#or anything and like my mum came home from being out and it was only our other dog barking by herself and it was so tough to hear like his

[arklay]

.

[finelinevogue]

spreading the love

summary - harry’s fans LOVE you

pairing - fiancé!harry x reader

word count - ~2k

The fans absolutely loved you.

Probably more so than Harry sometimes.

You were often the subject headline of news articles that were actually about Harry. You were often asked about in interviews that Harry was doing. You were often stopped before Harry on the streets. Not that Harry minded in the slightest because, well, he understood.

Obviously, no one could love you more than he did but he understood the publics addiction towards you.

You hadn’t come from much and you weren’t a name people knew before you started dating Harry. Somehow, somewhere, along the way you had become a somebody.

And everyone adored you.

Whether it was your kind nature, you loving heart, your gorgeous smile or your generous soul, you never went unloved by anyone. Not even the cruelest hearted person could have anything bad to say about you.

You loved being involved with the fans too. You often gave a lot back to them just because they were the most dedicated and loyal people you knew.

You loved how much they loved your Harry.

“Hello, hello!” You tucked your hair behind your ear as you started your Instagram live.

Your viewers shot up from 3k to 104k in ten seconds - that’s how popular you had become with the fans and media.

“How are we all today? Feeling good? I’m feeling good since it’s a Friday. It’s my weekend off tomorrow.”

Everyone knew that you were an NHS nurse and did so much for the people you worked with and beside, which only added to the cause of people loving you.

ellaking107: what are you doing with your weekend off?💛

“Hi Ella! This weekend I am staying home with Harry. We have got a very boring weekend planned unfortunately. Our bathroom is having a redecoration and so we need to wait for the tile man to pop in at some point so he can start measuring up bits and pieces. I’m sure H will drag me for a run or to a pilates class too.”

You were situated in your lounge, lots of plants and good lighting surrounding you.

harryissmiling101: Where is Harry?

“Ummm, so Harry is currently at his mum’s. Maybe this is too much information, but his mum’s fridge broke and so all her food went off. Harry and I made loads of dishes though last night for her, so Harry’s dropped them all off along with a spare fridge we had. I know… Don’t ask why we had a spare fridge.”

You watched as you cat, Kira, came through the lounge door and hopped up onto the sofa you were sat on. You turned the camera so everyone could see her.

“My child says hello to you all. Don’t you Ki?” You began stroking her little black and white chin. “Oh you’re so gorgeous. I love you so much.”

haileyjudd: Harry or Kira?

“Hailey I can’t believe you’re even asking me that… Hailey said, choose between Harry and Kira. Honey, there’s no doubt about it. Obviously, Kira.” You laughed.

You knew some magazine would twist your words later and make it seem like you and Harry were going through a rocky patch in your relationship, but you knew the truth. Harry was completely whipped for you and there wasn’t a single chance he was leaving you. Ever. Then again, the feeling is very mutual.

Kira came closer to you and sat in your lap, nestling herself deep into the blanket you had draped over the top of you.

jammiiie: Are you single please?

“Hi Jamie, potentially.. maybe… Uh, no. I am not single and this will remain my answer indefinitely.” You smiled, thinking about how clingy Harry would get if you had read that out whilst he was say next to you.

Harry doesn’t get jealous, oh no.

He gets clingy. And you love it.

You love when he’s constantly doting on you; kissing you. He loved on you like he has to remind you your his (even though you always will be).

harriesassemble: Y/N can I ask you a question? My boyfriend told me that I have to shave (you know where) but I don’t feel comfortable doing that. How do I tell him? (Don’t answer if you feel uncomfortable)🤍

“Wait.. Hang on a second..” You spoke slowly, slowing the speed of the comments as you traced back to a comment that caught your attention.

“Hi, sorry I’m not sure what your name is, but I hope you are still here and know I’m speaking to you!“ You re-read out loud the comment posted so everyone knew what you were going to talk about. “So, first of all, girl to girl, if he is forcing you to do something as personal as shaving yourself then, my love, he’s not worth your time or breath.”

ophelialover: oh i am so here for y/n’s girl talk time

harrielover: y/n is so big sister coded

“Don’t do anything that you don’t want to do. Do not force yourself to be making changes to yourself just to please a man, or any significant other for that matter. If Harry ever forced me to make a change to myself I didn’t want, he knows where the door is. Seriously, honey, you’re perfect and never change unless you want to.”

harriesassemble: Thank you!🩷

kingsofharry: You’re amazinf Y/N <33

justkeepdriving: WE LOVE YOU Y/N

liked by y/nl/nofficial and 1,976 others

harriesassemble i can’t believe y/n just followed me i am in shock right now :((( she’s my favourite person in the whole world and everything they said to me this evening was just so special:(( im shaking so bad i love y/n so much❤️

view all 394 comments

harryfan1 OH THIS IS SO COOL

harryfan2 omg you were who y/n was talking to??? congrats!!!!!

y/nl/nofficial You’re amazing!💛

harryfan3 we stan y/n

••••••••••

London was quite busy today.

Lots of tourists bustling through the city as well as the daily commuters wandering around on their lunch breaks.

Harry had decided to take the afternoon off since you also had it off, organising to take you for a bite to eat and a coffee at your favourite cafe.

It was a cafe bookstore, so you got to browse books whilst waiting for your food and then got to sit amongst the books whilst you ate. It was a dream fantasy of yours as a child and you’re grateful someone brought that fantasy to life.

Harry held your hand securely as you wandered through the London streets.

Luckily Harry had secured a paparazzi ban years ago that meant that no paps were legally allowed to take photos of Harry in London, so it was just fan photos that you had to be aware of.

“Angela asked me to give her your number again today.” You said to Harry.

“She’s relentless.” Harry laughed.

“She just wants to know when her future grandson-in law is going to become her in-law.”

“Baby, I’ve told you before - I’m not asking until I’m ready.” He squeezed your hand.

“No, I know. I just want Nana Angela to be alive when we get married.”

“She will be. I promise.”

You both came to a stop at a red pedestrian light. Harry pulled you back slightly, because he knew that you liked to stand far too close to the edge of the pavement.

You looked up to Harry, watching as he took in his surroundings through a pair of brown sunglasses.

“C’mere a minute.” You said, directing his head to face you.

You reached up and unclipped your claw clip from his hair and ruffled the locks until he had a messy middle parting. You bit the clip between your teeth as you messed with his hair.

“What was wrong with m’hair?” He chuckled.

“Prefer it down like this.” You shrugged your shoulders and clipped the claw clip to the top of your jumper.

You smiled at your handy work.

He looked even more handsome now.

As you crossed the road, you spotted someone with a Love on Tour tote bag. It was one of the newest ones. It was being carried by a girl in her early 20s, maybe.

You poked Harry and pointed him towards the girl.

“She had good taste in music.” He joked.

You didn’t mean to follow this girl, but only happened to stop at another pedestrian red light next to her. You stood beside her and noticed she had headphones on.

You couldn’t help yourself from nudging her shoulder. As you prodded her, she gasped and cupped a hand over her mouth in shock. She quickly took off her headphones and giggled a hi out.

“Love the tote bag!” You smiled brightly.

“Ha ha thank you! Oh my God I can’t believe you’re actually here right now.” She laughed.

“Yup. Both of us.” You pulled Harry a little closer into you.

“Hi, you alright?” He spoke shyly, as ever when he is introduced to someone new.

“This isn’t real! Holy shit.” The girl laughed the situation off. “I was nearly not going to wear this tote bag today as well.”

“Well it must be a good luck charm then.” You laughed. “Which show did you go to?”

“Wembley night 4.”

“Ahh!! The best one then!” You exclaimed, Harry chuckling from behind you.

You always did this.

You managed to make friends with absolutely anybody on the streets, over the smallest of connections. You especially loved making friends with Harry’s fans.

“Well I think so, but I might be biased.” She shrugged.

“It was one of our favourite shows, wasn’t it H?” You nudged him into the conversation, knowing that he struggles with that.

“Yeah definitely. Wembley was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.” He nodded with a smile, looking at you more so than the girl. “I’m glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the support, it means a lot.”

You internally smiled at the small spiel that you had prepped with him for occasions where he might bump into a fan.

“What was your favourite part?” You asked curiously.

“Sign of The Times in the rain.”

“Oh stop! You’re going to make me force Harry into to going on another tour ASAP just to experience that again.”

“Oh, because of course I can control the rain too love.” Harry laughed, which made you both chuckle with him.

“Shut up.” You judged him in the ribs. “Well it was lovely to meet you…”

“Emma.”

“Emma.” You smiled.

“Thank you for your continued support, Emma.” Harry added. “Would you like a photo?”

“Uh.. Y-yes? Yes please! If that’s okay with you?” Emma politely checked.

“Of course. Just as long as you wait a little bit to post it so our location isn’t instantly publicised.”

“Yes. Of course! Thank you.”

“Here, honey, give me your phone.” You held out your hand, thinking that she would have wanted you to take a photo of just her and Harry.

“You have to be in it too, Y/N!” Emma exclaimed.

“Yeah, Y/N/N.” Harry rolled his eyes at your silliness. “C’mere.” Harry roped his arm around your waist and brought you to stand slightly in front of him. Emma was directly next to you and you all smiled as she lifted her arm to take a selfie. Harry’s cheek was pressed near against yours.

“They okay?” Harry asked.

“Perfect. Thank you guys so much.” Emma smiled so brightly.

After you parted ways you couldn’t help but imagine how electric Emma must be feeling right now. Harry seemed to be happy too, because you were happy after such a heartwarming conversation.

Positive interactions just made for better days.

Later, Emma would post that photo and the comments were even more wholesome.

comment 1: the way y/n and harry are stood so close to each other

comment 2: the fact harry has his literal cheek pressed against y/ns makes me WEEP

comment 3: they look so happy i will cry

•••••••

Another place where you would find wholesome content from the fans was the world of social media.

Normally, with Harry’s previous relationship’s, they would get absolutely hated on social media. There would always be something that would get dug out from someone’s past which meant they weren’t “right” for Harry. All of it was bullshit and Harry’s previous relationships had ended because he never felt “right” with anyone.

Until you.

You were now sat with Harry’s family around a small fire pit in Anne’s back garden.

Her lovely house had a beautiful garden that was perfect for dinner evening drinks and conversations. You often think about returning here with Harry and his last name one day.

“Top up, Y/N?” Anne asked, holding out the bottle red wine up to your wine glass that empty on the table.

“Oh, no thanks Anne.” You warmly smiled.

You were comfortably nestled in Harry’s lap with a blanket drawn over the two of you. Harry was nursing his own red wine with one hand, whilst the other supported your back from where you were sat sideways across his legs. Your head was nuzzled just below his chin and your hands were busy fiddling with his necklaces.

“You okay, m’love?” Harry asked you, so only you could hear.

“Mhm. Wine has made me sleepy.”

“Rest if you need to, i’m right here.” He kissed the top of your head.

You pulled your phone out of your hoodie pocket and opened it up to Twitter.

You followed a multitude of Harry’s fans on Twitter, simply for the shits and giggles. It had become a challenge to see who would be the next person that you would follow.

Scrolling through Twitter you noticed a lot of people reposting a photo of you and Harry that got leaked today. You were both simply walking through the park, but the photo clearly showed you wearing Harry’s hoodie and everyone was screaming over it.

harriesunite: these are my parents

“H, baby, look.” You giggled as you showed him the tweet.

“Hmm?” He tucked his face down into your neck as he read your phone, and leaving your neck warm after he laughed.

“You’re such a dad, apparently.”

“Not yet I’m not.” He kissed your exposed neck, but only once when he remembered he was sat in front of his mum.

“Y’want to be?” You turned your head a little to the side to see him better.

“Whenever you want to be a mum, yeah.” He smiled so brightly.

“Soon.”

“Yeah, soon.” Harry nodded in agreement.

[hedgehog-moss]

I decided to dedicate a post to Mama Pampy! Who rarely gets the spotlight on this blog, because well-behaved llamas seldom make history... I mentioned yesterday that she's the matriarch of her little herd (for new followers: Pampelune aka Pampy is Pampe's mother and Poldine's grandma), but I didn't really go into what that entails. It means she's a precious help to me when it comes to curbing Pampe's fight for freedom, because she has the authority to call the other llamas back when they wander too far away from her.

(Note that this didn't apply when Pampe was a teenager. Teen!Pampe obeyed her mother rarely and/or accidentally and thought nothing of wandering away all on her own. But ever since becoming an adult and having her own baby, she's slowly started paying more attention to Pampy's alarm sounds and other commands. She grudgingly accepted the bare minimum amount of responsibility required to keep her child alive.)

If the other two llamas wander off and Pampelune is able to follow, she'll follow in order to keep an eye on them; but conversely if you make sure Pampy can't follow, then the others won't stray too far. So I can let the llamas out to trim the grass around my house without haltering Pampe or Poldine; I just have to keep Pampy close to me. To no one's surprise, she keeps her eye on 1 llama in particular—

If her daughter wanders too far, Pampy will utter a firm "muh!" and Pampe will reluctantly return. (It's more of a "moo", really, but since llama and cow languages are clearly not in the same family and probably don't have mutual intelligibility, I'll use different spellings so it's not confusing.)

Pampelune knows who is and isn't part of her herd. The hens are outside of her jurisdiction but Pirlouit is not—she doesn't talk to him, because he never muhs back, but she does spit on him sometimes which means he is an honourary llama to her (a dubious honour, if you ask Pirlouit) and she also quietly checks on him, especially when she's out of the pasture while he is stuck on the other side of the fence, alone.

I hope this foray into llama herd dynamics isn't too boring; I'll add that I can't let Pirlouit free roam along with the llamas because he would follow Pampe if she starts wandering off, and Pampe loves having Followers. It immediately goes to her head and she'll often stop listening to her mum and trot away if she's managed to recruit disciples (that's also why Pandolf is not in these pictures. He's locked in the kitchen because he would not only follow Pampe but heartily encourage her to go somewhere. Pan is a rule-follower but within the realm of reason, i.e. if going for a walk is wrong then he doesn't want to be right.)

Poldine following Pampe isn't a problem though, because she is very respectful of her grandma's authority, so if anything she's a good influence on Pampe. At some point she wandered a bit too far while grazing and a stern "muh!" was heard, and she immediately came back and stood at attention behind her chief.

Her attitude with regards to her grandma / matriarch reminds me of this kid:

It's not all work for Pampy, she does get to eat too, but always with one ear angled in the general direction of Pampérigouste.

Meanwhile I read and have a glass of apéritif—llama outings usually happen in the evening as an extra precaution (you can never be too prudent when you let Pampe free roam)—the llamas don't like being out of their pasture at night, so they'll go home without a fuss when it starts to get dark.

Sorry for the poor quality, this is extra zoomed in, but I just realised I managed to capture one of our elusive cow neighbours in this one photo!

One of the few advantages of an abnormally warm autumn is that the herds are still out... You can hear the clarines (cow bells) in the distance, it's such a peaceful sound. Besides the bells, evening bird calls and Pampy's disciplinary muhs, the only other sound is the occasional heart-wrenching braying from Pirlouit. Stuck in the pasture all alone. Deprived of grass, empty of hope, unloved. (He gets to go out for frequent donkey-only outings but that doesn't make the present unfairness of his situation sting any less apparently)

Bringing everyone home when my apéritif is finished is quite easy, all I have to do is offer some muesli to Pampy. No matter where she is, Pampe's head will spring up, indignant.

Pampelune isn't even really into muesli, she prefers fresh fruit peelings, but Pampe won't take any risks.

(Pampe's nose is all scratched because she got very annoyed with flies last month and kept rubbing her face on things to remove them... Thankfully now that the nights are colder, she's finally rid of them!)

Once Pampe is back in the pasture I can let Pandolf out! He'll run a few circles around Poldine then escort her back home, not that she wouldn't follow the other llamas without any prompting, but you've got to let Pan be a sheepdog sometimes, he's so happy to contribute. Sometimes I even let Pirlouit out so that Pan can immediately bring him back in. Once all four animals are in the pasture he'll turn to me like "Everyone's home safely! Just before night! Thanks to me, Pandolf" and I'll make amazed noises at his excellent herding.

[uglyducklingofthe2000s]

Hollow Heart - LN

Summary: Lando loses everything and other people have moved on and kept going like nothings changed

Warnings/themes: Major character death, mourning/grief - no specifics of crash or specific of injuries for cause of death mentioned

F1 driver!reader

This is sad imo, so be warned.

No part 2 requests please

Lando was numb throughout her funeral, always just too far into the void to feel anything but the weight crushing his chest. It feels like he's suffocating, as if he hasn't been able to breathe for 2 weeks now.

The sun went down for that race and it never came back in his world. He's just lost in the darkness, blindly letting other people lead and guide him around in hopes that he can trust them to be making him do the right thing.

"Lando, mate." Jon states snapping Lando out of the daze. Something that Jon has had to do a lot since they came back for the Monaco GP. "We need to get moving."

The last thing Lando wants to do is leave his apartment. He doesn't want to see people, he wants to go back home. He wants to spend hours watching videos and looking at pictures and remembering her.

Scratch that.

He wants y/n back.

Her to be there in bed when he wakes up. To hug him whenever he can catch her between their track sessions. To drag her around on the race weekends where there isn't any F1 duties for them. To smell her. To watch her. To dance with her. To drive around Monaco with her and feel alive again.

Something in him died with her.

Something in him that was taken when he got to her first and dragged her out of the cockpit away from the flames. She was unconscious.

He didn't know she was already gone.

The sudden memory makes his stomach lurch but he manages to keep himself from the urge to be sick. He'd already been threatened about being pulled from the race thanks to a weight loss because he just hadn't been eaten properly. Jon has been practically force feeding him since they realised he'd lost 8 kilos in the first week since her death.

He's not properly gained it back but he is gaining again so the FIA are allowing him to compete.

Hardly anyone has dared to speak to him. They didn't know what to say and in a way, many of them knew her and they are in a state of mourning for her too. Not quite to the degree that Lando is, but it has affected them all.

"Hi, Lando. It's good to see you." The reporter greets as he steps up after qualifying. "That's a good position, P3."

"Yeah, it's good. I'm happy with it. I think it's the best we could do with the car. Oscar P5 behind me. We're in good positions." Lando nods earning a small nod.

"And how are you feeling going into this race?"

"Do I need to answer that?" Lando questions with a fake smile. "Shit. Probably been the worst 2 weeks of my life. But I'm hoping I can do something to give myself something to feel."

"Good luck."

It's a weak and uncertain reply but he thanks her and moves onto the next.

No one is brave enough to outright ask about how he feels about y/n. Even Lando would have to say it's a wise choice and the more respectful choice.

His family are there and he feels bad to admit that he's just not feeling good enough to talk to them. His mum is trying her best to take care of him while not smothering him. But none of them know how to comfort him.

How do you make someone feel better when they lose the person they had planned to marry and spend their life with?

-

Standing at the front of the grid, Lando sighs being the one to place her helmet on the small podium central to the drivers.

He doesn't want to look at it but when he makes the mistake of seeing a screen and sees her face, the clips of her wins and her cheering and then a clip of the two of them on the podium together.

Carlos arm around his shoulder makes the world feel like it's suddenly pressing on his shoulders and the Spaniard finds himself as the only thing keeping Lando upright and the younger man's eyes are filling with tears for the first time since y/n died.

He'd not shed any tears but this moment forces him to accept the grief and the painful truth.

The first race without her. The first race of the rest. She'll never be there at the end of a race to wave at him as they do their in laps. She'll never congratulate him when he gets a podium or ignore her celebrations for a podium to see him. She'll never wait for him once they've pulled off track and she's out the car.

She'll never do anything again. And he has to keep living and do everything without her.

How is he supposed to do that?

The silent minute in her honour ends but it's quickly followed by the anthem and Lando final finds the strength to stand upright again. His whole body feels like it's aching like someone's used him as a punch bag.

Once the anthem is over, Carlos doesn't let him go straight away.

"Are you alright, mate?" Carlos asks making Lando look at him.

"I'm going to have to be. She's not coming back." Lando states feeling his voice wobble as he says the last part and Carlos almost retracts back at his words.

It's not something anyone wanted to admit. But hearing it from Lando and hearing the agony it's bringing to him. Carlos feels like he's watched the death of a driver and now he has to watch the destruction of Lando as a result.

Lando moves away having to get to his car while Carlos moves to his own, trying to shake off the feeling that he needs to worry about Lando.

They each have tributes to y/n and Lando hates seeing it, as he catches sight of her name and number stickers onto his car. His chest squeezes before he sits down into the cockpit and remains quiet.

He sighs as they tighten the straps on him then patting his helmet.

He wanted a tribute helmet but he was in not state of mind to be wearing something for her today or to be discussing designs for her.

By some miracle he locks into a mindset that keeps him focused on the race and when they get moving.

-

After his Monaco podium, people seemed to decide Lando was fine and treated him as such.

Questions about y/n and how he is coping increased. A demand for him to just ignore his own grief.

Canada, Spain and Austria pass in a blur. Before he knows it, he's at his home race and it's been over a month since she died. Since he lost her and he has to visit her.

"We really need you in today on the sim. We're adding those upgrades on the car-"

"I'm not available today." Lando cuts in as he stares at his phone. Andrea having called since Lando didn't show up.

"We need you here today, mate."

"You have Oscar. I'm going to my girlfriend's grave. Remember her? The driver who died in Imola?" Lando almost spits then hanging up in hopes of containing his rage before he looks out his car window to the graveyard. His body slumps forward at the sound of his phone going off, resting his forehead on the steering wheel.

He hasn't been back here since he spent nearly 8 hours sitting at the foot of her grave after her funeral. No one bothered to try and move him. His suit got muddy and he was there till dark.

Eventually he feels the 10 ton weights keeping him in the car lift just enough for him to get out the car, grabbing the bouquet of tiger lilies along with a couple other things he wanted to put there that he thinks she'd have liked.

When he gets there he sighs with a frown, he hates seeing her grave. As much as it's a means to remember her. It's a reminder that she's not here and it hurts.

"I'm sorry, I haven't been back. I wanted to...but it's been so hard...everything is still where you left it in my apartment. I bought a few bottles of your perfume so I could spray it around...on your pillow in bed and your spot on the sofa...and on that McLaren hoodie that you would only wear when you knew no one would see it." Lando states, more than aware he sounds like a crazy person by talking to dead person's grave. "I love you so much."

He begins placing the flowers in the vase that is built fixed to the stone. He'll have to come back more often to replace them and make sure she always has flowers. She loves putting flowers around his apartment. In fact thinking back on it, the last ones she bought have to still be in the vase. No doubt wilted and dead.

"No one understands, y/n. No one understands what it feels like. I want to keep going, I know that you'd never forgive me for being like this." Lando mumbles rubbing his hand over his face before he sighs softly. "Everyone seems to be happy to forget you...and just move on. Like you dying is just an...inconvenience. I'm not ready to move on...I don't know if I'll ever be ready...but the grass hasn't even properly grown over."

There's small sprouts a thin growth but not enough for her to blend in with the rest.

He places down the other little gifts including a letter he'd written, it'll get wet and ruined in the rain, grow soggy and fall apart into the ground. She'll never know what it says.

"I just wish I had one more conversation with you. I don't even know what I'd say. But I'd do anything to even just listen to you talk." Lando sighs before hearing someone clear their throat behind him, she scuffling of shoes on the dry grass. "Y/m/n."

