on a Monday, she'd withhold love, stick me with the cold shoulder and silent treatment until the weekend and then would allow my stepfather to get mad at me because I "ruined his weekend." So if they managed to get into a fight because of me on that weekend, she'd withhold love, stay upstairs and leave me alone to occupy myself for a whole other week. She's a master at holding grudges.

I was often involved in fights between them. My bedroom was connected to the laundry room so I often was dragged in there and told how horrible the other parent was.

I've been verbally attacked by more than one of my family members at the same time. They love to use me as a doormat and a scapegoat.

My cousin is so deathly jealous of my relationship with our Grandfather that at his funeral, she said "I don't know why I'm here, I hated the bastard anyway." This is the woman who dated a guy who pissed the bed, EVERY DAY and used to steal my mother's used underwear. Whenever she used to visit my Grandfather, he would put all his valuables in his room, padlock and chain the door closed because she was a THIEF.

My mother's side of the family either married a child molester, housed one or both. My Aunt's first husband molested both my mother and Tanya but yet, the sun shines out of my Aunt's ass. My cousin June married her husband Phil who was a LITERAL kiddy diddler and was dying from cancer. I was always told not to go into Phil's fucking room and now I know why.

I was super excited for a field trip and being a kid, I wanted to go so badly. So I kept bothering my mother, and she kept telling me that we didn't have the money. So, being a kid, I went into my room and had a meltdown. She came into my room, screaming that this is all she had and if I was happy now, all the while throwing pennies at me. Then afterwards she punched me in the shoulder, gave me the finger and stomped out of my room. I wasn't a teenager yet. I was in bunk beds still.

My mother was hooked on codeine but now she's on Kratom and if you didn't know, Kratom is an herb that has been used experimentally to help people with drug addictions. I do believe she takes about 12 caplets.

As an adult, she's accused me of lying about all of this, being a narcissist and will only go to therapy with me if I take a lie detector test. Anything I do, anything I say, anything I try, is just never quite enough.

In most of these cases, the sole blame is placed on me. Every fight, every altercation was caused because of ME and she's innocent. She's never done anything wrong. She has a victim complex. A lie detector test is selfish and only for her, to clear her name. I want to go to therapy so we can try to save this mother/daughter relationship that has been so toxic. Apparently what we want and our values aren't the same. I don't know if I should just give up. She's practically 60. Narcissists don't change.

[kitanoko]

`Snow White Au 

todomomo week day 1: Kiss (pretend that todoroki got his red hair from someone else other than endeavor pls…and this is totally not like the original snow white im sorry LOL)

LETS BEGIN THIS JOYOUS WEEEEEK~

genre: humour and fluff

-todoroki was a prince of an ancient land where his mother remarried a man so vile and cruel that todo and his siblings wanted nothing to do with him. His name was Endeavor.

-Now Endeavor wasn’t a bad looking dude but he was clearly jealous of todoroki’s good looks so he asked his magic mirror “mirror, mirror in my hand, who’s the fairest in the land” and the mirror replied “Todoroki Shouto” 

-For once, the mirror answered with someone other than him?!?!?! this was blasphemous! And so, Endeavor was forced to order an assassination of his own step-son. He was NOT going to lose to some kid!

-At the young age of 18, Todo was fleeing for his life after Fuyumi had warned of him of the dangers that were to come. Fuyumi had suspected something was up when she had accidentally bumped into her stepfather’s meeting with two mysterious beings. Her suspicions were proven correct when she had heard him say ‘kill shouto’ as if it was the most normal thing in the world

-Todo thought his sis was joking at first ‘cas are you serious, a grown ass man feeling threatened because of his appearance? Though when he escaped death by a hair when the two assassins came at him at full speed during his hunting trip, he was 100% sure Fuyumi was speaking the truth. Todoroki held his own and was able to knock one of them out instead of fatally wounding him, the other, seeing Todoroki’s kindness towards his partner decides to spare is life. The assassin handed Endeavor the lungs and heart of a wild boar, claiming it to be his stepson’s organs and fools the King. 

-Todoroki galloped with his bags towards the river and found an empty cottage completed with 7 small beds. He found it odd but shrugged, leaving his bag on the floor and horse outside as he fell asleep on the bed labelled ‘grumpy’. 

