#ok but gracie's corner hits hard

[sol-s-hine]

Now two steps to the left-

[reds-ramblings]

Apple Doesn't Fall Far - Part 7

Jake's P.O.V.

I park my car and make my way into the diner. I am hit with a wave of mixed emotions as I walk in the door. This is where we first met. I push open the door and walk inside and to my surprise MC is not here yet. I take a seat in the back corner away from the other patrons and where I can see the door while I wait for her. After a few minutes as I'm beginning to wonder, if she changed her mind, suddenly the door swings open, and in walks MC carrying a stack of books. She walks over to the table I'm sitting at and lays all of the books on the table before sitting down.

"Sorry, I'm late. Gracie was showing me her end-of-year project." She says.

"It's ok, MC. She's been working hard on it, and I know she was eager to show it off." I tell her.

"Yeah, umm, my name is Marabella, Jake."

"Yeah, about that, did you just lie to us and give us all a fake name back then? Did you ever plan on sticking around, or was it always your plan to run?" I ask angrily.

"No, running was never in the plan until I found out I was pregnant. I never lied to you, Jake. MC is a nickname; it's the name I had been called all my life. I just stopped using it when..." She trails off.

"When you decided to turn your back on all of us," I finish hersentence.

"That wasn't what I was doing. Okay, yes, that's what I did, but at the time, it didn't seem that way. I just didn't see any other way to protect our child." She says, obviously frustrated.

"Ok, I'm sorry. I'll stop bringing it up. I'll call you Marabella if you call me Jay instead of Jake. There's too much negativity attached to the name Jake."

"I can do that. So how long have you lived in East View?" She asks.

"I actually don't live in East View. I'm just here for the summer program."

"Oh, so where do you live?"

"Technically, I live in Duskwood." I tell her and watch her face instantly drop. "My house is in Duskwood, but I'm rarely there. I travel all over for work. Don't worry, I'll still be able to be here for Gracie. Depending on how I do with the summer program, I might be offered a permanent position."

"Oh, so there's a chance you'll stay close by? I would hate for Gracie to get to know you as her father, and then you have to leave."

"I wouldn't do that to her. At some point, once you're both ready, I do want her to come to Duskwood and meet Hannah, Lily, and her cousins." I tell her.

"How are Hannah and Lily?" She asks.

"Well, Hannah and Thomas are still together. They've been married a little over 10 years, and they adopted a little boy three years ago. His name is Max, and he's seven. Lily and Dan, well, that's a whole complicated mess."

"Wait, Lily and Dan?" She gasps.

"Yes, Lily and Dan. They got married and then divorced and then married again. They have Dan Jr., who is 10, and Kaylee, who is six. Believe it or not, Dan is actually an amazing father."

"That part doesn't surprise me. So did Jessy ever get out of Duskwood?" She asks with anticipation.

"She did,  she met a man on vacation to Paris and ended up falling in love and moving there. The whole group gets together once a month at the Aurora. Although Jessy and Andre usually only join by FaceTime."

"What's Phil up to these days? Is he still the same womanizer he always was?"

"Nope, he's married with four kids. They have Judah, who is six, the twins Maycie and Marlee, who are five, Haven, who is three, and Cleo is currently pregnant with number five."

"What?!" She coughs out, choking on her drink.

"Yes, Cleo and Phil are married." I tell her.

"Ok, very funny now, I know you're messing with me." She says, furrowing her brows.

"No, I'm being serious. It took a while before they could even stand being in the same room after everything that happened, but they started messing around, and Judah happened. Phil did a lot of growing up when he was born, and they decided to try to have a real relationship, and they've been inseparable ever since. Once she found out she was pregnant with Haven Phil proposed and they've been married almost 3 years."

"Wow, I really never thought that would happen." She starts laughing. "Phil, the womanizer, is a dad of three girls. Isn't that just hilarious?"

"Yeah, we've all laughed about that a time or two."

Her face turns more serious. "What about you Jake? Are you married or have a girlfriend? Do you have any kids?" She looks down like she's afraid to make eye contact.

