#i also think sonny would appreciate having an older sister

[tooni-the-demon-thot]

I'm telling you now, I have plans that I cannot share with you right now because the haters will sabotage me. I have plans that I cannot share with you right now because the haters will sabotage me. I have plans that I will not share right now because the haters will sabotage me.

[nectarage]

mimsy "mims" chowdhury picked up their key from the front desk 10 years ago! the thirty-two year old uses [she/her] pronouns and is a teaching assistant at universidad de bellas artes de valparaíso from london, united kingdom. according to their apartment application, people have told them they look a lot like mishti rahman, and the character they identify with most is camille preaker from sharp objects. santa moneda gives you a warm welcome, and we hope you enjoy your stay.

hello, hello everyone! (^..^)ﾉ   i'm soul ( she/her, 21, est ) and this is my very unhinged girl, miss mimsy! the header credit goes to thatporcelain. i'm a bit of a newbie to this side of tumblr, so please be gentle on me if i mess up or you see me post the same shit over and over again.

trigger warnings: familial death and mental health issues.

playlist. pinterest board. wanted connections.

ೀ basics .

full name: mimsy "mims" chowdhury. birthdate: february 21st, 1991. ( thirty-two ) zodiac: pisces sun, scorpio moon, libra rising. gender: cis woman. ( she/her/hers ) residence: one bedroom apartment with her pet bunny affectionately named momo after her favorite snack growing up. orientation: demiromantic/sexual. class: enrolled as a phd student at universidad de bellas artes de valparaíso, concentrating in physics, minoring in mathematics. currently a full time teaching assistant to the mathematics' department's head. also helps out with the debate team. neurological: lacks any sense of social propriety, which exacerbates her cognitive dissonance and emotional dysregulation. probably depressed, but she'll blame it on her burgeoning quarter-life crisis and go about her business like usual. will put herself in risky situations occasionally. tropes: ambiguous innocence, bratty half-print, broken ace, and uncanny valley girl.

tdlr: think… sikowitz from victorious if he slayed. beast mode, but make it girlboss. very much the cooky, zany, what-have-you scientist! a woman in stem! ( scheming, theorizing, eavesdropping, making plans )

ೀ dig deeper .

positives: lion-hearted, observant, humorous, and thoughtful. very neurotic and high-strung. ( in a productive way, of course ) negatives: mendacious and reticent by fault. unreadable at times.

likes: exotic fruits, candid pictures, vanilla lattes, neon genesis evangelion, woodland animals, painting her nails, the smell of fresh laundry, arguing with a smile, fashion houses like sandy liang + blumarine + tong/shushu, sonny angels, reddit ( sigh ), game theory, people that live underneath her skin, and her pet bunny. dislikes: corny jokes + people, loud noises, being out in the heat too long, distant people ( even though she is ), fingernail tapping, and breaking down to taylor swift songs.

style: hyper-feminine, fond of flowy silhouettes, ruffles, and ribbons. never seen in pants, even during the colder months. already bought every piece from kimchi blue's urban outfitters line. prefers muted colors. cannot walk in high-heels whatsoever, so you'll always find her in her mary-janes. never seen without gold jewelry! will do her eyeliner no matter what, feels naked without it. known for putting bows in her hair and her side bang which is oddly shaped like a radical sign.

family: born and raised in london to an overly protective public safety worker, his estranged wife, and their first daughter who would soon pass after the couple's divorce. mimsy grew up in a tumultuous household, learning the art of people pleasing and inherently soaking up other people's grief as she did when her older sister passed away. she felt as if she had to out-preform in every aspect of her life after, haphazardly throwing away anything that couldn't aid to the betterment of her studies and professional life. since individuality was not appreciated nor encouraged in her upbringing, she struggles with her ever-shifting personality and by extension, letting others understand and know her. she thinks she misses her sister more than she remembers her. hobbies: collecting lip-glosses, jump-scaring her friends, grading papers, origami, and watching obscure movies.

personality: mimsy is very definition of female hysteria. clever and unconventional, priding herself in the personality she dug out of the semblance of a person she used to be back home. her mannerisms display her quirky character, often having a cheeky little grin across her face regardless of the occasion. silver-tongued and witty, plans her words carefully and meticulously, never at a loss for words. she likes to banter and will often take playful quips at others for the sake of stirring a reaction and can be rather sadistic about it. she is incredibly perceptive and observant. she picks up on things that no one else does, and can figure people and their feelings out flawlessly. she likes to think of herself as invincible, but she can be hilariously caught lacking if you look close enough. has a karmic pull to her, often acting as a beacon to others to express thoughts that they would otherwise keep to themselves. embraces the macabre despite her cutesy disposition and is honestly pathetically intense underneath all of her jokes.

ೀ tidbits .

one unfortunate event away from turning into the joker.

moved to valparaíso, chile about ten years ago to complete her undergrad years far away from home, wanting to throw herself into being self-efficient and capable compared to how shackled she felt in her previous home life.

struggles a lot with her individuality as a person and how much of her life is really her own.

very fond about the ideology behind fate and the progression / patterns of time, mainly why she's so interested in game theory. surprisingly very devout despite not having a particular religion she believes in.

personification of the nerd with glasses and finger emoji combination, unironically goes "actually…"

that one friend who’s chill as fuck but is harboring a deep indescribable sadness!

into pretentious indie music. :eyeroll:

honestly... her pinterest says it all + i will be adding to this as i go on!

ೀ wanted connections .

i have a few outlined plots as a pop-up on my theme, but here are some more ideas i would love to have for mimsy:

she's currently kicking her feet, giggling to herself because she's been planting little baby figurines all over the apartment building and your muse decides enough is ENOUGH!

i would love her to meet her match when it comes to intellect ( particularly in board games ) and have them always stump the other + always find themselves at standstills, completely frustrated knowing they're only two steps away each to another stand-off.

mimsy is constantly losing her shit and has to continuously label her belongings with her initials, so maybe your muse is hellbent on finding out who the hell "m.c" is?

"the reading comprehension in valparaíso is piss poor..." "who said we piss on the floor!?"

nonsensical banter threads are always wanted by me! i've been out of the tumblr game for a while; i much prefer getting to know other muses and forming connections based off conversations, so please don't hesitate when it comes to plotting!

always looking for your quintessential frenemies, fwbs, casual package thievery, unfriendly neighbors, severe angst with a sprinkle of unseriousness, whatever your little heart desires!

[cycat4077]

Hello. I had this random thought that I wanted to share. Plus it has been all of a day since we have mentioned Sonny 🤣

I think it would be really sweet if he started dating someone removed from his ADA/NYPD world so she didn't know all these things about his family other then what he told her. He'd first introduce his GF to Bella early in their relationship before the rest of his family. Kind of a test, if she survives that she will survive his other Ma and other sister. I think Bella would be the 'less in your face, less crazy' one of the family besides his father. I also would like to think as she is his little sister they have a this close relationship. 

I would love it if they totally hit it off. Both Bella and his GF get along so well. They would have these conversations, where Sonny is feeling like the third wheel. Eventually his GF and Bella become close where they socialise without him, gossip etc etc.... He would be all “I can’t believe ya went to dinner with Bella and didn’t even tell me about it.” I want to think he'd love how close of friends they are becoming, maybe even possibly worry about what they were talking about especially if it was about him? Though I'm not sure....  

I know in the show, it gives the impression his Ma would be the most important person for his approval and be maybe first one his family his GF meets etc but I find this idea cute. What are your thoughts/opinion? Do you think this could happen? I've watched a fair bit of him on the show but don't have this full idea yet if that makes sense.

Sorry for totally rambling and long message. I have all these thoughts to type out 😂.

YES! I think this would most certainly be something Sonny would do.

After "Parole Violations", I think Sonny and Bella grew even closer, especially since Sonny, who wasn't necessarily a fan of Tommy's before, defended him and made Bella see that it wasn't Tommy's fault. I feel like there would have been a lot of appreciation towards Sonny for that.

Also, it's my personal HC (until we're told otherwise) that the age gap between Sonny/Bella and Teresa/Gina is larger than between those pairs themselves. So, Sonny and Bella would get into younger kid mischief while Teresa and Gina were end-of-middle-school/teenagers. That would make the bond between them stronger too.

And, as Sonny said in that same episode, his older sisters aren't the best to be taking relationship advice from since Gina has been "engaged" multiple times while Teresa is more interested in the dollar value attached to a guy. That leaves Bella who's more level headed, loving Tommy for who he is and not who he was.

With Rollins, she already knew Bella so the first impressions were out of the way before they got together. And I don't see Bella and Amanda developing a relationship outside of her romantic connection to Sonny. (That is, becoming friends without being his girlfriend first.) But we DO know that Sonny wants his family to like the person he chooses to be with. While some may say that your family shouldn't have a say in who you choose to date, I don't think it's a bad thing if the context is right. In Sonny's case (and if I ever will be lucky enough to find a S/O), his family is so important to him and his S/O is so important to him that he wants them to like one another. It would be torturous to have to choose between the two or always play mediator.

Coming back to the question (see, I ramble too, lol), I definitely think Sonny would have his gf meet Bella first. Like you said, she seems sensible and I think that their sibling bond is even stronger. He'd have a hard time hiding his smile if he saw them getting along so well.

After the first meeting Bella texts Sonny a: "Ma's gonna love her." and he grins even wider.

Sonny then plans to bring his gf over to his parents for some holiday-type occasion so that everyone is there. Get it over with all in one shot lol. In the meantime, his gf and Bella arrange lunches and coffees from time to time. They get along great, his gf gets silly stories about Sonny as a kid and they bond over various things. They just get how each other ticks and it helps that they both love their families.

One day when Sonny meets them for coffee, he does something that's one of Sonny's little habits (something Bella has filled in the gf on how the habit came to be) and they both giggle, Sonny looking completely left out and getting grumbly about it. Of course, on the inside he's just so happy that they're getting along so well.

And finally, when the time comes for that family dinner, meeting his parents and other siblings goes wonderfully. Serafina scold Sonny for not bringing her over sooner and Bella offers her endless praise over how good a friend the gf is. Sonny is over the moon as his gf officially gets "adopted" into the Carisi clan.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE thinking about these little scenarios! I'm also happy we got to finally see Ma Carisi in the show. We all had our suspicions about what she would be like and she didn't disappoint. I love how Mia was all pro Amanda, too. And now, if we could only see how Bella and Teresa have changed while also meeting Dom Sr and Gina :D

[impossibleblizzardstudentposts]

Mild smut ahead...

Chapter 5 - Getting to Know You, all about you

And see each other they did. Over the next few weeks, Sonny and Larissa ate and drank their way through the city.

Sonny charmed her with details about his humble upbringing in a mostly female household, impressions of his brash father, and adorable photos of his nieces. He shared his journey from public school to Catholic university to police academy to Catholic law school. He was even vulnerable sometimes, expressing the inevitable disappointment in humanity that came with investigating homicide, sex crimes, domestic violence, and child abuse.