"Lando...I wasn't sure if I'd ever see you back here." Y/m/n states making him quickly stand up. "She'd love those lilies."

"Yeah?" Lando smiles feeling a wave of grief drowning him.

Y/n's mum looks as hollowed out as he feels. He lost the the love his life but she lost her daughter. He remembers a comment his mum had made to his dad when they thought he wasn't listening about how a parent never imagines a day they have to bury their own child and how they couldn't imagine the type of pain.

Y/n always looked so much like her mum, pictures of y/m/n in her youth could be mistaken for pictures of y/n. Though a slightly different hair and eye colour combination. But the facial features and even body type were all replicated as if y/m/n had just cloned herself.

They were hurting enough just seeing Lando morph into a shadow of himself.

"How have you been, Lando?" Y/m/n asks then straining her smile. "And I mean really how have you been?"

"I don't know how to breathe without her." Lando admits feeling like maybe he's been neglecting to recognise that y/m/n might just be the one person in the world who can understand his pain. "And sometimes I don't want to wake up because I know that she's never going to be there again."

Y/m/n nods before taking a shaky breath in and smiling.

"And I don't understand how people can say it gets easier, because every single day it feels even harder than the last and I'm not even sure I want it to get easier because then I feel like I'll completely have lost myself."

He can't even stop himself when he moves forward and hugs the woman when he realises he's caused tears, but now he's also feeling tears trickle down his own cheeks.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be silly." Y/m/n frowns making swallow thickly then Lando decides he knows how he'd rather spend his day.

"Will you come to lunch with me? I have people I want to avoid and...I think I'd rather be with someone who...doesn't think the right thing to tell me is to just move on." Lando states earning a small smile.

"You could come to our house. I've been learning all sorts of new recipes and baking...the only way I know to kill the time. It still feels wrong doing it without an extra pair of hands but I think your company while I cook and then eating together will make up for it."

"I could try helping." Lando smiles feeling maybe the first spark of happiness in a long time. He almost forgot what it feels like. Though it's snuffed out as quick as it appeared, it still manages to keep up the smile because spending the day with someone who is a piece of y/n and he wants to keep hold of that.

[russellsppttemplates]

All the milestones (Lando Norris)

Fraser came earthside earlier than you expected

Note: english is not my first language. Believe it or not, I'm also a preemie (genetically and health wise, I am a catch, I know). Jokes aside as this is a serious topic, I was born at thirty three weeks because of some complications and it all turned out well, but I am aware of what it entailed from people telling me and it isn't something I've seen around here! Knowing that the diversity I write brings comfort to read and to ask this warms my heart up so much 🫶 I'm also basing this off of my mum's experience!

Thank you so much to everyone who likes and reblogs, your feedback is appreciated 🤍 and I'm taking requests so if you have any ideas or concepts you want to share, feel free to do so as I'll try to get to them the best I can!

my masterlist

Tw: mentions c-section and themes related to hospital stays and procedures, prematurity, pre-eclampsia

Tag list: @myloverjk-blog

"I'm really sorry I can't go with you, darling", Lando apoligised as he set the plate with lunch in front of you, "it's okay, it's just an ultrasound", you responded, "we're just going to check if everything is alright with you, right, little one?", you tapped your babybump softly. At thirty weeks pregnant, you were starting to feel the tiredness and aches like you had felt in your previous pregnancy, only now you had a toddler to look after as well, so you had been taking it easy. Fortunately, you were able to juggle work and family life in a way that allowed you to make the minimum compromise to both spheres of your life.

"Drink your water, baby", Lando reminded you, tapping the jug, "I'm going to pick up my dad from the airport and then we'll both get Tilly. Are you feeling like going out for dinner or should I get take out and we eat here?", he questioned, taking a bite of his food.

"I'd prefer to stay in", you stated, "are you feeling like anything special?", he asked back.

"Right now I can't think of anything", you offered, not really looking forward to eating the delicious food in front of you if you were really being honest. Still, you manage to eat the most of it.

"Have a good meeting, Lan, I love you", you said as you put your coat on, grabbing your bag with all your documents.

"Be safe, okay, baby?", he checked, kissing the top of your head and then kissing your baby bump, "and you too, buddy, keep yourself and mummy safe and sound, don't give her too much trouble", he said, helping you out of the door before you went on your separate ways, "I love you, gorgeous mummy!", he winked before he got inside his car.

Once you arrived at the hospital and checked yourself in, your midwife Amelia greeted you in the examination room, "how have you been feeling, Y/N?", she asked as she slipped the bad on your arm to get your blood pressure numbers, sending the urine sample to the lab.

"I've been feeling a little tired, especially compared to last time, which I can only put down to having Tilly, and she's a very calm child", you giggled, remaining quiet as the machine got your numbers.

"These look quite high, did you run up here?", she asked, "no, I got here earlier than I expected actually, I've been sitting on the waiting room for a bit", you scrunched your face.

"We'll just wait for your results and then we'll see if it's something we have to wordy about", she tranquilized, "let's see you baby boy, shall we?", she smiled as you lifted your shirt, letting her apply the cream and move the wand around.

"There's your son, Y/N", she smiled, "He's a bit quiet, but the heartbeat sounds good", she smiled, taking a few more pictures so you could bring them home for Lando and Matilda to see.

A knock on the door alerted you both as Amelia was taking your measurements, "I have the results for Y/N Y/L/N-Norris", your OB checked, seeing you in the room, "Hi, Y/N, I thought I'd only see you later", she said as she walked in. She pulled on a stool and sat on it, "your results are indicating that you might be in pre-eclampsia", she said as she showed the tablet's screen to Amelia, her stern expression confirming your suspicions on how serious the situation was, "your body is having trouble keeping up with everything, hence your high blood pressure and your urine results suggest your kidneys are working overtime as well", Dr. Martin said as you straightened up, hands coming to wrap around your baby bump protectively, "your baby is fine, so that's not a big worry, but we do think it would be best if we delivered him tonight", she advised.

"But he's too small", you argued.

"You're at thirty weeks, which isn't ideal, but the survival rate is very very high for babies born at this time, and we also have a team that is specialised in preemie care, so he will be in the best hands", she comforted, "we need to give you corticosteroids to make sure the baby's lungs are ready for when he comes earthside, we'll get you admitted and monitor you and the baby to make sure he's not struggling either. In a few days, depending on how this goes, we'll do a c-section. I know it's not ideal, but this is the best way to make sure you and baby boy stay safe".

Sighing, you nodded, "okay, whatever is best for both of us", you asserted, "I just need to call Lando - my father in-law is coming to stay for a bit and they're getting Matilda from school", you thought out loud.

"Absolutely, dear, everything is going to be just fine", Amelia conforted while Dr. Martin set you up to go to a room.

Lando helped Matilda up to her car seat, strapping her in as she spoke to his father, "and did you have a good day, princess?", Adam asked, "yes, we coloured lots and we saw a couple of butterflies when we were having our snack!", she smiled as Lando drove home.

The car system alerted them of a call from you, "hey, beautiful, I'm in the car with my father and Tilly - say hi to mummy, babygirl!", he encouraged, "Hi, mummy!", she cheered, "Hey Y/N", Adam greeted too.

"Hey, guys! Lando, can you give the phone to your dad, please?", you asked, "sure, love", he said as he disconnected the phone from the car, nodding his father to take the phone in the console.

"Hey, Y/N, is everything alright?", Adam asked over the phone, "Hey, Adam, I hope you travelled well! I'm not sure if Lando told you, but I had an appointment today, and it turns out I have to be admitted", you began, "I don't want to worry him, much less when he's driving, so as soon as you get home, can you tell him to call me back again, please? Baby Fraser might join us sooner than we expected", you mumbled, nerves obvious in your voice as Adam stayed with a neutral face.

"Absolutely, Y/N, I'll let him know", he said before hanging up.

"What was it? Is everything alright?", Lando asked, knowing there would be a reason as to why you didn't want to have everyone listening to the conversation.

Checking the rearview mirror to see Matilda playing with one of her books, Adam clarified Lando, "she is going to stay at the hospital for a little longer than she expected for some check ups, she didn't want Matilda to hear about it", he said. It wasn't too much of a lie, and he certainly didn't want to scare anyone and since Lando would be calling you anyway, it could wait for a bit, "she asked you to call her when you got home. Don't worry, I'll keep Matilda entertained", he smiled.

Once they arrived, Adam left his things in the guest bedroom and met Matilda in the kuchen, "grandpa will make you some snacks. What do you want, darling?", he asked as he urged Lando to go and make a call to you.

"Hi, baby", Lando said as you picked up, "dad said you wanted me to call you, is everything alright?", he asked as he stepped inside the bedroom, hanging his coat in the closet.

"Hi, my love", you sighed and sending Lando into alert, "when they did my check up, Amelia took my blood pressure and it was really high, and my urine sample didn't look great either. It turns out I'm in pre-eclampsia and they want to keep me for observation, and it's likely Fraser will join us in the next few days", you added, "I need you here -, and things for me", you let out.

"Are you okay? I'll start packing right away", he said as he put his phone on speaker, looking for pyjamas and toiletries.

"My blood pressure is high - so far there's no distress for the baby, and they want to keep him in for as long as they can", you explained, "I, I am fine staying here on my own, that's okay, but I really need you here for a bit", you asked, "of course, my love. I'm going to pack these up quick and I'll be there. I love you", he said before you said it back, putting his phone in his pocket and zipping the bag.

"Daddy, where are you going?", Matilda asked as she saw the bag, "princess, mummy is going to stay in the hospital for a bit so the doctors can make sure her and baby are okay, and daddy is going to take a few things for her", he announced, crouching down so he was at her level.

"Is mummy sick?", she pouted, "she's a little tired, so they're going to make sure she rests up as much as she can", he slipped out, "I'm going to be there for a little bit to giver her her pyjamas so she's comfy, and then I'll be right back, okay? Can you stay here with grandpa?", he asked.

"Okay, daddy", she said before walking away, "but wait!", she called from the hall.

"I'll get dinner started and tuck her in if it gets too late - she didn't want me to tell you until you were home", he apoligised, "I know, I know, thanks for being here, it was bloody good timing", Lando mused.

Matilda came back with one of her stuffed toys, a McLaren bear she loved, "this is for mummy, so she doesn't sleep alone", she smiled sweetly. Maybe her innocence was positive because it meant she was dealing with the situation quite well.

"I'll give it to mummy, baby girl, I bet she'll love it", he smiled, kissing her cheek and leaving to the garage so he could drive to the hospital.

When he arrived, Amelia walked up with him as she told you all there was to know, knocking on your room door before they stepped inside.

"Darling", he said, setting the bag down and sitting next to you on the bed, kissing your forehead protectively, "how are you?", he asked.

"Fine, although I don't think it has really sunk in", you mumbled, playing with his fingers, "how is Tilly?", you wondered.

"She gave you Mr. Brown", he said as he fished out the bear from the bag, "she said she wanted you to have it so you wouldn't be alone in here", he smiled.

After spending as much time as he could with you, he bid you goodbye and went home, finding his father washing up the dishes as Matilda got her pyjamas on for the night, "I have a tupperware for you in the fridge if you want something to eat".

"Thanks, I've got it from here though - c'mon, little miss, we're going to sleep!", Lando hoisted her up, holding her on his hip as they walked upstairs to the bedroom, "can I sleep in your bed, daddy?", Matilda spoke in a small voice, "I don't want you to be alone either", she admitted.

Smiling at her sweetness, he nodded, "of course you can, love. Mummy sent her goodnight wishes for you, and maybe we can visit her tomorrow, how does that sound?", he smiled, "yes, please, daddy!".

.

"I made these for you, mummy, so your room is nice and colourful!", Matilda smiled as Lando let you in for a cuddle, your little girl getting help from her grandfather at ripping the tape so she could display her drawings she brought you almost daily, only missing days where Landk hadn't been able to bring her to the hospital because of their schedules.

"That's beautiful, darling, thank you so much", you gushed before turning to Lando, "has she cried again?", you whispered. You had been in the hospital for five days now, and two nights ago Matilda started with what was a tantrum at first and then evolved to crying about the fact that you weren't home. Lando was able to talk it out with her, welcoming her and allowing her to talk about how she was feeling and how it was beyond the fact that her tights were itching her.

"No, yesterday she told me she couldn't wait for you to come home, and that you were taking longer than she liked", he snickered, "always little miss rushing when it comes to you", he kissed the side of your head. Even though she was a daddy's girl through and through, she never made you feel left out.

"Y/N", Dr. Martin called after she stepped inside the room, "Oh, Matilda, you're so grown up already! Time flies by", she said as she waved at your little girl while Adam pulled her to sit on his lap, whispering "That's mummy's doctor, she is going to check up on her so you have to keep quiet, okay?" into her ear.

"I was checking your results, and I think between tonight and tomorrow, we might have to deliver your baby boy", she stated, everyone in the room straightening up as Matilda tried to read the adults' faces.

"His lungs look really good in the ultrasound we did this morning - as you know those were our biggest concerns, so we'll come up to monitor you, okay?", she rubbed your shoulder comfortingly before excusing herself.

"Well, I think it's best if we get going, then", Adam said as he got up, coming up to kiss the top of your head and squeeze your hand in his.

"Mummy, I know you're going to do very well", she said, earning small giggles around the room, "when can I come and meet the baby?", she stepped up to give you a kiss.

"We will have to see how it all goes, princess, but when you can, you'll be the first to come, okay?", you smiled, brushing the curls out of her eyes and kissing her head.

"I'll drop these guys home, get the baby bag and then I'll be back", Lando said, kissing your lips and your baby bump, "you stay in there for just a little longer, okay buddy?".

By the time Lando got back to the hospital, you had already been given a few medications to prep you for the c-section, "Kelly and Max advised that I shopped for some smaller clothes, so I have those in there", he tapped the baby bag, "and how are you feeling?", he cupped your cheek.

"My blood pressure is really high, so they're thinking about putting me under, like, full body anesthesia", you bit your lip. Getting surgery was already a big thing, but being completely under was another.

"Oh, okay", Lando gulped, "they won't let me be in there then", he realised, "that's not how we wanted this to happen, but it's going to be okay, gorgeous. You're the strongest woman I know, you're going to be just fine", he smiled, "and our baby boy will come out screaming and he will be the strongest little one ever", he said, trying to convince you and himself of his words. He was scared too, but it wouldn't do you both any good to dwell on it too much.

Knocking on the door, one of the lovely interns and Amelia came to get you, "are we all ready? I'm afraid you already know this, Lando, but you won't, be able to be with us in the OR", she apoligised, "I'll wait right here, if that's okay", your husband suggested, kissing you one last time before they wheeled you off, "I love you, Y/N", he muttered against your lips.

While he waited, he looked at the drawings in the room with precise attention, finding one where Matilda drew the four of you, her brother in your arms and Lando holding her hand, names scribbled under each person in Adam's writing.

Less than an hour later, Amelia stepped into the room, Lando getting up from his spot on the chair immediately, "everything went well, they were weaning Y/N off of the anesthesia, she's going to the PACU until she wakes up and then back here", she smiled, "your little boy is in the neonatal unit, do you want to come and meet him?", she asked, Lando letting out a sigh of relief at her words, "I'll let you know when Y/N comes back to the room", she ensured, having been in the job long enough to know the dilemma of wanting to be in two places at the same time.

"Yes, let's go", he said as he straightened up his sweater, "can I hug you?", he allowed himself to feel emotional, Amelia's open arms offering him a little comfort, "they're both alright, Lando, you have such a beautiful family", she cooed.

Walking with him to the neonatal care unit, she helped him into one of the gowns as they greeted the other parents inside along with all of the staff, "this is your little boy", she said, offering him a sanitizer for his hands, "he can't eat on his own just yet, so that single tube on his nose is feeding him, the other one is giving him oxygen, and those stickers are to make sure his heart is doing okay - little milestones and little victories", she explained as Lando took him in.

Surely, he was much smaller than Matilda, but he could already spot some similarities, "Can I touch him?", he asked, weary of disturbing the perfectly architected environment inside the incubator, "yes, of course! Just be mindful of the wires and tubes", she encouraged, opening the little doors so Lando could touch your son.

"Hey, buddy", he spoke as he touched his tiny fingers, "you're already such a fighter, breathing so well without ventilation", he cooed. He looked up all the complications and when he didn't see a mechanical ventilator, he couldn't help but feel proud of the baby, "he is, we did all the tests and for now supplemental oxygen seems to be enough", Dr. Martin said softly, not wanting to spook them as she showed up, "everything went well with Y/N, she should make a full recovery once it heals", she rubbed his back.

"Thank you", he said, keeping the tears at bay as he looked back at Fraser, "you're so tiny they had to roll up your diaper, hm little love?", he spoke, "there are so many people who love you and they have so much of it to give you".

A little while later, Amelia told him they were taking you up to your room, so Lando said goodbye to Fraser, "I'm going to see mummy, Fraser, and I'm going to tell her how much of a higher you are, I love you", he cooed one last time, rubbing his arm before taking his hands away, closing the little doors and folding the gown for later.

Walking into the corridor to your room, Lando could spot you in the other end, smiling as you spotted him too, "nearly beat you in this race", you smiled at him as he gestured for them to wheel you into the room, "everything went as expected, Dr. Martin will be up shortly to speak to you two", one of the interns said.

"How are you feeling, gorgeous?", he said, brushing your hair away from your eyes and behind your ears, "I'm fine, the meds are helping with the pain, I'm sure", you giggled, "they gave me a good dose".

"That's nice, at least", he said, "I've texted everyone to let them know you were okay and everything went well", he added.

"Have you seen him yet?", you asked, "yes, I have", Lando beamed, "He's very tiny and he looks a little bit like Tilly already. And he's such a fighter, too! He only had those little pin-like tubes to help him breathe, they didn't need any incisions or anything. I would've taken a picture but I couldn't take my hands away from him", he admitted.

"Hopefully soon I can see him", you gulped, knowing it would off the books for a bit since you had abdominal surgery.

"All in due course, baby. I'm so happy you're both fine", he kissed your forehead.

.

"I just want to hold my baby!", you hiccuped, wiping the tears falling on your cheeks while Amelia conforted you, "just one more day, Y/N, maybe two at maximum to make sure you're healing well, too", she smiled apologetically.

A knock on the door alerted you as Lando and Matilda walked inside, making you wipe your cheeks quickly, "mummy!", she cheered softly, approaching you and climbing on the bed softly since she knew you were healing, "have you been crying, mummy?", she said, hugging your arm and resting her head there.

"Mummy is upset because I can't go and see Fraser today", you explained as Lando kissed the top of your head.

Amelia excused herself as you caught up with everything back home, "grandpa asked me to give you kisses", Matilda recalled as she kissed your cheeks, "his plane has landed alresdy", Lando added, "That's nice of him, thank you darling".

"We can go and meet Fraser, Tilly", Lando said as the window they allowed visitors in was coming to the half-time mark, "I'm going to give him loads of kisses from you mummy, don't worry about it!", your daughter said sweetly as she climbed off the bed, "I'm going to try and FaceTime, okay?", Lando confirmed, handing you your phone before they left for the neonatal unit.

"Matilda, darling, you have to put this on, okay?", one of the nurses gave her a mask, "she's in nursery and she might have caught some bug that isn't showing symptoms yet and it could be harmful for the babies", he checked with Lando as your husband nodded.

"It's like a costume, Tilly!", Lando tried to make it fun for her, adjusting the gown and then the mask around her face, "you can't go around touching things, okay princess?", he stated as she nodded, ready to meet her little brother.

Lando got himself gowned and led them to Fraser's incubator, "that is Fraser, baby", he cooed, typing on his phone inside the clear bag and FaceTiming you like he promised so you too could see the moment they met for the first time.

"He's so tiny", she gasped, standing on the stepping stool so she could see him properly, "I can't kiss him, can I?", she asked and Lando shook his head, watching you smile on the screen, "I'm going to blow him the kisses I have from mummy then", she said, her hand making the movements from her covered mouth to her brother, "I love you, Fraser, and mummy loves you too, she can't be getting because her tummy still hurts a little", she told him.

"This just makes you want to have another right away, doesn't it?", Lando croaked out as he wiped a tear from his eye, your wide eyes looking at him, "not anywhere in the near future - my body knows that much!", you giggled at the soft sight, "but it is incredibly cute, yes", you smiled as tears fell on your cheeks too.

"Look, mummy! He moved his hand, he's saying hello to you", Matilda smiled, "He's saying he wants to see you, too!".

.

You were finally able to stand up and sit in a wheelchair, so your other goal for the day was going to see your son.

Amelia was the first to say she would take you, helping you sit and getting you there, "That's your little boy right there", she pointed as you were filled with giddiness and excitement.

Wheeling you to face plastic bassinet, your hand went straight inside, "he doesn't need oxygen anymore?", you asked his doctor, noticing the single tube you recognised as a feeding tube, "no, not anymore", he said, "we ran some tests this morning and he's doing just fine on his own, strong set of lungs he has! He woke two of the other babies up yesterday", he smiled.

Chuckling, you touched his arm softly, his hands opening and closing, "do you want to hold him?", he asked, catching you by surprise. Until now, no one ever held him as to make sure the treatments being done were working as best as they could.

"Can I?", you asked, eyes hopeful, "me and the rest of the team think he's finally strong enough to move out of here actually", he added, "not enough to go home just yet, but he can be in your room. This way you can have him close to you and of anything happens or you need help, the staff in your floor know what to do. He just needs to be able to feed without a pump, so either breastfeeding or bottle feeding", he stated.

"Wow, okay, I wasn't expecting this, I was so happy that I got to see him", you teared up, bringing your arms to position so the doctor could place your baby in your arms, mindful of the feeding tube that was still in him, "hey, my love", you cooed, touching his cheeks, "I'm your mummy. I know you were rushed out of my tummy, and it was scary for both of us, but it's looking up now", you cried, Amelia wiping your cheeks as she smiled too.

"Do you mind if we take his tube out now? Might be a little better for this little guy to be in his mummy's chest", the doctor suggested, getting the supplies he needed and setting them in the tray.

"It's okay, little guy", he said as he pulled it out, baby Fraser crying at the discomfort you could only imagine as you rubbed his back, "it's okay, my love, mummy's here to make it better", you shushed him, kissing his head multiple times.

"There, all done!", the doctor said, "if you want, you can feed him here or in your room, where you feel best", he wondered, "could we go to the room, please? I have my supplies there, too", you asked.

You had been pumping milk out since it came in, and you were finally able to feed him straight from your nipple, "okay, little one, you can't get lazy on us now that mummy has you in her room", Amelia encouraged, tapping his cheek slightly as he began suckling on your nipple, "there we go!", she cheered, "I told you it would get better, didn't I?", she winked at you.

When Lando and Matilda came for their daily visit, they didn't expect to see you walking around the room, your back facing the door, "you're up, mummy, that's good!", your daughter said as you turned around, showing her brother on your chest, "oh", she gasped.

"He passed all his tests, and he's getting chubby too", you cooed, squishing his thigh softly as Lando took the sight in, Matilda holding onto you as you patted her head and held your son. Your family was complete.

"That's daddy, Fraser", you cooed, pointing at Lando as your baby boy looked around to the two new people in the room.