"No, just Gracie. I never got married and hadn't really dated. There have been a few flings here and there, but nothing serious. What about you? Is there a stepdad or future stepdad in my daughter's life?" I asked the question, but I'm not sure I want to hear the answer.

"No, Jake, nobody. Nobody has ever even been given the chance to take your place. She's wanted to know who her father was for so long. She's going to be happy to finally know the truth."

"When we first met, she told me she hoped when she met her father, he was proud of her. I plan on letting her know exactly how proud I am of her. I'm just worried she's going to be disappointed. What if I don't live up to her expectations, and she hates that it's me who's her father?" I can't help but feel a sense of dread.

"Jake, she loves you. You should hear the way she talks about you. I don't think you can do anything wrong in her eyes. Trust me, you'll be the favorite parent." She signs, "and I'm going to have to get used to sharing her."

"When do you plan on telling her?" I ask.

"I'm thinking maybe the weekend after the program ends. I think we should do it together, though. She's going to hate me when she finds out. I want you there to comfort her, and I want her to know you're going to be there for her." Tears start to well up in her eyes, and I know she's worried. I can't help but wonder what's going to happen myself.

"Thank you for letting me be there." I reach out and grab her hand. "It's going to be ok, Marabella." That name felt weird rolling off my tongue. It felt so foreign and out of place. She's no longer the MC that I loved so long ago; she's Marabella, a complete stranger.

"Sooo, how was prison?" She says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Seriously? That's what you're going to ask? It was prison. How do you think it was?" I roll my eyes.

"Oh, was it not a walk in the park?" She jokes.

"Actually, compared to being on the run, it was a relaxing vacation. It turns out if you almost bring down the government a time or two, everyone wants to be your friend when you go to prison." I say.

"How did they finally catch you?"

"They didn't. After I gave up on finding you, I just kind of gave up on everything. I didn't really care what they did to me, so I turned myself in." I shrug my shoulders, trying to act like it didn't bother me.

She looks up, meeting my gaze. I can't help but get lost in those beautiful brown eyes. "I'm so sorry. I never meant for that to happen." She says softly.

"It's ok. If I hadn't gone to prison, I wouldn't be where I am now." I tell her honestly.

We finish our meal, and she slides the books over in front of her.

"These are scrapbooks and photo albums from the last 13 years. This is everything you missed starting from the day I found out I was pregnant. Take them home, go through them, and feel free to make copies of anything you want." She slides them over to me.

"Thank you. This means a lot to me."

I leave the diner and headed back to the hotel. I lay out the books on the bed in order from the oldest to the newest. I open the first one. There in a plastic bag is a positive pregnancy test. There are also a ton of pictures of MC with an almost nonexistent baby bump. The next page has pictures of MC holding her belly during all the stages of her pregnancy. The next page has IT'S A GIRL written in big pink letters. In the middle of the page is a sonogram with the world girl typed in the middle. I pull the picture of the placeholder on the page to get a better look, and a folded-up piece of paper that's yellowed with time falls out from behind it. I unfold the paper to find a letter.

Jake,

Today, I found out we're having a little girl. I'm going to name her Hannah Grace, but I'm going to call her Gracie. We met because of Hannah, so I feel it's only right to give her that name. Without Hannah, there would be no Gracie. I'm both excited and nervous. I don't know much about raising a kid, and I know it's going to be challenging to do it alone. I just wish you were here to do this with me. I feel like I ruined everything by getting pregnant. I know it takes two, but I can't help but blame myself. I would give anything for things to be different. I want nothing more than to run to you and tell you everything. I would give anything for you to hold me in your arms again. Unfortunately, that would only bring unnecessary danger to our Gracie. I can't let her live a life on the run, constantly looking over her shoulder, so for that reason, I have to continue to choose her over you. I have to let you go. I hope one day I'm able to explain everything to you. I hope one day you'll forgive me for running away. I hope one day the three of us can be a family. Until then, I'm going to continue to write letters you'll never see and pray one day am of this pain will be worth it.