For her part, Larissa was a captive audience, always asking the right questions, or making him laugh with a bad joke or story of her own family’s dysfunction. She shared that where she was currently living, the beautiful brownstone where Sonny and Fin had originally questioned her, was actually the house she grew up in, but that her parents were no longer living there. In an effort to try to get her father to retire, Mrs. Vasquez decided they should make the permanent move to the family’s Hamptons house, spending much of their time there and only keeping a pied-a-terre in the city. Her father was reluctant to “throw in the towel and sit on the couch getting fat”, but her mother had him wrapped around her finger, she explained.

“Must be where you get to from.” Sonny smiled at her, as they walked. “I mean, I think I could be persuaded to do just about anything by a woman like you.”

Larissa smiled and brushed her hair behind her ears, but rolled her eyes, never sure how to take a complement.

She continued to explain:

“So now, it’s me, my little sister, who never knows where her money goes, and my older sister, who just separated from her husband, all in our old bedrooms. I do like the extra time with my niece and nephews though.” she ended the explanation on a high note, just in time, as they approached Sonny’s truck parked on the street.

He took a few steps ahead to meet her at the passenger door, opening it for her. She stood on the sidestep to climb in, but turned to meet him eye to eye. Between the step up and her espadrille platform, she was maybe even a bit taller than the detective now. She smiled at the closeness of their faces in this moment, green eyes darting between his eyes and lips. Almost whispering, she said, “Did you want to come in later for one more drink?”

Logistically, both of them should have known that this was a terrible idea, given the aforementioned “Full House” scenario Larissa had just described, but neither was thinking clearly. Sonny was a patient and gentle man, not venturing beyond a few passionate good night kisses in their time together. Every time the thought came up of having to disclose his relationship to a witness in the Nikki Staines case, he pushed it to the back of his mind, because their relationship wasn’t *quite* sexual in nature, but the desire had reached its peak.

“Yeah.” Sonny whispered back. “Yeah, that sounds great.” practically deserting her as he ran around the car to get in the driver’s seat.

The short ride to her place was nearly silent, a feat for Sonny. Despite this, it was comfortable and intimate, their fingers playfully intertwined on the center console.

When they arrived inside, Larissa guided Sonny through the familiar foyer. It was late and no one else was in the common areas. Whether it was to keep up the ruse of a nightcap, or if she needed the wine to calm her nerves, Larissa planted Sonny on the sofa and ventured into the kitchen.

She returned a short time later with two glasses and a chilled bottle of white wine.

“I hope this is ok. It’s the only thing at the right temperature.”

Sonny nodded, as she poured from the bottle. Geez, they probably have a wine cellar, he though to himself, insecurity creeping up, as it sometimes did. Larissa was never a snob, she was smart and hardworking, but little things sometimes made it obvious how different their lives and upbringings were, and he would worry if this was a dealbreaker.

“Cheers!” Larissa exclaimed, clinking her glass to his and taking a swig, breaking Sonny out of his distraction.

“Cheers.” He returned.

“Is everything ok?” she asked.

“Of course. I had a great time tonight.”

“I’m glad. Me too.” Larissa responded, turning towards him and inching closer on the sofa so their knees touched. She leaned in for a kiss, which Sonny reciprocated, his long fingers combed through her hair, holding it away from her face.

This dance continued for awhile, making out like teenagers, until Larissa climbed on top of Sonny, straddling his lap between her knees, sinking herself low, so there was as much contact between their clothed bodies as possible, forcing his hands through her hair, down her back, finally resting between her hips and the ass he had long admired, since first waiting in line at the coffee shop.

“And listen, Sonny” Larissa let out breathlessly, breaking their kiss. She looked him in the eye while mindlessly fiddling with his necktie between them. “I really appreciate you being such a gentleman these last few weeks, but I want this. I want...you.”

Before Sonny could respond in words, Larissa had moved on to planting her pillowy lips down his jawline and neck, sliding down his body until her knees were on the floor and she looked up at him wantonly, reaching for his belt buckle.

Sonny stopped her hand with his, using it to help her off the floor as he also stood up. “Riss, I want this too, but let’s go to the bedroom.” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. The first use of this nickname felt so intimate it made her knees weak as they kissed again and she began to guide him to her room by his tie.

[inknopewetrust]

Dance With Me

Summary: Reader, like Tom, is also an adoptive member of the Corleone family. Connie’s wedding day arrives and disappears, leaving Reader tired and still working to prove herself part of the family. All Reader needs is a little comfort from the man they grew to love. [Tom Hagen x Fem!Reader; The Godfather] [WC: 977]

Warnings: None. Also there should be more Tom fics out there.

Requested by: @allieblueviolet​

You knew when you woke up that morning the day would be nothing but chaos. You could hear people already rumbling outside, moving chairs, tables, the food was already beginning to trail up the stairs and through your bedroom door. Connie’s wedding day was here and in a matter of eight hours she would be married and celebrating with almost three hundred Italians and one Irish-German crowding the backyard.

Over and over your name was called throughout the day. Y/n, the musicians need help setting up. Y/n, mama needs help finishing some food in the kitchen. Y/n, watch Sonny’s kids because Sonny’s nowhere to be found. Y/n, shake hands with the guests, dance with Mario, Celmenza wants a dance too! Y/n, help clean up the mess.

By the time someone stopped calling your name the night had already fallen and everyone was gone. You stood out on what was the brown dance floor Vito insisted on having with the broom you hadn’t let go of for hours. Your heart was racing and you found it hard to breathe, yet you continued to do as they asked.

They were the only family you had, even if they weren’t by blood. Tom was no different either. All day he stood alert for anything Vito asked him to do. Bring in the next person, rally the unruly kids, find Sonny, find Michael, give Fredo something to do, make sure the FBI is gone. You and Tom loved the family you had grown into, but at the end of the day you both were not Italian enough to be a Corleone.

“You know... When someone invites you to a wedding, it’s supposed to end on a good note. But you just look like a character from a fairytale I’ve read to my kids.” 

“I hardly believe young boys would be interested in fairytales.” You responded to the voice you knew so well. With a heavy and tired sigh, you turned, Tom standing only a few feet away without a jacket and his hands in his pockets.

“Don’t be too quick to judge, those kids will listen to anything. They adore me too much.” He jokes and you managed to stifle a laugh.

“Have they all gone home?”

“Sandra told Sonny to stay here for the night, I’m sure you can assume why.”

“Just another problem I have to worry about.” You mumbled and sat on one of the plastic chairs that hadn’t been stacked for storage. Tom relaxes a bit and walks around the small area around you, looking at what he can see in the darkening yard.

“It’s not your job to worry about everyone else, Y/n. Christ, I mean- you shouldn’t have been put to all this work in the first place. After what happened at Christmas I don’t know why they would ask you to do a single chore again.” Tom explained passionately and you appreciated his words but you didn’t see it that way.

“Tom, I’m older than both Connie and Michael and I’m not married. I’m turning into a spinster by the minute and the busy work keeps me from seeming useless. I know by the end of the day I’ll barely be able to stand but this is my family and I don’t want them to think less of me because I don’t help.”

“Doing all the work at a wedding for your sister isn’t something you should have been doing. You know we have the money to hire people for that.”

“And they do a good job with everything? Tom, I’ll never quite part of this family. No matter how much you and the others try to make me feel that way.”

“At least you’re Italian.” Tom joked and knelt down beside the chair you were sitting in. He hesitated for a brief moment before taking your hands in his and kissing the backs of them, praying someone doesn’t see.

“You exhaust yourself trying to prove that you are as important as Connie, Michael, Fredo, and Sonny, but you already are. They love you and treat you like a sister and don’t expect you to put in more effort than anyone else.“

“Tom-“

“I can see it wearing you down, Y/n. Maybe the others can’t because they’re too preoccupied with their own lives and families.”

“So why can you see what it’s doing to me?” You knew. Your life wouldn’t have been turned upside down when he told you he was marrying Teresa six years ago if you didn’t know.

“Dance with me. Take a break and dance with me.” Tom ignored the question and stood up, holding out a hand for you to take. Not hesitant because you didn’t want to dance or take a moment for yourselves but because of the people who’s windows are facing the backyard and who could see.

“Y/n, dance with me.

“There’s still a lot of things I need to take care of. I don’t want them to think I-”

“For Christ sake! You are enough as you are for this family, for me. Take a moment for yourself and let go.”

You stood taking his words to heart even though it felt like it was beating out of your chest. You were accepted, you were loved, and you needn’t prove yourself to be.

Your right hand met Tom’s and the other resting just below his neck on his back. With Tom holding you close, you both swayed against the cold autumn wind as if no one was watching and if you didn’t care.

“Don’t try to prove you need to be more than you are for anyone.” He said and pulled you in closer, still swaying to the sound of nothing but it was calm and you were calm.

If anyone could make the day just a little better than what it was, it was always Tom.

[madpanda75]

I have one for Sonny too if that's ok? “Shut up and kiss me already.” Love that talkative daddy long legs. 😅Thank you!

I’m with you, love me some Sonny! That sweet sexy bean pole does things to me! Thanks for the request, I hope you like it ❤️ Also I believe it is canon that Sonny Carisi loves games (especially Twister 😉)

“Classroom Kisses”

The first grade students at P.S.19 quietly read in their seats while you were writing out math problems on the board. You sighed, slightly shaking your head when a small familiar voice cut through the silence. Without even looking, you already knew who was disrupting the class.

“Dominick,” you turned around and crossed your arms, a stern look on your face. “This is quiet reading time.”

The blue eyed boy looked up at you sheepishly, “Sorry, Ms. Y/L/N, I was just telling Caroline a joke.

“Save it for recess, Dominick,” you said before turning back to the board. Unfortunately, Dominick didn’t save his joke for recess. For the remainder of the day, the little boy continued to talk, trying to get the attention of his classmates. You had scolded Dominick more times than you could count. In a way you almost felt sorry for him. It was as if he couldn’t stop himself from talking.

Dominick was a handful, but you had a soft spot in your heart for the little boy. He was bright and incredibly sweet, one of your favorite students. He just couldn’t stop talking.

After school, the two of you sat in your classroom working on an art project while waiting for the little boy’s mom to pick him up. You smiled, watching as he painted a rainbow on poster board, “You’re a good artist, Dom!”

The little boy beamed at your compliment, “Thanks, art’s my favorite subject!”

“Mine too,” you replied, painting a fluffy white cloud next to his rainbow. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Looking up, you saw a tall handsome man with the cutest dimples you had ever seen.

“Uncle Sonny!” Dominick exclaimed, running to the older man.

Sonny gave Dominick a high five, “Hey, little man! What’s up? Ya’ have a good day at school?”

“Yep! The best! I got to help Ms. Y/L/N with her art project!” Dominick took his uncle by the hand, pulling him over to you. “Ms. Y/L/N, this is my Uncle Sonny!”

Sonny’s heart skipped a beat when he saw you. He had heard his nephew talk about his favorite teacher, but he had no idea how beautiful you were.

“The famous Uncle Sonny. I’ve heard a lot about you,” you said with a smile.

“Likewise, Dominick talks about ya’ all the time. I hope it’s ok that I’m picking him up, his mom had to work an extra shift.”

“That’s fine, Mr.?”

“Carisi, but please call me, Sonny,” he replied.

“Only if you call me, Y/N,” you shook his hand, drinking in his bright blue eyes and sweet smile.