"Can I have a cuddle?", Lando whispered before you transferred Fraser to his arms, your little boy curling up against him just like he had been curled up to you.

"Does this mean you get to go home?", Matilda asked, hugging you properly as you sat down on the bed with her, "not for a few days still, they just need to make sure Fraser is alright", you informed, "then we can go home and the four of us are going to have loads of fun", you smiled.

.

"Tilly, can you help me here, please?", Lando called as her footsteps approached your bedroom, "can you get me that bedding from the drawer, please?", Lando asked as he held the mattres up, not wanting to miss the exact placement of the sheet, "thank you, baby, you're such a clever girl", he complimented, folding the corner in and letting the mattress fall back into place.

"When mummy comes home tonight, is Fraser coming with her?", she wondered, touching the next to me bassinet you kept in your room for the baby to sleep in the first few months, "yes, he is, he's finally good and big enough to come home, no more hospital visits", Lando sighed. The last couple of weeks were hard. Juggling things on his own made him even more appreciative of you and the efforts you made to make sure everything was smoothly running in the house, as well of your friends and family who suported your family in every way they could.

"That's going to be nice, the hospital smells funny", she scrunched up her nose, "and it's going to be like before but with baby Fraser?", she wondered.

"At first mummy will need our help in many things - she still has some recovery to do, but then it will be back to normal, yes", Lando offered, "and we'll have Fraser to go with us in our adventures".

"I can't wait to show him my soft blankets and my toys", she beamed, helping Lando with the bed and then getting ready to pick you up from the hospital.

"Thank you again for all of your work and dedication, we truly can't say it enough for all you've done for our family", Lando said to the team as they discharged you from the hospital, waving at Fraser in his carrier as he looked around.

By the time the four of you were back home, you ate dinner on the sofa, Matilda cuddled up to your side while Fraser slept in your chest, Lando holding the four of you in his embrace as much a she could, "we're finally all together", you smiled, "the Norris family is all together in one place we it should be", he said, kissing your lips softly, hand coming to rest on top of yours in Fraser's back as Matilda smiled up at you, "this is the best day ever", she murmured.

Post partum blurb

[runnning-outof-time]

Hi K, I hope you’re doing well!🤍

I just wanted to make another request, if that’s alright with you. “I’ll break before I bend.” with Tommy?

Loving your blurbs by the way!

Thanks for sending this in, Reb @peakyswritings ! I’m sorry it took me a bit to write it — I hope you like what I did with it! I decided to use my family from my Girl Dad series because it���s been too long since I’ve written for them (a thank you goes out to the anon who messed me a little while ago asking about them). Enjoy! :)

I’D LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! - YOUR COMMENTS & REBLOGS HELP ME WRITE!

Part of my 3.5k Celebration — find more stories here!

Just Some Puppy Love

Tommy Shelby x Reader (family from the Girl Dad series)

Warnings: none - just Tommy being overprotective of his daughter

Word Count: 922

Summary: Tommy’s unhappy about the fact that his eight year old daughter, Thea, has caught the interest of a boy in her class. (Y/N) tries to tell him that he’s overreacting.

“How was school today, darling?” (Y/N) asked her daughter as the she entered the home.

“It was great, mum!” Thea answered, a beaming smile on her face. “I even got to see Evie’s class during lunch!” she added, turning to look at her younger sister, who was nodding profusely.

“That sounds lovely,” (Y/N) smiled, thanking the family’s driver, who tipped his cap at her before returning to the vehicle. “Did anything else exciting happen?” she asked no girl in particular as the three went into the front room.

“Billy was being very nice to me! We played together at recess, and he even shared his purple crayon because mine was too little to use,” Thea was the first to speak up.

“Uncle Arthur’s Billy?” (Y/N) asked out of curiosity. She didn’t think that the cousins were in the same class, but she could have seen him during some other point in the day.

“No, Billy from my class,” Thea chirped while collecting her papers from her bookbag, “he’s always very nice to me. Sometimes we even hold hands and walk around the playground.”

“Oh,” (Y/N) drew out the word, nodding her head slowly. Thea said this in such a nonchalant way; like her mum was supposed to know about this beforehand.

“I scored the highest on my maths test today, mummy!” Evie jumped into the conversation, a beaming smile now present on her face.

“That’s lovely to hear, Evie,” (Y/N) smiled at the little girl while looking at Thea - who had now started on her homework - through the corner of her eye.

Boy, oh boy did she have something to tell Tommy this evening.

“The girls are all down?” Tommy asked as his wife entered his office later that night.

“Juniper fused a little, but they’re all asleep now,” she answered him with a smile as she made her way over to her usual spot on the chaise lounge. She couldn’t help but purse her lips to hide her smile as she finally made eye contact with him.

“What?” Tommy asked, catching onto her expression rather quickly.

“Nothin’,” she brushed him off, glancing down at her fingernails as she picked them.

“You can’t just send that expression my way and then say that it’s nothing,” he commented.

“Well I’ve just done that,” she countered.

“Tell me, (Y/N),” he demanded, his voice dropping to a low level.

“It’s nothing…” she started looking to him again, watching as his mouth opened to argue with the words she said. She continued before he could, “but you’re going to make a big deal over it.”

“Over what?” he asked with furrowed brows.

“Thea might have a boy in her class that fancies her.”

“No,” Tommy shot the idea down within seconds, “impossible.”

“Quite possible considering she told me all about it when she came home this afternoon,” (Y/N) commented. “It’s not a big deal,” she brushed the matter off then.

“Oh but it is. She’s only eight. The boys in school don’t need to be fancying her,” he insisted.

“She is eight, Tommy. There’s no harm in a little puppy love,” she flipped the narrative. Tommy didn’t seem to be buying it. “Besides, they’re not even…”

“Oi, I’m being serious here,” he cut into her defense, his eyes wide, “I’ll break before I bend on this one, (Y/N). No boys. Not for a long time.”

(Y/N) looked at her husband with pursed lips. The intense expression that he was wearing surely worked on his adversaries, but it did nothing to her. “You’re being dramatic about this,” she stated after a few moments had passed.

“I’m not,” he shook his head.

“You are,” she doubled down with a nod. “There’s no reason for a response like that. It’s not like she’s going to go and marry this boy tomorrow. They’re just holding hands on the playground and sharing crayons in class,” she explained the reality of the situation. One look in his direction told her that he wasn’t quite convinced. With a sigh, she stood from her chair. “I know…” she started, moving around his desk so that she could rest her hands on his shoulders, “she’s your first born…your little girl.”

“She is,” Tommy answered in a huff, pressing the pads of his fingers into his eyes.

(Y/N) paused for a few beats, leaning down to rest her chin on top of his head as she looked at the photograph of their three girls that sat on his desk. “You don’t need to be worrying about this stuff right now,” she said in a soft voice as she clasped her hands together over his chest. She heard him sigh as he rested his head against her arm. A smile graced her lips as she thought of something to add, “you have another ten years, at least.”

“(Y/N). Don’t,” his voice was low, the two words coming out in a warning. She couldn’t stop herself from giggling anyway.

“I’m teasing you, Tommy,” she told him, pressing her lips to his hair.

“I know. But I still don’t appreciate it,” he answered her, his voice soft now as he turned his head and pressed a similar kiss to the skin of her arm.

(Y/N) smiled at the gesture. This wouldn’t be the last conversation about boys fancying their daughters that they would have. But she knew that Tommy would do whatever it took to make sure that his girls were safe and got the best.

*tags in reblogs so that they hopefully get sent out

MASTERLIST

[a-distantdreamer]

Only Us

daniel ricciardo x ofc

word count: 5222

thank you to the lovely @leclerc-stan for always being there and @strawberrysainz and @forteafy for convincing me to post this 🫶🏻 i haven’t posted any of my writing in a while but with some encouragement and support i have built up the courage again. i hope this is okay. 🤍

tw: nausea, vomiting, pregnancy tests

Sienna felt like shit.

Her hands trembled as she dragged her suitcase up the front path, trying to ignore the sweat beading on her hairline. As expected for the Australian summertime, it was as hot as hell, but she had been sweating and nauseous even in the depths of the air conditioned airport and the taxi.

Daniel had, of course, offered to come and collect her from the airport, but she refused, knowing that they were hosting his parents for lunch that afternoon. She wouldn’t deny Daniel the rare, quality time with his Mum and Dad for anything, no matter how much she wished he was there to give her a cuddle when she’d first got out of the airport.

As Sienna fished through her bag for her keys, her stomach knotted again, and she inhaled slowly through her nose, bracing the palm of her hand on the wood of the door. Mentally, she noted that there was a perfectly good hedge next to their front door that could be vomited into, if needed.

Eventually, the churning of her stomach eased a little, and Sienna managed to unlock the front door, pulling herself and her case into the entryway. She set her backpack and suitcase by the foot of the stairs before beginning the search through the house for her family.

Rounding the corner into the open-plan living space, she smiled at the sight of Daniel standing at the kitchen countertop, chopping salad and bopping along to the summery music of one of his many playlists. He was clad in a pair of navy shorts and a bright blue, noisily patterned shirt. His feet were bare. She was home.

Slowly, Sienna walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his narrow waist. She felt him tense for a moment and giggled when he swore under his breath, before he looked down at her hands, which curled over his tummy.

“Well, hey there, cutie,” he murmured.

Sienna sighed contentedly, turning her head to rest her cheek between his shoulder blades as his voice settled over her like smooth caramel, “hi, baby.”

Daniel took hold of her hands to loosen her grip on him enough that he could turn to face her. She rested her hands on his hips, as his came up to cup her face. His stubble had grown a little since she had left, and one unruly curl of hair was hanging over his forehead. She reached up to smooth it back into place, with little effect.

“I fucking missed you,” he admitted, his gorgeous brown eyes scanning her face as he spoke.

Sienna nodded and leant up on her tiptoes to kiss him, “I missed you too.”

He smiled against her mouth until she lowered back to the flat of her feet. The motion alone made her head spin and she let out a groan, leaning forward to rest her head against his chest.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his large hands running up and down her spine.

She shrugged, “I’ve felt awful for the whole journey home.”

“In what way?” Daniel probed, his concern growing.

“Nauseous, dizzy, hot even in the air conditioning. I haven’t managed to eat anything today,” Sienna listed.

“Still?” Daniel queried in confusion, “you were feeling sick before you left for Sydney too.”

“Must’ve just been the start of it. The nausea feels the same,” Sienna admitted, “although I feel like I’m running more of a temperature now.”

Daniel shook his head and lifted his hand to press the back of it to her forehead, “you don’t feel warm, you’re just a little…damp. With the sweat, y’know?”

Sienna snorted out a laugh at his choice of words, “probably because it’s hot as hell here, as usual. Who’s bright idea was it again to move out to a farm in The-Arse-End-of-Perth, Australia, again?”

“Oh I do wonder,” Daniel teased in return.

They knew full well that both he and Sienna had painstakingly searched for a house just like the one they were standing in for years, and were equally enthusiastic when the farm had come on the market. The day they had moved into the house, 4 years into their relationship, had been one of the happiest of Sienna’s life so far. It was their home, and any time that they had spare from Daniel’s hectic racing calendar in the year since they’d bought it was spent there.

Sienna tilted her head back to peer up at his handsome face, her fingertips gripping at the silkiness of his shirt, “are your mum and dad here yet?”

Part of her hoped he’d say no, so that they could cuddle, and she could nap, even though she was desperate to see Grace and Joe again too. She adored Daniel’s family.

Daniel nodded, “they’re outside. But if you’re not feeling well enough to come out now, you can go lay down for a bit. They’ll understand.”

“No way,” Sienna shook her head, even though she was dying to crawl into her own bed and just sleep, “I want to see them.”

The Ricciardos were out on the patio, looking as put together and gorgeous as ever. Grace was holding a glass of red wine, watching Joe heating the grill with a beer in hand. Daniel came out, holding the large bowl of salad he’d prepared in one hand, and leading Sienna out with the other.

“There’s our girl!” Joe cheered at the sight of her, abandoning the grill to rush over as Daniel let go of her to put down the food.

Sienna never had to force a smile around Daniel’s family. They were always so incredibly welcoming to her.

“Hey, Joe,” she greeted, as he engulfed her in a tight hug. Grace had also made her way over in that time, greeting Sienna with a hug and a kiss on the cheek once Joe let go of her.

“How was your journey, darling?” Grace queried softly, cupping her cheek.

Sienna managed a weak smile, “it was a little rough. I don’t feel all that well.”

“Oh, sweetie, go and rest if you need to!” Grace exclaimed, her hands resting on Sienna’s shoulders, “don’t mind us one bit.”

Sienna shook her head, “I’ll be okay. I think I just need some food and fresh air. I haven’t managed to eat yet today either, so that probably explains it.”

Grace still looked uncertain, but let it go, taking her seat back at the table with Sienna beside her as Daniel went to assist Joe with the food again. Grace and Sienna chatted about her work trip to Sydney and other current affairs, occasionally looking up to laugh at the banter between Daniel and his dad over the barbecue, or the ridiculous way Daniel was shaking his hips to the music. They talked about her and Daniel’s plans for the rest of the summer break, including their upcoming trip to Southern Italy.

Throughout, Grace knew that Sienna still wasn’t herself. She was awfully pale, and Grace noticed how Sienna’s hands were trembling a little whenever she went to take a tentative sip of water. She also noticed how Daniel would glance back over at Sienna regularly to check on her, the small crease between his eyebrows showing concern.

In the distance beyond the patio, Sienna spotted their flock of sheep migrating over the red-dirt hills towards their pen. She made a mental note to go down and visit them first thing in the morning, along with her horses. She had missed them so much in the four days that she was away. Having enough space to own animals had always been a dream of hers, and she felt blessed that she and Daniel were in a position to do so.

Suddenly, a slight breeze blew across the patio, carrying the scent of the cooking meat on the barbecue across the table. Sienna’s nose scrunched as the rich scent of steak and seasoned chicken engulfed her, and her stomach lurched. She slapped her hand ove no r her mouth and pushed out from the table as bile rose in her throat.

Daniel could only watch in confusion as Sienna raced back inside the house. He quickly handed the spatula back over to his dad and took off his apron, not wanting to risk anything that was making Sienna feel more sick getting close to her.

“Poor thing,” he heard his mum saying sympathetically as he followed Sienna inside, “she really isn’t well at all.”

The door to the downstairs bathroom was flung wide open, and Sienna hadn’t even bothered to turn the lights on before falling to her knees in front of the toilet. There was no relief that came with actually vomiting though, and now she had started she feared she wouldn’t be able to stop. Already, there was little more than stomach acid coming up, burning at her nose and throat and only making the nausea worse.

“Oh, Peach,” Daniel sighed, crouching down beside Sienna’s exhausted-looking form. He carded his fingers through her sweat-dampened hair, ensuring it was all pulled away from her face before he kissed the crown of her head.

“I’m here, baby,” he soothed as she continued to vomit.

One of her hands shakily reached for him to steady herself, her clammy palm gripping onto his thigh where his shorts had ridden up a little to expose the tanned and tattooed skin.

Sienna let out a tired little sigh once her stomach finally stopped heaving, and she turned her head to rest her rosy cheek on Daniel’s thigh. She felt completely drained, and didn’t even try to open her eyes.

“All done?” Daniel asked softly, not wanting to speak too loudly and make her feel worse.

Weakly, she nodded, and Daniel shifted her until they were both sitting on the floor. Sienna was cradled in his lap as he smoothed his hand over her hair.

After a few moments, Daniel spoke quietly, “I’m going to put you in bed for a little while. If you’re feeling better later, you can come sit out with me and mum and dad again, yeah?”

Sienna didn’t even have the energy to object or explain how embarrassed she felt about getting sick in front of Daniel’s parents, so instead she just nodded. Daniel gently slid Sienna off his lap and onto the floor, before getting to his feet and bending down to lift her. He hooked an arm beneath her knees and the other behind her back, encouraging Sienna to curl into his chest.

“I’ve gotcha sweetheart,” he murmured when she let out a quiet groan of discomfort. Even the slight movement of him starting to walk up the stairs was making her feel sick again.

By the time Daniel had reached their bedroom, Sienna was fast asleep against his chest. He pulled back the covers with one hand and lay her down on the mattress gently. He made sure the air conditioning was set just as she liked it, that she had her childhood Snuggle Cat close by and a cold glass of water on the bedside table. He took a moment to perch on the mattress next to her, noting the tension in her forehead and the little crease of her skin between her brows, even in her sleep. Something was definitely off.

Of course they’d seen each other sick in the last 6 years, even suffering through a rough bout of Covid-19 during the pandemic. Daniel couldn’t remember ever seeing Sienna so unwell before. Usually she would still manage to soldier through any symptoms, and simply curl up on the sofa under a blanket to watch trashy TV, but this time, she seemed completely drained.

Daniel gently kissed between Sienna’s brows, before smoothing over the spot with his thumb, encouraging her to relax, shushing her softly. She let out a little groan, arching into his touch before she snuggled further into the pillows.

Joe and Grace had finished off cooking the meat and veggies on the barbecue by the time Daniel wandered back out onto the patio. They’d even set the outside table and brought out the side dishes from the kitchen.

“How’s our girl?” Joe asked, as Daniel raked a hand through his hair, sinking into a chair opposite his mum and dad.

“Uh, she’s sleeping,” he said, reaching for the bowl of salad, “she’s totally wiped.”

“I could tell something wasn’t right as soon as she got back,” Grace admitted, spooning a few baby potatoes onto her plate, “we can save her some of the plainer food in case she’s hungry later, Bub.”

Daniel nodded in agreement, “thanks mum. She’s not been feeling well for a while, even before she left for Sydney. It might just be a bit of a nasty virus or something.”

Grace set down the dish she was holding and stared at her son, “she left on Tuesday?”

Daniel, still not looking up from where he was loading food onto his plate, nodded again, “yeah, she was away for 4 days.”

“Might even be worth seeing the doctor if she’s still not feeling great after 4 days,” Joe suggested, pushing his chair out from the table, “I’m gonna grab a beer. Want one, Dan?”

Daniel shook his head, “nah, thanks. I’d better not in case Sienna needs me later.”

Joe nodded, grabbing his son’s shoulder on his way past him back into the house. Once Joe was fully out of earshot, Grace leant across the table towards Daniel.

“Danny…I think you need to go and buy a pregnancy test,” She said.

Daniel’s brow furrowed, “what? For Sienna?”

“No. For you,” Grace joked, before she shook her head, “obviously for Sienna.”

He felt his stomach clench a little at the suggestion, “you think…?”

“It all adds up, Bubs. I was so sick when I was pregnant with you that I was convinced I had stomach flu for two weeks. I was just like Sienna is now - couldn’t stand the smell of any food, I was vomiting, I had nausea and headaches,” Grace explained, ticking off the symptoms on her fingers.

Daniel let out a little laugh of disbelief, “holy shit.”

Grace shook her head quickly, seeing Daniel’s excitement at the prospect growing, “it might not be, but she’s got the symptoms. Might just be worth checking.”

“She should have had her period by now,” Daniel noted.

He couldn’t remember the last time Sienna had put sanitary products into their basket while shopping, curled up with a hot water bottle pressed to her belly or taken one of her ‘magical’ Epsom salt baths for her cramping.

It had been a while.

Grace nodded slowly, giving her son time to process his thoughts, “why don’t you run to the store now while she’s asleep? Your dad and I can stay here with her. I won’t say anything to Dad.”

Daniel’s eyes flitted to his mum, who gave him a reassuring smile. He nervously raked a hand through his hair, at which his mum leant forward, offering her hand to him across the table.

He took it and she gave it a squeeze.

“It’s gonna be okay, Dan. You don’t need to be scared,” she whispered.

Daniel stood, staring blankly at the shelves in the tiny convenience store. He didn’t think it was possible to have so many different variations of the same product. Surely they all just did the same thing, right?

He snapped a photo of the shelves and sent it to his mum, followed by one word. ‘Help.’

While he waited for her response, he started at one end of the small aisle, eyes scanning across the various boxes to see if any of the tests stood out to him. There were early result ones, ‘dip’ ones - whatever the fuck that meant - and a plethora of digital ones. They boasted the highest accuracy percentage, and Daniel trusted statistics, so he began picking a digital test from each brand off the shelf and dropping them into the basket at his feet.

His phone pinged, and Grace had replied; ‘digital is better. ClearBlue is what Mich used.’

Daniel nodded and slipped his phone back into his pocket, continuing his journey down the aisle. His mind kept drifting back to Sienna, who was laying in bed back at their house, unbelievably sick and potentially pregnant with their child. The thought of her carrying their baby was almost too exciting for Daniel to bear. He knew he had to get home to her quickly.

A dip in the mattress made Sienna stir from her deep sleep. She yawned and stretched, accidently shoving Snuggle Cat onto the floor before she opened her eyes.

Daniel was perched beside her, his large hand settled on the curve of her hip beneath the comforter, “hey, Peach. How are you feeling?”

Sienna smiled sleepily at the nickname, which made Daniel relax a little. She finally seemed a bit more like herself.

“Um, not as sick, I think?” Sienna answered tentatively, scrunching her nose as she gauged whether she was at an immediate risk of throwing up on Daniel. After a second, she decided that they’d be safe for the moment.

Daniel nodded, “good. That’s…good.”

Sienna then noticed the plastic grocery store bag in his lap, “what have you got, Dan?”

He looked down at his lap, and then back at her, “I went to the store while you were asleep. Mum suggested it.”

“Oh?” Sienna asked, rubbing at her eyes with a closed fist, not caring if she was smudging her already ruined mascara even more.

Daniel reached into the bag and pulled out one of the boxes, setting it on top of the quilt between them. It took Sienna a moment to register what she was looking at, but as soon as she did, she felt her mouth go dry.

“What-?”

“Mum said it might be worth taking a test,” Daniel said softly, hoping he hadn’t overstepped the mark, “that she was so sick when she was first pregnant with me, just like you have been, and I just thought-”

Sienna just blinked at him, her hand coming up to rest on her pale cheek, “I-I could be. I just don’t know.”

“You don’t have to,” Daniel insisted, reaching forward to take hold of her hand, “I know I’ve just sprung this on you which is pretty shitty of me considering how unwell you’re feeling. I’m sorry.”

Sienna shook her head, looking up at him from beneath her lashes, “do you want me to take one?”

Daniel didn’t really know how to answer. Of course he wanted to know if they were going to be parents, but for her, he’d wait to make sure she was comfortable. After all, she hadn’t had much time to process the idea.

“Only if you want to,” Daniel said softly.

Sienna took a shuddering breath, “I’m scared.”

“It’s okay,” Daniel replied, “I’ll be here the whole time.

True to his word, Daniel accompanied Sienna to the bathroom, leaning back against the countertop as she peed on as many of the tests as she could manage. After each one, she’d pass them over to Daniel, who dutifully lay them out in a neat line across the counter.

“Jesus, Si, keep ‘em coming,” he teased, quite impressed by the amount of pee she was managing to produce.

“Shut up, Dan,” she grumbled, her cheeks flushing a bit at his words as she clicked the cap onto the 6th and final test and stretched her hand out towards him. He smiled at her and took it, turning his back only to allow her the privacy to clean up and flush.

“How long do we wait?” he asked, as Sienna perused one of the many test boxes stacked up on the countertop after washing her hands.

“They take around 2 minutes apparently,” She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself.

