#she needs those backpack leashes they put on kids that wander off

[aleiiii]

I have to ask this before I forget! So what is Na like drunk? Does Na even drink? Or if she accidentally drank alcohol would she be shy and super easily flustered? Or the type of drunk who will randomly start to get into things they wouldn't normally do? And how would Wukong and Macaque deal with it? Think that it's cute? Beyond exhausted and want a nap? Regret ever letting alcohol near Na?

omg I had to get this outta my brain when I got the time to doodle it out

Nà is definitely a social drinker! If there’s an event, she’ll join in on the fun (of course if she’s safe to do so) Though, this may not happen too often so it’s not common for her to get wasted.

I would think she’s the type to get super cuddly (kinda like how birds cuddle up next to each other) ((really getting all up in that chest fluff mhm mhm)) but would definitely be a wanderer (a runner on a bad day even) at one point she’s right by either of their sides and next moment she’s like half way out of the temple. It’s a case of trying to figure out where she’s wandered off to now. I would says it’s easier for Mac to find her because of his ears, so he would be the one to find her most of the time. Of course the responsible thing to do is have one of them be in charge of watching her but this girl can be so quiet when she makes her escapes.

[rachaelswrites]

First Premiere

Avengers Cast x ADHD!teen!reader

Word Count: 564

Requested By: Anonymous

another request here! again, avengers cast x adhd!reader. y/n first time of her being at the premiere, and the cast is keeping an eye on her, making sure she doesn’t get too distracted, being there on time, talking so sweet of her when they get to the q&n panel with the fans. avengers cast being really sweet, safely with her, caring etc :) 

A/N: Thank you for this second request! I’m having fun writing for adhd!teen!reader so feel free to request more

Tonight was your first premiere and your first Marvel movie. You were so excited you could bounce off of the walls, which is exactly why your team was handing you off to your co-stars to handle you for the night. You didn’t mind it, since you loved all of your cast mates and that made you even more excited.

After getting hair, makeup, and wardrobe done, you took a car to the hotel where Brie was staying. You two got along well and since she saw you as a little sister, she volunteered to take you under her wing for the night.

She met you in the lobby before the two of you were going to arrive at the premiere together.

“Are you excited?” she asked, already knowing the answer. She could practically feel you buzzing in the seat next to her.

“Of course I am! I have never had this much excitement in my life. I think if anything else happened, I might combust. I mean, I still might who knows,” you rambled.

Brie laughed a little before putting her hand on your shoulder, “Just take a deep breath and relax. And, if you do interviews, try to slow down a little bit.”

“But I’m so excited, Brie! I can’t contain it,” you explained.