-the 7 dwarfs came home and freaked out! Who the heck was this dude with such weird hair?! And why was there a horse?! 

-”What the actual fuck?,” Grumpy yelled and Sleepy yawned while mumbling, “what a banquet of darkness.” Grumpy’s anger woke Todo up and he flinched at the sight of the 7 mini people adorned with cute ruby red triangular hats

-Btw if it isn’t obvious enough, bakugou is grumpy, and tokoyami is sleepy. Then, iida is doc, yaoyorozu is happy, haha just kidding, uraraka is happy, deku is bashful, tsuyu is sneezy, and kaminari is dopey

-”Whoa what the–” Todoroki sat upright and almost kneed Bashful in the face. Bashful noticed the prince’s beautiful eyes and turned away shyly. Grumpy snorted.

“Who the motherfuck are you?! Get off my damn bed you dirty piece of shit!” Grumpy kicked Todo on the shin. Todo almost chuckled ‘cas it felt like a tickle.

“I’m the prince, or …was…” 

Everyone gasped. 

Doc pushed Grumpy aside. “Your royal highness, why are you in our abode if I may ask.”

“My father tried to kill me, I just need a place to stay for now.”

The dwarfs looked at each other in concern and huddled up. 

“This may be dangerous …for us.” Dopey said and Sneezy nodded after a few sneezes. Grumpy gritted his teeth and agreed silently, which was unusual for him. Perhaps he felt bad that he overreacted earlier. Doc gave a sigh.

“I think we should help him, we should be helping those in need.” Doc said and it was Happy and Bashful’s turn to agree.

“Fine,” Doc turned to say and Todoroki smiled back. Happy clicked her tongue playfully and lifted herself right next to him. She directed a bright grin at him and he appreciated it. 

-After that todo slowly warmed up to the little dudes and grumpy sorta tried to return the affection. They give awkward glances to each other sometimes when they go fishing (grumpy gives todo advice on how to catch the biggest salmon and that’s the limit to their friendship)

-todo learned that happy enjoys playing catch and she told him that she wants to learn how to fly someday (todo didn’t wanna break it to her but that’s not how the human body works)

-Doc is the smartest of them all and the most reasonable; dopey enjoys daydreaming and cloud watching; bashful is…well…very cute and shy and seems to be the only one who can control grumpy somewhat; sneezy is really good at swimming and can hold her breath underwater for a very long time, so long that todo thought she drowned but she didn’t; sleepy is very poetic and extremely philosophical and todoroki would never know how to have a proper conversation with him….not that he usually could with any of them anyway…and why the heck does sleepy look like a crow and sneezy a frog…strange

-Todo built his own bed with the help of the dwarfs and Grumpy labelled the bed “Weirdo”

-Its been more than 2 weeks and todoroki felt like for once, he could live in peace. He went out to hunt by himself one day, despite the concern of the dwarfs (grumpy was like who the fuck cares if he gets himself killed we’ll all be free, but he didn’t really mean it LOL), and he went further than he had planned (he wasn’t gonna let that deer escape!)

-right before he sent an arrow flying towards the poor deer, he caught sight of… a human nearby? in the middle of these woods? He followed the swift silhouette with a stern gaze and he leapt off his horse (his horse is named Pretty Peach btw, a name given by Fuyumi, ‘cas it has a strawberry blonde mane). 

-”Who’s there?” Todoroki called, hands gripped tightly on his bow. If its another assassin, he may not be as kind this time. “Is it a hobby of yours to hide behind trees? Come out or I’ll shoot.” 

-The figure emerged and …hell no. It’s of course the most elegant woman he had ever laid his heterochromatic eyes on. How was he gonna kill her now?

-”I’m..I’m just a guard! My name’s Momo!” She replied, hand in front of her defensively, “I mean you no harm!” Seeing that her hands were away from the hilt of her fachion, he relaxed.

-Todoroki patiently waited for her explanation and turns out she was just intrigued by his hunting skills and wanted to learn for herself. 

“Not that I could ever hurt these animals,” she confessed and the deer licked her outreached palm. It fled after. 

