#if you looked at THAT one for too long a pink pram would show up

[ech0light]

being able to continue dreams once youre somewhat half awake is all fun and games until you manage to scare yourself fully awake and have to calm yourself down afterwards

[oloreaa]

Vencuyanir Ch.3 - The Farmer

vencuyanir [ven-COO-yah-neer]: sustain, keep alive, preserve

Summary: They arrive at a blurrg farmer’s home, and rest before trying to find the Sandcrawler

Words: 5.8k (I thought it was shorter lmao)

Notes: I’m so grateful at every single one of you who have commented and reblogged this story, it’s my baby and it really means a lot to me that you’re reading this🥺

Warnings:  (implied) past child abuse, child in distress, hostages

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……………

Elana and the Mandalorian, accompanied by Bean in his pod, started walking again. The sun was setting behind them, and after an hour of constant walking, they arrived at a blurrg farm. The sky was turning violet, the colour replacing the pink and gold from before, slowly fading into deep blue.

"I thought you were dead." An old Ugnaught in a protective suit with goggles atop his head greeted the Mandalorian, before nodding at Elana.

"I need your help," the Mandalorian said through gritted teeth.

"I figured as much," the Ugnaught said wryly, "Otherwise you would not be here with your bounties, but in your ship, headed to Nevarro now."

Nevarro. Elana tucked that name away for later, unsure if she had ever heard of it before.

"I can't fly," the bounty hunter snarled, "Jawas got to it."

The Ugnaught hummed thoughtfully, grabbed two water bottles, and walked over to them. "Will you need water?" He offered kindly, and after a nod from the Mandalorian, he gave it to him.

"You can go into my home to drink in privacy, Mandalorian. We will not disturb you in there."

The Mandalorian disappeared into the aforementioned home, pushing the curtain that made the entrance to the side and entering it.

The Ugnaught smiled at her, and gave her the other bottle, and Elana drank carefully, trying not to down it all at once. Then she pushed the button that opened the pram, revealing Bean who took in his surroundings with big eyes and exited coos. Visible confusion overcame the Ugnaught's face.

"Remarkable," he muttered, before gesturing to Bean. "You can let your child run around for a bit. I am sure he has been sitting all day." Overwhelmed with the simple kindness in the farmer's voice, she could do nothing but nod, planning to do as he suggested. Elana gave Bean some water first, and he drank so quickly that he sloshed some water over his robe, babbling unhappily at that, frowning down at the dark splotch. She huffed a smile, and then helped him drink again.

When Elana lifted him out of the pram to let him stretch his legs, he squeaked in confusion, and lingered by her when she set him down, looking up at her. With a small encouraging smile from her, Bean took off with a loud coo, already finding something he could play with.

"So you're the bounty?" The Ugnaught scrutinised her, "I did not expect this."

The Mandalorian appeared again, and cut in before she could answer herself, "The child is the bounty, not her."

The Ugnaught raised his brows, before asking: "That is what was causing all the fuss?"

"It's a child." With those words, the Mandalorian stalked towards the working space of the Ugnaught by the side of the house, and started to fix the damaged parts of his armour.

"It is better to deliver it alive then," the Ugnaught said, tilting his head, and then looking Elana over. "Are you it's caretaker?"

"Yes," she whispered, unsure how much she should reveal. But before she could open her mouth again, the bounty hunter started to speak, effectively cutting her off.

"My ship has been destroyed," the Mandalorian said, "I'm trapped here."

"Stripped," the farmer corrected, "Not destroyed." Fixing the other man with a grave look, he continued. "The Jawas steal. They don't destroy."

"Stolen or destroyed – makes no difference to me," the Mandalorian shot back, sounding angry.

Bean was on the ground, stumbling behind some mudjumpers, trying to catch them while happily yelling and making noises. Keeping an eye on the toddler, Elana listened to the conversation carefully.

"They're protected by their crawling fortress. There is no way to recover the parts." Giving a heavy sigh, the bounty hunter started to fiddle with his vambrace.

"You can trade," the Ugnaught simply said, much to her surprise, and Elana turned to them, frowning. She had dealt with Jawas before, being fairly neutral towards them but she was always under the assumption that Jawas saw what they scavenged as their property, with a finders-keepers mentality.

The Mandalorian seemed to agree with her. "With Jawas? Are you out of your mind?

"I will take you to them," the Ugnaught said, and nodded. "I have spoken."

When she looked over to Bean, he had caught himself a mudjumper with a squeal, and she smiled. His coordination was improving, Elana remembered how proud he was the first time he had caught the frog species, and how he wanted to show it to her, but it escaped right under his nose. Bean had been inconsolable for over an hour. She nodded encouragingly at him, shooting him a bright smile.

"Hey!" The Mandalorian suddenly barked at Bean, making her flinch, "Spit that out."

Bean did not listen to him though, and just swallowed the mudjumper in one piece. He then burped loudly, beaming up at them and giggling. The Mandalorian sighed.

She glared at him. "He likes frogs, okay? Could you not raise your voice at him?" Elana asked, raising an eyebrow. She did not back down when the visor suddenly trained on her, ready to stand her ground if an argument started. Bean had been shouted at too many times in his life already, and she was determined to minimize further verbal abuse like that towards the small child.

"Rest here for the night, Mandalorian. You and your bounties need rest, and I have shelter," the Ugnaught said peacefully, diffusing the tension between them, and gestured to the hut behind him. The Mandalorian nodded in silent thanks before following the Ugnaught into his living quarters. Elana followed after getting Bean into his pram, the angle at which she held him uncomfortable with the cuffs, but manageable, and quietly praised him for his mudjumper catch.

Inside it was warm and dark, and the entire room felt homey in a way she could not quite describe. Letting out a long, relieved sigh at finally having a roof over their heads and some decent shelter for the night, Elana looked around, observing the interior. Bean was sitting upright in his pram, taking in the new sights curiously, babbling quietly. 

"Can you take off my binds?" she requested, holding out her hands to the Mandalorian. He visibly hesitated before coming near and pressing the lock system. The cuffs loosened and she could not help but gasp slightly when the pressure eased, revealing skin that has been rubbed raw. Taking her hands close to her chest, she wrapped a hand around her wrist and shrunk back from the Mandalorian. 

"Thank you," Elana said, not meeting his gaze. Bean cooed loudly, and she turned around, scooping him up, her back to the Mandalorian, protective of the baby in her arms. The weight of the little one against her was comforting, and he snuggled closer to her as well, pressing his face between her collarbones. Giggling slightly at the tickling sensation of him breathing against her, she pressed a kiss onto his forehead, simply breathing him in.

"We need to give you a bath, little one," she murmured against his skin, and he made a whine in response. Elana pulled him back, and looked down at him, booping his button nose with her pointer finger. "No whining, honey," she said, "You're dirty."

His little mouth dropped open as if he wanted to protest, but she turned her head towards the Ugnaught, effectively ignoring the pout Bean gave her. "Excuse me," she asked politely, "do you have a sonic shower?"

The Ugnaught huffed, and walked over, gesturing for her to follow him. With a glance at the Mandalorian, who just watched them, she followed him, Bean on her hip. He led her to a small bathroom, and with delight she saw that there was a bathtub with a showerhead attached.

"A water bath," she whispered, a thankful smile on her face. Finally she could get all the grime and sweat from her body.

Turning to the Ugnaught, she gave him a bright smile. "Thank you so much!"

He smiled back, eyes impossibly kind. "I imagine you would prefer this over a sonic shower," he rumbled, walking towards the shower and tapping on it, "it will run a full ten minutes for you and your child."

"Ten minutes?" She asked in shock, "this is too much, I can't waste your water like that."

"This farm has many tanks full of water. Most of them go to the blurrgs, not much is used by me. You can take what you need." Elana looked between the showerhead and the Ugnaught, feeling conflicted. 

She would have loved a water shower after months of only sonics in the Niktos encampment. But she did not want one enough to take water away from the kind farmer, even if he helped the Mandalorian. "Are you sure?" She asked, Bean becoming fussy in her arms. Elana repositioned him again and pressed his side lightly, willing him to stay quiet for some moments more.

The Ugnaught nodded, "I will leave you to it," he said, and raised a hand in goodbye when he turned. "I have spoken."

Blinking at that strange phrase again, she took one more thorough look at the bathroom. A small sink with a mirror was on the side, and towels were stacked on top of a small dresser. A half opened window had a curtain that she pulled closed, and she set down Bean in the sink so he would not escape. There was both cold and warm water, she noted with a pleased smile, and took off her shoes while Bean was babbling in the sink.

"Okay, honey," she announced, "We're gonna get you clean." Bean looked up at her, and tilted his head. She took him out of the sink again, and turned the water on, carefully adjusting between warm and cold water until the sink was filled enough to bathe Bean. Taking off the brown robe of the child, tugging it carefully over his big head and ears, she set him in the water.

He made a loud squeal, and started to kick frantically. Elana laughed at him, and poured water over his back as he squeaked at her, a big frown on his wrinkled face.

"Don't make that face at me, mister," she admonished as she took the soap piece sitting on a small rock beside the sink and started to rub it over his green skin. She took care to wash thoroughly behind his ears and between his claws, and was careful when she washed his face. After Elana got him completely clean, she let out the dirty water from the sink, and rinsed him off before letting the sink fill up again with clean water.

"You sit in here, okay?" Elana said, and started taking her clothes off, "Sit here like a good baby while I shower?" Bean patted the water excitedly, and cooed, smile bright as he sat in the sink. She had taken care that the water level would not be too high, so that even if he slipped there was no danger of him drowning.

Readying herself, she climbed into the shower, and let out a sigh of relief as the water spray hit her. She gave herself full five seconds to enjoy it before starting to wash herself quickly, not wanting to waste too much of the water, even if it was offered freely.

It was pure bliss to be able to rinse off the sweat and grime from the last two days, and it was wonderful to get herself clean with the industrial soap bar and the shampoo of the Ugnaught. All too soon she was finished, quicker than the ten minute timeframe the Ugnaught had given her, and she climbed out of the shower, using the towel to get herself dry. Making a towel hat - and she had to smile at how long ago it had been since the last time she had made one - the familiar motion soothing, she checked up on Bean, who was splashing happily in the sink.

Thank the Maker he was not making a big mess, there was barely any water on the floor. But even if there had been, she could not have been mad at Bean, who wore a huge smile as he put his face in the water and blew, making bubbles appear. When he emerged, he was giggling so much that he fell backwards, sliding down the curved sink. 

"Enjoying yourself, sweetpea?" She asked, pulling her clean clothes on and working on rubbing her long hair dry. Bean giggled and looked up at her. "Do you want to get out?"

Bean shook his head no, and played with the water some more.

A knock came from the door.

"When will you be finished?" The Mandalorian's voice came through the wood, sounding surprisingly polite.

Elana looked between the door and Bean. "Uh," she licked her lips, nervous, not wanting to cut Bean's playtime short but wanting to make the Mandalorian wait even less.

"You can come in, I just need to dry him off," Elana decided to say, and went over to the dresser, taking a towel for Bean.

The Mandalorian opened the door, his frame almost too big for it, and he stopped in the hallway, gaze fixed on the baby. The small one's ears perked up at the sight of the bounty hunter, and he squealed happily, splashing the water in delight.

Elana quickly went over, took the child out of the sink, and let the water out before wrapping him in the too large towel, until only his ears poked out. As she quickly gathered the clothes she and Bean had discarded, the Mandalorian stood menacingly in the corner, waiting for her to finish. Hoisting the towel plus Bean up, she settled him on her waist, their clothes pinned underneath her arm. 

Not daring to look up, she stood with her arms full of things, waiting for the Mandalorian to make space so she could pass through. Her heart was beating fast, limbs almost seizing up in fear the longer she and Bean were under his scrutiny. He did, after another moment where his visor was trained on them, and let them through. Almost fleeing from him, she did not know if she imagined the sigh he gave as the door to the bathroom shut with a click.

Returning to the open space of the Ugnaught's hut, she busied herself with drying and clothing Bean, rubbing over the few white hairs on his head. The Ugnaught appeared, carrying a tray with some mugs, and set it down on the table in the back of the room.

"Would you like tea?" He asked, and Elana nodded. 

"Yes, please," she said politely as she carried Bean over to him, making her way carefully around the crates in the middle. She put Bean in her lap and he cooed at the Ugnaught, a spark of curiosity coming from him.

"You looked like you needed some," the Ugnaught said, and handed her a steaming mug. Elana took it, and held in in her palms, letting it warm her. It smelled spicy, and she hoped that it tasted as good as it smelled. The tea being too hot to drink at that moment, she set it down on the table, far enough from Bean so he could not topple it.

"If I may ask, what is your name?" 

"You can call me Kuiil," he said, giving a grave nod.

She repeated the name, careful in her pronunciation, before giving him her own.

"I'm Elana, and this is Bean," she introduced herself, smiling at Kuiil. 

"You're not a bounty," he stated, raising an eyebrow. She nodded, biting her lip, looking down at the steaming tea. "I'm Bean's caretaker," she said quietly, "He's not going anywhere without me."

"I see."

"So you farm blurrg?" Elana asked, not knowing what else to say, "How do you domesticate them?"

"The key is to be patient, they can sense agitation," the Ugnaught said after a short pause of contemplation, "You have to stun them, of course, and then bring them back. Taming takes a while, but it is always worth it in the end."

"I've never ridden on a blurrg before," she said, "I imagine it would be very difficult."

Kuiil nodded, and sipped from his tea again. "It is again a matter of patience. A blurrg will not let one mount if there is no trust. To get a blurrg to trust you, you have to be calm."

Elana thought about it. "So is there a difference in, let's say, riding horses and blurrgs?"

"Blurrgs are more likely to bite," Kuiil said dryly, "The Mandalorian felt the wrath of it when he arrived."

She blinked, surprised.

Kuiil simply hummed, before continuing, "Then again, he tried to roast it." What had been her earlier assessment? That the Mandalorian was nuts? It seemed as if she was correct.

"But he told me that he arrived on a blurrg," she pointed out. Well, it was not actually what he had outright said, but they had shared a short conversation over that right after they left the encampment.

"He did. He learned to ride blurrg."

She could not help a slight snort. "I imagine the learning process was quick?"

Kuiil chuffed, visibly amused. "You could say that. Along with his pride, his tailbone was bruised."

A laugh bubbled out of her without her realising, and she pressed a hand to her mouth to muffle the sound. There was a pause between them that was broken up by a noise from the little child.

"You will stay here tonight, and rest," Kuiil said, "Tomorrow we will search for the Jawas, for they are often wandering around the desert." He took a sip from his mug, and mulled over it. "I only have one guest room to offer, I'm afraid," he said next, and Elana felt the smile on her face freeze, heart dropping into her stomach. "I will get you something you can sleep on."

"So we will share a room?" She asked, unable to hide her trepidation at the prospect. It was one thing to sleep in general proximity with their captor when they were out in the desert, dependent on shelter, but now? 

Elana definitely did not want to sleep in the same room as the Mandalorian, especially not wanting him anywhere near Bean.

"Yes, I apologise. I can show it to you," he said, and Elana simply stared at him for a moment, not quite knowing what to say.

"All right," was what she settled on eventually, and added a "Thank you" because she started to feel guilty.

It was not Kuiil's fault that he did not have more rooms, and it was not even his obligation to give them shelter. And she did not want to be ungrateful, especially after he had let her use water for the first time in so long. After finishing her tea with Kuiil, he stood up and lead her into a side room. She could not use the pram since the Mandalorian had the controls, so she took Bean with her. There were two mattresses stacked against a wall, and she could not help the face she made at the sight. Kuiil started to tug one down, and laid it on the ground. Setting Bean down on the floor and gesturing for him to stay, she took the other mattress, and placed it as far as physically possible from the first. Which was not nearly enough for her tastes.

"I'll get you some blankets," Kuiil said, and went out again.

Bean waddled to her, wrapped his arms around her ankles, and looked up at her. Bending down, she stroked his ears and sighed again. Taking him in her arms, she figured she could get Bean to sleep while she was waiting, wanting to avoid keeping the Mandalorian up with the baby.

She started to hum, placing his head on her shoulder, and swayed slightly. Bean made a noise of protest, and she shushed him. "You're gonna sleep now, honey," Elana told him, "And you're not gonna complain about it, okay? Tomorrow's a new day, and you need to have bright eyes when it comes." Humming some more, it did not take long until he was snoring against her, ears twitching in his sleep. 

She sat down on the mattress, waiting for the Mandalorian to appear.

He did, after a few minutes, a bundle of blankets in his arms. But somehow, those blankets did nothing to soften his look, the repaired pieces of armour back in place, the always present helmet glaring menacingly down at her. Elana stared up at him, feeling her throat seize up, fear starting to build up within her.

"Could you get the pram in here?" She asked, voice quiet but firm.

He nodded, and pressed a button on his vambrace. The pram floated through the open doorway a moment later.

With a slight wave of his arm, he positioned the pram closer to her, which she was thankful for. Prying the snoring Bean off her shoulder, Elana placed him in the pram after giving him a peck on his forehead. His nose twitching, Bean reached out to her with a small hand as if he wanted to grasp at her. With an involuntary smile, she granted a finger, planning to let him hold onto it for a while. When she looked up, the Mandalorian was watching them, and she automatically tensed, shifting so she could shield Bean if necessary.

Do not touch my child, she dared silently, glaring into the black T-visor even though he terrified her.

He did not say a word, but slightly tilted his head, and somehow Elana knew that the meaning had been conveyed. He gave her the blankets, and sat down on his own mattress. He did not take any for himself.

"What about you?" Elana asked, unwilling to interact more than she needed to, but it seemed unfair to her that he gave her two blankets when she did not need that much.

The modulator crackled. "Don't need them."

She hesitated, before asking again. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you alright? You did fall from pretty high up," Elana said, unable to keep the question to herself anymore. 

"I'm fine." His tone was clipped and final, so she took it as it was, and shut up.

Shrugging to herself, she folded one of the blankets so it could be a pillow, then reached over and placed it on his side. "Have this at least," she said, before shaking out her own blanket, and reaching up to extinguish the flickering light above them.

The room was plunged into darkness, the only light coming from the main room and the night sky full of stars outside.

Elana settled down, the pram at the head of the mattress, and placed the blanket over herself. It smelled vaguely of blurrg, but she could not find it in herself to complain. Finally able to rest her aching body from two days of strenuous activity, it did not take long before she fell asleep.

  The next morning she was awoken by a blurrg's roar. Startled awake, she sat up and looked around. The Mandalorian was missing, but when she looked around, she could see Bean sitting in his pram, tapping a rhythm only he knew onto his blanket. He made a coo when he noticed that she was awake, and scooted forward to her, ears high.

"Morning, honey," she greeted, stifling a yawn, "Where is that Mandalorian, huh?"

He babbled, and she got the impression from him that the bounty hunter had not left long ago. Pulling her boots on, and putting her hair in a braid, she scrubbed over her face, getting rid of the sleep still lingering in her system. Standing up, she noticed the folded blanket on the Mandalorian's side. He had used it, she noticed, and felt satisfaction well up in her, which she squashed a second later.

It does not matter, so what if the Mandalorian had taken her suggestion? It will not make him stop him from turning them in, she thought, sighing.

Bean made a coo, and patted his tummy, ears still high. "Are you hungry?" Elana asked, and took him out of the pram. Bean made an affirmative noise, and she pushed away the curtain, searching for her backpack. Kuiil was sitting at the table, a bowl of some kind of stew in front of him. The Mandalorian was nowhere in sight.

"Good morning, Elana," Kuiil said with a smile, and gestured for her to sit. She remained standing, needing to know something first.

"Morning," she smiled, before saying: "Bean here is hungry, do you have anything that I can warm up rations in?"

"Yes, but you will not need to. I have enough stew for both you and him," the old Ugnaught said before standing up, going into what she assumed to be a kitchen area.

Standing in the room, feeling a bit lost, she hoisted Bean up absentmindedly, him having slid down a bit. Kuiil returned after a short moment, two bowls in his hand. She nodded her thanks, smiling at him before sitting down at the table. The stew was bland but it was fine, and Bean ate enough for her to be content, even though it was an uphill battle with him wriggling around.

The Mandalorian came in, told her "Get yourself ready" and then left again. She blinked at the brusque tone, and then sighed. Wiping the excess stew from Bean's mouth, she stood up, and did as the Mandalorian told her.

"Can you watch him for a second?" Elana asked Kuiil, who nodded, and left him there to pack her stuff together.

It did not take long, but she made sure to refill the water bottle, mentally preparing herself for another day of being in the direct sun. Looking at herself in a mirror, washing her face quickly and then slinging her backpack over her shoulders, she went back and collected Bean.

The pram had been moved outside, she quickly discovered, and saw that there was a large platform drawn by a single blurrg. The Mandalorian was fiddling with the rifle, checking on something, the menacing clicks sending shivers down her back. As soon as he saw her, he straightened up and took out the cuffs once more.

She suppressed a sigh. "Again?" Elana asked, holding her wrist protectively against herself, the skin still an angry red and faintly throbbing. The Mandalorian did not respond, but held them out in front of her. Eyes on the ground, she offered him her wrists, wincing as the cuffs clasped around the raw skin once again.

Kuiil appeared behind them, carrying a big crate, and lifted it onto the transporter. Huffing as he turned around, he raised his eyebrows at them. "Do you want to find the Jawas or not, Mandalorian?" Kuiil asked, and climbed onto his seat. The bounty hunter followed suit, sitting down on one of the crates, the pram with Bean in it floating after him. After glancing at the Mandalorian, she climbed on top as well, and sat down. The sky was cloudy, a rarity for Arvala-7, and she wondered if it might rain later on.

She hoped not.

The blurrg started to move, and it was slow. She half expected it to break out into a full run at some point, but the blurrg moved slowly and steadily. From the way the Mandalorian exhaled in impatience she could guess that he was not happy with the speed either.

Bean was curious, pointing at the blurrg several times, and even if he could only see the backside of it, he was clearly excited to be near the big beast. Elana kept a sharp eye on him, knowing full well that he would leave the pod if he truly wanted to. He was always good at landing lightly and from experience she knew that the little one could wreck havoc in a matter of seconds.

They traveled for several hours, and she was unbelievably grateful that it was not as hot as the last two days. It made travelling a lot more pleasant and bearable, even if the company was kind of lacking - Bean excluded, of course.

The Ugnaught did not say much, and he stayed out of the Mandalorian's way, which meant that he did not interact with her except when necessary. And the Mandalorian had as much conversational engagement as a rock.

It meant that the only thing that helped to pass the dull hours was the little child in the pram being an adorable distraction. Elana had started a little game with him, letting him tug at her finger and then taking it away. Bean was thoroughly entertained by it, giggling every time without fail, and she always switched it up some by tickling him at his neck, making him squeal in delight. She did not know if the Mandalorian was bothered by the ruckus Bean was making, but as long as he did not say anything, she continued. 

The clouds above them darkened and started to amass, and Elana caught herself looking up several times in worry. There was no shelter anywhere in sight, and they did not have anything they could use to protect themselves from rain.

"What happens if it storms?" Elana asked out loud, looking at the other two. 

"The Jawas will camp during a storm," Kuiil explained, turning around slightly, "This will be our opportunity to catch up with them."

"We'll keep going," the Mandalorian spoke up, voice clipped.

She tried to hide the scowl that crept up on her face but was not very successful at it. A clap of thunder rumbled across the sky, and Bean let out a scared coo. Hands reaching out to him before she could even think about it, Elana placed him into her lap, arm curling around his middle as much as the cuffs would allow, pulling him close. She could feel his little heart pumping fast under her palm, and he was looking up at the sky, ears lowered, a quiet whine escaping him.

Elana stroked the top of his head, whispering quiet words in his ear, trying to calm the child. He flinched with his whole body when the next roll of thunder came, turning around and burying his face in her stomach, claws gripping her shirt tightly.

"Hey, honey," she murmured, "It's just thunder, okay? It's loud but it's not dangerous." He whined again, and shivered.

The Mandalorian shifted on his seat, and sighed. She did not glare at him but it was a close thing. This time, a lightning bolt arced across the sky, the clouds looking almost black, and Bean started to cry, so scared Elana could feel it across the bond. Frantically trying to calm the baby, she held him closer and started to hum, swaying slightly from side to side. With every new instance of lightning or thunder he sobbed harder, his tears starting to seep through her shirt.

"Honey, sweetpea," Elana said, rubbing his back in a comforting manner, peppering kisses on his head, "I'm here, okay? Don't be scared, it's just a loud noise and some flashing lights."

Bean whined loudly, his little hands pressing in front of his eyes, making pitiful noises. And when she thought that it could not get worse, it started to pour down.

Hard.

She started to curse under her breath, torn between wanting to get Bean into his pram where he could be dry, and holding him closer because he needed the comfort.

The Mandalorian made the decision for her by moving the pod right next to her, and opening it up. Not wanting the rain to soak through the blankets padded in there, she kissed the little one quickly, and placed him into the pram. With a quick push of the button, it closed and Bean could stay warm and dry. Elana still felt his fear over their bond, and sent as much warmth and reassurance back as she physically could, promising that she was there for him.

She was drenched within minutes, the heavy rain soaking her, and with the cold it was not long until she was shivering, she curled into herself, trying to preserve what little body warmth she had. Teeth chattering and head already aching, she clenched her jaw and resolved to deal with it. It did not matter that she would most likely catch a cold and be a miserable pile for the next few days while being under the usual heat of Arvala-7 again, for their captor would not care anyways.

Kuiil did not seem bothered by the rain wrapped in his heavy clothes, and with envy she realized that the rain pearled off the Mandalorian's undersuit and armour, probably waterproof.

She curled into herself even more, resting her head on her knees, leaning against the pram. After a short while of her trying to ignore the cold and the rain constantly battling against her back, the Mandalorian called her.

"Caretaker. Here," he said, and held out his cape to her. She stared at him, baffled.

"What?" 

"It's waterproof." He was still holding it out, helmet staring at her.

"Why?" Elana asked, and even if everything in her wanted to just rip it out of his hand and wrap it around herself, she felt that there must be more to it.