She laughed at you and realized she wasn’t going to be able to stop you from being excited so she didn’t bother trying anymore, “Just stick with me and don’t wander off. If I lose you, your manager will kill me.”

~~~~~

Once you got to the venue of the premiere, you did the best you could in sticking close to Brie but there were a few times when you were needed for an interview but you were off talking to fans. As long as you were in eyesight of one of your cast mates you were fine.

When you were standing near the barriers separating the fans from the carpet, everyone was heading inside but you didn’t get the memo. Mark had to go off and find you and bring you back to the rest of the cast.

“Sorry I didn’t realize you guys were leaving,” you said as you and him tried to catch up to the rest of the group.

Mark shook his head, “It’s fine Y/n. We were all kind of prepared to watch over you.”

“You know what Sebastian and Anthony threatened to do to me last week?” you asked, changing the subject quickly on accident.

“What?” he asked.

“They threatened to put me on one of those stupid kiddie leash backpacks. Mackie even sent me a link to one asking if I liked it,” you explained, “I’m not that bad am I?”

“Well, you do have a tendency to wander,” Mark replied, earning a slap to the bicep from you.

“You’re supposed to say “no Y/n. They’re being ridiculous’ not agree with them,” you pouted.

“I’m kidding, I'm kidding,” he said, rubbing the spot where you just hit him, “Jeez you hit hard.”

“Oh yeah? You should see me run across this hallway right now. We should race to the theater,” you said, already taking off your shoes so you could run easier.

“No, let's not,” Mark said.

“Too late old man,” you yelled, taking off down the hallway.

Mark sighed, shook his head again and jogged to try and keep up with you.

Taglist

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Marvel

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[uppastthejelliclemoon]

For Tuggoffelees human au (I didn’t know how many to send so I hope this is enough) mainly revolving with the kids but

Who does the school call the parents in for because they were misbehaving?

who (at least when they were younger) needed to sleep in the parent's bedroom cause of a nightmare?

Who's generally the kid's favorite babysitter?

Who gets lost at Disney land or a grocery store? And how are they found?

Idk who asks for McDonalds for dinner at any given opportunity?

Do tugger and misto have any fancy nicknames for their kids?

SEND AS MANY AS YOU WANT THESE ARE SO CUTE

Who does the school call the parents in for because they were misbehaving?

it honestly depends! if it's just misbehavior, then Tugger and Misto switch off on who goes to get the kids. I do think that at least one of the older kids gets into some kind of actual fight with a classmate who makes a comment about the Deuteronomy-Jones kids not looking alike, usually directed at Fabre, Hestia, and Jubilee, and one of the older kids goes absolutely FERAL

like Sek and Hades just say the truth, that their dad slept around, Calliope, Ares, Apollo, Iris, and Thetis become dramatic and start pointing fingers like "WHICH ONE OF YOU IS ADOPTED" (Calliope always dramatically announces that it's her, which... makes Tugger CACKLE when he finds out), but if someone makes a comment like that to the Littles? to the triplets??? oh they'd better fear for their life

if that does happen, then both Tugger and Misto go in, but they ask for the full story from their kids and their friends (like Cori and Tanto 100% go to the same school and are always ready with the truth), and after deciding on a punishment, usually a grounding, (bc yeah, good on the kids for protecting their siblings, but they really shouldn't have punched the kid), they all go out for ice cream.

who (at least when they were younger) needed to sleep in the parent's bedroom cause of a nightmare?

all of them at some point!

in the month following Serafina's death, Tugger and Misto pretty much did not have the bed to themselves. Hestia's crib was next to Tugger's side, and Hades refused to be parted from his baby sister, so he was in the bed, and Apollo, Iris, and Thetis knew something was off and that their mama wasn't around, and cuddled up with their dads and brother.

I think there was one or two times after Jubilee was adopted that she and Hestia ended up cuddling with their dads (or they cuddled with Hades, because Best Big Brother Award goes to him)

And of Athena's kids... I feel like Persephone was the only one who ever had to do that, but after getting comfortable in the house, Sek and Ares probably approached Tugger and Misto after a bad night and talked about the nightmare with them

Who's generally the kid's favorite babysitter?

oooooo this is SUCH a good question

Bombalurina, because she's basically a surrogate mom for all the kids

Bustopher

Amunet (i feel like Jubilee gets SO excited when Amunet babysits, and she always brings Cori and Tanto with her!)

Who gets lost at Disney land or a grocery store? And how are they found?

the triplets 100% end up wandering off because they spotted one of their favorite characters in Disney. Either Hestia saw Belle, Jubilee saw Alice, or Fabre saw a Haunted Mansion dancer, and the three just go bolting off until they're separated. The good thing is that Tugger and Mistoffelees absolutely predicted what would happen, and attached those little trackers to the backpacks that all the kids are wearing, and after a little frantic searching, they're found, and everything's okay.

like Tugger and Misto don't put their kids on leashes, but they're smart enough to know that with twelve kids in a place like Disney, they're bound to run off, so the trackers are only for those times when they're all together and there's a possibility for separation.

Idk who asks for McDonalds for dinner at any given opportunity?

Apollo, because he's a little shit, and he and Calliope team up to get the babies to give their dads the BIGGEST puppy eyes, and it always works, because Tugger and Misto are absolutely unable to resist Ziggy and Persephone

(they're unable to resist all their kids' puppy eyes, but that's a secret they'll never share)(the kids all know, it's not that much of a secret lmao)

Do tugger and misto have any fancy nicknames for their kids?

they have nicknames for each of their kids!!

Sekhmet: Dragon

Hades: Roo (like from Winnie the Pooh)

Ares: Bear

Apollo: Sunshine

Iris: Rainbow

Thetis: Minnow

Calliope: Muse

Hestia: Princess

Jubilee: Rabbit

Fabre: Shadow

Ziggy: Bubbles

Persephone: Flower

[hookingminor]

dialogue 1&31 with mat please🥰

31. “Smell this candle, it’s amazing.”

I got 1 for someone else :( srry

-

There was a reason you didn’t bring Mat shopping, and it was because he had the attention span of a goldfish and got easily distracted by almost anything you put in his line of sight. Not to mention you frequently lost him in the mall like he was a toddler. Sometimes you thought you needed to give him one of those leash backpacks they made for kids so he wouldn’t stray.

For instance, when you brought him along with you and sent him on a mission to get Anthony’s gift (a new set of kitchen knives and pans for his new apartment), he ended up in the home decor section rifling through hideous wall art.

“Mat, our apartment is already decorated,” you reprimanded him after you scoured the entire kitchen section to no avail. He hadn’t even made it to the kitchen part of the store.

“But these look so cool!” He said defensively.

“No they don’t. Now let’s keep moving.”

Then he wandered off in the jewelry store as you searched for a gift for your mother, and you found him two stores over in the candy shop filling a plastic bag of loose gummy sharks. After that, you had to hold his hand as you dragged him through the Apple store to buy his father a new iPad, but he managed to disappear again after you left to try on some on sale jeans.

At that point you decided to let him wander wherever he wanted while you continued crossing items off your to-buy list. You figured he’d end up in the food court with some cinnamon pretzels after buying another pair of ugly shoes that cost way too much money, but hey, it was his paycheck.

The last place you did expect to find him was in Bath and Body Works in deep conversation with a worker with two candles in his hands.

“So if I buy three of these, I get three for free?” Mat asked in wonder, and the bored retail associate nodded her head. She’d probably answered that question more than ten times today.

“Sorry about him, he’s never been in public before,” you interrupted kindly, placing a hand on Mat’s arm. “I’ll take him off your hands.” She nodded and turned away, eager to help someone else.

“Babe, oh my god, I love this place,” Mat exclaimed. “Smell this candle, it’s amazing.”

“I know, Mat, I have three at home,” you sighed, sniffing the winter-themed candle he held in front of your nose. “Why do you think our place always smells good and not like your dirty socks?”

“That’s what that is? Oh.” A look of genuine surprise crossed his face. “Do you think Liana would like some? If we buy three, we get another three for free.”

“Sure, but that means we’re going to have to find six different candle scents.” And now Mat was caught in another internal dilemma.

“Well how the hell are we supposed to choose only six? They’re all so good,” he said, glancing around the store with displays stacked high with various candles.

“Aw, babe,” you cooed, patting his cheek softly. “Life is so hard, huh?”

“Don’t make fun of me, this is cool!” He pouted, real offense laced in his tone.

“I’m sorry,” you apologized, a small smirk tugging at your lips. “We’ll have to put this one back because I already own it.” You took one candle from his hands and set it back down.

Mat’s ears perked up like a happy puppy that had just been given a treat at your acquiescence, and he pulled you to the tree display full of Christmas scented candles. He grabbed a basket to carry the candles you collected during the next fifteen minutes, scrunching his nose in disgust at ones that smelled too sweet and asking for a second opinion from you when he was unsure. You’d never seen someone so happy to be in a candle shop, bouncing from candle to candle and treating candle picking like it was a lost art and the most important decision he would make for the entire holiday season when he’d put zero thought into the gift he got for his best friend. Honestly, you were the one who compiled the entire gift list. Still, it was amusing to watch him choose his favorite scents, a light in his eyes after he made his final selection.

After leaving the store, Mat was a lot calmer after that, finishing out the rest of the shopping with little complaint. And he definitely tried to light all of the candles you bought at once when you got home.

[artzychic27]

In honor of the glorious pride month (Coming up soon), please enjoy these Miraculous Pride Headcanons!

Inspired by this post by @transvoltronhc

You a TERF? Fuck off, beeyatch!

Marinette- The Pan Trans Queen we all Need 🏳️‍⚧️

She/Her- Pansexual/Polyamorous

Every time Marinette inhales, a terf gets punched

Every time Marinette exhales, a trans kid gets a flag

She and Nathaniel supply the face paint

She’s very vocal at pride and gets super violent with protesters

Marinette: *Punching protester while her friends cheer* I don’t wanna see your disgusting face here ever again, you filthy pig! Same goes for the rest of you!

Terfs go to protest, walk away covered in bruises and with a tiny crush on the bluenette

Got into a muscle-flexing contest and won first

Dyed her hair the colors of the pan flag and walks around with a brightly colored, bedazzled trans flag cape

Supplies juice boxes and cookies for the pride kids

She and Marc pass out colorful binders, flower crowns, and starter makeup kits

Drag Queens and Kings LOVE her and are always giving her hugs whenever she walks by / She’s even been commissioned by them to make outfits for their next shows. The audience loved them

Alya- The Badass Pansexual Pirate 🏴‍☠️

She/Her but is not opposed to They/Them

Actually has dressed like a pirate with a sword the colors of her flag. Anarka was so proud

Will punch TERFs with their Pan bestie any day

Ships random people

Leaves many girls swooning as she walks by in her thigh high leather boots

Alya: Sorry ladies, I’m spoken for. *Kisses Nino*

No one dares to flirt with her because she’s out of everyone’s league

One protester made a transphobic comment about Nino, and Alya immediately hit em with a frying Pan

The chaotic aunt of pride

Death drops are flawless!

Hands out phone cases they painted the colors of different pride flags

Born This Way is her anthem

Has many pride-themed superhero tank-tops ‘Super Gay 4 Super Girl’ ‘I’m Bi Man’ ‘Deadpool was at Stonewall’

Nino- The Insanely Cool Bi Trans Guy 😎🏳️‍⚧️

He/Him

Marinette made him a bedazzled cape so they could match

Mari and Kim’s brother in Transness

Dresses in hoodies no matter how hot it is

One of the mom friends. / Everyone wants to be adopted by him. / He once put everyone on baby leashes so they wouldn’t wander off

Everyone refers to him as “Trans DJ Jesus” because he wore sandals with a long curly wig one time. (To this day, no one knows why he did it)

Takes a five-minute break to Vogue with the drag queens

Supplies the music while skateboarding. He blasts every gay national anthem known to humankind

Alya, Adrien, Marinette, and Kim are very protective of him. Once, a TERF pushed him to the ground. Alya, Marinette, and Kim beat up the TERF while Adrien treated his friend to some ice cream

Adrien- Shit! We lost the baby! 🏳️‍🌈😱

He/Him & She/Her- Bigender/Bisexual/Polyamorous

Can’t stop, won’t stop wandering off because he’s never been to a Pride parade before

He was surprised at how accepting his father was. Although, it probably had something to do with Nathalie and Gorilla threatening to expose him as Hawkmoth if he didn’t let Adrien go

The class goes ballistic whenever she goes missing and will interrogate anyone

Myléne: *Interrogating a drag queen* Are you hiding him in your wig?! / Marinette: Get her out! She’s so frail! Her dad doesn’t feed her! / Nino: Found him! He was getting ice cream. / Myléne: ... You are free to go.

Nino has to put him on a baby leash every time

Drinks the most juice boxes and eats the most ice cream

Can’t tell when he’s being flirted with / Rando: Hey, cutie. / Adrien: ... My name is Adrien.

Bigender legwarmers, bracelets, and headbands

Dresses in pastels every year, and people just wanna hug him / He's happy to oblige and will hug anyone / Vows to hug the hate out of protesters

Every time Adrien smiles or laughs, a transgender child is accepted by friends and family and then gets a flower crown

Keeps getting asked if she and Marinette are dating. / Adrien: No, we’re just shopping buddies. (Secretly wishes for more)

A girl once asked if he was Cinderella when he wore a blue headband, and he immediately said yes. Now every week for Pride month, she dresses as a different Disney Princess

Nearly fainted when Marinette and Luka entered a flexing contest and Luka’s sleeves tore

Kim- Mari and Nino’s Bi brother in Trans Pride🏳️‍⚧️

He/Him & They/Them- Gender nonconforming

Kim: I’m a guy, I like blouses and heels, deal with it, people!

Kim/Mari/Nino: Bedazzled Cape Squad!

Muscle shirts and converse sneakers / Has a tank top that reads, ‘I flexed so hard the sleeves came off’

Got into a muscle-flexing contest against Luka and Marinette and got third place (No one beats Marinette)

Also can’t tell when they’re being flirted with

Alix and Max convinced him to dress in drag, and he went all out. Now he has the respect of many drag queens. And every pride parade, he wears heels and a huge wig

Gives everyone (Mainly Max) piggyback rides

Asked Max to be his boyfriend at one pride parade, and people thought it was so cute! They named that day, ‘Kimax Day’

Max- Not a Robot, I’m Agender 🤖

They/Them

Has many pride tank-tops and pins with puns / ‘Error 404 Gender Not Found’ ‘I Don’t Speak Binary Code’ ‘2/3 of the Invisible Trio’

Has Marinette paint their cheeks the colors of the agender and asexual flags

Has one of those digital backpacks with pixelated images on the front

Downloads Pride songs for Markov to blasts from their speakers

When they and Alix convinced Kim to dress in drag, Max may or may not have drooled a bit

Progress Pride Flag cape, socks, and nails

When protestors attack, Max goes all LGBT scientist on their butts, explaining the difference between gender and sex, what hormone blockers actually do, and how not every gay person has AIDS

Once beat up a sleazy protester for... Feeling Kim down there / Max: *Hitting protester with a baseball bat* If you ever do that again, I will fit Markov with a laser and have them slice your rotten dick off!

Marinette and Nathaniel helped them make pride bracelets with the sexualities and gender identities written in binary code. The pride nerds LOVED them

Nathaniel: Our Beautiful BiRomantic Son 🎨

He/Him

He and Marinette paint everyone’s faces before every pride parade

Painted an asexual heart on his Bi flag and wore it as a cape

Cuffed jeans, boots, tucked-in shirt, beanie, pride buttons / Paints pride flags on his denim jacket and shorts

Marc does his makeup, and he looks fabulous

His grandma teaches him how to fight in case of violent Christian protesters / Grandma: Sweetie, you’re Jewish and Bisexual, the world is gonna tear you apart. Learn how to give a mean left hook.

Once took over a face painting booth, now he does it every Pride Month

Enters the 'Crush a watermelon between your thighs' contest every time and always wins first

Saw couples cosplaying as Mightillustrator and Inverser, and cried tears of joy

He and Marc cosplay as couples at every pride parade. The fan favorites are Keith and Lance, Tweek and Craig, and Michael and Rich

CANNOT have too much sugar or he goes crazy and wakes up with no memories of what he did

The next day after an intense sugar high, people were saluting as he walked by and calling him ‘General of the Bisexual Battalion’ / He’s not complaining or questioning it / He has an army now and will one day take over all of Europe. Then the world.

Marc: The Rainbow Flag has Taken a Human Form🏳️‍🌈

Nonbinary- He/Him & They/Them

A True Pride Legend

Born on June 1st at a pride parade.

A singer helped deliver him, his cord was cut by a sword Lesbian, he was swaddled in a drag queen’s glitter cape, and their name was thought of by a drag king

This moment was so beautiful that many protesters cried and decided to join the parade

Everyone will literally stop what they’re doing just to get a picture with them / Everyone loves Marc!

Got into a splits contest and won

Makes flower crowns and knits rainbow flag scarves to pass out to everyone

Certified Mom Friend

Does everyone's makeup

Loses his shit when his shorter friends get lost in crowds

Hugs pride kids who were forced to sneak out or were kicked out of their homes then buys them ice cream / He and Nathaniel have adopted over fifty Pride kids who were kicked out of their homes

Joins Adrien in dressing like a Disney Princess. He SLAYED as Snow White

It may not seem like it, but Marc can throw a punch and fight with one hand right behind their back

Beat up a transphobic asshole for trying to “correct” a trans boy by forcing himself onto him. / They never did find the man’s body. In fact, all of his personal information was gone. Almost like he had never even existed... / Marc looks cute, but he can be terrifying when he needs to be

Alix: Two Out of 3 💚💜🖤🤍

She/Her & They/Them

Leaves many girls swooning as they skate by

Devious little shit

She doesn’t beat up protesters like her classmates. She pranks them until they cry / One year, they all ended up covered in rainbow glitter and pink feathers / Adrien and Rose help them make glitter bombs to throw at protesters, then they run away giggling

Wears sarcastic Pride shirts and black shorts with her roller skates

She and Jalil come out to their father every June

Alix: Father. I am AroAce! / Jalil: Also, I am gay! / Alim: Kids, I know. You’ve been doing this every year. / Jalil: Well... Thank you for being an ally!

This is the only time she’ll wear makeup / She wears it like war paint. Only it’s rainbow

Drinks the most juice out of everyone

Ships people with Alya. SHIPPING BUDS!

Myléne: Smol Asexual Bean ♠️

She/Her

Goes all out for Pride Month / Rolls around in glitter with Rose and Sabrina before every parade

Dyes her hair all rainbow / Wears a ‘Shakespeare was Here’ shirt with her asexual flag skirt

Has also beaten up homophobes and transphobes

Is the most vocal when it comes to putting those assholes in their place. Ivan has to hold her back sometimes

After an acephobe after they made certain comments (You ace folk know what I’m talkin ‘bout) She roundhouse kicked them / Every protester knows not to mess with the bohemian girl

Will blast The PROM soundtrack at max volume from her phone

Cosplays as musical characters. Veronica Sawyer was a fan favorite

Part of the “Where the Hell is Adrien?” Squad

Ivan: My Girlfriend is Stronger than Me, and it’s So Hot 💪😍

Prefers He/Him but is cool with other pronouns - Questioning his gender so isn’t using any labels right now

The responsible auncle

Mari and Alya’s partner in Pansexuality/ He can’t help if everyone is attractive, he just can’t!

Looks like he can kill you, but is actually a cinnamon role. Myléne on the other hand...

Has let Marc do their makeup and nails, and looks gorgeous!

Did drag. Slayed. Rocks those three-inch heels.

Tank tops and shorts club

Like Marinette, no one dares to flirt with him. Not because he’s out of their league, but because they’re scared of his girlfriend

Dyes his blonde tuft pastel pink every year

More pacifistic than her friends are when it comes to protesters, but if the right buttons are pressed, hell shall be raised

They join Alya and Alix in shipping random people

Rose: The Lovely Lipstick Lesbian💄

She/Her- Breaking lesbian stereotypes est. 2004

The kind aunt who supports all of her niblings

Has been going to pride with her dads since she was born/ One of her dads is a retired drag queen

Wears her rainbow fairy wings every year

Has a lesbian flag with dozens of girls' phone numbers written on it. / Doesn’t wear it anymore now that she has Juleka

Throws fistfuls of glitter at protesters and yells at them, “LIGHTEN UP!”

Sprinkles glitter on pride kids and tells them to sparkle

Marinette helps her make rainbow unicorn plushies to hand out to children every year

Dresses as Disney Princesses with Adrien and Marc. Princess Squad!

Bakes cookies to pass around

Drag Kings and Queens love this girl! She’s cute, loud, and carries glitter everywhere

Butch lesbians learn not to flirt with her after their encounter with Juleka

To piss of protesters, she dipped Juleka and kissed her for ten whole seconds / Rose: I bet your husbands don’t love you like that. / Drag Queens: BUUUUUURN!

Juleka: The Gay Witch 🖤🏳️‍🌈

She/Her & They/Them - Total lesbian

Was there when Marc was born, and will never forget that day. (She has an impressive memory, even as a baby)

They swore they saw a rainbow when he was born

Dresses as a witch and wears red eye contacts to every pride event so she freaks out protesters

Has actually cursed them / They just bought the spellbook off of Amazon

Carries around a rainbow parasol

Carries Rose under every threshold she comes across

Is a lot louder at pride events than on regular days

She actually sang Girls Like Girls up on stage, and everyone went wild

Sometimes wears suits

When they saw Rose being flirted with by some butch lesbians, they went ballistic / Now the butch lesbians are terrified of her forever

She and Luka help out with painting her friends’ nails and dying their hair

Dyes her hair rainbow every pride month

Luka: The Responsible Hot & Chaotic Auncle 💖💚💙

Agender- They/Them, He/Him, She/Her - Polysexual/Polyamorous

“For me, gender is like silence... I’m just not into it.”

Doesn’t really care what pronouns people use for him

Wears dresses to every pride parade. Anarka and Juleka have never been so proud

Is always doing drag cosplay. Marc and Nathaniel have never been so proud / They had people gawking when they did Jessica Rabbit cosplay

Purposely bends over in front of people, while wearing leggings, skirts, skinny jeans, or short shorts. Marinette, Kagami, and Adrien got nosebleeds

Marinette/Kagami/Adrien: Luka's ass in those shorts is a Godsend.

Dyes her hair rainbow every pride parade

The minute June starts, they’ll get up in the morning, grab their Polysexual flag, and just run around the city

Has been coming up with Pride songs to sing at protesters. Many of the songs insult them. / Luka: Okay! This one goes out to the trash behind barriers, it’s called, “Please shut the fuck up, you homophobic dildos!”

Got into a flexing contest and won second, but at the cost of their sequined sleeves

Asked Adrien, Marinette, and Kagami to be his significant others at a pride event. They all said yes

Has carried Adrien and Marinette on her biceps, and Kagami on her shoulders

Adrien: ... I marrying them first. / Marinette: Get in the back of the line, blonde wonder! / Kagami: Both of you move to the back.

Kagami: While You Were Busy Being Hetero, I Studied the Blade 🗡

She/Her - PanRomantic/Polyamorous

Surprisingly, her mother was very supportive. She even bought Kagami a rainbow sword / Turns out, Tamoe had a few flings herself. 😉

Kagami came out to the whole fencing team by wearing a pansexual-flag print fencing mask. Adrien squealed all through practice

She didn’t quite understand what polyamory meant and was confused as to why she had crushes on Adrien, Marinette, and Luka at the same time

After a bit of explaining and reassuring her that it was totally normal and not being disloyal to a partner, Kagami came to terms with being polyamorous

Tamoe allowed Kagami to go to her first Pride Parade. On the condition that she take her sword to ward off protesters

She was so overwhelmed and wasn’t entirely sure what to do until she found Marinette, Luka, and Adrien in the crowd with their friends

The four of them hung out together and got closer

Believes Adrien in pastels is one of the purest things on Earth

When Marinette and Luka entered the flexing contest, Kagami had to keep Adrien and herself from fainting

When Luka asked her, Marinette, and Adrien to be his significant others she tried to resist the urge to jump and squeal, but couldn’t hold it in

Likes it when Marinette wraps her trans flag around her. It’s so warm

Chased off a protester and TERF with her sword. They said some shit about Marinette being ‘fake’, Luka being ‘greedy’, and Adrien being a ‘pansy’, and she just snapped / While screaming in rapid Japanese, she chased about fifty protesters away. Her SOs were so proud.

Sabrina: The Ginger Gent 👑🏳️‍🌈

She/Her, He/Him in Drag- PanRomantic

Rolls around in glitter, as is a Drag tradition

Dresses in drag. / The Ginger Gent is her drag king name and she’s got like a glam rocker theme going on

Sequined leather jacket, coiffed toupee, glitter makeup

Started doing drag when she was twelve. Her dad supported her wholeheartedly and even entered her in junior drag contests. She took first place three times

Sometimes puts on private drag shows for Chloé. (Nothing weird!)

Marinette helps makes most of her costumes

Luka’s partner in Drag / Together, they kick ass and still look glamorous

A makeup expert (Next to Marc)

Roger taught her self defense / If you're going to Pride, learn to fight

Has taken down thirty protesters, his hair still looks awesome, and there's not a sequin out of place.

Chloé: The Badass Polysexual Demigirl 💖💚💙

She/Her and They/Them

Not really that attracted to guys

Best dressed. / Marc/Luka/Sabrina: She wishes!

Only allows Marc to do their makeup, no one else!

She has her own float in the parade / She passes out rainbow boas

Taking names and kicking butt

Has actually choked a protester with their flag and they don't do a thing about it since they're the mayor's child

Chloe: It pays to have political power. / Marinette: In this situation.

Doesn't tell people, but they came to Marinette, Nino, and Kim about gender stuff when they were questioning their identity

The day was spent teaching Chloe about the trans spectrum until she found the gender that felt right to her

Whenever Chloe gets excited, she makes out with the first girl she comes across. / Many young female protesters started questioning things when the blonde's lips grazed against theirs'

[thefactsofthematter]

hi bestie <3 you said send in some requests, so i'm suggesting:

javid with, "it's not okay! you're not fine!"?

i hope you have a good day !!!

hi bestie <333 i had so much fun with this, i haven't done a short little fic in ages!! here's a 2.7k javid fic - a college au and a classic (emotional) hurt/comfort type deal, heavy on the comfort ;)

-

"Wanna come for dinner at my parents' house tonight?"

Davey is laying on Jack's couch after his last class of the day, since Jack's apartment is just off campus, and it's a ridiculously convenient place to go nap after a long day of school. He honestly spends more time here than at his own apartment that he shares with his sister, a short train ride away.

"I'd love to," Jack replies, his gaze still glued to his computer screen, "but I totally forgot I have an art history paper due at midnight, analyzing a painting, and I haven't started. It needs to be ten pages, and I don't even have an outline. I'm gonna sit here and write until my eyeballs fall out."

Davey laughs softly.

"That sucks. Do you at least have some research done?"

Jack turns to him with completely dead eyes.

"Not a single academic source."

Davey glances at the clock. Jack has seven hours to pull this off, which is doable, but... intense. It would've been a lot easier to spread it out over a few afternoons, and it'll be a painful squeeze to get ten comprehensible pages of writing done tonight. Jack can write decently fast, but his spelling and grammar are atrocious, so he'll have to factor in editing time too. Davey is not envious of these circumstances in the slightest.

"Shit. Good luck. That sounds awful, but I'm rooting for you. What's your prof's late assignment policy?"

Jack, entirely beaten down, leans forward to rest his forehead on his keyboard.

"He won't accept them past the due date without a good reason... which I don't have. I'm just an idiot and forgot to put it in my planner— thank god Romeo texted me today to ask if I was done."

Davey pushes himself up and walks over to where Jack is sitting at his little dining table, under the constantly-flickering fluorescent bulb. He wraps his arms around Jack's shoulders and kisses the back of his neck.

"You got this. I'll come back here after dinner and bring you leftovers, okay? My mom's gonna be sad you couldn't make it, so she'll totally pack up a plate for you."

"You don't have to come all the way here," Jack sighs. "Your place is closer to your parents, and this is out of your way— you have work in the morning anyways, so you should go home and go to bed. I'll be fine, I'll probably write faster alone anyways."

Davey kisses him again, this time leaning around to plant one on his cheek.

"If you're sure." Jack's plan is probably the smart move, since Davey's shifts at his stupid coffee shop job start ridiculously early, and coming here would mean staying up with Jack until he finishes, probably distracting him. "In that case, I'll see you tomorrow after work, and I'll bring the food then... keep me posted about the paper, text me when you finish. And make sure you eat something."

Jack turns back to look at him with a strained, stressed attempt at a smile.

"For sure. Go have a nice time with your family, and tell everyone I say hi."

-

"Aba, you're doing it wrong. You have to use your left arm."

It's getting late in the evening, dinner has been eaten, and Les is trying to coordinate the family to make a TikTok with him. It's not exactly going well.

"My left or your left?"

"It doesn't matter, we have the same left!"

Davey has thankfully been placed in the back row, both because he's tall and lanky, and because he's so uncoordinated that Mom used to make you wear one of those leash backpacks as a kid to keep you from wandering into traffic... which is true, but Davey isn't sure why Les even knows about that. He certainly wasn't around yet when that was the case, so he probably heard it from Sarah.

While Les tries once again to explain how this little dance is supposed to work, Davey's phone starts to buzz in his pocket. It's probably a spam call, but he's not particularly invested in the dance lesson so he pulls it out to check.

Incoming call: cowboy babyy 💖🤠

Davey frowns. Jack never calls him. It's always texts or voice memos, since he's got some kind of weird aversion to talking on the phone. If he's calling, it must be important.

"Hi babe," he says, pressing his phone to his ear and walking off to his old bedroom to get some quiet, while Les shouts at him in the background for not taking this seriously. "How's the homework going?"

Jack is quiet for a second too long as Davey toes the door shut.

"...Not great. I'm really frustrated." He pauses and sniffles a little, sounding almost like he's holding back tears. "I don't know why I called you while you're having a good time with your family, though. I shouldn't be bugging you."

"Hey," Davey breathes, "you're not bugging me at all, sweetheart. Is the paper not going well?"

"I just... I'm so bad at writing, and I don't know what I'm talking about, and I have no idea how I'm gonna get this done in time." His voice is shaking, and it's breaking Davey's heart a little. "I'm being dramatic, though. I just need to keep working on it."

Davey sits down on the edge of what's now a guest bed, his old outer space-themed comforter replaced with something more neutral.

"You're not dramatic, it's okay to be upset. Do you want me to come over and help?"

Jack's breath hitches softly, and it confirms that he's almost definitely crying.

"You don't have to, you're busy with your folks. I'm sorry for calling." He shudders a little as he must try to take a deep breath. "It's okay... I'm fine."

Davey sighs, almost exasperated with Jack's self-sacrificial sense of pride. He'll never ask for anything for himself, not wanting anyone to go out of their way for him, even when he seems to be having a panic attack of sorts.

"It's not okay; you're clearly not fine, Jackie," he replies. "We already ate, and I'm not busy. If you want me to come over, I'll be there... do you?"

Jack is quiet for a moment again, taking a deep, shaky breath.

"Yeah. I do."

Davey nods, though Jack can't see him.

"Okay. I want you to take a little break from writing until I get there, alright? Change into your pyjamas and have a glass of water. Try to relax a little."

"Okay... thanks Davey."

The call ends, and Davey rejoins his family while tucking his phone away in his pocket.

"I have to go." He kisses his mother on the head as he walks by. "Thanks for dinner, Ima."

"Is everything okay?" she asks, catching him gently by the elbow before he can get too far.

"Yeah..." he sighs. "Jack's just having a hard time with homework, I'm gonna go help him out."

His father ruffles his hair and gives him a quick hug.

"You're a good boy, David. Take him those leftovers— your mother's cooking can fix anything."

"For sure. I'll see you guys next weekend, and I'll try to bring Jack along then."

He waves goodbye to Sarah and Les, grabs the dish of food, and then sets off on a speed-walk to the nearest subway station.

-

Jack is sitting on the couch when he arrives, his knees pulled to his chest, looking very soft and cozy in pyjama pants and one of Davey's old hoodies from some baseball tournament. He's staring into space, and he hardly even moves to acknowledge Davey's presence when he walks in.

"Hey darling." Davey leaves the dish of food on the counter and crouches down in front of Jack to try and catch his eye-line. He carefully takes Jack's hands in his own. "Hanging in there?"

Jack finally looks at him and nods, but as he blinks, more tears slip out and roll down his cheeks.

"I'm only done two pages," he mumbles, practically whispering. "I don't know why it's so hard, but I just can't do it."

"Oh, Jackie..." Davey reaches up to wipe Jack's tears, cupping his face gently with both hands. "Hey, you still have three hours, right?" Jack nods. "That's lots of time. We're gonna figure this out... let's just sit here and calm down a little first. It's gonna be okay."

He climbs up onto the couch to pull Jack into a hug, and the moment he's settled, Jack wraps his arms around him and breaks, sobbing into his shoulder. Davey cards his fingers through his hair and rubs his back; he's never seen Jack this distraught, especially not over homework. There's a good chance the problem runs a lot deeper, and stressing over an assignment was simply the last straw.

"You're alright," Davey continues, since talking is what he does best, even in moments like this. Jack is shaking with the force of his tears, breathing so hard Davey worries he might hyperventilate. "Listen, it's just one assignment, my love... if you get a bad grade, or if we don't finish in time, we can deal with that. We'll hand in whatever we finish tonight, so at least you won't get a zero. Worst case scenario, you retake this class in the spring... even that doesn't sound so bad, does it? I know you could handle it, if that's what happens."

Jack nods a little, but his tears don't stop.

"I'm so tired of being stupid," he hiccups, after a long while. "I keep getting distracted, and I can't word things right, and I spell everything wrong, and- and maybe I should just drop out, because I'm clearly not meant to be doing this."

"Baby..." Davey sighs, giving him a gentle kiss on the temple. "You're so intelligent, Jack. You're almost done your degree— after this term, you've only got one year left, and it's not like you do poorly in your classes, is it? Even when it's something hard for you, like writing, you always do well when you put in the work. What did you get on your sociology paper a couple weeks ago?"

"Ninety percent," Jack mumbles, muffled by the way he's speaking into Davey's shoulder. "But I spent so long on it, and you edited it for me. I'm gonna fail this one. I can't do it in one night, and I can't write papers without your help."

"Well, I'm here to help now, aren't I?" He rests his hand midway through brushing it through Jack's hair and scratches his scalp gently, which makes Jack shiver and laugh quietly through his tears. "Right? And you can write, darling— all I do is fix up the spelling and grammar for you. The ideas and words are all you, just like when you give presentations and knock it out of the park every time. I sure can't do that."

Jack finally looks up at him.

"Yes you can. You get nervous beforehand, but when you do a presentation, it's always really good."

Davey smiles at him, now that they're actually looking at each other.

"It's hard for me, though. Just like writing is for you— but with lots of effort, you're really good at it. See my point?"

Slowly, a small smile spreads across Jack's teary-eyed face, and he nods. Davey feels rather accomplished with this development.

"I guess so." He wipes at his eyes and sighs. "Sorry about this. I'm such a mess."

"No apologies. I don't blame you for getting overwhelmed— you're in a tough spot here." He pulls Jack in for a quick kiss, which they both smile into. "I brought you dinner. Go heat it up when you're ready; I'll look over what you've written so far and see if I can come up with some more ideas to add on. We're gonna work together on it, okay? What painting did you choose?"

"The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio," Jack sighs, looking almost forlornly at his computer on the table. "I have a lot to say about it, and lots of good stuff in my notes, but I just can't put it into paragraphs and sentences that make sense."

Davey nods, watching Jack as he stands up to go put the leftovers from Davey's family in the microwave.

"Well, I don't know anything about paintings, but if you talk me through it, I can help you put the actual paper together." He pauses as an idea dawns on him. "I'm gonna email your professor and ask about an extension— it might be a shot in the dark, but we should at least try. The worst he can do is say no."

"Sure," Jack replies from the kitchen, his voice still shaky. "He's a total hardass, though. Fingers crossed for a miracle."

Davey sits at the table, opens up Jack's email, and starts a draft.

Hi Professor Diaz,

Apologies for the short notice, but I'm wondering if it would be possible to have an extension on the analysis assignment, even if it's just by a few hours. I unfortunately mixed up some due dates in my planner, and I thought I had an extra week for this assignment; I only realized the mistake today, so I'm currently scrambling to get it done in time.

Would it be at all possible to turn it in a few hours late, just to have a bit more time to finish it up? I would really appreciate any amount of time you're willing to give me.

Thank you in advance for your understanding, Jack Kelly

He shrugs, sends it, and sincerely hopes a little professionalism and a decent (if slightly fabricated to make Jack look less forgetful) excuse will go a long way.

-

It's quarter to eleven, the paper is now five-and-a-half pages long, and Jack isn't crying anymore. He's in the zone, talking aloud about the painting while Davey helps him get his vague ideas into concrete sentences, and they're on track to have at least seven or eight pages by the time midnight rolls around— it might not get full marks, but it'll be better than nothing.

Jack's computer dings with the sound of a new email while they're taking a two-minute break— something they've interspersed every half hour, since Jack's focus is best in shorter bouts. He's in the middle of walking laps around the apartment to get his energy out and annoy his downstairs neighbours, but he scrambles back to the computer at the noise.

"We got a reply!" he shouts.

Davey is over on the couch, and he watches Jack's face closely as he opens the email. So far, so good... and then he slumps down in his chair in a show of what could either be defeat or relief. Davey can't quite tell, so he jumps up to go read it for himself.

Sure. Email it by 11:59pm tomorrow.

Sent from my iPhone

"Yes!" Davey shouts, grabbing Jack by the shoulders. "I told you it was worth a shot!"

Jack laughs, and then reaches up to pull Davey down for a kiss.

"You're the best, Jacobs. A fucking lifesaver." He rubs at his eyes, and then pushes his computer away, across the table. "I'll deal with this tomorrow. Let's just go to bed— you still have to be up early."

Right. Davey has a dreaded Saturday morning opening shift tomorrow— they open at five, and he has to be there well in advance to get set up, so he's got no chance at getting more than a few hours of sleep. He's going to be dead on his feet in the morning, probably fuck up a few coffee orders, but it'll be worth it to have helped Jack through tonight.

Poor Jack seems completely exhausted— as anyone would be after crying so hard earlier— so collapsing into bed after washing up quickly is an utter relief. Davey, despite being tall and long-limbed, greatly enjoys being the little spoon and Jack is happy to indulge him, so they curl into the familiar position.

"Thank you for everything tonight," Jack whispers, practically into Davey's ear. "I love you so much."

Davey smiles as his eyes fall shut, and he kisses Jack's knuckles softly, where his arm is wrapped around him.

"Any time, darling. I love you too."

[nightklok]

Kloktober Day 1 Prompt

Prompt: Favorite Character and OTP Pairing: Picklegail (Pickles the Drummer/Abigail Remeltindtdrinc) Title: The war is over and we are beginning Characters: Pickles the Drummer, Abigail Remeltindtdrinc, Eclair (cat), band members and charles are only mentioned Trigger Warnings: Very slight angst, very slight mention/discussion of trauma/PTSD. Tags: Some dark humor, mentioned trauma, discussion of trauma, fall, post galagtikon 2, hopeful/happy ending Summary: It's the first fall Pickles has realized he's lived through in years.

Author's Note: Yes this is...6 days late-But i still wanted to publish this anyway so enjoy :')

Read this fic on AO3 or read below!

The first day of fall fell on a Saturday.

And Pickles would realize it was the first time he had actually been aware of fall in years.

He couldn’t remember the last time he saw the leaves change or pumpkin picking or any of the fall activities he sparingly went to as a kid. He simply had no time, family, or desire to do any of those things as he grew older. He had the sudden moment of sadness that he had missed another fall but told himself fall was gonna come back next year and he’d just look at the leaves harder next fall. But he never did.

But now, he had the time. A lot of it. And a fresh perspective on life and just how wonderful living a quiet life was.

Getting to sleep in on a Saturday morning with the person he loved the most and having nothing else to do for the day was one of them. Normally, Abigail was the one who woke up earlier but for the weekend, it got to be the opposite. He could get up in an hour, make some breakfast and they could see about doing something together. Whether it’s going outside or staying in and watching something. But at the moment, he was content enough just sleeping.

But it wouldn’t last long sadly. Despite nothing important needing to be done for the day, he was woken up by the sound of meowing and a cat smacking his face.

Éclair, their beautiful cat they found outside a K-Mart, happened to like going on walks in the morning. And she was very persistent about her walks being exactly at 7:13 AM. It was 7:13 AM.

“C’mon, it’s Saturday,” He murmured as he pulled the blanket closer to his face, hoping that he could sleep for just a few more minutes.

But Éclair had no concept of time and would continue pawing at the sheets and when she began whining, he knew that his time sleeping in was already over. He didn’t want to wake her up and figured she deserved the extra hour of sleeping.

“Okay, okay, I’ll take you on a walk,” Pickles finally answered as he used a hand to gently push her away just so he could sit up. He was careful to not disturb Abigail but he saw her move and murmur something he couldn’t quite hear. He had to assume by the tone that she meant she was gonna do it. She always tried to even when he told her to sleep in on weekends.

“Just go back to sleep, babe, I’ll take care of it.” He answered quickly as he got out of bed but she was already sitting up.

“I’ll come with you.” She answered, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes., “Just give me a few minutes.”

There was no convincing otherwise and he was too tired himself to argue. He quickly snuck in a kiss before he got out of bed, “Alright, take your time.”

By the time he had thrown on some clothes and made himself look presentable enough, Abigail was already by the front door, kneeling down to leash Éclair. Despite them taking the same time to get ready, she looked like she had spent much more time doing it. Then again, she always looked beautiful to him regardless of how much time she spent.

He really did save the world to get to see today huh.

She stood up once she leashed the cat and turned to look at him with that small smile he always loved, “Ready to go?”

“Yeah,” He answered as he made sure he put the house keys in his pocket before opening the door to let her out first before himself. Éclair already began wandering around the front lawn, as far as her leash would go.

They were hit by a cool breeze that gently swayed the trees surrounding them, causing some of the red and orange leaves to fall gracefully onto the ground. The trees weren’t entirely turning their leaves yet but the appearance was showing much more by the day. And each day only meant another normal day. The worst was behind them.

“You sure you don’t wanna get a jacket?” She asked.

“Nah, I’ll be fine. Got my own body heat.” He answered before he pulled her slightly closer enough to feel her skin heat up by the touch, “Besides I know how you can warm me up if I get cold.”

She wanted to mention about the neighbors or anybody seeing them but there was no one around at the moment. It was just them enjoying the early morning fall, the cool breeze and quiet excitement for a new season that just begun.

“Well, are you cold now?” She asked as she pulled him a bit closer.

He didn’t say anything else but reached up to kiss her, feeling her warm lips as they pressed against his. It felt as compassionate as the other thousands of kisses they must’ve shared in their lifetime. Honestly, he could probably find the same feelings he felt kissing her when he got a first kiss; the excitement, anticipation and pure love that he got to kiss someone he loved.

Their kiss was interrupted when she felt her leash getting tugged by Éclair who had grown impatient of them. She sat as far as the leash would let her, looking up at them expectantly. Amused, they walked past their front lawn to the sidewalk but felt the leash being pulled once again. They turned around to find her sitting still, meowing impatiently.

“C’mon, wanna walk a bit more? No? Okay.” Pickles answered with a laugh as Abigail went to pick her up. Almost immediately, she climbed up on her shoulders as she always preferred.

Her idea of walking outside was to walk a few steps and one of them had to pick her up for the rest of the walk. Walking around a block required too much energy. Did they expect her to actually walk alongside them every morning? Yes. Did she never fulfill that dream? No. But they also fed into her routine and nature, it wasn’t just their house anymore after all.

There was no use in arguing with a stubborn cat. She had made her territory in Abigail’s shoulder and they simply had to go along with it. She adjusted the leash so the other end of it would hook onto the inner jacket pocket that had a small sewn in hole meant for earphones. Once she made sure that the leash was secure inside, she reached over to hold his hand who quickly took it.

They took the usual route around the block. Shoes crunched against freshly fallen leaves, the wind picked up slightly again causing the leaves around them to move gently against the wind to a new area. If Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Apple Cider weren’t a symbol that fall was approaching, it was the leaves.

Pickles did try to remember when he last fall. Was it when he was a kid? A teen, maybe? He always fled before fall approached somehow. Always ended up in an area where he could not see the seasons change and everything remained a stagnant season the whole time.

But there was nothing to run from anymore. He could stay and watch the seasons change and turn forever if he wanted to now. Is this what freedom really feels like?

“Do you wanna go grab some coffee at the coffee shop?” She asked, interrupting his thoughts.

He quickly snapped his attention back to her and nodded, “Yeah, actually, the one two blocks from here, right?”

“Yep.”

He knew she knew that something was on his mind but she thankfully didn’t say anything. She already knew enough that he would speak when he was ready and he was always thankful for being able to fill in the gaps when he couldn’t speak. And she would always be thankful when he knew what she meant to say when she could barely get a word. It was a secret language between the two that no one but them knew and it was one they were both incredibly fluent in.

The coffee shop was a mom-and-pop one located on the end of the corner. LGBT friendly (Did he ever find those kind of coffee shops growing up?) and even had a small corner of the area for younger kids to play with. It was one of the places that they always loved frequently going to-if they weren’t well known to the world, they would’ve been known pretty well to the baristas.

“I can take Éclair, you can go order for us.” Pickles said. There were seats outside and given the weather, it wouldn’t be so bad to just sit outside and drink coffee while enjoying nature.

“Alright. The usual?”

“Surprise me.”

Pickles managed to take Éclair off her shoulder and set her down when he found a seat with decent shade. He tied the leash to the pole of the table but she seemed uninterested in exploring and instead jumped on his lap, presumably to take a quick nap.

He checked his phone while he waited, trying to catch up on whatever missed emails and posts from friends he had missed. Admittedly, going from seeing his friends everyday to now once a week at most was one of the toughest things to shift to. From knowing everything that went on in their lives, his knowledge of their whereabouts now came from whatever they posted in the group chat or social media.

Toki’s selfie with Magnus over the Eiffel Tower during their backpacking in Europe route. Nathan’s blurry image of a kid playing with a gator from the alligator rescue/children’s daycare he had started with Rachel. Skwisgaar’s video of one of the songs he was working with Nathan. A prototype rollercoaster blueprint from Murderface for the Dethklok amusement parks he and Knubbler were in charge of. And Charles not sending a photo but reminding him through text about a meeting regarding his solo album.

It was a crazy feeling to have looking at the boys he had lived with for more than a decade suddenly doing their own things. Did he feel left out? Maybe things were moving too fast? Miss the old times? He didn’t really know.

He found himself staring at his screen for far too long until Abigail came back taking a seat in front of him, “They’ll be coming over in a few minutes.”

He set the phone down, “Alright, what’d you get me?”

“You did mention you wanted me to surprise, didn’t you?” She answered with a playful smile that was clear she wouldn’t go easy on him.

“C’mon, I gotta know if I’m allergic to it or not. Could very well be allergic to milk today and might not even know it.”

“Guess it’s up to you to find out then; I’m sure there’s an EpiPen somewhere.”

Of course, she wanted to ask what was wrong but she didn’t want to press him. She knew he would budge eventually, he always did, but it was just a matter of patience and hoping to catch him at the right time.

Eventually, the barista came with the tray of coffees and food she had ordered, including a puppuccino for Éclair who woke up and hopped down to get her treat when Abigail set it down to get everyone’s orders.

She set the pumpkin spiced coffee, cinnamon rolls and a breakfast sandwich in front of him. She had ordered the same pumpkin spice coffee and breakfast sandwich; she always tried to avoid desserts for breakfast but he quickly shoved in a cinnamon roll in her plate anyway, “Here it can be your cheat day.”

“But you made me macrons yesterday.” She pointed out.

“It was sugar-free. And you can’t just pass off on a warm cinnamon roll. It’s bad for the environment I saved.”

She contemplated not even long enough before agreeing. They were pretty good cinnamon rolls…, “Guess I’ll need to pay for your contributions. Alright, I’ll take it.”

Pickles grinned as he took a sip of the coffee. It was still hot but he refused to even express he burnt his tongue for the sake of looking cool, “Great, glad my hard work paid off.”

For as much as he joked around, he didn’t mention anything about what was bothering him for the rest of their breakfast.

He would mention it on the walk back home when it was Pickles’ turn to let Éclair lay on his shoulder and Abigail holding a bag of free treats that the baristas insisted they take home. A few desserts as payment for saving the world. It was well worth it.

“I forgot what fall was like.” Pickles finally said as he looked at her. He didn’t downplay his feelings by joking

“You did?” She asked.

“Yeah. It had been too long since I last saw leaves and everything else and whatever. I guess it’s making me realize how long I missed out on some things, y’know?”

She had to wonder how he even forgot about fall. Or the fact that his hair color always reminded her of it. It was the color of vibrant red autumn leaves, not quite ready to fall yet but when the sun hit it, it showed the intricate details and would even shine as bright as it sometimes. And how could she ever put that into the right words? Maybe it just wasn’t the right moment, “Nostalgia?”

“I-I guess it’s that. Yeah. Nostalgic for the old things I guess. I was too used to that life. And I’m very happy with you, I really am! I’m doing more of the things now than I did before, but it’s hard to just completely let go of the past.”

Of course, he thought she would get offended which is why he didn’t look at her. Here he was clinging to his past again like some spoiled brat. If only he didn’t open his mouth. He probably seemed so ungrateful-

But he was met instead with warm hands taking his and he looked up to a very understanding Abigail, “I understand. There’s some things I miss and feel nostalgic for too. I don’t expect you to not miss those things. These things just end up happening, it’s part of natural life.”

“I guess…it’s just a lot harder to adjust than I thought. I’m sorry if I’m just dumping this on you, though. I know that this hasn’t been easy for you either.”

It wasn’t easy when Abigail could barely sleep without getting horrific nightmares that he had stayed up most nights worrying about. It wasn’t easy when Pickles ended up getting horrific nightmares too when he came back home, and he had yet to tell her all that he dreamt about. Their future kids, grandkids even, and even the current neighborhood kids would ask for stories of their heroism. Do they even dare talk about the price that was paid for it?

It couldn’t even be said that they had overcome it. The nightmares were less frequent, yes, but they were there. All it took was one bad night to ruin a week or month even. The horrors of their past would most likely be there for the rest of their lives, looming over and ready to strike when things seemed to be better.

But they made it so far together too. What’s another mile anyway?

“It hasn’t been easy but we’re both getting there.” She paused her walking to look at him, “We made it so far together, after all. I don’t expect you to be okay the same way you don’t expect me to be okay either, right? I’m not gonna ask you to do anymore than you already are doing and what you’re doing is enough.”

“And if it’s not enough? God, what if I’m just fucking up right now? There’s no way I can just…I don’t even know what. It’s just terrifying to be falling down that dark path again.”

She watched as Éclair looked up to the leaves around them, eyes completely dilated to look at the world around her. A leaf would just brush past her, failed to be caught and it fell to the ground.

Of course the leaves would eventually be raked. Whatever wasn’t thrown out or burned would eventually become mulch for the soil. Would help provide for the soil when spring rolls around. Then everything will grow again. Everything will be okay.

“If we fall again, we start over and flourish.”

—

“What was your last memory with fall if you don’t mind my asking?” Abigail asked that evening. They sat in the living room couch, sharing a blanket as they watched Knives Out. It would quickly become a tradition for them to watch whatever fall-related movies there were just to get in the spirit.

He paused for a moment, before finally coming up with an answer, “I met you, didn’t I? We were at that fall event Cornickelson used to host. It was probably a few years before you became Dethklok’s music producer? But anyway, we were paired at the same table and I was probably awkward as fuck right then and there but you still wanted to talk to me. We went to the garden and we just ended up talking about everything. God, I felt like a teenager with their first crush when I was with you. I never got to say that your hair color reminded me of the leaves.”

[ladyxxdaydream]

a year-in-review meme - for writers!

I thought up this writing meme for fic writers who might have been staring at the artists having their lovely and well-deserved collages of their work through the year - and wanted to join in the fun! also this works as a great reminder for those of you (and me) who’ve been thinking that they haven’t been writing as much as they want to, and allows you to go back to enjoy your old fic ;D

Rules: pick your favourite sentence from a work you posted / wrote during a month of 2020! if you didn’t write anything in any particular month, don’t worry! tell us what you were doing or use it as free space for runner-up sentences. after that, tag 8 people or more to do the meme!

That being said, here’s mine:

Tagged by: @rikacain !!

I’m tagging -- @flailinginlove @aviss @kiitsvne @stupidbadgers and @tea-blitz who doesn’t use tumblr anymore but WHATEVER. and anyone else who wants to do it! <3