He leaned in, studying your face. “You..uh…got some paint on your forehead,” he said, motioning to a spot on his own head.

“Oh, I do?” You touched your forehead, trying to wipe off the paint, but only making it worse.

He bit back a laugh, reaching into his jacket for a handkerchief, “May I?”

“Thanks,” you bit your lip and blushed as he cupped your face with one hand while gently wiping the paint off.

Dominick looked between his uncle and teacher, “Are you two gonna kiss?”

“Dominick!” You and Sonny both said at the same time, catching each other’s eye and laughing.

“Dominick, why don’t you go to the restroom and clean the paint brushes for me,” you ruffled his hair a bit, handing him the dirty brushes.

Sonny chuckled to himself, watching his little nephew walk into the bathroom, “He’s a character.”

You nodded your head, “Dominick is a great student, but he’s a social butterfly, talks a bit too much in class.”

Sonny walked over and helped you put the paints away, “I was the same way when I was his age. Always talking. I mean I could just talk and talk and talk. My ma says I was worse than my sisters. Every report card I got always said the same thing, Dominick Carisi Jr. is a smart boy but chats too much in class.” He stopped talking and rubbed the back of his neck, a little embarrassed when he realized he was rambling on. “Looks like I’m still a talker.”

You giggled, “Must be family trait.”

“All done!” Dominick came running back into the classroom, handing you the clean brushes, looking expectantly at his uncle. “Can we go home now?”

“Sure thing, pal. You’re driving right?” Sonny teased.

“Uncle Sonny, you’re silly!” The little boy ran out the room. “Meet you at the car!”

“Wait for me, Dom!” Sonny called out before turning back to you. “It was nice to meet ya’, Y/N. Hope to see ya’ around sometime.”

“Well, now you know where to find me,” you winked at him, sitting back at your desk.

Over the next few weeks, Sonny began picking up his nephew more and more. You didn’t mind one bit. Apart from being sweet and gorgeous, you and Sonny really hit it off, becoming good friends.

Even if Dominick’s mom would pick him up from school, Sonny would still stop by with a cup of coffee or a donut, just to talk. You would tell him about all the crazy antics his nephew or another student tried to pull on you that day. His line of work was always dark and depressing. Visiting you was an escape for him.

One day you asked if Sonny wouldn’t mind stopping by after school to help you put up some decorations for Saint Patrick’s Day. Every month you would choose a theme, transforming your room into a whole other world for your students. The kids loved it, but decorating an entire classroom was a big job for one person to do alone.  

Sonny was happy to help. He strode into the room, pizza box in hand watching as you stood on your tiptoes on top of your desk, struggling to hang up a fluffy cotton ball cloud from the ceiling, “Hey, be careful up there.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve done this a million times,” you replied, hanging a pot of gold next to the cloud. “Thanks for helping me with this. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem,” Sonny set the pizza box down on a nearby desk. He cleared his throat, unable to look away as your skirt rode up, revealing your shapely legs. “I brought pizza from that place you were telling me about.”

“You went to Lombardi’s?!” You turned towards him, momentarily forgetting where you were standing. One misstep and you were falling to the floor. Sonny was quick to action, moving to catch you in his arms.

You both stared at each other for a moment, a flush creeping up on your face, “Betcha haven’t met a girl who would tumble to her death just for a slice of pizza,” you mumbled.

“You’d be surprised,” he smirked, setting you down on your feet. “Almost forgot, I brought ya’ this,” he opened a bag, holding out a shiny red apple.

You quirked an eyebrow at him, “Are you trying to be teacher’s pet?”

“Maybe,” he winked at you before looking at the assortment of decorations on your desk. “Tell ya’ what. Why don’t we eat and then you can leave the ceiling decorations to the tall guy,” he rolled up his sleeves and hung up a green shamrock with ease.

After pizza, you and Sonny continued to decorate your classroom. By the time you finished, the place looked like a lush green fairyland, covered in clouds, rainbows, and pots of gold. Sonny half expected a leprechaun to leap out of a desk. “Wow,” he whistled, taking in the state of the room. “This place looks amazing. Wish my teachers did stuff like this when I was in school.”

“Thanks! It’s a win-win. I love arts and crafts and the kids flip when they see the room like this,” you stamped the last of your leprechaun footprints with green paint as Sonny walked around the room, surveying all the books and games you had. Some of them he remembered from when he was a kid. A smirk tugged at his lips when one game in particular caught his eye.

“Hey, Y/N, what do ya’ think?” He asked, holding up Twister. “Up for a little fun?”

You sauntered over to him, a playful expression on your face, “Hmm, you sure you’re up for that, my long limbed friend? I am the Twister champion around here.”

Sonny scoffed, “Do not underestimate these long limbs.” He leaned in closer to you, “I can move in ways you’ve never seen.”

A shiver shot down your spine at his words. Narrowing your eyes, you looked between the game and Sonny, “You’re on. I hope you’re prepared to lose.” You grabbed the game to begin setting up as he pushed some chairs out of the way.

By the fourth spin, you and Sonny were a tangle of limbs, your hands and feet all over the mat, looking like one giant human pretzel.

“Sonny…stop making me laugh! I’m trying to concentrate!” You gasped between fits of giggles.

“Sorry, doll,” he laughed.

You stretched and reached for the spinner, the board instructing you to move left hand, green. “Ok, how am, I going to do this,” you said to yourself, looking around the mat for a free green space within reach. Biting your lip in concentration, you leaned closer to Sonny, your arm snaking under his. “Aha! I did it!” You exclaimed.

“It’s…ummm…it’s your turn,” you murmured, glancing down at his bubblegum pink lips. You tried to maintain your position even though the scent of his cologne and his crystal blue eyes were causing you to lose your focus on the game.

With your free foot, you pushed the spinner towards him. Sonny got a left foot, blue. He let out a deep breath, slowly inching his foot around your leg so he could hit his spot. Stretched out his leg, he moved even closer to you until his foot landed on a blue spot.

“Y/N?” He stared into your eyes, your noses practically brushed up against each other.

“Sonny,” you whispered, no longer caring about the game. All you wanted in that moment was his mouth on yours.

“It’s your turn,” he licked his lips, eyes darting down to your cherry red pout.

“Sonny?” You interjected again, but he wasn’t listening.

“Can ya’….uh.. reach the spinner or do ya’ need help reaching it. Cause I can uhhh….get it for ya’ or I can just say a color or something. There has to be some rule for when only two people play and can’t reach the spinner,” he nervously rambled on.

“Sonny!”

“Yeah, doll,” his eyes locked with yours, your bodies entwined, breaths mingling as your chest rose and fell rapidly.

“Shut up and kiss me already,” you softly said.

A smirk tugged at his lips as he craned his neck, “I can do that.” His lips softly brushed up against yours, kissing you slow and sweet. His tongue tentatively moved against your own. Your legs and arms were shaking from holding such an awkward position, but you didn’t care. You moaned, tilting your head to deepen the kiss, so caught up in Sonny and his tender touch, that you lost your balance and fell, taking him down with you.

You both laughed, his body perched on top of yours. “Wait, so does that mean I won?” He chuckled.

“No! You distracted me, Sonny Carisi!” You smacked him on the shoulder. “That game was a draw.”

“Wanna have a rematch?” He said in a husky voice, running a hand through your hair.

“I’m game,” you tugged on his tie, bringing his mouth back to yours. He kissed you with such passion, it took your breath away. You wrapped your arms around his neck, gently nipping on his bottom lip when you heard someone clear their throat. Turning your head, you saw your coworker, Tony, standing in the doorway.

“Sorry! Just wanted to stop by and see if you needed help with your room but it looks like you got it covered,” Tony blushed, quickly scampering away, leaving you and Sonny alone again.

“That was embarrassing,” you cringed and covered your face.

“Yeah, guess we shouldn’t be making out in the middle of a first grade classroom,” he sat up, offering his hand to help you to your feet as you both put your shoes back on. “I should get going but I would like to take ya’ out on a date. Maybe Saturday night?”

“I’d love that. After all I owe you a rematch in Twister,” your hand found his as he pulled you into another feverish kiss. “You’re a good kisser,” you whispered against his lips, teasingly darting your tongue in his mouth.

“So are you,” he purred. Since your first meeting, Sonny had often wondered what it would be like to kiss you. Now standing there, your lips locked with his, it was better than he ever could have imagined. You were luscious and sweet, intoxicating to him. He kissed you all the way to the door, blindly bumping into desks, until finally letting you go. “Have fun tomorrow. Hopefully Dom will keep the chatter down.”

You snorted a laugh, “From your lips to God’s ears.” He smiled, cupping your face and kissing you one last time before leaving.

You put the game away, moving back to your desk to pack up your things. Your coworker slyly poked his head back into your room, “So does your friend have a brother?”

You playfully rolled your eyes, “Good night, Tony! I’ll fill you in tomorrow at lunch.”

“You better!” He sang down the hallway.

Finally alone in your room, you leaned back in your chair. Spying the red apple, you smiled to yourself, your lips tingling. If Sonny’s kisses were any indication, then you were going to have an incredible date.

@amirightcounsellor @obfuscateyummy @beltzboys2015-blog @southern-magnolia @letty-o @sweetsummertime99 @sonnysdoll @lyssa1385 @burningsorr0ws @katmstanton @gibbs274 @izzythefanfreak @riodallas @eclecticminded @delia26 @glimmerglittergirl @sweetcannolicarisi @babypink224221 @livxrafa

[lovemesomerafael]

No One Else                              Chapter 3:  Turning Up The Heat

Source: @sherrykinss​

Chapter 1   Chapter 2   Read It On AO3

It takes three days, but the guy on trial is convicted. He gets two consecutive life sentences. It’s a stunning victory for the prosecution and it makes great headlines, which means that the DA, One PP, and a whole lot of people with “Chief” in their titles are happy.  The big shots get to take a victory lap in front of the national press and the FBI, and they’re making the most of it.  They find as many cameras as possible in time to make the evening news, and by five p.m. there are a lot of satisfied people around Foley Square. They take over Maxwell’s.  Because it also happens to be a Friday, things get a little out of hand.  Even Vanessa Hadid overindulges a little bit (to be fair, she hasn’t been sleeping or eating much, as usual for her during a trial) and Sonny finds himself standing in front of DA Jack McCoy’s table with Ms. Hadid’s arm around his neck.  It’s uncomfortable in a number of ways, not least of which is that he’s a lot taller than she is, so his choices are to bend over or be strangled.

“This guy,” she enthuses to McCoy, planting a sloppy kiss on Sonny’s cheek.  “He’s gonna be a star.”

McCoy is only marginally less uncomfortable than Sonny, but Sonny sees the comment register with him.  “Well done, Mr. Carisi,” McCoy says.  

Holy shit, the DA knows who I am!  I can’t wait to tell Kate about this.  He wonders again where Kate is, and hopes she’ll make the party.  They’d decided to wait until the verdict came in for her promised post-trial visit, and she’s due any time.  She didn’t know when she’d be able to leave the station, so the plan is for her to toss some clothes at Sonny’s apartment and meet him here.  