"You'll get sick. It'll slow us down," the Mandalorian said, voice dry as bone, the words spoken out of practicality instead of compassion.

She stared at him, and must have hesitated too long, because he just chucked it at her with a grunt. Sputtering at the sudden bundle of fabric in her face, she glared fiercely at him. He just turned around and stared stoically into the night again, and Elana could not help but feel that he was currently being the most dramatic person in the entire galaxy.

Elana scoffed quietly to herself, but begrudgingly wrapped the cape around her. It did not help warm her up much, because her clothes were still wet underneath it, but it was at least something.

A favour for a favour, Elana decided, remembering the times she offered him water and he always shut her down; it must have been some kind of twisted way to repay her kindness. And she really did not want to feel any kind of gratitude towards their captor, but since he offered her his cape, Elana thought that she could maybe reconsider her view on him.

……………

Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it!

@mndalorians baby I love you so, so much, thank you for every convo about ven and you working tirelessly with all my grammar and plot mistakes shdhdhd

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[farfromharry]

always (part nine) | harry holland series

summary: it’s the twins’ birthday and the rest of the hollands find out about yours and harry’s secret

word count - 4.4k

warnings - language

a/n - i think i’m gonna do one more part to this <3

“Where’s Lily?” He asked breathlessly, pulling off his jacket and tossing it somewhere in your room. You giggled, barely even registering his question when his lips brushed your neck, tickling the sensitive skin.

“Her uncles wanted to spend some quality time with her.” You explained. He looked at you with furrowed eyebrows, not understanding what you meant. “She’s with Tom and Paddy, they wanted to take her for the night.” He groaned, a bright smile spreading across his face. “So, we’re completely alone.” You said suggestively.

“I’ve never been more grateful to have brothers than right now.” You laughed, feeling him nip at your chest.

“Uh-uh.” You said, brushing your thumb over his bottom lip. “No marks though, unless you’re willing to explain where I got them.” You breathed, already noticing a few start to bloom on your chest.

“Good point.” He hummed, leaning in to kiss you. The kiss was vastly different from Harry’s quick movements only seconds ago. It was slow and passionate, like you both had all the time in the world to show each other this kind of affection.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked, brushing some stray hair from your face.

“Yeah, been wanting to do this for years.” You admitted.

Yours and Harry’s night included multiple rounds of fun after gaining both of your consent, taking full advantage of not having to focus on your daughter right now.

“We should not have waited that long to do that.” You said, completely breathless as Harry collapsed to your side, letting his head hit the pillow. He chuckled from beside you, letting you cuddle into his side, ignoring how sweaty you both were.

“Get some sleep, you seem like you need it.” He said. “Looks like I wore you out.” He teased. You scoffed, weakly hitting his chest.

“You need it more than me old man.” He gasped, feigning offense as you both burst into a fit of giggles.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom first, I’ll be back soon handsome.” You weren’t gone for long, not wanting to be away from Harry’s body for too long. You simply did your business and then headed back.

On your way back into your room you saw Harry’s eyes drooping, looking like he was about to pass out from exhaustion any second.

“You’re so cute when you’re tired.” You commented, crawling back into your bed and cuddling up into his side, your head laying on his chest. He nuzzled his face on the top of your head, sighing.

“You’re like a puppy.” You said, seeing his face screw up in disagreement. “You are.” You giggled.

“Shh, go to sleep.” He said tiredly, holding his finger to your lips to keep you quiet. You rolled your eyes, kissing his finger to make him sleepily giggle.

“Goodnight.” He just hummed in response, too tired to even respond.

You slept incredibly that night. Whether it was just because you’d been worn out, or if it was because you were in Harry’s warm hold, you didn’t find yourself stirring until the late hours of the morning.

Harry seemed to already be awake, staring out of your bedroom window at the morning sky from the comfort of your bed.

“Morning.” You mumbled, kissing his chest softly. He turned his head, smiling down at you. He ran the back of his hand over your cheek, then his thumb over your bottom lip. You leaned up, kissing him slowly before pulling back.

“Good morning.” He greeted. The two of you laid together still in bliss of your previous events until the last minute you could, your naked front rested against Harrys, his hand stroking over the expanse of your back, while your hand rested on his chest.

“So, are you coming to mine and Sam’s party?” He asked, tracing random shapes on the small of your bare back. You copied the shapes he traced on your back and traced them onto his own skin, a small truly happy smile on your lips. You placed a gentle kiss on his chest before shuffling to rest your chin on the same spot.

“Of course, I wouldn't miss it.” You refrained from telling him about the part where you were actually going to help plan said party. He looked down at you, raising his hand to brush some of your tangled hair out of your face. The two of you just stared at each other for a while, admiring one another’s features.

“You’re so beautiful.” He whispered. He felt your body grow hot, laughing to himself at how he could make you so easily flustered. He kept showering you with compliments just to see you get more and more embarrassed, your cheeks growing even more pink with each and every compliment. You buried your head in his chest, your arms coming around his stomach to hug him tightly.

“Stop.” You whined. His hand moved up to thread in your hair, stroking your head with a small smile. The air changed between you two, leaning up you pressed your lips on his, kissing him with the same passion you’d kissed him with during your first kiss last night.

“Oh, are we doing this again?” He asked. You giggled, nodding your head. You climbed into his lap, straddling him, feeling his hands secure themselves around your thighs.

Harry grew impatient, leaning in to capture your lips in another mind-blowing kiss. Your hands were cupping the back of his neck, trying to pull him impossibly closer.

You heard a sudden knock on your front door, forgetting about the plans you had for today, Harry pulling away from your lips to ask if you wanted to get it. You shook your head, pushing your lips back on his. You giggled when Harry bit your lip teasingly, hearing another loud knock from on your door. You groaned, Harry resting his forehead on yours.

“Do you need to get that?” He asked, just making sure.

“Just ignore it, they’ll go away.” You muttered, relishing in the feeling of Harry’s hands on your body. Your kiss didn’t last much longer, hearing the front door open and the voice of your friend echoe around the flat.

“Y/n, i’m here.” Your eyes widened, glancing at the time and quickly jumping off of your boyfriend to throw on some clothes. You pulled on underwear and a hoodie, noticing Harry wasn’t moving.

“Get dressed.” You whisper yelled, throwing his clothes at him. He furrowed his eyebrows but listened, getting dressed in a haste, not wanting to be caught butt-naked in your bedroom by your unexpected visitor.

“Who is that?” He mouthed. You whispered back a quiet ‘Harrison’ and he furrowed his eyebrows, silently questioning why Harrison was in your flat.

“Y/n?” You heard his footsteps growing closer to your room.

“Shit.” You cursed, beginning to panic. You shoved your boyfriend in your bathroom, apologising profusely as you closed the door. There was a knock on your bedroom door.

“Y/n, can I come in?” He asked. You finished buttoning up your jeans, quickly checking yourself over in the mirror.

“Uh, yeah, come on in.” He opened the door, flashing you a smile.

“Tom’s on his way with Lily, do you want to talk about the plans for the party now or-“ Your eyes widened, not wanting Harry to hear about any of the plans.

“We’ll wait for Tom, but um, do you mind just getting me Lily’s feeding blanket from the nursery.” You asked. “She’ll probably be hungry when she gets here.” He nodded, leaving your room to go next door. You opened the bathroom door, motioning for Harry to come out quietly.

“The plans for the party, huh, what party would that be?” He teased. You slapped his arm, giving him a quick kiss and telling him he needed to leave quietly.

“Am I seeing you tonight?” He asked, sneaking in one final kiss as he checked Harrison wasn’t there.

“Yeah, come over around 8?” You suggested. He nodded, grinning before sneaking out to the living room. You followed him out, just in case you had to hide him again.

“Hey, y/n?” Your eyes widened, pushing Harry to hide behind your couch where no one could see him. You heard him quietly groan in pain, trying to mask the laugh you wanted to let out.

“Yeah?” Harrison popped his head out of the nursery, furrowing his eyebrows.

“I can’t find it, do you have any idea where it is?” He asked. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the pink blanket sitting on the sofa, quickly pushing it out of sight when he wasn’t looking.

“Try looking in the wardrobe, it might’ve gotten caught up with her clothes.” He nodded, heading back in. You let out a breath, motioning for Harry to go as quickly as he could.

“That hurt.” He pouted. You smiled sheepishly, pecking his lips and pushing him in the direction of the door.

“I’ll see you later.”

“Bye.” He kissed your lips one last time before slipping on his shoes and rushing out of your flat. You took a deep breath, grabbing the blanket and calling for Harrison. He came back out of the room empty handed, apologising before noticing the fabric sitting in your hands.

“I am so sorry, it got lost in some clothes I need to put away.” You motioned to the pile of folded clothes on the table, smiling sheepishly. He laughed, shaking his head.

“Don’t worry about it, at least you found it.” You smiled gratefully, feeling slightly bad that you were lying to your friends.

Within the next half an hour Tom had shown up with your baby girl, announcing his presence obnoxiously loudly when he entered the room.

“There’s my angel.” You said, lifting Lily out of Tom’s arms to pepper her face with kisses. She babbled at you, your heart exploding when she tried to reach for you.

You settled her against your chest, her head resting on your shoulder, the material of your shirt scrunched up in her tiny fist.

“Was she okay?” You asked, watching Tom take Lily’s things out of her pram.

“She was perfect, she cried a little through the night but I got her down again.” He said, smiling at the little baby, who’d moved on to playing with your necklace.

“Make yourself comfortable.” You smiled, motioning to where Harrison was already laying on your couch like it was his own home.

“Thank you, kind sir.” He teased, joining his best friend. You rolled your eyes at them, taking a seat on the singular arm chair, your girl sitting happily in your lap.

“So, we should start with where it’s happening.” Tom said.

It ended up being decided that Nikki and Dom would host the party at the boy’s childhood home. Tom and Paddy were going to help decorate, while you, Lily and Harrison would distract the twins, purely because you two could keep a secret, unlike Tom.

Like children, the two lads managed to get distracted easily, seeing which of the two could punch each other first, which you thought was absolutely ridiculous.

“Is that everything?” You asked, having to snap the two out of their little moment. The two nodded their heads sheepishly under your gaze, the same look they’d received from their own mothers countless times.

They stayed and talked for a while, feeling bad to just leave you by yourself for the rest of the day. However Tom did receive a few texts from his mum, asking what was going on.

“Well we should get going, gotta tell everyone else the plan of action.” You nodded your head, hugging them both.

For the rest of the day you simply sorted the chores that Harry prevented you from doing by taking up all your time.

When the clock hit eight you prepared yourself for Harry’s arrival.

Not too much longer after that you heard a quiet knock on your door that made you smile, opening it rather quickly to find your boyfriend standing there with bags of junk food in his hands.

“I stopped at the chinese on the way, thought you’d enjoy it.” You grinned, just looking at him in complete adoration.

“I missed you.” You giggled when he pressed his lips all over your face, finally stopping when he reached your lips.

“You saw me this morning.” You said. Harry chose to ignore you, setting the food down on the kitchen island.

“Is she here?” He asked, a wide smile on his face. You rolled your eyes and nodded, leading him to the nursery where Lily was fast asleep. He awed quietly.

“She’s so cute.” He whined.

“She should be, I made her.” You teased. He laughed, shaking his head at you.

“That explains it.” He said, squeezing your cheeks together with an adorable giggle.

The two of you spent the majority of the rest of the night in each other's arms. You ate and then watched countless films, cuddled up under a fluffy blanket on your couch, while Lily was sleeping undisturbed in her room.

He noticed you yawn a few times, prompting him to ask if you were tired.

“Are you tired?” He whispered, affectionately nuzzing your cheek with his adorable nose. You nodded your head, shifting more onto your side so you could cling to him.

“Come on, let’s go to bed.” He mumbled, ignoring your pitiful whine when helping you up.

Harry did it all for you, practically carrying you to your bedroom, helped you get into comfy clothes, tied your hair back, took off your makeup and even helped you brush your teeth when you were too tired. Your heart soared every time he did even the smallest of tasks, feeling like you’d melt into a puddle of adoration for the man when he finally helped you into bed.

“Goodnight y/n.” You smiled lazily, resting your cheek against the soft material of his t-shirt covered back. Your arm came up and wrapped around his waist, so you were spooning him for a change.

“Night Harry.”

And just like the night before, you slept soundly in his arms.

———————————————————————

So on the morning of the 14th, the twins’ birthday and coincidentally valentines day too, you packed up Lily’s things and headed over to the Holland house, knocking gently on the door. Paddy opened it with a smile that only grew when he saw you.

You gave him a quick hug, asking where the twins were. He gave you a quick, unhelpful shrug before immersing himself in playing with your daughter. You could hear the baby squeal loudly as you walked away, calling both of the twins’ names.

“I heard my name.” Sam announced, being taken off guard when you pretty much pounced on him.

“Hey, y/n, good to see you.” You wrapped your arms around Sam, practically suffocating him with your hug.

“Happy birthday.” You said. He laughed in your ear, muttering a thank you before he let go. You opened your mouth to ask him the question he already knew you were going to ask.

“He’s with mum in the living room.” You grinned, nodding your head and practically running off to the living room.

Harry opened his arms to you as soon as he saw your smiley face, letting you sit on his knee to give him a hug.

“Happy birthday.” He thanked you, both of you ignoring the suggestive look from Nikki. The two of you embraced the hug a little bit longer before you finally pulled away first, telling him that he had to come with you.

“Come on.” You laced your fingers in his, pulling him with you to go and find his older brother. You finally found him with Paddy and Lily a few minutes later, explaining to them what you were doing for the day.

“Me and Harrison are taking you both out, so come on, get ready to go.” Sam rolled his eyes at your bossiness, leaving to go and get his shoes. Paddy handed Lily back over to you, quietly whispering he was going to start helping Tom set up.

“You look gorgeous, by the way.” Harry whispered once the youngest Holland was out of sight, checking no one could see before leaning down to kiss you. He quietly told you he’d missed you, and then remembered not to leave Lily out, kissing her chubby cheeks a few times too.

“Harrison should be here any minute.” You explained. He nodded his head, leaving you to slip on some shoes and a jacket. You got Lily ready in her pram, making sure her blanket covered her so she didn’t get cold while out in the winter temperatures.

Harrison arrived and in no time you were all leaving the house. For some reason you’d decided to brace the weather and walk to where you were going to eat, quickly finding out that it wasn’t a very good idea on your parts.

“So, I was thinking, we could go get something to eat,” He suggested, a smirk spreading on his face. “Maybe ditch Haz and Sam, have a romantic meal.” You laughed, rolling your eyes.

“Harry, although it’s your birthday, it’s also Sam’s, and we aren’t ditching him.” You saw him huff and roll his eyes, pouting his bottom lip like a child. The four of you walked until you found a restaurant everyone was happy eating at.

The lads obviously ordered alcohol before anything, disregarding that it was barely even the afternoon. You suppose it was their birthday so you had to let them off, although the same couldn’t be said for the blonde male sitting opposite you.

Harry watched you with heart eyes as you quietly talked to Lily and played with her hands, both of which were holding onto your fingers tightly, the little girl sitting in your lap, trying to grab at everything on the table. Harry jolted upon feeling a sudden harsh pain spreading through his leg, realising his twin had kicked him.

“What was that for, you twat?” He snapped.

“You’re practically drooling.” Harrison said, motioning between you two with his finger.

“Am not.” He mumbled, consciously wiping around his mouth just in case.

For the most part the meal went well. Lily still couldn’t eat solid foods, so unfortunately for her she had to just sit in your lap and behave, which she did perfectly, while everyone else ate.

Your meal was cut short before you could order any kind of dessert, receiving a text from Nikki to tell you they were ready and to come home.

“Can I carry her?” Harry asked, motioning to the lively girl in your arms. Harrison had generously offered to push the pram for you so you could have a break.

“Of course.” Harry was extra careful when lifting the babe into his arms, kissing her face to hear her laugh.

“She really does love you.” You said, seeing the awe in her gaze as she stared at your boyfriend’s face, admiring his individual features. His heart melted, kissing her head.

“I’m really glad.”

The rest of the way was filled with jokes from the lads, all of which made you laugh until your stomach hurt.

“Stop.” You whined, feeling Harrison prod your aching stomach teasingly. You still giggled though, despite Harry’s subtle glare at his best friend for touching you. Safe to say he was grumpy for the rest of the walk.

You were back at the Holland house in no time, Harrison taking the lead and heading up to the door first. After you’d all caught up, standing behind him waiting, he pushed open the door, holding his arms out in a ‘voila’ sort of way. The lights flickered on and you were met with ‘happy birthday’ decorations all around.

“Surprise!” You all yelled. Harry and Sam’s eyes widened, happy smiles growing across their faces. Harry was quick to hug you, whispering a thank you in your ear. You would’ve stayed wrapped up in his arms longer if it wasn’t for Lily letting out a loud wail.

“Oh, my baby, the noise must’ve scared her.” You shifted over to her stroller, carefully lifting her out and holding her close to your body.

Harry’s eyes were glued to you, adoring the way your motherly instincts kicked in on the spot.

“Happy birthday, mate.” Tom said, snapping him out of his daze. Harry smiled at his older brother, thanking him while never taking his eyes off you.

“Either tell her how you feel or move on man.” He said, patting his shoulder when he noticed where his gaze was. Harry nodded, flashing his brother a tight lipped smile.

Harry noticed she hadn’t stopped crying, making his way through the people saying happy birthday to him, so he could make it to you.

“She okay?” He asked, placing his hand on your shoulder.

“I think she’s hungry.” You said, motioning for Harry to get you the pink burping blanket out of your bag.

“I’ll be right back.” You promised.

Right after you said that, Harry was swept away by some of his friends he hadn’t seen in a while, persuading him to have a drink with them.

You came back downstairs after feeding Lily confused, not able to find the curly headed boy anywhere.

At some point, Nikki had taken the angel from you, wanting to show her to a few of her friends. You didn’t protest, wanting to give your arms a break from holding the growing girl.

Later on in the evening you found yourself in the kitchen, alone with Harry. You were just trying to get yourself a drink when his arms wrapped around you.

“Feel like I haven’t seen you in so long.” He whined, pressing a kiss to your cheek, trailing them down your jaw.

“Harry, stop.” You giggled, trying to squirm away from the kisses he was placing on your neck. You heard footsteps heading towards the kitchen, shooing Harry off of you. You’d both agreed to keep your relationship a secret for a while, just until you both knew it was going to go well.

“Get off.” You said. He pushed himself away from you, pretending to busy himself with something in the fridge.

“Just coming to get another drink.” Sam said, eyeing you both out of confusion. You smiled at him, nodding your head, continuing to pour your drink into a glass.

“You two are so weird.” He mumbled, taking his drink and leaving the room. You tried to hold back a giggle but evidently ended up bursting into laughter. Harry joined you moments later, shaking his head.

“That was close.” You scolded, gently hitting his arm. You stayed to talk for a while, enjoying getting to be in each other’s company without other people getting in the way, even if the party was partly for Harry.

He smiled when his mum waltzed into the kitchen, giving her a small side hug and thanking her for putting the party together. Your angel babbled in her arms, making grabby hands towards you that you couldn’t resist, carefully taking her from Nikki’s hold. She informed you about the little nap she took while in her arms, making you smile at your girl.

“Everyone’s looking for you.” She told Harry, motioning out to the garden where people were having fun.

“I’ll go in a minute.” He said. However she wasn’t impressed, giving him a motherly look that told him he had to do what she said.

“Y/n, can I talk to you?” Nikki asked, changing the subject. You nodded, handing Lily over to Harry. You watched him leave with her to go outside, turning back to Nikki expectantly.

She smiled at you, taking your hand and pulling you with her.

You followed her out into the garden where Harry had just left to, admiring the decorations that were still hung in the trees and bushes.

“Are you and Harry together?” Your head whipped around to look at her, a confused smile on your face.

“Wh-what?” You asked, laughing nervously.

“Please, no one looks at a friend the way you two have been looking at each other tonight.” You blushed, trying to find any possible right answer.

“Well, it’s only been a few days.” You said. She gasped, her eyes widening and her mouth twisting into a large smile. “But please don’t tell anyone, we want to see how it goes.” She nodded, pulling you into a tight hug.

“Of course, I’m so happy for you both.” She asked you a few more questions before letting you go and find your boyfriend.

“Go get your man.” She teased. You spotted him sitting further down the beautifully decorated garden by himself.

You didn’t go up to him straight away, deciding first to watch Tom, Paddy and Sam gush over Lily as they played with a few of her toys. You were eternally grateful that the Holland’s loved your daughter so much.

“Hey, birthday boy.” You said, approaching him sitting alone. He turned his head, smiling at you and offering you his hand. He pulled you closer to him, letting you sit on one of his legs, his arm around you and his other cradling his beer.

“Why are you all alone?” You asked. “Are you not having fun?” You questioned, scared you’d ruined his birthday with the party.

“No I am, but.” He paused, making you worry more. You leaned into his body further, beginning to push some of his untamed curls out of his face.

“Talk to me.” You whispered, searching his eyes for any kind of emotion.

“I know it’s my birthday but it's also our first valentines day-“ He said. You mentally awed. “I know it’s soon but I just wanted to spend today with you.” You smiled at him, kissing his head.

“That’s adorable Harry, but we can always do something tomorrow, it’s okay.”

You didn’t notice the suspicious glances from Harry’s siblings, watching you both be touchy with each other. When he turned his head and planted a soft kiss on your lips, not realising what he’d done, the brothers freaked out.

“Wait, wait.” Tom yelled, catching your attention, pointing between you both. “Are you two finally-“

“Dating?” He said, watching Tom nod. “Yes.” Harry confirmed, not even letting his brother finish.

“About fucking time.” You giggled, watching them all cheer and clap for you both. You turned to Harry with a smile.

“Well, guess the secrets out.” You mumbled. He laughed, nodding his head.

“It was always going to come out.”

always taglist - @hopelessly-harry @iwearheadphones @thevelvetseries @minejungwoo @siriuslyslyslytherin @givebuckyhisplumsnow @itstaskeen @icyhollands @starkweasley @hollandcrush @zspideyy

[gaystarwarsblog]

Warm Hands

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

(This is all self indulgent because I feel I’ve been following the story too much. It’s filled, but I hope you like it. She’s longer than the other parts in the series, I think.)

“Mando? Have you ever wanted to take off your gloves?”

You were seated in your spot behind Mando, your leg thrown over the arm of the chair. You could see his arm stop moving from its intended spot on the control panel.

“My gloves?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t feel anything. You know how I am, I like to touch pretty much everything in any market we go to.”

Okay, you’re babbling now. But Mando had put the ship on autopilot and was staring to turn around to face you.

“What brought this question on, honey?”

That damn nickname. After that first night he’d said it, you’d been too nervous to mention how much you liked it. But when he began calling for you with it, you responded. You hoped he knew that meant you were okay with it.

“Curiosity. I’ve never seen your hands. I’ve never seen any of you. I don’t know exactly what the Mandalorian rules are.”

“I have to wear my helmet,” Mando said flatly.

“No, no, I know. I wasn’t asking about your helmet. I just... I wanted to know...”

“What my hands looked like,” Mando finished, a teasing tone to his voice. You shoved him in the shoulder, your hand coming into contact with cold Beskar.

“Shut up. I think you owe me a little something for how long I’ve been with you,” you scold him, anger absent in your voice.

Mando looked to the baby in its pram, and you followed suit. He was sleeping. You’d just gotten him down after singing another lullaby.

“Okay, I’ll indulge you. But only because it’s you.”

You felt your whole body tingle at his words. What made you so special to him that he’d do something like this for you? You were unfocused as the sound of rustling gloves filled the cockpit.

“Here they are. Nothing special, I think.”

You looked down and there they were, stretched out in front of you, palms down. It almost felt scandalous to look at Mando’s hands. You felt like an old, high society lady sneaking away with her betrothed or something like that.

You lifted Mando’s hands in your own and began examining them. They were very pale, most likely due to being in his gloves so long. There were veins on the backs of his hands, trailing into the sleeves of his shirt, along with dark hair that got thicker closer to his arm. His fingers were on the shorter and thicker side, but his nails were trimmed and nicely kept. You ran your thumb over the knuckle of his left pinky.

“They’re so soft,” you murmured.

“They haven’t been exposed to the elements since I was a child,” Mando replied.

You hummed, turning his hands over and examining his palms. You ran your pointer finger over the middle, and gleefully watched his fingers curl ever so slightly.

“Are you ticklish,” you asked Mando.

“I’ll never tell.”

You intertwined your fingers with Mando’s, the warmth of his hand seeping into yours.

“Are your hands always this cold,”

Mando asked.

“You’re just extremely hot.”

A beat of silence followed your statement, and you realized what you said.

“Ah, I mean, uh.”

You wrenched your hands from Mando’s to scratch at the back of your neck, a nervous tick you’ve always had. Mando, you could tell, was also extremely tense.

“.... Thank you,” Mando said finally, his voice halting and robotic.

“Yeah, no problem.”

Your own voice was breathless with nerves, and you hated it.

“I’m going to bed now! See you in the morning.”

You nearly fell down the ladder in your urgency to get away from Mando, all the while muttering obscenities to yourself. What was the matter with you?

******

Mando sat in his chair, his eyes scanning over his bare hands. There was still coolness from where your hands had touched his. Though, to be fair, the air inside the ship was cooling them off as well.

You’d asked to see his hands. Why? Why were you interested in seeing... any of him?

Mando had long since known you felt something akin to what he felt for you, and your reaction to your slip up only confirmed his suspicion. Even so, there wasn’t anything he could do about it. He was a Mandalorian first. He couldn’t just abandon the life that had been gifted to him.

But damn him if he didn’t feel like ripping off his helmet, and showing the world, showing you, how much you meant to him. It made him feel dirty to think such things. And yet, he felt very little remorse when he thought of the future without his helmet.

His thoughts jumbled, Mando climbed down the ladder, and walked to your room. He stopped at the door, and contemplated walking by, when he instead decided to knock on your door.

“Go away, I’m wallowing,” you said through the door. Mando chuckled.

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” you said quietly.

Mando entered your room, and chuckled at seeing a lump under your blankets.

“Can you surface for a second? I want to do something.”