-So anyways, after that mostly-silent encounter, todoroki met her a few more times and brought the dwarfs along with him; she came whenever she had a break from guarding whoever the nobility was from the next kingdom

-She was like those disney princesses that has a bunch of animal friends for no apparent reason but of course she was no damsel-in-distress ‘cas she could slice anything in half without a blink. Todo actually somewhat scared of her. Or he’s fallen in love. He shook his head. Nah, no way. Those goosebumps he gets when he sees her swing her falchion was ‘cas its cold. That must be it.

-Doc raised his concern over other ppl spotting Todo if he goes off too far and yes it actually happens ‘cas todo was too into his new ‘friendship’ with momo and a spy told Endeavor his discoveries. 

-one day when todo and momo met up again, this time to string necklaces out of wildflowers because momo wanted to do something different for once (Grumpy knew todoroki was crushing hard on momo at this point but todo was too damn clueless to do anything about it), they get ambushed by a group of mercenaries hired by Endeavor 

-momo surprised todo ‘cas she basically told him to sit still and she owns all of their asses single-handed and todo gulped. yes. okay. his heart was racing but not because they were about to get killed but ‘cas he’s fallen hard and fast for this crazy fighter girl with a big ass sword.

-”I can’t believe they RUINED my necklaces, look at these daisies?! They’re trampled! UGH!” Momo complained, fists clenched as they head back to the cottage. 

Todo snorted.

“AND your FATHER sent them to kill you? How absurd!” 

She went on and on and todoroki’s just chucklng at her flushed face from the battle earlier. 

“The next time I see your father, he will feel my wrath!” 

Todo stopped dead in his tracks and pulled her to him with one hand and awkwardly said, “You’re really cute Momo.”

And her face gets even more red and she just stopped talking on the rest of the way home.

-Okay so news get back to Endeavor that the mercenaries pretty much all in critical condition. “An insanely skilled lady” was with todo and Endeavor’s like “alright I’ll take matters into my own hands.”

-Endeavor dressed up as a witch (he gotta disguise himself ‘cas it’d be weird if people saw a King out by himself and somehow dressing as a witch felt right) and went to the forest and also brought a box of poisoned soba along ‘cas his stepson loves soba. Hopefully this mysterious lady with him also loves soba

-Endeavor found the dwarfs’ cottage and left the box at the doorstep (yes he knew todo lived there ‘cas the spy had tipped him). Endeavor hid behind a bush and saw Dopey bring the box inside the cottage and he smirked

-”Yo these noodles don’t look right.” Grumpy pushed the box away from his face and Dopey looked sad. “I ain’t eating this shit, someone try it first in case I die. I’m too cool to die.”

“Grump-chan please don’t say that,” Bashful said.

Todoroki looked at it and Momo swore his eyes lit up.

“Soba, it’s good,” Todo merely said and he took the chopstick that came in the box and took a bite.

Oh shit.

“Fuck, his face doesn’t look right. And I mean it looks even more messed up than before,” Grumpy said.

Todoroki felt the world spin before him and he just collapsed onto the floor. Momo freaked out but found his pulse and his breathing steady.

“He looks like he’s taking a nap…” Sleepy noted.

“Don’t say it…”

“…Of darkness,” Sleepy finished.

-Momo lifted Todo onto the nearest bed and Doc examined todo and doc’s like “I think he’s in a coma”

-Now a week passed but todo still didn’t wake up. Momo said she’ll find a doctor to come and see what to do. The doctor refused to go to the forest with Momo ‘cas that sounded sketch

-Momo came back defeated and Bashful randomly went, “hey…have you ever read those…children’s books?”

Momo’s like “what?” And Bashful’s like “most stories say curses are broken by a kiss from true love!”

Everyone looked at each other and Grumpy’s like “well no shit you have to be the one to kiss him, I ain’t doing it.” 

“But why me?” Momo asked and Grumpy told her how he suspected that there’s something way deeper than friendship going on between them and Momo got all flustered and she felt it too but it was hard admitting it.

“Don’t kiss him on the lips though,” Doc said matter-of-factly, “what if you got poisoned too.”

Happy and Bashful covered their faces, feeling embarassed for Momo

-She leaned closer to todo, and he appeared so peaceful sleeping like that and she was starting to feel her cheeks heat up. This was her first time kissing anyone! Ever! The distance between them close in and Momo gave him a peck on the cheek. Suddenly, Todo’s eyelids fluttered open.