Daniel was staring down at the line of tests intently, as if his gaze alone was enough to give them a result. She knew he was trying to stay composed for her, but she could spot his excitement a mile off. In that moment, she knew exactly what she wanted, and the real fear came from not being able to give Daniel that either.

“Danny,” she croaked, her eyes brimming with tears.

He turned to look at her and crossed the short distance to where she stood. As soon as he got to her, she crumbled, her arms wrapping around his neck and her face nuzzling into his shoulder to dampen his shirt.

“Hey,” he whispered, his hands running up and down her back, “it’s going to be okay, baby. Talk to me.”

She shook her head against him, and he gently squeezed her hips enough to hoist her up so she was sat on the counter. His hands cradled her face gently, those big brown eyes peering into hers.

“I love you,” he said quietly.

Sienna's eyes brimmed with tears again, “I love you.”

“What’s going on?” He probed, his thumbs stroking the fresh tears from her cheeks. The way she was trembling and crying was breaking his heart.

“I’m scared that you’ll be disappointed,” Sienna admitted, the words alone causing more tears to fall from her eyes.

“Disappointed?” Daniel’s eyebrows furrowed, “how could I be disappointed, sweetheart? If those tests are positive, I’ll be absolutely elated, and if they’re not, sure it’ll sting, but I know that one day when we do get a positive, it’ll be the best day of my life.”

Sienna felt her heart burst with love for the man standing in front of her, and she leant forward to allow their foreheads to meet. Daniel pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose.

“Do you want them to be positive?” he asked against her skin.

Sienna closed her eyes, and without a second thought, nodded emphatically, chewing at her bottom lip, “more than anything.”

Daniel let out a sigh, finally understanding why she was so anxious, “listen, if they aren’t positive, and you do have some shitty virus, then as soon as you’re feeling better, we’ll get on board the baby-making train.”

Sienna peered up at him, “really?”

“Really,” Daniel said decisively.

Suddenly she let out a giggle and rolled her eyes, “I can’t believe you just called it ‘the baby making train’.”

“Is that not what everyone calls it?” Daniel teased, laughing at his own joke as always. Sienna adored him for it.

“I don’t think so, honey,” she sniffled, bringing her arms to loop behind his neck so that she could run her fingertips through the soft curls on the back of his head.

“I think this might be the longest two minutes of my life,” Daniel admitted, turning his head to look at the row of tests again.

Just as he did, the first test began to beep quietly, the small light on the front flashing as if anyone who had taken one of those tests wouldn’t already be watching it like a hawk.

Sienna looked at him, letting a slow breath fall from between her lips. Daniel turned back to her and kissed her softly, silently reassuring as his hands gently took hold of her waist to ease her off the counter.

“I don’t know if I can look,” Sienna admitted quietly, her hands starting to tremble as the second timer beeped too.

Daniel’s hands ran up and down her ribs, “tell me what you want me to do.”

Sienna peered up at him, her vision blurring through her tears again as she saw the excited little smile playing on Daniel’s lips. She knew how much this moment meant to him, so she let him have it.

“Go look,” she urged.

Daniel kissed the top of her head before padding the short distance to the other side of the sink, where the tests were all lined up and waiting. For a moment, Daniel was frozen, his hands pressed to the counter on either side of the tests and his head bowed as he surveyed each of them carefully. It was the quietest Sienna had ever heard him be and the stillest she’d ever seen him.

After a few seconds of just listening to his steady breathing, Sienna mustered the courage to stand alongside him, staring at the side of his handsome face to try and gauge his reaction.

“Dan…what do they say?” Her voice was shaking, and she gripped onto the fabric of his shirt like a lifeline, too petrified to look down at the tests.

Daniel exhaled, turning round to face her, and it was then that she saw the tears on his cheeks. Only once he had her in his arms, did he nod, and let a beaming smile spread across his face. His hands came up to cradle her face, and he looked at her, grinning like a fool.

“Daniel…” Sienna warned shakily, as he continued to stay silent, “what-?”

“You’re pregnant.”

Immediately, Sienna buried her face into his chest and began to sob, as his hands wrapped around her tightly, one curling against the back of her head to hold her against him as she cried. He gently pulled back, pressing kisses all over her face even as she giggled and cried, completely overwhelmed.

“Oh my god,” she whimpered, leaning round Daniel enough to pick up the first test off the counter.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, but she just needed to see it for herself. Sure enough, the little display screen showed a plus sign, followed by the word ‘pregnant’.

The next 5 tests each said the same.

Sienna clutched them all in her hands, Daniel laughing joyously at the sight of her holding them all with a look of pure amazement on her face.

“Holy shit,” she breathed, “Danny…”

“I know,” he laughed again, raking his fingers through his curls, “I can’t believe this.”

“Me neither,” Sienna admitted, setting the tests down on the counter gently, “we’re going to have a baby.”

Daniel laughed, more tears falling down his cheeks as he reached for her. She stepped into his grasp again, her arms resting easily around his waist as her chin dropped to settle on his sternum, allowing her to stare up at him.

“I love you,” she said softly, as his shoulders heaved with another sob.

“I love you too,” he whispered, leaning down enough to press a gentle kiss to her lips.

The pair stood like that for what felt like an eternity, sharing kisses and tears in each other’s arms. Suddenly, Daniel pushed away from her gently, enough to drop his gaze down between their bodies.

“What are you doing?” Sienna laughed, as his hand came down to rest on her flat tummy.

He continued to stare at her body intently, brows furrowed, “just trying to imagine what it’ll be like when you can’t see your toes anymore.”

Sienna snorted and shook her head, “well for me, it’ll be ridiculously uncomfortable. For you, it’ll be like standing beside a beached whale.

Daniel shook his head adamantly, lifting his head again to look at her, “no way. You’re going to be the cutest pregnant woman of all time.”

“Oh really?” Sienna asked, as his hand stroked across her belly. He nodded and kissed her forehead in confirmation, completely overwhelmed at the thought of watching Sienna’s body change and grow over the coming months.

He couldn’t wait to experience it all with her: the scans, deciding on decoration for the nursery, helping her tie her laces when she couldn’t bend down anymore, feeling their baby kicking for the first time. It was all so exciting.

“Really,” Daniel affirmed, leaning his forehead against hers, “I think this is the happiest moment of my life.”

Sienna’s eyes watered at his words, “oh Dan…”

“I’ve always wanted this with you Si,” Daniel continued softly, “we’re going to have the cutest babies.”

Sienna sniffled and laughed, nodding, “we are.”

Daniel grinned, each of his pearly teeth on show as a hand drifted to stroke across her flat tummy, “do you think it’s a boy or a girl?”

“I have no idea,” Sienna laughed, shaking her head, “what do you think? Do you mind?”

“I don’t mind,” Daniel shrugged, “I mean my parents had one of each, your parents had one of each, you can’t get more statistically even than that right?”

“I guess so,” Sienna smiled, leaning forward to nudge the tip of her nose against his.

Daniel lifted his gaze to look at her, and she pressed her lips against his. They kissed for a moment, soft and sweet and gentle, before parting. Sienna whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Daniel murmured, pecking her lips twice more before his eyes lit up, “how do you feel about telling my parents they’re going to be grandparents again?”

Sienna giggled and nodded, as Daniel grabbed one of the many positive tests from the countertop, “let’s do it.”

Daniel grasped her hand, and gave her a little tug to follow him out of the bathroom. Sienna followed, one hand interlaced with his while the other grasped at his tattooed forearm. Just as he turned the corner and reached for their closed bedroom door, Sienna squeezed him, squeaking out an urgent, “wait.”

He stopped in his tracks as suddenly as she had, turning to eye her up questioningly, his eyebrow quirking worriedly, “you’re not gonna puke again are ya?”

Sienna bit her lip and shook her head, tears welling in her eyes again, “Danny, I…”

He let go of the handle and turned to face her, giving her hand a comforting squeeze, “yeah?”

“This is our last moment of only us knowing about the baby,” she whispered, tears threatening to fall more with every passing second.

The more she imagined the tiny little life growing inside her, the more her stomach churned with nerves and excitement.

Daniel nodded and took another step closer, “do you want to wait to tell them? We can wait if you’re not ready, although I’ll have to come up with something to tell Ma.”

“No,” Sienna insisted, shaking her head before giving him a shy smile, “I just want a minute longer to really remember this feeling, before it’s not only us anymore.

With that, she looked him up and down, taking in his luscious dark curls, his warm honey-toned gaze and gorgeous nose. She admired the way his boisterous party shirt hung off his frame and the glimpse of his thigh tattoo peeking from beneath the hem of his almost-too-short shorts.

When her eyes met his again, he was beaming from ear to ear, each of his pearly white teeth showing in the way that made her heart flutter unconditionally. She knew she’d remember him in that moment, and the way he looked at her knowing she was carrying their first child, for the rest of her life.

“I fucking love you,” she hiccuped, trying to compose herself, even as tears fell down her flushed cheeks.

Daniel snorted a laugh and pulled her close, pressing his lips against hers firmly, “I fucking love you too, darling.”

Sienna pecked his lips twice more, before pulling back to look at him, her gaze still soft and watery, “I think I’m ready.”

Daniel smirked and nodded, “then let’s do this.”

[wttcsms]

time, mystical time (cuttin' me open, then healin' me fine) ; simon "ghost" riley.

pairing simon "ghost" riley x f!reader  word count 3.3k  synopsis snapshots of the defining moments in ghost's life. content contains slight angst, mild descriptions of alcohol abuse (ghost's father) + domestic abuse (non-explicit desc., but the act itself is mentioned various times), a bit of tiny look into my take on ghost's background, nsfw content, slight size kink, breeding kink, creampie, domestic fluff, pregnant!reader in some scenes, children (dad!ghost) author's notes takes place in this au & honestly is a lot more enjoyable of a read if you read that fic (+ the other connected one shots [go on my masterlist]). fun fact: simon is referred to as simon in the scenes with only you and his family. he's ghost anywhere else.

His mother had always told him that as a baby, he was always rather quiet. Scared her half to death, she would say, ‘cause he’d rarely ever cry. Even the doctor got worried when he first came out. 

Looking back at his childhood — perhaps the lack thereof — Simon assumes it’s probably instinctual. With a deadbeat drunk of a father armed with a heavy hand, being quiet probably saved Simon’s life more times than he wants to admit. He’d be knocked upside the head for the littlest of reasons, shouted at for even less. 

I’m the man of the house. 

His father’s slurred justifications for doling out unfair punishments ring through the dark halls of his childhood home. Simon hears it while he cowers inside his closet. His room is dark because his father doesn’t believe in nightlights, and mum got slapped hard for daring to go against his wishes and trying to sneak Simon one. She thinks he didn’t see it, but Simon sees a lot more than he should. Since then, he’s been sleeping in the dark. It’s not so scary anymore. 

There are scarier things that lurk in the light, anyway. 

It’s stuffy in the closet, and he knows it’s stupid to hide here because dad will find him any second now. The punishment is bad when he gets to drinking, and it gets worse whenever Simon tries to hide. 

A loud thump against his door makes Simon hold his breath. Then, the door bangs open from the weight.

Kicking doors open comes second nature to Lieutenant Riley. 

The loud crash of the door popping from the rusty hinges shocks the poor girls previously trapped behind them. All of them stay huddled together, staring fearfully at the loud, big men toting even louder, bigger guns. The hollowed cheeks, hopeless eyes, and array of bruises on their skin makes him sick. It’s a hot summer’s day, and Simon hates that after all this time, his observation from his childhood still stands true:

There are scarier things that lurk in the light, anyway. 

A bit hypocritical, he supposes. After all, he walks around in broad daylight, and he’s certainly no saint.

With the help of the rest of his extraction team, Ghost makes quick work of herding all the girls out of this depressing underground prison and out into a free world. He’s careful to be gentle with his touches, nothing more than a gentle guiding hand. Even with his gloves, he can’t be certain he’s not tainting them. Sins don’t wash away as easily as blood does. 

He’s the last one to leave, but he doesn’t exit alone. 

For a while, he felt a tight grip on his arm. Someone’s been clinging onto him this whole time, and with everything that’s happened, he can’t find it in his heart to shake them off. With no other distractions present, he finally turns to see who’s gotten so attached to him.

This is it. 

This is the moment where Simon Riley claims his life begins.

It’s such a juvenile feeling, he thinks. Waiting for his phone to ring, wondering why you haven’t texted or called. It’s so silly. So what he saved your life? It’s not like you owe him anything. It’s his job. He had a duty. Nothing more, nothing less.

Besides, he’s an asshole. Not the type of asshole who thinks he’s entitled to your company since he rescued you, but the type where Soap and the rest of the team aren’t too surprised he doesn’t have anyone to come home to. 

He can’t sleep. 

It’s been weeks since he gave you that burner phone. Surely you would have called, even sent a simple “hello”, if you really wanted to. He knows there’s not much to do in that facility. He knows that you haven’t been sleeping well. He knows that he should go to sleep; he’s got an early flight to catch in an active warzone, and there’s no way in hell he’s gonna get any semblance of rest as a result. 

Instead of sleeping, he’s grabbing his own burner phone off the nightstand and staring at the screen. It’s a simple enough task, really. He can just head straight to his contacts list and click the only one that’s there. Isn’t it traditional for the guy to call first, anyway? Or is he just fooling himself into thinking that you’re waiting for him to make the first move? Do you want him to make the first move? 

He’s never experienced this before. This newfound, boyish anxiety. The equal mixture of both hopelessness and hope churning in his stomach every time he sees you; do you think of him as much as he thinks of you? The question is then followed by a decisive no. He hasn’t survived this long because of blind optimism, so there’s no point in indulging in it now. 

Will you come back then? 

You looked up at him while asking this question, and you looked like an angel unfairly punished to walk alongside man. He wanted to spend the rest of his life constructing a stairway to heaven that you could use to make it back to your rightful home. When you look that beautiful and then proceed to ask him a question, what else was he supposed to say besides,

Whenever you want me to. 

Perhaps God truly is as merciful as he is all-seeing, because after a minute of contemplation and staring longingly at your contact, his phone screen lights up with the notification he’s prayed for (the only thing he’s ever prayed for, really). 

You’re calling him. 

And true to his word, he’s on his way. 

He’s never said I love you before, and as a result, he’s too scared to make his first attempt to do so, even though you just told him those three words yourself.

(He might tower over you, but looks can be deceiving. Simon thinks you’re much stronger and braver than him, in all the ways that matter.)

I love you.

He resists the urge to beg you to say it again and again and again, on repeat for the rest of your lives. 

He doesn’t say it back immediately, but he does let you take off his mask for the first time.

He doesn’t realize that the wide-eyed, awestruck, soft gleam in your eyes as you take him in, fully, for the first time is the same starry-eyed look he gets whenever he looks at you. He has a feeling you’re well aware of it, but now he finds the courage to confirm it.

“I love you.” 

And with a smile that could bring him back to life, all you have to say is, “I know.”

His mask is in your hands, after all.

“You never quite outgrow it, do ya?” Tommy’s got his hands in his pockets, but Simon can still picture the wedding band on his younger brother’s finger. He had been happy when Tommy tied the knot with Beth, if not a bit jealous. 

Now, though, Simon’s got his own wedding band. It’s tucked underneath his uniform, hanging from the same chain his dog tags are. It rests against his chest, in a spot closest to his heart, right where it — you — belong.

Dad’s dead. Tommy says mum cried, but he couldn’t understand why. After all, she’s the one who faced his wrath for the longest. She’s been on the receiving end of all his harshness. She’s the one who’s taken the most hits, the hardest hits. Simon nods in agreement but doesn’t tell his brother that he thinks he might know why.

Simon knows his mother is a good woman. A long time ago, his father wasn’t the man he knew growing up. He doesn’t know when the change in his personality happened, and Simon somehow feels like it’s his fault. He was the catalyst, the trigger. While she was pregnant with him, that’s when the violence and the drinking and the anger started. He knows mum isn’t crying to mourn the man he became; she’s just finally safe to grieve about the man she loved and lost. Simon hasn’t been able to face her in a while since he’s come to the conclusion that his being born was the cause of everything horrible that has happened to her. 

“No, I suppose not,” Simone says. The house feels smaller than he remembers, but when he walks into his childhood bedroom, he’s transported to darker times. The room is as big as the whole world again. This room, this damn house, is his only world. He’s nine and cowering in fear again. He’s little again. He’s scared again. He wants to run away, but his scrawny little legs won’t let him. Dad won’t let him. 

Then he blinks and realizes that the room hasn’t changed all that much.

Within the next week, Simon gets the house demolished and the land sold. 

“Ta-da!” You present to him a knitted, baby-blue blanket. The beginning stitchwork is sloppy at best with considerable improvement the further he looks. Between every thread, Simon can practically feel the love that’s stitched in it. 

“You like it?” You ask him, looking at him expectantly. 

“It’s perfect.” 

“Liar!” Your laugh rings through the cabin, and Simon feels like he’s being bathed in sunlight from the warmth of the sound alone. It’s distinctly yours, and he doesn’t want to be the barbarian who just takes and takes, but he wants it all to himself. He wants to catch it from the air and stuff it in his pockets and save it for when he’s in a foreign country and can’t sleep at night. 

“Why would I lie? It’s perfect.” You’re perfect.

“I messed up, like, five times trying to get this damn thing started! And it was so hard to get into a good groove since Simon Jr. thinks he’s a little football player. He’s been kicking like crazy!” To prove your point, you get closer to Simon and take one of his large hands, placing it on your growing belly. He’s sitting, surrounded by tools and pieces of a crib that he’s trying to build, and all he can do is look up in admiration at you, the most beautiful woman to walk this earth, an angel too good for this world, the mother of his child, his wife, you. Your hand is on top of his, and you squeeze it gently, and he loves the way the diamond on your wedding ring glitters in the sunlight. 

“He’s a strong one, alright.” Simon chuckles, feeling the way his son bumps against your belly. 

“Must get it from you, then.” 

That’s funny. Simon was just about to say that he’s pretty sure he gets it from you. 

When he’s with you, Simon likes to take things slow. He can be rough at times, demanding and conquering you with nothing but brute strength and vulgar compliments. Like a true soldier, you take all of his transgressions in stride. 

Tonight is one of the nights where Simon will indulge and finally take things slow. He likes to savor every moment he gets with you because no matter how much time has passed, the pessimist in him doesn’t stop reminding him that time is fickle, and the future is never promised. 

But Simon wants to build a future with you. Simon has built a future, but he’s greedy. So, so greedy. He wants more, he wants all of you, he wants everything you’re willing to give him. The way you part your legs for him, how you willingly — lovingly — let him in, even though nature resists.

No matter how many times he’s split you open on his cock, even with the slickness of the previous two orgasms he so happily wrung out from you, there’s still resistance as the width and length of his cock struggle to slide into your cunt. 

“It’s okay, love, let me in.” His whispers of reassurance are barely heard over your little whimpers. You’re nodding, trying to be a good girl for him, but the fact of the matter is that Simon Riley is incredibly too big. He is a god among men, and you find yourself squeezing his hand tightly as the first few inches of his cock make its way into your warmth. 

“I know, darling.” He mumbles, but his gentle words are spoken roughly. Desire coats every syllable, and his voice is gravelly. He’s holding back, restraining himself from giving in and giving it to you roughly. His hand, so much larger than your own, squeezes back. He’s slowly pushing more of his length inside your needy cunt, and you moan at the feeling of being complete. 

You don’t realize the tears that are welling up in the corner of your eyes as he completely enters you, the tip of his cock perfectly pressed against your cervix. Simon’s always been good at mixing pain and pleasure, and tonight is a testament to that. 

“More, please.” It comes out like a weak, little whine, and Simon is putty in your hands. Completely malleable to your every whim and desire. His love wants more? He’ll give you everything. 

Your lashes are wet with your tears, and he watches as tiny streams of tears fall down your heated cheeks. Your face feels warm to the touch, Simon realizes, as he leans down to kiss away your tears. Poor thing. You must have exerted yourself too much when you were thrashing around earlier as he refused to remove his mouth from your precious pussy until you came in his mouth. 

You’re no match for the sheer strength and power of Simon, who’s built like a Greek god and probably just as powerful. You surrender to the overwhelming sensation of his cock stroking in and out of your cunt, and you’re damn near shameless in your greed and desire for more. 

“Cum in me. I want you to give me another baby, wanna grow our family with you.” You toss your head back in pleasure, feeling the way his grip on your hand tightens at your words. The two of you move perfectly together; you wrap your legs around his waist as his free hand grips your hip to keep you steady. 

“Yeah? My wife wants me to fuck another baby into her?” Simon grunts, doubling his efforts to ensure that his cock hits deep enough to press against all the spots that have your walls tightening around him. 

The throbbing of his cock and the allure of expanding your family with Simon, with having a part of him always, even after the two of you have left this earth, is enough to send you over the edge. The ecstasy is all-consuming; all you know is Simon. You feel him to the depth of your core, his heat pressed against your own, your shared bedroom heavy with lust and love. 

He loves the way your body goes slack from the intensity of your orgasm. It lets him know that he’s fucked you just the way you deserved to be fucked, filled to the brim with his cock and his cum and all his love. He kisses you hard, savoring the natural sweetness of your lips pressed against his own. He muffles your moans as you feel the endless stream of his cum spilling inside of you, the warmth of it all being almost too much to bear. 

“Mmmf,” You pull back from his kiss, just so you can look him in the eyes as you give him his favorite reminder in the world.

“I love you.” 

He responds with another deep kiss. It says enough. It says I love you, too, and we’re going for a round two. 

He has all the time in the world with you.

He doesn’t feel any pain. That’s odd.

He looks back to the last minute. He heard the distinct sound of a gun firing, and he stumbled a bit as fate had its cruel fun and allowed the bullet to miraculously hit him in the one area his bulletproof gear just so happened to miss. What are the odds? 

He looks down. A dark stain is forming on his uniform, and the spot only continues to grow bigger. He moves a hand down to where the stain is at — it’s wet. A fresh wound. Fuck.

The sentiment is shared with Soap, who for once in his life doesn’t have anything smart to say. Ghost wants to say something cheeky, then. Just to keep him calm. It worked with Tommy. 

What’s the matter? Don’t worry about me. Should’ve seen the other guy. Almost had him in the last round. 

The words, Ghost realizes with growing dread, don’t quite come so easily.

It’s like his brain knows what he wants to do, but nothing is going as planned. Soap is saying something, but he just can’t quite make out the words. Johnny, speak proper fucking English, why don’t ya? 

No. That’s not the issue. Ghost frowns, but he doesn’t think Soap notices because of his damn mask. He can’t speak for shit, and he can’t hear, either. Actually, now that he’s really trying to take in his surroundings, everything’s a bit hazy, too. Like someone’s put some stupid film over everything, and stuff’s all slightly blurry. Just out of focus, just out of reach. 

“—get you home, alright?” The words sound all jumbled up, and Ghost only really catches the last end of whatever Soap’s blabbing on about. He’s a good kid. Great soldier. Stellar human being. He mentioned something about going home, but that’s just silly. The mission isn’t over yet, get it? They can’t go home ‘til the mission’s complete. 

“—don’t close your eyes—”

Home sounds nice. Warm vanilla in the colder seasons, jasmine with equal hints of something fruity and floral in the warmer ones. You fill the house with these scents, even matching your daily perfume to it. Doesn’t matter much to him, though. He hugs you close to his body and breathes in deeply, and he can still smell just you. No perfume will ever compare. 