Your blankets rustled as you poked your head out. Your hair was full of static, and your cheeks were bright pink. Mando held out his hands that were still ungloved, and waited for you to put your hands in his. Your palms were rough and calloused, probably from your smuggling jobs. But in the months that Mando had been with you, they had grown a tad soft and supple.

Mando’s heart thumped as he brought your hands to his helmet. He could see your eyes widen. Mando pressed your fingers to the helmet just under his eye slit.

“Mando-“

“Shh.”

You pressed your lips together, and Mando swore he’d never wanted to kiss another person so desperately like he wanted to kiss you.

“Why are you doing this to me? Leading me on when you know we can’t...”

The heartbreak in your voice made Mando tear up under his helmet.

“I don’t...”

“You call me honey, you talk to me so gently, and you help me take care of the baby. Why do you make me feel like I could be your wife when I know it will never happen?”

“I want... I want to be with you, and have a life with you. You have to believe me. You’ve made me feel things I’ve never felt. I’ve been traveling the galaxy for decades and never have I seen a woman so beautiful, passionate, and stubborn. At least not all at once.”

Your watering eyes made contact with Mando’s own, and he swallowed thickly.

“But it can never be. You feel you owe the Mandalorians everything. I understand that, which is why I’ll never ask you to sacrifice everything just for me.”

Mando wrapped his fingers around your wrists, and held your hands on his helmet where his cheeks would be.

“Nothing I do is just for you. Everything I do is for you, and I will stand with my decisions. I don’t do things as a just. I make decisions logically, and with precision. I’ve thought out every decision I’ve ever made, especially regarding you.”

You looked at him skeptically, your eyes somehow catching his, despite his helmet.

“Liar.”

Damn, you caught him. You continued.

“I’ve seen you act nothing short of reckless since we started traveling together. I’ve heard stories of you. One of the only Mandalorians that is seen in the galaxy. Everyone says you’re ruthless, and precise, without mistakes. But I know a different side of you.”

“You distract me,” Mando said plainly.

A look of hurt crossed your beautiful features, and Mando quickly backtracked.

“I want your distractions. I want you.”

Mando felt you shiver, and sense of satisfaction passed over him.

“Why? Why are you saying these things?”

Mando finally let your wrists go, but your hands were still pressed to his helmet.

“I don’t know. I can’t answer that right now. All I know is that I would do anything for you, including kill. I haven’t ever expressed what I wanted in all my years, and now that you’re here, I want to risk it all for you.”

A small gasp escaped your bitten lips. Mando leaned forward, his helmet bumping against your forehead. You closed the space, pressing your lips to Mando’s helmet. Your fingers curled on his helmet, staying on the flat plains of the Beskar.

Mando knew he couldn’t, wouldn’t, feel your lips. Even so, he could somehow feel the heat, and intensity of your emotions. Your eyes were scrunched closed, and Mando could see small trails of tears running down your cheeks.

You finally broke away from Mando, your eyes immediately moving to the ground.

“That was certainly something,” you said quietly.

“I’m sorry.”

“Never apologize for things you can’t control,” you said fiercely, your eyes burning with anger. “You are a Mandalorian first, and I will respect that.”

Mando’s hand rose, and brushed a tear from your cheek. Your head leaned into his palm, your nose wrinkling with a sniffle.

“Please stay with me? There are very few things I truly want, but I know that I definitely want you. I want to be with you, and l-“

Mando stopped himself. That would’ve been going too far.

“- live my life with you,” he finished lamely.

Your tears flowed anew, and you burrowed your face in Mando’s chest.

“You’re just a big softy, aren’t you,” you asked, a heavy sob on your breath.

“Only for you, honey, only for you.”

Taglist:

@aeryntheofficial @benakenalove @kaelyn-lobrutto24 @nerdypinupcrystal @duckqueenzoe @seasidecrowbar @debonaire-princess @emyyjemyy @falling-stars-never-cry @lydiafryejournauxpersonnels @killtherandomness @igotmadskills @momc95 @peqchynero

[eleven-times-lively]

The Twins - Part 2

In which you and Fred continue to raise your beautiful baby girls.💕 masterpost

Summary: The twins grow up from babies into toddlers, and from toddlers into children. Word Count: 3368 Note: Sorry this is so short! This chapter was basically just a way to give some happy moments with the twins and to serve as a bridge into the next chapters.

Two days later you and Fred could finally bring the babies home. You each held one infant as you came in the door, Fred whispering to the babies once you were inside.

“Hi, girls. This is your first home. Your whole family worked so hard on it, and so much love went into it. You’ll both grow up here and be very happy with your mummy and I.” You just stood staring in complete adoration for the man before you. The love of your life, your husband, and the father of your children was the most perfect human being on the planet. “Oh dear, mummy is staring at me. You know, the last time she gave me that look, we ended up making you!” “Fred Weasley not in front of the babies!”

He just laughed as the two of you managed to swap; he took the hospital bag out of your hands, holding it with the other bag he had, as he handed you the baby he was holding. “Shall we show them their nursery, love?” he asked you, already heading up the few stairs. 

You and Fred entered the beautiful nursery, which he hadn’t been in since the two of you did up the room shortly after finding you pregnant. You on the other hand would spend a lot of time in there when nesting tendencies kicked in, especially when you couldn’t sleep. The former guest bedroom had been totally converted to comfortably accommodate the two babies. The walls were a soft yellow and the ceiling was a light blue, to resemble the bright sky, and you and Fred had painted a few small flowers here and there on the walls. The room was practically a mirror image on each side. A white wooden crib and rocking chair were on each wall, with identical mobiles above each crib. At the back wall was the dresser/changing table. On the wall above each crib was the respective baby's name painted in swirly pink letters. Fred placed the babies’ bag on the floor to be unpacked later before heading into your room to place the hospital bag down. Once he returned you handed him a baby--Callie--and you each sat in a rocking chair on the side of the room for whatever twin was in your arms. You and Fred remained silent for a moment, rocking the babies until they fell asleep.

“How are you, love?” He finally piped up.

“Fine, I guess. I mean, as good as someone can be after having just had twins. Overjoyed to finally be home with my family.”

He gave you a soft smile before continuing, “When do you think we should have the family over?”

“Well I suppose it isn’t terribly urgent, they were all there when I had the twins. Maybe give it a few days for us to rest and enjoy our babies, yeah?”

“Whatever you say, love. How about you go take a nap, I’ll stay in here with them.”

“No, Freddie. I want to stay with the babies.”

“Y/n you’ve barely slept in three days. You need it.”

You sighed before carefully standing up. You set Cassie in her crib before giving Fred a kiss and begrudgingly heading into your own bedroom. You were asleep mere moments after getting into bed. Fred stayed with Callie in his arms for a few more minutes before setting her into the crib and sitting back down in the rocking chair, where he stayed awake diligently watching the babies.

***

After a few days of rest and recovery, you felt well enough to start doing more around the house again. Fred had been so sweet and considerate, not allowing you to do anything strenuous. 

“No, love, please sit down and let me do the dishes.” “I’ll change the bedsheets, it’s more than okay, yes I’m sure.” “Can I get you a cup of tea? Do you need anything?”

While you appreciated your husband’s efforts, it was becoming a bit suffocating, and you couldn’t take anymore. “Fred, my love, I appreciate everything you’re doing, but I think I’m fine to undecorate the tree on my own.”

“Are you sure, y/n? I don’t want you to do something you can’t handle just yet.”

“I know,” you gave him a kiss, “you know what you can do for me?”

He practically jumped up and down, “Yes?”

“Watch the girls for a bit so I can finally finish my book?”

“Of course. Wait, the book you started five months ago?”

You chuckled lightly, “Yes, Fred.” He gave you a warm smile and a kiss before the two of you parted ways for the afternoon.

After finishing your book, a long-forgotten thought came back to you. You searched the house and found Fred in the nursery, watching the babies sleep. He perked up when he saw you enter the room.

“All they do is sleep!”, he whispered, “I just want to play and have fun with them, but all they do is sleep and eat!”

You smiled at him as you said, “You know, love, we never added their birthday to the doorframe.”

“Oh! Shall we go do that then?” He stood up and made his way over to you, placing his hands on your hips when he reached you. He gave you a sweet, wanting kiss before smiling. 

“Do you think they’ll be okay without us here?” You wormed out of his grasp and turned to gaze into the room. 

He placed an arm around your shoulders, pulling you into his side. Kissing you on the forehead he whispered, “I’m sure, love. They’ll be alright.” He walked out of the room and started to head down the stairs when he noticed you weren’t with him. “Coming, love?”

“Hmm?”, you whispered, “Oh, yeah.” You shuffled away from the doorway and took his hand to head downstairs.

You grabbed the paint and brush from the drawer and crouched down to paint, when you noticed something on the doorframe. “Fred, the paint is chipping.”

“What?”

“There’s a whole flake of paint missing, love.”

“Oh dear. Can you repaint it?”

“Well yeah, I’m just not sure how it came off.” You shrugged it off as Fred handed you the gold paint to fix the door frame before you added the words in black.

December 27, 2002: Calliope Molly Weasley and Cassiopeia Ginevra Weasley are born

Fred knelt down next to you to admire your work. After a moment he helped you stand up and the two of you were standing in the doorframe pressed together.

“I love you,” you muttered as you pulled him into a kiss.

“Love you, too,” he responded as he ran his fingers through your hair before pulling away. 

You stopped to look at him a moment before a thought hit you, the store. “Fred, love, when do you need to go back to work?”

“Oh, right. Georgie and I agreed that I should take as long as I need to help you. And of course you can come back whenever you want.”

You were an auror for the Ministry at one point, but quit about two years ago to help Fred and George run the store. Coming up with new items with them was your favorite part of the job, but you mainly handled the finances and business side. “Very well, then. When do you suggest we go visit mum and everyone?”

“Well they’re all still in town for the holidays, so preferably before we start to disperse again. Charlie already left, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, pity. How about over the weekend?”

“Brilliant.” He placed a kiss on your forehead just as both of the babies began to cry. He let out an airy chuckle as he took your hand and led you upstairs with him. 

***

Two days later you and Fred were preparing for your first outing with the babies.

“Can you believe they’re a week old already?” Fred mused as you and him carried the babies downstairs.

“Two weeks and a day, to be exact,” you added with a laugh. The two of you got Cassie and Callie settled in their prams before apparating to the Burrow.

“My goodness look how big they’ve gotten!” Molly exclaimed when you and Fred stood at the front door. You got things organised with the twins and entered the house.

“Mum, they’re only a week old,” Fred chuckled.

“Oh I know, but babies grow so fast, and oh look how cute they are!” she exclaimed gleefully as Fred handed her Callie.

“Oh miss Calliope you are just gorgeous!”

“You can tell them apart?” you questioned, handing Cassie to Ginny.

“Of course?”, Molly responded, “How could I forget my namesake! Besides, I have some experience in the twin department.” She winked at Fred before settling on the couch, Ginny beside her. 

Ginny was softly cooing to Cassie as everyone else filed into the living room upon realising you and Fred had arrived. After a moment, Molly perked up remembering something.

“Oh, Merlin, I almost forgot!” She stood up gently before handing Callie to Bill--the nearest person--and running upstairs. Bill looked absolutely bewildered, but adapted quickly--especially with Fleur cooing over his shoulder. Molly was back downstairs in an instant, carrying two tiny lumps of yarn. “The girls’ jumpers!”

You lightly yelped with excitement before heading over to her. You placed them in the baby bag for later, and you and Fred thanked her.

A few hours later everyone had admired the babies, and of course asked their multitude of questions for you and Fred. You packed up the babies and went home after the tiring visit.

***

Five years had gone by in the blink of an eye. On the first Valentine’s Day after the babies you and Fred celebrated your first wedding anniversary, and he went back to work that Monday. Three months later you were back as well, leaving the babies with Molly and Arthur every day. This routine continued onward as the babies grew. Birthdays were celebrated, milestones reached, and memories made. The once tiny and adorable babies had grown into toddlers with budding personalities, and then young children learning about the world, but they were still just as adorable. 

“My love, where are you?” Fred called from upstairs.

“In the kitchen, dear.”

You could hear his feet padding down the stairs before you felt his arms around your

waist and his breath on your neck. “Hello, love.”

You chuckled, “Hi, Freddie.” You spun around to face him, and put his hands back on your hips. You pulled him into a deep kiss when the two of you heard snickering from behind you. 

“Look at mummy and daddy!” Cassie giggled.

“Cassie!” Callie groaned, “Stoppit!”

You and Fred turned to face your adorable daughters standing before you in the kitchen. Fred cocked an eyebrow at them as a smirk spread across his lips. As if knowing what was about to happen, the girls went off running and screaming, with Fred laughing “I’m going to catch you!” as he went after them. You heard a squeal from the livingroom as he picked up the girls and there was laughter all around. You finished cleaning up the countertops and went to join them. You grabbed Callie from Fred and the four of you sat down on the couch. The girls tried to worm away from you and Fred, but you both held them firm. 

“I think,” you began playfully, “we should take the girls to Diagon Alley tomorrow and show them around the store.” You shot a wink at Fred as you spoke.

“Oh… Well absolutely, I think it’s time to show them the ropes.” The girls’ attentions were piqued as they both stopped squirming.

“I wanna go see mummy’s store!” Cassie yelped over Fred’s shoulder.

“Mummy and daddy’s store. Me too!” Callie yelped in response. You and Fred shot silent smirks at each other.

“Maybe we shouldn’t…” you began, earning a chorus of ‘nooo!’ and ‘whyyy?’ from the girls. “Girls with a messy bedroom shouldn’t go to Diagon Alley.” You winked at Fred once again.

“Exactly!”, he responded, “I do believe that there is a rule. No little girls with messy rooms shall be allowed.”

“What!?” Callie exclaimed. She successfully wormed her way out of your grasp and down to the floor. “C’mon, Cassie. Come clean!” Both girls ran off hoping to be able to go to the store.

You and Fred smirked at each other. “That is top notch parenting,” you said. He and you high-fived as you stood up to attend to other matters around the house.

***

Once the girls turned eight you and Fred started to bring them to the store with you each day. They absolutely loved it and they took quickly to the space. They were meant to stay in one of the back offices and to not get in trouble, but Fred or George would often bring them out into the main part of the store. This only resulted in you constantly stressing and running around after the girls. You found them one day in the potions section, reading the labels and nearly testing some out. You rounded the corner just in time to see Cassie test some Confusing Concoction.

“Cassiopeia Weasley do not drink that!”, you yelled, causing her to drop the bottle, which in turn shattered. 

“I told her not to…” Callie muttered.

“I don’t care who had the idea or who advised against it. I care that you broke the rules!” You were utterly baffled, they had never gotten into much around the store before. “Back in the office!” You were met with a chorus of ‘But mummm!!” as Fred rounded the corner as well to see what the commotion was about. 

“Daddy!” Callie cheered as Fred picked her up, cocking an eyebrow at you. “Mummy says we have to go to the back again and can’t be out here!”, she pouted.

“Oh did she now?” Fred said, gazing at you, “Well I suppose we better listen to mummy, then.” With Callie in one arm and his other holding Cassie’s hand, he brought the girls back to the offices. He was also met with his own chorus of protests.

With a flick of your wand, the mess on the floor was cleaned up and you returned to work.

The funny thing with children is that they usually end up inheriting much of their parents’ personalities. So while your’s and Fred’s cleverness and wit had come in handy throughout Hogwarts and your adult life, it was an absolute nightmare coming from two eight year olds. The girls escaped from the office more times than you could count. Of course they weren’t locked in there, but you usually caught them fairly quickly upon an attempted egress. Yet somehow they managed to get by you at least three times a week.  On one such occasion, the girls snuck out and hid inside storage boxes until you had walked away. Fred found them a while later playing with some pygmy puffs. 

“Hello ladies,” he smirked, peering into the box.

They startled and shrieked. “Daddy!” they both exclaimed. They climbed out of the box and prepared for a punishment from Fred.

“Looks like you take after your dad!” Fred exclaimed, astonishingly proud. The twins looked up at him more than confused. “Your uncle and I were masters of disguise and sneaking around. Good on ya!” Fred looked genuinely proud as he walked off. The girls exchanged smiles before climbing back into their little hiding space.

***

The girls grew less energetic over the years, but unfortunately for you and Fred they grew to be smarter and more cunning. Even though they didn’t have magic yet, no room could hold those girls. This, of course, got them into a fair share of trouble--which they always managed to talk themselves out of. Aside from this, they were constantly devising plots and plans to mess with Fred and yourself, but more typically each other. They certainly were Fred’s children. Countless nights were spent with you and Fred simply lounging on the couch as you admired the beautiful girls you had raised. However a heavy air loomed over that no one seemed to want to discuss: the girls would be leaving for Hogwarts soon. They had just turned eleven, so come September they would be off to the school. You and Fred both knew that the other was upset beyond explanation. You and Fred had gotten so used to seeing them every single day that the absence would surely be strange. You’d find yourself getting into sullen moods where you would ponder this, and these were always the times you would regret not becoming a professor. However Fred was always there to cheer you up and reassure you.  Eleven years had gone by in an instant, and you weren’t sure you wanted it to end just yet. Fred was always so carefree and happy, but you could tell he was hurting too. 

The four of you spent the summer having fun and enjoying being with each other. You let the twins help you out in the gardens for the first time, and even let them plan out their own sections. Fred and George took them to quidditch games along with George’s kids, and brought everyone to the store everyday. Then the fateful day came when the girls received the Hogwarts letters.

“The owls are here!” Callie and Cassie shouted in unison as they ran down the stairs to the front door. You and Fred knew that letters would be delivered and were already at the front door waiting for them. Callie flung open the door and retrieved the letters from the doorstep. Naturally, the girls were ready to tear into their letters immediately.

“Hold on a second, girls,” you chuckled, “Come to the table.” With everyone seated, the girls carefully opened their letter and each read them aloud. There were excited screams from the girls and joyful smiles and glances from you and Fred. It had been a while since either of you had seen an acceptance letter, and you’d forgotten how exciting it was. 

“Congratulations, girls,” Fred smiled down at them, “We’ll go shopping tomorrow.” There were more excited shouts at the girls ran upstairs to their rooms. “This should be fun,” Fred chuckled.

“Shopping for one is hard enough,” you began, “let alone two.”

“Oh but think of the exciting parts!” Fred exclaimed, “Getting their wands will be the highlight of their year.”

“Maybe just the week,” you laughed, “they’re pretty excitable. Come outside with me?” You asked him, but he was already standing and taking your hand, the same idea in his head.

The two of you strolled into the gardens and sat in the white chairs in the center. “The girls did surprisingly well in the gardens,” Fred remarked, glancing around.

“They have quite the knack for gardening,” you smiled, “and a brilliant taste in flowers.”

“That’s only because you convinced them to plant roses,” he laughed. “I’m going to miss them.”

“Me too, Freddie. But we’ll see them at Christmas.”

“I suppose, it’ll just be a new adjustment to get used to.”

You let your eyes close, enjoying the late afternoon sun and breeze. You were so wrapped up in your own little world that you hadn’t even noticed Fred stand up and take your hand. You stood up with him, more than puzzled.

“Dance with me?” he asked, winking.

“You’re such a dork,” you laughed, “With what music?”

“I don’t need music when I’m with the most bloody beautiful woman in the world,” he smiled down at you as the two of you began to sway back and forth. He kissed you lightly and let his forehead rest against yours. “I love you,” he muttered.

“Love you, too, Fred.” However the moment didn’t last long as out of the corner of your eye you caught the girls watching from the upstairs window. You looked downward as you smirked, separating from Fred. He looked confused before he saw the girls. As soon as they realised they had been spotted, the girls disappeared within the house. You and Fred both chuckled, yearning for more moments like this.

[amnesicmaiden]

V-day remembrance

Being able to look all over her gifts in her room, Seira was remembering so vital things from her journey of giving everyone a gift so they knew she was thinking of them and place a smile on their face.

Myrrh was a sweetheart, even if the chocolate was bitter what was important was her heart was in the right place as well as well she made sure to place the small lynx plush Pram given her on the bed. Oh, just thinking of how Ansel was so surprised about the gift with that look on his face. She had to smile to now a simple gift can be effective!

Of course, all the smiles she did make lighten up her face as well. Ambriel, Bagpipe, Eyjafjalla, Exusiai, Cardigan, she saw a smile on Talulah’s face she thinks. . . kinda! it was sure something! She may need to tell Brionac about V-day for next time.

Then there was W. . . So, yeah, there’s was her. . .

Closure giving her a box. . .Huh, taking a bite of one she feel her sanity restored by a small amount. Who knew recovering metal sanity was so easy?! plus a discounts regardless discounts are always good! Then there was that “get out of jail card” from silk . What could that honestly mean?!.  She also gotta have to be more careful with Reed.

Speaking of being careful. Those times she had to bolt. . . She swears she shiver when she notice a certain someone behind her well at least she has protection. Then she looked as those cookies with icing. . .YES! Although with Ace she felt he may say something to her later. . .

Giving chocolates to Crownslayer? Of course that was a smart choice, at least that’s what Seira thought. Well, Crownslayer did gift something back so that reinforce how smart she is!

To think Rope would lay of the teasing- wait, oh no it has been a day or two already she should be careful now! and Castle-3 sure was a gentlebot buying her a drink even as she ask for something more fruity with lots of cherries. She was relieve to know that Hibiscus was alright. . . Thank goodness. Thinking of her, she should open that blue box on her desk.

Seira was thoughtful for many, no matter what so she of course had to give Alena. Hopefully that bought some joy to her day. Oh and there was spot, glad that chocolate was fine with him! . . . She felt bad about Dobermann, she completely forgot that she was allergic to chocolates. Did she knew in the first place. . . REGARDLESS! She better remember for next time!

She of course have to give the other Doctors a gift too! Like Doctor Kramer! They all do their hard work in their own way so of course they should be thought of as well! She couldn’t believe she thought that Not Doctor. . . She meant riptide’s gift was an actual slug for a moment. You know since she thinks the only doctor that would eat slug is Weird Doctor. As well Doctor Cinder, to think she was think of Doctor Seira as well how thoughtful! Even Weird Doctor got her something and what she got she felt like she got REALLY lucky from a gacha machine! SHE GOT A 6* TIER GIFT SURELY!

Indra. . . Well, Seira was glad she didn’t went out and show of her muscles because she swore she thought she would do such a thing. Lava seemed pleased well. . . she did say thank you. And Bison, she couldn’t tell him then and she was sure he would learn what she had meant. . . maybe. He’ll be fine!

Every time she sees Jessica she gets the feeling of patting her head and wanting to make sure she’s okay. . .B-but she couldn’t just do that! Still at least some chocolate was something! Something was indeed a word she would described when she was giving Warfarin Chocolates. . . Her eyes glance her being a little close but she turned tail since there was many others she had to give chocos too! Like Folinic . . . Seeing her go back to work reminded her of how focus on work Kal’tist is.

The Doctor avoided answering Ignis’ question about money . . . It would be for the best. Oh, and Liskarm if only she knew after she saw Seira who was all that determined and passed out in front of Kal’tist who was last. . . She now wonders if anyone was aware of that. . .

Of course in cases like Sussurro Seira didn’t need anything back! After all this was for them not for herself! Still she was surprised how quickly Vermeil took those chocolates and unwrapping them.

With Balroth she didn’t need that half-nugget  but perhaps it would be rude not to accept it. She would shake the girl’s hand happily and tell her thanks. Still she oped that Balroth was happy with the gift. Oh hey and she got that 20% discount. . . Remember discounts are always good! A wild saying came out of Zima, after all Seira just thought of making everyone happy. . . Like popukar, hopefully she will eat the chocolates before they go bad or melt. Speaking of melting she couldn’t help but chuckle from Ifrit’s words and learning everyone is getting something. At least fire wasn’t caused. . . Again. Oh yeah and there was Faust just taking zooming off with the gift. Wonder what he planned to do after leaving like that. While shining and nightingale seemed to her thankful for their gifts.

It’s was nice to know Rosa was thinking of the other girls, a reliable big-sister like is what Seira thought of her. While Seira remembering that hug from Mudrock was a nice. . . oh wait, she remembers since she could still feel it. As well, to think Texas would offer her a pocky stick! She had to accept that! Actually, does Texas and Ambriel get pocky from the same place? Then with Skadi, Seira hopes that she will enjoy the gift!

Although she was quite worried when thinking about Asbestos, after all she bought those chocolates en masse! At least Istiglal was happy with the gift and her card was warm heartening. While Nian was really enthusiastic and her chocolates really didn’t make her worried if she can get used to FrostNova’s candies- Seira placed her hand to where her heart is as, just thinking back she felt her heart warm up, her hand going onto her cheek that was kissed and her eyes looking to the drawing that she place above her desk. Oh no her eyes are starting to water, don’t cry Seira! she told herself! Shaking it off, she prevented tears to fall down! Ah right! The box of chocolates Grani given her, it was nice to see she was happy but gosh! Seira was just SO TEMPTED to give her pineapples covered in chocolate. . . Some other time. Magallan grin was really reassuring that she was happy about the gift and Gavial was thankful for it at least. But. . . Greythroat’s question, no. . . she wasn’t worried since she believed no one would have. No matter what it was her goal to give everyone a gift and if someone got upset she will deal with it directly. With Ch’en she was just thankful she accepted the gift, Seira didn’t need a present back. . . Maybe Ch’en could use a little more rest she was awfully tired although is that anything new? Ah right, and that red velvet cake slice that Hoshiguma given her made the Doctor lick her own lips. She was right that Seira indeed like her cakes and other sweet goods. Hoshiguma also gave that Big Sister feel. . . Especially when she picked her up some time ago. Oh right! Saria oh gosh. . . She was stricken was surprised with her offer instead of chocolates. She. . . So she ask her politely if she could undertake a Risk 18 mission since she needed someone to help with that. Then she remembers the times where she felt her heart pounding, the first being with Gravel pulling her close to her and have them do a dance. Her face cover had came off during it, revealing the full blush that was on the Doctor’s face, the surprise look her red eyes was given the assassin while her long blue hair hang down. With all of sudden a rose stem in her mouth after a kiss! SO SMOOTH! HOW COULD HER HEART NOT BE POUNDING AFTER THAT! Her maiden heart was calling for more but she had to resist as she still needed to give gifts to others. . .! . . .Then there was Silverash and his own way of being smooth! He’s like some. . . like some. . . smooth criminal! The feel of his hand holding onto the edge of her fingertips and even when he let go she froze in place for only a short moment. All she could do was tell him she hoped he enjoys the chocolates and runs off! and while there was the smooth moments, there was the moment that made her. . . Lose some blood as it leak down her nose. That was Blaze who was laying on the table being wrapped by only pink ribbons and her words, the winking of her eye, the wriggling of her eyebrows and hips! If Elysium hadn’t come in she would had shed her mask and enjoyed some heated time with Blaze! OH GOD, HER NOISE IS BLEEDING AGAIN! She looked at the cake with the latter, the necklace Elysium given her she may just wear when she’s in her more causal clothing, and tasty berry choco from Lappland among the other bad of chocolates. of course, there was other moments but gosh. . . the loss of blood and the pounding of her heart made it quite hard to remember more.