-”Why is everyone –OMPHF” 

Momo wrapped herself around him before he could finish the question

-Momo was really angry now, whoever this person was, she’s guessing todo’s douchebag father, gotta pay for what he did. She devised a plan. Todo told her the plan was too dangerous but she reassured him that she had thought of plan B to Z if plan A didn’t work out.

-Momo went to the castle dressed as a man the day after, and acted as if she had an important tip to tell the King in regards to the prince

-Okay Fuyumi’s like wtf right now btw ‘cas her brother just escaped death three times?

-Momo told Endeavor to follow her to the forest because she saw the prince still alive. Endeavor’s knights said they’d go with him but he had had enough of failed plans. Even the soba didn’t work goddammit

-Endeavor was weary but Momo was so good at acting; she led him towards a trap built by the dwarfs and Endeavor’s horse gets caught in a bear trap. The King fell to his knees as his horse crashed onto the ground. And with a broken ankle, he tried to stand back up but Momo held a sword against his neck 

Endeavor was named one of the most powerful men for a reason. He knocked her back and sent Momo flying. Todo and the dwarfs saw this from behind the trees and they run to help her.

-”What…Shouto…you became friends with these midgets?!” Endeavor roared. 

The dwarfs took offence to that and they kept throwing rocks at him and Grumpy headbutts him and stomped on his broken ankle. The King winced in pain and with the help of Todo, the dwarfs somehow cornered him to the cliffs. With one false step, the King slipped and fell to the depths below

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.” 

Todoroki heard his father’s screams echo. 

-Though that was a horrid end to his filthy father, Todoroki was happy as now his family was free from his evil reign. Todo returned to the castle but still visited the dwarfs every week. 

Momo was invited to the castle from time to time and Todo finally proposed to her with flower necklaces that she taught him to make before; the dwarfs helped them set up a wedding ceremony in the meadows and all of Momo’s animal friends came as well.

The end

[sir-pyllero]

Here

All Kurt can do is watch his husband fall apart as the tries to get his unresponsive body to wake up.

Felt like writing angst...

Future!Klaine

The room was white.

Kurt stared at his own face, as white as the sheets that were as white as the walls. He didn’t feel his own heartbeat but the beeping told him that it was, in fact, beating. The cuts, the bruises, the cast on his leg told him that his body was broken, though he didn’t feel it.

“Wake up.”

It was only a whisper that he managed. His body lay unresponsive, unaffected by the tiny sound.

“Wake. Up.”

How he had ended up in the white room, Kurt could not remember. He remembered a taxi and lots of flashing lights but other than that, nothing. He didn’t remember being in pain or even being scared.

And yet here he was.

The handle of the door clicked. For a second or two, the door stayed closed, but then it was slowly pushed open. Puffy eyed and even paler than Kurt, Blaine came in, visibly trembling.

“Oh, God...”

It was a sob more than words and in the next blink, Blaine was by Kurt’s bed, clutching his hand.

“Kurt...? Kurt, honey, I’m here. I’m here. You’re okay, you’re safe. You’re okay...”

The beeping remained steady though Kurt was sure his heart just broke. Slowly, he moved to stand behind Blaine, hovering as Blaine collapsed onto a chair, every reflex in his wanting to wrap his arms around his shaking husband.

“I’m here, too,” he breathed out.

Blaine kept crying.

--

“He must be so tired.”

Blaine was asleep with his head resting against Kurt’s mattress, his breaths coming out as short puffs.

“He doesn’t know how to use the washing machine. It’s okay, though, I wouldn’t trust him with most of my clothes anyway. He’s quite useless with most of the household chores. He does them, sure, but somehow mopping the kitchen turns into a Cinderfella musical.”

Kurt wasn’t sure who he was talking to. His comatose body most surely wasn’t listening and the empty room didn’t care. But the silence was simply too loud to listen to with the ever-present beeping of his heart-monitor. It was mocking him, telling him he was still alive and yet unable to wake the hell up.

“I love him so much.”

It couldn’t end like this. After everything, now that they were finally there... It couldn’t end like this.

“I can’t leave them.”

Kurt’s hand went right through Blaine’s arm. Blaine jerked awake, “Kurt...?” escaping his lips and Kurt wanted to hug him.

Nothing changed.