With all my love,

MC

I sit on the bed staring at the letter in disbelief. I can't stop the tears that stream down my face. There are so many emotions overflowing inside of me. Reading that makes it hard to hate her. I've assumed this decision didn't hurt her at all that she was okay turning her back on me because she didn't care. I assumed she turned her back on us all without even giving it a second thought. This letter makes it clear that was not the case and that she did struggle with the decision, and she didn't do it to be selfish. I've spent this whole time hating her for hurting me and breaking my heart. I just assumed it was all easy for her. I didn't know that she was also hating herself for these decisions. This doesn't change anything though she's hurt me too deeply, and that's not something I can't just get over.

[kaycha1989]

The Right Partner

My Hero Academia Fanfic

Characters: Katsuki Bakugou, OC

Rating: Mature

Chapter 10

The next day found Bakugo at the coffee shop down the street from the agency. He stood there staring at the board trying to figure out what kind of coffee to get Kia. She had brought him coffee a couple times now and for some reason he felt like returning the favor but he had no idea what she liked.

“Would you like your usual?” the barista asked with a purr.

“I’m looking,” Bakugou snapped back. He was getting more annoyed the longer he stared.

“You aren’t trying to pick out something for that girl who picks up coffee for you are you?” she asked with a pout.

“Why?” Bakugo replied glaring at the girl.

“Because if you are you should order a grande white chocolate and vanilla bean with a double shot.” said a voice behind him. 

Bakugo turned around to find Kia standing there smiling at him. “Good morning B! I can’t believe you were going to get me coffee,” Kia said.

“Like hell!” Bakugo yelled turning back to the counter. “I will get my usual,” he told the barista.

The barista hurried to get Bakugo his coffee, bringing it back to the counter she sneered at Kia before pulling out a black marker and writing her number on the cup. “Here you are, Ground Zero. You can call me if you ever need anything,” the barista said with a wink.

“Why the hell would I do that?” Bakugo growled before grabbing his cup and putting money down on the counter. “Get hers too,” he commanded, pointing a thumb at Kia.

The barista walked off in a huff to make Kia’s coffee. Bringing the cup back to the counter she shoved it at Kia who then reached into her pocket to get out some cash but Bakugo tossed more money on the counter, paying for the drink.

“Let’s get to work already,” Bakugo said, storming towards the door. Shrugging Kia picked up her drink and followed him out the door. The agency wasn’t far from the coffee shop as the two heroes walked together down the street. Looking over at him Kia took a sip of her coffee.

“Thanks for the coffee,” she said to her grouchy partner.

Bakugo merely grunted in response, stopping as they came to a crosswalk. The streets were crowded with people on their way to work and Kia found herself stepping closer to Bakugo as they made their way across the street.

Bakugo could feel her presence next to him like an open flame. He quickened his pace as they made their way to the agency. He couldn’t believe how embarrassed he was at getting caught trying to buy her coffee.

Arriving at their office they both moved to their desks, getting ready for the day. As usual paperwork seemed to be a never ending plague. They had just sat down when Kia’s phone rang. Taking her phone out she was delighted to see the name on the caller ID.

(Hey I’m surprised to get a call from you!) she answered.

Bakugo looked up when he heard Kia speaking English. He was surprised at how fluently she spoke Japanese and without much of an accent. As he listened he wondered if she had a light accent when she spoke English. Her voice took on a different tone talking to the person on the other line.

(My partner?) Kia said looking over at Bakugo and he met her gaze. (He is a total hot head with bad mouth and he’s a huge pain in the ass) Kia replied, smiling at Bakugo.

Bakugo wasn’t fluent in English but he had learned enough to know what Kia was saying. He could feel his temper rising as he turned back to his computer and tried to ignore her.

(Yep and he has a big ego. I don’t know why, I didn’t have much trouble beating him in our first sparing match) Kia laughed.

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY?” Bakugo roared, standing up from his seat.

(Yep, that was him. I was seeing exactly how much English he knew.) Kia said to the other person on the end of the line.

She is messing with me! Bakugo thought. Sitting back down and grumbling as he turned back to his work again tuning out Kia’s conversation. He heard a click and looked back up to see Kia snapping a picture of him. “What do you think you are doing?” he asked.

“Taking a picture, my friends want to know what you look like,” Kia replied sending the photo.