[avasharpe]

Beloved

Chapter: Three of ?

Summary: Nyssa and Sara struggle with their relationship in a new place and time.

Fandom: Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

Relationship: Nyssa al Ghul/Sara Lance.

Characters: Nyssa al Ghul, Sara Lance, Quentin Lance, Felicity Smoak, William Clayton, and Baby Mia Smoak.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Additional Tags: Angst with a Happy Ending, Nyssa on the Waverider.

Read at AO3

Read at FFN

……………………………………………………………………

Sara wasn't angry at Nyssa, she wasn't, but as she stomped up the steps to Felicity's place Sara had to stop herself from pounding in the door. 

Sara paused and gently knocked. She wasn't angry, she was just sad. Nyssa had been so unhappy. Even though she hid it well, Nyssa continued to begrudge her place on the ship. Sara knew she wasn't happy and every time they tried to talk about it and Nyssa would just pretend the opposite and distract Sara away from a true conversation. A conversation that Sara had been trying to have with her as they got ready to over to Felicity’s for dinner that night

Quentin Lance swings open the door with a huge smile on his face as he greeted them in place of Felicity. “Hey you two, come in, come in.”

He ushered them both in the door and pulled Sara in for a warm hug. “Hey Dad.”

“Hey sweetheart, how are you doing?”

“Good,” Sara said, giving him a soft smile. 

He pulled back and looked over it at Nyssa who offered him and handshake. He gave her firm handshake and a stiff eye.

“Dad,” Sara whined rolling her eyes at them. 

They both smiled as they're hard exteriors dropped and Nessa let Quentin pull her in for a hug. Sara headed into the home and took off her coat, putting it over the back of one of the dining room chairs. She is immediately greeted by William who ran over with his Nintendo switch. 

“Hey Aunt Sara look at the new game I got!” he said holding up the switch to show her

“Hey kiddo, maybe you can show your Aunt Nyssa how to play,” Sara said, giving him a nod looking over at Nyssa, he smiled and gave her a fist bump before going over to them.

Nyssa smiled and let him show her the game and pull her over to sit and let him tell her all about the game as Sara scurried off to the kitchen. There she found Felicity with Mia on her hip turned away from the stove as she tried to bounce the fussy girl while also trying to stir the onions for their dinner.

“Hey,” Sara greeted them.

“Hey could you take her for a second?” Felicity asked.

“Sure,” Sara said, jumping at the chance to hold Mia and took the girl off of Felicity's hip, holding her up over her head and cooing. Sara brought her down to blow raspberries on her neck and Mia broke out into a smile. 

Sara continued to play with Mia as her Dad and Felicity quickly put the rest of the meal together taking the vegetables out of the oven and stirring and adding the cream sauce to the onions,then taking pasta and straining it in the sink. 

Sara finally settled Mia on her hip and continued to talk to them. The one year old girl babbled as if she was a part of the conversation too, encouraged by everyone in the room. 

“You’re are becoming quite the cook,” Sara said to Felicity as she watched her finish putting it all together. 

“Not really,” Felicity said, wiping her hands on a towel and standing next to her leaning against the counter. “It's all Quentin, trust me as soon as he left to open the door for you guys it all quickly dissolved into a disaster.”

“Well I'm sure it will be lovely,” Sara said, nudging her shoulder. 

“Thanks,” Felicity said, stepping forward and wrapping her into a hug. “Hello.”

“Hi.”

“How are you?” Felicity asked getting out a bib and taking Mia from her arms to put her in the high chair. “How are things with you and Nyssa, did you two get a chance to talk yet?”

Sara sighed, having talked with Felicity about everything with Nyssa when they arranged the dinner. Sara looked down at Mia who babbled a string of baby talk and stuck out her tongue out as she made all sorts of noise 

“I wish your aunt Nyssa will talk to me as much as you do.”

Felicity got Mia strapped in and put her arm around her again and gave her a smile. “Just give her time. She'll talk to you eventually.”

“Yes, but what if it's too late? What if it comes to a point where she becomes so miserable that she leaves. I don't want to lose her again Felicity if that means having to stop living on the Waverider then maybe that's what it has to be.”

“Would you be happy with that?” Felicity asked, knowing the answer. 

Sara didn’t respond, but Felicity saw the sadness in her features. Felicity looked up to see Nyssa standing in the doorway with the same kind of sadness on her face. She quickly turned away and went back to talking with William and Sara didn't catch Nyysa’s quick retreat. Felicity was about to tell her to go talk to Nessa but Quentin walked past them with the hot bowl of pasta and the tray of vegetables.

“Dinner's ready,” Quentin announced as he placed the food on the table.

……………………………………………………………………

Dinner and a visit with Felicity and Quentin were a relief to Nyssa. Being back in the present on the ground with the outdoors just outside the window and a familiar cozy home, where like a breath of fresh air to her mind. Nyssa had an easy smile on her lips the whole time, but she watched as Sara’s smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

Nyssa knew it was coming. Sara’s words had been on the tip of her tongue all evening. She wanted to have a talk, but they didn't have quite a free moment, so when William’s friends knock on the door and ask if he can ride bikes around the neighborhood with them. Sara also offered to take Mia for a walk, to get out of the house and let Felicity have some alone time. 

Felicity jumped at the idea of having someone else get the baby to bed for the night, but William wasn't so keen to have his aunts follow him, no matter how cool they were.

“Relax,'' Sara said, putting a hand on his shoulder as he tugged on his jacket. “We'll take a different trail than you and if we run into each other we promise to pretend not to know who you are.”

 William gave her a look as if he didn't quite believe her. 

“Pinky Promise,” Sara said holding out her little finger.

He rolls his eyes but locks pinky fingers with her in a quick shake. He took off ahead of them and Nyssa watched him go, she was happy that despite everything his parents went through William was able to enjoy a normal childhood. She longed for some normalcy of her own.

“Are you coming to Dad?” Sara asked, breaking her out of her thoughts as Quentin came around the corner tugging on his coat. 

“No. I'm gonna head home Honey,” Quentin said, pulling Sara in for a hug. “I'll see you in a week for dinner at my place, okay?”

“Okay,” Sara said letting go.

He quickly hugged Nyssa to and whispered to her. “Don’t worry about it, you and Sara are gonna figure it out.”

Nyssa nodded as he stepped back and gave them both a smile as he headed out the door. 

“Here she is,” Felicity said, bringing over Mia dressed in the cutest pink jacket. 

Nyssa couldn't help the smile that instantly spread across her face at her adorable little girl and took Mia from her friends arms and continued to smile at the girl, who waved both her arms with the cutest little matching pink mittens. A little overkill for a warm night, but it was still February. 

They stepped outside and Felicity brought out the pram from the garage and Nyssa put Mia down in the bassinet as Felicity put another blanket around her, snuggling it up into her neck. Once Mia was thoroughly tucked into the bassinet Felicity turned and smiled up at them.

“Thanks for doing this you guys.”

“We're just taking her out on a walk, it's really no big deal.” 

“Yeah, but you’re giving me some alone time. I don't get much around here between Mia, my Mom, William, Thea, and now Maura. Don't get me wrong, I love all of them but I miss having me time, so feel free to stay out for at least an hour, so I can have some adequate alone time,” Felicity said,pausing to wink or at least tory to wink at them. “But then please come back because I’ll definitely miss her and you too of course. We don't see nearly enough of you guys these days.”

Sara chuckled and Nyssa smiled as Felicity stopped babbling and wrapped her arms around her sweater tucking it closed. 

“An hour got it,” Nyssa said taking a hold of the pram.

“I'm going to be sure to knock when we return,” Sara said returning Felicity’s wink with one of her own.

Felicity giggled and gave Sara a knowing smile. “Now shoo, I have an appointment with a bottle of red and a bathtub all to myself.”

Nyssa took that as her cue to start walking and Sara giggled, before falling in step with her. They waved back to Felicity as they walked away and she gave them a quick wave then disappeared back into the home.

They walked next to each other with their outside hand on the pram and the other around the other waist. It was that early sort of twilight where the street lamps have turned on, but the night hadn't quite settled in. The purple and pink sky still light their way around the neighborhood. They did catch William as him and his friends ride around a cul-de-sac before they turn into the path through the woods. As promised, they didn't wave at William, but merely snuck glances at him as he rode past.

……………………………………………………………………

As they settle on the path in the woods with the trees hanging like a canopy over them. The last of them sunbeams streaming through the branches and Mia was content to coo and gaze up at the trees as Sara talked to her, describing what they're doing and where they're going and Nyssa smiled. 

Sara watched as she smiled at them, at the trees, at the twilight, at everything. Sara kept sneaking glances at her as Nyssa’s cheek must hurt from how big and beautiful her smile was. It's only then that Sara realized she hadn't seen it in a while. Sara pulled them to a stop and looked over at her, really taking Nyssa in with her eyes.

“You love it here Nyssa. I can see that you are so happy, but as soon as we go back to the Waverider you’re so withdrawn. I know you've made an effort to really get to know the crew, but you're never quite seen as engaged as you were tonight with everybody else and you've never seemed so happy.”

Sara stared down at the trail ahead of them, knowing that Nyssa would agree with her. When she didn’t Sara began walking again and slipped out of Nyssa’s arm, pushing the pram on her own.

“I'm just not used to it. I just need a few weeks I'm sure,” Nyssa said, running to catch up with them and to keep Sara’s fast pace.

“No, don't lie to me like that,” Sara said, coming to a stop again as she looked over at Nyssa. “If you're not happy then you should say so.”

Nyssa bit her lip and looked down, crossing her arms. She shuffled on her heels and shifted her weight, a telltale sign of her reluctance. Sara waited. She reached out and put her hand over Nyssa’s on her crossed arms, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

Nyssa looked up and turned her hand to hold Sara’s, “I am not happy on the Waverider. I miss the outdoors, I miss living in a home with a garden and trees in the mountains or the desert or even the open plans. I would live anywhere else.”

Sara knew the words were coming, but it still hurt when they did. All she wanted was to make Nyssa happy. To see her happy and to be a part of that. Sara felt like she failed her, by putting her in a position where Nyssa was to live in a place that she hated. 

Sara was surprised that Nyssa hadn't run away yet like she had them from Nanda Parbat all those years ago. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but history had a cruel way of repeating and destiny was never on their side.

“I'm sorry,” Sara said, still holding her gaze even as the tears collected in the corner of her eyes. “I put my life ahead of yours, knowing that you wouldn't be happy. I just wanted you to be happy.”

“I am happy with you Sara!” Nyssa insisted, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around Sara’s waste. “But I can't help but think you are not quite as happy with me. You're not free with your affections in front of your crew, your family or our friends, all of whom know about us and accept up. I want to be free to hold your hand, to put my arms around you, and walk arm in arm with you, to place little kisses on your jaw and your cheek and your lips, but that form of affection you only seem to accept when we are alone. Why?”

Now it was Sara's turn to look ashamed, she look away from Nyssa and down at Mia and the pram chewing on the blanket that was around her. 

“In the League we could only show affection when we were alone,” Sara said, still looking down at Mia. 

“Yes, but we are not in the league, no one around us is going to do anything against us if we kiss.” 

“I know. I just can't help, but think about all of the things that we were not allowed to do, about the things we weren't allowed to have,” Sara said, reaching down and letting Mia grab ahold of her fingers.

Sara remembered the conversation they had a month before the earthquake in Star City and before Sara left. Sin had been kicked out of their foster home and she wanted to go get them. Sara had always watched over them from afar, setting the child up with money and trying to get them into a good foster home. However Sara wanted to take care of them herself from the moment their father had died, Sara made him a promise she intended to keep. However, she didn’t have the resources or the connections to do so until then. 

Nyssa knew more than anything Sara wanted them to be a family, but in the League, Nyssa couldn't give her that. Sara knew she didn't want a child to be raised in the life that she had. A life that was full of nothing but death and destruction, obedience and punishment. But Sara wanted a family, she wanted her family, not just Sin, but her parents and her sister, and Nyssa couldn't give her that.

“Well we can be free now, we can have anything you want, your family, my unending affection, and a family of our own if that's what you want.” 

“But you're not happy,” Sara said with a shrug looking defeated. “You don't want to make a home on the Waverider, I know you want to go I can see it in your eyes because that's how I looked before I left.”

Nyssa stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Sara's waist, holding her. Sara let go of Mia’s hand and turned her attention to Nyssa as she brought her lips to Sara's and gave her a quick kiss. A gentle reminder of their affection and Nyssa’s love and devotion to her.

“I love you more than anything in this world. Where you go I go. I won't let this force us apart, but I do need time away from the Waverider. Not very much, just a few hours a day, or one day a week, just something.”

Sara let out a breath and reached up to hold Nyssa’s face, tilted her own to lean forward and kiss her. Sara melted into her lips, so overjoyed that she was able to just kiss her and feel Nyssa’s lips against her own. They enjoyed the passion of their love, with quick gentle kisses. When Sara had her fill of Nyssa’s lips they parted and Sara rested her forehead against Nyssa’s.

“We can find a balance for you between the Waverider and here on earth in the present and I promise to be more open and free with my affection.”

“Balance is the key to happiness,” Nyssa said, tilting forward to kiss her lips again, missing them already.

Sara giggled as she pulled away, drunk on their love and, so happy, so very happy.

“I love you Nyssa al Ghul, cliche sayings and all.”

“I promise to be honest with you about my needs because I love you Sara Lance, please don't you ever forget it.” 

The way Nyssa looked at her, so intently, as if she was trying to convey the weight of her words with her gaze. All Sara could do was nod, because she knew. All of the years they spent apart all of the longing the waiting and heartbreak, and never stopped loving each other and Sara knew they never would. 

“Well if we can survive death, you being married off, me traveling through time, and five years apart.”

“Six.”

“Yes, six, I just don’t remember the year I was dead, but anyway, I think we can survive the weekends away from the Waverider.” 

Nyssa ducked her head down and licked her lips, before looking back up at Sara through her eyelashes.

“You already have a place in mind don't you?” Sara said, rolling her eyes knowing the answer to her question.

“Yes,” Nyssa admitted tilting her head to look back up at her. “I was speaking with Felicity earlier and the offer of her spare room still stands. If we agree to pay rent and do chores around the house, I’ve even offered to do the occasional babysitting.”

“Speaking of babysitting,” Sara said, looking down at Mia who had fallen asleep a few moments ago and was now quietly dozing in the pram. 

Nyssa looked down at Mia with a gentle smile and then back up at trees in the sky that had grown dark as the stars took their place on the sky stage. “I think we should be getting back.”

“We can go hiking tomorrow if you want?” Sara offed, seeing the small frown on her face and knowing how much it would help.

“Sara Lance agreeing to hike thought I'd never see the day,” Nyssa said in a  dramatic voice.

“Okay, I take it back no hiking,” Sara said, giving her a play full shove as she steered the pram around. “Anyway it would be good to have a permanent residence for the paperwork and all that stuff if we wanted to try and have a family or get married. I'm not saying I want a baby now, definitely not now, but maybe in a few years. It's just seeing Felicity and Mia and how Oliver was how they are, it's something I want and I didn't know if you wanted that too.”

Nyssa smiled and just looked at her with the most loving stare that Sara paused. “I would love to get married and have children with you.”

Sara let out a sigh and knew she had a love struck look on her face. She leaned up and kissed Nyssa, things got heated fast, but they both agreed to head back to their own bed and jog back to the house, in giggled and hot hands.

……………………………………………………………………

A few days later Nyssa walked up to their door only to find she's been locked out.

“Gideon what is going on? Why is the door locked the only other person who's allowed to lock the door is Sara and she never...” Nyssa trailed off as the door opened to reveal Sara who plastered her hands over Nyssa’s eyes. “Sara!”

“No, I have a surprise for you,” Sara instructed as Nyssa tried to push her hands away.

“What for,” Nyssa asked dropping her hands, but still held on to Sara's wrist. “What have you gotten into?”

“It's a surprise,” Sara said and Nyssa relented letting Sara lead her into the room.

“You know, for someone who is not fond of surprises you sure have quite a few of your own.” 

“That's because most people’s surprises are stupid and inconsiderate. However,” Sara said, taking her hands off of Nyssa’s eyes. “This is something I know you’ll like.”

Sara was right, Nyssa did like it. Sara redone the tile floor of the Waverider with a real wooden floor, she had added more than a dozen plants around the room as well as a small herb garden hanging from the back wall, she had added a monitor to the ceiling and it was now a reflection of the night sky while the monitors that function as windows displayed a forest scene. There were brown curtains that covered to go over the metal doors and soft blue sheets and comforter.

Nyssa relaxed as she took it all in and Sara wrapped her arms around his waist and settled her head on his shoulder. “You are right this time. I do like it.”

“I wanted to make things easier for you while you were here too,” Sara said as they both looked at the forest scene. There was movement on the camera and Felicity, William, and baby Mia all appeared on screen waving at them. 

 Nyssa smiled even more as she looked back at Sara in awe.

“The video is a live view from the forest area behind the house, in Star City and Felicity as given us something else,” Sara said pulling out a set of keys. “I got our room there all set up as well and they’re expecting us this Friday.” 

“Thank you,” Nyssa said looking back at the screen as the three of them disappeared with a final wave. 

Sara came around and leaned up to kiss her, but Nyssa quickly pulled back. “I want to properly thank you for all that you’ve done, for being more affectionate to me regardless of who’s there and for doing all of this. You’ve done so much for me, you've given me a real home, one I haven’t had in a long time.”

Sara smiled and wrapped her arms around Nyssa's neck, pulling her back until they hit the bed and then pulling her down and settling Nyssa on top of her. “I think I have an idea of how you can thank me.”

Nyssa smiled and hummed against her neck, before leaving soft kisses down her jaw. “Like this?”

Sara could only gasp and wither underneath her as Nyssa’s hands tugged off her clothes and began to properly thank her.

[megalony]

Family holiday- Part 2

A second instalment that follows on from my previous imagine and is part of my Outnumbered series.

I hope you all enjoy it.

Family holiday

Series masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Just where are you going madam?" Ben questioned, his hands reaching out for the two-year-old who was beginning to crawl in the other direction from where the rest of them were sitting. Holding her middle Ben picked Lola up and sat her back down between his legs in the sand, watching a smile light up her face. Her small hand reaching for the blue bucket resting at her side, thrashing it around in the sand.

A smile formed on Ben's lips at watching Lola play, wearing her pale pink flower swimsuit. Lily had begged to go swimming today since they had all recovered from jet lag by having yesterday in bed. And Ben loved the thought of going in the water to get away from the heat that was suffocating compared to the cold temperature they were used to back home.

"Hey!" Reaching down quickly Ben grasped Lola's wrist to pull her hand away from her lips, shaking his head at her when she was about to stuff a handful of sand into her mouth. "Don't do that baby." Opening her hand Ben brushed the sand from her fingers, not wanting her to eat it and make herself sick although she didn't seem to care. Reaching out with the other hand to grab another fistful of sand, about to do the same again. "I'm warning you, cheeky." Dusting the sand from both her hands Ben picked her up, setting her on his shoulders for the time being so she wasn't able to grab any more sand.

"I think she's hungry, it might be time for dinner." (Y/n) responded, biting back a smile when Ben's head lurched forward at feeling Lola's hand fisting in his damp curls, pulling on them as she giggled.

"Ow, bloody hell Lola stop it." Taking the toddler from his shoulders Ben shook his head at the two-year-old who simply flashed a cheeky grin knowing what to do to push Ben's buttons. Leaning over Ben hovered his lips over (Y/n)'s, being mindful of the baby resting between them who was leaning up against (Y/n) before he pressed his lips to her own.

The blonde smiled at feeling her hand cupping his jaw, suddenly sighing through his nose, breaking the kiss to turn his head and look to the toddler who was pulling on his arm. Her doe eyes looking up to his own as she started to clamber onto his leg, pushing herself so she was leaning up to him obviously wanting his attention back on her. It didn't seem to matter what Ben was doing, his attention always found itself going back to Lola. She was definitely the more cheeky girl who needed to be watched carefully, but she was very much a daddy's girl. She loved Ben's attention more than anything else and she always seemed to make sure that she got it no matter what.

Lily was Ben's double, she had the same ash blonde hair, emerald green eyes and shared a lot of his traits, the main one being their anxiety. With May it was a bit harder to tell because she was so young, but Ben was sure she was going to be more (Y/n)'s double than his own. She seemed to settle a bit better with her mum as well.

"Jealous?" Ben questioned with raised eyebrows, watching the two-year-old steady herself against him with her arms wrapped around one of his own before she leaned up to him. Puckering her lips for a kiss causing Ben to laugh, watching how she waited, expecting the same affection that her mother got.

Reaching out (Y/n) fumbled for her phone, capturing the moment when Ben leaned over, pressing a kiss to Lola's lips and then her forehead to keep her happy. Sending the picture to Joe with the caption 'you're missing out' underneath to show him what he was missing.

"I think you're forgetting someone." (Y/n) reminded, eyes glancing to Lily who moved over to get to Ben.

"Alright, Lily let's go in the water before we gotta leave for dinner cause I'm getting hungry." Ben stated once he'd kissed her and May. His hands moving to hold Lola's sides, hoisting her up as he got to his feet holding the toddler to his chest. Brushing the few specs of sand from her fingers quickly before she decided to try her luck with digesting them.

"Make sure she doesn't drink the water." (Y/n) reminded, knowing Lola was most likely to do that if she was thirsty or just to be difficult. Teaching her what was right and wrong was easier said than done because Lola would reach for anything to try her luck with eating or drinking it. Telling her not to do something made her laugh as she thought it was a game until Ben used a stern tone with her which she hated. If Ben was actually angry with her Lola would cry which made him feel worse when telling her that something was wrong.

Heading over to the water Ben lowered Lola so her legs and middle were in the water, keeping her afloat as he slowly walked through the waves. Pulling her up and lowering her a few times in the water as Lily started to swim close to him. Giggles escaping her lips when Ben started chasing her with Lola, the toddler reaching out for her sister's foot that looked like it was taunting her.

Glancing his eyes back over to (Y/n) Ben watched her for a moment or two. Watching her pressing a kiss to May's cheek before turning her around, pointing Ben and the girls out, leaning her cheek against the newborn's head swaying them side to side. It was a sight that Ben had seen thousands of times but something that he could admire for the rest of his life, watching his wife with their daughters. His heart swelling at the sight and the notion that she had given him three of the best gifts in the world.

"Right, are we ready? I'm starving." Lifting Lola again from the water Ben kept his arm around her middle holding her to his chest. His other hand reaching out for Lily's hand as they made their way through the water to head back to the other two girls.

Ben and (Y/n) had taken turns sitting on the sand with one of the girls, either sitting with May when she had a bottle or fell asleep. Sitting with Lola to let her play in the sand or sitting with Lily whilst she had a break from swimming. Now Ben was ready to get something to eat, he hadn't eaten hardly anything on the plane and back at the hotel yesterday was spent mostly sleeping. None of them apart from May had an appetite, and when Lola ate something she threw it back up. Still having a bad stomach from the plane ride here.

Walking back over to them Ben carefully sat down, handing a towel to Lily and grabbing another, wrapping Lola in it so he could dry her off. Sitting her beside him on the towel so she couldn't try and eat the sand as he brushed the droplets of water off himself. Catching the shirt (Y/n) threw to him, slipping it over his frame and putting on his flip flops.

"Alright, where we going for dinner?" (Y/n) questioned, resting May in the pram since she was rather calm and looked like she was going to go to sleep soon. Reaching over to shrug Lily's dress over her swimsuit, knowing she could change in the bathroom when they found somewhere to eat. Taking hold of Lily's hand (Y/n) started pushing the pram with the other when they had all their things stuffed into the bag underneath the pram.

"I'm not hungry." Lily dismissed with a shake of her head as they headed onto the wooden pathway that led off the beach and onto the pavement. The heat beating down against them now that they weren't in the water anymore.

"You haven't eaten since breakfast, your having something." Ben responded, leaning around to look at her as his expression told her his decision wasn't to be challenged. It was bad enough that none of them could face eating anything on the plane and had eaten a few biscuits here and there yesterday but none of them had a proper breakfast today either. Ben and Lily shared a pot of fruit between them, (Y/n) managed to eat some bread and a yoghurt and Lola only had a yoghurt too. May was the only one keeping anything down. Ben wasn't having Lily go any longer without something to eat, especially with them being active and burning energy all day swimming, she needed something.

Wrapping his right arm around (Y/n)'s middle Ben leaned his head against her own, his lips pressing to the side of her temple as they headed back down the street they came from this morning. Knowing they would pick a random place to eat along the way.

"Daddy." Lola's voice flooded his ears as her small arms managed to wind themselves around his neck, trying desperately to pull him back to her. Clearly not liking him sharing his affections to someone else.

"Careful, jealous girl." He warned, turning his head so she didn't break his neck with her grip. "I can kiss your mummy too, you know." Nevertheless Ben pressed a kiss to Lola's temple seeing that it caused a smile to brighten her features. Her chin resting on his shoulder which portrayed a very innocent look which Ben knew to be false as she was anything but.