--

His dad looked older. Like he had shrunk. He almost seemed weak, as if the universe had finally managed to break him.

Kurt hated the universe.

“Blaine, have you spoken with the doctor?”

“I have.”

“He thinks it’s time to...”

“...to pull the plug. Yeah, he told me.”

“What?!” Kurt shrieked. “No! I’m waking up! I am!”

“You’re not going to.”

“Of course I’m not going to!” Blaine yelled. “I can’t... How would I...? Burt, I can’t. I won’t.”

Burt sighed. Kurt could tell how tired he was just by his posture. “He’s my baby boy,” he said. “He’d argue that he’s too old for me to say that...”

“I’m not.”

“...but he is. It’s not any easier for me to see him like this than it is for you. And I want to believe that he’ll open his eyes any minute now and tell us that we’ve been worrying for nothing but Blaine, the chances are that he won’t.”

Kurt blinked. “Dad!”

“I’ve lost a wife and a stepson that I considered my own and it’s going to crush me to lose him, too. But Kurt wouldn’t want this. He wouldn’t want to stay like this forever while we waste away waiting. Think of Tracy. He needs you now more than ever! And you haven’t even been home for two days.”

Guilt twisted Kurt’s guts as Blaine closed his eyes, the same emotion twisting his soft features.

“He keeps asking for Kurt.” Blaine’s voice was raw.

“Of course. He misses him.”

“I don’t know what to say to him. He barely smiles anymore and it kills me. He’s so young, he shouldn’t have to...” Blaine’s sentence was broken by a sob that he barely managed to swallow. “I feel guilty when I’m here because I’m not home and I feel guilty when I’m home because I’m not here. I just... I don’t... I don’t know what to do.”

Burt nodded, slowly. “Blaine... It’s the last thing I want, it really is. But maybe you should...”

“NO!” Blaine shouted the same time as Kurt did.

“No, Blaine, don’t,” Kurt said, knowing his words went unheard. “Not yet. I know this is not fair and I want to wake up, I really do. I’m trying. I want to come back to you. To all of you, to you and Tracy, I... I’m not ready to go. Please, please, don’t let me go. Not yet. Not yet. I’ll wake up, I will! I promise. I promise. Please...”

Blaine turned his head and Kurt’s heart jolted when his eyes met his. For a second or two, it was like Blaine could see him.

“Not yet,” Blaine mumbled. “Not yet. He’ll come back to us.”

“Okay,” Burt replied. Kurt wondered if he imagined the relief in his voice. “Okay. Not yet.”

The room was silent after that until Burt left a few hours later, after making Blaine promise he’d come home for the night. Kurt watched as his husband smoothed out the sheets of the hospital bed and rearranged the new bouquets of flowers that had arrived earlier that day. For about an hour or so, he kept himself busy by doing small things before sinking back to the chair that had been his second home for the last three weeks.

“I can feel you right here with me,” he said quietly. “Is that silly?”

“No,” Kurt whispered. “Blaine, I am here. Right here.”

“God, I... I miss you. I miss you so much. Especially when I’m putting Tracy down to bed. That’s our time. I never realized it until now but it’s... it’s that one moment in the day we’re all together even if one of us is not home. Like that time when you were in London. Every night during bed time we’d call you and we sang to him together until he fell asleep. Those 15 minutes it takes for him to fall asleep, we’re always together. Even when we’re not.”

A tear fell on Kurt’s cheek. He missed his little boy like crazy and wished more than anything that he could somehow steal his way to the 2 years old’s dreams and tell him everything would be fine.

“I have to go home tonight,” Blaine continued. “I’ve been a lousy dad.”

“Oh, Blaine, no you haven’t.”

“I hate leaving you alone.”

“I know. It’s okay.”

“I love you so, so much, Kurt... Please, don’t...”

Blaine didn’t finish but Kurt knew what he wanted to say. He stepped closer to his heartbroken husband and slowly reached out his hand until his fingers were hovering just an inch from Blaine’s shoulder.

“I won’t,” he sobbed out. “I won’t, Blaine. I love you, too.”

Ever so carefully, he let his fingers touch Blaine’s shoulder.

Blaine shivered. “Kurt...”

“Shh. I love you. Go home to our son. Tell him Daddy loves him.”