Sonny sees Olivia Benson and Dean Porter through a break in the crowd.  He wonders again whether there’s anything between them and has a split second to register their very friendly body language before the crowd blocks his view and Ms. Hadid drops an F-bomb.  She’s not drunk enough to miss the looks on some faces at the DA’s table, so she mercifully lets go of Sonny to excuse herself to talk to someone across the room. Sonny excuses himself awkwardly and leaves the table, too.

He thinks he’ll say hello to Benson and Porter, so he’s making his way toward them when he spots Kate, just inside the door, looking helplessly around for a familiar face.  Her hair is in a knot at the back of her neck and he really likes the way loose tendrils have escaped around her face.  She looks so pretty standing there, he’s sure he would have noticed her even if she were a stranger.  She’s wearing a casual dress made of some soft material in a muted green pattern he really likes, and he especially likes that the dress shows off her long legs and has an open neckline that is just slightly on the right side of appropriate.  She sees him when he gets to within about ten feet of her, and slips around a group of people to meet him with a hug and a kiss. He wants to kiss her more, and he plans to, but first he wants to show her off.

Sonny leads Kate across the bar, which takes some time due to the raucous crowd, toward a table where some of his colleagues and a number of the support staff from his office are laughing and carrying on.  Most of them are younger than Sonny and Kate are, but it’s clear they really like Sonny.  He introduces Kate to everyone, a proprietary arm around her waist.  When he gets to Mary Duderon, Kate tries to be as friendly as possible, making sure she knows that Kate recognizes her from their previous meeting.  It doesn’t work.  Mary minimally acknowledges her and doesn’t make eye contact.  Kate sees a couple of guys standing close by exchange an amused look.

Sonny introduces Kate to them last, because they’re standing next to him, at the end of the circle of people he’s just introduced to Kate. She despairs of remembering any of their names, but these two guys she’s heard of, because they’re the guys with whom Sonny shares Mary as an assistant.  The three of them have also bonded over the long hours and pressures of being fairly new ADAs.  

Maurice Mikhail is the shorter of the two.  He’s dark-skinned, but his ethnicity isn’t readily apparent from his looks or his name.   His wide, open smile makes him look like a guy who is always looking for a laugh, and Kate thinks he looks just like Sonny’s description of him.  Scott Lam looks a few years older than Maurice, and seems a bit more serious.  His features have a definite Asian look, although he looks like he’s multiracial. He shakes Kate’s hand and looks into her eyes as he greets her.  Somebody taught this guy nice manners, Kate thinks.  

Sonny leaves Kate with Maurice and Scott and goes to get her a glass of wine.  Maurice starts right in.  He looks over his shoulder to see that everyone around the big table has resumed conversations among themselves.  None of the individual conversations is discernable from the others in the din of the packed bar.

“So how do you know the Dude Ranch?”  He asks, amusement all over his face as he tosses his head to indicate the table.  

Kate knows he’s talking about Mary.  Sonny has told her that, around the office, Mary’s surname has been turned into a nickname of sorts behind her back.  Many of the more junior ADAs call her Sister Mary Dude Ranch, because she really does bear many of the stereotypical characteristics of the type of woman who used to be called a spinster, including the fact that she has several cats.  But Kate is offended on Mary’s behalf and doesn’t appreciate the casual cruelty, especially toward a skilled woman whose job makes theirs possible.  

“I beg your pardon?”  She asks, her tone intentionally icy.

Scott breaks in.  “Don’t listen to him.  He’s an imbecile.  He’s part of the DA’s program for special needs lawyers.  What he means is, it seems like you know our assistant, Mary.”

Kate smiles at Scott, hoping that in some way, she’s sent a bit of a signal.  “Oh, Mary.  We met a couple of weeks ago.  Sonny says she’s pretty good.”  

Maurice elbows Scott in the side, and Kate revises her estimate of his age down a bit.  

“She is.  We appreciate her,” Scott says, ignoring Maurice.  

They begin to ask Kate about her job, and their questions make it clear Sonny’s been talking about her.  It’s also clear they have a lot of mistaken ideas learned from cop shows. They’re especially interested in Kate’s version of the story of how she and Sonny met.  Sonny appears with drinks for himself and Kate just as Maurice is exclaiming, “I wouldn’t have thought Carisi had that kinda badassery in him.”

Kate is glad to see Sonny.  She’s also glad to see a glass of alcohol with her name on it.  Running into a gunfight to save Sonny made her less nervous than having to hold her own in a room full of strangers she wants to impress for his sake.  Taking a healthy drink, she happens to glance over at the table of Sonny’s coworkers, and notices Mary glaring at her with an expression that reminds Kate of something. It takes her a second to realize that it’s the look on the face of a perp with a low opinion of women when she slaps the cuffs on.  Kate shivers and turns away.

Sonny feels ten feet tall.  He has just won his first big case – OK, he was only second chair, but still – and his bosses are pleased with him.  His SVU squad is proud of him, too.  He feels like he’s on his way, like he may have successfully made the transition to the DA’s office and, until this moment, he hadn’t realized how frightening that leap really had been.  And then there’s Kate.  He still can’t believe she’s here, back in his life, back in his plans, back in his arms. He hasn’t taken his arm from around her all night.  Yes, he wants everyone to see his beautiful girlfriend.  But it’s much more than that.  It’s just so right that she should be here to celebrate this first big win with him.  Having her by his side feels like… He can’t even explain it to himself.  It’s like his life was VHS before, and now it’s Blu-ray.  Or whatever comes after that.  And he’s insanely proud when people recognize her name and comment on her reputation in the NYPD.  It’s a very good night for Sonny Carisi.

They stay at Maxwell’s until after midnight, when the party has pretty much wound down.

Sonny and Kate flop down on his couch immediately upon finally making it to his apartment and pull off their shoes.  They’ve been standing for hours, talking and celebrating and networking.  They’re exhausted and, although they aren’t drunk, they have been steadily sipping drinks all night.  For a few minutes, they just slouch, side by side, heads back on the cushions.  

“That was…  somethin’,” Sonny says.  “I never saw so many mucky-mucks in my life.”

“No kiddin’.  And they were all there to celebrate your win.”  

Sonny chuckles skeptically.  “A small cog in a big machine.”

“Bullshit.  You were sitting right there at the prosecution table.  You questioned - how many witness was it again?  You’re a regular big deal, Baby.  Get used to it.”

Sonny puts a hand on Kate’s thigh.  “I loved havin’ you there tonight.”

Kate puts her hand over his and turns her head where it rests on the cushion to look at him.  “I loved being introduced as your girlfriend.”  

“Was that OK?  I didn’t mean to get ahead of things…”  

“I mean it, Sonny, I loved it.  I wanna be your girlfriend.  And I want you to be my boyfriend.”

“I already am, Katie.  I’m yours.”  

Sonny reaches for her and they don’t come up for air until quite some time later, when Kate has Sonny’s shirt open and untucked, and Sonny has Kate’s dress on the floor.  

“Do you think you can stand any more good news today?” She asks, running her fingers through his hair in a vain attempt to get it back under some control.  He is lying on top of her, looking down at her and playing with her hair, too.  

“I dunno.  It’s been –“ Sonny is on the point of making a joke when he has a thought.  “Holy shit, Kate.  Your transfer came through?”

“You’re making out with the newest Detective in Manhattan South Narcotics.”

For the next five minutes, Sonny stumbles through excited half-sentences, alternating with kisses and hugs, punctuated by excited shouts. He feels drunk in several ways, and finally has to sit up and hold his head in his hands, trying to assimilate all that has happened today.  “This is too much.  I feel like I’m havin’ a dream and I’m gonna wake up in the crib in the SVU squad room with midterms in a week.”  He looks over at her.  “And you in Brooklyn.”

“Nope.  It’s all real.  You’re a big shot and I’m a traitor to Brooklyn North.  The guys stole everything that was in my locker and then filled it with paper from the shredder soaked in beer.”

Sonny laughed.  “That’s cop love.”

“I know.  I’m gonna miss them.  But you’re worth it.”

“I’m gonna remind you of that when you’re in the middle of moving and I break something.”

The rest of the night is a happy blur.  When they get to bed, Kate tells Sonny to lay back and spends what feels like hours touching, stroking, kissing, and licking him everywhere, all the while murmuring compliments and love.  She gives him a spectacular climax, curling a finger inside him; Kate is the only woman he’s ever trusted enough to let her do that.  Sonny has to smile at the memories evoked when he pulls her in to spoon with him and, together, they finger her to orgasm.  It’s a compromise they made back in their Brooklyn days.  She doesn’t always have to come; she likes the idea that sometimes she wears him out. It’s kind of a compliment, actually, if he can’t keep from falling asleep.  But he has a thing about making sure she’s satisfied, too, and this way is quick and efficient, and they’re both happy.  It takes him less than two minutes to fall asleep afterward.  

 *************

Sonny doesn’t find the picture of himself and Kate at Forlini’s.  After a while, he forgets about it because Kate gives him a framed picture of them at Maxwell’s on the night of the verdict celebration.  It’s a great picture, and it’s a reminder of one of the best nights of Sonny’s life.  Unfortunately, it gets knocked off his desk and the glass gets broken.  He assumes it was the cleaning people who broke it, and means to replace the glass, but just hasn’t gotten around to it yet.  He has other pictures of them, too, as the desktop background and screen saver on his computer, so it’s not that big a deal.

Besides which, he has the real Kate, who will be moving to Manhattan this weekend.  They’ve decided that “no pressure” includes not moving in together, at least not now. Neither of them really thinks they won’t be successful in picking up their relationship again, but it kinda makes sense. Besides, Kate was able to sublet a tiny studio apartment from a cop Sonny knows at SVU who’s just moved in with her girlfriend and has most of a year left on her lease.  It’s more expensive than her one-bedroom in Brooklyn, but it’s not too bad, and she’s not expecting to be there much, if things go well with Sonny.

Sonny’s never been one to hide anything, and his friends at work don’t mind hearing about Kate’s impending arrival.  Scott is married and his wife is expecting their first baby, so he’s kind of blasé about the whole thing, but Maurice thinks Sonny is the luckiest SOB on the planet.  He sees Kate as somewhere between Wonder Woman and Beyoncé and, since hearing the story of how they met, has a little bit of hero worship going for Sonny, as well.  The problem is Mary.  Any time she hears Sonny talking about Kate, Sonny has to endure stony silence for the rest of the day.  It’s annoying, but she does a good job, and Sonny doesn’t want to get her into trouble by complaining.

He did once try to talk to her about it.  He asked her to have a seat in one of the chairs before his desk, closed the door, and sat on the edge of his desk, looking down at her.  His intention was to be kind of fatherly, although she was at least his age.  The look on her face as she gazed up at him was almost beatific, which made him even more uncomfortable that he had been to begin with.  But when he began to explain that he’d noticed she sometimes became silent and standoffish with him – he’d decided not to mention Kate – she started to cry.  He tried to console her while standing his ground. She looked at him with puppy eyes awash in tears and a trembling lip.  He tried again, soft-pedaling as best he could.  She wailed.  He said maybe it was his imagination.  She began to hyperventilate.  He panicked, shoved a handful of tissues in her hand and began to apologize profusely and, in the end, promised that he, Sonny, would try to behave better in the future.  