Oh, and a busy kitchen. You’re covered in flour, his son sits on the counter, his daughter in her high chair. The entire kitchen comes to life, and every time he sees all three of you giggling in unison, his favorite sound of all, this kitchen becomes his whole world. This is what he goes to war to protect.

Baby blue walls and a crib. Crayon drawings of a stick figure family. Watching his daughter’s first steps and his son clinging to your legs. 

Maybe Soap’s right. Forget the mission. He should just head home.

But first, he’s really fucking tired. He’ll shut his eyes just for a minute.

He blinks a few times, eyes struggling to adjust to the light. Light slaps against his face were the cause for his waking up. A damn shame, honestly. He rarely dreams, but when he does, it’s of you, and he was dreaming about something certainly worth remembering for the next time he’s reunited with you. 

He rolls over to confront whoever dared to ruin the one good rest he’s had in a long time, only to come face to face with bright, innocent eyes the same shade as his own. 

“G’morning,” his son says, the words still clumsy on the two-year-old’s tongue. When Simon doesn’t answer immediately, he resumes slapping his father’s face.

“I’m up, buddy.” 

The little toddler claps his chubby little hands together in pure joy. 

“Dada home?”

Like a sight for sore eyes, you appear in the doorway, gently opening the door and pushing it open. You’ve got your daughter in your arms, and you look ready to scold the young boy for disturbing Simon until you realize that he’s already awake. There’s that smile of yours that Simon loves so much, the one he swears could bring him back to life.

“I’m home.”

author's note i intended for these little scenes/glimpses of his life to be the things ghost sees as he's bleeding out on the field. get it? the whole "life flashing before your eyes" thing BAHAHAHA. don't worry, he's alive and very much well, enjoying much needed domesticity with you + your little family. the last scene is him fucking u good and well, and that's the lil dream he was having. muahaha

[its-time-to-write]

Hi! Could You write a Jamie x Kent!reader? Like roy finds out when phoebe recognizes Jamie in a cute way,and he loses his mind on reader and Jamie,but phoebe saves the day? Thanks and best wishes✨

Got it! Here ya go! Thank you for requesting 💙

take your time while you’re mine

Roy is your brother. Molly is your sister. Phoebe is your niece. You’re a Kent, and (in your opinion) you’re the worst one. Roy’s all about football and coaching and being grumpy, Molly is a badass doctor/mom, and Phoebe is, well, Phoebe. She’s way cooler than any of you, and she’s only eight. 

You feel like you’ve been clawing and scratching your way to the top ever since you were younger, trailing after Roy and Molly.

You forged your own path, acquiring university degrees like it was your job. You let work consume you, traversing the world in a journey of self-discovery until Molly called you one day, with the news that Phoebe’s dad was gone for good. She didn’t ask, but you answered anyway. You dropped everything and flew back to London.

You’ve been around ever since, changing diapers, taking Phoebe to school, going to Roy’s football matches. You’d settled into your own skin a little more, and although it wasn’t a path you chose, it was a path you loved.

Your favorite was hanging around after matches, waiting for Roy to drive you home. You got to talk to his teammates and joke around with them about Roy’s gruff demeanor. There was only one you didn’t like. Jamie Tartt.

You’d have to agree with Roy’s assessment of this one, although Molly banned all talk of Jamie in the house. All it would take is for one of you to start and then you and Roy would just go at it, about how he was a little prick and far too self-righteous and how his stupid, awful hair was nothing compared to his stupid, awful face.

You were glad when he was kicked off the team.

You were upset when he came back.

But, he started hanging around.

His hair was less stupid and his face was less prick-ish, especially when he was cracking dumb jokes to make you laugh.

He’d talk to you while you waited for Roy, then slip away as soon as he appeared.

Jamie-talk was less banned around the house now, but you still didn’t engage. Roy didn’t notice but Molly did, because she cornered you on one of her rare days off to ask you about it.

“You like Jamie,” she states, as you were elbow-deep in dishes.

You look at her, alarmed. “What? No, I don’t. He’s a prick.”

Molly raises an eyebrow (a family trait Phoebe has not yet mastered). “Then why don’t you talk about him?”

You shrug as best you can without flinging soap. “Like I said, he’s a prick. And you were the one who said we couldn’t talk about him.”

Molly returns your shrug. “That was because you both were feeding off each other’s nasty energy. Didn’t want it around Phoebe. But Roy obviously doesn’t hate him anymore, and you’re clearly head-over-heels for him.”

The plate you’re scrubbing slips from your grasp, splashing both you and Molly.

“What makes you say that?” you ask, as casually as possible.

Molly laughs. “Not sure if you’ve forgotten, but I am your older sister. I know more about you than you know about yourself.”

“Fine,” you say, dropping a fork back into the water. “He asked me out two days ago and I said yes because I do like him, but I don’t want Roy finding out, so you’d better not tell him!”

Molly grins. “Fuckin’ knew it. My lips are sealed.” 

—

You’re successfully sneaking around Roy for one month, when the shoe drops. You and Jamie had been taking Phoebe out about once a week when you were positive Roy was either out of town or “getting his old-man rest,” as you like to call it. Seriously, that man could sleep an entire weekend away. 

This time, he and Molly have something at Phoebe’s school. She insisted he come because, quote, “I’m not braving those crazy mums by myself, and you’re scary enough to keep them away.”

Roy says yes, obviously, because he’d do anything for Molly. You would too, which is why you, Phoebe, and Jamie are strolling around Richmond, and why she and Jamie are trying to convince you of their need for ice cream sandwiches. 

“Pheebs, we literally just had ice cream cones. Why do you need an ice cream sandwich?”

“Because it’s lunch time.” The duh in her voice is heavily implied. 

“And, babe, you have sandwiches at lunch,” Jamie adds. 

“It’s a totally different food group,” Phoebe agrees. 

You roll your eyes. “Babes, Moll will absolutely kill me if I let you. No way.”

You’re saved from their rebuttal by a voice saying, “What the fuck is Tartt doing here?”

The three of you jump, startled, and you and Jamie unclasp hands. You turn to see a frowning Roy. 

“Roy!” you say, unconvincing smile on your face, “I thought you were at Phoebe’s school. Where’s Molls?”

Roy’s glare never leaves Jamie’s face. “We left early. Now answer the fucking question.”

 You can see Phoebe starting her mental tab of Roy’s swear words. Of all the times not to have her notebook handy. 

She knows neither you nor Jamie are going to be able to come up with a coherent response so she says, “Uncle Jamie picked us up to get ice cream.”

This registers with Roy, possibly a little too well, because he steps closer to Jamie and growls, “Hang on. Why the fuck does she call you ‘Uncle Jamie?’”

Jamie shrugs, grateful for any moment he’s still breathing. “Dunno. For me lovable personality?”

“No,” says Phoebe, “it’s because you’re dating my aunt so that makes you my uncle!”

Roy turns on Jamie. “You’re fucking what?”

Jamie holds up his hands. “In my defense, I wanted to tell ya. She thought you’d be mad.” He points at you.

“Was I wrong?” you ask, arms crossed, “Or is this another thing you’re going to be overprotective about?”

You can see Roy’s self-control working overtime as he tries to figure out a response that is going to a) not make you mad b) irritate Jamie and c) be appropriate for Phoebe’s ears. He finally settles on a strained, “Great,” and you smile.

“I love Uncle Jamie,” Phoebe says, fully aware of everything Roy is thinking. “He buys me ice cream and makes us laugh.”

Roy gives you a look that says, we’re fucking talking about this later and you pretend not to see it. You feel for Jamie. You have a feeling that 4am practices are about to get a lot more hellish. 

At least you won’t be alone for Roy’s interrogation. You know he’s going to lose his fucking mind when he hears Molly knew this whole time. 

You don’t worry about it yet, though. Right now you just listen to Jamie and Phoebe swear to Roy they haven’t had the chance to get their ice creams yet, and maybe he should take them because it’s getting close to lunch time and they’re quite hungry?

[imaginaryf1shots]

My Girls (X)

WC: 2.9K

Driver!OC x Max Verstappen

Summery: Cecilia Hansson daughter of a Swedish billionaire, a race car driver, with a dream of making it big in Formula 1. However she has a few secrets that may hurt her as women are disliked in the sport.

Series Warnings: google translated french, dutch, cursing, child abandonment, absent father, drinking, car accidents, Jos Verstappen, misogyny, Christian horner (tell me if i missed anything)

This is a secondary blog so I won't be able to respond but I'm adding you all to the taglist.

Masterlist

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Admit? Deny?

2022

Hungary GP

With Hungary being in europe Laurent, Cecilia’s brother was able to make it to the race with his oldest two children, who he was in charge of as well as Nathalie, his wife had to stay back home with their third child, so had to take care of the three kids on his own, which he’s done one many occasions.

One difference this time, he did not take into account how much the kids would take in and get hyper, they’ve been given sweets and running circles around him all day, the only time they settled down was for Qualifying the day before and parts of the race. Nathalie had her cousins sit down and watch as her mum secured another P2, and how her daddy got P1. She was the proudest little girl and as always she liked showing her parents off, well to those that knew about the couple anyways.

Laurent doesn’t know how it happened, but Nathalie had managed to slip away from his grasp. The girl was out of his sight in a second, he had no idea where she went, he had both his kids by the hand as he panicked and asked around, asking for the help of Mercedes team members, the whole of the team was searching for the 6 year-old, if they don't find her and it gets back to her parents they’ll have a very angry Mercedes and RedBull drivers on their hands, if not all the grid.

*

Cecilia was unaware of her missing daughter as she waited for a spot in the media pen to open up so she’d go inside. Charles was finishing up his last interview, and came over to her side, they both talked for a couple of minutes, no doubt the fans spotting them in the back of the interviews. Max was more than halfway done with his lap of interviews when Cecilia went in.

Charles was still lurking around when he saw a familiar head of blonde hair slipping around, dodging people left and right, he knew the headband on top of her head, he got her that one, it was red. Charles frowned and moved to intercept her from getting into the pen, but she saw him and gave him a mischievous look and just as he was about to get her she slipped inside the pen.

“Nattie!” Charles called, gaining the attention of the parents, just as Nathalie reached her destination hugging her parent’s legs, looking up with an innocent smile.

Max looked at his girlfriend and gave her a reassuring nod, not wanting to draw attention to her daughter choosing Max over her, she turned back to the interviewer with a smile. Max picked up Nathalie, the girl beyond happy to be with Max, but overly shy when she saw the cameras around her.

“Say hi to the cameras, Nat.” Nathalie smiled and waved to the cameras, Max and the interviewer smiled at her cuteness, Max gave Charles a nod for the monegasque to calm down, the Ferrari driver looked more worried than the parents. “Looks like I have a companion today.”

“Cecilia, it looks like your daughter has made it to the arms of your rival at RedBull.” The interviewer stated and she turned to look at Max and Nattie, Nathalie was looking around in wonder, her first time seeing the action from this point of view and not from the garage and on screen.

“Yeah, well we're off the track so I'd say she's with my friend.” Cecilia replies with a smile, more than a friend.

“How do you feel having her here, seeing your face and on the podium.”

“I feel beyond happy, her seeing me achieving my dream, being the first woman to do what I'm doing, you know it sets her up with the mentality that she had do whatever she wants and that her gender is not a limit that she can achieve whatever she wants if she just set her mind to it.” Cecilia had that smile on her face, her voice was loving and bright not just from her podium but from thinking and talking about the best thing that has ever happened to her.

“And do you think we'll be seeing her on track in the future?”

“Maybe, she's been karting before, and only over the last year that she started wanting to go every weekend, so we'll have to wait and see, Charles has also been taking, he’s making her a Ferrari enthusiast.” Cecilia said with a laugh before the questions then turned back to the race and she moved from interviewer to another doing her circle.

She'd hear Nathalie laughing and giggling as all the drivers passing her would poke her or tickle her and Nathalie is at the age now where once she gets over her shyness and just LOVES the attention.

Max was moving to his last interview with Nattie still refusing to let go of him, he asked her if she wanted to go to her mother and she refused.

“Daddy, are you almost done?” Max's eyes snap from Nathalie to the interview and everyone around him, wanting to see if anyone heard Nattie, and no one showed any reaction, he breathes a sigh of relief.

“Last one, schatje.” He whispers to her and kisses her cheek. “You can go to the garage if you want. Uncle Lewis can take you.”

Max said and looked at the Mercedes driver who just answered his last question. Lewis, having heard him move closer, opens his hand for Nathalie. Nathalie looked conflicted for a few seconds before she moved toward Lewis, she was starting to feel tired from all the playing she's been doing with her cousins, she sugar crash hitting her hard.

“Hey sweetheart.”

“And there goes your daughter to your teammate.” Cecilia turned and saw Lewis walking away with her little girl, shaking her head at the attention her daughter managed to gain by crashing the media pen, it’ll be all over her social media by the time she’s back in the garage.

“She loves her grid uncles.”

Unbeknownst to them, how much her presence is about to change.

The interview was live and as much as nobody on scene didn't pick up Nathalie’s words, people at home sure picked it up. And Twitter was on fire, theories and demands for answers were raised. Neither drivers had their phones yet both in debrief, RedBull and Mercedes’ PR teams were the first to find out that there's something going on, both teams' social media were blowing up.

Toto was talking with his team when a frazzled woman rushed in from the PR team, all eyes snapped to her. She looked nervous as she walked up to Toto and whispered something to him. His eyes snapped to Cecilia making her and Lewis share a look. Cecilia stood from her place and walked closer.

“What happened?” She asked knowing full well that it has to be about her.

“Nathalie… she uh.” The female trailed off looking to Toto to continue, but just the mention of her daughter had Cecilia on edge.

“What's wrong? Did something happen with her-”

“No, no she's fine.” Toto interrupts her shaking his head, knowing how the mind of parents work. “She just accidentally called Max dad on live TV, and apparently social media is in uproar.”

“Oh.” Was all Cecila could say, as her mind ran over what she just learned, it wasn't the worst thing that could happen, but this isn't what the couple or the teams had planned. “What do we do?”

“We'll have to talk to RedBull about it after the briefing.”

By the time Merc team were done both PR teams were gathered at Mercedes meeting room. Lewis was in charge of Nattie with Laurent wanting to stick around and see what the teams would agree on.

Cecilia sat down in an empty chair, she didn't have to wait long before Max and Christian came in. Max sat next to his girlfriend while Christian took the empty seat at the head of the table across from Toto.

And so the talking began, she felt like she was back to when people first found out she's a mother. Words were flying around the room as both teams struggled to agree on the best course of action for both drivers. And they were set aside no one asking them what they wanted to, as if this didn't involve them at all.

Deny. Say the truth. Slipped. Accident. Agree. Children are innocent. And so on and so forth. A repeat of last year. This time Mercedes and RedBull are at each other’s throats.

“I don't understand why we're having this conversation.” Max didn't have to raise his voice for everyone to shut up and listen to him. He was unamused. All this talk made nonsense to him and he's not the type to hide his distaste. His hand was intertwined with Cecilia’s under the table.

“What don't you understand?” Christian asked his driver leaning back in his chair, he knew how to handle Max, but it doesn't mean he loved it. Max is good at what he does but sometimes, sometimes his temper gets the best of him. Christian sent a silent prayer for this meeting to end well.

“What are you all arguing about, I mean Cecilia and I are dating and you all knew that, it was only a matter of time before someone slipped.” Max explained shrugging his shoulders with a slight shake to his head.

“It's not just the fact that you’re both in a relationship, which is a big thing in itself but Nathalie called you her dad.” Toto pointed out.

“When no one knows who her father is.” Christian added and his eyes went to Cecilia.

“I'm not telling you who he is, if that's what you're concerned about.” Cecilia tone left nothing to be added to that subject, this is a sensitive topic for her. “We can say he's not her biological father, but that's all I'll ever say about this topic.”

“Look, its nobody's business anyways, just confirm that we're dating.” Max stated wanting to be done with this.

“Its not that simple.” One of the staff said.

“Then simplify it.” Max leaned forwards speaking with his hands now, Cecilia placed her hand on his thigh under the table to try and calm him down.

“Its not just you two that are involved, there's the teams, sponsors, fans and even the FIA.” The same staff added, they were brave to be honest because Max was getting agitated and they were not handling the situation right.

”Again, we didn’t break any rules, both our teams knew about our relationship and about Nathalie, so why does it sound like you’re all surprised?” Max asked his brain not comprehending why they’re still making a big deal out of this, this just doesn’t make any sense at all.

”Because they thought we’d break-up before it ever went public.” Cecilia stated and everyone went silent, Max’s head snapped to look at his girlfriend, Cecilia looked up from her hand on the table and met every single eye that was looking at her. “Isn’t it right? Both teams? You all secretly hoped we’d break up.”

”For fucks sake.” Max muttered, he rubbed his eyes in frustration realising that what Cecilia was saying is true, the teams continued to stay silent and that just proves it, Merc and RB may be rivals and handn’t talked about it but they had the same hope. it would’ve been easier and made the duo more competitive on the track. Alas little Nathalie ruined their hopes and dreams with her slip up.

”I don’t think we’ll be coming to an agreement right now.” Toto said and Christian agreed, that was all it took for the couple to stand up and leave as did everyone else. Cecilia went back to her room and Max to his. They collected their things, Cecilia met Lewis and her brother giving them a brief talk about what happened at the meeting before they got her nephews and daughter before she was led out discreetly off the track and into her ride back to the hotel.

Max wasn’t as lucky, on his way to the car, the media found him and surrounded the dutch driver. Max kept a poker face as he moved through the crowd with his team and to the car. He had received a text from Cecilia that they made it to the car and were okay, that was the only thing calming him down.

But as the car ride was silent, Max’s mind brewed with all kinds of things, he knew where he stood and he didn't care about anything else at the moment.

When he got to the hotel room he shares with his girlfriend and Nathalie, Nattie was already showered and in her PJs while Cecilia was doing her skin care, they would be leaving the next day, so they could relax for the rest of the night and pack everything up early morning.

“Daddy.” Nattie shouted and ran to Max, as she always does whenever they’re alone, and he knows that it must’ve taken everything out of the little girl not to do the same thing whenever she saw him on track.

”Hey, sweet girl.” Max stopped her up for a hug, that she returned and clung to him, Cecilia finished up in the bathroom and joined them, Max leaned in and they shared a short but sweet kiss.

”Come on cheri, let daddy shower and then we can watch a movie and cuddle.” Cecilia said knowing that her daughter loved nothing more than cuddling between her parents and chilling, she did miss them when they were travelling so she held the moments they shared close to her heart.

”Can I pick the movie?”

”Of course you can.” Max replied and gently threw the girl onto the bed, Nathalie screamed and giggled, making the adult chuckle at her cuteness.

After Max had showered they did exactly what they were set out to do, and had a movie playing of Nathalie’s choosing, she was cuddling up to Max before she fell asleep not half an hour into the movie, having run around all day had exhausted her. Nathalie moved in her sleep and cuddled up to her mother instead, Cecilia was fighting sleep herself, wanting to talk to Max, but her tiredness was catching up to her.

”Just sleep, shatje.” Max whispered seeing how every time she closed her eyes it took longer for her to open them, Cecilia didn't even try to fight him and just let her eyes close. Max sat there watching his girls as they slept peacefully and he was the happiest he could. In that moment he was content, moments where he has his family besides him gives Max a kind of happiness that he can never get with winning a race, he never expected a few years ago that he’d be in a committed relationship with his childhood rival and that they’d have a daughter together albeit she’s not biologically his, she’s everything to him. And so he knew what he had to do, so he took one out of Cecilia’s books and decided to break his instagram feed that was only racing related and post something, hell with his team and their ideas, what will they do? Fire him? Not a chance he’s winning them championships and gaining points every week, they wouldn't lose him for something like this, he turns the do not disturb on his phone and Cecilia’s to ignore the coming calls from the teams through the night.

So he went to sleep like he woke up, with his family feeling happy.

The next day Cecilia wakes up first and gets out of the bed to use the bathroom, once she is done she goes back to the bedroom and looks for her phone finding it on Max’s side of the bed. She frowns seeing all the text messages and notifications she has, one thing that catches her eye is the post notification for Max’s instagram, clicking it she smiles, before she laughs, the noise wakes Max instantly and causes Nathalie to move on the empty side of the bed.

”What?” Max asks his morning voice rough and slow, he takes Cecilia’s hand and she just shakes her head at him in amusement, a smile on her face.

”You Max Verstappen are a one of a kind.” Cecilia says and leans down pressing her lips to Max’s in a loving kiss.

”What did I do?” Max asks his brain not fully on yet, but he’s happy if that’s the reaction he got. Max places his hand on the side of her thigh furthest from him after she leans back now sitting on the bed beside him.

“You just told the world that you have a 6 year old girl and for everyone to essentially go fuck themselves if they’re bothered by it.” Still smiling, Cecilia looks at her boyfriend.

”Well, it’s the truth and now I can have Nathalie on my side of the garage.” Cecilia shakes her head at him.

”I love you so much, Max.”

”I love you too.” Max says smiling and he tugs her slightly. “Get back to bed, it’s not even 6 yet.”

Cecilia felt too awake to sleep but she slips back in bed between Nathalie and Max this time, Max pulls her flush against him wrapping his arms around her. It doesn’t take too long for him to fall back asleep, while Cecilia stays on her phone and scrolls through the text messages she’s gotten over the night before heading to her social media to see what people are saying.

Maxverstappen1

liked by landonoriss, lewishamilton, charles_leclerc and 4,235,648 others

maxverstappen1 my girls ❤️

758,963 comments

username1 AAAAAAAAAAh

username2 this is not a drill I repeat this is not a drill 😤

username3 they’re so cute wtf 😍

username19 cutest couple on the grid

alex_albon the only couple on the grid

georgerussell63 are they?

username19 WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? GEORGE EXPLAIN YOURSELF

username4 and she calls him daddy 😭

username5 honestly a round of applause for Max for posting bc I know I just know both teams would’ve been against it 👏 👏 👏

username6 so true like he’s a daddy and he isn’t about to hid it anymore

ceciliahannson15 my man je t'aime tellement (i love you so much)

maxverstappen1 je t'aime tellement

username7 my question is how long has they been together for 🤔

username8 I’m guessing a while for Nathalie to call him dad and everything

username7 true

username9 So did all the drivers know or?

username8 Charles definitely knew, and if Charles knew Pierre knew

username12 and if Pierre knew than Yuki knew as well

username7 I mean if we’re guessing then LAndo, lewis, daniel, alex and Carlos as well

username11 yeah… I think they all knew

landonorris FINALLY 🥳💃🕺

ceciliahannson15 why are you acting like it was hard for you hide it

landonorris do you know how many photos i couldn’t post because you and Max are disgusting???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ceciliahannson15 1. that’s an alarming amount of exclamation marks 2. why are you taking photos around us anyways 3. we’re never inviting you anywhere with us again 🤨

landonorris how dare you! I was on call the first time you lot went out also max will tell me @/masverstappen1

maxverstappen1 hey, what she says goes

landonorris I see how it is, first you steal my ex-teammate now you’re choosing her side

maxverstappen1 😇🤷🏻‍♂️

username this^^

Charles_leclerc and I’m still the favourite 😁

maxverstappen1 I’m convinced you give her something bc why aren’t her parents number 1

charles_leclerc I’m just special 😇🤗

maxverstappen1 until Seb is around that is

charles_leclerc we don’t talk about that

username34 these comments are everything

username56 so all this time we thought it’d be lestappen but it was Milia 😑💀🙃

NEXT ->

Taglist:

@luciaexcorvus . @vellicora . @tpwkstiles . @belennasif . @eugene-emt-roe . @fanboyluvr . @fangirl125reader . @christianpulisic10 . @belennasif . @itsjustkhaos . @crashingwavesofeuphoria . @mynameisangeloflife . @mirrorball-6 . @skynel09 . @barcelonaloverf1life . @lilipiggytails . @rebelatbay . @christianpulisic10 . @ironmaiden1313 . @dark-night-sky-99 . @amalialeclerc . @bborra . @allsouls-emma . @buckybarns4life . @distancedss . @xoscar03 . @aquangxl .