“Tch, you could have asked,” Bakugo grumbled.

“Don’t worry B, I got your good side,” Kia teased.

Bakugo rolled his eyes as he tried to get back to work when Kia’s phone rang again. Looking confused she swiped her finger across the screen.

(He is hot! We want to talk to him!) a feminine voice said over the phone.

(He can hear you) Kia warned her friend. “Do you mind B?” she asked walking over to his desk.

“I’m trying to work,” he growled.

(Oh my, his voice is hot too!) another feminine voice came from the phone.  

Feeling annoyed Bakugo turned away trying to ignore Kia and her stupid phone but she walked around his desk leaning over his shoulder and holding her phone out in front of them.

(Hey everyone may I introduce, Ground Zero!) Kia said dramatically.

Bakugo looked at the phone to see three women crowded together on the screen. He sighed leaning back in his chair he realized he wasn’t going to get out of this. (Hello) he growled.

(Hi, my name is Sara) the one on the left said.

(I’m Kris) said the middle one.

(MY NAME IS GRACIE) the third said speaking loudly and slowly, over pronouncing the words.

(Gracie he’s not stupid) Kia said shaking her head.

(Do you speak a lot of English?) Kris asked.

(Enough) Bakugo grunted.

(A man of few words) Sara said to Kia.

(Just wait until he gets mad then he could make a sailor blush) Kia replied.

“What does that mean?” Bakugo asked looking at Kia out of the corner of his eye. She was too close to turn his head to face her.

“Basically you have a foul mouth,” Kia replied.

(No fair we don’t know Japanese) Gracie pouted.

(You hardly know English) Kris said pushing Gracie off screen.

Bakugo found himself at the center of too many damn questions for the next twenty minutes. Kia had put her arm on the back of his chair and was leaning with her head right next to his. He could smell her shampoo and it was doing weird things with his head. He found it hard to concentrate with her so close.

(Well you better take good care of our girl, Ground Zero) Sara warned.

(We miss you Kia) Kris added.

(Call us sometime ok) Gracie added as the three said their goodbyes.

Ending the call Kia stood up. “Thanks for that B,” she said as she made her way back to her desk.

“Just don’t make a habit out of it,” Bakugo replied returning to his work.

“No promises,” Kia laughed, as the phone on her desk started to ring. “Wildside,” she answered “Right away sir,” she said before hanging up the phone.

“What is it?” Bakugo asked standing up from his desk.

“Jeanist said the district to the east is having problems with rampaging villains.” Kia replied heading for the door.

The two heroes headed to the locker rooms taking a couple minutes to put on their costumes. Kia met Bakugo coming out of the men’s locker room. “How do you want to get there?” Kia asked.

“We will take my bike,” Bakugo said. Turning down the hallway he led her to the parking garage. They past all kinds of vehicles before making their way to a sleek looking motorcycle near the far door. Bakugo stopped and grabbed an extra helmet, throwing it to Kia. “You ever ride before?” he asked as he grabbed his own helmet and straddled the bike.

“Hell yeah! I’ve got one back home,” Kia said. Putting on the helmet she hopped on behind Bakugo, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Hitting a button on the handle Bakugo started up the motorcycle as the garage door started to open. “Hold on,” he said as he pulled out of the garage. Turning down the street the two headed to help with the villains.

Bakugo wove in and out of traffic smoothly as they arrived in the next district. It wasn’t hard to find where the villains were as police officers diverted traffic and evacuated civilians. Turning the next corner they saw a couple heroes squaring off with three villains and the heroes were not doing so well. Bakugo felt Kia’s weight shift as she braced her hands on his shoulders and moved to stand on the seat.

Picking up on what Kia was thinking, Bakugo gunned it, heading straight down the street towards the villains.  Coming up on them Kia dove off the motorcycle, tackling one of the villains to the ground as Bakugo blasted another and brought the bike to a stop once he had rode past.

When she tackled the villain Kia tucked and rolled pulling him away from his cohorts. Kia smiled, she had successfully separated him from his pals. Removing her helmet, she took a defensive position while the villain gathered himself off of the ground. The villain came at her, throwing a punch that was encased in water. Kia met his with a flaming punch of her own.