"Shall we go here?" (Y/n) questioned, looking to the building on their right that didn't look too busy. She didn't care where they went for dinner as long as they could get something to eat. Glancing her eyes up to Ben (Y/n) thought it best they go here because he didn't look too well, he was a bit paler than usual. He hadn't looked well the night they got to the hotel nor yesterday but he seemed a bit better today up until now which (Y/n) guessed was because he had burnt out his energy.

Nodding in response Ben grabbed the door so (Y/n) could get the pram and Lily inside. Following after them when a waitress showed them to a table near the back which was out of the way and had the space to fit the pram beside them.

"Do you want to take Lily to get changed? You're both soaking."

"Yeah, come on sweetheart." Waiting beside (Y/n) Ben watched as she grabbed a top and some shorts for Lily, a lilac dress and a nappy for Lola and some shorts, boxers and a different top for Ben. Passing him a towel along with the clothes. Knowing it wouldn't be comfortable for any of them to sit down on leather seats when their clothes were sticking to them from the water they couldn't get rid of. (Y/n) was alright at least, having been sat in the sun for the past hour tending to May meant any water on her was dried immediately. Taking the clothes from her Ben kissed her temple before nudging Lily so she would walk in front of him.

Ben felt the urge to ask (Y/n) to take the girls instead but that would mean him waiting with May and then going to change after and it was time wasting and messing about. The last time he went into the ladies toilets to change Lola, a woman clearly stated he shouldn't be in there and didn't care that he was tending to his daughter. But they all needed to get changed and Ben was too tired to care if anyone made a comment that he was in the wrong toilets. Walking into the toilets Ben glanced around for a moment, wondering how this was going to work. He couldn't leave Lola on the changing table to see to Lily since he knew she would ask him to stay with her.

"Right, come on you." Heading into the end stall that had more space than the rest Ben put the toilet seat down and dumped the clothes on it, sighing in relief when there was a baby changing table in there too meaning this was going to be easier.

Pulling down the table Ben set Lola down onto it, grabbing the nappy and dress before looking to Lily. She'd discarded her sodden dress on the floor, pulling at the swimsuit that was sticking uncomfortably to her skin. Bending down in front of her Ben helped discard the swimsuit from her frame before he wraped the towel around her to dry her off.

"Here you go, sweetheart." Handing her the clothes as he took the towel Ben stood back to his feet. Turning around so he could begin to change Lola, his hands holding her sides and pulling her back so she was sitting up instead of laying on her stomach. "You can't sleep yet baby, we haven't had dinner." Ben commented when he watched Lola's eyes close for a brief moment when he laid her down so he could change her into the clean dress. It was easier to change her when she was tired since she didn't put up a fight but at the same time she couldn't have a nap yet because they needed to eat first.

Sitting her up on the table when she was dressed Ben dried himself with the towel, making quick work to change from the sodden shirt and trunks into his shorts, boxers and top. Wrapping all the swimsuits and wet clothes into the towel to keep them from getting anything else in the bag wet.

"Can you take this for me, and I'll grab Lola."

Nodding Lily grabbed the bundle of clothes, holding it away from her so she didn't get her dry clothes wet as Ben reached out and held Lola bouncing her on his hip to try and wake her up a little more. Resting his hand on Lily's shoulder Ben guided them out so they could make their way back to the table. Reaching the table Lily held the towel out to (Y/n) with a cheeky grin spreading on her features.

"Present for you."

"Thank you... just what I wanted." (Y/n) responded, shuffling over so she could bundle the towel and clothes back into the bag underneath the pram as Lily sat down in the booth opposite her.

"Present." Ben repeated, gently holding Lola out to her mum before he took a seat next to Lily. His hand reaching out for the pram so he could pull it over to him so it was more out of the way and so he could reach May if she needed anything.

"Much better." (Y/n) responded, setting Lola so she was sitting on her lap, her small hands planting themselves on the table as Lily set out the menus in front of them all. Glancing over Ben locked eyes with Lola, watching as she called out for him before trying her best to pull herself up onto the table clearly wanting to move over to get to him. Her attempts being stopped when (Y/n) gently pulled her back so she was sitting down again. They always had either May or Lola split between them so one parent looked after one of them and then tended to Lily if she needed anything since she didn't need help when eating or walking etc,.

"No, baby you stay there. I can't have a beer if you sit with me." Ben never minded sitting with Lola when they were out or eating like this but lately, if she sat with him she was tempted to grab his beer. Ben knew it was because they tended to get something to eat and share it with her since she was still only two and didn't eat much and so she tried to share his drink as well. He wasn't having her sitting with him and then crying when he told her she couldn't have the bottle of beer he normally had. The last time she tried to drink it she burst into tears when he told her off.

Glancing his eyes to the left Ben watched Lily move around until she was facing him, silently crawling the minimal space between them until she was sitting on his knees. Her head pressed to his chest as she wrapped her arms around his middle, eyes closing as they waited for their order to be placed. Deciding that Ben and Lily would share some spaghetti and (Y/n) would share lasagna with Lola.

Resting his hand on her back Ben rubbed circles into her skin, leaning his chin on top of her head knowing she must be tired by now.

"You gonna have a drink?" Ben mumbled against her hair when the tray of drinks was set down in the middle of the table. Watching Lily turn around but make no attempt to leave his hold, her back pressing to his chest as she reached for the glass that seemed to hold more ice cubes than lemonade.

Reaching across the table Ben wrapped his fingers around the base of the glass settled in front of (Y/n) that held a chocolate milkshake, effectively stopping Lola from attempting to pick up the drink she was sharing with her mum. He could just see the drink spilling all over the table and both girls in front of him and that was a scenario he wasn't ready to deal with. Batting at Ben's hand in confusion Lola tried to get him to release the drink as (Y/n) fumbled through the bag for a clean beaker.

"Daddy, no." A frown appeared on the toddler's face as she hit his hand again when he pulled the glass away from her and closer to himself when she attempted to pull it closer to herself.

"I'm not stealing it baby, you can have some in a minute." Picking up the glass Ben steadily held it over the pink beaker (Y/n) set on the table, slowly pouring some of the drink to fill the beaker before setting the glass down to (Y/n)'s side away from their toddler. "See? That's yours." Ben offered, pushing the beaker over to Lola when the lid was firmly placed down. Watching the confusion on her face though she accepted the beaker quickly, snatching it to see if it held the drink she had tried to have before.

"Is she awake yet?" (Y/n) questioned, her head nodding towards the pram causing Ben to lean down to look at their youngest. Realising it was about time for her to have something to eat as well but he wasn't chancing waking her up right now if she was asleep.

"Give it five minutes." He responded with a shake of his head, seeing May was wriggling about a little but he didn't want to move her since she wasn't fully awake yet. Reaching over Ben grabbed the dark green bottle of beer, pulling the rim of the glass to his lips as his other arm was wrapped around Lily's waist holding her to his chest. His eyes narrowing at Lola when hers seemed to widen when she noticed what drink he had, it was like she had a fascination with the bottle. "No." Ben warned, pointing his index finger at her before she had the chance to try and say anything or do anything to reach for the bottle.

Seeing a waitress heading their way with their food Ben gently moved Lily so she was sitting beside him instead, his arm staying around her when she leaned into his side.

After a few minutes, Ben peered into the pram again, seeing May was partially awake, small whimpers leaving her lips as she batted her hands out above her. Setting down the fork in his hand Ben reached over, his hands grasping her sides so he could carefully scoop her up and rest her on his lap. Her head resting in the crook of his elbow as he rocked her in his arm, wanting her to get a little more sleep before she had her food because if they fed her now she would stay awake.

Grabbing his fork again Ben started to eat, thankful that Lily seemed to have gained an appetite after not feeling very hungry earlier. Reaching out Lily gently ran her hand along May's head and over her cheek, smiling lightly as she tried to lull her youngest sister back to sleep.

[feed-the-birdss]

Forbidden Kisses

Summary: Lily and James have been forbidden to kiss.

Read it on Fanfic

It was a beautiful day in London. The sun was out, the sky was blue, mothers were out with their prams or holding chubby toddler hands as they strolled the busy streets, and the sound of children playing permeated the air that somehow tasted cleaner than usual. However, this beautiful day did nothing to soften the scowls on James Potter and Lily Evans’ faces.

The man with the impossibly messy black hair and glasses was gliding paces ahead of his red-haired and red-faced fiancé who was struggling to keep up with his long-legged stride. James’ hands were in his pockets, his head was down, and he was doing everything he could to ignore the pleasant mood that this beautiful day brought to the atmosphere. The only thing at the moment that was successful in being remotely comforting for him was the sound of Lily’s pants behind him.

James, however, was offering no extra comfort to Lily in return. In fact, she was more annoyed with him and his brisk walking than anything else right now. When it got to the point where James was more than a few paces ahead of her, she decided enough was enough, “James! For Merlin’s sake, will you slow down! Not all of us have freakishly long legs,” she yelled.

Lily’s voice seemed to snap James out of his brooding thoughts as he stopped and turned his head to look at her apologetically, “Sorry love, here,” he said as he waited for her to catch up with is hand held out for her to clutch onto. While both of them were still noticeably angry, the warmth of each other’s hand slowed down the beats of their racing hearts slightly.

When they got to an empty alleyway they proceeded to apparate right into their apartment. James then did the same thing he always did when he was angry about something which was pace, and Lily went straight for the small grey owl on their windowsill.

She opened the letter tied to the owl’s claw to see that it was from Dorcas, and James who was pacing by her, stopped to come up behind her to read the note over Lily’s shoulder.

I just heard about the announcement, are you guys okay? Dorcas

“Of course we’re not okay,” scoffed James. “I mean it’s ridiculous. I can’t do this Lils. You know I can’t. I might actually die,” he anguished.

“I know love. This is hard for me too, but what choice do we have?” pleaded Lily sounding like she was on the verge of tears as she turned around to face him and put her arms around his neck.

“Careful Lils,” said James sarcastically, “you better not hug me…Merlin knows what would happen if you do.”

“Shut up Potter. If I am forbidden to kiss you and make love to you, you can bet your arse that I am going to continue hugging and cuddling you,” assured Lily.

James let out a large sigh as he rested his forehead against Lily’s. His eyes went straight to her soft pink and inviting lips, “Fuck…I never thought they would be this ridiculous, but look at the lot of them. We shouldn’t be surprised, but—” he sighed again, “I just really want to kiss you and knowing that I can’t right now is killing me.”

“Come on. Let’s just take a nap. Neither of us got much sleep last night,” lamented Lily as she dragged her fiancé to their bedroom.

A few hours later, James woke with a start, as the sun that was shining that beautiful day in London had begun to shine through their bedroom window. He looked down at his chest to see red-hair splayed about all over and Lily sleeping peacefully. He could not believe this amazingly brave, kind and beautiful woman was going to be his wife. Every time he woke up to see her there with him was like diving straight into an ocean of relief. It wasn’t a dream, as Sirius had once tried to convince him; it was real, and they were together he thought smiling softly.

Gently, he pulled his body out from under her, and as he stood up over the bed, he instinctually went in to kiss her forehead, but stopped himself at the last second. His lips were a breath away from Lily’s perfectly kissable forehead. His peaceful mood from the nap now completely gone, he stood back up with a huff and headed over to the kitchen to make something for him and Lily to eat when she woke up.

While he was cooking, he couldn’t help but sulk about this torture he and Lily were being put through. Not being able to have sex with your fiancé was bad enough, but not be able to kiss should be listed as some sort of crime against humanity.

James was whisking his wand around the kitchen violently in the process of cooking Lily’s favorite meal that her mother used to make her. However, he did not notice that his violent wand waving was making an absolute mess.

Lily, who was woken up from her slumber due to all the slashing and banging noises, went to the kitchen to see what was going on. The sight that she was met with could instill one of these reactions with Lily Evans, soon-to-be Potter: number one, she would be pissed beyond belief at the absolute mess James was unconsciously making or, number two, she would be blinded to the mess at the mere cuteness of James attempting to make her a meal when, growing up with house-elves, he doesn’t know that he doesn’t know how to cook with or without a wand for shit.

Lily opted for the latter. “Need some help there love?” questioned Lily.

James, who was mid-wand-slice of the floating potatoes stopped his movements suddenly at the sound of her voice. The potatoes he was slicing clattered onto the countertop with multiple thumps.

He smiled at her. “Nah, I’m good. You can go read the rest of the mail,” he assured.

“Um okay, but sweetheart? You may want to actually turn on the heat for that….uh, soup, otherwise it will never cook,” she suggested.

“Right. Good idea, and it’s stew actually,” he corrected as he magicked the heat on under the pot filled with a yellowy looking mush. He figured he would tell her that it was her favorite stew when he served it.

Lily walked over to the small desk which held a smattering of letters while simultaneously mentally preparing herself to eat a yellowy mush that her fiancé was calling “stew”.

The letters were from the usual, her mother, James’ mother, Dorcas, Marlene and Remus. However, unusually, they all had something to say about the announcement made this morning and inquiring whether or not they were going to survive it. Probably not, Lily thought in response to the last letter from Alice asking the same question as all the others did.

“Lils, it’s ready,” called James from the kitchen.

Lily walked over to the kitchen and peered at the bowls James was spooning the now orange mush into. “Um, so James, what exactly is this?”

“Your mom gave me the recipe for that stew you like. So I thought I would make it, but I added sweet potatoes too because I know they’re your favorite vegetable,” he explained.

“You what?” sputtered Lily.

“What? Is that not okay? I just wanted to do something nice for you seeing as I can’t show you I love you tonight the way I usually can,” he finished with a wink and his customary arrogant smirk.

Lily gasped, still in shock that the boy who once turned her hair blue had turned into the most generous man she knew. “Shut up Potter. Don’t ruin just about one of the most thoughtful things you’ve done with your fat head,” said Lily tearfully.

“You like it?” asked James with a glimmer in his eyes.

“I love it! James this is just—” she paused as if to catch her bearings, “I love you!” Lily exclaimed jumping into James’ arms to give him a hug.

“I love you too Lils, so much,” proclaimed James as he hugged her back tightly and put his face in her neck. By burying his face in her neck, he hoped it would help him to refrain from kissing her.

Lily brought his face back up to hers and just stared at his lips, “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to kiss you so badly.”

“Now you know how I felt our last three years at Hogwarts,” breathed James as he closed his eyes so as to not be tempted by her lips. Especially now that he no longer had her neck as a distraction. However, her scent, as he breathed her in, wasn’t helping matters—fuck, her presence in general wasn’t helping matters.

James started to distract himself from the instinctual urge to just kiss Lily and drag her straight to the bedroom, by thinking of Snivellus. Lily, on the other hand, wasn’t having as much luck distracting herself, which is why she quietly breathed out a “screw it” against James’ lips and proceed to kiss him the way she’s been longing to since she’s been told they can’t.

Not even a few seconds into their passionate kiss, where James’ hands somehow landed on Lily’s arse and Lily’s hands were already beginning to unbutton the top button of James’ shirt, the unmistakable sound of someone apparating outside their door reached their ears. They sprung apart, looked at each other with wide terrified eyes, and said “fuck” at the exact same time.

That’s when the banging started, and both of them jumped into action. “Lily, get out of here, NOW! Let me handle this,” implored James.

“No! If you’re going down, then I am going down with you,” she said stubbornly.

“OPEN UP! I can hear you, and I know you have broken the rules!” yelled the voice outside their door.

“Fine stay, but please, for the love of Merlin, let me do the talking,” he begged.

“I make no promises,” she replied quietly getting her wand ready as James headed toward the door.

James unlocked the door with his wand, but before he could even reach for the knob to open it, the door shot open itself and in came a man who could pass for James Dean’s brother. He had shoulder length shiny black hair that was meticulously combed back into a neat, yet somehow still stylistically messy ponytail, a jaw that could cut glass and stormy grey eyes that were glaring right at the red-head who stared defiantly right back at him.

“Are you two fucking kidding me!? You couldn’t even go five hours without snogging!?” the handsome man bellowed. “Honestly, you two are bloody pathetic.”

“Calm the fuck down Padfoot! You asked too much of us, and you know it,” argued James.

“Of course I bloody well know it! Merlin knows you two love to fuck,” exclaimed Sirius making Lily and James blush, “but I had a bet going with Remus about how long you’d last, and given that you couldn’t last seven hours, I now owe that man ten fucking galleons, and I have half a mind to make you pathetic fools pay instead.”

“Fat chance of that,” scoffed Lily with an eye roll, “and fuck you! If you knew we wouldn’t be able to abide by this ridiculous request, why on earth did you forbid us from kissing or sleeping with each other until the wedding tomorrow night!?”

“Well YOU were the one that insisted on wearing white on your wedding even though you’re not a virgin,” fired Sirius.

“SO!? That’s most brides these days you absolute idiot!”

“I just wanted to make sure that you honored the tradition of the dress,” he explained with a shoulder shrug. Then he walked over to the couch to demonstrate that he no longer cared for the conversation, “so did one of you make dinner? Smells awful.”

“No Padfoot, we’re not done with this conversation,” demanded James. “You put Lily and I through absolute Hell—”

“Don’t be so fucking dramatic Prongs,” interrupted Sirius with another eyeroll, “besides, you guys didn’t have to agree.”

“You know bloody well that’s not true! You threatened to not be my best man and to butcher your reception speech,” outraged James.

“Oh…yeah, right, well, don’t worry Prongs, I’ll still be your best man. It would be a little too late to get Moony or Wormtail to do it at this point anyway.”

“Exactly! Which is why we were forced to agree,” grumbled Lily.

“Well calm down love birds, you can kiss now if you want seeing as you’ve already broken the rules,” assured Sirius. “However, since you’ve broken the rules, I’ve decided to kidnap James and bring him to mine and Remus’ to stay until the wedding tomorrow night. So while you can kiss, there’s no way I am letting you two fuck tonight.”

“No, absolutely no! I won’t sleep with Lily, but you can bet your arse I’m sleeping with her—no! Wait! I mean, um, we won’t have sex, but we’re going to sleep in the same bed tonight!”

“Look Prongs, don’t even try, okay? I don’t fancy putting a chastity spell on soon-to-be Potter here, and I don’t trust you to not try something tonight, so eat up, snog up, and pack your stuff, cause you’re coming with me mate,” said Sirius confidently.

“Sirius, us not having sex tonight won’t make me wearing a white dress any less ironic,” reasoned Lily.

“No, but it might make the honeymoon better…well that, and it’s fun to watch you two suffer like this. I mean, I thought it would be Prongs to break, but Lilypad, who knew you had such an appetite,” he teased.

“Ugh, fine Sirius! Do whatever the fuck you want, but just make sure that James is at the wedding. I am just going to go stay with Marlene and Dorcas then,” she sighed defeatedly and made her way over to their room to pack her stuff.

“Aw Lils, are you embarrassed you broke before Prongsie here?” Sirius called after her.

“Leave her alone Sirius. You’ve put us both through enough today,” scolded James.

“Again with the bloody dramatics, but fine, we should get going soon anyway. So kiss your fiancé goodbye for the last time.”

James didn’t even answer. He just followed Lily into their room. “Hey love, are you okay with this?” he asked her as she was packing up some clothes.

“Yeah, it’s fine. I was going to have to go to their place tomorrow morning anyway seeing as they have the dress and all. So I may as well just go now,” she acknowledged.

James grabbed her hand as it was about to reach for a sweater in their dresser and used that hand to drag her to him and in his arms where she fit so familiarly. “You know, if this day has taught me anything, it’s that I now know that we have no choice but to get married,” he claimed as he proceeded to press his lips to her cheek and drag slow kisses down her jaw to her neck.

“What do you mean?” breathed Lily closing her eyes as he continued his ministrations on her neck.

“This day was actual torture for us, and it just made me realize that I don’t want to live another day without kissing you and being married is really the only way to ensure that for me,” he expressed as he leaned his forehead against hers.

“Well, yeah, it’s a good thing you asked me then.”

James smiled at her and then kissed her for what, as Sirius rightly said, would be his last time kissing her when she was just his fiancé. After that, no one could forbid them from kissing or doing anything else for that matter.

[divagonzo]

Arbitration - Ch. 15 of Probate

The Potions Master, by @hillyminne

Ao3 // FF.net

A/N: So this has been almost ready for months but RL got in the way (along with editing other people’s works) so what I thought would be a month’s delay turned into more than six months.

And since last chapter was a kick in the teeth and a stomp on the toes, this one should help a bit. Ace safe.

Harry looked at the older witch and smiled. “Yes, Mrs. Tonks.”

Andromeda tutted. “It’s Andromeda, Harry. Mrs. Tonks was a kindly Muggle proprietor of a small inn in the Lake District.”

Harry smiled, feeling the horror of the day slowly falling off of his shoulders.

“What do you have here besides the chocolate?” He inquired.

The two of them stopped their quiet conversation and turned to him. “I have – “

A wail from a child in another room broke the solitude of the residence. “Ah, yes, Teddy. I was hoping he’d sleep another hour until after you had left but since he’s awake, why don’t you go fetch him along with a fresh nappy. I’ll make him a bottle and then tend him before letting him sit with you a spell.”

“Um, Mrs – Andromeda,” He stuttered, “I’ve never held a baby before. I don’t know what to do.”

Andromeda shared a smile with Kingsley. “Well, besides being noisy, somewhat smelly at times, constantly hungry that doesn’t diminish ‘til they turn 35, and keeping you awake all hours of the day and night, they are quite a handful on their best of days.” She stood up from the settee and went to gather him from his pram. “I’ll help you get him settled in and then I’ll make his bottle.” She stepped out of the room. “It’s probably as complicated as dodging bludgers while trying to catch a snitch.”

Harry smiled, remembering one match his second year. He turned to Kingsley who was holding his cup of tea. “How is she doing, sir?”

“Andromeda? She’d have you believe she’s got her stiff upper lip and nothing can shake her foundations. But it’s all a front. She’s gutted, like everyone else, since she lost almost everyone ‘cept little Teddy. Losing Ted hurt but Dora? I can’t fathom how she’s coping.”

“What choice do I have, Kingsley?” She stepped in holding Teddy on a blanket on her shoulder and a stern look on her face. It softened when she saw the men looking at her. “Pine away while this little one needs me? You underestimate my coping skills. I’ve gone through things that most never will have to experience. This is another moment of me losing something I cherish more than my own life, and all a result of a choice I made so many decades ago.”

“I don’t,” Kingsley replied. “But I also know that you could use some help, take a break with the little one here, maybe have a couple of hours where you can, oh I dunno, take a kip or pick up groceries.”

“Ted and I are doing fine right now,” her answer brooked no insolence. She shared that trait with her younger sister easily enough. “Now get comfortable, Harry, and put your arms out, like you want to hold a book in front of you.”

Harry did as she asked and she knelt down, putting Teddy into Harry’s arms. The tyke looked up at Harry and his eyes changed colors, from the brown that Remus had to vibrant green. “He’s a metamorphmagus, like Tonks.”

“I don’t rightly know for certain, actually. She didn’t start sprouting her hair ‘til she was three. But then Ted and I didn’t notice her eyes changing color either due to the exhaustion. I don’t think Dora slept for the first three years of her life.”

The fuzz on the child’s head slowly darkened, leaving him looking like he would be Harry’s child if he did anything remotely relative to making babies. “He’s a handsome little man.”

“Yes, he is, when I can get him to sleep long enough. Kingsley, can I speak with you a moment in the kitchen?”

The two of them left Harry on the couch with little Edward in his arms.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Teddy. You don’t know who I am yet but I’m Harry. I knew your parents.”

Teddy’s hair shifted back to brown along with brown eyes.

“You do take after your father that way, it seems. He was quiet too, so I understand it. He was also there when I needed him for help.”

Teddy’s hair shifted again, this time to vibrant pink.

“And there’s your Mum. She was incredible. I hate that you’ll only know them from stories from the rest of us. I knew your Dad more than your Mum but everyone says that your Mum was amazing, too.”

The lad continued to look at Harry, being quiet in his arms. “You’re a bit too young for me to start in on the stories but maybe one will be fine, about your Mum. She was so funny. We were sitting in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, at Christmas a couple of years ago, and your Mum was making silly faces to amuse some others at the table. I remember one where she had this pig snout and candy floss-colored hair. She could always make me laugh so hard, even when she wasn’t trying to do so. But she’d tell you straightaway that she was also one of the biggest klutzes around. She didn’t know how she made the Aurors when she failed the Stealth tests every time.”

Teddy continued to watch Harry. His hair changed from brown to black and brown again, shifting unconsciously.

“But let me tell you about your Dad. He was such a good man. He had his moments, but that’s expected and all. But he was an excellent professor, an amazing man, who dealt with his furry little – “ Harry stopped and looked up towards the kitchen. “Andromeda, is Teddy – I mean, is he – “

“If you’re asking if he’s got a furry little problem, no, he doesn’t. I took him in at Dora’s insistence and found a Healer who would be more than happy to help once I slipped him ten galleons. While he’s contaminated, since Remus is his father and had his furry little problem, Teddy won’t turn. It seems that it’s fortunate that the issue of lycanthropy only transmits through the bite of one who is currently turned. But the Healer said that they know that it can also transmit if the mother is contaminated. We’re all fortunate that Dora was immune, so she thought.

“The healer did say that Dora’s genes involving her metamorphisms probably will help Teddy keep any possible furry problems down, kind of like inoculation of cowpox to prevent Dragon Pox.” Andromeda handed over a warm bottle of milk. Harry looked at it, trying to deduce what to do when Andromeda sat down next to him and tended her grandson while also demonstrating for Harry how to care for his godson.

Little Teddy settled back into Harry’s arms, trying to hold the bottle in his hands but failing to keep it in his minuscule grasp. She sat back to watch closely over Harry as well. “I can already tell that he has some signs of Dora. His hair color will change when he sees something interesting and spontaneously shift to that color.”

Harry watched lil’ Teddy’s face grew serious for a moment. Andromeda sighed. “And he seems to take after his father, too. He’ll get that look, like he can’t figure something out and it bothers him. My Ted would get that look, too. It’s probably what drew Dora to Remus.”

“What were they like together? I mean, really like. I knew Remus pretty well – “

“Not as well as I did, Harry,” Kingsley cut in.