[slutforfinnickodair]

𝑆𝑊𝐸𝐸𝑇 𝐿𝐼𝑃𝑆 || 𝐹𝐼𝑁𝑁𝐼𝐶𝐾 𝑂𝐷𝐴𝐼𝑅

𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦: 𝐴𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 73𝑟𝑑 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑘, 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 @miiathemii '𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡.

𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠: 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑. 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓. 𝑁𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑌/𝑁, 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑌/𝐿/𝑁. 𝐴𝑁𝐺𝑆𝑇. 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒. (𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒.) 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑂𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑟. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔.

𝑃𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔: 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑂𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑥 𝐹𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟

𝐴𝑢: 𝑂ℎ 𝑚𝑦 𝑔𝑜𝑑. 𝐼 𝐴𝐵𝑆𝑂𝐿𝑈𝑇𝐸𝐿𝑌 𝐿𝑂𝑉𝐸 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑆 𝑂𝑁𝐸. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 @miiathemii 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡. 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑜𝑡'𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒! 𝐻𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡! 𝑚𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑏𝑜𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦! 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠 <3

𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡: 6.1𝑘

_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

The forest was always beautiful.

But like everything, it gets old too. You can see it yourself, if you have been around here for a long time by now you could sense the feeling of it growing older. The fresh smell of mahogany around its aura wasn’t the same anymore.

The whole look at the sky wasn’t the same anymore, but that was just because I grew older as well. When I was young I didn’t see the problems adult’s had. I didn’t see all of the suffering that was growing around our district. Nothing was the same anymore. Not that it mattered to the old ones that were fighting for their last years alive, but it mattered to me. This place was where I grew up, where I let myself be truthfully myself. I didn’t have to act like I belonged somewhere else. And I had to watch it go and vanish into nothing. 

After I bought the bread from the market and brought it home to mum, I didn’t have anything else to look out after this day so I came here. My favorite place of all times. At least it used to be. The air was salty and earthy while the grass around me was dewy. This wasn’t the same place anymore where I grew up. It made me want to escape the whole state, to start a new life. Somewhere else and not here where the only thing that could be sensed was the fear, and only the fear for kids.

The only birthday we didn’t really celebrate was the twelfth. 

I remember exactly the night before I turned twelve. Mum set me to sleep, tucking me in the covers while I asked her about the games and she started to tear up. She was afraid. I was waiting for it while being excited. Every one of my friend group was already thirteen or fourteen and yet I was just simply excited to attend the reaping everyone talked about.

Little, clueless me.

Ambrosia was reaped when she was fifteen. I was still twelve then. I thought that she would win and come back and then we would laugh about the whole thing.

She didn’t come back.

But even that didn’t stop me from wanting to attend the whole thing.

I wanted to help mum. Each year I got my name in the glass globe two times. For me and her as well. It all started when I was thirteen, by the time I reached eighteen my name was in the globe at least twelve times. I just wanted to help her out with anything that I could. 

I lost hope though when I reached eighteen. I wasn’t reaped until then and I could not say that I was jealous of the winners for getting all that income and be broadcasted on television while we sat at home and stared at the screen.

I thought I wouldn’t be reaped, but when I heard my name being said all of the stupid things that I was thinking about left my mind. I remember I stood on the podium next to Owen Stewart, a thirteen year old boy whose parents were the market owner’s that year and while we shook hands I felt a pair of two eyes burn their gaze into the skin of my back. 

I opened my eyes swiftly and slowly looked around myself. This one spot, my comfort place.

The flowers that grew near the river were now shining with all of their might. The warm days gave them enough sunlight to reach their climax of colors. The whole forest looked like it was caged, but only this part of it not where I used to hang around when I was little.

Now if I looked at it the only thing I could sense was danger. Though I still came here whenever I was sad or anxious or anything. My feelings calmed down here in this one spot. If it would be caged like the rest of it I wouldn’t have anywhere to escape to.

Mum used to say that it was dangerous and I didn’t understand why until I lost someone. At that time kids I was friends with used to swim in the river, laughing and fishing. The first thing we learnt how to do even before learning to write or to read. Just remembering that each one of them was dead by now and I was the only one left alone made me look around the place I had known for around twenty years.

The trees were vividly green, the jabberjay's chirping and settling down on the branches of the living wood. I smiled occasionally when I heard them repeat chattering around the district. Old women talking with each other and discussing younger ones, the fish problems — that the river next to the little cottage houses was almost empty, a living creature not in it, or even just how old they grew and what they've been through already.

I wished I could have grown old like that. Without being chosen as a tribute. Now that I did win, there was no question that I wouldn’t continue living the life that I’ve always had before. When I sliced the last tribute’s throat open from district two, I thought that everything would be fine. Everything would continue running the same way as it always did. Maybe I would be chosen as a mentor next to him. We got the income from The Capitol, the house in Victor's village and all of this just because I killed people. Just that by now, I wished I would be rather dead than be alive between these circumstances. 

I thought that I would come home, give a speech in all of the twelve districts to show people respect and then go home. Leave The Capitol and never talk about it again. I should have felt easiness growing inside of me the day I turned nineteen, but I could not. How could I when so many people still felt grief, so many felt alone and betrayed? How can someone live with such feelings that they are the cause of many’s sorrow?

Here.

I was the worst, but at the same time the best example.

But I got what I deserved.

People thought that… that Finnick was this handsome looking fine young boy when he won. At least I thought so. When I was reaped I thought that it was going to be alright, the youngest victor ever will be my mentor. What are the odds of me getting killed?

He didn’t even speak to me after we got on the train. I was thinking maybe he hated me. That I wasn’t pretty enough to be even looking at him. 

Now I understood why he didn’t want me to come out successfully from this whole thing.

I tried to see it from his point of view. 

They were sex trafficking a sixteen year old boy. 

One night which was still spent at The Capitol I was awoken by the sound of glass shattering. The twelve year old boy who was my partner was sleeping like a bear and I was awoken by the slightest sound around the penthouse.

I thought maybe someone broke in, or something like that happened. When I walked out I saw Finnick standing over the counter, the drink that was in his glass now all over the marble tile, spreading while the remains of the glass were in his grip still. I rushed over, seeing that he probably crushed the glass with his own hand. 

My statement became true when I finally brought him to speak. His voice was low, raspy almost as if he didn’t want me to hear him. I sat him down to the nearest lamp and took his palm into my hands, it seemed large next to mine. The fresh blood was still spilling from the wound’s on his skin. Since I wasn’t mean enough to wake up our escort too, I searched up the whole apartment for a first aid kit.

While I was bounding up his palm we stayed quiet, though I did. When I was done he murmured something like a thank you and looked at my face like this was the first time he saw me. His eyes narrowed, making me pull my hands away from him and turn around my heel quickly rushing back to my bedroom.

I acted like nothing happened on that night after it, but with Finnick… it was almost impossible to keep up. One day he acted like he hated you, and then next week he would be jumping around you like a bunny. 

The blade of grass that I was picking at flew out from between my fingers, making me stare at it and where it disappeared. I wasn’t strong enough to live through another year as someone who was the most desirable female in my district. I wanted to live free. Live without the fear of the consequences of my actions. Every pair of eyes was watching every single move I made in The Capitol. I couldn’t act like nothing happened. Those two weeks were the worst I experienced. 

In these situations I let my thoughts wander, making me feel alive and well. I knew that somehow I have to protect mum. She was the only one I could count on. If not her, then I wouldn’t have anyone to put my trust in. No one in the whole existence of the Universe could replace her, not even if it was the most charming, blessed or dependable person.

My eyes slowly flickered to the sunset, the beautiful sun setting down while the sky looked as if an impressionist was playing with the color gradients. I wanted to feel young again, the feeling of being free and not caring about anything around me made me crazy. It was bringing back memories — memories that I thought were long dead in the deepest parts of my mind.

I sucked in a harsh breath before closing my eyelids and just listening to the sound of nature. The wind, how it flew around me and how it pushed the hair into my face. The ordinary bird’s flew around the river, the sound of the river colliding with the forcefield, the sound that it let out, making me flinch. The forcefield was the only thing that kept me back from taking my mother with myself out of Panem.

On a daily basis I tried to do something against it, crave a hole into it, shatter it to thousands of pieces. Anything that could make it disappear. The Capitol was being unrealistically protective with this pull. I was tired of going home everyday, every third day going back to the center and getting to sleep with someone I didn’t even know the name of. Why did I have to do this? Why couldn’t I just simply die? Why couldn’t I listen to him?

But no. I couldn’t be that selfish. I wouldn’t want mum to suffer. She needed to live instead of me too. She needed to live for herself to see a better future. I didn't care about myself at that point when I was almost suffocated by Irina Frank. She was on my mind. I only tried to win for her sake. It’s ironic how though I won, I still have to act like the flirtatious, sharp minded woman. I didn’t see the point of being a prostitute, yet I already was one. I was one. I wasn’t proud of it, but they forced me to. I wasn’t the only one. But still I felt like I was all alone, betrayed and hurt.

And I agreed because I was horrified by the fact that they could kill her in her own house. 

But the pleasure that I should have been feeling turned into disgust. 

A sigh left my lips while I threw a little rock into the river and stood up from the grass, taking my bag full of knives with myself. The road from here to our house wasn’t a long one, but if you kept walking slowly it could have been stretched out to ten minutes. I slowly walked up on the hill and went through the forest, passing by numerous trees. 

The feeling of being in love vanished for me. There was no such feeling. I didn’t know what being in love felt like after those encounters. It didn’t mean anything to me afterwards. They used it as a weapon against me. I knew it shouldn’t feel like that.

After the first time, the boy who was possibly the same age as me left the room while I stayed like that, staring up at the ceiling and waiting for something to happen.

Nothing did.

I was left like that, I was bleeding. My eyes were closed the whole time and I just kept wishing for it to be over. Then the next day the same happened, then next week, then next month and then the next year. I was told to keep quiet otherwise I could have suffered a lot more than I was doing.

I wondered how Finnick could still live like that. Visiting that whole shitty place and flirting with women at least ten years older than him. Once I remember we were invited to this whole celebration of the victor’s like two years ago. Even then he was with a woman who seemed like she was going to throw up from the amount of alcohol that was already down her throat. 

He was easing up around the whole place while I was being tight like a knot on a rope.

I wished I could do it like him. So simply, but in reality I saw something no one else did, except him. Fear. 

Not of death.

Rather fear for his loved ones.

He wasn’t this cocky male that they showed you on television. Even when we were kids he was charming, had all of the girls drool over him, even Ambrosia who was known not to fall for charm and playfulness.

When I reached the village I walked up on the stairs of the front porch in front of our house and opened the front door. I placed my bag down next to where our shoes were and closed the door behind myself. I took off my coat and hung it on the hanger, taking my steps towards the living room.

“Oh here she is.” Mum said while I straightened my back and stood in the door.

Oh speak of the devil.

I clenched my jaw while she got up from her armchair and walked towards me, taking my head in her hands, kissing my forehead.

“Mum.” I whispered while she looked back at me. “What is he doing here?” My voice came out struggling while she shook her head slightly,

“I will go and pour you some tea,” She said. “Darling, do you need another cup?” She asked the boy while I scoffed and sat down on the couch across from him.

“Thank you, Mrs Y/L/N.” Finnick nodded his head at her while she took his cup and I crossed my arms on my chest.

He looked up at me while I licked my lower lip, leaning my back against the leather. 

“Look I. I know we are not in the speaking phase…”

“What do you want, Odair?” I asked while now placing my thigh against the other. He looked at me, stunned at first then chuckling. I stared back at him with my brows knitted together, sucking in harsh breaths.

He started searching for something in his jacket, making me more anxious about his whole visit. What the hell did he want again? Mum as I saw was actually happy about him, like this was the first time he came to this house.

When his father died, my mother often visited their house since she and his mother have been friends since childhood. I didn’t really get along with him, he was always this “I know better than you do!” kid and he didn’t seem to change ever since that even though he was already twentyfour or something like that. 

“Here. Take it.” Finnick shook me out of my thoughts while an envelope was in his right hand. I looked at it for a hot minute before slowly taking it from him. I looked down at it, the front glowing with beautiful petal’s of a living white rose surrounded by golden dust. The handwritten letters made out my name, the district number and the address of Finnick’s house.

I looked up at him while turning the envelope to the backside. He only kept waiting for me to open it, but I hardly could. Why would they send a letter for me to his house? It made no sense. My fingertips gazed at the flap of the paper, the edges nicely painted with gold paint. They secured the letter with a seal, The Capitol’s emblem emerged from the maroon wax.

I ripped the envelope open, reaching for the piece of paper that was in it. It was an invitation. I pulled it out, taking a look at it while both of my hands held it. I read the words quickly enough, but still did not understand what was actually in front of me.

“This must be a joke or something.” I scoffed while Finnick stared at me. I looked up back at him. “I’m not going to attend a stupid event where I have to act like that again. I don’t want to be happy about what I had to do.” I said while my fingertips reached the top of the paper, ripping it into two pieces, then into another two and so on until there was nothing left.

“Tearing up the invitation is not going to make them forget about you. Look, I’ll go too.”

“You are not serious right now.” I chuckled. “You really want me to go with you? That’s why you came here?” I blinked while my face probably held a hilarious expression. “Keep dreaming.” I mouthed while narrowing my eyes, a smile on my lips.

“I won’t be dreaming for much longer Sweetheart.”  He said while mum appeared in the living room with a tray of two cups of English tea and a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

“Here you go. Oh, also. I hope you don’t mind Darling, but I have to leave. The textiles got shipped this morning and I have to keep sewing otherwise they will fire me.”

“It’s alright Mrs Y/L/N. Thank you for your lovely welcoming.” Finnick stood up while she hugged him, reaching up to her tiptoes. When she pulled away looking at him, she placed her hands on his cheeks, mouthing something as he chuckled. 

Once she pulled away her gaze got fixated on me. I looked at her while a huge lump was resting in my throat, threatening me to swallow. Something about her always made me nervous, even if I wasn’t in trouble, but this time it seemed like I was in a big one. 

“Behave yourself.” She said while pointing at me. I shook my head bringing my palm to rest against my forehead, closing my eyes. I pushed the loose hair strands away from my face, inhaling a breath that my lungs didn’t need. 

When I heard the front door close I stood up from the leather couch in an instant, walking towards the French windows. The sun was still setting down, the image beautiful. I really didn’t want to go. I really didn’t. I did not want to drink, dance or feel good about what I did even if it helped us out. I did not want to go over the same thing again.

I would never do something like that and not even Finnick could make me change my mindset. I pressed my fingertips into my eyes, leaning my head backwards while letting out a groan. When was the last time I did something that I actually wanted? 

I felt guilty and actually didn’t understand how the hell could he act like that. Like he didn’t care about all of those innocent adolescents that wanted nothing more than to just help their family. He was feeling absolutely amazing, while I felt like I was going to bury myself into Panem’s lowest point. 

Maybe the years, the years did it all for him. It has been already a decade since he won the games, why would he still feel sorrow? Even in this situation he came out as the one who held the truth. And I hated him for that.

Suddenly I felt the room shift, I leant my head against the window while I heard him get up from his seat. I closed my eyes, feeling the cold of the glass calm my nerves. I swallowed the lump that was in my throat and pressed my lips into a line. 

I felt him walk behind me. I calmed down my breaths before turning around slowly. Once I was sure I faced him I opened my eyes, crossing my arms on my chest as if to hide something from him.

“One chance. If you ruin it I won’t be talking with you for good Finn.”

_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

The Capitol, as usual, did what they are the best at. 

The room, where usually the tryouts were held - now was decorated into a whole other room. I looked around, from the ceiling exactly thirteen stars hanging. Each star was shining with a number, representing the number of the twelve districts and the one place where The Capitol's people were sitting at a table. 

On the tables white silk was laid, on it glimmering textile that could have been the same material mum was bringing in her hands last night. There were different kinds of alcohol, from brandy to whiskey to vodka you could have found everything that you wanted to have. The meals weren’t on the table yet, though there were some snacks laid out. Biscuits, cake and other sweet things that a little child with nothing in their hands would have gone feral for.

Everyone around me was dressed formally, women having long, knee reaching and even very short dresses. There were a lot of people: the victors, their family, the judges and even photographers who were all around the place. I looked around the hall again, my gaze fixated on the walls of the ballroom.

The walls were painted with golden flowers, all over the place. Sometimes if you looked closely you could actually see how butterflies appeared on them. The place was beautiful, just that the people who made it look beautiful were ruined from the inside. I looked down, only to see the frills by the end of my dress. 

It was gorgeous. Mum has been sewing it ever since Finnick appeared with the envelope. She was very excited, brought home tons of textiles and kept measuring my stats over and over. I occasionally even enjoyed the whole thing. I loved seeing her doing what she loved. From the beginning of the day she sat down at our dining table, sewing, sketching on her notepad and decorating the flattering piece of clothing with beautiful pearls.

The dress was plantation teal, just to show where I belonged. Mum thought the color was beautiful either way and suited me very much. I couldn’t disagree with her. At the chest the fabric was covering most of my breasts, but leaving a line between them. The corset hugged my waist perfectly, shaping an hourglass which wasn’t exactly how my body was truly shaped.

It had a long skirt, reaching down to the floor. The ends were shaping frills, if I spinned around they looked exactly like I was in a fairytale. The back was beautiful as well, strands to tie across my back. I was thankful that I had a mother like this, actually caring about me and not just because I needed to bring home my wealth. I couldn’t say I didn’t love her more though.

My thoughts were again distracted by the one and only, Panem’s shining victor - Finnick Odair.

“Hi.”He said while I looked up at him, trying to force a smile on my lips. I succeeded partly, a slight smile took its place on my lips. “You look gorgeous.” He said while I suddenly felt weird. I could feel warmth creeping up into my face.

He wasn’t the first one who noticed me, and wasn’t the first one here that complimented my looks, though when he said it, it was different. I felt different. Maybe because I was already so close to him that even just a little compliment made me feel flushed.

“You don’t look so bad yourself.” I said while he smiled down at me. I felt my own smile getting wider.

I would have said something right there and then, but someone interrupted me.

“Hi, sorry. I’m Christie. Would you like to dance with me?” The voice of the female couldn’ be more high pitched. She sounded like a kid while looking like someone you would have a time with between the dark alleys. Her blonde hair was tousled up into the sky, makeup covering even her neck. I don’t even think I have to mention her dress.

I raised my brows at her, which probably earned me a bad reputation in her eyes. I scoffed.

Rolling my eyes I suddenly walked away from the two. Everything that has been building up since he picked me up from my house died down, sadness taking over its place. Heavens, why wasn’t I so brave to ask him for a dance? Am I too…cowardly?

I walked through the ballroom, my eyes searching for someone to keep a conversation with but no one there seemed to grab my attention. I was nervous, what the night held for me. Thinking about how I probably needed to be brought home by someone. If I showed up here there was no question that I was going to be having one of the worst nights in my life all over again.

At these times I kept asking myself “Why did you have to win?” Even if I knew I was being selfish. If mum knew what they brought me into she would have bore the death of me better than this. 

Even the idea of suicide creeped my thoughts, because all of my wealth was at home with her, in her house. If I died, they wouldn’t take it away from her. No, because I still had one year to become an adult. 

If only I had the strength to. To end my life, but I was too caught up about the people around me. So I didn’t. I kept faking smiles, desires and everything else that The Capitol needed from me. Not like it was hard to act like the flirtatious, gorgeous woman, but it was exhausting. By the end of the day when I watched my interviews back with Caesar Flickerman I kept closing my eyes at the sound of my voice. I didn’t recognize myself.

I couldn’t believe what they turned me into. Of course, no one knew how I acted before I was chosen as tribute, but back then I hoped that I would get out the same. Just maybe, happier. 

_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

The music was crawling its way into my ears, the melody of the soft song that the woman sang made goosebumps appear on my skin. It was beautiful. I stared down at my glass of sparkling water, tapping my fingers on the cold glass. 

It has been exactly two hours since I arrived. Some people came up to me and congratulated me for winning two years prior. I couldn’t even thank them. I just nodded, turning away from their burning gazes. 

People I knew showed up too, for example Johanna Mason. I got along with her, though she only kept talking about this whole third quarter bullshit and how it is not fair that they want us to fight again when we are well over the age of eighteen.

I was biting my lips the whole time. I only knew that the only male victor from district four who was still alive was Finnick. I didn’t want him to fight again. I don’t know why, but suddenly I got worried about him, because the actual thought of the third quarter reaping didn’t really seem interesting to me. As I thought before, I wanted to die. The chances though for me becoming the victor next to Finnick were low, because there was Mags who raised him up and a redhead girl, Annie Cresta who has won the 70th Hunger Games.

When you think that you are on the edge, it’s only the beginning of the things that can turn into your worst dreams. I would have never noticed or cared about the third quarter reaping if Johanna didn't show up to talk to me. 

This was me. Everything about me could change in a matter of two seconds. This was how I felt about Finnick now. Who knows how I will feel about him tomorrow, next week or even next month? But did it count? If you thought that you aren’t worthy of love? 

“Mind if I take you for a dance?” A low, smooth voice whispered in my ear. Oh, Finnick. His hands were on my shoulders, warm hands on my cold skin. I smiled slightly, closing my eyes as his voice sent tingles down on my spine. I stood up from the table, staring up at him while he took one of my hands and slowly led me where other people were dancing as well.

Waltz. Should be fine.

When he faced me, I suddenly got the urge to swallow. Before I could place one of my hands on his shoulder, his was already on the top of my waist, his fingers laying on the delicate fabric of my dress. As he looked down at me I felt all flustered, in my stomach knots started to form. My breath suddenly got shallow like I was nervous. His hand on my skin felt heavenly, I almost let out a sigh by the feelings. Finn ran his fingers down on the skin of my right arm, making goosebumps appear on it. He slowly reached to my hand, taking it with his and holding it out so we were in a familiar position like all the other dancers.

I suddenly felt like all eyes were on me, making me inhale breaths that I didn’t know my lungs needed. He seemed to notice that, because his fingers started to rub my waist, the hand of mine that was holding his was rubbing my knuckles. His lips formed a smile, while mine were probably left open. 

“Relax, it’s just a dance.” He whispered before he took the first step, making us turn around while the frills by the end of my dress went after his steps. I pressed my lips into a line, trying to move after him at the same speed as he moved.

“Loosen your limbs…” His voice came out softly, “-don't focus on it convulsively, let the music take you with itself.” 