Steam rose, surrounding the battling heroine and villain as they exchanged blows. Ducking and rolling out of his reach Kia transformed, unfurling her wings she flapped them a couple times to clear away the steam that was accumulating around them.

The villain seeing Kia’s wings and scales began to coat himself in water creating a massive swirling suit as he came at Kia once again. She met him blasting away at the water trying to get in a good hit. The water was to strong and Kia’s attack just created more steam. She didn’t want to risk a massive blast since they were so close to the buildings. That left Kia with one option. Taking a deep breath she took a solid stance and closed her eyes to focus.

“How dare you close your eyes when fighting me! It will be your last mistake,” the villain howled as he came at Kia.

Just as the villain reached her Kia caught his fist in her hand. Water turned to ice as the villain watch his defense turned into a prison.  Reaching a clawed hand up Kia melted enough ice so that the villain could still breathe. Leaving him frozen in his own armor she turned around to see how her partner was fairing.

Bakugo was fighting the two remaining villains, one of which had a fire quirk and the other an earth quirk who was throwing boulders he brought up from the destroyed street. Kia ran to go help Bakugo and watched as he delivered a blast that sent the fire user flying into the side of a building knocking him out. Reaching Bakugo’s side they turned together to face the remaining villain.

“Your pathetic blasts can’t break through my rock hard defense,” the villain cackled as he brought more and more rock to himself, compressing it into a harder and denser shield.

Bakugo sent a concentrated blast at the shield using his AP shot to try and blast through it. The blast only took a small chunk out of it.

The two heroes took turns trying to blast their way through the villain’s defense as he created a cocoon around himself. The fight was dragging on as they relentlessly tried to reach the villain.

“This is taking forever,” Kia snarled in frustration.

“We have got to find a way to break through,” Bakugo said as he landed next to her.

“I have an idea,” Kia replied turning to her partner. “I know we have never tried it before but do you remember how I said I can bolster another person’s attacks?”

“I hear ya,” Bakugo said grinning as Kia moved to his right side.

“The trick is to keep the components even so we can control the blast radius and minimize any damage to the buildings,” Kia told him.

“Got it,” Bakugo replied moving into position.

“I will follow you,” Kia said getting ready.

Bakugo blasted forward with Kia right next to him as he concentrated on a powerful pinpoint blast with his right hand. Kia moved in sync with him as she brought her left hand to meet Bakugou’s, mixing her own accelerant with his blast.

The resulting explosion blasted a massive hole in the villain’s defense giving the two heroes and opening to take him out. When the dust settled they stood over the unconscious villain. The blast took out a couple of light poles but the buildings remained intact.

“That was intense!” Kia said turning to her partner she held up a fist for him to bump knuckles.

Bakugo smirked bring his own fist up to hers. Kia knocked her knuckles against his, “Boom,” she said still grinning.

“Really?” Bakugo asked in a mocking tone.

“What you too cool for a fist bump?” Kia asked.

Rolling his eyes Bakugo picked up the villain to take him to the police who were waiting with an iron maiden. 

Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11

Ch 12 | Ch 13 | Ch 14 | Ch 15 | Ch 16 | Ch 17 | Ch 18 | Ch 19 | Ch 20 

[keepingupwithfundies]

Counting On Season 9 Episode 6: To Grandmother’s House We Go

Kendra, Joe, Garrett and the Caldwells hit the beach. The Vuolos visit Jeremy’s family in the northeast. John, Abbie and her sisters go on a mission trip. Jackson practices driving with a cop. 