“Well, yes, but I never considered Remus finding anyone who would fancy him, because of his furry little problem.”

“Dora was unique as you can imagine. Her tastes in people ran the gamut, but the one line she didn’t cross was that she would occasionally come across one who was deviant in their desires. She would immediately cut contact and never speak with them again. She said that it was being dishonest to herself if she did anything of the sort.” Andromeda smiled at Harry’s slightly befuddled expression. “Dora never saw herself as being completely a girl, because she could change her appearance greatly.  While Kingsley found it a tremendous asset,”

“And she was if she didn’t have to require stealth too,” He cheeked.

“She came across people who would find some weird enjoyment in having her appear as someone else for a physical relationship. If you wanted to see Dora blow her top like my Ted, ask her to do that. She’d come by in a strop and it would take a day or two for her to calm down enough. I couldn’t do it though, only Ted could.”

“Remus was the only one who never asked that of her. He took her as she was, and accepted her however she appeared. She didn’t have to play to anyone’s expectations and didn’t have to fulfill some sick fantasy on the part of someone else. In Remus, she found a surprising kindred spirit, because she always felt like she was an outcast, because of what she could do. Regular society, if she hadn’t gone into the Aurors, wouldn’t have readily accepted her except as my child – which in the climate wasn’t for much.”

“Did they get along? I mean, he showed up one time when we were in hiding and he wanted to run off with us. I,” Harry looked at the infant in his arms, “I told him off for abandoning Tonks when she was pregnant. He got so upset with me and stormed off.” Harry couldn’t admit to anyone that he provoked Remus into using magic against him. The shame still coursed over his skin in remembrance.

“So you’re why he came back then?” The older witch nodded. “That makes perfect sense.”

“Perfect sense?”

“He returned about a week later, looking more haggard and frail. Tonks wouldn’t hear a word otherwise against him. She knew how upset he was and told me off, saying he needed time to sort things.” Andromeda’s face grew pinched. “I guess getting kicked in the arse by you did help him sort things. Once he returned, he didn’t stray far from Dora, except when he went off on Order business.”

“And that business was meeting me in rough locations to pass information. I was operating blind once I escaped with my life from the Ministry.”

“But you could have handled it! You’re a Pureblood.”

“And I am one of Dumbledore’s staunchest defenders in the Ministry. There were whispers I was his stooge but I disagreed often with him, but in private or behind closed doors.  The whispers started the year before he died. Fudge tried to blame me for Dumbledore escaping arrest. While it was certainly true, he had no evidence but his bruised ego. It didn’t matter since he was sacked a few months later after the debacle at the Ministry.”

Andromeda smiled at Kingsley before he sat down next to her. “Andromeda took me in after the coup, and after Ted went on the run. No one dared deal with her, not with her family name and her being a Pureblood. I was able to come and go without being seen or suspected.”

“A few tried since I was married to Ted, but those few quickly realized their mistake.” Her face grew cruel, looking like she was one very small yet haughty step from committing murder. “I sent three to St. Mungo’s, one of which was still in there when I took Ted in. The one still in there was one of the ones responsible for torturing me after the Coup happened. He said something he shouldn’t have so I used old family magic on him.” Harry shuddered to see her anger simmering under the passive face.

“Tortured you?” Kingsley turned towards Andromeda. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

“What was to tell? The Ministry had fallen. Everyone knows I was married to Ted. Those idiot Death Eaters had no qualms trying to torture us for information even though we had none. When the Ministry fully supported their actions, what could you do? So I did what I always have done – endured it and fought back when I had the advantage.” She smiled and her features softened some. “After that little incident, no one came a calling except you and later on, Dora and Remus.”

“Remus and I ran the Order out of here about a third of the time. The other bits, well, we won’t mention them.”

Harry looked down and saw lil’ Ted had fallen asleep. “Um, what do I do now?”

The other two smiled. “Let’s give him ten more minutes before I lay him back down. Biscuit?”

Just then Harry’s stomach growled. Andromeda smiled, looking tired before her visage turned back to friendly politeness. “How about I make you a sandwich? I think I have some ham and cheese and wholemeal bread.”

“Oh, that would taste so good.”

“Once you’ve got it, I need to get you home, Harry. Arthur said he’d keep the Floo open for you until I brought you home then lock it again.”

“Really?”

“Neither of us is a Weasley and the wards are attuned with Blood Magic, courtesy of Bill. The results of trying to apparate into the Burrow and not being a Weasley would be fatal.”

“Oh.”

“Andromeda has the same protective enchantments. I insisted. That’s why we arrived by Floo.”

Andromeda stood up from her settee, heading into the kitchen to make him a sandwich. Kingsley joined her in there, talking softly where Harry couldn’t see them. In some ways, they looked very much like Ron and Hermione, parenting him without trying to make it obvious.

Moments later, Andromeda put a paper sack down on the side table before bending down to collect Teddy in her arms. He whimpered slightly but she hummed a few bars of a song he didn’t know and the tyke settled back to sleep.

“Ready, Harry?”

“I am. I’m knackered for some reason.”

“Well let’s call Arthur so you can come through. I won’t be joining you. I have to return to the Ministry and do those wellness checks tonight.”

“I understand.”

“Get some rest. I plan on coming calling tomorrow about 9. We’ll go through as many as you can stand tomorrow. I know it’s overwhelming but those families with lost family members should know as soon as possible.”

“I agree,” Andromeda looked towards Harry and he was reminded of her sisters, but softer and yet more tired. “It’s heartbreaking to not know. It hurts to know, especially for the worst, but the lack of closure is worse.”

[chuffyfan87]

It Started With A Kiss. Part 9a.

"I really don't think we need this." Charlie commented, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck as he looked at the item that Duffy pointed at excitedly.

This was the second Saturday in a row that she'd dragged him around the various baby shops and department stores in Holby town centre. It wasn't that he lacked the enthusiasm for the task, it was just that as far as he understood all a baby needed was a cot, a pram, a changing mat, nappies and some clothes. Everything else seemed like unnecessary extra expense. Unfortunately for Charlie this was not a viewpoint shared by Duffy.

Charlie only half listened as she babbled excitedly about the item. Where on earth she got her energy from was beyond him. By now well into her third trimester she showed no sign of slowing down, still working 12 hour shifts despite her due date being only 8 weeks away. He'd tried to discuss the idea of her reducing her hours or, his preferred choice, going on maternity leave now but she had responsed by shouting at him so he was reluctant to raise the topic again.

He was suddenly torn from his thoughts by her prodding him in the arm.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Well... Um..." He stuttered.

Duffy rolled her eyes as she let out a disgruntled sigh. "Well, what do you think?"

"Its a chair Duffy." He responded, confused by the enthusiastic look on her face. "The baby won't even be able to sit up for months so why would it need a chair?"

"Its not a chair, it's a rocking swing. Look," She indicated some buttons on the side, "it's got an electric motor that rocks the baby gently. It's supposed to be soothing."

"But where exactly would you plan on putting it?" He questioned. "It's huge!"

"Well if I moved the sofa..." She began.

"You are not doing anything of the sort Duffy!" Charlie interrupted, horrified at her suggestion. Unfazed by her glare, he continued. "Its too expensive anyway. Its bad enough that you're insisting we buy two of everything else without adding that on top too!"

Duffy sighed, frustration seeping into her words. "We need two cots. Otherwise where is the baby going to sleep when we're at your house? It's not like it's practical for me to drag a cot back and forth across town on the bus several times a week!"

Charlie looked at her aghast. "You're worried about what's practical all of a sudden are you? Well that makes a pleasant change!" He retorted, clearly frustrated.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She demanded, her hands moving to her hips as she glared at him.

"Erm..." Charlie mumbled, his mind suddenly blank, distracted by the vision in front of him. Even heavily pregnant she was still incredibly sexy when she was mad at him.

Duffy rolled her eyes as she saw the expression on Charlie's face change. "Well? Are you going to tell me?"

Charlie winced at the change in her tone. Now she'd morphed from sexy into downright terrifying. "Um, you could just..."

"Just what Charlie?" She interrupted, folding her arms across her chest.

"...live with me?" He finished, unsure of how she was going to react.

"That's a pretty big step."

"Not if it's what we both want." He countered. "I want you to live with me." He paused. "Both of you."

"But what if it doesn't work out..?"

"Can't we at least try?" He pleaded.

She chewed at her lip. She wanted to throw caution to the wind and just say yes but still she worried things might go wrong.

"Duffy, just trust me, ok?"

"That's not the problem." She mumbled.

"What do you mean?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters. We about to raise a baby together. Why can't we live together?"

She looked embarrassed. "I've never lived with a bloke before." She explained, her voice barely above a whisper.

"We're practically living together already Duffy. Why would moving into my house be so bad?"

"I suppose you've got a point." She conceded.

"Finally. She understands." He said, as he raised his hands up in triumph.

She briefly glared at him before childishly sticking her tongue out at him. Briefly surprised by her response he shook his head indulgently before returning the gesture. She tried to hold a straight face but couldn't, quickly bursting into giggles.

Charlie frowned at her, then began to giggle himself. He then took her by the hand and pulled her towards him. "It's a bloody good job I love you!"

"Does that mean we can buy the swing?" She asked mischievously.

"Pfft!" Trust her to try that on him! "On one condition!"

"What condition?"

"That you move in with me this weekend."

She made a big show of contemplating the idea, looking intently at her watch. "Well, we're supposed to be meeting Megan for lunch in 10 minutes but I'm sure we can find some time after that to start moving my stuff."

"Seriously?" He asked in shock.

"Yes it's almost twenty past twelve, we said we'd meet her at half past."

"Duffy!?" He responded with amused annoyance.

"What?" She replied with fake innocence.

"You know exactly what!"

"Fine." She sighed theatrically. "Yes, OK. If the offer's still open I'd like to move in with you."

"Good! Now where do we go to pay for this thing anyway? Megan will lose her rag if we aren't there to meet her!"

"Um... I think the till was back over that way. Are you going to have time to take it back to the car before lunch?"

"We can pay for it now, and come back to collect it surely?" He reasoned.

"You're probably right. Why don't you go do that while I take a look at a couple of other things?"

"Um, what things?" He queried, suspicion creeping into his voice.

"Just some, um, clothes. That's all." She replied lightly.

"More clothes?"

"They're really cute!"

"So were the ones we bought last week." He pointed out.

"Babies need plenty of clothes. In case they get messy."

"They'll have a new outfit everyday at this rate!"

"Anyone would think you didn't want our child to be the best dressed baby in Holby Charlie!" She pouted.

Charlie rolled his eyes at her. "Fine." He sighed.

She grinned at him and began to walk away. "I'll only be two minutes. I'll meet you by the till."

Charlie headed over to the till to pay for the swing. Partway through he was joined by Duffy who placed two yellow sleepsuits onto the counter.

He sighed, turning back to the cashier. "And those please."

Duffy kissed him on the cheek as he finished paying for the items. "Love you!"

"Yeah, yeah." He said, and smirked at her as she picked up the bag of clothes and they began to walk towards the exit holding hands.

"There was a really lovely pink dress too but, well, I resisted the temptation!"

He glared at her as they turned into the street and began walking towards the café where they were meeting Megan.

"I did consider buying it and then returning it if necessary."

"Or you could just wait?" He suggested, aspirated. It wasn't the first time that Duffy's impatience had gotten the better of her.

"I knew you'd say that which is why I was good and didn't buy it."

"First you're being practical and now you're being good? I'm not sure I can handle this!" He teased, laughing at the face she pulled in response.

Duffy was about to retort when a familiar voice broke in from behind them. "I do hope you two aren't going to bicker throughout the entire meal!"

The pair turned towards the voice, exchanging greetings and hugs with the older woman. Duffy rolled her eyes and let out a disgruntled sigh when after parting from their hug Megan held her by the shoulders and studied her intently at arm's length.

Megan clicked her tongue as she cast her eyes over her younger friend. She still looked a little too slim for Megan's liking but at least her shoulders didn't feel quite as bony as they had done previously and she was also pleased to see that Duffy was wearing flat slip on style shoes rather than the zipped up heeled boots she'd been wearing the last time they'd met up. "You'll do, though a few more pounds wouldn't hurt you!"

Duffy rolled her eyes and shook her head in resignation as the three of them entered the café and found a table. They quickly picked their meals, Duffy refusing to meet Megan's gaze as she placed her order. Megan shot a look at Charlie, receiving only a frustrated shrug in response. It wasn't like he hadn't tried several times already.

Whilst they waited for their food Duffy excitedly told Megan about the purchases they had made that morning for the baby.

"So where exactly are you planning on putting all these things?" Megan queried.

"Well..." Duffy could barely contain her grin as she glanced shyly through her lashes at Charlie who had an equally silly look on his face. "I'm moving into Charlie's house this afternoon."

"Are you now?" Megan was genuinely pleased for the couple but at the same time a part of her couldn't help feeling that Duffy deserved something more in terms of commitment from Charlie. Though for all she knew maybe Charlie had asked her and she'd said no - she wouldn't put it past Duffy to pull a silly, short-sighted stunt like that. She could be stubborn to the point of foolishness sometimes afterall.

Before Megan had the chance to confirm or disprove her thoughts their meals arrived bringing a temporary pause to the conversation. As she ate she surreptitiously watched the couple sat opposite her. She wondered if either of them realised how they were behaving - the little glances and half smiles when the other wasn't paying attention, the way Charlie's hand would lightly brush against Duffy's as he reached for his drink and, most interesting of all, the way the fingers of Duffy's left hand kept absentmindedly fiddling with the necklace she wore. Megan had long been a people watcher, it was a key skill in her job afterall - being able to pick up on the little hints and messages in other's body language. As such she'd been fascinated by the pair of them since she'd first observed them together roughly a year ago now.

Though it had been clear from the off that there was a spark between them she'd feared that it was just a passing fancy that would ultimately end in tears. Over time, however, it had become apparent that they were besotted with each other and also surprisingly resillant, seemingly able to weather any storm that life threw at them, of which there had been many of late.

Megan broke from her musings as once more her gaze was drawn to the necklace Duffy wore. It looked unlike anything she'd previously seen the young woman wearing. It was delicate and old, possibly even antique, Megan couldn't be entirely sure as it was difficult for her to get a proper look at it due to Duffy's near constant movement. Finishing her food she placed down her fork and considered her options. She was at a bit of a loss as to how to broach the subject until Charlie excused himself from the table to use the bathroom, leaving the women alone. Megan immediately seized the opportunity to fulfil her curiosity.

Megan smiled as she saw Duffy's gaze follow Charlie as he crossed the room away from the table.

"Earth to Duffy!" Megan teased.

Duffy tore her eyes away from Charlie and back to focus on Megan, her cheeks colouring a deep red hue. "Sorry..." She mumbled.

"Oh tosh! There's no need to be embarrassed. It's lovely to see you so happy." She replied before looking pointedly at the necklace around Duffy's neck that she was still playing with.

Following Megan's gaze Duffy suddenly realised what she had been doing. She swiftly moved her hand away like it had been burnt. Seeing Megan's eyebrow raise in response she attempted to explain. "Er, um, it's..." She stammered.

"Present was it?" Megan queried.

"Yeh, do you like it?" Duffy replied nervously.

"Let me see." She lent forward as Duffy held it out away from her neck. "Oh yes, very nice."

"It belonged to his mum." Duffy explained.

"Did it? His Mum? But I thought she..." Megan began, a little confused.

"Yeh... Um... He said she would have wanted me to have it."

"Would have? But, Duffy, I've met his Mum." Megan questioned, utterly baffled by Duffy's reply.

Seeing the confusion on Megan's face Duffy looked awkward, glancing around to check Charlie hadn't reappeared. "Um... That's not his mum..."

Megan rose her eyebrows up in shock. "She's not...she's not his Mum?"

"His mum died when he was 10." Duffy looked around her again. "Please don't tell him you know! I probably wasn't supposed to say anything." She babbled anxiously.

"When he was ten? Oh poor Charlie. He never, he never once said. Poor boy." Megan replied, her heart breaking thinking of the trauma he'd suffered at such a tender age.

"I think he only told me because I told him about my dad running off when I was little." Duffy shrugged, attempting to look unaffected by what had happened to her but the dark look in her eyes spoke volumes.

"It explains it all. No wonder you're both so afraid of commitment." Megan replied sympathetically.

"I just don't want to end up making a mess of things." Duffy whispered, her eyes cast downwards as her hand gently caressed her bump.

Charlie re-entered the room and saw the two women obviously deep in conversation. Deciding it would be best to leave them to it for a while he caught Megan's eye and mouthed "I'll be back soon" before quietly slipping out of the café to run a couple of errands.

"It won't, if you just trust him Duffy." Megan replied, turning her attention back to her young friend.

"I do trust him Megan. I just don't trust myself."

"What? Why?" Megan questioned, perplexed.

"Well I'm the reason my parents split up, what's to say history won't repeat itself?"

"Duffy, a child is never the reason parents split up, never!" Megan countered. "What your Dad did was wrong. He left your Mum, as well as you. But that is his fault, his decision. Not your fault. There is no way Charlie would leave you. Heck, I tried my best to keep him away from you. But I clearly had no effect on him."

"You did what?! When?!" Duffy asked, shocked at the revelation.

"Oh it doesn't matter. But, the point I'm making is, people chose their path in life. Charlie has, for want of a better word, done what his heart wanted him to do, not his head." She sighed. "He was chased by Baz and steered away from you by me, yet he still refused to be put off."

"Why would you do that though? You knew I liked him."

"He was your boss Duffy. And nearly ten years older than you. On paper that is a fling waiting to happen, but would have only ended in tears."

"It did for a while." Duffy muttered darkly.

"I mean, why else would a Senior Charge Nurse give driving lessons to a junior nurse, on his days off? Especially when he has a Doctor as a girlfriend too!" Megan rolled her eyes at Duffy.

"Alright, alright!" She held up her hands in surrender. "Guilty as charged, he suggested it as an offhand idea and I jumped at it." A small smile began to work its way back onto her face.

"My point exactly. Why would he do that for you? You're a capable enough girl. And there's nothing wrong with using the bus."

"I'm glad you think so as I think I'll be using the bus for a while yet." She replied sheepishly.

"Oh for goodness sake Duffy, you still haven't passed your test? I clearly need to have words with Charlie!"

"Its not his fault. I'm sure anyone would be reluctant to let me back behind the wheel of their car after finding out I crashed the test instructor's car on purpose in the middle of my test." She blurted out.

"Duffy?! You did what!?"

Realising what she'd just admitted she desperately attempted to backpeddle. "Um... It was an accident!" She replied unconvincingly.

"What was?" Charlie said, as he came up behind her, having re-entered the café moments earlier.

"The car." Duffy sighed.

"Oh, right. Um, well, the wheel has a tendency to stiffen up sometimes, and pulls to the right a lot too. Not your fault, it is a temperamental thing." He explained, flicking a glance at Megan to see if she had bought his excuse.

"She knows it wasn't your car that I crashed." Duffy laughed, rolling her eyes at him, it was rather sweet that he wanted to save her face over what had happened.

"Um...er..." Charlie blushed

[petticoatedtales-blog]

Naughty Boys Chapter 3

The following days were much the same as the last, with the boys slowly getting adjusted to their new daily lives. They were very polite, and were no longer uncomfortable in their outfits, or in raising their hand to tell one of the ladies they had wet their nappy. After four days, Olly was allowed to don pink frilly knickers instead of nappies during the day, and to access the bathroom, albeit having to always sit down with the door wide open. The other two were also given this privilege after a while, and nappies were reserved for nighttime, where they were still frequently used. Once the first Sunday rolled around, the boys were thoroughly tamed. Or at least, they appeared to be. The trouble was that under his fake smile, Fin was resisting everything. He wasn’t making anyway near the amount of progress as the other two boys, and on that Sunday, finally broke down. The weather was perfect, so Miss Geraghty had announced they would go on a picnic after a walk, and maybe learn about the trees and plants of the surrounding countryside. When she presented three sleeveless short flowery dresses, the other two put them on immediately with the accompanying sunhat. For a second as if thinking, Fin held them in his hands. “What’s wrong, Fin?” asked Miss Geraghty, noticing. “I’m not going to wear your stupid outfits any more,” he shouted, “I’ve been your good girl for too long, now let me go!” He tried to run out of the room, but was blocked by Mrs Forest. Anger overtaking him, he swung a wild punch and connected with her nose. It started spurting blood everywhere, on the other two boys’ dresses, and he was subdued by the other two ladies. Still trying to break free, he was frogmarched to a new room, which looked like a nursery, with nothing but dolls and prams on the floor, and as with many rooms, the same shade of baby pink on the walls. Miss Geraghty locked the door, and was about to return for the other two boys when she realises they had followed her. “Now boys, Fin has been acting like a baby so we will treat him as one. You too must be on tip-top behaviour now.” And they were, trying to concentrate fully on having impeccable manners around Miss Geraghty. Soon they returned from their picnic and walk, and were about to get ready for dinner when they were summoned to Fin’s new room. They apprehensively walked in, and discovered Fin lying in the cot, in nothing but a huge nappy, a pink baby’s bonnet and a pink dummy. He clutched a pretty doll, and was just lying there looking at the ceiling. Once they were in, they noticed the terrible smell, and the source seemed to be the huge bulge in the back of his nappy. “The baby needs changing so we thought you should have some experience,” said Miss Geraghty, “Olly, you can have a go first.” She then went and picked up Fin from his cot, who showed no resistance, and placed him on the changing table. Olly nervously went up, and slid the dirty nappy down Fin’s legs, feeling strange as he touched the boy’s bare skin. After discarding it, he then took a tissue and wiped him down under the guidance of the three ladies. He wiped across his bum, before hesitating as Fin was flipped over. “Come on Olly, we haven’t got all day,” said Miss Geraghty, and he began to clear the intimate parts of filth. He felt Fin grow harder as he wiped all over, and felt himself go as well, feeling embarrassed. Eventually he was ready for a new nappy, which was slid up his legs, and the other two boys went away for dinner. Olly couldn’t stop thinking to himself how he had gotten so aroused at wiping his friends privates, and assured himself it was just awkwardness. But he fell asleep that night dreaming of Fin’s tanned skin and brown hair.

[ethompson928]

We are Bulletproof (BTS GANG AU) Part 13

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter 

Jungkook did not return to the following practice session, nor the one after that.  Like before, he continuedto ignore her and his hatred for her that Ally could not understand at all only seemed to grow stronger as each day passed.  Rather than allow this to plague her thouhts Ally decided to be more focused on getting through each day that she was still in Bangtan's house.  As she waited in the practice room a few days after the incident instead of Jungkook turning up like Ally had thought was going to happen, it turned out to be J-Hope.  Ally preferred his style of teaching, he was tough but fair, he also wenr a lot easier on her during practice fights and showed Ally useful tips that could help during a real fight and even demonstrated to her how they were supposed to look before putting them into practice.  Then she would be able totry them out herself and put try them against J-Hope.

"You're doing well..." J-Hope had commented as he passed her a bottle of water as she lay sprawled out on the floor trying to get her breath back.  She drank from it eagerly sitting herself up so as not to choke.  It was refreshing and cooling, she stopped herself from guzzling too much to avoid throwing up.  Despite being tied up some of the stray hairs that had fell out during their practice had ended up sticking to her face and neck.  J-Hope was only just starting to break the sweat barrier, he was so physically fit that he was still ready to go another ten rounds.  His hair had begun to stick to his forehead giving it a wet look and every now and again he would try to wipe the sweat away so it wouldn't get into his eyes.

"It's so hard..." Ally laughed pushing herself up off the floor, accepting the hand that J-Hope offered to her.  

"You'll get better, trust me, we've all been there."  J-Hope laughed in response, patting a hand on Ally's shoulder as he went to leave the room but Ally quickly stopped him.  

"Hey J-Hope...thanks."  She smiled, a legitimate smile.  He stopped short as he had reached the door and turned to face Ally and he too smiled.

"No problem and...it's Hoseok.  See you later.  Keep up the hard work."  The door closed behind him leaving Ally standing in the middle of them room, her mouth opened lightly asshe breathed his name once more.

"Thanks...Hoseok."

--

Just over a week later Ally woke up very early one morning, it was at least 4.20am when she managed to find the alarm clock in her tired state.  She tirdely rubbed at her eyes as the world slowly came into focus and she could start to make out silhouettes of shapes darting around the room.  The moonlight was pouring into the room from the window where she forgot to pull the blinds closed before she went to sleep, althouh given what time it was, the sun was going to rise soon as the world will start to awake and everything will be bathed in the glow of the sunrise and alive with the sound of birds and creatures.  

Sitting up properly Ally let out a small yawn and pulled the loose hair bobble from her hair that she didn't remove from the night before, she winced ever so slightly as a few stray hairs were pulled from her head.

Life had been prefty quiet in the past week, she continued to have more basic training with J-Hope...or Hoseok...she couldn't get used to referring to him as Hoseok after calling him J-Hope for so long.  It was during these trainings that Ally decided she was not going to let Jungkook annoy her.  In her head he was being a stroppy teenager who had thrown his toys out of the pram because he didn't get his own way.

Ally near jumped out of her skin when a branch off a tree outside her window banged loudly against the glass.  Supressing the small scream that tried to escape her mouth she sighed quietly and got up out of her bed and made her way over to the window in the dark of her room.  It was still very dark outside, the trees were only increasing how dark it seemed to be as it was blocking out any early rays of sunlight that were trying to illuminate the house, but it was a little easier to see certain objects such as the bushes surroundings.  Resting her forearms on the window ledge Ally tried to looking around the outside as best as she could, she could see her breath fog up the glass ever so slightly as she recovered from her sleep.  Everything was peaceful, it almost seemed normal, but something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.  Ally did a quick double take, she was very confused, the bush was rustling, now she knew the difference between a bush rustling in the wind and when something different was going on...for one the trees leaves were absolutely still and she strained her ears to listen for any wind that might be blowing.  Nothing.  The bush came to a shuddering halt, and the longer she stared, the more convinced she was that someone was staring back at her.  She quickly turned away from the window and rubbed her eyes preparing to jump back into bed and forget she saw anything but she allowed herself one more glance, she glanced back down to the bush, whoever or whatever was there was gone...and all was peaceful once again.  