Blaine stood up. He leaned down to kiss Kurt’s forehead, whispered “I love you,” one more time and then left the room. Kurt followed him to the door, wishing he could walk through it and go home with his husband.

“I have to wake up,” he said. “I have to.”

--

“You once thought of me as a white knight on a steed Now you know how happy I can be...”

Tracy, still teary after a yet another ‘where’s Daddy?’ episode, rested his head against Blaine’s shoulder and yawned. His tiny fingers curled up around the fabric of Blaine’s shirt and his eyes closed slowly as he fell asleep to Blaine’s quiet singing.

“...but how much baby do we really need...?” Blaine sang, carefully lowering the boy to his bed before covering him up. He kept humming under his breath as he knelt down on the floor next to the bed, feeling lonely in a way he hadn’t quite experienced before.

“Daddy loves you, Tracy,” he murmured. “He loves you so much.”

He pushed back some of Tracy’s brown hair off his forehead. Officially, they didn’t know which one was the bio dad but anyone could see Kurt’s features on the boy’s pale face. His nose, his eyes, the shape of his face... He was like a miniature Kurt and Blaine managed an actual smile at the thought of a kindergarten aged Tracy with Kurt mannerisms.

He could only hope Kurt would be there to help him raise their little boy.

--

A week.

Then two.

Kurt had tried everything. He had yelled at himself, stayed quiet, even prayed, begged, and finally cried but his body lay unmoving on the bed with no physical signs of recovery though the doctors kept saying that it was just up to him now.

Kurt hated them for saying that. It wasn’t up to him. Had it been up to him, he’d have woken up weeks ago. Had it been up to him, he wouldn’t put his family, his husband, his son, his dad and Carole, his friends, through the hell they were living in.

It wasn’t up to him.

Kurt didn’t know who it was up to but he was starting to lose the strength to bargain with them anymore.

“I’m so sorry, Blaine,” he sobbed on the day he had been in coma for 7 weeks. Blaine was crying silently into his hands and all Kurt wanted to do was hug him. Instead, he stood a few feet away and cried, too. “I’m so sorry.”

Blaine whispered it, too. And Kurt knew it was time for big, hard decisions.

--

“Blaine...” the doctor sighed. “It’s been nearly two months.”

“I know,” Blaine replied slowly, frowning.

“As hard as it is, we’re going to have to start talking about the fact that your husband might not wake up.”

Blaine shook his head. “Don’t.”

His voice was so tired. So broken and beaten and tears welled up in Kurt’s eyes as he watched Blaine kiss the palm of his unmoving hand.

“You have to let him go.”

“Stop it.”

“Bl...”

“Please... please just go,” Blaine whispered.

The doctor left him alone when Blaine didn’t respond to his one more attempt of an actual conversation. The room was silent except for the beeping of the heart-monitor..

God how Kurt wanted to break it pieces.

“I hate him,” Blaine mumbled suddenly. “He’s right and I hate him. I hate him, I...”

“No, you don’t.”

Blaine sniffed. “No, I don’t.” He buried his face into his hands. “God, Kurt. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do this to you. Or Tracy.”

“Or yourself,” Kurt said quietly. “Blaine, honey. It’s okay.” It didn’t matter that Blaine couldn’t hear him, he had things he needed to say. “You gave me time. You believed in me. But this... this is just not up to us.”

“You promised you’d never say goodbye to me.”

“I won’t.”

“I just never thought I’d be the one who’d have to say it.”

Kurt wanted to scream as Blaine broke down completely and started crying. His sobbing drowned the other noises of the room and with each sob, Kurt felt his world crumble a little more.

Blaine’s crying was suddenly interrupted by the sound of his phone binging with a text message. He wiped his eyes and took a quick look before putting it back into his pocket.

“I have a little surprise for you,” he said, his voice raw. As if on cue, the door opened.

“Daddy!”

“Oh God...”

Tracy had grown, Kurt noticed. His hair was longer, too.

And suddenly, Kurt wasn’t so ready to let go after all.

“Daddy! Daddy, Daddy!”

Tracy squirmed out of Burt’s arms and wobbled on his short legs to the bed. Blaine lifted him up and Kurt gasped as he felt the soft touch of the small hand on his cheek.

“Wake up, Daddy! Wake up!”