~~~

JAN: (from Heavy Weight)

“Iruka felt Kakashi’s eye on him. Most people feared the Sharingan, and for good reason, but Iruka feared his real eye, his own eye. It had a way of seeing straight past Iruka’s defenses, no dōjutsu required, and deep into his soul.“

FEB: (from Old Pine)

“Do you want children?” Iruka asked, feeling like the timing was right.

Kakashi was quiet for a few moments. Iruka had learned to read Kakashi’s silences for what they were. It wasn’t hesitation like he had initially thought. Kakashi simply liked to think things through before answering immediately. Iruka liked that about him.

“I think we have four already,” Kakashi said, eyeing Sasuke, Naruto, Ino, and Sakura through the glass door.

Iruka laughed, but refrained from clarifying. He knew Kakashi understood what he meant and would answer him shortly. Iruka had also learned that Kakashi had a tendency to be indirect, before he got around to what he actually wanted to say.

MARCH: (from Mouthful)

“So, Kakashi.”  Iruka said, unable to stand still any longer.  “We both like what we see. Now what?”

 He wasn’t usually this forward, but he was feeling it tonight. All of this playful banter was riling him up—it was his favorite way to flirt.

 “I like a man whose direct,” Kakashi said, shifting his stance to lean an elbow on the table. “But hmm,” he hummed. “I don’t know.”

 He gave Iruka a seemingly bored look, as if the obvious invitation to leave together was lost on him.

 “Well, I like a man whose decisive, so I guess that rules you out.”

 Kakashi let out a hard, surprised laugh. He downed the rest of his beer, and took Iruka by the hand, pulling him out of the bar without a word.

APRIL: (from A New Chapter)

 “I don’t know how to put this,” Sakumo started, “but… what the hell is that?”

 Kakashi looked at where his Father was pointing.

 “Uh… a diaper…?” Kakashi guessed, not sure where this was going. They had about a million others, in every color and pattern you could imagine, folded and stacked in the closet. Iruka wanted to go the re-usable route, and several of his students mother’s were eager to gift them. Kakashi had been less than thrilled by the extra laundry.

“Yes. It’s a diaper, Kakashi. Very good. Tell me, did you have both eyes closed when you put it on?”