Did she actually see anything?  Ally was beginning to doubt herself, she could have she seen something.  After fighting with her inner thoughts again and wrestled against the drooping eyelids she crawled back into bed and convinced herself that she was just tired and was seeing things.  

--

Ally woke up a few hours later feeling refreshed and wide awake.  The incident from last night completely gone from her mind and she thought about it no longer.  There was a knock on her door and she jumped out of bed to get to the door but it was opened before she could reach the handle...it was Taehyung.

"Hello!"  He smiled cheerfully as he made himself at home carrying something between his two hands.  At a closer glance Ally could see he brought her some fresh clothes.  She smiled as he handed them over and she could practically smell the freshness radiating off them.  She briefly wondered where had they been able to supply all these clothes, she dreaded the thought of wearing the lovely ladies of Jin's second career investments but she thanked Taehyung anyway for bringing them up.  

"You're coming with me today...we're gonna go and do some kidnapping!"  Ally laughed lightly under her breath as she deposited the clothes on the bed and turned back to Taehyung who was still smiling at her.

"You're not joking are you?"  Ally realised as he nodded quickly.

"Beside's we're friends now so it'll be fun!  Seriously, we think we have a lead on one of the guys who have been following us...I just need your help!  Also you'll learn a new skill and that's all I promise.  Please help me!"

Ally chuckled once more, Taehyung despite being a gang member was giving her the saddest puppy dog eyes she had ever seen in her entire life.  It was almost too hard to resist.  She smiled and nodded as she watched Taehyung's eyes light up.  He leaped forward for a hug and quickly pulled himself away and ran out the door.  Leaving behind a startled Ally who could only smile at his antics before shaking her head and turned to the clothes on the bed.  

A skirt.

Ally scowled to herself as she picked up the light pink skirt and the white t-shirt.  Underneath the bundle were a pair of white guddies.  Tilting her head inquisitively to the side she thought about her option of smelling or sucking it up to wear a skirt.  Her normal preference of jeans or shorts were inaccessible to her and she hated it, with a quick shake of her head she decided to get changed.  The skirt came about half way down her thigh and the white shoes just about fit her without hurting the feet.  The white t-shirt was a nice fit and a little roomy to allow her to feel a little more like herself.  

--

Ally found herself following Taehyung into the bar around lunchtime that afternoon.  He ordered them two drinks (non alcoholic, Taehyung assured her but she didn't know whether or not believe him as the last time they were in this scenario he had drugged her with that stupid grin on his face) and sat across from each other in a booth towards the back of the bar filled with men who were having lunch or a social drink with their mates and regulars that often occupied the bar on their days off work or because they had no engagements that required their attention.  

Taehyung glanced around him a few times.  His eyes darting around the bar at all the potential suspects.  "Now..." he began taking a small sip from his drink.  "You should never have to do this...but I thought it would be fun for you to come with me!"

"Fun?"  Ally smiled slowly beginning to drink the beverage in front of her.

"Our target isn't here, I have to deal with him, but you can have a go on some poor soul here".  Taehyung said as Ally contemplated joining Taehyung in his psycotic hobby.  Reviving her old habit of biting her lip, she looked down into the bottom of the glass in front of her and sighed.  She wasn't sure she would be able to pull it off but she had to give it a go, for her own sake and because Taehyung had brought her all the way out here and thought of this as a fun game he would play with his friends at school...only this time, it was very much real.

"I don't know if I can do this..."  Ally admitted.  

"Come on, don't worry.  I'm sure you'll do great."  Taehyung fished into his pocket and pulled out a small unmarked bottle with a clear liquid inside.  "Just put a little of this into a drink and the consumer will feel dizzy and faint for an hour or so...don't worry it's not lethal.  Same one I used on you that night I kidnapped you.  Now it's your turn to use it."  Taehyung smiled and pushed it gently across the table to Ally who studied it cautiously.  

She picked it up and looked around the bar.  She looked back at Taehyung and back to the drink that was left in front of him undrunk.  "You're not drinking that are you?"  She asked and Taehyung looked at her confused and shook his head.  Ally quickly opened the small bottle and poured a little amount into his drink and took it from Taehyung as well as picking up her own.  "It'll be easier this way."  She said quickly, her nerves starting to show as she bit her bottom lip.  "I'm so going to hell"  She finally whispered under her breath as she stood up and took one final look around the bar.  

A lone man sat by himself in a booth off to the side, he had an empty drink in front of him and he had his head down, a hat covering his head and his arms resting on the table in front of him.  Guilt and regret surged through her head as she walked across the bar, Taehyung swiveled around in his seat to watch.

"Hey are you okay?"  Ally asked standing in front of the table.  "Mind if I join you?"  She asked showing him a sweet smile as he looked up his face finally coming into view.  He was a young man probably in his early to mid twenties.  He had dark hair and charming, bright eyes.

"Go for it."  He smiled offering his hand to the seat in front of him.  Ally sat down and placed the drugged drink down in front of him.

"Want it?  I got one for my friend, but she never came so...better put it to good use."  Ally said taking a swig of her own drink.  

"Thanks" The mysterious stranger replied.  Pulling the drink closer to him.  "I was here to get away from my friends actually"  he continued on getting ready to take a drink, before the rim could touch his lips he kept talking.  "We've been so busy lately, nice to take a break and just relax."  Ally agreed with him there and relaxed into her seat, she watched him carefully, a smile on her face that seemed natural if not slightly forced.  

"I haven't seen my best friend in a while...I miss her."  Ally agreed casting her eyes down.  

The man patted her hand across the table.  "I hope you see her soon."  He sat back and finally took a drink.  After swallowing he pulled a weird facial expression and looked into the drink.  Ally was mentally screaming, did he know she drugged his drink.  But he shook his head and continued to make some small chat with Ally.

"I've actually been making some new friends recently."  Ally said.  "But they're completely different to me...in fact, I don't really fit in with them at all and I don't think they like me that much.  They seem dangerous but they make me wanna stay."  She muttered the last part quietly lowering her own head to look into her drink.  She could feel Taehyung staring at her from across the bar and looked back up to the stranger...any minute now.  "Do you feel okay?  You look a bit pale..."  Ally said leaning forward.  

The man rubbed his eyes and slightly shook his head.  "Yeah, just a bit tired and I feel dizzy.  In terms of these 'new friends' you just have to go with your gut instinct and do what you want to do...trust me Ally it will all work out..."  his speech slurred just as Ally heard her own name and she almost recoiled in shock and horror as the boy slumped forward in his seat, he looked innocent and like he was sleeping.  One thing flashed through Ally's head as she stared at him with wide eyes and mouth daring to hang open as she stared at the stranger in front of her.

How the hell did he know her name?!

[banesbottombitch]

“Youre being too friendly with them” & “Youre mine i watch everything you do” for the tozier reader thing if thats cool! i love your writing so much

I got carried away af with this. I hope its up to standard, and since i used “you’re mine and I watch everything you do” already, I did the first prompt. Also, this is a one shot, I will not be doing another part, so enjoy it as a singular work, my duderinos.

Prompt Used: “You’re being too friendly with them”

Word Count: +2,500

Warnings: Possessiveness, drugging, that good kush, Patrick POV. Tozier!Reader.

Tagged: @dreamboathannah, @restoftheworldfallsaway @ghoulishtozier @itwasmathilda, @fangirlinganditswonders, @neoandersons, @basicwheeler, @leetime14, @passionfortrashin

(Anyone who wanted to be tagged for WYS automatically gets tagged for my other Patrick works as a bonus, my duderinos. Message me -through pm-  if you want to also be tagged! Love y’all.)

Patrick leaned against the front of his car, wiping the motor oil off his long fingers and watching the Tozier girl while she helped their classmates. Her hair was rolled up into a tight bun, the dark green button up she had worn over her t shirt all day tied at her waist while she peered under the hood of Dylan Pram and Cole Harris’ project car.

She was talking some auto mechanic nonsense and pointing out where their problems mostly laid, the two dipshits at her side feigning cluelessness. Patrick knew their game, others in the class had tried it once or twice too, but to no avail. He would know best, [First Name] was fucking oblivious when it came to flirting.

Dylan stepped closer to her as she rummaged under the hood, and Patrick’s fingers flexed under the rag he rubbed them with when the jock rested a firm hand on her lower back and spoke in her ear.

He must have said something utterly hilarious, because the trashmouth choked on a laugh and straightened. Cole shared their smile, but his eyes connected with Dylan, a silent conversation running between them as Patrick’s partner parted from them with a wave and a soft laugh.

“Nice one, Dylan. Remember to clean it up when you’re done, dude.” She waved them off, coming back to Patrick with flushed cheeks from her laughter. Behind her, eyes and sly grins sought her back, and Patrick ignored them, smirking at the Toizer girl when she arrived.

“You’re being too friendly with them, Tozier.” He said quietly, tossing the dirtied rag over the top of his tool box. “They’re going to think you got the hots for ‘em.”

“Who? Cole and Dylan?” Her lips tilted in a cute little lopsided grin. “I thought they were going to announce their engagement soon, I had no idea they swung for the other team.”

He allowed a laugh, but a certain fondness for the girl startled him. She was starting to really soften him up, and day by day he found himself leaning closer and speaking more frequently with her. Gone were the earlier days of the truly antagonistic ways since Henry had dropped his grudge towards her cousin and his friends, and Patrick had grown used to falling instep beside her while walking to class.

He guessed that this would be called friendship.

So that was clearly why a strange fire built in his stomach when he caught Dylan eyeing his partner with particularly hungry eyes, because she was his friend…Then again, his underlying pining for her also applied to that, but he would never admit that aloud.

No, he was a good actor. He could win a god damn academy award for his patience and tactful thinking. Patrick could keep [First Name] in the dark over his, well he hated to say feelings, but yes, feelings, for her.

So he frowned, and easily slipped into the role of a concerned friend, nudging her with his elbow as she went to sit on the hood of the Monte Carlo.

“What?” She mirrored his frown, resting her ankle across her knee and drumming painted nails on her jeans.

“Don’t think we’re the only bad guys around here, Princess. There’s plenty of sleazy fuckers hiding behind a football jersey in Derry.” He warned with earnest, but was met with a scoff.

“Dylan and Cole are fucking nimrods, and they couldn’t fix a lightbulb together if they tried.” She waved him off as the class bell rang. “I’ll see you at the bonfire tonight, yeah?”

Patrick had done his duty, he had given her the passing warning. It was up to her to listen, he supposed.

“Yeah. I’m bringing some good shit too, hope you’re not as fucking uppity as you were last time.” He bent his lean form down, collecting his leather jacket that was draped over the hood as Tozier slipped off the front and snatched up her backpack. “See you around eight.”

“Adios, Hockstetter. Don’t keep Bowers waiting.”

She left, patting Belch’s arm as she headed out past him and Henry. She said something in passing, making Belch smile after her. Henry watched her go as well, a certain gleam in his eyes as Patrick came to meet them by one of the open garage doors.

“Glad we don’t have to worry about being ambushed with a fucking tire iron now.” The bigger boy said, pulling his varsity jacket over his shoulders. The three watched her go, her back growing smaller as she jogged across the fields to get to the parking lot.

Henry huffed indignantly. “She was going to be a fucking problem, that’s the only reason I’m not tormenting her little shit of a cousin. Cigs?”

He threw a hand out to Patrick, demanding the taller boy share his pack. Patrick complied, digging around the pockets of his jacket before tossing him the pack, the trio of boys heading across the field as students began to file out of the school in mobs.

“She’s a good work partner too,” Belch said absently, the spring air nipping his cheeks pink. “I got an A on our last assignment, my coach and Ma were in tears, swear.”

“Yeah, whatever. Goody two shoe bitches like her are a dime a dozen, but I’m not gonna deal with another run in with her.” Henry muttered, lighting his cigarette after a few tries and stuffing Patrick’s pack in his own back pocket, something that the lankier boy would not forget before the day was through.

“Sounds like you got a crush, Henry.” Patrick dared to say, eyes lazily raking over the boy next to him. Henry tensed, shoulders under his bomber jacket rigid as he sent a glare to Patrick.

They both held a steely gaze before Belch interrupted, announcing the arrival of their smallest and blondest, Vic.

“Hey! Did you get the part?” Belch called out to the victorious looking boy, who nodded eagerly.

Henry took the opportunity to look away, but Patrick chose to keep a dark look on his friend. The rest of his pals dissolved into talk over Vic’s newest accomplishment, Henry berating him and Belch defending him, while Patrick ignored it all. He was itching to get to the canalside and have a good time, if only just to abolish the jealousy he felt twisting in his gut.

He didn’t have time for that shit.

Patrick sat the closest to the bonfire, the heat curling the ends of his hair, but significantly warming his fingers that had numbed from the cold of a spring night in Maine. There had been a girl at his side at some point, but she was long gone, having moved on to someone who was more interested in her than staring into the depths of flames.

Henry and Belch had raced off elsewhere the moment the four had found the party, Vic staying close to Patrick for a while until he was led away by a few drama friends of his. Patrick was happy to be alone in all honesty, it made dealing and keeping his high all the easier. The party raged around him, fellow classmates dancing and drinking away, high on the drugs he supplied or drunk off cheap liquor and nasty beer. The music that blasted through speakers was crackled and heavy, something with a strange beat and sliced with dark lyrics. Patrick enjoyed it, sitting by himself and waiting for his next costumer to find him.

He felt a lovely haze, his high improving his mood tenfold. There was a sloppy kiss mark on his neck, but he could barely recall who had given it to him. It was perfection.

And then someone plopped down beside him.

“You’re a hard guy to find, Hockstetter.” Drawled a voice to his side.

“Am I?” Patrick said loftily, slowly turning to look to his new companion, and then felt his nostrils flare upon recognizing him. “Harris.”

The brunette bristled, and Patrick realized he had turned to face him without a mask, instead showing him the slack and emotionless state he normally had when he was alone. He brought it back, and Cole was set to ease at the surprisingly friendly smile he was given.

“So how much?” He asked, and dug out his wallet, opening the folds and showing off a pretty stack of cash.

Patrick felt limply at his side, finding his backpack and unzipping it. “What do you want? I’ve got weed, coke, E, a few poppers and a few tabs of acid if you wanna have a real good time.”

Cole sat still for a second, eyes darting around the contents of the bag. He licked dry lips before lowering his voice, barely audible over the roar of the flames.

“Do you have any… Roofies?”

“Why.” The dealer snapped, more forceful than needed.

“Do you or don’t you?” Cole insisted, keeping his voice low even as Patrick’s raised. It wasn’t as if anyone would hear them, but it didn’t matter to either of them- they both knew Cole has crossed a line.

“I’ve got some Molly, and that’s the closest you’re getting, Harris.” Patrick dug out a small bag of violet pills, smacking them to Cole’s chest. “Don’t be a fucking idiot. Thats a gram, so give me sixty.”

Cole eyed him, hand raising to take the drugs offered. “You sure-”

“Sixty bucks, then fuck off.” Patrick sneered, and snatched the twenties that were held out to him, stuffing the money in his pocket.

“Jesus, fuck. Fine.” Cole stood, and shuffled away, pocketing his drugs before casting his dealer a nasty little glare.

Patrick watched him retreat with his tail between his legs, digging into his bag for a joint. He lit it and took heavy hits, the smoke tasting musky but sweet. The haze returned eventually, distracting him as he sat there. He took patient drags, letting the smoke curl and twist from his mouth, ignoring the worry that scratched at his thoughts, it wasn’t his business. Harris wasn’t his problem.

But Tozier was.

He stood then, hauling his bag over his shoulder and walking over the rocks and gravel that crunched under his feet, weaving between crowds of grinding teens. What time was it? Where was Tozier, he hadn’t seen her yet.

Fuck.

Somehow, through his high and the distraction of the dancing and drunkenness, he found Belch. The boy was working on a drink of his own, the brown bottle in his hand nearly empty and his face flushed.

“What time is it?” Patrick demanded, Belch blinking in surprise as the urgency. The boys he stood with part of his football team and seeming confused at Patrick’s arrival, but they welcomed him with a round of nods.

“Uh,” Belch shook his arm, the watch he normally wore glinting in the far off fire light. “It’s like eight forty-seven, why?”

Patrick’s gaze swept the heads of their classmates, but he couldn’t find hers. “Have you seen Tozier?”

“No?” Belch said, caught off guard as Patrick spun away with a curse. “Hey! Wait, dude!”

But Patrick was gone, slinking away and now targeting Harris or Pram. A blond and brunette pair, who wore blazers and had proper preppy haircuts.

[First Name] was never late. To anything. She arrived nearly twenty minutes early for class, she turned in her work a day in advance and had never left him or the others hanging if she agreed to meet them up for a meal at the malt shop.

So there was no way she was late to the spring bonfire, not if she had assured him she would be there at eight. No, she would have arrived at seven forty-five.

He caught a mullet in his peripheral vision, as well as the arm candy Henry was desperately sucking face with.

“Henry.” Patrick jerked his shoulder, tearing him from liplock. The girl, a senior the dark haired boy recognized as Carly Henderson, whined from loss of contact.

“The fuck, Hockstetter!” Henry hissed, grinding his teeth as he rolled his head to face his friend. “I’m fuckin’ busy.”

“I can’t find Tozier.”

Henry’s brows furrowed. “I saw her earlier with Harris and that fuckwit Pram, by the coolers.”

Patrick’s jaw set, and he dug his heels into the rocks, sprinting away. He shoved aside a few people, the coolers in his sight. It was then he saw Tozier, leaning heavily against Dylan Pram and in the middle of a fit of giggles, her eyes glazed and face burning. She held a solo cup, the contents sloshing out her cup as Cole Harris tilted it back to her mouth, encouraging her to drink.

“Chug! Chug! Chug!” The pair cheered, and she downed the contents, crushing the cup with a valiant cry.

He slowed, coming up on them slow and steady, a predatory tilt to his shoulders as his eyes burned hotter than the logs of the bonfire. Cole was the first to see him, and his expression flattered a mere second before he paled considerably.

Pram was oblivious, carelessly crafting heavy touches to the girls waist and hips, the hands trying to wander further before Cole shot a hand out and gripped the sleeve of his blazer, catching his attention.

“Well, what do we have here?” Patrick announced his arrival with a dangerous tone.

His friend gasped, and she tore herself from the blond, taking a few steps to stumble to the man who had inevitably caused this mess, wrapping her arms around his skinny torso. “Patrick! I’ve been looking all over for you!”

Protectively, no, posessively, Patrick secured her in his arms. He threaded strands of her hair between his ringed fingers, rubbing a comforting thumb to her scalp. “You found me, Princess.”

She nuzzled her face to his chest and he held her there, grey-green eyes dancing with malevolence at the boys just feet from them.

It wouldn’t take a genius to see she was high, and higher than he had ever seen her. She had always been a lightweight, barely touching a beer and still stumbling around like she had drank a bar dry after a few sips. He’d given her a hit of a joint once and been entertained for hours as she babbled on about Star Trek with Belch and professional wrestling with Henry.

Those had been good times, he had smiled an actual smile once or twice during those times. But now? Seeing her fucked up on drugs he had sold some fuckwit jock with intent to do the worst? He saw red.

“You smell nice.” She murmured, and it was only her voice that stopped from him slugging the frozen pair in front of them. She drew him back from his rage, and he pressed a kiss to the crown of her head, his hold tightening.

“Let’s get you some water, sweetheart.” Patrick said, and he turned with her, the hollow glare he shot over his shoulder sending a clear message.

‘I’ll remember this.’

He left the jocks there to stew in horror, their fates sealed. He’d be paying them a visit in the next coming days, but for now, he had a Trashmouth to attend to.

[thysurveys]

783.

Have you ever talked to someone online, but when you saw each other in person, it was just super awkward? Have you ever made a really good friend online? I am an awkward person, so yes. We never became really good friends.  Do you enter sweepstakes or scratch lottery tickets or anything like that? What’s the best thing you’ve ever won? Nope.

Right now, would you be upset if you got pregnant, or would you not mind? Have you ever had a pregnancy scare? No. I would be extremely thrilled. We’ve been trying for a year plus now. And yes, I’ve had a pregnancy scare when I was a lot younger than what I am now.

Have you ever let someone be your everything? Yep.

Do you have any weird inside jokes? Yeah.

Could you go the rest of your life without a cigarette? I could if I really tried, and I will.

Is there anybody you’re really disappointed in right now? Nope. The opposite at the moment, actually.

Do you have alcohol in your house? Mhm.

Have you ever wanted something you couldn’t have? Yeah, of course.

Are you a morning or night person? I would say night. But I work real early mornings most days, so I don’t stay up too late anymore.

What is your favorite color? I don’t really have a “favourite”. 

It’s 4 in the morning, your phone rings, who is it? It would be more than likely an emergency from a family member. No one calls me that late, ever.

Have you ever had a really big fight with a best friend? Of course.

Has someone ever called you at midnight on your birthday? Possibly. I can’t think of anything though.

Are any of your friends virgins? Yeah.

Has anyone got on your nerves today? Nope. I’ve been pretty okay today, so I’m happy.  

Has anyone told you they would never leave, and left? Yep.

Do you have a member of the opposite sex you can tell everything to? Yep.

Did you kiss or hug anyone in the last 48 hours? Yes. Both.

Are you usually early or late? Early.

What’s annoying you? I have a headache. :(

Do you have anything to pay off? Yep.

What are you wearing right now? A long cardigan, leggings and a stripped shirt.

Do you know anyone that wants you dead? Probably.

Do you believe that regrets are lessons learned? Of course.

First color name you can think of that isn’t in the rainbow. I was going to say cyan, but is it? I don’t know.

What timekeeping devices are in the room you are currently in? My laptop, my phone. Kevin’s phone. Kevin’s watch.

What gaming consoles do you or your family own? Kevin has a PS3 and PS4.

What’s the best job you’ve ever had? I’ve never really had a “best” job, but the one I have is currently my favourite.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? Working at Video Ezy. 

What email service do you use? Outlook.

Is there anything hanging on the walls of the room you are currently in? Yeah.  

Earliest moment in your life you can remember? I actually thought about that today and the only memory that came to mind was when my cousin took me to a market and I remember being really sleepy and being pushed around in a pram.

What did you have for dinner yesterday? I don’t even know if I had anything. I may have. I don’t remember. How often do you brush your teeth? At least once a day. Usually twice.

What’s your favorite candy/chocolate? Bueno. 

Have you had other blogs on Tumblr? Do you have any other blogs currently? Just my survey and personal blog.

If you were suddenly really hungry, what would you choose to eat? No idea. I just ate not too long ago, so I’m okay.

What fandoms would you consider yourself a part of? Nothing really.

What kind of position are you in at the moment? I’m half lying down, half sitting up on my bed.

Do you wear much jewelry? Just a necklace Kevin brought me, and earrings.

Furthest away from home you have ever been? America.

How many times have you moved houses? Plenty of times.

Who was the last person you had a conversation with on the phone? It was a receptionist from the hospital.

Have you ever had a best friend who was of the opposite sex? Yeah, of course.

Has anyone said they love you in the last week? Yep.

Who was the last person to comfort you as you cried? Kevin.

Which friend are you most similar to? I feel like Georgia and I can be similar, but at the same time we’re very different. I’m different to a lot of my friends.

Your ex calls wanting to hang out. What do you say? I’m good, thanks. Would you get back with your last ex if they asked you? Nope.

Have you kissed anyone whose name starts with a M? Yeah.

Would you kiss the last person who texted you, on the lips? Nope. I have a boyfriend.

Camping with a ton of friends or hotel with a few friends? Either or. I think it would be fun either way. Maybe camping. I don’t know.

Have you ever kissed anyone who’s name starts with P, J, R, M, C, or D? R, M and C.

Do you think your ex will ever want to be with you again? Nope.

Where would you rather live: England or Australia? I live in Australia and I can’t imagine ever living outside of my country. So Australia.

What’s your relationship with the last person you texted? He’s a friend.

When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? Gross.

Do you fall for people easily? I can get attached very easily, so. There you go.

Do you ever wonder what your ex is up to? Nope.

Have you ever kissed someone who was drunk? Yeah.

The nearest window to you now - what color curtains are on them? Pink.

The shade of the color of your eyes can be described as: I don’t know. They’re green, sometimes blue. I don’t know.

When was the last time you drank alcohol? A few days ago.

At what age did you stop believing in Santa? Fairly young, I think.

Do you own a wok? No.

Is there a particular type of music you really don’t like? Not really a fan of country music. 

Do you like going to weddings? Depends.

What do you have on your toast? Butter and Vegemite, lol.

Who was the last person you know who became pregnant? An old friend of mine. 

Beach, city, or mountains? All of the above. More beach and mountains though.

Do you have a stapler at your house? Mhm.

Would you rather read a book or listen to an audiobook? Read.

Which is larger - your book or dvd collection? Book.

What is the last spontaneous thing you did? I won’t write that here. Bit personal.

What is your middle name? Ann.

What are you passionate about? I don’t know if I am even passionate about anything. I don’t know if you would regard this as passionate, but I always try and make people feel wanted and understood. I like making people happy.

Do you have any fears? For sure.

What’s your sign? Aries.

Future names of your children: I don’t know yet. Kev and I have a few favourites. For example, Luca, Nolan, Elise, Eloise.

What are you listening to right now? Tyga.

Do you believe in fate/destiny? I do actually.

What are your career goals? I don’t fucking know anymore.

Have you ever had a near-death experience? Mm. I guess you could say that?

Are you a procrastinator or do you get things done early? Both.

TV shows and anime you watch regularly. I don’t watch any anime. I watch OITB as of lately since the new season came out.

Halloween costume idea for this year? I don’t do Halloween.

How much does your mother know about your sex life (or lack thereof)? I don’t go into great detail about my sex life, but she knows Kevin and I are trying for a baby, so there’s that.

Do you enjoy watching cooking shows? I do actually.

Do you worry about gaining weight? Mhm. 

Have you ever used fake tan? Yep.

Do you ever look at someone cute, and automatically make a move? Nope.