“I will. I will, baby, I will, I promise, I...”

“Kurt?”

And then Kurt felt the hold of Blaine’s hand, soft and strong, and he squeezed and Blaine nearly fell on his knees.

“Kurt? Kurt, honey, can you hear me??”

Kurt felt oxygen filling his lungs. He felt the soft mattress under him. He felt the weight of his son and his husband’s free hand petting his hair.

He felt his heart beat.

He closed his eyes. And when he opened them, he was looking up instead of down.

He heard his name, he heard Tracy’s young, delighted shrieks, and he wanted to answer, to finally say that he really was still here. He was told to blink by an unfamiliar voice and he did, frowning, and then coughed when commanded and then there was pain in his throat that made him gag and then he could at last turn his head to see Blaine and Burt, with Tracy in his arms.

“...hey...”

“Don’t try to speak. Your throat will be raw for a while,” the unfamiliar voice said and Kurt only obeyed because his throat really did hurt. “...be back in a while.”

“Oh my God, Kurt!” Blaine whimpered as soon the doctor was out of the room, crossing the room to hug him, barely mindful of all the wires Kurt was still attached to. “Oh God, you scared me... You scared me...!”

“I’m sorry...”

“Hey, no, you heard the doc, don’t try to talk,” Burt said, his own voice thick with emotion. “Welcome back.”

Kurt managed a smile. Burt lowered Tracy back down onto the bed. The boy was more careful now as he snuggled his way to his dads’ arms. Kurt heard his dad say “I’ll go tell Carole” and then they were alone, just three of them in the white room.

“I love you.” 

Kurt squeezed Blaine’s hand to tell him that he knew, that he loved him, too, and that he was there. He was there, he was back, he was awake.

“I figured you wouldn’t leave me alone with that monster of a washing machine.”

Maybe it was stupid but if he had ever, in that moment Kurt believed in soulmates. He shook his head in amusement, hugged his son closer and tugged Blaine into a soft, sweet kiss.

The monitor kept beeping. Kurt didn’t hate it anymore.

--

This has been sitting half-done in my drafts for over a year. Finally got it done.

[aviewfromtheclouds25]

Could it be, this Rebecca stuff that yeah she did find out at the hospital that she's not pregnant, went away, realised she doesn't want to be too far away from her family so comes back, then has the slight not actually pregnant problem to deal with, so sorts out this scan so she can take Vic, then it'll come out that she's not pregnant and she looks totally innocent, somehow? Needs more thought but basically it's a purposeful scan to get out of the mess she's in?

Nikki, honestly, what is going on? Up until the latest spoilers, I was utterly convinced that Rebecca found out she wasn’t pregnant at the hospital, then left distraught and mortified. So yeah, if that was the case, I could potentially see this happening. There’s definitely a reason she’s relying on Vic for everything…

But now I’ve seen the latest spoilers, I think this pregnancy - real or not - is going to continue. And actually, I’m leaning more towards her finding out it’s Ross’s baby again now.

But my biggest question arising from that preview is what is going on with Adam??? I mean, I’m assuming he’s there for plot purposes. So he can overhear all of this, give Vic some home truths, report back to Aaron and Robert, then find himself caught up in the middle of this revenge feud, get mistaken for Ross and end up in a coma, for which Robron will consider themselves responsible… (Alternatively, maybe it’s Andy who gets mistaken for Ross and then when he recovers and deals with the slight having been on the run issue, he can take on the role of supportive brother seeing as Vic is otherwise engaged these days? But I prefer the Adam theory, because then it would tie in with the suggestion that Aaron can’t even turn to Cain about whatever happens, because Adam’s his stepson/Moira’s son, and could potentially be part of the big thing that will either bring Coira back together or tear them apart…)

Honestly, I don’t know what’s happening. I am convinced that there is so much more to all of this than what we’re seeing, and that we’re finally starting to get to the actual point… But I also feel like this revenge feud isn’t just a side-plot and is actually going to fully converge with the baby plot, and that Adam’s role is somehow a key to how this happens. (*cough* They got the test results wrong, The Theory 2.0 lives *cough*) I’m probably completely wrong on this, but I just feel like whatever’s going on here is going to be a catalyst for a whole series of events…