MAY: (From Cake Substitution No Jutsu)

 “What’s this?” Iruka asked as Kakashi entered the kitchen, a fully dressed Tomo whizzing past them both.

 “Ah, it’s a backpack,” Kakashi said, crossing over to Iruka excitedly. “I saw it on display in a shop window while doing Gai’s scavenger hunt. Its arms and legs are the straps, so when you wear it, it looks like it’s riding on your back.”

 Iruka smiled, turning it around in his hands, noticing the zipper and a few pockets.

 “That’s actually pretty ador—”

 Iruka stopped speaking. The tail was tightly curled up inside plastic casing still.

 “Kakashi,” Iruka said, feeling his eyebrow twitch. “Is this… is this a leash?”

 “No. It’s a Puppy Pal… with an exceptionally long tail.”

“It’s a leash,” Iruka deadpanned. “A leash for a  child.”

 “You put Tomo inside a barrier the other day as a playpen,” Kakashi said, a matter of factly. “Why can’t I have some help controlling her?”

“That’s… that’s different!” Iruka exclaimed, feeling his cheeks heat in contradiction. “Would you like it if I put  you  on a leash, Kakashi?”

 Iruka regretted it the second it came out of his mouth. He could practically see the wolfish grin forming beneath Kakashi’s mask.

JUNE: (from Use Your Imagination)

They laid in silence for a while, listening to the sounds of the night through the cracked window—distant cars on the street, a lone dog barking, upbeat music wafting from a floor below them.  

Kakashi never wished for time to stop. In fact, he tried to keep himself as busy as possible—he chose a career that ate up most of his life for a reason. But right now? He wished time didn’t exist, hyperaware of how quickly it would pass before Iruka was back on a plane tomorrow.

He traced circles into Iruka’s lower back, watching as the brown skin pressed against his broke out in a wave of goosebumps. Iruka shivered, and then shifted, and Kakashi wondered if he was falling asleep.  

He selfishly continued his adorations, wanting to keep Iruka in this realm with him for a little while longer. He expanded his rake, sliding his fingers up Iruka’s spine, skirting around his scar, and back down again.

Kakashi wasn’t one to believe in divine intervention, or soulmates. He’d acted in enough corny films to almost make him hate the notion entirely. But the fact that a man as perfect as Iruka had come into his life so serendipitously—and just as scarred as he was—was something he couldn’t overlook.

It made Kakashi’s heart ache with want, before that ache traveled down, and curled into his gut.

JULY: (from Love Me As You Are)

“And then you demeaned their lives by calling them your soldiers—”

 “—is that not what they are?!” Kakashi cut across him, getting upset. “You’re as much a part of this system as I am, sensei! We both know the truth of it, whether we like it or not. I just called it by it’s name.”

“But they’re people too, Kakashi! Kids. They’re so much more than soldiers…”

“That’s not how I was treated,” Kakashi said before he could catch himself.

 Iruka’s mouth fell open with a punched sound.

 “Kakashi…”

 His tone was soft and free of the anger it held a moment ago.

 “Forget I said that,” Kakashi said, turning away, his cheeks heating up—the last thing he wanted was Iruka’s pity. “It doesn’t matter.”

“No,” Iruka said, shaking his head as he took a step towards him. “I’m not going to forget you said that. It does matter because  you matter.  You deserved to have somebody stand up for you too, Kakashi. I’m so sorry Konoha failed you.”

 Kakashi’s eyes burned with tears—he bit his tongue, refusing to let them fall. Those words pierced him straight through the heart. It was everything he never knew he needed to hear.

AUG:

um I didn’t write anything this month because my wife and I separated annnd my whole life was uprooted as I moved to a different country ksjdhgkdsj

SEPT: (from I’ll Fall, If You Do)

Their relationship was going really well. There were days where Kakashi still turned him away, usually corresponding with the mornings he had therapy. It was frustrating, because Iruka just wanted to be there for him, for Kakashi to open up to him completely, but he didn’t push. He knew that would only make it worse. They didn’t fight anymore, but Iruka regularly had to correct the language Kakashi used towards himself, and sometimes it was irritating for the both  of them.

But mostly… it was amazing. Their chemistry was incredible. Electric. And not just in the bedroom—they were never far from each other, drawn in like magnets, grounded by a simple touch or brush of hands. Kakashi hadn’t even left the room twenty minutes ago, and already Iruka felt the pull.

He jumped up from his seat and went to go find him.

OCT: (From Language Gap)

Iruka glanced out the bus window, his body instinctively knowing where they were about to pass. The building was still empty twenty years later, the brick still scorched, and Iruka’s nightmares were still plagued by the fire despite not being there when it broke out. He’d been sent on a delivery on foot — one steaming container of karē udon — two blocks away. He delivered to the same old lady everyday, and she always kept him longer than necessary, pressing sweets into his palm. When he had come back, the noodle shop was aflame. In his shocked state, he distantly heard something about a grease fire, before he was whisked away by the hand by his childhood friend Asuma, living with him and his father from that day on.

Iruka sighed and stood up, making his way towards the door since his stop was next. He really wished the city would do something about the building. Every time he saw it, it made him feel oddly exposed and vulnerable, like his past was staring straight at him.

He shook his head a little and stepped off the bus.

NOV: (From Brand New Sound)

Kakashi watched in stunned silence for a moment, trying to get his heartbeat under control as color effortlessly flowed from the artist’s hand onto the brick. Whoever this was, they had sort of become one of Kakashi’s heroes. People always said meeting your heroes was never a good idea—bound to be disappointing—because it brought them down to a human level.

But that was precisely what attracted Kakashi to this artist in the first place—the sheer, raw, humanness. The way they tackled hard emotions and vulnerability, baring everything through their work for others to see. It was honest and transformative, and Kakashi spent more nights than he could ever count wandering the streets when he couldn’t sleep, hoping to catch a mural he’d never seen before it was painted over. Sometimes he did, and sometimes he’d sit in front of ones he already knew and found new meaning in them.

DEC: (from Perks of Promotion)

“But why now?” Iruka insisted. “Why ask me out now? Right after I’ve made tokubetsu jounin? When we’ve known each other for years?”

 Oh.

Kakashi paused, the realization dawning on him. He didn’t blame Iruka for being suspicious of his intentions; he’d heard the way people said ‘the chuunin sensei’ or ‘the chuunin desk worker’ like it was some kind of insult. It always pissed him off.

Kakashi stared at his feet for a moment before lifting his head again, leveling Iruka with a serious stare. “Because I didn't think I’d live past 21. Because it took me an obscenely long time to become a barely functioning adult. Because I never had the guts before… I-I still don’t, not really, if you can’t tell by how much I’m fumbling around here,” he said with a nervous laugh.

[atths--twice]

The Second Year

So begins the second year of being parents. They have had a wonderful first year getting to know their little girl and each other once again. A year of tears and happiness, and now it’s time to see what will be in store for them. I hope you enjoy these stories of love and family life. ❤💕

A Remarkable Christmas 1a/8

Chapter One 

Christmas Trees and Declarations of Love 

It’s Christmas time in the Unremarkable House. Time for decorations, memories, friends, happiness and celebrating the holiday.

December 2019

Scully closed the gate, stopping Bella from running off the porch and out into the night, as Mulder set the last bin down, sighing deeply as he did.

“That’s the last of them,” he said, scooping Bella up and holding her to his chest, kissing her head before setting her back down.

“Did they multiply out in the shed? Why don’t I remember having this many last Christmas?” she asked, frowning as she touched the lid of the top bin.

“No, this is how many we had. Six, nearly full to the top.”

“I don’t remember so many.”

“Well, that may be because you didn’t carry each one out to the shed last year,” he quipped and she looked at him.

“Oh that’s right, because I had pushed a baby out of my va…”

“Hup,” he interrupted her, putting up his hand and pointing a finger at her face, giving her a look. “That’s enough of that then, Miss.” She laughed and he shook his head, taking off the lid of the bin.

“Oof,” she said, leaning up to look inside. “That’s… a lot. Most of this stuff goes inside, but I don’t think we need all of it in the house.” She stopped speaking at his scoff and looked at him.

“Her first Christmas, well the first one she won’t mostly sleep through, and you want to skimp on the decorations? For shame, Scully,” he tut tutted at her, shaking his head.

“Mulder, six bins.”

“Scully, first Christmas.”

They stared at each other and she smiled, reaching for a bin and lugging it to the door. He muttered a yes under his breath and she laughed, stepping inside the house, Bella following behind, rising on her hind legs to look inside the bin when it was opened.

“No, Bella!” she laughed, as she grabbed at the golden garland Bella had taken into her teeth, attempting to run away. A game of tug of war ensued, the garland missing some bits as a result. “I know it’s new and exciting, but we don’t eat decorations.” Bella barked and Mulder tossed a ball across the room and she chased after that instead.

They unpacked the bins, exclaiming over the decorations they acquired last year and the ones from years previous. She smiled at the small items that brought such joyous memories. The dishes, ornaments, and candles; it all held happiness within, even if some were bittersweet.

Working together, they cleared spaces and placed the usual home decor into the bin, taking the place of the Christmas items. By the time they had finished, stopping occasionally as he twirled her about the room, singing along to the holiday music that was playing, the house resembled the winter wonderland from last year.  

“We just need the tree,” he said, setting the stand on the floor and looking around. She smiled at him, watching his face as he took in all the beauty. He loved Halloween, she knew that, but truly he was just a kid at heart, and it showed up most during the holidays.

He caught her staring and he walked close to her, his eyes asking questions. She put her hands on his chest and he placed his hands over them, smiling happily at her. She laughed softly and he shrugged, their conversation silent, though each of them heard it.

“Let’s put these bins away and have a cup of tea before we head to bed. We can get the tree tomorrow, yeah?” she asked and he nodded. Closing the lids, they carried out the bins, leaving Bella inside the house.

She shivered as they closed the door and then she gasped. “Bella!” she cried and ran over to her dog bed, taking away the decoration she was chewing on. “Oh, Bella.” She sighed, knowing she did not understand what she had done or why it was wrong.

“What did she do? Oh, Scully, I know you liked that one.” He took the wooden nutcracker from her hands, large bite marks now covering his face and head. “Maybe they have another one at the tree farm.”

“It’s okay, but we could ask tomorrow." She sighed, taking the nutcracker back, as Bella came and sat at her feet. “I know, you don’t understand, but you’ve got a box full of toys, girl, let’s stay away from the decorations, okay?” She knelt down and patted her head, rubbing her ears, and Bella licked her face. “I know, you’re sorry. It was too much of a temptation.” Mulder laughed beside her and she looked up at him with a smile.

They sat on the couch with their cups of tea, candles glowing in lieu of any lights, reminiscing over last year. She set her cup on the coffee table, and laughed as she remembered his struggle with the tree and he huffed, but then laughed a rather evil chuckle.

“What’s that laugh?” she asked, glancing at him.

“Oh, it’s just quite ironic that you’re laughing at my struggles, when this year you’ll get to help. We’re in this together now, baby,” he said and she laughed.

“Should go smoother than, especially if I’m helping,” she teased.

“Ha. With your height?” he teased back and she gasped in mock shock. He laughed and she pounced on him, his words of warning about his cup of tea, falling on deaf ears. Bella barked and ran over to see what all the excitement was about.

She jumped on the couch and wedged herself between them, whining and wiggling as she licked at them excitedly. They both laughed, struggling to stop her, as they disentangled from one another and she moved from atop his lap, Bella still licking at him.

“I’m liking your thinking, Scully, but let’s move this to a more… private location,” he said, as he handed her his cup and lifted Bella off of the couch, grabbing her leash to take her out one last time.

Scully put their cups in the sink and blew out the candles. She smiled as she imagined the wide eyed look of wonder Faith would have when she came downstairs tomorrow. She picked up the snow globe and turned the winder on the bottom, hearing Greensleeves playing as the snow fell on the house and the small woodland animals inside.

Yes, she thought looking around again with a smile, she was going to love it.

_____________

The time it took to put the decorations up was worth it as they watched Faith look around the room, her head swiveling back and forth, trying to stare at everything all at once. They let her toddle around, not guiding her or trying to draw her attention, simply letting her look her fill.

Bella walked beside her, gentle as always when it came to Faith, which was still incredibly spooky every time it happened. Mulder tapped Scully’s hip and nodded with his chin toward Faith. She had walked over to the snow globe and stared at it closely.

“Ha,” she said, touching the glass and looking closer. “Ha.” She looked up at them and smiled, before looking at the snow globe again.

Scully knelt beside her and smiled as she gently moved Faith’s hands. “It looks like a horse, you’re right, my love. But it’s a fawn, a baby deer.” She picked up the snow globe and turned it over, winding it to play the music, and set it back down. “See how the snow falls? It’s falling on the little house and the animals. You don’t understand, but that group of animals symbolizes our little family. The fawn is you, daddy is the fox, mama is the bunny, and Jackson is the bear. He’s hibernating right now and that’s why we don’t see him much, but we might one day. Until then…” She turned the globe over again, letting the snow fall as she looked at Faith, who touched it gently and stared inside. When the snow had stopped, she looked up at Scully and smiled, making the more sign with her hands.

Scully turned it over a few more times and Faith stood in front of it, mesmerized as much the fifth time as the first. Smiling once again, she moved on, looking at the snowmen, santas, the gingerbread house which Scully allowed her to touch and then hold the little boy and girl who stood outside the house. She wandered around, holding them tight as she looked at the angels in white flowing robes, blowing golden trumpets. Turning around, she smiled at them again and they smiled back.

Mulder lifted her up, causing her to squeal with excitement, and brought her to her chair at the kitchen table. She set the gingerbread children down and stared at them as Scully and Mulder worked together to make breakfast, Christmas music playing from her phone on the counter. He kissed the back of her neck as he passed by to grab a plate, pinching her butt as he did.

“See? Six bins,” he said triumphantly.

“Yes, you’re right once again.”

“Oh… I never tire of hearing those words,” he said with a happy sigh. She laughed as she dished up the food and he kissed her softly. “Never tire of it.” Giggling, she sat down to join them, before they went to find their Christmas tree.

__________________

“So, we’ll stop in the house and drop this off and then head out to find the tree,” Scully said and Mulder nodded, sliding on the backpack and then setting Bella down, as she put Faith in the carrier and grabbed a plastic bag from the backseat.

Doors closed, car locked, they walked toward the little gingerbread house inside the Christmas tree farm. Breathing deeply, she smiled as she looked around. Memories of last year hung about like ghosts, coming to meet her as though waiting to say hello; tired but happy with a newborn, relief that everything was healing as it should, being home with the man she loved, Christmas being planned in their little house.

She glanced at Mulder, the leash held loose in his hand as he let Bella explore, her excitement evident in the wiggling of her little body. Reaching for his hand, he turned his head to look at her, happiness in his own eyes.

“Do you feel them too? The memories?” she asked, surprising herself at what she was admitting.

“As if they’ve been held within the trees?” he asked, nodding with a smile.

“It’s weird,” she whispered.

“Spooky. It’s spooky or it’s nothing,” he corrected her, squeezing her hand, and she laughed.

They walked to the house and at the door, he picked Bella up, shrugging as Scully looked at him. “Not sure their policy on dogs and I don’t want to get in any trouble.”

“You? Trouble? Isn’t that one of your middle names?” she teased, as he wrapped the leash around his arm.

“Government facilities, places with no trespassing signs: yes. Little old women who look like Mrs. Claus: no. Can you imagine how long I’d be on the naughty list?” He shuddered as he opened the door and she laughed, squeezing Faith’s legs gently and kissing her head.

It was warm in the little house and smelled as she remembered; of chocolate, spices, cookies, and Christmas. Everything was the same; the large sled for photos, the pot bellied stove, and the extraordinary amount of decorations filling tabletops and shelves, with Christmas music playing softly in the background. Yes, it was the same and it made her smile.

A door opened and Betty walked out, carrying a wreath with a red ribbon woven into it, pine cones, and red holly berries. She glanced up and smiled at them, then looked again, her face breaking into a huge grin.

“Hello!” she exclaimed, setting the wreath on the counter beside the register. “Oh my goodness, look at you all! Look at that girl!” She walked over and stood in front of them, her eyes shining with happiness. “I can’t believe how much she’s grown, but of course she has, it’s been a whole year already.” She smiled at Faith who stared at her and then smiled back, before she looked up at the decorations all around her.

Betty laughed and turned her attention to them. “I am so pleased to see you again, I was hoping you would be back this year. How are you? Oh my goodness, look at that, you also have a puppy! You are very brave indeed.” They all laughed and Mulder nodded in agreement.

“If you can believe it, was her idea, not mine,” he said with a smile and a nod toward Scully.

“Of course it was, we mothers are a special breed. We do crazy things at times, like agreeing to open a Christmas tree farm with three children underfoot,” Betty said, with a wink at Scully. “A puppy is tiny in comparison.” She reached out and held Bella’s head in her hands. She wiggled and tried to lick at her hands as she pet her ears.

“Howard will be happy to see you both. He was just talking about you two, you especially, Fox. He said he wanted to continue your conversation about, I believe it was, moth men?”

“Mulder, no,” Scully said, looking at him with a groan. He opened his mouth to say something, but knowing he had been caught out, he sighed and nodded. Scully sighed in exasperation as Betty laughed.

“He truly enjoyed it, so apparently it was a good conversation,” she said, patting his arm and stepping back.

“See? He enjoyed it,” he said, looking at Scully, and she rolled her eyes with a smile, before looking back at Betty.  

“Betty, last night we were putting up all the wonderful items we bought last year. Well, I say bought, but…” Scully said as she looked at Betty, who smiled as she touched Faith’s arm before winking quickly at Scully. “Thank you so much for each of them, they are all so beautiful. The snow globe especially, as they are important in our home and that one in particular… it’s very special.”

“It was calling to me, like I said. It was meant to belong to you,” Betty said with a smile.

Scully nodded, smiling back as she opened the plastic bag and took out the nutcracker, holding it out for Betty to see. “This was another favorite, and somehow little miss puppy got a hold of it. I was hoping you might have one similar to it.”

“Well, my goodness. Puppy teeth can be quite sharp and at times dangerous, can’t they?” she asked with a laugh as she took the nutcracker from Scully and ran her fingers across the teeth marks Bella had made. “She obviously liked this one nearly as much as you. Yes, I think I might have a similar one, let me have a look around.” She smiled and took the bag from Scully, placing the nutcracker back inside. “Howard was just helping another customer load their tree, I’m sure he will be back soon. Why don’t you head out and he’ll meet up with you out there among the trees?”

Scully smiled and rubbed her hand on Betty’s arm. Looking at Mulder, he nodded and they began to walk towards the door, when it opened and two people walked in, stopping short as they looked up.

“Fox?”

“Rachel?”

“Dana?”

“Skinner?”

“Rachel!!”

Everyone froze, looking at one another. Scully looking at Betty, wondering how in the world she knew Rachel. Faith clapped her hands, reaching for her Uncle Walter, as they continued to look at one another. Then from behind them, a great booming voice sounded and it broke the silence.

“Rachel!” Howard shouted and quickly walked towards her, engulfing her in a bear hug that lifted her off the ground. “Oh, my girl! It’s wonderful to see you!” She gave a strained laugh and he set her down, kissing her loudly on the cheek.

“Hey, Uncle Howard. I’d ask how you are, but you’re obviously still strong as an ox,” Rachel said, rubbing her ribs and moaning.