It was so easy to listen to his voice, it was music to my ears. 

I breathed calmly now, moving after him with ease. We passed many pairs as we were spinning around the whole ballroom. To him, it was nothing but listening to the rhythm of the music. Maybe he didn’t even pay attention to it, because his face was focused on something completely different.

“You know, if you are not throwing death glares at me I must say you are really beautiful.” His quiet voice brought me back to real life again, out of my thoughts while I registered what he just said to me. I let out a scoff.

“Stop with the charming behavior. We both know this is not you.” I said while he leant his head to the left side, looking at me with a slight smile on his lips.

“Saying the truth is charming to you?” Finnick asked while raising his arm with mine up above our heads making me twirl around. 

I turned back towards him as he pulled me in by the waist, his hand slowly sliding down. I stared at his lips for a moment before I leant my face a little bit away from his. He was too close to me now.

“You know how to twist out my words, don’t you?” I asked while leaning my chin up, staring into his sea green eyes. “Finnick, don’t make me regret my decision.”

He chuckled.

After some time I realized that my head has been resting on his shoulder for quite a good time now, and he was swaying us both to the music. It felt comfortable, I don't think I ever felt like this since the age of ten. 

He smelled really nice, fresh and earthy. My nose was really close to his pulse point, my ears able to hear the pumping of his blood between his veins. His hand was now completely leaving my waist, resting on my hip. In fact, he had his lower arm draped around me. Finnick was holding me impossibly close to him, letting me feel the warmth of his body. His hand that was holding mine still, intertwined his fingers with mine. My hand slid down from his shoulder to his biceps, squeezing the skin under his suit jacket. 

I slowly raised my head up as I heard the soft music overlap the previous one. That’s why I didn’t hear it change. 

“How long has it been?” I asked while he looked behind me, then right back into my eyes.

“Three songs.” He whispered.

“Aren’t you tired?” I asked while he let out a small laugh.

“No, but I’m afraid that your feet will hurt because I assume you are wearing heels.”

“Oh, no. I’m wearing sandals, they have a heel, but it’s only an inch, maybe two.” I muttered.

He bit his lower lip slightly while I kept looking up at him. Suddenly I felt like it was only the two of us in the whole ballroom and no one else mattered. I felt my lips form a genuine, real smile.

“What I said a minute earlier…” He started, “- I really meant it. You are hopelessly gorgeous. I know that we are not pretty close, and we aren’t really the best kind of friends, but that’s enough for me. It’s enough, because if you act like yourself around me I feel like I already earnt something. Because I lo…” 

Before he could say it I leant up on my tip toes and pressed my lips slightly against his, making Finnick close his eyes as our lips slowly moved against each other in sync. 

In that moment I felt like I was high. Like I accomplished something that I knew that was inside of me for a really long time now. I never wanted to be left alone again. I never wanted to leave his side again. I wanted him to claim me like no one else did before.

When I pulled away for breath, he opened his eyes in a swift motion. I then stared at him, and something changed in his eyes. His pupils dilated, the blood rushed into his cheeks and his lips became swollen making him look desperate. His skin felt warmer than before, making me inch more into him.

“Do that again.” He breathed against my mouth while I let out a chuckle, kissing his sweet lips once again. 

There were probably some girls, even women who stared at you, but I couldn’t care less. How could I when I was caged in his arms feeling safe as ever? I wrapped my left arm around his neck, my right one leaving his as it slid up from his chest up to join my other one around his neck. His arms wrapped around my waist, his lips feeling up mine while I sighed into his mouth, my knees buckling suddenly. 

When he pulled away, a wide smile on his lips I leant my head back down on his shoulder as he kept swaying us to the gentle sound of the music.

Oh, Finnick Odair, you bring the best out of me. And I completely, truly and undoubtedly love you for that.

[1d1195]

Neighbors I

For my 🐱 anon I hope you like it. It's gonna have to be multiple parts. I've really enjoyed writing it so far!

Warning: lots of fluff and pining. Very domestic Harry stuff.

Harry was glad she asked because he would do anything for her and he was glad she felt comfortable asking for such an intimate thing. Harry knew being a single mum was a challenge like no other. He wanted her to have the world and he would help however he could.

Harry was suffering.

It had been two weeks since he last spoke to her. At first, he thought he was imagining the lack of communication. He even convinced himself that it wasn’t anything to do with him. She was busy. Her mum came to visit. She was visiting her brother. Rory was on a play date while she was at work today. Another mum asked her to babysit, and she brought Rory to play while she did.

Harry was sitting by his front window, looking out to the street and saw her adorable little home just right there. But she wasn’t. Neither was Rory. He missed them both so much and it made him think about the day he moved in and saw the sweet girl and her little boy playing in the front yard.

*

Harry was on his phone video chatting with his mum and sister when he pulled into the driveway. He was showing off his little house that he had gotten all to himself, and he was so proud and happy. It was going to be his place where he could be and do whatever he wanted and not have to worry about anyone else.

Except for the most adorable neighbors he could have asked for.

“Hi!” A tiny shout came from out of thin air. Harry was mid-sentence chatting with his family when he spun to see the little boy waving enthusiastically from across the street.

“Oh, Harry he’s so cute,” Gemma cooed from his phone.

Harry was so startled by the little voice he forgot his camera was showing off the whole neighborhood. “Hi there,” Harry waved his free hand as the little boy’s mother knelt beside him and whispered something in his ear with smile and she fluttered her fingers at Harry gently. He wasn’t sure what he said, but the little boy threw his hand over his mouth and he swore he saw her mouth ‘sorry’ and she must have explained Harry was on the phone to the little one once more because he put his finger to his lips to keep quiet.

“I think I have t’meet the neighbors,” he told his mum and sister with a smirk.

“Try not to fall in love with the first girl you lay eyes on,” Gemma said knowingly but the glint in her eye was saying anything but the words that left her mouth. She knew her brother was one to fall in love quickly. Especially if he was going to be in close proximity to the sweet looking girl she could only barely make out on the grainy video call.

“Or her son,” his mum replied with the same glint in her eye as Gemma. Harry had such a soft spot for children. He was good with them and adored them immediately. Little ones liked how tall he was and marveled at it. He chuckled shyly and shook his head as he headed across the street. He hung up on the only women in his life up until that very moment where the whole trajectory of his life changed meeting his new neighbor.

“Hi,” he said with a smile so bright it warmed her thoroughly—Harry looked like pure sunshine. She was still crouched beside the little one and she was lucky she had her son to distract her a bit from the beautiful sight of him.

“Hi,” she answered and wrinkled her nose at the boy in her arms. “Are you shy suddenly?” She asked the little boy and squeezed his sides making him giggle and try to hide his face against her neck. “Go on, you wanted to introduce yourself,” she said and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Harry also crouched down in front of the two and he stuck his hand out to the little boy. “M’Harry, what’s your name?” He asked.

“Go on,” she encouraged. “You can do it,” she whispered in his ear loud enough for Harry to hear but still just for the little one.

“I Rory,” he said incompletely and put his hand in Harry’s (it was the wrong hand which just made Harry melt a little more).

“S’nice t’meet you, Rory. This is a nice neighborhood y’got here. M’glad I got t’meet you on m’first day here.”

“This is Mommy,” he said and gestured to the beautiful girl he was standing in front of; she was young for sure. Harry couldn’t not notice she was young. Especially for how little Rory looked. It was hard for Harry to not notice every little detail about her—she was beautiful from head to toe, and it was easily the fastest Harry had ever become smitten with a girl. “She 25,” he volunteered.

“You’re supposed to tell him your age not my age, you goose,” she rolled her eyes with a smirk and squeezed his sides again making him giggle. She kept her eyes mainly on her son, but they darted over to Harry every so often.

“I free!” he said holding up three fingers proudly. “Mommy teached me,” he said and then listed off the numbers one through ten counting the rest on his finger.

“Cool lad,” he said with a smile. “You’ll have t’teach me,” he winked at him. “M’not so good with numbers,” he explained.

“One, two three, four...” he started quickly.

“Easy baby,” she said. “Don’t want to scare him off before he’s been here a day,” she winked in Harry’s direction.

“Oh, I don’t scare easy,” Harry told her seriously. He held her gaze for the first time since he walked over without looking at the little one. Rory was contentedly staring back and forth between the two putting his thumb to his mouth. She offered her name and held her hand out to him.

Harry took hold of it and wished he could never let go. Her hand felt so perfect in his. He could have cried. He couldn’t wait to tell Gemma and his mum. “Lovely t’meet you, kitten,” he murmured.

“Mommy not a cat,” Rory giggled.

“I know lad, but she’s pretty like one,” he winked at her and watched her long enough to see her cheeks turn pink at his assessment. Feeling proud of the reaction he turned his attention back to Rory. “S’like how she called y’baby. You’re not a baby but you’re cute like one.”

“You talk funny,” Rory giggled.

“Rory James,” she scolded lightly with an eye roll. She didn’t sound mad like any mother that had scolded their son before. Harry’s own mum would say she was too gentle—even if it wasn’t needed. “That’s not polite,” she said knowingly and pursed her lips at him in disappointment. “Say sorry to Harry, please,” she nodded at him expectantly.

“Sorry, Harry,” he said softly looking remorseful. His lower lip jutted out and Harry swore he saw his eyes glisten with a set of tears.

“Oh, s’alright lad,” he smiled gently and rubbed his hand up and down his little arm. Harry didn’t want to condone his actions since she told him to apologize, but it wasn’t a big deal. Harry knew where she was coming from too. “I do talk funny, don’t I?” He winked at him and gave his arm a little squeeze. “You talk kinda funny t’me too,” he stage-whispered to him and made him giggle.

Rory yawned after a minute. “Mommy, sleepy time?” He asked rubbing his eye with a little fist. Harry was in love with this little guy as much as he was in love with his mother.

“Oh yes, definitely nap time,” she said and finally stood, scooped him into her arms and gave Harry a gentle wave. “It was nice meeting you, Harry. Thanks for saying hi,” she grinned so gently and beautifully, Harry wanted to take a picture of that smile and cherish it forever. “Can you say, ‘see you around’ to Harry, before you fall asleep?”

“See around, Harry,” he repeated sleepily from the crook of her neck.

“See y’around, lad. Don’t let the bed bugs bite,” he said softly.

“Bye Harry,” she said gently.

Harry gave a wave as she retreated inside. He returned back across the street ready to unpack as quickly as possible and find as many excuses as he could to see the pretty girl and cute lad again.

“Mommy?” Rory asked tiredly as she carried him down the hall to his room. Her head was spinning with the image of the guy across the street. Harry was undeniably attractive. His hair begged to have her fingers sink into it. His eyes were so gentle and green she was sure he could have seen her swooning over him. He was tall and physically fit. It was unbelievably unfair he lived across the street. She adored her little boy but there was no way she could ever expect Harry to want to be in a relationship with someone that had a son so young.

“Yes, my love,” she hummed softly interrupting her daydream of Harry.

“What bed bug?” He asked sleepily. She giggled.

*

Harry spent his days working from home as a virtual psychologist. He was very lucky to work remotely, only having to go into the main office once in a blue moon. It was nice to work from the comfort of his home office and not have to worry about traffic or things like that. The clients he worked with suffered from a range of anxieties and Harry did his best to help them cope.

But maybe the best benefit was the view. From his office he could watch the sweet girl across the street.

She ran a home daycare during the day and he watched her periodically flit about the house and yard with several little ones in tow. They followed her like little ducklings, and she was so good with children it made Harry ache for something he didn’t even know he wanted at that moment. He couldn’t even hear her sing or talk to them from her view but the way she bent to their level made eye contact with them, it was so obvious that they loved and adored her. She treated them like people.

Harry liked that a lot.

Three nights a week another car parked in her drive and she was flying out the door dressed in what had to be a waitress uniform. She returned late at night—sometimes past midnight—Harry didn’t see past midnight all that often, but he saw it once or twice, so he made the assumption. Despite the lateness of the hour, she was always up and ready the next morning bright and early; she was chipper and beautiful for the little ones that liked to watch her almost as much as Harry liked to watch her.

On Sundays she played with Rory in the front yard.

“Rory!” She shouted as Harry ran by. Harry stopped in front of their yard and crouched down to snag the boy before he accidentally ran into the road. They didn’t live on a busy street; in fact, there wasn’t a car in sight, but it was the principle of the thing. He saw the way her heart took off and she looked stressed but relieved as Harry spoke to her son.

“Y’can’t run in the road, lad,” Harry told him.

“You run,” he pouted.

“M’a little older than you, lad. And even still, m’running on the sidewalk,” he said gesturing to the space beside the road. “The road is for cars, s’not for guys like us,” he explained.

He nodded knowingly. “Mommy says I get hurt,” he contended.

“Mummy’s right,” he nodded back. “She’s very smart,” he said looking over the top of Rory’s head and smiling at the poor love that was still eyeing the road as if it betrayed her.

“Baby, we don’t want to bother Harry; he’s running,” she said moving closer to him after a moment.

“I run?” He questioned, looking up at Harry expectantly.

“No, love he—”

“That sounds like fun Rory!” He stood up grabbing hold of Rory’s hand and winked at the speechless girl as Harry stepped off the sidewalk and let Rory run a few toddled paces up the road. Following alongside Harry cheered for him. “Wow, lad! Look at y’go! Can hardly keep up!” he chuckled as he pretended to struggle to run after Rory.

Rory giggled. “I fast!” He said excitedly.

“Sure are,” she called from a few paces behind. Harry turned back and smiled at her again.

All that was two years ago, though. Back when she was still talking to him, and Harry didn’t have to wonder what was going through her head. When Harry was still part of watching Rory grow and they developed their own routines as neighbors and friends. Before she decided to cut Harry out.

*

Shortly after moving in, she called Harry nervously. She gave him his number in case he needed anything while he was away on business or if she had any concerns about his house. He gave her a spare key telling her he just had a couple of plants in the kitchen that needed water every day. She returned the notion saying she rarely left when she had a toddler in tow, but you never know.

He could hear the anxiety in her voice. He got the feeling she didn’t ask for help very often. It would make sense given she was a superhero mum. Harry didn’t want to let her down.

“I’m really sorry to ask you this,” she sounded pained to ask him. Like it was physically hurting her to get the words out. Harry tilted his head as he held his phone to his ear. He glanced out his office window unable to see where she was in her house. “My sitter cancelled on me suddenly. Could you watch Rory for my shift? I know it’s last minute and I promise it will only ever be this one time...I just can’t call out this close to my start time—”

“Love the whole purpose of me working from home is I have a flexible job. I can watch him—he’s just going to bed soon anyway,” he promised. “I’ll be right over.”

“Really? You will? Thank you, Harry. Thank you so much. I promise I’ll pay you,” she said with so much gratefulness and relief in her voice he could hardly stand it.

“Don’t be silly kitten, I’d be insulted,” he said hanging up and taking no time at all to hurry across the street.

Rory was delighted to hang out with Harry. He didn’t hang out with men all that much. Harry was the best in his eyes. “We’ll have a little men club night,” he winked at the little boy. “We’ll play games, drink some juice, and watch an action movie,” it was an ambitious to do list before his bedtime in two hours, but she giggled at him and that was worth all the wins in the world in Harry’s eyes.

Harry watched him regularly—every Thursday after that.

Rory’s eyes lit up like nothing he’d ever seen before every single Thursday. It was obvious he looked up to Harry. He was the only regular man in their life, and he was the perfect role model. Harry taught Rory a lot of things in those short two hours before bed each week. Harry never thought of himself a teacher, but he never thought about how he learned to do some of the things Rory asked him to show him.

“Mommy says I can learn to pee standing up,” he whispered to Harry one Thursday almost a year after he started watching him. Harry smirked. He’d grown so much in just one year it made Harry overwhelmed sometimes. He spoke better than the three-year-old he met. Harry obviously wasn’t here for Rory’s baby days, but it had to make the poor girl just as overwhelmed some days. He was growing so fast.

“That’s cool lad. Guys usually do that,” Harry nodded knowingly with a smirk.

“Harry, how is Mommy going to show me?” He asked curiously. “Mommy told me girls don’t have to stand,” his little eyebrows were pinched together. Harry chuckled lightly. It was a valid concern and he wondered what it must be like to navigate such a different part of parenthood like that for the sweet girl. Harry was lucky his mum and dad were still together when he was potty training; that would have to be difficult for her and for Rory.

“M’sure your mum knows how t’teach y’anything, Rory. But if you’re not sure after her lesson, I can answer any question y’have,” he shrugged. “S’pretty easy,” he told him. He stood up from the couch and gestured in front of him as if there was an imaginary toilet there. “You just stand there and go like this,” he said and held his hand in front of his pants like he was pretending to pee.

“Oh,” Rory said his eyebrows furrowing together once more. “That looks easy.”

Harry nodded. “Yeah,” he chuckled sitting back down. “M’sure y’can handle it.”

“Harry?” He asked quietly. Harry was searching through movie titles on the TV to find something that he thought Rory would like before bed.

“Yeah, lad?”

“Sometimes...” he looked a little uncomfortable and stared at his little legs that barely crossed over the edge of the couch. “Sometimes I don’t want to ask Mommy things,” he told him shyly. “Could I ask you?”

Harry turned and looked at him. He frowned slightly. He didn’t want to overstep his boundary as babysitter or even neighbor, but he knew she would want to know anything going on in Rory’s life. “Rory, you can ask your mum anything,” he promised.

He nodded. “Mommy says that, too,” he affirmed. He waved his hand over to Harry asking him to come closer. “But Mommy doesn’t have a penis,” he whispered shyly—like it was a secret. “I don’t know if she knows everything about them,” he said seriously.

Harry bit back the laughter that was trying to burst its way through and he nodded seriously. “You’re right, lad. But Mummy knows how t’help you,” he reminded him. “She always helps you, yeah?”

Rory nodded. “Yeah.”

“I’ll let Mummy know that if you have questions that she can’t answer, you can ask me.”

It was jarring to have Harry in her house when she got home so late from work. Harry was reading or watching TV on her couch while the little one slept soundly in his bed. The idea of coming home to Harry made her overwhelmed even when she was so tired and longed for her own bed.

If she wasn’t so tired she probably would have thought about going to bed with Harry. Fortunately, she was tired and while she thanked Harry a million times in the span of five minutes she couldn’t think about sleeping with her gorgeous, lovely, perfect neighbor. Today she was listening to the recap of the boys’ night because Harry wanted to tell her something important.

Harry relayed the story of Rory’s line of questioning that night she smirked and rolled her eyes. “That’s very funny. I’ll be sure to talk to him. Thank you,” she said gratefully. “But...if he does...have questions that I can’t answer, could he ask you?” She wondered. Harry was glad she asked because he would do anything for her and he was glad she felt comfortable asking for such an intimate thing. Harry knew being a single mum was a challenge like no other. He wanted her to have the world and he would help however he could.

“Kitten, I’ll tell him anything he wants t’know if it’s okay with you.”

She smiled sweetly. “Thank you, I really appreciate that, Harry,” she was so tired she didn’t think anything of it and leaned in to give Harry a hug.

Harry didn’t question it because it felt so natural to wrap his arms around her and have her in his embrace. Harry wondered the last time she was held by someone outside her family. He knew from the visual he had each day that there were no men in her life besides Rory, himself, and her brother. This was too nice and too sweet. She felt so warm and perfect in his arms. He was also getting tired but he was wound up in the smell of her the feel of her so quickly it made his head spin.

All at once she must have realized her position. “Uh...sorry,” she said softly and pulled away clearing her throat. She refused to meet Harry’s eyes. “I’m very tired.”

“Oh...” he hummed. “S’okay kitten...you’re pretty warm,” he shrugged with a grin. “I like hugs too.”

She nodded and still didn’t meet his gaze. “Thank you,” she repeated. “For everything.”

*

He remembered that hug a lot when he held the pillow in his arms thinking about how he hadn’t seen her in over two weeks. He doesn’t even know what he did wrong, and it drove him nuts. Of course, he adored her but he didn’t want Rory to think he had abandoned him either.

Apparently, Rory had been thinking the same way.

“Mumma, does Harry not love me anymore?” He asked before bedtime one night.

She sighed heavily. “Oh...baby, no,” she shook her head. “Harry loves you,” she promised. She knew that was true. Despite all her misgivings and all the things she worried about. She knew Harry adored her little boy.

“How come he hasn’t played with me in a while?” He asked.

She couldn’t tell him that she was too attached to him and it wasn’t fair to Harry that he would be a father for someone else’s baby. She was thrust into motherhood and it was the best thing that ever happened to her, but she would never make anyone—but especially Harry—be a parent before they were ready. “Sometimes grown ups are busy,” she said. “He’s always there,” she promised. “And you’ll always have me,” she smiled, ruffling his fluffy hair.

“I know that Mumma, but I like playing with Harry too. And I think he likes playing with us too.”

Little kids were too smart for their own good sometimes.

[luchitohamilton]

lewis being interview by margot laffite for canal+ at the qatar gp '23

I act like a kid all the time. I’m not embarrassed about it; I love having fun. So that’s why, you know, I’m always skydiving, surfing or I’m skiing or I’m riding my bike or whatever might be, that’s me being a kid. And that’s something I refuse to ever let go.

transcript below :-)

So Lewis. I don't want today to talk about the World champion, the Formula 1 driver, I would like to talk about Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, if you don’t mind. Can you describe the kind of kid you were at home and at school? What kind of kid were you?

[Smiling] Did you ever had a show called Dennis the Menace?

Oh yes of course.

You did?

Of that kind, yeah. Denis la Malice.

I was like Dennis the Menace 2.0. [laughs] I was climbing trees, I was just always riding my bike down the fastest hill. Naturally super competitive in everything that I did and, uhm, my dad helped me concentrate that energy into racing and that’s where stability came.

We know you were a huge fan of Ayrton Senna, but did you watch like every single F1 race, documentaries about F1?

No, when I was a kid I only watched documentaries on Ayrton Senna, read his books. Anything to do with Ayrton I would have it, whether it was a coffee mug or, not that I drink coffee as a kid, but I was watching Gran Prix from like since I was like 4 with my dad on the weekends. Yeah, Sunday sitting with my dad watching races was one of the best times, I remember.

If you could go back in time, where and when would it be?

It would probably be when I was living with my mum, before I was 8, so, yeah.

You are running the world so, how difficult is it to build friendships?

Yeah, it’s definitely not the easiest I would say. My two closest friends are from school, yeah, they are my brothers. Places where I’ve found good friendships are obviously on my job, and then when I’m doing music, when I’m working with musicians, it’s just like a different realm and there I’ve built some incredible relationships also.

What does being a grown up mean to you? Is it like tiresome to be more conscious of the impact you have on things and people, rather than the pleasant innocence of being a child?

I act like a kid all the time. I’m not embarrassed about it; I love having fun. So that’s why, you know, I’m always skydiving, surfing or I’m skiing or I’m riding my bike or whatever might be, that’s me being a kid. And that’s something I refuse to ever let go.

When you play a game with some children, maybe your family, nieces and nephews, do you let them win?

No, I try to win! I just [laughs] and they are good, they are getting good, so I have to get my wins while I can. But, my dad never let me win anything when I was a kid. I think is good to learn how to lose anyways, so [laughs]

Are you always on time or sometimes you’re late?