How many times have you been to Walmart in the past week? Like, zero. We don’t have one here.

Do you live in a house, apartment, or another type of arrangement? A house.

Are you kind of a loner? Do you like being alone? I can be if I really want to be. I like my space. But then again, I like being around certain people too.

Are any of your siblings married? Nope. I’ll more than likely be the first.

[ellanainthetardis]

Sorry for the delay, ff wasn’t working yesterday so I had to wait until they fixed it to post. I hope you enjoy this chapter! We have a guest star today! Let me know!

[ff] or [ao3]

52. 5 Months & 11 Weeks

“Haymitch!” Effie snapped as she crammed April’s rag doll in the diaper bag. She looked around the living-room to spot anything useful she might have forgotten. There was no answer from upstairs and her irritation increased. “Haymitch, we are going to be late!”

She rubbed her now slightly round stomach over her loose woolen sweatshirt. She always wore loose clothes nowadays because she was starting to show. The children were puzzled by that because she had always favored curve-hugging outfits but she had passed it off by claiming it was fashionable. Eileen was less fooled by her excuses and deflections, she believed, but her friend was good enough not to bring up the obvious symptoms.

She grabbed a plastic toy as an afterthought and tossed it in the bag, running a hand in her disheveled hair. The living-room was a mess and she felt the urge to give it a good scrubbing but she pushed it down. There was no time for this. They were in a hurry.

Snowball must have sensed her temper wasn’t at its best because he was hiding behind the armchair, almost out of sight, and was munching on his purple monkey while tracking her every move.

“Haymitch!” she shouted, not bothering to keep the irritation out of her voice.

“Yeah, I’m here. Hold your horses.” he grumbled, finally coming back downstairs with April bundled in a weather-appropriate outfit and her darling red coat. He was also waving a few diapers in his free hand. “Here.”

She snatched them from him and forced them into the diaper bag, so annoyed tears were burning her eyes. She blamed the hormones and the last few nights of not enough sleep.

“We already had to push it back once.” she muttered under her breath. “And now we will be late.”

“We’re still in time.” he sighed in a pacifying tone that did nothing for her ill mood. She didn’t like being patronized. “And it ain’t my fault, sweetheart, don’t go blaming it on me.”

She pursed her lips. He was right, of course. It wasn’t his fault. They had been forced to reschedule the ultrasound appointment because April’s teeth were starting to come out and the girl was in so much pain it had given her a light fever. Their attention had been on the baby and there had been no time to go trudging around the District – barely enough to catch a blink of sleep here and there. April had cried all night for four days straight, leaving them ragged and herself exhausted. It had been hell.

And now, when she was supposed to babysit for them so they could go to the clinic – not that she knew that, to be fair – Katniss had just cancelled on them because there had been sighting of a wild boar coming a little too close to the habitation area and the mayor needed her help to track it before it hurt someone or, more likely, because she was still somehow at odds with Haymitch. Peeta was swamped at the bakery and Eileen had her arms full with the coffee shop and her own daughters.

“I wanted this to be just us.” she sulked. She wasn’t thrilled about going to the clinic to begin with. She didn’t like bringing April there if she didn’t have to. And she had really wanted the first ultrasound to be something between Haymitch and her, without the baby to distract them.

“I know.” he offered, rubbing her shoulder. “Come on. Open the door, I’m gonna get the pram.”

The pram her mother had bought was difficult to get out of the house and for good reasons: it was the size of a small yacht. She relieved him from their daughter so he could have free hands to get the pram out and went to open the door…

… only to find her father on the other side of it, hand raised as if about to knock and luggage at his feet.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Is this inconvenient?”

“Father!” she exclaimed in astonishment. “What are you doing here?”

Haymitch quitted trying to maneuver the pram to join her, automatically placing a hand on her hip before utering a greeting. “Tadius.”

“I hope you will forgive me for not calling first.” her father winced. “I was in Ten and I thought I would come and see how things are progressing here. It was all last minute. I was hoping you would not mind hosting me for a night. The study will do just fine.”

Effie was torn between pleasure at the unexpected visit and annoyance at not having been warned. Her house so wasn’t in any state to receive anyone – never mind someone from her family. It would go back to her mother who would insist on sending her a housekeeper…

“Come in.” Haymitch said when she remained mute. “It’s cold outside.” It wasn’t that cold, she wanted to protest. It was only October and it would get colder before long. “You can stay, of course, but we’ve got to go right now.”

“Oh.” Tadius frowned, a bit uncertain. “I would not want to impose. I could stay at the inn and…”

“Do not be ridiculous, Father, you are welcomed.” she cut in.

He searched her eyes for a moment before giving her a tentative smile and finally reaching for the baby in her arms. He stroke April’s cheek, his face softening. “She is so big now. She grew up a lot since the last time I saw her.”

“How about you two get some catch up time?” Haymitch suddenly suggested. “We could use a babysitter.” He plucked April from her arms before she could protest. “How about that, sweetheart? You want some grandpa time? Yeah? Awesome.”

Before either Effie or Tadius could protest, April was in her grandfather’s arms and Haymitch was giving him a short but to the point summary of what to do, not to do and how to calm her down if she started crying.

“I am not sure…” Effie panicked, right at the same time as her father protested with a “I cannot be left alone with a baby.”

Haymitch wrinkled his nose. “Look. She’s been fed, she shouldn’t need changing for a while yet and the house’s been baby-proofed. Just put her on the playing mat and make sure she doesn’t swallow anything she’s not supposed to. And she crawls away faster than you think if you don’t pay attention so keep your eyes on her all the time. We’ll be back in an hour or so.”

“Haymitch.” Effie insisted, not at all reassured by the terror on Tadius’ face. Clearly it hadn’t been the welcome the man had hoped for.

“It’s gonna be fine.” Haymitch promised, dropping a kiss on April’s head before snatching the pink coat from the rack and wrapping it around Effie’s shoulders. “Come on, Princess. Now we’re gonna be late.”

She wanted to protest some more, to grab her daughter and hold her close, but before she could tell what had happened, she was out the door and Haymitch was steering her down the street to the Village’s gates. She put her coat on properly, stealing glances behind her every two seconds.

“My father has never taken care of a baby, you realize.” she hissed. “It is one thing to leave her with one of the children where she will be safe but my father…”

“I trust him.” Haymitch shrugged. “April will be fine. And it’s like fate anyway. We needed a babysitter and there he was.”

“Which, of course, brings up the question: what is he doing here?” she sighed, looping her arm around his. She wasn’t quite reassured to know her father was alone with her daughter but she supposed an hour wasn’t enough time for disaster to occur. With any luck, April would fall asleep.

“He said he was checking on the building progress, yeah?” he frowned. “You think there’s more than that?”

He had people for that and Effie was well aware of it. Certainly, Tadius had seemed very keen on traveling since the end of the war. The company was expanding to the Districts and she supposed, for someone who had never left the Capitol before, seeing Panem was an opportunity that was hard to resist. However, she highly doubted he would check on construction sites himself. He never had in the past.

Although to be fair, she had stopped helping him out with contracts deliveries and in person negotiation. She hadn’t been out of the house much since the incident with the Peacekeeper and she had stayed well away from the work crew and its foreman. The man seemed to judge her for what had happened, as if it was somehow her fault that he had lost an employee, as if she had made a fuss over nothing.

The story had gone all the way up to the hierarchical top, naturally. And her father had been incensed when he had learned what had happened. But… Effie wasn’t sure how she felt about the whole thing. She didn’t blame him naturally but she had been a bit reluctant to call home ever since.

The fact that she was hiding something and that her mother had a gift to smell secrets wasn’t exactly helping.  

“With my parents, there is always more than that.” she countered grimly.

Now Haymitch didn’t look that happy with his quick decision making. By the time they reached the Village’s gates, they had looked back so many times Effie was sure one of them would suggest going back to fetch their daughter.

“We’re being stupid.” Haymitch mumbled. “She’s fine.”

She wasn’t that confident. In her opinion, her daughter would only be fine with either of them there.

Still, she let him convince her to move along. She spent the whole trip to the clinic thinking up scenarios of what could go awry and then convincing herself she was being ridiculous. They were late in the end and, even though she apologized profusely, the nurse didn’t look entirely happy.

Effie felt mortified. She had always been a punctual person but having a baby had taught her that it was difficult to be on time with an almost six months old child.

They were ushered into the examination room and she was asked to lie down. Haymitch had barely helped her on the table when Larcher showed up, waving away all her apologies. The doctor asked about April and her teeth and he looked so genuinely interested that Effie gradually relaxed. She would never be comfortable in the clinic but Larcher was making it easier to be there.

“Any problems?” the doctor asked as he got everything ready.

Effie shook her head. “I am still a bit dizzy and nauseous at odd times of days. And I am still starving the rest of the time. It wasn’t like this with April.”

“Every pregnancy is different.” Larcher explained, smearing gel all over her stomach.

Haymitch grabbed her hand, perching himself on a nearby stool with obvious excitement. She grinned at him and he smirked right back, eyes sparkling in pure happiness. It wasn’t something she had ever thought she would see and she felt a pang for a second, because this, right then, was perfect.

Sometimes, she wished she could talk to the woman who had been cowering in a corner of a cell for months. She wished she could tell her to hold on because this was coming, because she would be happy, so happy she would think it would make her burst.

They exchanged a long stare and she knew he felt the exact same way. They didn’t need words to understand each other. She didn’t need to tell him she loved him and he didn’t need to hear it. Just like she didn’t need him to tell her. She knew.

“Here we go.” Larcher murmured for himself, placing the probe on her stomach and moving it around.

She listened to the familiar whooshing sounds with some anxiety, desperate to hear that the baby was right as rain but dreading a little that he wouldn’t be. She wanted to hope. She hoped. She didn’t let herself think about possible miscarriages or how difficult it would be to jungle two babies. She had carried April, her daughter had survived, and so would this one. She couldn’t let herself think differently.

“Sweetheart.” Haymitch breathed in just as the sound of small hooves started echoing in the room. The heartbeat was strong and steady and she laughed in relief, wiping the tears that ran down her cheeks. Haymitch’s jaw was clenched, he looked so emotional she squeezed his hand but he didn’t seem to be able to glance away from the screen. “Look.” he chided her a little.

So, she did.

Ten weeks ultrasounds were always difficult to make out but once Larcher helpfully pointed the baby out, she couldn’t tear her gaze away either.

“Hello, jellyfish.” she whispered.

“You have very aquatic nicknames.” the doctor teased, tapping on a few keys. To print pictures, probably. “Everything looks perfectly normal, Effie.”

“You’re sure?” Haymitch worried. “They’re both alright?”

“Perfectly so.” Larcher smiled, placing the probe back on its cradle and handing her some paper towel to clean the gel out. “We will have to run some tests, the same as last time. It is just routine so there is no need to be alarmed.”

“I remember.” she nodded, still smiling. As soon as she had gotten as much of the gel off as she could, she placed her hands on her stomach, simply feeling it. It wasn’t long before Haymitch’s hand joined her there. She looked up at him, beaming. “We are having a baby.”

The first ultrasound was always magical in her opinion. That was when it became… real.

“I noticed.” he smirked, his thumb rubbing soothing circle on her skin. “We’re starting to have quite the collection of them, you know.”

She laughed again, feeling a little high on happiness.

“I will print you a picture.” Larcher offered, tactfully retreating to the other room to give them some privacy.

Haymitch helped her straighten her clothes and stole a kiss once it was done. He rested his forehead against hers as he brushed his hand over her stomach again. “We’re having a baby.”

“I noticed.” she echoed, still grinning so hard it was starting to hurt.

The doctor made enough noise coming back that they moved apart but not quite enough that they weren’t still touching. Larcher gave them the picture that Haymitch immediately stashed in the inside pocket of his coat where hopefully nobody would come snooping.

“As far as term goes, I think we are looking at another April baby.” the doctor told them.

They were redefining the concept of April showers, Effie decided.

She was walking on a cloud by the time they were on their way back to the house. She almost forgot to worry about April. At least, until she spotted the Village’s gates. At that point she stopped prattling about how they should sort out April’s old clothes to see what they could reuse and what they should box to put in the attic to start asking Haymitch without pause if he thought their daughter was alright. Haymitch, who had humored her all the way back by nodding and humming at appropriate points without listening to a single word, seemed torn between prompting her to quicken the pace and making sure she didn’t overtax herself.

They had been wrong to worry.

While Tadius looked in over his head, obviously terrified of doing the wrong thing, April seemed just as happy as she had been lately – which was not a lot because her gums hurt. The first thing Effie did was scoop her daughter up from the playing mat to cuddle her close to her chest. She wanted to tell her about her little sibling but with her father there, she kept silent.

Haymitch outright laughed at Tadius’ exhausted face. “Need some coffee?”

“Coffee would not be amiss.” her father answered, a little stiff. “Thank you.”

Effie hid her smile in her daughter’s hair and took a seat on the couch, covering April’s face with kisses to make up for her short absence. Haymitch’s fingers combed her own hair, ending on her nape. The possessive but gentle squeeze made her look up in question.

“Tea for you?” he asked. “And something to eat, yeah? You’re a bit pale.”

She checked the clock on the wall and made a small face. If habits were to be trusted, morning sickness – that weren’t just in the morning – would hit in a half hour or so and she really didn’t want to throw up. “Crackers perhaps. And lemon in the tea, please.”

“Sure.” he smiled and dropped a kiss on her forehead, stroking April’s hand once before disappearing in the kitchen, followed by Snowball. The dog would want to be let out, she supposed.  

She blushed when she realized her father was staring.

“Thank you for watching April.” she offered after clearing her throat. “And, please, accept my apologies for the hectic welcome. If I had known you were coming…”

She let her voice trail off. If she had known he was coming she would have made sure the house was spotless and she would have cleared her schedule.

“No apologies needed. It was rude of me to come unannounced.” Tadius dismissed, studying her. “Is everything alright with you, Euphemia? You have not been… Well, you have not called as often. Your mother is worried you are somehow crossed with her.”

“Not at all.” she denied, fishing the stuffed elephant abandoned further down the couch to hold it in front of April to keep her occupied. Of course, as soon as her daughter spotted it, she tried to put it in her mouth. “I have been busy lately. April hasn’t been well and I had some work with… I told Mother about my professional projects.”

“Yes, she mentioned them.” her father hummed, not sounding very impressed. Elindra hadn’t been either. “I could help you with that if you so wished.”

“Thank you, no.” she replied quickly. “I do not need your money.” She would never accept money from her parents. Never. It always came with strings attached and more complications than she cared to deal with. Tadius looked hurt though so she hurried in clarifying. “It is something I want to do by myself. You do understand, don’t you?”

Her father was proud of the family company so he could certainly understand wanting to make one’s own way. At least, she hoped so.

“I wish you the best.” Tadius smiled and even though it was tense it also seemed genuine. “Effie…”

Haymitch came back with a tray and her father fell silent which he couldn’t help but notice. There was some awkwardness for a few seconds. Haymitch studied Tadius, Tadius avoided his eyes, then he looked at Effie who shrugged her ignorance… In the end, he shrugged back and lifted April up.

“Guess someone needs to be changed.” he mumbled, giving Effie a long stare. “You shout if you need anything, yeah?”

She rolled her eyes at his overprotective act. “I am not an invalid, you know.”

“You had a big day, you need to take it easy.” he countered firmly.

She pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes at him. “You are walking a very thin line telling me what I should or should not do.”

“Doctor’s orders.” he reminded her with an innocent shrug that made her roll her eyes again. He grabbed the mug he had obviously prepared for himself and disappeared upstairs. She could hear him talking to April all the way up and she smiled despite her annoyance.

“Is everything alright with you?” Tadius asked as soon as he was out of earshot. “You do seem a little pale, Effie. And what is this about a doctor? Have you been ill?”

That was a lot of questions and she made a small face, grabbing her mug and a couple of crackers, hoping that it would be enough to quell her sure to come nausea. “Not at all, do not concern yourself. Haymitch is simply… overprotective. I am fine. More than fine, really.”

She toyed with the idea of telling her father. After all… She was in the middle of the third month and everything was fine. They should start telling people…

“Are you quite certain?” Tadius frowned, taking a sip of his cup of coffee. “I doubt the medical technology is up to par in this part of the country. Perhaps you should go somewhere else to get checked if you are feeling out of sort. Perhaps not to the Capitol if you are still avert to the thought but I heard Four has excellent hospitals.”

She forced a smile. “I am fine. Truly.”

Her father studied her for a moment and then looked down at the cup of coffee in his hands. “Does it have to do with… the incident? I read a lot about your condition, Effie. All experts agree that such an event could trigger a setback and…”

“What condition is this exactly?” she cut him off, a little cold.

She knew what he was talking about naturally – or avoided talking about rather. The Peacekeeper he had unknowingly sent to Twelve to build himself another portion to his empire.

It was unfair to think like that, she knew, but…

“Post traumatic stress disorder.” Tadius said plainly. “It is completely natural for you to experience…”

“I know what it is natural for me to experience.” she interrupted again before he could launch himself into a recitation of various symptoms. Her father had always been a researcher. He could spend hours reading about something. She took a deep calming breath because Tadius looked uneasy and she didn’t think his aim was to cause her pain. He was just worried. “Father, I am… touched you are taking such an interest in me and what happened to me but…”

“Of course I take an interest.” he scoffed. “You are my daughter, Effie. And what was done to you was wrong. The fact that the Districts are refusing to acknowledge that Capitols were tortured too is…”

“But.” she insisted, clenching her teeth at the torture word. “I do not like being forced to talk about it or think about it just to satisfy your curiosity. You took it upon yourself to ask Haymitch about it… Unless I directly address the subject, I would thank you not to mention it. I would rather you didn’t but ask Haymitch if you must.”

She gulped down a few mouthfuls of tea, placing her free hand over her stomach as if to better protect her jellyfish from such conversations. She was glad April wasn’t in the room anymore. She didn’t want that sort of things discussed in front of her babies.

She felt a bit light-headed but that could have been the topic just as much as her pregnancy and she allowed herself to be proud that she had managed to talk about it without working herself into a panic.

“My apologies.” Tadius sighed sadly. “It is just… I do not want you to think for one second I knowingly sent that man here. The Peacekeepers were pardoned, as you know, and it is within their rights not to mention their past job on their resume. We have put more screening processes in place now.” He shook his head. “I like to believe we… mended our relationship. Your recent distance… Your Mother and I are concerned you are angry with us because…”

“I am not.” she denied. “Honestly, Father, I am not. There simply has been a lot going on and…” She rubbed small circles on her stomach, coming to a decision. Perhaps it was the wrong one but… She was so happy about it anyway. When she thought back to earlier, to the strong sound of the baby’s heartbeat… She could have burst with joy. “I will tell you what is going on but you have to swear to me you won’t tell Mother yet. Or anyone. I would like to wait a couple of weeks more before it becomes public knowledge.”

Tadius frowned in concern, clutching his cup of coffee hard between his fingers. “You are not ill, are you? You just said…”

“I am expecting.” she smiled.

She watched as a myriad of emotions washed over her father’s face and she was glad she had chosen to tell him right there and then just for this. Telling her parents on the phone wouldn’t have been the same at all. Perhaps she needed to invest in one of those phones with a screen that Elindra assured her were the latest rage and that would allow them to see April more often. Haymitch was reluctant but he might be convinced. And it would be worth it just to see that sort of things.

“Congratulations.” he offered at last, soberly but with enough suppressed emotions in his voice that she decided he was genuine. “That is marvelous news.” His face softened. “I am glad it is not something direr, we have been so worried, Euphemia… Your mother…”

“You cannot tell her yet.” she insisted. “We haven’t told anyone and I want to do it myself this time. Properly.”

Not because the newspapers had gotten a hint of the gossip but on her terms. With the drama between the children occupying the press, they had that luxury.

“My lips are sealed.” he promised, placing his cup of coffee back on the table to stand up. She stood up too, not quite knowing why or what was going on, and remained frozen in surprise for a moment when she was treated to a rare hug. The war had brought its lot of surprises but the deep changes in her parents’ behavior were the more astonishing to her. “I am happy for you, my dear. I am happy to see you so happy and I am happy you found a good man.” It was more than she had ever expected and she was grinning hard when he drew back from the hug. “Of course, now we can pretend what I brought you is a congratulation gift rather than a forgive me for my company’s shortcomings present.”

Her face lit up. “You brought me a present?”

She felt like a little girl suddenly. Her father had always bowed to Elindra’s wishes and had often granted his daughters’ requests but it had been rare for him to go and buy them something they hadn’t asked for first. Spontaneous gifts were special and they were the best.

“Of sort.” he smiled smugly with the apparent certainty that she would be delighted. “Actually, it is what decided me to visit you. I went to an auction while I was in Ten and… Well, it is easier to show you.”

She sat back down while he went to the hallway to rummage in his luggage. She nibbled on a few crackers, wondering how long Haymitch would hide upstairs and if he would be mad that she had told her father without him there.

Any thought of that flew out of her head when her father came back in the living-room with a violin case.

“You bought me a violin?” she asked, her mouth suddenly parched.

She finished her tea in a long mouthful, pretending she didn’t notice how shaky the mug was in her hand. She didn’t know how she felt about that. It was a thoughtful gift certainly but violins weren’t something she had contemplated in a long time. Her grandfather had taught her when she was still a little girl and she had kept up the practice after his death up to the Quell. After that… Well, her apartment had been ransacked so many times… She hadn’t been surprised to be unable to find her grandfather’s violin in the mess. It was expensive, probably the most expensive thing he had owned. A luxury for a man of his means. A precious one to be treasured and taken care of. Thinking about it was enough to make a lump appear in her throat. There were very few things she had truly been attached to: the violin, a music box full of mementos, some pieces of jewelries… The loss of them… She had always regretted having lost them to the war.

“Not just a violin, dear.” he protested, lying it out on the couch next to her. “The case is new but the instrument… I recognized it as soon as I saw it.”

She gasped when she saw it. So familiar… “Impossible.”

“And yet…” Tadius chuckled gently. “It had been sold quite a few times since the war, not always to its true value. Why, I had it for half its price. It hasn’t always been well cared for but I had it tuned. Cords are new and it has been polished… The bow is new too. I am afraid the original was lost.”

She laid a tentative hand on the gleaming wood, feeling her eyes well up with tears she didn’t try to blink away. There were so many memories attached to that violin… So many hours spent with her grandfather… So many carefree afternoons… So many lonely nights after she had become an escort and the music had seemed like a worthy escape for a while…

The violin hadn’t indeed been well-cared for. She cradled it on her lap, ran her fingers along the deep scratches…

“They could not erase them.” her father winced. “I am sorry. I would buy you another but I know how much this one means to you. When I saw it… Well, truth be told, I am not one to believe in such nonsense but it felt like destiny.”

“No.” she whispered, her sight getting blurry. A few tears fell on the wood and she hastily wiped her cheek. “It is perfect. So perfect… Thank you.”

And then she was sobbing. Openly grossly sobbing. She clutched the violin to her chest and gasped for air, not even looking up when she heard Haymitch’s hurrying down the stairs or her father’s panicked clumsy attempts at comforting her. She was vaguely aware Tadius was explaining the situation to a bemused Haymitch and ended up with his arms full of his granddaughter for his trouble. April was wailing too, that much she knew, but she still couldn’t stop crying.

“You need to calm down, sweetheart.” Haymitch chided her firmly, wrapping his arms around her until she relaxed against him. He pressed a kiss against her temple and another against her forehead. “It’s no good for the baby to get that upset.” He looked up hastily at her father, clearly realizing his blunder. “I mean… The shrimp.”

“I told him.” she stuttered between two sobs.

“Oh.” he frowned. “Good then. Alright. Still need to calm down, Princess.”

“I can’t help it.” she gasped. “Hormones.”

She distinctly heard him roll his eyes.

It took a few minutes before she finally managed to stop crying. Time enough for her father to offer congratulations and for Haymitch to accept them. Time enough also for April to calm down and start munching on her cat rag doll.

She laid her violin back on her lap when Haymitch let her go to fetch her a glass of water. She stroke the wood lovingly under her father’s watchful eyes. She took a few sips of water and muttered an apology, a bit embarrassed by her behavior. Being so emotional wasn’t something about being pregnant she had missed.

Haymitch shrugged it off and handed the cold plastic ring he had fetched from the freezer to April. The baby was much happier with that in her mouth. It soothed the pain in her gums. It was left to Tadius to pick it up every time she tossed it on the couch. One of her favorite games. She liked to do that with all her toys, Effie suspected that had a lot to do with Snowball always carrying them back to her.

“Well, let’s hear it then.” Haymitch demanded, dropping in the corner of the L shaped couch, between her and her father – close enough that he could reach April if need be. “Never knew you played.”

“Oh, no!” she protested, shaking her head. “I haven’t practiced in years and…” She looked at her hands and winced. “I broke a few fingers since then. I wouldn’t remember.”

They had broken a few fingers, she meant. Perhaps they had known her hobbies included music, perhaps it had been another form of torture. Or perhaps they hadn’t known and it had just been a lucky guess for them.

“Muscle memories, sweetheart.” Haymitch insisted. “Try it out. Nobody said you have to play like Mozart.”

She placed the violin under her chin all the same, the position so familiar it hurt. The pain wasn’t all emotional though. The shoulder that had been so badly injured it had needed surgery ached and she wasn’t sure she would be able to keep playing long. The angle was too awkward for it.

The moment the bow hit the cords, she closed her eyes and let her memories guide her.

It was odd at first. Clumsy. Out of practice. It took almost two whole minutes before she managed to get something smoother out of the instrument, before she managed to make it sing like she wanted it to.

It left her exhausted and she gently placed it back in its new case, rolling her shoulder a few times, blushing under the praises she didn’t deserve. Still, watching her father make April clap was a cute sight – not one she would ever have thought she would see – and it made up for her lack of skills.

She let herself be persuaded to play again after dinner that night, because the children could be convincing – and because she was desperate to put an end to the bickering between Katniss and Haymitch.

She played something light and quick that didn’t sound as good as it was supposed to. Yet everyone was laughing and clapping and she let herself forget about imperfections.

The violin was scratched beyond repairs.

So was she.

But they could still produce music all the same.