“Ha!” he laughed, clapping his hands loudly, pulling her in for another hug as Betty walked over, smiling and waiting for her own hug.

Scully, Mulder and Skinner stared at one another, not sure what to do or say, when suddenly Bella barked and Faith screamed, her arms still out, trying to get to Skinner.

“Come on, hand her over,” Skinner said gruffly, stepping closer to Scully, causing Faith to laugh and bounce up and down. “I know, honey, you just need to wait for your mama to release you from that strange contraption.” Scully grinned as she opened the carrier and handed Faith to him. “Ah see, isn’t that better? Now you’re free.” She put her hands in her mouth with a smile as they all turned to look at Howard, Betty, and Rachel, who looked back at them and laughed.

“If you could see your faces,” Rachel said, shaking her head, a hand covering her laughing mouth.

“So, you all know each other somehow?” Howard asked, a large smile on his face.

“Uh, something like that,” Mulder laughed.

“Uncle, Auntie, you obviously already know Fox and Dana, and little Faith there,” Rachel said with a smile, looking at Faith in Skinner’s arms. “Howard and Betty are my uncle and aunt, well, not blood, but family just the same.” She smiled again as Howard put his arm around her with a chuckle. “And this… this is Walter.” Skinner stepped closer, his hand out to shake Howard’s.

“Oh, Walter, hello,” Howard said and grasped his hand in what Scully saw was a hearty handshake. Betty stepped forward and shook his hand too, though a much softer version of Howard’s.

Scully watched them, a hand to her mouth to hide her smile. She cut her eyes to Mulder’s as she felt his hand tapping her back. He raised his eyebrows and she nodded slightly, knowing this was a big moment and she felt giddy with happiness for Skinner.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both, Rachel’s told me a lot about you,” Skinner said, switching Faith to his other arm, and Mulder stepped forward to take her, but stopped when Skinner shook his head. “I just got her and I haven’t even said a proper hello.” Everyone laughed and Scully saw Betty nod as she looked Skinner up and down, apparently approving of him instantly.

“Well, it’s wonderful to meet you too, Walter, and to see you all again,” Howard said, smiling at Scully and Mulder. “Would you mind if I held this little one? You can have her right back, I promise.” Skinner handed Faith over without hesitation and Howard held her, making faces and bouncing her around. She laughed as she touched his face and he made an elephant noise. “Absolutely gorgeous.” He handed her back to Skinner, smiling at Scully with a wink.

Scully glanced at Rachel and smiled. She smiled back, taking a deep breath, and then clearing her throat. “So, we getting a tree or what?” Laughter and agreement rose up and everyone but Betty headed outside. Mulder set Bella down and Rachel bent down to pet her. “What did you decide to call her?”

“Bella,” Mulder said and Rachel stood up with a look of disbelief.

“Bella? That’s it? A black dog was given to you on Halloween, the birthday of your daughter, and you named her Bella?” she asked, raising her eyebrows and Scully smiled, liking Rachel more and more.

“Well,” Mulder laughed. “Her full name is Belladonna, which I chose, and yet her name tag, with that name engraved on it, had been already been purchased beforehand and sat in her box of items. Is that a more fitting name and story for a Halloween dog?”

“Oh, hell yeah. That’s a much better story than simply saying her name is Bella,” Rachel said, rolling her eyes with a smile.

“Uh huh,” Mulder grinned and then pulled her in for a hug. “It’s great to see you, Rachel.”

“Of course it is,” she said, stepping back and grinning. Scully smiled and Rachel looked at her, hesitation on her face until Scully embraced her, telling her she was happy to see her again.

“Hey! What the hell? Let’s go get the trees!” Skinner yelled, holding a laughing and happy Faith, as Howard laughed.

“Cool it, man. We’re coming!” Rachel called back and they all laughed, walking over to join them and pick out their trees. Mulder fell into step with the men and Scully and Rachel walked behind them, smiling at one another.

“It’s amazing how big Faith’s gotten in just over a month,” Rachel said, looking at her and Scully smiled, waving at her as she looked at her over Skinner’s shoulder.

“She has been going through a growth spurt. Eating a lot and sleeping more. Some of her clothes never had a chance to be worn, she’s growing so fast. I think she’ll be tall, well, taller than me anyway. Although that’s not too hard to accomplish.” She laughed and Rachel nodded with a smile.

“And here I always wanted to be shorter. It’s how it seems to go, right?” Rachel said and Scully nodded, truth in the statement.

“So, Howard and Betty. How exactly are they family?” Scully asked, as she heard the men laughing heartily knowing they were definitely not discussing moth men.

“Oh, they are old family friends. We moved here when I was ten, and that year we searched around to find a cut your own tree place like we had gone to in Washington, and we found this place. We didn’t really know anyone and my dad was a very charismatic man. You can imagine how he and Howard got along,” she smiled at Scully and she nodded, knowing how much she and Mulder had liked Howard. “Well, their kids were grown, and the oldest had gotten married and had a little girl, I think she was about four. We all sort of became this little non family-family. They were there after my father passed away, taking care of us and making sure we had food, and were doing okay. I didn’t come out here last year as my mother and I took a trip, so I missed them, and I’ve been busy recently with… well.” She looked at Skinner and Scully grinned.

“Yeah ya have,” she said under her breath and Rachel looked at her, her face reddening more than from the chill of the day. Scully laughed and hooked her arm through Rachel’s. “Please don’t be embarrassed or think I’m teasing you out of maliciousness. I am truly happy for the two of you. Mulder has never had anything but wonderful things to say in regards to you. And Skinner, Walter…” She shook her head and smiled, stopping them for a second, so she could look at Rachel. “He’s a good man, one to which I owe my life. I know you and I don’t know each other very well, not personally anyway, but seeing him with you, knowing you through Mulder, I can’t think of anyone better for him.” Rachel smiled and blinked her eyes, wiping at them quickly.

“Walter has said so many wonderful things about you, and Fox too, but mostly you. He’s told me how he was always impressed and in awe of you; the command you demanded without saying a word. As much as that is impressive, I told him that’s simply a woman getting shit done,” Rachel said with a smirk and Scully laughed loudly, her head falling back. She looked back at Rachel and they smiled at each other. “But he also said he owes you his life, so it seems you two are equal. I don’t know everything that’s happened, but I thank you. Thank you for saving him.” Scully stared at her and her eyes filled with tears. Nodding, she put her arms around her and they both gave a shaky laugh, wiping their eyes when they pulled apart.

“SCULLAAYYYY!” Mulder bellowed and Scully shook her head and laughed.

“Come on, we better catch up. He only says it that way when it’s really serious,” she said, rubbing Rachel’s arm as they started to head toward the sound of his voice.

“A fox in a forest calling for his mate,” Rachel said, shaking her head and laughing, as Scully smiled, thinking of all the forests and places he had called for her in that manner.

Yes, that was exactly what he was doing.

Catching up with them, the next forty five minutes were spent arguing, laughing, and passing Faith and Bella between them as they searched for the perfect trees. Howard laughed at them, siding with the women in every dispute over height, fullness, and kind of tree.

“I’ve been around a long time,” Howard said, slapping Mulder on the back as he shook his head at Scully. “It’s always best to side with the woman.” Scully smirked and Mulder sighed as he mouthed never, causing her to laugh.

Finally settling on a tree, they took turns, Scully and Rachel laughing, as Mulder and Skinner argued over the best way to cut them down.

“I did this last year, I know what I’m talking about,” Mulder said, instructing Skinner of the angle at which to cut the tree.  

“One tree. You’ve cut down one tree and that makes you an expert? Shut up,” Skinner said, looking up from the base of the tree and shaking his head. “Just hold onto it and I’ll cut it down.” Mulder looked at Scully as Rachel danced around with Faith.

“One tree,” he said quietly, wiggling his eyebrows, looking down at Skinner and over at Rachel. Scully nodded with a smile, understanding the implication.

The tree cut, they carried it to the one Mulder and Scully had chosen, and set it down. Rolling up his sleeves, Mulder cleared his throat and knelt down to cut theirs down.

“Anyone interested in taking notes or a video even, to see how to properly cut down a tree, I’ll be here for a few minutes and willing to narrate as I work,” he said, as he began to cut down the tree.

“Seriously, how do you put up with him?” Skinner asked Scully and she laughed.

“He’s really cute and a great kisser,” she replied and he made a sound of disgust as he shook his head. Howard laughed and Scully winked at him.

The tree cut, Mulder stood up and grabbed Scully, kissing her loudly as he lifted her off of the ground, causing Bella to bark excitedly. Scully laughed against his mouth and kissed him again before he set her back down.

“One tree, Scully. Whose place do you think will be gifted with it?” he whispered close to her ear. He grinned as he stepped back and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

“Jesus… come on,” Skinner said and Scully saw Rachel smack his chest, Faith reaching for him with a laugh. “Sorry, honey. I have to help carry the trees, but I will hold you again soon.” He kissed her head and Scully saw a look on Rachel’s face that she had seen before, almost a sadness or longing. She smiled quickly, but her eyes still seemed sad.

“Here, I’ll take her,” Scully said, walking over to Rachel, smiling as she reached for her.

“Oh, it’s not a problem. You have Bella there, and I really don’t mind,” Rachel said, tickling Faith, not looking at Scully. Dropping her hands back down, Scully nodded and kept an eye on her as the men picked up both trees between the three of them, laughing and cursing as they did.

Walking behind them, Scully held Bella’s leash and stayed close to Rachel, feeling she wanted to say something. She heard her sigh, as Faith laid her head on her chest, saying Mama as she looked at Scully. Rachel suddenly sobbed out a breath and Scully stared at her. Tears ran down her face as she held Faith close.

“Rachel?” Scully asked, stopping her and touching her arm. Faith wiggled and pulled back to look at Rachel, touching her face with one hand, causing Rachel to cry harder.

“I’m… I’m so… sorry,” she gasped out and Scully shook her head.

“Don’t apologize. It’s okay, you go ahead and cry.” They stood in the middle of the trees, Scully gently touching her arm as she cried and Faith continued to stare at her, before laying her head back on Rachel’s chest.

As Rachel's tears began to slow, Scully took off the backpack she had taken from Mulder and searched inside for a tissue. Finding a small pack, she took them out, putting the backpack on again and handing one to Rachel.

“Thank you,” she whispered, taking it and wiping her eyes. “I don’t normally do this…” She gave a shaky laugh and Scully smiled.

“I shed some tears here myself last year. I think this place may carry some magic. Please don’t tell Mulder or he would want to conduct a thorough investigation,” she said, handing her another tissue.

Rachel laughed softly and nodded. “I’ve always felt that way about this place,” she agreed. Wiping her eyes again, she shook her head. “What you must think of me.” She looked down, not meeting her eyes.

“I think you’re carrying something heavy within you and it’s been there for a while. Something you may not even have known was there, but it’s decided to poke its head out and it’s causing you hurt and pain,” Scully said softly, watching Faith’s eyes grow heavy, tired from the excitement, and feeling warm and cozy as she was held by Rachel. “That’s what I think. Nothing more, nothing less.” Rachel nodded and rubbed Faith’s back, her eyes closed as she rested her cheek on Faith’s head.

“I’ve always wanted kids. Always. But…” She swayed slightly and shook her head. “It just didn’t work out. Seeing Faith at your wedding dinner, and even little Raina, it brought those feelings to the surface. I hadn’t thought of them in so long and that night… they were there again. And now,” She laughed softly and bitterly. “I’m with this amazing man, and all I can think is how much I would love to have a child with him. I know it’s fast. So fast.” She opened her eyes and looked at Scully, tears pooling in them. “I love him so much. It sounds so cliche, but I can’t imagine my life without him. I can’t.” Scully smiled and pulled her close for a hug, mindful of Faith sleeping, and they both sighed.

“Is your fear that he wouldn’t want a child? Because…” Scully said, shaking her head, stepping back as she looked at Rachel, who shook her head sadly.

“It’s not that. I’m 43. I’m… past child bearing age. There is adoption or foster care, of course, but I really wanted to have one of my own and my time has passed.”

“Oh, Rachel,” Scully said kindly. “No, you’re not. My situation was… well different to say the least, but… I’m 55 now and well…” She touched Faith’s back gently and smiled. “It’s not too late.”

“We haven’t even discussed anything close to this,” Rachel whispered. “I haven’t even told him that I… it’s too fast.”

“Is it?” Scully asked softly. “Is it really? Who determines when we fall in love? It may seem fast according to what society deems as “normal” but, six weeks, six months, would you still feel the same?”

“I would. I can’t begin to explain it, but I would. I... I knew it when I first saw him.”

“You just needed to be sure,” Scully whispered, staring into the distance, remembering many days of uncertainty, until she knew beyond a doubt that Mulder was her choice. He was and would always be the choice she made, again and again.

“Seven years,” she breathed, shaking her head, and closing her eyes with a smile. Laughing softly, she opened her eyes and looked at Rachel. “Don’t wait seven years to tell him how you feel. Don’t wait seven days. If you love him, tell him.” Rachel smiled, tears filling her eyes again, and Scully handed her another tissue.

“As for children…” Scully smiled at Faith. “I don’t think you need to worry about him. He acts gruff and grumbles a lot, but that’s how he shows his affection. How quickly did he take Faith from me? And he wouldn’t give her back.” They both laughed and Rachel nodded. “However children may come into your life, Rachel, if they do, he will love them with his whole heart.”

Rachel nodded and smiled, wiping her eyes again. Shifting Faith a little, she held her close and took a deep breath. “Thank you,” she said. “I talk to people every day for a living, but sometimes I’m the one who needs to be heard.”

“We all need that,” Scully said with a smile. “Are you ready to head back? Or would you like a little more time?” Rachel smiled and nodded once more.

“I’m ready” she said. Scully gave a gentle tug to Bella‘s leash and they continued walking toward the little gingerbread house, which they knew would be warm and inviting, and smelling of hot cocoa.

As Scully suspected may be the case, Betty had found a nearly identical nutcracker and would not hear of charging them to replace the one Bella had destroyed.

“You keep both,” she said. “It’s always good to see how what we do affects those around us. Seeing something like this, is a good learning tool sometimes. Life is messy, but we can always try and fix it, but it might not be exactly the same, which is why care needs to be taken with things we love.”

“Damn,” Mulder said. “You come for the trees and the pretty decorations and you get words of wisdom to boot.” She smiled at them both, and then continued to wrap the nutcracker.

They drank hot cocoa, eating fudge and cookies as they looked around, rehashing the experience of cutting down the trees, laughing as they did. Faith woke up, happy to find everyone was still together. Demanding attention, she found it was not hard to come by, when she flashed her blue eyes and smiled her sweet smile. They let her try some fudge and she enjoyed it, evidenced by her chocolate drooling smile.

A few new decorations were chosen for the tree and the house. Scully saw Betty throwing extra items into their bags and she knew by the time the decorations had been packed up and put away, they would most likely need another bin to hold all their new treasures.

Howard encouraged them to take a picture in the sled, all of them together, Bella included, as Mulder held her in his arms.

“Let’s get one of everybody,” Rachel insisted. “That means you too Uncle and Auntie.” Despite their protests, she maneuvered them into the sled as she set the timer on her phone and ran back to stand beside Skinner and wait for the picture to be taken.

They left together, walking out to their separate cars, the trees tied securely to the tops. Mulder placed their overflowing bags and the backpack in the backseat and put Bella in the travel crate they bought for her, in rear of the car.

Rachel still held Faith, but Scully saw a difference in her now, as though a worry had been lifted. Catching her eye, Rachel smiled and Scully knew it had. Whatever happened next, Rachel was ready to face it.

“Mama!” Faith shouted, reaching for Scully and Rachel smiled. Hugging her close once more, she handed her to Scully.

“She always smells so deliciously wonderful, I had to have one last sniff. That’s not super creepy is it?” Rachel laughed and Scully shook her head with a chuckle.

“Not at all. I find myself absolutely intoxicated by her scent as well. There’s something about the smells of a baby.”

“Hits you right in the ovaries, that’s for fucking sure,” Rachel mumbled and they stared at each other, understanding passing between them. Scully nodded and Rachel smiled. “Thank you for everything today. The listening ear, the discussion, the lending of this beautiful girl.” She touched Faith’s cheek and smiled again. “She’s so beautiful and such a happy little girl.”

“Unless she’s tired and hungry, then you might not recognize her,” Scully warned her with a smile.

“I don’t blame her, I’m the same way. Ask Walter about Pittsburgh one day. It was not pretty,” Rachel said with wide eyes. Scully laughed and nodded.

“Mulder could tell you many stories about that in regards to me. We’ll just steer clear of that topic around them, agreed?”

“Agreed,” Rachel laughed.

“You ladies ready?” Mulder asked, walking over and kissing Faith’s head.

“Yeah,” Scully answered, smiling at Rachel.

Skinner walked over and they all shook hands and hugged goodbye. Faith was taken from her, lifted up and hugged and kissed. Mulder took her from Skinner, and as they said goodbye once more, Rachel grasped Scully’s hand and smiled, silently thanking her again. She nodded and squeezed her hand before Skinner and Rachel got into their car.

Watching them drive away, Scully smiled and took a deep breath, happy for what she knew was coming for them.

“What’s got you smiling so happily, Miss Scully?” Mulder asked, putting his arm around her.

“She loves him,” she said quietly, turning her head to look at him. He stared at her and gave her a look of mock astonishment.

“Yeah, obviously,” he said with a puzzled frown.

“Oh, did she tell you too?”

“She didn’t have to, I could see it,” he said, opening the car door and buckling Faith into her car seat.

“You could see it?” she asked as he shut the door.

“Yeah,” he answered, crossing his arms and staring at her. She raised her eyebrows at him and he grinned.

“I recognize the signs,” he shrugged. Her eyebrows went higher and he laughed, uncrossing his arms and pulling her towards him. “She looks at him the way you looked at me… the way you do look at me.”

“Is that right?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck with a smile.

“Mmm-hmm,” he murmured. “Has she not actually said it yet?”

“No, not yet.”

“Hmmm… and what was the brilliant advice you gave her?”

“I told her not to wait for seven years. Not even seven days. If she loves him, she should tell him.” She stared at him and he nodded, smiling as his eyes dropped to her lips.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“And I love you,” she smiled.

He kissed her and she pulled him closer, trying to put every missed I love you moment into the kiss. The times when they had nearly died and she wanted to tell him. The moments that seemed so small and insignificant, when her love for him had bubbled up to the surface, only to be tamped down; she tried to convey it all.

Breaking apart, they smiled, kissing once more before they got in the car. Reaching for her hand, he softly kissed her fingers and smiled.

“I know that saying it, putting it out there and leaving yourself vulnerable, is terrifying. Seven years, Scully,” he said quietly, staring at her with a smile. “Hearing it, of course it’s important. But, Scully… I saw your love far before I ever heard it. Rachel may be worried to say it, but trust me, Skinner already knows. Love can’t be ignored, not when it’s being silently shouted every time you look at the person you love.”

“God… you always say the science talk gets you hot, well when you talk like that, hoooo boy…” she said with a low moan. He raised his eyebrows and she nodded slowly.

“Well…” he said, clearing his throat, letting go of her hand and fumbling with the keys to start the car. “I say we, uh, we head on home.”

She laughed as he quickly backed up and they started down the road. The car smelled of Christmas as Faith babbled away in the backseat and Mulder reached for her hand again. Interlocking their fingers, he hummed under his breath, and she smiled at him, her heart filled with happiness and love.