Yeah, I’ve no clue haha. But this idea would work for me and the theories as I was convinced it was a scan intended to deal with the mess she’s created, so I’ll continue to live in hope! I just want Rebecca to turn villain and have that showdown with Lachlan so I get some enjoyment out of this storyline…

[krinsbez]

A Topic For Discussion: On Memory, Identity, and Stolen Valor

(once again, trying something different in a way to get more original content in here)

OK, so I've been pondering this for months. It started with one scene from an episode of a soap opera my mom was watching (yes, I know, bear with me), and then I realized it actually opens fertile ground for discussion. I'm gonna simplify the situation tremendously, because soap operas be crazy, but we've got three important characters: -Jason Morgan, long-time character, hitman-turned-PI. Had a long-lost twin brother. Used to be someone else, but adopted his current identity after brain damage caused amnesia and a permanent personality change. Also, picked up a bunch of enemies over the years, some of whom have mad science. Left town for awhile. -Franco Baldwin, famous artist. Also, serial killer and general murderous loon. Believed he was Jason's long-lost brother, did numerous things to screw with him. Discovered he was not, actually, Jason's long-lost brother, and also that his insanity was caused by a brain tumor. Became less evil but still kind of a jerk after said tumor was removed, but also lost the spark of genius that made his art special. Set about building new, non-evil life, eventually was reluctantly accepted as a non-bad guy by most characters and forgiven his previous sins (though they didn't necessarily like him), got married, bonded with step-kid, developed a good relationship with birth father, develops a few strong friendships including with... -Drew Cain, Jason's actual twin. Ex-Navy SEAL. Got kidnapped by baddies who had beef with Jason and his family, had Jason's memories downloaded into his head, suppressing his own. Then was in an accident that gave him amnesia and required extensive plastic surgery; eventually built a new life which fell apart a bit when everyone came to believe he was Jason, rebuilt it, and then had to rebuild it again when the real Jason showed up. Was eventually given the chance to have his real memories restored, but at the cost of losing the memories he's developed since then; having worked so hard at building a new life, he decided not to. You got that? OK, so some baddie comes along with some horrible evil plot, and wanted to download Drew's pre-kidnapping memories into Franco's stepson; since the procedure was invented for twins and no one knows if it's survivable for others, Franco volunteered instead. When he wakes up from the resultant coma, he has lost his own memories and believes he is Drew. Also in the mix: -Oscar Nero, Drew's teenage son, who recently died of a fatal disease. -Kim Nero, Drews's ex, Oscar's mom. Not dealing well with the above. -Scottie Baldwin, Franco's birth father. Worked very hard to build a relationship with his newly-discovered son. Not happy with the current situation. -Elizabeth Webber, Franco's wife. Also, Jason's ex. Also, had a thing with Drew when she thought he was Jason. Also not happy with the current situation. -Cameron Webber, Elizabeth's son, Oscar's best friend. Finally accepted and became close with his stepdad just before the whole "kidnapped by a maniac who wants to upload someone else's memories into his head at gunpoint" thing. Needless to say, having a very bad year. Jason never liked Franco for obvious reasons, so he's staying out of it. Drew wants his buddy back. Elizabeth wants her husband back. Scottie wants his son back. Cameron is, obviously, a total mess. Franco-Drew doesn't know or care about any of them, and is quite fine as he is. Also, wants to get back with Kim, who he doesn't remember breaking up with. Kim, who is reeling from losing her son, is amenable, since he's a way of holding on to Oscar. There is a procedure that could restore Franco's memories, but it's experimental, and even if it does work, he'd lose Drew's memories. He doesn't want to undergo the procedure, especially because, y'know, Franco was kind of a terrible human being who most people in town have only recently begun to stop hating. Scottie and Elizabeth sue to force him to undergo it (on the grounds that he's not of sound mind, because...well, he thinks he's another person, and that Elizabeth, as his wife, has the right to make medical decisions for him), and he shows up at the court hearing in uniform, being supported by Kim. OK, you got all that? So, there's a lot to unpack here, but let's start with some questions: -Who should win the court case? -Who has a greater claim to being Drew Cain? -Is Jason, as the root cause of all of this, obligated to get involved? -And is Franco-Drew wearing the uniform and decorations he remembers being entitled to, a form of Stolen Valor?