-T 

The Caldwells, plus Kendra, Joe and Garrett are in Panama City Beach for a family vacation. Kendra says Garrett likes the warm weather. The Caldwells have been coming to PCB for six years, and Kendra loves the Beach and convinced Joe to come with her even though he isn’t as big as a beach person as she is. Kendra says her family wears modest swimwear, swim shirts and skirts with leggings. Jessa said her family wore modest swimwear they found online. Joe says shirts and shorts for the guys. Kendra says her father doesn’t like to get any extra sun so he wears 100 SPF, a hat, long pants and an umbrella. Kendra’s mom is 28 weeks along and due to her car accident she struggles with premature contractions. Kendra is glad she is able to make it to the beach. Kendra and her mom discuss the contractions she was having last night, and Kendra says it wasn’t so long ago she was expecting Garrett. Kendra says whenever she hears contractions now it brings her back. Her mom says she did a great job and she knew Kendra was nervous for her first delivery but she handled it well. Kendra says she will be more prepared for the next one but is grateful to have a break for a bit. Kendra also says she and her mom have become closer since she had Garrett, and she can’t believe her mom will have soon done this 8 times. Her mom asks about having a newborn, and Kendra says there are challenges but it is so fun having him, and that he is very sweet. Pastor Caldwell suggests a sandcastle making contest with himself and Joe as the captains. Joe picks Kendra first, and Paul picks Lauren Caldwell [LC]. Joe also picks Micah and Timmy. Paul picks Nathan and Gracie. Kendra says her dad and Joe are both pretty competitive. They decide the rules are to use sand and water to get the tallest castle in 30 minutes. The winners get to bury the losing captain in sand. Both teams get to work and Kendra is impressed with the other teams work. Christina Caldwell is keeping track of time and Garrett from her chair. It is pretty clear that Paul’s team crushed the challenge and they have a great sand tower. This means Joe will be buried by the winning team. The family enjoys getting to bury Joe. Kendra says it was a great vacation and she hopes they will be back next year.

At the Laredo airport, the Vuolos are off to go see Jeremy’s parents and grandparents. Jeremy says he cannot imagine travelling with 19 kids. In talking heads and flash backs, The family reminisces about how difficult it can be to travel with 19 kids. They mention Jackson getting left behind at the airport but Jessa says luckily they found him quickly.

Abbie, John, Carinna and Maggie are going to the Philippines to do mission work. This is Abbie’s first long flight, at over 24 hours, but she is excited for their mission trip together. John says they decided to go on the Mission Trip because it is what brought them together. At the first meeting of the Duggar and Burnett families, her parents mentioned that she has always wanted to go on a medical mission trip and John told them about this trip in September. John jokes that she was just another nurse, just another number and Abbie says “yeah, who became a wife!” Abbie is a licensed nurse, becoming one after helping her grandparents through their illnesses. Abbie has left her job to plan for the wedding and move to Arkansas but she hopes to go back to nursing one day. She says leaving her job was difficult in some ways, but it kind of wasn’t because she knew it was what she wanted to do. Abbie says John would support her getting another job when she moves to Arkansas. John says he fully supports her keeping up her license and serving others. Abbie says in the Philippines they filled prescriptions and wound care. John says he enjoyed getting to see that side of her heart.

In Downington, PA, Jeremy’s parents are enjoying spending time with Felicity. Jinger says it is hard to believe it was a year ago when they announced their pregnancy in the same place. They put her in the little shoes they gave to his parents to announce. Diana tries to get Felicity to smile and then they head off to go introduce Felicity to her great grandmother. Luis and Cara will be surprising Jeremy there, and also getting to meet Felicity.

At the main Duggar house, Jackson is about to have a driving lesson with a police officer. But first, the family is having breakfast and chatting. Jackson has his permit which you can get in Arkansas at 14. A large crew will be accompanying him. Jana says the fact that the youngest boy is driving is so hard to believe. Jessa says Jackson is lively, talkative, similar to Josiah, funny, life of the party. They flashback to Josiah learning to drive and struggling and Jackson reminds him of himself. Jackson says he has been practicing and he is decent in a pasture but he doesn’t know how he will do on the road. The producers flash back to when there were more kids in the home and said the family would average 36 eggs and 5 pounds of bacon for breakfast. Jackson guesses now it is probably 24 eggs and 2 pounds of bacon. Jackson will be driving the big family van with the police officer. Jackson is nervous. Justin says Jackson is a good driver but he can barely see over the steering wheel. Tyler says he will try and do his best with the police officer in the car- Justin says he should try his best with them in there. Jackson will be backing up, parallel parking for the first time and doing a three point turn for the first time. Jana says driving with a bunch of backstreet drivers is one of the hardest parts of driving. Jackson parks, and is introduced to the police officer who will be doing the less on with him. The officer jokes he brought his ticket book with him just in case, but Jackson notes he did actually have it and he doesn’t want a ticket before he even gets his license. The officer tries talking Jackson through the three point turn and pretends that there are cars all around him. The producers note how many times Jackson would have hit someone (4) but the kid is driving a massive van. Next, they practice parallel parking. The brothers get out to help direct him. They talk him through parking and he does pretty well for the first time. The officer says with a little more practice he be doing ok and he won’t be seeing him if he keeps driving that well,