No, I’m always late. The only time I’m ever on time is when I’m getting in the car to race. But like if I’m going for a flight, I’m always late. I don’t know, I like the limit, yeah. [jokingly] I like getting there around the limit, I like the rush.

What are your thoughts and feelings about Max Verstappen? The man he is, the kind of champion.

He’s done an exceptional job. I think the team has done an amazing job. Collectively they truly deserve the success. Max has been faultless this year, he’s not made any mistakes. I only hope that there’s a time when I’ll be able to put up a fight for him.

When you quit F1 would you still want race like Dakar or the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

I currently don't really have any, like, zero, like, feelings to do those things. I love motorbikes, I’ve always loved Moto GP, still love it today. I have 2 super bikes. I think I probably always just gonna take my bikes out. I won’t compete professionally in anything ever again. It takes 10,000 hours to be, you know, a master of something else. I wanna spend that 10,000 hours on being the best dad or something like that, you know, or running my businesses in the best way I can. Where all my energy and focus will go to. For now, I’ll continue to skydive, I’ll continue to surf, those are probably the, riding the bikes, surfing and skydiving, those are the 3 fun things that I’ll make sure I always do.

Merci Beaucoup, Lewis.

Merci.

It was a pleasure as always. Thank you.

[uglyducklingofthe2000s]

Just Call Me Santa - LN

Request (asked to be anon): i was wondering if you could pls write something where the reader spends christmas with lando bc she has a bad home life? (this is my life rn and wish i had a lando). maybe he calls her on christmas eve and sees her crying or whatever and instantly drives to pick her up and despite protests, says she's going to have a good christmas with people that love her :') he spends all night and day doting on her and making her feel better. i love fluffy lando :')

For the record, I have literally chose to spend christmas' on my own away from my family because they're just not the easiest people to get on with a lot of the time, especially when all put in a house together. So this is going to be easy to write and thank you so much for sending this in. Since it's Christmas themed, I have prioritised writing it to try and get it up before Christmas (it's still the 24th where I am rn so hopefully I'll get it finished soon, if I've succeeded then you're reading this before the 25th)

Lando knows y/n wasn't exactly thrilled about going home for Christmas, her family is dysfunctional to say the least. Cram them in one room to open gifts where they'll not hide their judgement of each other's choices of gift. If they don't like it then they'll let each other know, that's for certain.

Hence why y/n was near to tearing her own hair out when it came to buying gifts for her family. The stress had gotten to her and Lando was hesitant about letting her go home at all, but she insisted she hadn't seen so many of her family members for months and it'd be wrong for her to miss the occasion.

Y/n was determined to have a good time even if it'd be hard.

What she didn't expect was that in her absence of travelling around with Lando so much and sort of focusing on herself through the year, she'd missed out on knowing about all the drama and internal family arguments which have apparently continued into the holidays.

Y/n sits in the living room, watching her cousins on one side of her family scream at her aunt and uncle about some wedding or engagement? She's not even sure, but some earlier event in the year, that she must've ignored the invitation to attend, where apparently her aunt and uncle were out of line. Her grandparents have even got involved in the screaming match.

It's not till her phone rings that she notices the time, they started the pyjama gift opening. Quite a common tradition in families to get new pyjamas on Christmas Eve ahead of Christmas morning. All of them matching so they can take pictures and pretend to actually be a cohesive and happy family.

Y/n's mum used to try and endure the holidays sober for the benefit of her children, but now they're all adults, she allows herself the numbing haze of alcohol. Her dad and a few other men (ones that haven't been pulled into the drama by their female counterparts) have escaped into the conservatory to drink and smoke with the shouting slightly less deafening from a distance.

Seeing the call is from Lando who promised to call before his Christmas Eve dinner. Since his family are significantly more well off than her own who only just make it into the middle class territory thanks to their postcode more than anything else.

She manages to weave her way through the overcrowded living room, going unnoticed thanks to another cousin making a comment just to add fuel to the flames and the reactions are explosive.

"Hey-what is that noise?" Lando questions still being able to hear the noise as y/n grabs her coat, ready to step outside.

"Extended family bickering about something."

"Bickering? Baby, it sounds like one of your neighbours might call the police on you guys." Lando states with worry heavy in his voice, and that just triggers some sort of ache in y/n's chest as she sniffles. "Baby? Speak to me. What's going on?"

"It's just...I just wanted to come home and enjoy seeing my family." Y/n sniffles then sighing. "I don't know why I ever expected it to be better. It's not going to get better just because I want it to be better...the police probably will be called on us tomorrow. Christmas Day is only ever worse than Christmas Eve. More alcohol and more judgment."

"I'm coming to get you."

"No. No. I wasn't even invited-"

"You are always invited." Lando states almost as if he's angry at the mere suggestion and maybe he is. "I'm coming to get you. I'm leaving now."

"No. I promised-"

"Y/n, get off the phone with your fucking sugar daddy. You're my sister, you're supposed to be on my fucking side!" Y/n's sister screaming as the door flies open. "I'm being fucking attacked in here by a pack of rabid dogs-"

"Don't you dare call me a dog!"

"I'm sorry, baby. Enjoy your dinner. I'll see you on Boxing Day. I have to go. Love you."

"Jesus are you crying?!" Is the last thing Lando catches before the line cutes and he nearly growls standing up.

"I'm really sorry, I have to go." Lando states jogging down the stairs and into the family room where his parents and siblings are sitting, along with his brother's wife and nieces.

"Is everything ok?" Adam frowns making Lando shake his head.

"I'm going to get y/n and bring her here. She's in tears over there and I can't just leave her there." Lando states earning some sad expressions. His family have loved y/n and treated her as family since they met her, t the point that they didn't think it was needed to invite her for Christmas because they were sure she knew how welcome she is.

Nearly all of them have spent time with her without Lando having to be there, sometimes not even in the country. His sisters joke about preferring her company to his. The idea of her being miserable because she's at home with her own family who don't know how to just enjoy each other's company.

"Go get her. She's going to spend Christmas with a family who really love her. Go on." Cisca nods shooing at her son who smiles lightly, leaning to kiss her cheek before he rushes off.

-

Y/n begins to wonder if the police might actually show up when it hits midnight and her family seem to have only gotten louder. Nearly 9 hours of arguing. Surely someone has the courage to call the police on them.

It happened last year and nothing came of it.

The year before that, some members of the family called the police on other members of the family. You'd think by now they'd have learned to just not involve themselves in a "family" Christmas.

She should call Lando back. Apologise to him for the abrupt ending to the phone call.

There's banging on the door and the family falls silent for the first time in hours. Finally the police were alerted and they'd all be told to shut the fuck up which would ultimately end in everyone finally going to bed.

It's already Christmas officially but god knows when they'll actually get Christmas morning. If anyone is awake before midday tomorrow it'll be the team of family on cooking duty or people who haven't slept at all anyway.

"Oh well if it isn't Santa here to save the fucking day." Her sarcastic cousin states, the only one at the ready to probably punch a police officer in the face for daring to interrupt their tirade.

"Where's y/n?" A voice that perks y/n up from the seat she'd balled herself up in.

"Y/n! Prince Charming is here to save you from your big bad horrible family."

All eyes turn to her, some with a rage, some void of emotion and some filled with jealousy that she has another place to go.

She gets up, moving through the room and disappearing out the doorway where her cousin is standing with Lando who looks like he might be the reason the police are finally called for. At least if his reads as a book for just how violet his thoughts seem to be.

Y/n doesn't say anything, instead pushing her cousin with little regard out the way of the door and closing it behind herself as she steps outside with Lando.

"I told you-"

"I don't care, if you think I'm letting you stay here when there's a real family waiting for you who love and care about you enjoying Christmas like you deserve to. Then you are mistaken. Now go inside and get your stuff because you're coming home with me."

Y/n wants to be upset by the tone Lando is using on her, but honestly she can't. It's nothing on what she's heard from the people she shares blood and a last name with.

"Or you can just come with me and we can leave right now."

Y/n looks at her for a moment easily at war with her promise vs putting herself first.

"Ok, let's go." Lando states since it's a few hours of driving and it's already very late.

-

Lando tried to get y/n's mind off of her family and what she just left behind but she eventually fell asleep. By the time they arrive at his family home, it's nearly four in the morning.

"Come on baby." Lando whispers as he picks her up from the passenger seat.

"I can walk." She mumbles still very much completely asleep.

"I know you can." Lando smiles lightly as he kicks the car door closed and manages to press the button to lock it.

He gets her up to his room and kisses her softly as he places her in the bed. She was in her pyjamas from her family, so he just undresses and climbs in beside her. Pulling her to cuddle in with him.

The rest of the family leave them to sleep as long as possible, Cisca waking them up only an hour before midday so they don't miss too much of Christmas but are also as well rested as they can be since she did hear them come in and checked the time.

"I'm so glad you're here, we all bought gifts for you that we were going to have to wait to give you. Seems wrong for you to not be here with us." Cisca states earning an agreement from the family as Y/n sits on the floor with Lando taking a spot behind her.

Y/n gets just as many gifts as Lando, who insists on her helping him open some of his gifts just so he can make her as involved and feel as big as part of the Norris family Christmas as possible.

They sit down for dinner and while at first y/n was pretty visibly uncomfortable and looked like she wanted to hide away even with everyone making it obvious how much they wanted her there and how happy they were she was there to be apart of the family celebration. She settled into a more comfortable mood while eating.

Seeing y/n really in her element with his family, Lando just sits back eating and watching her. Admiring her in silence because he is just so in love and he knows this is going to be the first of many Christmas' that she spends in this family. And one day she'll be a Norris among the rest of the Norris', that he's almost certain.

Eventually they've eaten themselves into some food comas and shifted over to the living room where Lando's nieces are the only ones who can move without groaning.

"I'm glad I kidnapped you." Lando whispers making y/n turn her head from the tv where The Grinch is playing.

Everyone else beyond the kids have fallen asleep and she was only just awake.

"I'm glad too. I'm sorry I tried to fight you on it."

"You thought you were doing the right thing. But you know this is your family even if it's not by blood...and we all love you more than you realise." Lando states making her tear up, but he's wiping at her eyes quick enough to catch them before they've fallen properly.

She sniffles before moving her fingers up to her lips, kissing them and then moving her hand to pass the kiss to him. Still too full to try and move. He just kisses her fingers earning a grin before she yawns a little.

"We should nap like everyone else."

"Yeah, recovery nap." Lando hums twirling her hair around his fingers which is already making her drift off.

It might not have been the Christmas she had gone into the holidays wanting but it surpassed her hopes and she'd not go back to change anything, aside from maybe just not bothering to go to her family's house at all and instead come straight here.

[blueaetherr]

hi would you write a fluff with Mason Mount? Maybe they are having a baby and they decide to spread the news to his family on a dinner? I really appreciate your writing! 💗

the good news

pairing: mason mount x fem!reader [she/her]

warning(s): none

summary: the one where they share the news about their growing family with mason's family

author's note: hi anon, thanks for the requests and ur kind words! i haven't written for mason for a while so this one is a bit shorter compared to my recent ones, but i still hope you enjoy it. also, i'll be trying to write more for the next few days so my requests are currently open!

"I'm real nervous right now," Y/N said, quite out of nowhere, as the two were strolling on the footpath.

Mason chuckled to himself as he guided his partner around a puddle so she wouldn't step in it. "You make it seem like you're meeting my parents for the first time."

Perhaps sure it wouldn't be the first time for Y/N, but it definitely felt like it. She remembers that day—meeting Mason's parents that is, and the emotions and experience that came with it all. She was initially a wreck. She remembers her nerves flaring up; the shaking hands, the unsure smiles, that feeling of not feeling prepared for any confrontation, constantly having to recheck her appearance over and over in the mirror before they left.

Fortunately, with her nerves acting up came Mason. Through his voice and physical touch, he was there to put her at ease. Reassuring Y/N that everything would be alright, that she didn't need to fuss over an outfit because she already looked perfect, that her interest in him– something so pure and real– was enough for his family to love her as they did him. From the time he had arrived at her apartment to when they had reached his parents' home, Mason remained her voice of reason. 

So Y/N trusted Mason, and she was right to trust him. 'Cause from the friendly welcomes she received from everyone in his family to sharing kind conversations with his mom and bonding so well with her, it was a good day for her—an outwardly positive experience. She had walked away pleased with the meeting.

Those same emotions felt back almost two years ago were being felt right now. Or maybe that was just because of the acute life growing inside her.

"I promise there's no reason to be, love. Why would you be anyway? I know my mum tries to bring up the baby convos with you too." He pointed at his girlfriend when he noticed her dimples appear, making him tilt his head back in laughter. Exhaling deeply, he shook his head. "Of course she does." 

Both Mason and Y/N knew his parents were excited that they were together, especially his mom. They didn't guarantee anything like kids or marriage when Mason finally got a girlfriend, and his parents respected that. His relationship, now rather established and prospering, simply kept the hope alive.

He opened the front gate of his parents' home, allowing Y/N to pass by first. "They love me but they probably love you a bit more." Stopping at the front door, he took the opportunity to press his lips against her cheek and watched her smile flourish even more. If her nerves really were present, he wanted to be the one to give her reassurance; to let her know everything would be alright. "This is everything my mum has ever wanted for us. I think we're in the good."

She felt her head tilt in admiration for Mason. For his emotional support through his jokes and distinct words because it wasn't the first she had heard them. The reassurance he was giving her mirrored the one he'd offered her some time ago– back when he had introduced her to his family. She absolutely loved the growth in his words, the transition from they'll love you to they love you made her feel whole.

And from there, the rest was only deja vu for Y/N. The door opened and they were welcomed by Mason's mom with her smiles and everything galore, with her embraces too for Y/N that felt like unique warmth and kindness and love. And it was all the same with his friends and family present. Speaking to her with commonality, including her in jokes and conversations by simply mentioning her name or calling for her input.

Or the moments when someone would pull Y/N away from Mason when he wanted her all to himself. It was something that should've annoyed Mason, but honestly he didn't mind it. Witnessing his favourite people interact and have fun was a sight he would never be tired of seeing. It was also 'cause when Mason would catch her attention from across the room and mouth I told you so, Y/N would cave in and roll her eyes. But always did she follow it up with a small laugh. 

'Cause when it was all said and done, Mason wasn't far from the truth—Y/N, with time, came to understand that well. From his parents to his siblings and friends, she was loved and embraced by everyone with open arms. There was nothing for her to be scared of.

And glancing around at everyone as they were sitting around the dining table for dinner—passing around food options with harmony, clutching onto one another from excessive laughter, encouraging conversation and simple talk for everyone to be involved in—Y/N realised that's the environment she wanted to be around. For herself, for her relationship with Mason and for their future child.

An environment where you would feel accepted, loved and felt like you belonged among this amazing band of people. Where someone would pull you in when you were suddenly drifting, where you would find yourself entertained when everything seemed quite dull, where you would smile and laugh without any intention of stopping 'cause you were just so consumed with joy and happiness.

That's all Y/N wanted for her budding family—comfort and security, a place clear of judgement. That's all she could ask for.

Hearing her name being called out, she turned to the person calling for her attention– Mason's mom. "Y/N, you okay hun? You kinda blanked out on us there."

Y/N blinked a few times, realising that she had indeed drifted for a minute or two. Thankfully, the room was busy with chat and laughter, so the focus wasn't completely on her. "Oh sorry, I'm fine, yeah," she moved her hair off her shoulders, chuckling through a soft exhale. "It's been happening for a while now. I didn't think the first three months would be like this."

It was only when she was taking a slip of her drink that Y/N realised the phrasing of her words, quickly putting it down to correct herself. She seemed to be late, however, when a gasp from Mason's mom had the commotion in the room fall flat. Her glance at the young couple caused the focus to shift to Y/N and Mason as everyone witnessed the older woman struggle to form her words.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, glancing between her son and his partner. She tried to hide it, but there was a bit of excitement in her words. She had an idea in mind (I mean, it seemed a bit obvious), but she needed someone to confirm her thoughts before she could celebrate anything. "What does she mean by that, Mase?"

It was amusing because Mason and Y/N chose to announce the good news without saying anything. Joining hands, fingers interlocking well, they shared smiles keen and knowing before her free hand fell comfortably on her stomach.

That was enough confirmation for his mom who was the first to react; a cry full of happiness and delight that sent everyone in the room in awe. And from there everything else went so fast: the congratulations, the whole yet delicate hugs, the kisses on her cheeks and forehead, the reassuring words from every other person approaching the couple– that they would be supported and loved during the next few challenging months.

It was all overwhelming for Y/N as she wiped away those few stray tears, with her laughter and smiles, however, far more prominent. This environment that she wanted for her aspiring family was no longer a want; she was officially a part of it now.

[flowery-mess]

Homesick

I don't really know what this is, it came to me at 1AM like wave of feelings that I suddenly needed to write down. Let me know if you like it.💗

Today was perfect day. In every aspect, it was perfect, so why am I standing on the balcony, looking down at people celebrating Nick and his beautiful wife's wedding, crying and with anxiety attacking my body?

.

.

All of the Bad omens crew have been looking up to this day ever since Nick proposed to his girlfriend. Boys, including Noah, knew about it, but to everyone else it was surprise.

Me and Nick's girlfriend are close, we clicked immediately when Noah and Nick introduced us.

So I couldn't help but burst into happy tears when she send me picture of her hand with this beautiful ring Nick chose for her. It was almost a year ago, but it felt like yesterday.

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Me and other bridesmaids spent the night before the wedding together with the bride to be, while boys used mine and Noah's apartment to hang out with Nick.

We woke up early and started with preparations. It was messy and chaotic, but I enjoyed it in a way. Seeing my friend with a smile on her face as she was about to marry the love of her life made me think about my friends back home.

I moved to the states 5 years ago for work. And for a change. My life back home was a mess and I needed to escape it. I stayed in touch with my best friends, but you can stay as close as the ocean between you allows you to.

We didn't expect that I would stay, I had work offer for a year. But then I met Noah. I never thought I would stay in a foreign country for a boy. When I extended my work contract we were dating only for 3 months, but it felt right.

After everything bad and sad that happened at home before I left, something finally felt right.

5 years later we are still together and I know I made right decision.

But it had sacrifices.

I never had a strong relationship with my family, I always considered my friends as my family. I moved from my hometown to a different town for university and saw my family just a few times a year, usually for occasions like someone's birthday. In a family aspect, I felt alone. I never called my mum to tell her about a boy I met or for cooking advice. She was always busy giving her time to her boyfriend, who I wasn't fan of. Neither he was of me. We drifted apart so easily and neither of us tried to put this so called mother daughter bond back together.

Between me and my dad wasn't a bad blood. We just had very casual relationship. We saw each other once in a few months, which now changed to phone calls once in a few months. He cares about me and loves me, we just weren't close at any point of my life.

So with my blood family, moving was easy.

But being without my friends? That hurts. Especially when I'm spending time with my new friends here in the states, like today.

I was part of the preparations, cake tasting, choosing dresses, making playlist and anything else you can think of. And I loved that. It just made me think of my childhood best friend's wedding. I could take only few days off at work, so I barely made it to bachellorete party, then wedding and then I came back here.

To help you understand my point, my friends went through every shit in my life. My parents divorce, my grandmother's cancer, my mom bringing home this new boyfriend, moving out of my childhood home to a new place, high school, moving for university, crying about my mother or crying about my heart breaks. They were there for me all the time.

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After we had our makeups and hair done, me and other bridesmaids went to welcome the guests that started arriving at the venue.

It was family, friends and the BO crew, except for all four boys that actually created the band. Noah is Nick's best man and Folio and Jolly are groomsmen.

I started to feel homesick and guilty for enjoying my 'new' friends wedding that much with thought of my childhood friends. I couldn't wait for Noah to arrive to make me feel better.

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"Excuse me lady, the legend says that the bride should be the most beautiful woman on a wedding day." I must have laughed at Noah's joke when he arrived while we had just a few minutes to talk before the ceremony started.

"Well I could say the same about you sir." I said as I placed my hands around his neck and pecked his lips.

"But really, you look beautiful Y/N." He said suddenly with a serious face, but with sincere look in his eyes as his hand caresed my cheek.

I think we both realized that our friends are getting married and that this day is gonna be full of love and happiness and that we're gonna spend it together.

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The ceremony started just a few minutes after Noah and the boys have arrived. I was paired with Folio to walk down the aisle. I call Folio my Bad omens best friend. He's the one I'm closest with, we have the same sense od humor and I am voluntarily going fishing with him. I think that's how I get him to be my bestie.

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I am very emotional person and I teared up a lot through the day, but when I saw Noah walk down the aisle I felt tear slide down my cheek. He was beautiful. I saw him in a suit only few times, so I am always amazed by how amazing he looks in it. Our eyes were locked the whole time he walked the aisle, we were smiling like it was ours wedding and I saw tear slip down his cheek too.

I was thinking if he's gonna ever propose to me, because we didn't talk about it yet. And with his family background and commitment issues, I am not sure if he even wants a marriage. He worked on himself a lot through our relationship, our begining wasn't easy. But we communicated and talked about our feelings to make it where we are today.

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After the ceremony came to an end we moved to the lunch area, where me and Noah could finally spend some time together.

"It was really beautiful wasn't it?" I asked him with my mouth full with this delicious meal.

"It was. I didn't think I'd be this emotional."

"It was hard not to be."

We contiued to eat our meals, then there were some speeches and then the party began.

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After few drinks the dancefloor was full with dancing bodies. Playlist was made of all genres and hits you could imagine. We were dancing in a circle, me and Folio the stars of the dancefloor.

Then Love story by Taylor Swift started playing and my mind went back to my thougts I had at the altar.

Noah came to me, connected our hands and started dancing with me. He wasn't fan of dancing, but he would do anything to make me happy.

We were swaying to the rhytm of the song and singing those famous lyrics.

"I can't wait until our day looks like this too." Noah said out of nowhere.

"Our day?" I wasn't sure what he meant by that, but I had a feeling.

"Yes, our day. I'm gonna marry you, did you think I am not going to?" He looked genuely surprised and maybe little hurt that I would think that.

"I just didn't know what is your opinion about marriage, we never had that conversation." I answered honestly. Taking his face in my hand and caresing my thumb on his cheek I couldn't resist the smile on my face.

"I know we didn't, but I was thinking about it. I never thought about it before I met you, but I also never thought I could have relationship longer than a few months, so I started thinking about marriage." He looks so cute and all flastered when he talks about his feeling, specially his feelings about me.

"I like that idea of you being my husband very much." I saw the uncertainty leave his face after my words.

"And I like the idea of you being my wife very much too."

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After that song and conversation I excused myself and went to the bathroom.

I felt those anxious feelings in my chest and tears forming in my eyes. It was mix of happy and frustrated tears. I tried to compose myself and not to ruin the mood for myself and for everyone else.

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That brings me to this moment where I'm standing at balcony and looking at everyone under me. Thank god the lights are pointing at the dancefloor, so I am hiden in a shadow and no one, especially Noah, can see the tears streaming down my face.

I should be happy. After today and the conversation with Noah, I should be happy. Why am I not happy? Or am I? Why do I feel like I have everything I ever wanted, but had to sacrifice my closest friends for it? Do I even like this country that I moved to? What if I want to move back home in the future, will Noah come with me? I suddenly felt so unsure about everything. So many thoughts running through my head as I continued watching those happy faces, while mine was soaked in tears.