[prairiesongserial]

10.13

The cool air off the gulf plus the comfort of a cold beer went a long way after a long day of work, and people were starting to crowd the waterfront. Some of them might have noticed a nun dangling off the edge of the balcony of one of the many bars lining the street, but if they did, Friday didn’t give them time to do anything about it.

She squeezed her eyes closed, wishing she was taller as she adjusted her grip on the floorboards above. Inside, Mary Justine and Mary Rose, God bless them, were staging a fight as a distraction.  Friday could cry with how badly she wanted to watch two nuns get into a bar brawl, but sadly, she was the reason for the distraction, and she knew she had better use her seconds wisely. She took a deep breath, and looked down at her feet, which were swinging a good five feet above the ground. Friday dropped off the balcony, her ankles taking the drop the hardest.

Friday took off into the crowd at a gentle walk, her ankles smarting. She smiled at everyone she saw, dipping her head in a pious little bow, and whenever someone made eye contact for two seconds too long, or accidentally sloshed their beer on her, she chirped a nun-like greeting. She couldn’t stick to the same name, since that was the most fun part. Within three minutes, she had introduced herself as Sister Mary Sebastian, Sister Mary Eden, and Sister Mary Chastity, with designs on Sister Mary Margarita next.

Friday trotted cheerfully along, searching for the familiar street which had taken her and the nuns most of the way from convent to bar. She didn’t think it had been so far, and she usually had a good sense for that kind of thing. She was starting to get worried, not that it showed on her face. There was nothing worse than looking vulnerable, and Friday was well aware just how fine the line was between sweet, young sister of the convent and easy pickings.

Without warning, a tall man placed two powerful hands on her shoulders, spinning her around. Friday gasped - a real gasp that might have sounded very cute and nun-like to the man squaring off with her, but which was really the sound of Friday regretting not having her knife.

“Good evening, sir,” Friday said sweetly, forcing a smile. The man’s face was mostly hidden by a beaten up baseball cap, and he wore a dusty, moth-eaten coat, the collar popped up to hide as much of his face as possible. The fading light didn’t help, either, not that Friday needed to know who this man was. He was an out-of-towner, just like her. Chances were, he was after the reward.  “I’m Sister Mary M - ”

“I’m looking for Friday,” the man said hastily, his voice low. “You’re not in trouble. Just tell me where she is, and head back to the convent. It’s important.”

Friday’s brow crinkled. She slowly reached out and tipped up the man’s baseball cap, revealing Val’s brown face and violet eyes. He didn’t recognize her yet. And why would he? She must look like a terrified little mouse - she certainly felt like one. Relief spread through her posture, and she smiled at the absurdity.

“Is that you, Father Lecter?” she said in her mousiest voice yet, trying not to break into a full-out grin. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry, Sister,” Val said, heaving a beleaguered sigh. “Look, where’s Friday? Sister Mary Paul told me she took a few of you girls into town, God knows why, but I need to speak with her right away.”

Friday tipped Val’s baseball cap back down over his eyes. It wouldn’t hurt to play with him just a little.

“Oh, Father, it was terrible!” Friday said, casting her eyes to heaven and clasping her hands in front of her chest. “I was awfully frightened. When I left, all the other girls were drinking, smoking, gambling, taking the Lord’s name in vain…” Friday started to count on her fingers, fighting down a smile.

“Where?” Val yelped. He gripped the hand she had just been counting on. She was always surprised by his calluses.

“Val, it’s me,” Friday said, dropping her voice to a more comfortable octave.

Val roughly shoved the baseball cap up again, staring down at her with confusion.

“You look ridiculous,” Friday commented. She started walking down the street, forcing Val to follow.

“I look ridiculous?” Val sputtered. “Where are - what did you do with my nuns?”

“Lower your voice, Val, you’re attracting attention,” Friday said sweetly, making eye contact with a passing couple. “That get-up makes you look like a murderer.”

Val kept sputtering until they reached the street Friday had been looking for. It wasn’t a main thoroughfare, but she remembered the name from the walk down. Simple, unassuming Gibson Lane. They could talk more freely there.

Val kept pace with her, grimacing under his hat. He looked just about ready to explode, grinding his teeth as he chose his words. Friday just couldn’t help herself.

“You don’t think I cut a nice figure as a nun?” Friday said. “I think I could get used to the pious life.”

“You’re unbelievable,” Val muttered.

“This pinafore thing is pretty cute,” she went on. She sighed. “You really do need to change. People are looking at us through the windows.”

Val looked up in alarm, trying to spot the spies.

“Don’t do that,” Friday said. “There’s nothing we can do about it now.”

“What do you mean, I should change?” Val snapped. “I can’t go around in my regular clothes, there are - ”

“Posters,” Friday said. “I saw.”

“And you think I should go through town showing my whole face? With bright purple eyes?” Val shoved his hands in the coat pockets, scowling straight ahead. “I wouldn’t have had to go into town looking like a murderer if you had been at the convent where you were supposed to be.”

“I’m not supposed to be anywhere,” Friday argued, but her heart wasn’t in it. She did have some regrets.

“And you put the sisters in danger,” Val snapped.

“Now, hold on,” Friday said. “I didn’t know about any posters when I left. We were having chaperoned, wholesome fun.”

“Playing pool?” Val asked.

“Pool is fun.”

Val was rolling his eyes under that baseball cap, she just knew.

“Those girls are fine on their own,” Friday continued. “Seriously, you should have seen Mary Justine handle the situation. Slick as oil.” Friday sighed. “She...all of them are good kids. And they deserve a longer leash.”

The hot summer day had become a cool summer night. The breeze off the gulf chased them up the street, rustling through Friday’s skirts. It felt good. It was a gentle reminder that she didn’t always have to react in kind.

“The convent is not a leash,” Val said. He didn’t sound so angry anymore. That was good. Friday tried to match his tone before she spoke again.

“What I meant was, the world isn’t so dangerous that they can’t make their own choices to come and go, without feeling like it’s dirty, or wrong, to be a part of the world,” Friday said. “I’m just thinking aloud here, but… I needed help tonight, and not just anyone would have pulled that off for me. Keeping all the good girls locked up in a convent means there’s less good for the rest of us.”

Val grimaced. Friday smiled and flicked up the brim of his hat.

“They’re not locked up,” Val said, even more subdued. “They chose the convent life.”

“Then you should really get a couple pool tables,” Friday replied.

He rolled his eyes at her, and her smile widened. The road was getting more steep as they left the waterfront district well behind them. Night was falling, and the convent was a barely visible shadow in the distance.

“Alright,” Friday said. “This is fun, but are we in life-or-death danger, or what? Where are the boys? What’s the plan?”

Val filled her in, and she found that there really wasn’t much of a plan at all, at least not yet. The route they would take out of town had yet to be decided on, and it sounded like supplies were up in the air as well. But at least they would be away from the convent while they made their plans. There was no knowing how soon the gangs would descend.

The little house on the edge of the city crept up on them, but clearly Val had been here once already. Friday followed him around back. The door was opened for them before they could knock, both of them ushered inside by a tall, broad woman with a snake tattoo. Friday looked around. John and Cody were sitting at a small kitchen table, eating something that smelled like chicken stew. Another woman stood at the sink, washing up pots.

“You found her, then,” the woman said, abandoning the dishes. She wandered over, drying her hands on a towel. “There’s soup, if you’re hungry.”

Friday didn’t know if she’d be able to keep it down. Her stomach was full of butterflies. Everyone was here. Their stuff - not all, she noticed, just what would fit in their backpacks - was set by the door. They were really leaving tonight. Together, this time.

10.12 || 10.14

[leiascully]

if you're taking fic requests (sorry if you're not) could you write a post-revival fic where william is staying with mulder and scully in the unremarkable house and mulder wakes up in the middle of the night hearing william wandering around downstairs having gotten up to let daggoo out and also he couldn't sleep and he and mulder talk

Timeline: Post Season 11Rating: PGCharacters: Jackson, Mulder, DaggooA/N:  Better late than never?

The floor creaks and Mulder is awake instantly.  Scully just mumbles and turns over as he eases out of bed.  He doesn’t know how she sleeps through these things.  Maybe she’s just more righteous than he is, or maybe it’s his lifetime of insomnia still nudging him out of his dreams.  Maybe it’s the pregnancy.  She has seemed exhausted lately.  He picks up his weapon from the bedside table and pulls a clip out of the drawer.  Better safe than sorry, he thinks as he slots it in.  They’ve had more than a few unwelcome visitors the past few years.  He slides his feet into his slippers and pads down the hallway.  At least he wasn’t sleeping in the nude tonight.

There’s definitely someone in the house.  There’s a light on in the kitchen and Mulder can see a shadow.  Daggoo is barking quietly, these little excited sounds.  He doesn’t sound upset.  Mulder creeps down the stairs one at a time, sliding the clip into his weapon.  

“It’s just me,” Jackson says as Mulder comes down the stairs.   Mulder knocks the clip back out of his weapon and tucks the weapon and the clip in separate pockets of his pajamas.  Jackson stands in the doorway to the kitchen, Daggoo’s leash in his hand.  Daggoo prances beside him, and Jackson stoops to pick up the little dog.  Daggoo licks at his face and whines.

“I didn’t know you were here,” Mulder tells him.  

Jackson shrugs.  “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, buddy,” Mulder says.  “But text next time.  Send a psychic message.  Postcard.  Skywriting.  Whatever.”

“I see why she likes you,” Jackson says.  “The dog needed to go out.”

“Daggoo,” Mulder says.

“Excuse me?” Jackson says.  It’s hard to think of him that way.  It’s hard not to call him William, especially when Mulder can see himself in that face.  Mulder wishes he could sling his arm around his boy, ruffle his hair, all that dad shit.  He didn’t know what he was giving up when he left.  

“Daggoo,” Mulder repeats.  “The dog.  Daggoo.  It’s a Moby Dick thing.”

“Call me Ishmael.”  Jackson nods.  “On an insane quest to reclaim your manhood.  I get it.”

“Scully named it,” Mulder says.  “Her dad - your grandfather - he was in the Navy.  It was their thing.  He called her Starbuck.”

“Like the coffee?” Jackson asks.

“Like the first mate in Moby Dick,” Mulder says.  “I take it you never actually read it.”

“Not even the Spark Notes,” Jackson says.  “I’m going to take this little guy outside.”

Mulder nods.  “I’m going to make some cocoa.  It helps me sleep.  I think it’s part of getting old.  You want some?”

“Okay,” Jackson says.  “It’s like eighty degrees outside, but why not.”

“That’s the spirit,” Mulder says.  He turns his back deliberately on Jackson as a sign of trust and gets the milk out of the fridge.  Instead of powdered packets, he reaches for a box of Abuelita and unwraps the tablet.  It clanks into the pan.  He’s learned to let it melt first, so he doesn’t aggravate his shoulder trying to whisk it into submission.  Growing older is ridiculous.  He expected he wouldn’t be able to fling himself after suspects the way he used to when he and Scully met, but he didn’t think making hot chocolate would potentially incapacitate him.  He pours in the milk and puts the carton back in the fridge.  Domestic life is much easier when all parties agree on where things are supposed to be.  At least the milk has never been a struggle.  Depending on how long Jackson stays, it might become one, but that’s a small price to pay for the opportunity to get to know his son.  Their son.  The Van de Kamps’ son.

He’s still whisking when Jackson returns, Daggoo panting beside him.

“If you’ve got any smoking to do,” Mulder says without turning, “keep it on the porch.  It’s been a dry summer.  Nobody wants any fires.”

Jackson unclips Daggoo’s leash.  “Noted.”  He settles into a chair.  Daggoo prances on his hind legs, trying to get into Jackson’s lap, and Jackson scratches behind his ears.  “That’s pretty chill for a professional narc.”

“You’re not in my jurisdiction,” Mulder says, whipping up a froth on the top of the cocoa.  He turns off the burner.  “I save my narc powers for breaking up global conspiracies that threaten all of humanity.”  

“Respect,” says Jackson.  Mulder pours the cocoa from the pan into two mugs and sets one in front of Jackson.  He puts the pan in the sink and runs water into it before he pulls up a chair for himself.   He thinks about telling Jackson that Scully used to smoke, just to shock him, but he’ll save that moment for her.  It would be easy to be overzealous, trying to catch up on all the years he’s missed.  His son isn’t a baby; he’s a young adult, and he’s been on his own.  He has to meet Jackson where he is, on Jackson’s terms, or he’ll probably vanish into the night like a heartbreaking vision.

“It seems like it’s a little late to pull the dad act anyway,” Mulder says.  “Look at you.  All grown up and manipulating minds.”

Jackson shrugs and sips at his cocoa.  He makes a face as it burns his tongue.  “It’s a living.”

“You know you’re going to have a sibling?” Mulder asks.  

“Yeah,” Jackson says.  “Congrats, I guess.”  

“We don’t have to do family stuff,” Mulder says.  He picks up his cocoa.  “You did show up here, though.  My psychology degree was a long time ago, but that seems to suggest you have some kind of interest.”

Jackson sighs.  “It’s not like this is easy, man.”

“I get it,” Mulder says.  “The last time I saw you, you were less than a week old.  I mean, the last time I saw you before your life of crime began.  I don’t have a lot of practice being a dad, and I was a shitty son myself.”  He takes a swallow of cocoa.  “Not that you’re a shitty son.”

“I am, though,” Jackson says.  “My parents are dead.”

“You didn’t kill them,” Mulder says.

“I didn’t save them,” Jackson counters.

“I know how that feels,” Mulder says.  “Believe it or not.”

“I can’t hear you,” Jackson says.  “Not like I can hear her.”

“My dad was shot by my former partner,” Mulder tells him.  “Not Scully.  A rat named Krycek, who was part of the whole global conspiracy that I kept pushing up against.  My mom killed herself.  I never called her back the last time she wanted to talk.  I don’t know if that would have changed anything.  Oh, and I shot my biological father for killing you, or so I thought at the time.  Glad I was wrong.  Also glad I shot him.”

“Fuck, man,” Jackson says, and pauses, as if he’s waiting for Mulder to scold him.  Mulder just gazes levelly at his son, trying to take in every detail.  

“You didn’t kill your parents,” he says. 

“Guess not,” Jackson says.  He wraps his hands around his mug even though it’s warmish in the kitchen.  “You gonna ask me why I’m here?”

“I figured you’d get to that,” Mulder says.

“You gonna wake her up?” Jackson asks.

“She doesn’t need to know you were here if you’re not planning on staying,” Mulder says, looking straight into Jackson’s eyes.  They’re shaped a little like his own.  It’s uncanny, after all those years of clones.

“You protect her,” Jackson says.

“We protect each other,” Mulder corrects.  “Twenty-five years and counting.  It goes both ways.”

“I don’t know why I’m here,” Jackson says.  “There wasn’t anywhere else to go.”

“We’ve got a spare room,” Mulder says.  “You’re always welcome.”

“Even if there’s a warrant out on me?” Jackson asks.

Mulder shrugs.  “I haven’t seen one.  It’s not like those DoD types haven’t come knocking before.”

“I guess,” Jackson says.

“I’m not trying to whip out my credentials here,” Mulder says, “but you ever seen one shot and faked your own death using his corpse?  And that was how far we were willing to go before we had kids.  I’m not gonna let anything happen to you if I can help it.”

“That’s hard core,” Jackson says.  

“You didn’t get it all from your momma,” Mulder says.  “Or your other parents.”

“If I stay, do I have to talk about it?” Jackson asks. 

“The fact we thought you were dead?” Mulder asks.  “Not yet.”

“That’s fair,” Jackson says after a moment.

“She’s going to be so happy to see you,” Mulder says.  “She cries at everything right now, by the way, so don’t take it personally.  I saw her get weepy at a commercial for paper towels the other day.”

“I’ll be happy to see her too,” Jackson says.  “Uh, thanks, I guess.  For not shooting me when I showed up at your house with no notice in the middle of the night, and, uh, picked your lock.”

“A skill every growing boy needs,” Mulder says.  “Trust me, kiddo, I’ve had a lifetime of stuff weirder than you to deal with.”

“That’s probably good,” Jackson says.  “I mean, you’re prepared, right?”

“As prepared as anyone can be for parenthood,” Mulder says with a wink.  He takes a long drink of cocoa.  It really is soothing.  “You ready for bed?  You got stuff?”

Jackson jerks his head toward a ratty backpack in the corner of the kitchen.  “Just that.  I might stay up for a while.  Not really tired.”

“TV remote’s in the basket,” Mulder says.  “Not too loud, okay?  Your mom needs her sleep, with the baby.”

“You sure you haven’t been practicing this dad stuff?” Jackson asks, with a lopsided grin Mulder recognizes.  

Mulder smiles.  “Only in my head,” he says.  He finishes his cocoa and puts his mug in the sink.  “Let me show you your room.”

They cleaned out his old study together, when Scully moved back in.  It’s a lot less cluttered now.  His clippings are in a filing cabinet and his books are on shelves.  There was enough room for a pull-out sofa bed, one of those IKEA creations that looks a little too modern for the space.  It’s pretty comfortable, though, or it was when they stretched out on it in the store.  Mulder pulls out the mattress and take the sheets out of the storage compartment.  He flips out the sheet, nodding to Jackson to take the other edge, and they make up the bed together.  

“Bathroom’s around the corner,” Mulder says.  “Extra pillows on the couch if you need ‘em.”

“Thanks,” Jackson says.      

“You’re welcome,” Mulder says.  “I mean it.  You’re welcome whenever.”  He turns.  “This old man is going back to bed.  See you in the morning.”

“Mulder?” Jackson says, and Mulder looks over his shoulder at him.  He can see the delicacy of Scully’s bone structure in Jackson’s face, and something of her graceful precision in the way Jackson moves.  “You’re not a shitty dad.”

“I’ll try to keep that streak going,” Mulder says.  “Good night, buddy.”

“Good night,” Jackson says.  

[peterknowsshit]

Road trip (Leg 2, Part 1) Engagement at the Beach

Peter:

-With Arizona and all the glittery fun behind us, we found ourselves in California. I had been dying to get my Pretty Bird to a beach, and now I finally was going to have the chance. Sure, Texas had some. But nothing beats the California ones. There was one in particular that I had in mind to show her. I had only been there once before. But the second we decided to add this part of California to this leg of our trip, I knew that was the one I wanted to show her. It would require a little bit of a hike. But I knew she was good for it. And the payoff was so worth it. We would have privacy and a view. Both pluses in my book. Pulling the bus into one of the parking spots for the main beach, I killed the engine, and just gazed out the windshield at the rolling waves in the distance for a few seconds before turning my attention to @MyJokersWild- You ready, baby?

Tori:

Am I ready? [Smiling ear to ear when you pulled in to park, I gazed out that same windshield for a moment before turning my full attention to you. This trip had so many legs to it that each pitstop we came to was just another item marked off the bucket list. So far, we had stopped in Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico, was not that long ago from our sights. Each one more amazing than the last and this time, your destination of choice did not disappoint either. The views in sunny California were already stunning.] Of course I am! [Giving a soft nod of my head, my smile permanent, I reached for your door handle to let myself out, climbing right over into your lap to give you a kiss before doing just that.] You've been so secretive about this place, Peter Pan. Show me what it's all about.