In the Philippines, Abbie tried their authentic food while she was there and enjoyed some of it but didn’t like some of it. Abbie said her favorite was Chili ice cream even though it burned her tongue off. John says the trip was successful and they plan on doing lots of missions after they get married. The wedding is right around the corner now, and they are looking forward to it.

Felicity arrives at her great-grandparents house, and Jeremy talks about how growing up he was very close with his grandparents. Felicity smiles when she meets her great grandma and she is so excited to get to meet her. She keeps smiling as she meets her great grandfather and Jinger is loving their reactions. Jinger says the grandparents also gave her such a warm welcome and it meant so much to her. Jeremy says his grandparents are in their 90s and he is glad they have a chance to have a relationship with Felicity. Jeremy says his grandma totally ignored him for the first five minutes and finally said “oh hi Jeremy.” Ann says she was just too happy to see Felicity, she knew she’d get to Jeremy eventually. The grandparents have made a big lunch for everyone and she doesn’t really let the younger Vuolos help her. Jeremy says his grandparent’s kitchen hasn’t changed and he hopes that Felicity will have similar sweet memories with her grandparents. Meanwhile, Luis and Cara and their two kids are making their way to the front door to surprise Jeremy. Luis and Cara surprise Jeremy, and he is so excited to see them and introduce them to Felicity. Luis and Cara bought a house a town over from Jeremy’s grandparents so he knew they were nearby but he did not know they would surprise him. Jeremy is glad to get to bond with them as parents. Jinger says she is starting to get into a routine with Felicity and she isn’t sure how much to take on because if she has another she’ll be crazy. Cara agrees and says it can be so hard to find a balance. Cara’s kids are playing together and Jinger says it is sweet to see them interact and she thinks it might be them in the near future.

Everyone gathers for prayer before lunch around the long table at the grandparents’ house. They all gathered and Luis and Cara are excited to get to taste Grandma’s legendary cooking. Luis asks if Jinger is enjoying being a mom and she says she is. He asked what the biggest surprise is. Jeremy says “how much we love her” and Jinger agrees that it is the bond. Jeremy said he has also had instincts kick in when you wake up in the middle of the night to check on them. Luis is glad to see them grow, and asks Diana how many grandkids they have now. She says Felicity is #1, and Jeremy says he is the trailblazer. Jeremy says it was a great trip but it is time for them to fly back to Laredo tomorrow.

[blueberryms-blog1]

10 Good News Stories coming out of local communities

The Coronavirus pandemic let’s be honest has hit harder than anybody could have imagined. But let’s not get hung up on all the doom and gloom that surrounds this and rather think about all the insane amount of good that’s come from it, because frankly, that’s far more uplifting.

Sometimes it takes something real dark to make people shine and people all over the nation are coming together and helping through this difficult time with kindness, empathy and some pretty insane ideas. This is just a reminder of how incredible people and communities are at getting together in times of need.

Here’s a list of just some of the amazing things that have been happening recently:

1.     Teenagers make and deliver care packages to the vulnerable

Two teenage boys in South Yorkshire came up with the idea of creating and delivering cre packages to vulnerable people within the community. Sam and Matty made care packages containing porridge, toilet roll and teabags to people in the village of Harlington who are self-isolating due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Watch the full video here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-south-yorkshire-51948739/coronavirus-the-teenagers-making-deliveries-to-the-vulnerable

2. Primary school pupils emailing care home residents

A primary school in Worcester came up with the ridiculously cute idea to keep in touch with care home residents by sending emails to them whilst they are self-isolating due to the coronavirus outbreak with the hope of putting a few smiles on peoples faces. One pupil wrote “"I hope you are not worrying too much and are not too lonely. If you are, then I hope this message cheers you up."