Sonny knows women.  Sonny grew up with three sisters, and they’re all close.  But for the life of him, he can’t figure out how to deal with Mary.  So he doesn’t.  Instead, he avoids talking about Kate when she’s likely to be around and tries to keep as much distance as he can.  Which isn’t easy when Mary is in his office a hundred times a day, on one excuse or another, and brings him coffee and treats no matter how much he tries to discourage her. He tried telling her he was trying to cut down on caffeine.  She brought him decaf.  He told her he was trying to cut out sugar and carbs.  She brought him horrible sugar- and carb-free treats he wasn’t even sure were actual food.  But he had to eat them, because she checked.  He saw her look in the trash to make sure he hadn’t just tossed anything. She is relentless.  When he actually finds himself sprinkling crumbs on the napkin on his desk and going to another floor to throw a particularly horrible fruit bar in the trash, he gives in and casually mentions he’s back on caffeine, sugar, and carbs.  It’s easier to just let her bring real coffee and real treats and just eat the damn things.

***********

Anything that can go wrong with Kate’s move does.  For some reason, the moving truck company thinks she cancelled her reservation and doesn’t have another truck, which means she spends valuable time chasing down another available truck on no notice.  The keys aren’t where the previous tenant left them, so she has to get a locksmith to make new keys.  When she does finally get in, she’s hit with a terrible smell that comes from a dead rat under one of the windows.  That is somewhat of a mystery, because the rat is well decomposed, but Sonny’s friend only vacated the apartment a few days before.  Being so far behind schedule, however, Kate doesn’t have the luxury of time to worry about it.  Especially since she has to get moved in before the sun goes down, because there is no electricity, and won’t be until at least the next day.  Somehow, Con Ed is also under the impression that she cancelled her appointment.  

A couple of Kate’s cop friends and their spouses help her and Sonny with the move, and they take it all in stride, which helps Kate stay calm.  Besides, she and Sonny are pretty much delirious to finally be at this point.  Neither of them has forgotten what it was like to be apart, aching for each other, trying without success to get over one another. There’s not much that can dim the joy of this day.    

Kate finds herself staring at Sonny sometimes.  He’s only gotten better looking over time.  She decides she really likes the silver in his hair, and she’s captivated anew by his mouth – she’s always had a thing about his smile.  He has the best smile she’s ever seen, and he’s smiling more than usual today.  Sometimes he catches her looking at him with a sort of deer in the headlights expression, and it gets to him.  She looks at him the way he feels about her.    

They get Kate’s things moved and she takes them all out for pizza and beer.  It’s been a good day, regardless of the problems.   They laugh and drink to the future and it feels like Christmas morning. Sonny has a plan; he tells Kate he wants them to stay in her new place tonight.  She looks at him like he’s lost his mind, but she can’t say no to him, especially today, and they go back to the little studio with no electricity, nothing unpacked, and the bed not even put together yet.  

Earlier, Sonny put the box holding Kate’s bedding in one corner so he could find it again.  He also took some candles out of a box marked “candles” and lined them up on the windowsill. Now, by candlelight, he pulls the mattress and box spring down from where they’re leaning against a wall and makes a nest of blankets and pillows.  There, he makes love to Kate slowly and thoroughly by the light of one candle sitting nearby on the floor and it’s like electricity would only have gotten in the way of this perfect moment.  

 **********

It’s taken a while for Kate to get used to Manhattan South. They have a different way of doing some things, and she’s careful not to make any “that’s not the way we did it in Brooklyn” comments that will get her ostracized.  Her partner is a good guy who seems to be happy enough to be partnered with her.  He smooths some of the rough edges and teaches her what she needs to know without treating her like a moron.  She thinks they’ll do well together.

She’s long since moved into her studio, small as it is, and for the most part she likes it.  There are two things she’s not crazy about.  First, she comes home sometimes to find dead things in there.  Rats, mice, a snake once.  And they’re always decomposed enough to smell.  Which leads to the second thing.  Someone comes into her studio when she’s not there.  She’s almost sure of it.  She doesn’t think there is any other way for the dead things to get in there; the apartment’s so small, she thinks she would have known they were there if they crawled in themselves.   And things are just slightly off sometimes. A drawer messed up.  Things moved on a shelf.  A favorite picture of her and Sonny at Coney Island taken years before fallen to the floor and the glass broken.  She spends more time at Sonny’s, however, than she does here, so she can’t be absolutely sure.  So she doesn’t ask the Super to change the locks, or say anything to Sonny.  

There’s not much that could make her regret the move, though.  After three months in Manhattan, God knows she’s happy, and she thinks Sonny is, too.

She’s right about that.  Sonny’s starting to wonder how long he should wait before he asks her to move in with him, or whether he should ask her to marry him first, or how this should go.  He remembers their “no pressure” agreement, and he doesn’t feel pressured by Kate at all. But the agreement goes both ways, and he doesn’t want to pressure her, either.  His sister Gina counsels patience.  She says to wait until it’s been at least six months.  She also gives him shit about being like a puppy when it comes to Kate, but it’s all just sibling teasing.  All of the Carisis are glad to have Kate back.  

Sonny feels like, even as hard as he’s working, his life couldn’t be better.  Ms. Hadid is letting him handle arraignments and even motions now.   From the beginning, she’s deferred to him when it comes to questioning defendants.  She knows talent and experience when she sees it. He’s looking forward to sitting first chair at his first trial, which will necessarily have to be something small, but it’ll be huge to him.  

The one dark spot continues to be Mary.  She’s become overtly flirtatious now, in a way.  She never calls him “Sonny” anymore.  Now he’s “Sweetie” or “Honey” or “My Dear.”  It’s totally inappropriate, but in every other way, she does a great job.  It’s time to have another talk with her.  It’s past time, actually, but he dreads it.  He’s sure it will end up like the last time, but it has to be done.  Between the treats and the nicknames and the fawning, if he doesn’t address it, he’s complicit or, worse, leading her on.  

He chooses a Friday afternoon, because that way if she gets upset, she can go straight home and have time to recover.  He says a prayer to St. Michael the Archangel as he’s waiting for her.  A conversation with his assistant shouldn’t require him to ask a sword-wielding seraph to defend him in battle, but it does.  

Mary walks into his office.  Her pink dress is a bit oversize, like all her clothes, and does her figure no favors.  She’s smiling the smile Sonny’s come to think of as creepy and she stands leaning against the front of his desk expectantly.  

“Go ahead and have a seat, Mary,” Sonny says, getting up and closing the door.  She watches his every move, her hopeful simper maybe burning just a bit brighter at the idea of being alone with him behind closed doors.

“You said you wanted to talk to me.  What is it, sweetie?”

Sonny goes to sit back behind his desk.  “Well, um… that’s just it.  You and I are colleagues in a professional environment, and it’s important to behave that way.  So I wanted to ask you to call me Sonny, not anything else, like sweetie, or honey.”

Tears well in her eyes and she goes first pale, then bright red and blotchy.  “Don’t you like me?”

That question is wrong in so many ways, Sonny shouldn’t be prepared for it.  But he is. He has actually role-played this conversation with Kate.  They covered this precise question.

“Mary, I think you are very good at your job, and I appreciate working with you.  I have no complaints at all, except that I would like you to stick to calling me Sonny.”

“But we’re friends, right?”

Another question he’s practiced.  “We’re friends and professional coworkers.  That’s how we should treat each other.”

“It’s that Kate, isn’t it?  She’s jealous of us.”  This one they didn’t practice.  Sonny would not have foreseen the sudden venom in Mary’s expression and her voice. Her brown eyes were swimming in tears a moment ago, but now they’re narrowed and her lip is actually curled. Out of reflex, Sonny moves his hand to his holster which, of course, isn’t there anymore.  

Right away, he recognizes that as the overreaction it was, and tries to take a deep breath and return to the script.  “We’re talking about you and me here, Mary.  The way you and I treat each other here in the office. All I’m asking is that you don’t call me anything except my name.  OK? That’s it.”

The venom is gone as fast as it came, and now it’s time for tears.  Tissues have been prepositioned on the edge of Sonny’s desk for just this purpose, and Sonny and Kate have decided that not reacting to the tears is the way to go.  

“Sonny, I’m sorry.  I don’t mean to make you feel bad.  I’d never do that.  I just really like you, and I like working for you, and I thought you liked me back.”

“I like you just fine, Mary.  I’m just asking for this one thing.  One professional to another.”

“Is that all we are to each other?  After everything I’ve done for you?”  

Sonny thinks about that robot in that old show that used to flail its arms and yell, “Danger, Will Robinson!”  He had actually done that, sitting on his bed in his boxers, role-playing this conversation with Kate, who was wearing the shirt he’d taken off to go to bed.  Kate had actually predicted this, word for word.  

“We’re coworkers.  I think we have a good working relationship.  All I’m asking for is to be called by my name.”

She’s in full weeping mode now, having helped herself to the tissues placed before her.  Sonny braces for hyperventilation, like last time.  But instead, Mary does something that really creeps him out.  She pulls herself together.  After about three minutes of eye wiping and nose blowing, she looks at him with eyes that are red-rimmed, but calm.  Still, there’s something there…  The detective in Sonny wouldn’t trust a perp who looked at him like this.  She’s angry.  He’s sure of it.  

“I understand.  Maybe I shouldn’t call you by your first name at all.  I know some of the assistants use ‘Mister’ or ‘Ms.’  I could do that for you.”

“Sonny is fine.  I’m not a ‘mister’ kind of guy.”

“All right.  Is there anything else?”

“No, that was it.  I’m sorry you’re upset.  I just want us to be appropriate and professional.  That’s all.”

Mary gets up and leaves, that unnatural calm still pulled over her like a camouflage tarp.  Sonny shivers.

 ***********

When Kate finishes her shift on Sunday night, her partner drops her off at Sonny’s office.  Tom Hensler is a dedicated cop who enjoys ribbing Kate about dating an ADA, given the continual strain between the NYPD and the DA’s office over cases and evidence.  In truth, however, he and Sonny actually get along well.  Tom and his wife, Kelly, have been out together with Sonny and Kate a few times in the months that Kate and Tom have been partners, and they all have quite a bit in common.  Kelly is a police dispatcher and mother of their three-year-old twins - little boys who, since meeting Sonny, constantly ask their parents when Sonny can come back to play with them.

Sonny is waiting just inside the building, having finished the work he’s come in to do and ready to go home.  He gives Kate a smile that lights up her world and they begin to walk together to Kate’s apartment, enjoying the nice evening and just being together.  Upon reaching Kate’s building, they can immediately smell something when they come in the front door.  There’s no smoke, but it’s definitely a burning smell.  

“Should we call the Fire Department?”  Kate asks, concerned.

“There’s no smoke,” Sonny answers.  “Let’s go talk to the Super.”  

They knock on the door of one of the apartments on the ground floor, which is almost immediately opened by a thin, white-haired man in his sixties, looking as though he’s had a long day.  “Oh, there you are.  Let’s go take a look,” he says.  

“Did something happen?”  Kate asks, trading surprised looks with Sonny.

“You could say that.  C’mon, let’s go.”  The Building Superintendent steps out, yells back into his apartment, apparently to his wife, that he’s going upstairs, and closes the door.  He leads the way down the hall to the stairs.