Peter:

-my brows popping when you opt to climb over my lap to get out instead of using your door. Instinctively moving my hands to your hips and giving a playful squeeze when you kiss me, and letting out a disapproving sound when you climb out of my lap- We are revisiting that later. -offers you a smirk and a wink before climbing out of the bus myself, and shutting the door shut- I’m glad you chose those shoes. -drops my eyes to the shoes you had put on today- Instead of flip flops. -waves my hand in the direction of the wide expanse of beach in front of us- This is nice. But it’s got nothing on where I want to go. Getting there wouldn’t have been fun in flip flops though. -moves around to the back of the bus while you’re getting Rilla out. Reaching for my black backpack and stuffing some special muffins I had stopped to pick up earlier in. Along with some Kool Aid pouches, and a few other necessities. Then leaning to make sure you’re adequately distracted before checking one last thing in the side pouch and grinning to myself before zipping it up and swinging the backpack on to my back- It’s not far. -slams the hatch closed and comes around the side to meet you and Rilla- Just rocky.

Tori:

Of course, we would be revisiting that, mine. I did it on purpose. [Alright, enough with the torture.. Laughing this time, I watched as you gave me that look and went to the back to get ready, knowing we would be needing some supplies as I bent down to tie my sneaks with a double knot. Poor Rilla was already giving me the what for as I made my way over to the side door finally and I let him out too.] I'm sorry, boy. Lets get you ready. [The beach did look fantastic but I was growing more curious by the second of this secluded paradise you had been describing to me and I clip Rilla's leash on him, slamming the door shut before I meet you on the other side of the bus.] Rocky, I can do. I think a bit of a hike could be fun. You ready to lead the way?

Peter:

-places a hand at the small of your back and pulls you closer for a lingering kiss. Only stopping with a chuckle when Rilla starts to bark his disapproval at all this standing around- See those rocks built up over there. -points off to the west where there seems to be a natural end to the beach- That’s where we’re headed. -pulls my sunglasses from the top of my head and pops them in place with a grin before taking your free hand and guiding you across the sand-

Tori:

Okay, Rilla, we're going, boy! [Letting you take the lead after that lingering kiss, I can't help but give your hand a squeeze as we make our way down the beach. Rilla's own excitement bubbling over as he tugs on the leash to pull us faster. Having been cooped up for too long in the bus for his liking, I couldn't fault the young at heart old man for wanting to stretch his legs too. While there was no rush for either of us, no itinerary to keep up to, we were pretty much on our own for a Tuesday afternoon once we had broken away from the small group of people that had along the way had laid claim to their own spots on the beach. Our eager feet carrying us swiftly to the starting point of our hike.] How far up are these rocks, mine?

Peter:

Not high at all. -glances over my shoulder at the smattering of humans spread out on the beach in various places- They are just too lazy to figure that out. -brings my attention back to yours with a wink- Lucky for us. -takes the leash from you now- I’ll take Rilla though. I don’t want him to knock you off balance. And there’s going to be at least one place I’m gonna have to lug his ass. -allows you to start out ahead, smirking to myself at how the view I was getting was an added bonus then follows you up the sides of the rocks-

Tori:

[I had a feeling the suggestion of taking Rilla was heavily laced with more than the good manners you were undoubtedly raised with as a human. A tall, warm blooded male human at that.. So.. Of course, that didn't bother me in the slightest and I made sure to give you the best show of your life with my hips and ass playing the leading role in the slight peeks you were given. Climbing up over one rock, the boulders starting to cluster closer the further I went before it started to taper off. Waiting for you to catch up to me, I took a glance over my shoulder to see how far back you were and if you needed help with Rilla when I saw you were almost right on top of me with our boy in your arms.] You want me to take him?

Peter:

-looks down at his grinning spoiled ass in my arms and laughs- I got him. But what I do want you to do is check this out. -guides you a few more feet to the right and over one last rock before the view opens up- It’s all downhill from here. -sets Rilla down, stumbling a little when he attempts to take off down the path toward the beach, and ultimately just lets his leash go so he can run off ahead of us to our own private cove-

Tori:

[Just a few more feet and one more rock before the view took my breath away for I don't know how long. Reaching the clearing, I just stood there, soaking it all in before your voice and Rilla's broke through, catching my attention too.] You've been here before? [I couldn't help it. I literally gasped at every new sight I took in as we made our descent back down.] This is gorgeous.. Baby... [Gazes over to you finally and squeezes your hand, letting you pull me when I see that grin of yours widen further and I whistle for Rilla to hold up. Not wanting him to wander too far away from us when we finally reach the sand.]

Peter:

-I had to stop myself from pulling a Rilla and yanking you now as my excitement grew with each new gasp you let out- Only once before. I’ve been dying to show you this since we first started making plans for this trip. -chuckles, coming to a stop when we finally reach the sand- I doubt anyone will be joining us either. -releases your hand to pull my backpack off, dropping it on the ground so that I can squat down and pull out a couple of beach towels, and holding one out to you- I have Kool Aid and some special muffins. -catches your eye with a smirk to make sure you caught the meaning behind that- Or we can chill here...swim. Whatever my Pretty Bird wants.

Tori:

Whatever I want? [Ponders this for all of two seconds before giving you a wink.] What if I want both? [A kid at Christmas had absolutely nothing on you in the excitement department. It practically radiated off of you like a 1970's San Francisco heat wave once we reached the landing you had chosen and we pulled up some sand. Quickly rolling my towel out, I give it a quick "pop" before laying it down. My eyes never leaving yours once I do.] I'm down for whatever you had planned for us. I know one thing, I'm taking off these shoes. [Rilla was already snooping around your backpack with you, wanting his own beverage of choice while I worked at the knots I had made on my sneaks.] You really think it will just be us out here? [The wheels were already turning when shoe number one went, then number two.] No tan lines..

Peter:

-the mention of no tan lines had my brain misfiring as I froze in place, my eyes the only thing moving as they quickly flicked over to you to make sure I wasn’t missing anything important- I am confident that we will have no visitors. -looks over my shoulder at the rocks we just crossed over then back at you, bringing my hand up so I can tap my temple, signaling my gift- As a matter of fact, I know it. -falls back on my ass now when Rilla nudges me, and laughs- Listen, man. When a woman says something like that, you have to give her your full attention. -digs through the backpack for the collapsible dog bowl and a bottle of water, setting the dude up so he’ll get off my case-

Tori:

[Part of me knew it really didn't matter. If the likes of anyone were to round the bend, and cross over those rocks, I knew you would probably be up topside to greet them before they could fully acknowledge my naked ass. Even so, I laughed as I watched you with Rilla, taking the opportunity to tug on the back tie of my top and dropping it to the ground first, my bottoms went next before I got comfortable on my towel beside you, and stretched out, basking in the sun and your stare for a moment.] You hungry for a muffin yet, mine?

Peter:

-thank fuck I already had my ass planted in the sand. Because the sight of all that sun kissed skin never ceased to rendered me temporarily stupid as I allowed my eyes to trail over every last inch. The smirk on your face as you kept your eyes closed, enjoying the heat, let me know that you were well aware of my gawking, and I let out a low chuckle- I’m hungry for something all right. -refocusing on the backpack, I plucked out the two muffins I had picked up earlier before scooting my way closer to you, careful not to kick up a bunch of sand as I did- They’re blueberry. -grins proudly at that fact as I hold one out to you-

Tori:

Blueberry! Really? This is the most perfect date, mine. [Between the view, you and the blueberry goodness I now held in my hand, I knew my night was about to be made. You knew they were my favorite and as I propped up on one elbow, turning toward you when you handed me my mine, I leaned in further to press a tender kiss to your lips when you met me half way, naturally so.] I don't think this could get any better. Beside well, obviously, the muffin. Your kisses. You. [Laughing softly, I only pulled back long enough to slide the blueberry muffin up between us, giving us each a big ole bite. Humming softly as I began to chew with you.]

Peter:

-watches you with a playful glint in my eye as you speak- You sure? There’s nothing else that could make this day even better? -takes the offered bite, and takes my time chewing as I wait for your answer-

Tori:

Is @Snoopdogg going to pop out and smoke a blunt with us later? [Quickly, taking another bite to hold back my laugh, my smile was infectious once again when that memory comes to mind. I was only somewhat kidding but seeing you give me that look again, I was two stops short of pretty bird wasted as we liked to call it. Holding your gaze, I swallowed those last few bites I had and moved to lay back on my elbows again, watching you for a moment longer as I really gave the question some thought.] Are you going to make some fireworks? Paint the sky?

Peter:

Funny you should mention Snoop. -pauses long enough that you glance over my shoulder as if you’re expecting him to start descending the rocks next and chuckles- Unfortunately, he won’t be making it. But, I did get you this. -unzips that side pocket of my backpack meant for laptops and pulls out a box, waiting for you to sit up a little again before holding it out to you-

Tori:

Are you serious right now? Is it really his stuff? I love it! [Sitting up a little straighter when I see you go for a box, I pull it over into my lap for a better look with you when I flip the lid back open, seeing the bong inside. My laugh carried across the waves next as I started to look around you to the bag, then back to you once more.] You want to load it now or wait? You feeling your muffin yet?

Peter:

I’m always down to load it. -smirks- But wait. There’s a little more. I also got you an extra accessory to go with it. -digs a little deeper into that same pocket, pulling out a smaller box and palming it so that you can’t really make out what it is first. Taking your left hand in mine, and clearing my throat- Fuck. -chuckles nervously- You know I suck at words and feelings and shit, yeah? So, don’t hold my lack of suave against me when you answer. -Watches you for a few seconds until you humor me with a nod of your head and starts again- I have tried the love thing a couple times. Failed a couple times too. But this time around, things are so damn different. I mean it when I say, I am convinced you were molded inside and out specifically for me. My pretty bird. -grins wide- There isn’t a single damn thing I would change about you. But there is something I want to change about us. -finally reveals the little brown heart shaped box in my hand and flicks it open with my thumb to reveal the ring inside- Will you complete our little family, and marry me?

Tori:

[If there was ever truly an out of body experience, this was it... I knew something was up but when I saw the new bong I really thought that was it. Maybe some literal sex on the beach a little later and let's be honest, after this, it was for sure happening now BUT as I listened to you pour your heart out, those words you thought sucked so bad, struck so deeply. The arrow you fired met its intended target, me. Of course, it was then that the muffin really hit and only a soft sigh left my lips as I grasped fully what you had asked me at the end. Marry you. That really happened. And now, just now. Sitting up with a start fully, you still had my hand and was holding the box. Waiting for that answer.] Oh, Peter... [Those terms of endearment I gave didn't seem nearly enough. Your words were on repeat in my ears.."There isn’t a single damn thing I would change about you. But there is something I want to change about us." Yes. Yes, a million times, yes. There I was, naked as the day I was born being proposed to and nodding my damn head like my life depended on it. To the outside world, to anyone that truly knew us, it kind of did.] Yes, I will be your pretty bird forever. [I was, heart, body and soul, but watching you slip that ring on my finger, that bong was forgotten about as I moved to climb into your lap, my lips seeking out yours instantly.]

Peter:

-blows out the breath I was holding when you agree on a chuckle before welcoming you into my lap, one of my hands sliding up into the back of your hair to keep your lips against mine for a slow, tender kiss while the other rests at the small of your back, and allowing the kiss to linger a little longer before slowly releasing your lips with a grin- I fucking you love you, baby. And I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together.

Tori:

And I love you. You're still all I see and you make me the happiest pretty bird on the planet. [It was true. From the moment you had come back into my life, you had been this light in what had been a rather dark chapter. Forcing me to want more than I ever wanted for myself with a gentle kindness that you bestowed to me all those moons ago. Bringing my lips to yours again, I got real comfortable then, having no shame when my body fused to yours, my hips rocking as I spoke low. Those swim trunks absolute torture by now I was sure.] What all did you bring in that back pack, mine? [Nipping at your bottom lip, I laughing again too.] I want to stay the night out here.

Peter:

-lets out a low groan when you rock your hips against me then grins up at you, my fingers brushing through your hair now- Luckily, I somehow knew you would want that too. And I figured you wouldn’t mind sleeping under the stars, yeah? -reaches over with one hand, patting the backpack- I’ve got all the necessities for a night out here. Just us and the beach. -winks-

Tori:

You got it. Us and the beach. It couldn't have been more perfect, baby. [If we needed to hike back we could but for now, I wasn't leaving you or this cove. Rilla had settled down, gathering himself a drink before tearing into the back pack for a snack. A laugh escaped my lips again when I catch him and get him to park it before I turn my attention back to you, thinking a dip in the ocean could wait, wanting nothing more than to spend the rest of our engagement night in your arms.] #PrettyBirdWasted #PeterPanStoned

[thisishomenicktoonsau]

Just A Typical Morning

Sophie is just the typical 10-year-old girl. Except for her family life where she grows up in a foster home with a mom, a dad, 15 older siblings, six younger siblings, and several pets. Yup. Definitely typical. 

Hi, whoever is reading this. My name is Sophie Hathaway and this is my life. I am 10 years old and just moved to a new school. I’m not like other kids my age. I mean I go to school, hang out with my friends after school, I draw for competitions, I like soccer and video games but I also like stuffed animals and musicals. So I would say that I’m mostly normal.

Sophie was looking in a mirror getting ready for school in her tiny closet bedroom. She was dressed in a white tank top, a red plaid flannel shirt, jean leggings, and black converse. She tied her long curly ebony hair in a ponytail before putting her signature dark blue messenger hat on and turned to her white Maine Coon cat. “Well, Lion? What do you think?” Lion responded by lazily sprawling out on one of her shirts. Sophie rolled her midnight blue eyes and said “Thanks for the input Lion. Seriously that helps so much.” The moment Lion started to chew on the shirt she yanked it out from under him. Lion started to meow loudly in annoyance. Sophie smirked and said, “Yeah love you too bud.” She ruffled his fur and left her room her door ajar so Lion could wander in and out.  

The only way I’m not normal is family wise. I live in a foster home with several other kids. I’ve lived here since I was six years old and grew up in the younger half of the family. Lion came with me because he’s been my cat since I was five though he was my original mother’s cat. I kind of have learned to thrive in chaotic situations after living here for so long.

Sophie was looking for her backpack for school. She didn’t know why it wasn’t in her room with all her other things but she could chalk that up to it getting mixed up with some other moving boxes. She looked in the closest room to her own bedroom, being her brothers Timmy and Snap’s room, and saw a familiar bag strap sticking out from under the blue bed while Timmy’s Golden Retriever puppy, Sparky, was lying on the bed. She grabbed it and pulled it out from under the bed. “Timmy Turner! Can you please explain what MY backpack was doing under YOUR bed?!” Sophie yelled.

A brown haired, blue eyed, buck-toothed boy poked his head into the room. “I needed crayons for my comic book and you have the best crayons in the house,” Timmy explained like it was obvious.

This is Timothy Turner or “Timmy” for short. He’s older than me by a few months and has been here longer than any of us. See when he was two, our foster parents moved next door and noticed something not so good. His real parents were neglecting him and Timmy had a caretaker that was abusing him. So Cosmo and Wanda, who are our parents, did what was best and called social services on them. Cosmo and Wanda eventually adopted Timmy as their son and the rest is pretty much history. The weird thing about this story though is that we think Timmy may have had a twin sibling. Keyword: Think. There were two cribs in the house although since there wasn’t any record of Timmy’s birth and no other evidence that there was another baby in the house, it’s just theory for now. Sparky was Timmy’s tenth birthday present. Mom and Dad got him in March so he’s just a puppy.

Timmy acts like what you think a “typical” ten-year-old boy is. He likes gross things like dead frogs and literally has no idea how girls work to point I’m pretty sure he thinks females have a whole different language. He can be a selfish jerk sometimes but he can be a good brother too. We play video games together a lot and he once told I’m the sister he didn’t know he could wish for.

“Dude. Stop stealing my crayons!” Sophie said rolling her eyes.

“Then buy me some fancy ones like yours.”

“Right. Like I have my own money. We are literally both 10.” Sophie said deadpanned. Sophie was checking her box for missing crayons. Okay, everything seemed in order except. Hang on. Something was wrong with her blues. “Slate, Sky, Navy, Indigo, Cobalt, Teal, Ocean, Peacock, Azure, Cerulean, Lapis, Spruce, Stone, Aegean, Berry, Denim, Admiral, Sapphire, Arctic…. Hey. Where’s my blue crayon? I have all my other blues but not the normal blue one.” Sophie said looking up from her crayon box after counting them.

“Oh yeah! Nerd-tron borrowed it for his science junk notes,” Timmy said getting his own backpack for school.

“Ugh, you gotta be kidding me with this!” Sophie groaned as she stomped to the room next door and knocked.

“Jimmy! I need my crayon! You know I hate having an incomplete box!” Sophie waited for a few minutes before Jimmy opened the door and Jimmy’s mechanical dog Goddard suddenly ran by her legs.

“Oh hey, Sophie. What did you need again?” Jimmy asked.

“My blue crayon. You stole it from Tim who stole it from me.” Sophie explained.

“Oh, that was your crayon! No wonder it was such high quality!” Jimmy said.

“Yeah, so can I have it back?” Sophie asked.

“Of course! Let me get it for you.” Jimmy said as he started to search his desk area. Sophie followed him into his and ZIM’s shared room.

That’s James Neutron or “Jimmy” for short. He’s older than me by about a year and came here shortly after Timmy did. Nobody's quite sure what happened to his parents but Mom and Dad found him just wandering in traffic and took him to CPS. They did find some of his relatives on his father’s side but nobody took him because he’s apparently some sort of “bad omen” or something, so mom and dad took him in. It was then they were like “Well we already got the two kids, why not open up a foster home for more?” So he kinda started the whole Vanguard Home for Wayward Children in a way. He built Goddard when he was around six so it was a year before I got there.  

Jimmy is super smart, probably the smartest of all of us entirely being skilled in several different fields of science already. Though this can be annoying when he acts like a know it all and won’t admit when he makes a clear mistake. He stays mostly serious and doesn’t really play too much with us. Mostly because of Timmy. Timmy annoys him. However, he acts like a leader to us and takes care of us so that’s pretty good.

“Ah! Here it is!” Jimmy said holding up the crayon.

“Thanks, Jim. You’re a peach!” Sophie said as she put it in her bag.

“No problem. See you downstairs.” Jimmy said as he grabbed his bag and headed out. Sophie also started to head out starting to recount her crayons until she bumped into a teenage boy with black hair and ice blue eyes.

“Ow sorry, Danny…” Sophie said grinning sheepishly.  Danny rubbed his head as he stood up with his Bulldog, Cujo’s leash in hand.

“It’s cool Soph I was just gonna take Cujo out real quick. Hold on. You got a smudge on your face.” Danny said trying to wipe it off.  

“Mom c’mon stop!” Sophie whined as she tried to squirm out his grasp.

Danny groaned and said “Sophie. If you just hold still this would be over in a second.”

A high-pitched male voice called to them interrupting the squabble. “Danny! Sophie! What type of eggs do you want for breakfast?”

“Scrambled, please! And can I have hot chocolate to drink SB?” Sophie asked politely as she rushed to the banister to get away from Danny, making him sigh shaking his head.

“Of course sweetheart! Danny! What about you?” SB called back from the kitchen.

“I’ll take sunny side up SB!” Danny said as he and Cujo walked down the stairs. Sophie watched SB’s elderly cat Gary go downstairs followed by Lion and Sparky.