Watch the full video here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-hereford-worcester-51963376/coronavirus-kindness-pupils-email-care-home-residents

3. Large supermarket chains operate NHS workers only special shopping hours

Tesco & Waitrose amongst other large chain supermarkets create special opening hours solely for the extremely hard-working NHS Workers. These workers need their food too! An amazing idea to help out some of the most important people in the community whilst adapting to this temporary new way of life.

4. A head chef in a Lincoln Pub Rustles up free meals for NHS Workers

The Pyewipe Inn in Lincolnshire has a head chef that goes by the name of Barry. He and his wife Jody have come up with the heroic idea of making and delivering free meals to busy NHS Workers. They utilized the pub as their kitchen and already delivered 70 tasty meals just last Sunday alone. Meals so far have included chicken arrabbiata, salmon quinoa salad, pasta carbonara, roast dinners, vegetable pasties and BLT baguettes. The deliveries will continue every few days as Barry wants to keep spirits up within the NHS whilst he is out of work.

5.     A street in Yorkshire has set up a coding system to alert each other if they are in need of help.

A street in Ripon, North Yorkshire have set up a simple coding system in their windows using coloured cards. The elderly residents have been putting up the cards to allow each other to know if they are in need of some help, or just to let people know they are OK. It’s simple, red means they are vulnerable and in need of supplies like medication or food and if green is in your window, it lets the neighbours know everything is ok. What a way of bringing the community together!

6.     A teenager who is self-isolating is using this time to write to pen pals to stay connected

17-year-old Gracie has decided to use her self-isolation time as a way to connect with other people and use this as an excuse to try something new. She is urging other people to do the same. Gracie wanted a “quirky” hobby and decided to start writing letters to pen pals all over the world and now has 23!  Eighteen months ago she was diagnosed with a rare leukaemia and Gracie said she planned to use her 12 weeks in quarantine writing more letters. Gracie said "It preoccupies you writing letters because it can be dull when you're stuck indoors all day. Everyone is quite scared and frazzled at the moment so to come together with others is the one thing you can do to stop yourself being lonely.”

7.     More than 4000 volunteers in Leeds have signed up to help the Vulnerable

Leeds City Council have teamed up with charities to take part in the city’s new community care programme following the coronavirus outbreak and guess what..? It’s already seen over 4000 people sign up to help! This is unbelievable for a community so willing to get together to help others at this strange and uncertain time. Leeds Council have said however that they are still in the need for more help. Anyone who feels they are able can volunteer for a range of different roles dependant on availability and preference by visiting www.doinggoodleeds.org.uk, emailing info@val.org.uk or calling 0113 2977920.

**For anyone finding themselves in this situation can call 0113 3781877 and be matched with a local volunteer who can help.

8.     Free Parking for NHS and key Workers in Leeds

Leeds council have decided council run car parks and parking bays will be free to use from today in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Key Workers and NHS staff have been given priority and so won’t have to pay to park. A little gesture like this eases the strain put on to all these hard-working individuals keeping the country alive.

9.     A Scottish Corner shop is giving out disinfectant kits to the elderly

A great gesture here! – A Scottish corner shop has put together disinfectant kits to give out to the elderly and vulnerable within the community. The kits include face masks, disinfectant wipes and handwash. If you’ve been to the shops recently, you’ll know just how hard these items are to get your hands on!

Watch the full video here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/coronavirus-face-masks-hand-gel-scotland-uk-outbreak-a9397781.html?jwsource=cl

10.   A FIFA tournament all in the name of Coronavirus!

Leyton Orient have come up with an ingenious way to let fans carry on watching football. They’ve organised a massive FIFA tournament involving 128 teams from all over the world. The hope is that the fans who watch the tournament - which will be streamed - will donate money and help raise £50,000 towards the coronavirus effort. The players have got involved too with Zlatan Ibrahimović launching a fundraiser to, in his own words, "kick this virus away".

So far, he's raised over £100,000.