Sonny and Kate exchange another look.  “Where are we going?”  Kate queries, a bad feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.  

“Your place.”

“Shit.”

The door of Kate’s third-floor apartment is open and fans are blowing out the window, although it’s a cool night.  

“We hadda get rid a’ all the smoke, so I hadda put fans in here, I hope ya’ don’t mind,” the Super explains, leading the way into Kate’s small studio, where a charred, series of bent springs and other unidentifiable debris fills a hole that comprises about half the mattress.  

“What happened?” Kate shrieks.  Sonny immediately begins looking around the room as though at a crime scene.  

“I dunno.  Weirdest thing.  The fire alarm never went off.  Abe Taylor across the hall smelled smoke, and he came out and saw it was comin’ from under your door.  So he ran down to get me, and I ran up here with a fire extinguisher.  But here’s the really strange part.  The fire was already out before I got in.  It looked like somebody put it out, everything’s all soaked.

“What’d the fire department say?”  Sonny asks, in full cop mode now.

“Nothin’.  We didn’t call ‘em.  It was out. I tried to call you, Kate, but you didn’t answer.”

“That’s right!  I’m sorry, I got your call, but I was in a briefing, and I actually forgot about it until right now.  This is no accident.  I’m calling the Fire Department.”

Sonny nods and starts asking questions of the Super as though he’s just naturally fallen back into detective mode.  The Super has asked the other people on the third floor, but no one has seen or heard anything, and no one has seen a stranger in the building.  

“They’re on their way.  They’re bringing the whole show, I’m afraid.  I couldn’t talk them out of it,” Kate says.

Half an hour later, the street is full of fire equipment and flashing lights, surrounded by onlookers who don’t stay long when they see there was no flame.  Not even any smoke.  Just a burned smell and a lot of people standing around.  

Kate is rattled.  She’s unflappable at work, but this is her home, and it feels like an attack. Sonny stays at her side, always touching her in some way – holding her hand or with an arm around her, sometimes just putting a hand on her back.  She answers all the questions she can, but she really doesn’t know anything because she wasn’t there.  There is one question, however, that both she and Sonny can answer.  Neither wants to, but the answer is fairly obvious.

“Do you know of anyone who would want to do something like this to you?”  The arson investigator asks, taking notes in a little notebook that Kate notices is covered with smudges that she assumes are ash.  

Kate looks at Sonny, who looks back with an equally troubled expression.  

“I think we do,” Sonny says to Kate.

“We don’t have any proof.  We don’t know it’s her,” Kate replies.

“Tell me,” the investigator says.  So they do.  

Somewhere during their explanation of what’s been happening with Mary Duderon, one of the inspector’s technicians comes down the front stairs of Kate’s building, a bag filled with what looks like charred sticks in her hand.  She holds the bag out to the inspector, who squints at it.  

“Picture frame,” he says.

When he says that, Kate sees unburnt edges of the sticks, suddenly recognizing the sticks as being from the frame around the picture of her and Sonny at Coney Island.  She feels sick.

“It’s taking some time to separate out, but it looks like there are two or three more.  Looks like there were pictures in frames on the bed while it was burning,” the technician says.

Kate looks at Sonny.  They both know there are, or were, a few framed photos of them scattered around Kate’s apartment, including a copy of the picture of them at Maxwell’s hung on a wall.  

“Can I go look?  I think they could all be pictures of the two of us,” Kate says, her voice weak. She doesn’t realize how tightly she’s holding Sonny’s hand, and he doesn’t mention it.  

“Why don’t you let me do it?” He asks, wanting to spare her if he can.  “I’ve probably been here almost as much as you have.  I know what was there.”  

“You can both go up,” the arson inspector says.  “I want to know exactly what’s missing.”

Two framed pictures, one of Kate with her family and one of Kate and Ahmad Washington and the rest of her Narcotics squad in Brooklyn, still sit on a windowsill, untouched.

What’s missing is every picture of Sonny and Kate that was displayed in the apartment.  All of them have been piled on the bed and set on fire.  

[thesffcorner]

On the Come Up

On the Come Up a YA contemporary novel, written by Angie Thomas. It follows Bri, a teenage girl from Garden Heights, who dreams about following in her father’s footsteps and becoming a rapper, though her father never got the chance to make it big. When her mother loses her job, and Bri’s family gets put in a bad situation, her dream of making it becomes something she must do at any cost; even if it means sacrificing her art in the process. I have heard nothing but great things about Angie Thomas and her writing, though I was never compelled to read the The Hate U Give. However, her second book On the Come Updid, and I can now say I completely understand the hype. Thomas is an amazing author, and I am even compelled to give the Hate U Give a try, because the way she writes characters and slice of life stories is absolutely incredible. The writing in this book was flawless. The way all the characters speak, and act feels completely natural and verisimilitudinous; I believe that these are people with lives and desires and personalities that extend beyond the pages of the book. At no point did I find any of the dialogue jarring or cringey; the teens talk like teens talk, the parents talk like parents talk, and the jokes felt appropriately clever. What I mean by that, is that oftentimes authors write their characters to be funny and quirky in a way that teenagers just aren’t; in here, Bri, Malik, Sonny, Curtis, everyone sounded and acted like actual teenagers. That includes corny insults and baiting, lot’s of pop culture references to things that are actually relevant. There wasn’t a point in the book where I though the slang was too much, or the humor was trying too hard; I am just incredibly impressed by Thomas’ ability to write such natural dialogue and characters. The other thing that she excelled at was making all these characters have distinct personalities and motivations, and they all were very relatable, and if not relatable then understandable. The adults, especially Aunt Pooh, Jay, and Supreme do some pretty bad things, but you understand exactly where they are coming from, even if you don’t agree with them. The same was true with Bri and her friend group; there were many points where she treats the boys badly or they treat her badly and they don’t really apologize, and it’s because that’s exactly how teenagers act; they don’t always know the best way to express themselves or what the right thing to say is, and sometimes they just plain refuse to admit they are wrong. Beyond the characters, I also really liked the world. Garden Heights is such a colorful setting for the story, from both ends of the spectrum; there are the poorer, crime ridden areas where it’s normal for a SWAT team to do a drug bust in the middle of the day on a playground, but then there is also the Church, and the pretty houses on the other end of the neighborhood. There are a lot of themes that Thomas covers just by virtue of the story being set where it is: the fear and uncertainty of living in a bad area, the fear of the police shooting black youth for no reason, the gang activity that while bad, also provides some outlet for people. None of these themes are necessarily the focus of the book, but they are important in informing both the world Bri lives in, and her own character. Her father had been killed in a gang related shootout, her mother had been a drug addict, she is from the Heights, while going to a fairly upper class, elite high school. These are all things Bri has to contend with, and they inform the way she makes decisions and expresses herself. I really enjoyed the duality of the characters Bri is surrounded with; her best friend is her aunt Pooh, who is young enough to be her older sister, and is part of a gang that deals drugs. While she clearly loves Bri and wants the best for her, she’s not great at keeping Bri safe, or even just being there for her, the way Bri needs her to be. I loved this relationship, and I found the way Thomas explores their dynamic to really ask a lot of questions from both sides, while leaving the readers to make their own mind about what we think Bri or Pooh should do. That’s I think the best part about the book; it presents all these situations and characters, and a lot of them are wrong. Being a drug dealer is objectively wrong, but what if that’s the only available option you have for making money? But is it really? If it is, is it worth the risk and the knowledge of what what you sell does to people? But does that make you a bad person, and even if it does, is it justified to use that to hurt the people around you? I have to comment on one last thing before I move onto the plot; I have read books about black characters from white authors, and nothing compares to own voices representation. The way Thomas writes her characters, and her own experience and pattern of speech, and knowledge about what black teens go through is something that can’t really be matched by an author of a different background, and I really appreciate that teens can see themselves in fiction like this. The plot of the book was actually a lot looser than I thought it would be. Bri spends a lot of time not rapping, but living her life, dealing with teenage drama. But when she does rap, I found the verses inspired and very meaningful, since they deal with her own struggles while being catchy. There’s a lot of discussion about music and specifically rap in this song; I feel like a playlist of all the songs that are sampled at the ring battles would be an appropriate soundtrack to the book. I also really liked the exploration of what Bri actually says in her song and how people perceive it. There’s a lot said about playing into stereotypes, about talking about things you don’t know, being misconstrued or misunderstood. I was with Bri even during the times when she was wrong, or when people telling her to done herself down were right; she never does and she stays true to herself throughout the book, and that’s what made her such a compelling character. The relationships that Bri has were all very well done and interesting; I loved the dynamic between her Sonny and Malik, I loved Malik’s Simon vs. the Homo-sapiens Agendainspired romance, I liked the relationship between Curtis and Bri. The relationships I found most compelling however were between the family: Jay, Bri, Trey and Aunt Pooh; they were such a fun, loving family, even if none of the characters were perfect, and I enjoyed all the time I got to spend with them. Overall, I really loved this book. There is so much good in here, that I recommend it even if you know nothing about rapping and only care about the slice of life stuff. If you are a fan of hip-hop however, you will love this, and I guarantee, I will read anything else that Thomas comes out with. Easily one of the best things I’ve read this whole year.

goodreads

[briangroth27]

Goosebumps 2 Review

I liked the new Goosebumps film a lot, but I did feel like it fell a little short of the first film. I think it’s that a few characters could’ve been more fully utilized and the frights could’ve been scarier, but it wasn’t enough to hamper the fun I had watching it. 

Full Spoilers…

I liked the new cast! Madison Iseman (Sarah) was great and very likable as a very different type of teenager than she played in Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle, which was a nice surprise. I definitely expected her brother Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and his best friend Sam (Caleel Harris) to drive the movie with her being dragged along as an annoying older sister, but that wasn't the case at all. She has agency, we know what she wants out of life, and her arc is all about achieving those goals. It’s true that her quest to find something to write about for her college essay was a little cliché, but I liked that the adventure the film takes her on gives her more than an essay: it gives her a career. She also gets to be an active player in the climax, which was great. One of my few notes about the first movie was that while Stine's (Jack Black) daughter wasn't passive or a damsel exactly, she also didn't offer many ideas when she easily could've instead of the guys. Goosebumps has never been afraid to feature kids regardless of their gender or race, so it was awesome to see that continue with Sarah being so active here.

Sonny & Sam felt like true Goosebumps protagonists and I liked how Sonny’s science experiments and knowledge played into Slappy’s plot (making Slappy something of a twist on Sonny’s personality too, just like he’s Stine’s dark side). Sonny, Sam, and Sarah's problems being solved (initially) by Slappy felt like the first act of a classic Goosebumps novel (and the bully they boys were dealing with (Peyton Wich) felt like he was pulled right from those books), while all three kids readily accepting that Slappy was in fact a living dummy was a nice and realistic beat given what they’d seen. I liked both Sam and Sonny, but it would’ve been nice if Sam had more to do: after his moving/cleaning business gets them to Slappy and Sarah’s brought into the loop, it felt like he faded into the background somewhat. Maybe this is just because Sonny’s technological skills and Sarah’s growing writer identity were more integral to the ongoing plot, but I wish Sam had a role to play in the climax that was specific to him as well. Of the characters that weren’t used to their full potential, his felt like the biggest loss.

Wendi Mclendon-Covey was great as Sarah & Sonny's mother Kathy and I thought she brought a perfect awkward/embarrassing yet caring "mom" vibe to the role. Chris Parnell’s Walter, possessed by the iconic Haunted Mask, was unfortunately underwhelming. He got a few funny lines and I liked his awkward chemistry with Kathy, but didn't the mask in the book make the wearer meaner, not sillier? Mr. Chu (Ken Jeong) was a fun character, but I feel like they could've done more with him, particularly his excitement to be living a Goosebumps story. Send him out into the chaos to casually soak it in while everyone else is running and screaming in terror or something! I thought it was a little odd he had so much time to make the kids costumes in the middle of the crisis, but I guess the existing costumes might've been brought to life, so maybe there's internal logic to them not just using pre-made disguises (ultimately it doesn’t bother me either way, though). 

I liked Jack Black's return as RL Stine here (though I wish he also voiced Slappy again, even if Mick Wingert sounds enough like Black’s Slappy for it to not be jarring at all). Stine worked really well as a mentor/inspiration to Sarah, even though he didn’t have a lot of screentime (they definitely made the most of his time here). His return to his hometown—forcing him to face his monsters in the place that created so many of them for him—was well done (if not elaborated on). More of that definitely would’ve been appreciated, but I’m content with what they did give us. I'm also definitely down to follow the story where Slappy leaves it, with Stine locked in Slappy’s book (also making the dummy a dark mirror for Sarah, if they want). Maybe Stine's been put into Horrorland? If they're about to take us into the world of Goosebumps after letting it invade the real world twice now, I'm all for that! It would be awesome if the younger casts of both movies teamed up to save RL Stine and wrap up this trilogy! He does have a daughter who used to be a character in one of his books; combine that unique experience with Sarah taking up the writer torch and I think we’ve got a rescue party forming.

I liked that this felt like a lost Goosebumps story (whereas the first movie was more of a meta-celebration of the franchise) and Slappy’s twisted desire for a family worked really well for me. He’s a great villain and forcing people to be his family was a nice, understated tie back to his implied status as Stine's evil alter ego (Stine himself having been a lonely kid according to the first movie). I wish they’d played that up more, though. Using Slappy's incantation to bring all the Goosebumps monsters to life was a fun twist on the lore and made it feel like a sequel to “Night of the Living Dummy.” Slappy using Nikola Tesla's technology to achieve his goals was a nice touch too…and a possible reflection of Stine and his status as an ignored genius in comparison to his rival Stephen King (this features a great IT joke, btw!)? As for the rest of the Goosebumps monsters, it’s always nice to see them, but aside from being recognizable as the franchise’s villains, these monsters could’ve been any thugs. If they’re going to keep bringing every monster in, I’d like to see more Goosebumps-y twists on the classics with defined abilities and unique scares instead of mobs of essentially interchangeable creatures. The ravenous gummy bears were a real threat, but also a lot of fun (and cute!); they’re a good example of an original Goosebumps twist on monsters. I did like that these monsters seemed to be mostly practical costumes/makeup rather than CGI creations this time out.

I think the biggest drawback was the same as in the first movie: I wish these films were more concerned with putting more actual scares on the screen. Slappy does get a bunch of creepy moments, though, and Kathy has an extremely unsettling moment as a human ventriloquist dummy, but I wish it had gone on longer and/or amounted to more. The Goosebumps books and TV episodes had actual thrills and scares alongside Stine’s humor, so I wish the movies would dip their toes in frights just as much as they exist in the “horror adventure” space. Despite me wanting more scares, however, the comedy here landed more often than not and there's no denying that it's a great time at the movies.

I love Danny Elfman's theme and score, but I do wish they'd include the TV show's theme song at some point in this franchise too. The CGI was really good: there was only one shot that looked a little dodgy (when the pumpkins took flight), but otherwise I thought it was convincing. While not explicitly scary, there is a fun spooky vibe here that makes for an enjoyable watch. The pacing’s also on point and moves the story along at a brisk pace.

Goosebumps 2 is out in Blu-ray this week and I'll definitely be picking it up! I'm excited to see it again and it's definitely worth a watch if you're looking for a fun Halloween adventure. Whatever they do for the next movie, I love this series and hope it continues!

Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!  

[madd-devil]

The Dimensions War

Chapter Two: The Godly Wedding 

Warning: Fight

 Author Note: I’m sorry everything is so quick in this chapter omg. As usual sorry for any mistake and feedbacks appreciated! Thank you ^^

Johnathan was observing every guest who walked in the gigantic room to assure that nobody was an enemy. He looked to his right and saw his reflection in a big mirror. He smiled. He was so proud of his polished gold and black armour, a tiger head on the torso.

“Good evening, Johnathan.” A voice suddenly said.

The young man returned back to himself and turned to face the person who has talked to him. He immediately dropped on the floor, bowing.

“Hello, your highness.”

It was a woman who was standing in front of him. A beautiful yet hard one. She had brown hairs flowing on her shoulders, her form was draped in a elegant gold dress. A blue and green peacock necklace was tied around her neck. Without any doubt, it was Hera, the goddess of wedding, who was standing here, near him. The woman smiled at him.

“You can stand up now, great warrior.”

He did as he was told. Hera was taller than him and he glanced at her. He always had a tiny crush on the older goddess but he knew she will never break her vows (unlike her husband…) to be with him. And he will never break his promise too. He had swear to be loyal to the Devil, until his death.

“Is the groom and the bride ready?” She asked gently, some goddesses were walking toward them.

“I do believe so, your highness.” He replied. “Do you want me to check on them?”

“Yes, please.”

The young man nodded and walked toward a door which was hidden behind a red drape. Before he had gone, he had heard the goddesses chuckling at him. He sighed, they knew and she probably does so. He opened the door, seeing the four Horsemen and Angela, talking.

“Uhm, excuse me?” He said.

“What is it, Johnathan?” Ethan asked.

“The goddesses are asking if they are ready.”

“They are. Tell them they will soon appear.” Angela told him.

“You’re… gorgeous.”

Felix was sitting in a silver armchair with green cushions, staring at his love, who was indeed, the prettiest girl he has never seen before. She was wearing a light grey princess dress with laces and a long veil with moons and stars laced in. Her hair was styled in a French braid. Her black and silver crown was on her head and she looked as beautiful and fearless as ever.

“I could say the same about you.” She smiled, kissing him. “You, in a suit?” She joked.

“Oh, you would have preferred my military uniform?” He grinned, playing her game.

Before she could answer, Ethan entered the room, without any warning, like usual.

“The goddesses are ready for the ceremony, you guys better come out.” He said.

“Ethan, when the wedding is over, we will need to talk about this little thing of yours, you know, entering rooms without knocking.” Naomie seriously replied, a bit of anger in her eyes.

The boy shrugged.

“Yeah, sure but right now everyone is waiting for you two to come out.”

Naomie took the arm of Felix and linked it with her own. She stared at him: he looked so nervous and he was shaking lightly.

“I’m not anxious.” He finally said.

She scoffed.

“Of course you are not.”

“I’m just marrying you and officially becoming a God, how can I be nervous about that?”

“They are going to love you.” She murmured, leaning slightly on him, to reassure him. “Both the deities and the people who will worship you. Who will worship us.”

He looked down at her and kissed her. Johnathan appeared suddenly and stopped in his tracks, seeing the two gods kissing each other. He gave a discreet couch, to make his presence known. The two broke apart and glanced at him.

“If you are ready…”

And they both were.

Walking slowly in the middle of the aisle, the Tigers standing and raising their swords as they pass. They reached the end of the aisle and kneeled down, in front of all goddesses of the marriage, Hera in head. She looked at the two young gods then raised her head to watch at the assembly.

“Today we are celebrating the union of two new deities, the goddess of death and god of nature.”

She glared suddenly at the groom and bride.

“Are you two ready for the ritual?”

They nodded. Isis stepped in, a golden ribbon in her hands. She handed it to Hera. She took it and tied it around their wrists.

“From now on, your souls are bonded. You are nothing without the other. You two complete each other. Swear that you will never cheat, never leave, never hide, never kill your love.” Hera sternly said.

“I swear.” The young couple promised, looking at each other.

The ribbon gleamed softly for a few seconds, linking the two souls forever. Isis removed it with a small smile. Now, Odin appeared, a heavy crown in his hands. Hera stepped aside and watched as the god put the black and green crown on the young man’s head.

“From now on, you are a god. You are now one of us. Welcome to the Assembly!” He yelled, making the floor and walls shook.

Felix observed the people who were dancing in the middle of the room. Naomie was talking with a few friends while he was left with his own thoughts. What if he wasn’t strong enough? What if he wasn’t up for this new task? What if he disappointed everyone, including his wife?

“Hey Felix!”

The boy frowned and turned to see Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, walking toward him, beaming.

“Congratulation on your wedding, mate!” The demi god said.

“Thank you, Percy.”

The smile on the boy’s face faded.

“Is something wrong?” He asked. “Are you alright?”

“I just don’t feel like I should be a god… You know, it’s too much responsibilities, I never done something like that in the past. I don’t know how to do it.”

“There is always a start for everything. I think you are going to be a great god.” Percy told him, with his biggest grin.

Felix nodded and smiled faintly at him, feeling a little better. Soon, Naomie appeared at his side and took his hand. Percy left to go dancing with Annabeth.

“I didn’t want to listen but I heard what you told Percy.” She whispered.

He closed his eyes and gulped. She kissed him.

“I promise you, you’re going to be great at this. We just need to work on your self confidence and I know exactly how to do it…”

The young god blushed suddenly and the other one started laughing. She hugged him close.

“I love you Felix…”

“I love you too…”

Suddenly, the two doors of the large room opened, revealing enormous and hideous human-like creatures. They started to kill the guests and people started screaming and running everywhere, to escape from them. Naomie glanced at the gods and goddesses who were as clueless as she was. Some of the monsters ran toward the godly couple.

“What are they?!” Felix yelled, making his long sword appeared with his magic.

“I don’t know!” She replied, her scythe in hand, ready to kill and defend her lover.

Johnathan saw them and the creatures who were going to hurt them. He started running toward them, the rest of the Tigers behind him.

“Protect the king and queen!” He shouted raising his sword to kill one beast and another one.

Artemis and Apollo appeared at the sides of the young gods, Athena was off to kill with Ares and Thor as well as the demi gods and Chiron. The other guests who knew how to fight were fighting too and Michael shot some of the beasts with his paralyser gun, Sonny beside him. The three other Horsemen were trying to help and defend the guests who couldn’t fight back.

“They are Titans!” Artemis said in a panicked voice.

“Titans? As in…?” Naomie asked, killing some monsters with a wave of magic of her scythe.

“No, not them!” Zeus shouted. “The Titans were, I mean, are the dogs of Evrelata, a woman who was jealous of the gods for their powers so she created them.” The Greek god told her. “She also had other monsters but I thought she was imprisoned on a planet…”

“Not anymore, Zeus…”

A woman walked down the aisle, dressed in a pink suit, with a vest and a pencil skirt and white high heels. She had blue eyes and straight long brown hair with a little nose. She honestly looked like a “good” person, who will do good deeds and not like someone who is jealous of the gods and their powers. The woman strolled toward the young gods and stopped when all the other gods and goddesses formed a circle to protect them. She smiled kindly at them.

“Oh you two looks so adorable together!”

Felix cringed at her tone of voice. She reminded him somehow of Pan… Naomie growled at her. How could this woman be so calm? She just crashed her wedding!

“It’s such a shame you two will be separated for the moment…” She sighed dramatically.

Before they could ask what she meant by that, a portal opened and two Titans grabbed Felix by the ankles thanks to their tails. Felix yelped as he was pulled on the floor. The boy tried to escape, shot them with his magic, impaled them with his sword. Even the gods tried to stop the two Titans but nothing could stop them. When Naomie tried to grab Felix, Evrelata shot her with a small blaster. Felix screamed as he was dragged into the portal which closed quickly after he disappeared into it. The devil yelled in pain and agony as she clenched her injured shoulder, the Horsemen next to her.

“What have you done?!” Tom inquired.

“Nothing dear. I just wanted to see how the new and insecure god will do, back in his dimension.” She said innocently.

“His dimension? You mean you sent him back to his original world?!” Sonny yelled. “You can’t do that! It’s against the laws of the Assembly and of Hells!”

“Except that I am not part of the Assembly nor Hells, my dear friend.” She grinned. “And I just wanted to warn you that I am back. And I’m going to destroy all your pitiful worlds, to show to your worshippers how their gods really are.” She darkly added.

“Why are you doing this?” Angela weakly asked, healing her sister.

“I have my reasons, little angel. With this, I wish you a happy wedding celebration, dear Devil.”

The woman climbed on the back of one of the Titans and they flew, destroying the ceiling and crushing the wedding.

[vintagemichelle91]

A Hard Lesson in History: Chapter 1

Authors’ Note: Time to kick off the summer with the latest installment of a A Hard Lesson series! Let’s get back into the swing of things with the Barba’s and see how they are fairing with the newly arrived twins! @rauliskafan and I hope you enjoy this first chapter and be sure to leave your wonderful feedback!! So much more story to come your way!!

           “Oh, they are just perfect!”

           “Look! Hazel has my Rafi’s eyes!”

           “And I think Holly has Natty’s!”

           “The best of both worlds,” Liv commented with a smile as the pair of grandmothers continued to hover over the bassinets placed just shy of the French doors. A spring sunset cascaded into the room casting a gentle glow upon each baby sleeping soundly despite the commotion in the townhouse accompanying their arrival home.

           “Hold up!”

           Pushing her way through the small crowd also comprised of Maggie and Rollins, Violetta peeked in on her new sisters, scrunching up her little nose when she noticed they only slightly opened their eyes for a few seconds to see what all the fuss was about.

           “They need to wake up so I can tell them who you all are,” Violetta sighed as she moved away and took a seat on the sofa next to Harold.

           “Don’t worry, Little V; they’ll figure it all out soon enough,” Carisi promised as he patted her head and handed her a chocolate chip cookie to munch on before the main meal.

           “Thanks, Tio Sonny. But I no think the babies that interested,” Violetta reasoned.

           “You’d be surprised,” Carisi countered.

           “I think I right,” Violetta said looking back to the bassinets where the babies still slumbered.

“Also, Hazel and Holly so sleep too much,” she continued.

           Chuckling, Rafael joined Violetta on the sofa and pulled her into his lap. “Muñequita, that’s what babies do. They sleep and eat… you did that too.”

           “Actually, her eyes were wide open the first few weeks,” Natalia sweetly contradicted as she handed him a drink.

           “See! I wanted to know what was going on!” Violetta pointed out smugly.

           “You still do,” Maggie teased as she took a seat next to Dodds.

           “Nothing wrong with that,” the sergeant said.

           “Tio Mike on my side!” Violetta declared.

           “Only because I won’t watch the Knicks with him,” Maggie quipped even as she kissed her husband’s cheek.

“They got no defense. But we have fun! Right, Tio Mike?”

As Dodds nodded his head, Violetta sat up a little straighter at the sounds of Alessia and Lucia cooing over the twins.

           “I say just sleeping and eating is so boring,” Violetta said, shaking her head. Her honey-colored curls bounced, and Natalia gave her a quick kiss.

           “They will be running around with you and Harold in no time, sweet pea,” Natalia assured her with a soft smile. To say that she was exhausted did not even begin to describe one of the many sensations flowing through her body. But add to that, Natalia was also elated at the fact that she finally had all her sweet little girls under one roof along with a husband who was so loving and understanding and sitting right by her side. Everything in its right place as it should be.

           “For now, let’s just enjoy my most marvelous party,” Maggie said. Leaning back a little, Natalia took in all the flowers Maggie had procured for the homecoming, beautiful blossoms in full bloom complementing the glorious garden that was her family.

           “Muy adorable,” Lucia said as she sat at Natalia’s other side. “Hope they won’t be too much of a handful!”

           “Got ten fingers to get me through it,” Natalia said, extending her arms.

           “Twenty, Mami!” Violetta chirped. “I going to be so much help.”

           “Yes, muñequita,” Rafael said, lifting his little girl up to take her towards the waiting feast.

           “Natalia, I’ll do my best to come by and help you after school,” Lucia promised.

           “Oh, Lucia! That would be lovely. But only if you have the time,” Natalia said.  

           “For the gemelas, I will make the time,” Lucia said as she sipped her drink. “Just have to schedule my tutoring sessions for a little later in the evening,” Lucia said.

“When did that start?” Alessia asked.

“At the beginning of the winter term,” Lucia said. “But no worries. My ten fingers can get the job done.”

“I don’t know about that, Mami.” The women whipped their heads around in unison to see Rafael standing before them.

“You don’t know about what, Rafi?” Lucia asked, narrowing her eyes.

           “Mami, I don’t like you walking around that neighborhood so late at night,” Rafael stated worriedly as Lucia stood and pinched his cheek.

           “Rafi, I know those streets like the back of my hand. And since when are you in the business of giving me a curfew?” she argued back, causing her son to blush.

           “That’s where he gets the witty retorts from,” Alessia whispered to her daughter.

           “And Violetta from him,” Natalia said. “Maybe at least one of the twins will take a little after me.”

           They shared a small laugh as Natalia rose and placed one hand on Lucia’s arm, “Lucia, you come by whenever you can. I’ll appreciate the help at any hour.”

           “Gracias, Natalia,” Lucia replied as she looked back to her son. “Take note, mi hijo; that’s what you say when someone offers a helping hand.”

           “Guess I’ll have to have my wife give me some lessons,” Rafael said as the older women left them alone, and Natalia took his hand.

           “Sounds fun,” Natalia said, lightly kissing his lips. “You as my teacher’s pet.”

           “Will I get high marks, hermosa?’ he asked as he winded his arms around her waist.

           “I see only gold stars in your future, Atticus.”

           When the party was over and Violetta was tucked in for the night, Rafael dished some of the leftover dessert onto a plate and moved to where Natalia watched their sleeping twins. After all the pain they had endured, this felt like life righting the scales and giving them a fresh start, the second chance he would never take for granted.

           “Everyone’s out like a light,” he said setting the plate aside and tenderly hugging Natalia from behind as he gave her cheek a chaste kiss.

           “Violetta was already getting tired by the time Mike and Maggie left,” Natalia mused. “As much as she wanted to stay up and beat them at game of go fish…”

           “Her heavy eyelids won out,” Rafael said with a nod. “I didn’t even make it to the end of the book before she was already snoring a little.”

           “I’ll be sure to pick up where you left off tomorrow night,” Natalia said.

           “Soon we’re going to have to alternate between Violetta and the twins,” Rafael replied, glancing down at the sleeping babies, his heart soaring.

           “Can you believe that they’re here?” he asked. “And all ours?”

           “So many blessings,” she said as she held his hand. “I like feeling this lucky.”

           “Turn around and your streak can continue.”

           Following his suggestion, Natalia looked over her shoulder and started to kiss him when her eyes drifted down to the plate in his free palm, and she simply smiled.

           “A plate of dessert for your thoughts,” he suggested.

           Natalia’s brow arched. “A dessert this time around?”

           “A raspberry tart with pineapple to be more specific, hermosa,” Rafael whispered enticingly into her ear.

           “All for me?” Natalia feigned surprise while placing one hand over her chest. “And my thoughts?”

           “Absolutely… I want to know everything,” Rafael said, his lips just gliding over hers and one arm bringing her close to his chest so he could trace tiny circles into the small of her back.

           “Since you ask so sweetly, Atticus,” Natalia giggled. “My thoughts are of you. Always. And our girls. How all it takes is to have every dream come true to be this incredibly happy.”

           “Anything else?” he asked, nuzzling her neck.

           “Well all that and the dessert,” she teased.

           “Naturally,” he said sitting her on the edge of the bed and feeding her a piece of the pastry after which she pressed her forehead to his.

           “You know me so well,” Natalia murmured. “Promise me that this lasts forever.”

           “It will. I will see to that,” he said, beyond determined to keep their world this wonderful and make sure no harm ever came their way.

           “Our hero in more ways than one, Atticus. Always remember that,” Natalia said as she pulled him towards the bed so they could snuggle under the covers.

           “Coming from your lips… how could I forget?” Rafael said, reaching for the plate of raspberry tart to offer Natalia another taste. “Nothing wrong with a little dessert in bed. I think we’ve both earned it.”

           Natalia took another small bite. “I don’t think I even got the chance to have dessert at dinner.”

           “Why I saved you a plate, hermosa.”

           “Always being thoughtful,” Natalia said. Rafael’s stare never wavered as he watched her take a few more bites before her eyes growing weary. Taking the plate back, he eased her further into the blankets, ready to hold her into his dreams.

           Just as he was about to doze off, small whimpers emerged from the bassinets.

           “Hazel,” he said as Natalia shot up and rubbed her eyes.

           “And Holly.”

           “Sounds like a pop duo.”

           “Anything’s possible,” Natalia said. “As long as they don’t sing like me.”

           “No! Don’t say that! I love the sound of your voice, hermosa.”

           Thanking him with a kiss, she left the bed and began to hum a lullaby. It was offkey, but it came from her heart and…

…suddenly the twins’ whimpers turned to wails. Rafael rushed to calm them.

           “What’s this?” he asked as Natalia held Holly, and he took Hazel. “Don’t we like it when Mami sings?”

           “Apparently, they are my sweet pea’s sisters,” Natalia sighed, cuddling the one baby as Rafael stepped closer to her side.

           “Hush, gemelas,” he said, laying Hazel back down. “You will learn that your Mami is amazing at so many other things.”

           Turning to Natalia, expecting to see her smile, he instead saw her chewing on the inside of her cheek.

           “So you’re really not a fan of my singing either, Atticus?”

           “I…”

           Caught in her gaze and momentarily at a loss for words, he only relaxed when Natalia placed Holly on her pillow and caressed his arm.

           “I’m teasing,” she started. “But for that, you have to heat up the bottles.”

           “On it,” he said before suddenly stopping in the doorway. “And I’ll sing to all of you when I get back.”

           “Now that’s music to this Mami’s ears.”

           And having his family this happy was the sweetest song for his soul.