Those were two of my older brothers Daniel Fenton/”Danny” for short and Spencer Bob Sawyer-Patterson or “SB” for short. They both came here not too long after Timmy and Jimmy.

Danny is 14 and a freshman in high school. His parents were great scientists but died tragically in a lab accident when he was around four-ish. While his sister’s Jazz and Dani went to an all girls home Danny was not allowed to follow them making him end up here. Soon after he got here Mom and Dad got him a bulldog named Cujo to help him cope.

Danny is a really kind older brother. He’s kind of one of our parents second in command. So much so we actually call him mom because he always scolding us for doing the stupid things we do and wiping crap from our faces like you just saw. Danny always groans when we call him that even though he tells groan-worthy puns in return. Though we all know he secretly likes us calling him that as a term of endearment.

SB is 20 and currently going to culinary school while he lives here at home with us. Like Jimmy, we don’t actually know what happened to his parents. Every time he’s asked about it SB just bawls his eyes out. So we just stopped asking. All we know about his parents is that they are the ones that took SB to get his cat Gary, who has lived so long none of us know how old he is. Not even SB who got him as a full grown cat. Timmy swears he’s immortal while I’m just hoping we don’t come home from school one day and find him under a sofa “sleeping”.

SB is super sweet to all of us though he can be a little clueless and super innocent at times. Though I think he knows that strangely enough. Mom and Dad let him cook the meals for all of us cause he’s just such a good cook. He even makes all our lunches for school which takes so long he actually gets up at 4:00 AM to take his time making them. He’s definitely more of an early bird than any of us.

“Danny! Hurry up! We gotta leave in 30 minutes!” a black haired and violet-eyed teenage goth girl called from downstairs. Danny got to the bottom of the stairs with Cujo in hand and Sophie followed close behind.

“I know Sam. I just gotta take Cujo out to pee.” Danny said as he kissed her cheek before going outside.

“Morning dad,” Sophie said as she passed Sam to get to the kitchen.

“Good morning to you too son,” Sam said as she bumped the back of Sophie’s head.

Sophie went into the kitchen where she saw her brother SB with his curly dyed bright yellow hair with his original ginger hair peeking out and bright blue-eyes putting food down in front of her other older brother with dyed pink hair and dark brown eyes named Patrick. Jimmy and Timmy were already in the kitchen racing each other in an egg eating race. “Morning SB. Morning Pat-Pat.” Sophie said as she kissed both of their cheeks.

“Morning Soph-a-Loaf! Your breakfast is almost ready!” SB said cheerfully as he put down a fruit salad down for Sam who just walked in with her spider-shaped bag.

“Thanks, SB,” Sophie said sitting down next to Patrick who was scarfing down his food loudly which went along so nicely with Timmy and Jimmy’s muffled yelling. Sophie giggled as Sam pinched the bridge of her nose.

SB put a hand on her shoulder and asked “Tea?” Sam nodded quickly as SB poured her a cup of earl gray tea.

That is my sister Samantha Manson or “Sam” for short and my brother Patrick Star. They both came here about a few months after Danny and SB. Both have connections to Danny and SB too. Sam has been Danny’s best friend since kindergarten and now she is his girlfriend. Patrick has also been SB’s best friend since kindergarten.

Sam is the same age and grade as Danny. Her parents tried to force her into a life of fame and fortune that she frankly never wanted. So much so she ran away from her parents and ended up here. She and Danny just kind of clicked and got together by the end of middle school. Mom and Dad were pretty accepting of this. They just ask Danny and Sam make sure if and when they do something they are either out of the house, the entire family but them is out of the house, or lock the door which I’m still not sure what they mean by that. Do they mean kiss? Cause they’ve kissed in front of us before. Like more than once.

While we call Danny “Mom” we call Sam “Dad” a lot as an inside joke between all us. If Danny mothers us by taking care of our injuries and wiping stuff off our faces then Sam fathers us by punishing us when we do something wrong. Like when one of my older brothers, Manny,  “wandered” into a Victoria Secret to see girls. Even Danny knew that he was a dead man when Sam went to fish him out. I do still look up to her as one of my female role models. I mean she so strong-willed and passionate that I kinda wanna be like her when I’m older.

Patrick is 22 and currently going through community college though he’s not that great at it. Not that he’s stupid, he’s just a little slow. His parents have been out of the picture for a while so his older sister was taking care of him. A few years later he said his sister got “lost in the tide”. Whatever that means. He also has a pet a rock named Rocky that he randomly just found in the park one day and took it home with him.

Patrick’s such a sweetheart and really tries hard for us despite his faults like him being slow and kinda lazy too. Seriously he like sleeps a lot. I think I tend to pick up habits from my siblings cause I swear I have fallen asleep in some weird places just like him. Mom and Dad depend on him to feed the pets while SB feeds us.

Patrick got up and started putting down the food bowls for the pets after scarfing down his breakfast. He put down a bowl of nuts and bolts for Goddard, three bowls of big dog for Sparky, Boodles, and Perrito, a bowl of medium dog food for Cujo, two bowls of cat food for Gary and Lion, he put some sprinkles on Rocky, put out a muffin for Minimoose, and he put out a bowl of clams for Grudge. Goddard, Sparky, Gary, and Lion were already eating. Danny came in with Cujo and Cujo made a dash for his bowl as SB put down Danny’s and Sophie’s eggs. As SB poured Sophie’s hot chocolate into a mug, a tan boy with messy brown hair and green eyes rubbing his eyes sleepily came into the kitchen.

“Morning Tak!” Sophie said chipperly.

“Subah mere pyaare parivaar.” (Translation: ‘Morning my lovely family.’ {Hindi}) Tak said obviously not being too terribly awake as he made his way to the toaster. He spent a minute staring at it before he started to hit it. “Why. Won’t. This. Cursed. Machine. Work!”

Danny promptly went and stopped Tak from hitting it. “Tak. Leave the toaster alone. If you want toast so much then just sit next to Sophie and I’ll make it for you but Tak... the toaster isn’t even on.” Danny calmly explained.

“Oh…” Tak mumbled blushing as he sat next to Sophie. Sophie giggled and kissed his cheek.

That’s my brother Tak Pupanunu. He’s 13 and came here about a year after Danny, SB, Sam, and Patrick. He was the first one of us to come from a different country which he was raised in India. As far as we know his parents gave him up at one of the shrines and was adopted by his Uncle Jibolba and his adopted older brother Lok. However, Jibolba started to get sick and had to stay in the hospital most of the time. They moved to America so Jibolba could get better care. With Lok already being of age and Tak wasn’t it was inevitable he would be put into foster care. Tak is still allowed to visit Jibolba and Lok so it’s all good.

Tak’s gotten a good grasp on English though he still isn’t used to the technology. He’s a lot more mature than people give him credit for though he has been dragged into the childish side of the family by me, Timmy, and Snap before too. I was really scared when I first got here but Tak really helped me and actually treated me like a person unlike most of the legal people I had to go through to get here.

Now, this is where stuff gets kind of complicated so listen up. There was a very short pause between when Tak came and when the next kid came. Like maybe a month or so. Then Mom and Dad got five kids in a month. Like no joke. The first week were my brothers ZIM and GIR, the second week was my brother Manny, the third week was my sister Jenny, and the fourth week was my brother Blik. All of that in a row. It’s kind of insane how it happened.

“Good Morning my HORRIBLE family!” said a boy with light green skin, lavender eyes, and black hair strolled into the kitchen.

Sam rolled her eyes as she handed Tak his toast. “Morning ZIM. Did you take your meds this morning?” ZIM paused before shaking his head no.

“Zion Issac Martinez! You are supposed to take those every day.” Danny scolded.

ZIM looked down kicking the floor and mumbled out an apology. Danny sighed as he got him the right amount of pills and a cup of juice. ZIM took them without any protest.

Sophie then realized something. “Hey ZIM? Where’s GIR?”

ZIM looked at Sophie and said, “Well I did think he was following me down the stairs.” Suddenly everyone heard a loud squeaking noise. Sophie suddenly went to the stairs and caught a little five-year-old with bright blue eyes and long curly black hair.

“Hi, mama!” GIR chipperly said. Sophie sighed as a plush moose started floating around her.

“Thanks, Minimoose. Your muffin is on the counter.” Minimoose squee-ed happily as he flew into the kitchen. Sophie carried GIR into the kitchen with her.

“ZIM! You need to watch your baby brother better!” Sophie said as he put GIR in one of three booster seats and getting a bowl of Cheerios for him to eat.

“Not my fault he can’t walk downstairs.” ZIM shot back as Minimoose somehow ate that muffin in one swift motion.

Those are my brothers Zion Issac Martinez or “ZIM” for short, Greggory Ian Ramirez/“GIR” for short, and their robot Minimoose. ZIM is 12 while GIR is only five. GIR actually came here when he was pretty much a newborn. Oh, where to begin with these two. See ZIM was born to his mom as a really sick baby and he still is kind of sick but it’s better than when he was a toddler. I think it’s a sickness that affects his stomach and his liver so he can’t eat right and makes his skin this sickish greenish hue I call ‘I’m about to puke.’ green.

Anyway, their mom died shortly after GIR was born and with no father in the picture ZIM & GIR’s cousins took custody of them. They were abusive towards ZIM and didn’t take care for GIR. Eventually they just kinda got bored of toying with ZIM and listening to GIR’s cries that they just dropped them off here and didn’t look back. ZIM soon built Minimoose to care for both of them with daily reminders for ZIM to take his meds and keeping an eye on GIR.

ZIM is a bit… much? Oh, how do I even describe him? He’s brash, overconfident, and arrogant literally thinking he’s better than every one of us and better than anyone that he’ll ever meet. I have a theory that it’s because of him being bullied for being this sickly that he just ended up like this. He’s also really smart like Jimmy he just can’t really focus on a project for too long. I think mom once said after bringing him home from his doctor that he has ADHD or something like that.  ZIM is a good guy. Really he is. It's just really, really, REALLY hard to find the good in him. He does have his moments though. As for GIR well… I can literally describe him using two words. Sunshine and Sugar. Make of that what you will.

“We should probably teach GIR how to properly walk downstairs at some point,” Jimmy pointed out.

“We could probably cut his hair and he would be fine.” Timmy also pointed out as Sophie got out a brush and gasped.

“Absolutely not! His hair is a gift to society and should never be cut!” She started to brush GIR’s hair and tie it back into pigtails as GIR happily ate his Cheerios.

“So are you gonna brush his hair every single day?” Tak asked teasingly.

“I will if it means preserving his beauty!” Sophie said confidently.  

“What are we talking about?” a boy with tan skin, chocolate brown eyes with a scar over one of them, and curly chocolate black hair walked in with his bag.

SB handed him a plate with a sausage smothered in hot sauce. “Soph-a-Loaf got offended by the idea of cutting GIR-Bear’s hair.”

“I don’t see what the big deal is? It’s just a haircut to make him look shiny and clean!” Patrick said clapping.

“Of course it’s a big deal! How else is GIR gonna get all the ladies in his kindergarten class? He’s stinking handsome with his hair.” The boy said ruffling up GIR’s hair as GIR giggled and the boy took a bite of his sausage.

“Thank you, Manny for seeing my point,” Sophie said.

“Anytime Mi Amor,” Manny said winking at Sophie. Sophie groaned and rolled her eyes.

That’s my brother Manuel Pablo Gutierrez O’Brian Equihua Rivera or “Manny” for short. He’s 13 years old and actually is the second one of us to come from a different country. That being Mexico. His parents got divorced when he was really little and lived with his father and grandfather. However, it was deemed an unsafe living environment for Manny to live in so he was sent here. Both his parents and grandfather do still have visiting rights so that’s good at least.

Like Tak, he adapted to speaking English pretty fast and unfortunately has developed quite a habit of flirting like I mentioned with the whole Victoria Secret incident. Also, he just likes rebelling against authority just for the fun of it. Don’t get me wrong he’s just as protective as all my other brothers but he can be a bit obnoxious sometimes.

“What? Can’t handle my charm huh?” Manny said wiggling his eyebrows.

“Yeah, something like that…” Sophie mumbled.

Manny narrowed his eyes and squeezed her sides as he said “¡Ataque sorpresa!” (Translation: ‘Surprise Attack!’ {Spanish})

Sophie let out an inhuman noise and bumped her knee on the table. “You little ffff,” Sophie growled blushing.

“Sophia. Language. Little ears are listening.” Danny said pointing to GIR.

“...fluffer.” Sophie finished with a bite in her voice. Manny laughed along with Timmy and ZIM as he high-fived them. “Why do I suffer this type of abuse in this household?” Sophie grumbled.  

“Boys leave your sister alone. Just cause she’s younger than you doesn’t give you the right to pick on her just at random. At least be consistent if you are gonna tease her,” a teenage girl with red hair, blue eyes, and a robotic brace on her right arm and leg scolded as she walked into the kitchen. The boys rolled their eyes and each mumbled out an apology.

Sophie smiled and said “Thanks, Jenny.”

“Anytime Soph. Say, Jim? Can you loosen up the brace on my arm? I think it’s too stiff and I can’t really move it around that well.” Jenny explained.

“Sure thing Jen!” Jimmy said getting out a screwdriver from his backpack.

“You keep a screwdriver in your bag?” Sam asked raising an eyebrow. Jimmy just shrugged and got to work.

That’s my one of my other older sisters Jennifer Wakeman or “Jenny” for short. She’s 16 and is the oldest of us girls besides Mom. Jenny and her mom got into a really bad car crash that left Jenny’s mom paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair. Jenny wasn’t hurt nearly as bad but it left her right arm and leg paralyzed and unusable without special braces. Jenny can still visit her mom who now lives in an assisted living facility. She lived in all girls home before being transferred here.

Despite the trauma she’s been through, Jenny is a super sweet and upbeat person if not a little naive at times too. She’s usually the one who takes all of us shopping for clothes whenever we need it. She’s super into fashion and literally spends hours on the computer researching the latest trends so she can be a designer when she’s an adult.

“Finished!” Jimmy said as he pulled the screwdriver away and put it back in his bag. Jenny flexed her arm and sighed happily grabbing a granola bar to eat.

“Much better. Thanks, Jimmy!”

“No problem Jen.”

“By the way after school, we need to go to the mall for some new summer clothes,” Jenny stated munching on the granola bar.

“And who’s exactly paying for this?” a man with brown skin, black hair tied back in a man bun, and goldish eyes asked as he walked into the kitchen with a newspaper under his arm.

“Good Morning Blik!” Jenny said cheerily as she hugged his arm. “I was kinda hoping you would?” Jenny asked batting her eyes at him. Blik side eyed Jenny and it was then decided by Sophie that her sister needed help.

Sophie tugged at Blik’s pants and said in a cutesy voice “Pwease Bliky? We are growing children. We need new clothes.”

Blik blushed at the nickname, sighed, and picked Sophie up placing her on his hip. “Alright fine. I will pay for the clothes.”

That is our oldest brother Blik Cramdilly. He’s 25 and just finished college this year but moved back to help Mom and Dad take care of us all. His father ditched him and his mom after he and his brothers were born. Unfortunately, their mother passed away when they were kids and their grandmother passed away when they were teenagers. This led to them being unable to inherit their massive fortune and while his brothers, Waffle and Gordon, had family members to take care of them due to both their father's side of the family, Blik did not. This is how he ended up in foster care. Six months later he did inherit his fortune along with his two brothers before they went off to college. However, Blik remained loyal to our strange family and would come back to visit us until he graduated. He then came back home to help raise us and help with the finances.

Blik can be a real grump sometimes. And loud. Very loud too. He likes buying things for himself so he can seem very powerful to those who try to cross our family. Even though he acts like it’s the worst thing in the world I think that he secretly likes buying us things. I don’t know, he just seems like he’s in good mood after seeing me with the tablet he bought me for drawing or when SB thanks him for the new set of pots and pans Blik got for him. He also is the one who keeps track of our doctor visits and allergies surprisingly enough. I think that shows he’s at least somewhat concerned for our wellbeings.

“Ugh, do we have to go clothes shopping AGAIN? We already have okay clothes.” Tak complained.

Jenny sighed and booped Tak’s nose. “Someday dear brother you will understand the importance of fashion.”

Blik put Sophie down and said, “Alright does everyone have their backpacks?” He was met with a chorus of Yes’s, Yeah’s, Yup’s, and Duh’s.

“Alright then. SB give everyone their lunches.”

“Okey Dokey!” SB said cheerfully as he handed everyone a personalized lunch box.

The lunch boxes were hanging up on a rack in the kitchen. Each lunch box was a different color to tell who’s was who’s. Blue for Jimmy, Pink for Timmy, Green for Danny, Violet for Sam, Yellow for SB, Lime for Patrick, Orange for Tak, Magenta for ZIM, Teal for GIR, Brown for Manny, Bright Blue for Jenny, and Light Pink for Sophie.

“By the way, your sushi is in the fridge whenever you eat your lunch today,” SB said looking back at Blik who was getting coffee.

“Thanks, SB.” Blik said taking a long sip of that coffee from a ‘Nope.’ mug.

A frazzled looking woman with pink curly hair and wearing a yellow blouse came into the kitchen. “Okay! It is almost time for school! Is everyone in the kitchen? Let me get a headcount,” she said as she started silently started to count.

That’s our mom Wanda Cosma. Her dad runs a successful garbage company and she’s the heiress so we get funds from her dad. It’s pretty cool. She may run the company if she ever gets sick of being a stay at home mom which I don’t think is happening anytime soon.

She’s pretty much our responsible parent. You know the usual stuff. Stopping us from doing stupid things and making sure we don’t go to the hospital more than once a month each. That kind of stuff. She tends to play bad cop in actually disciplining us instead of letting us run wild and free. She’s actually really great at balancing all of us and making sure we get the attention we deserve and/or crave.

“Wait there is only 13 of you and Poof is upstairs with your father so which nine are we missing?” Wanda asked.

Blik looked at what lunch boxes are left. “Indigo, Aqua, Fuschia, Bubblegum Pink, Red, Gray, Bright Green, Powder Blue, and Moss Green.”

Wanda was trying to connect the colors to the kids as Sophie spoke up. “Snap isn’t down here.”

“And Boodles didn’t come in for breakfast…. so Bunsen isn’t up yet either.” Jimmy deduced.

“Neither did Perrito so Dora isn’t up,” Jenny added.

“Meaning Marinette and Tikki aren’t up either,” Sam concluded.

“Now that you mention it… I don’t remember seeing Adrien or Plagg get up either.” Danny said.

“Well, I know Vendetta and Charlotte are up,” Manny said shrugging.

“Where are they then?” Wanda asked with her hands on her hips.

“In the backyard with Grudge doing… something? I don’t know. Vendetta is a weird kid.” Manny said throwing his arms up like ‘what do you want me to do about it?’

Wanda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as she walked out of the kitchen and into the foyer. “Snap White! Bunsen Knai’livac! Dora Marquez! Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Tikki Dupain-Cheng! Adrien Agreste! Plagg Agreste! Charlotte Winfrey! Vendetta Mortcheva! It is time for school! Come to the kitchen!” Wanda waited for a moment before she heard feet running from the downstairs bathroom and down the stairs.

From the downstairs bathroom was a pale teenage girl with blueish-black short pigtails blue eyes, and freckles carrying a five-year-old girl with fair skin, short dark red hair, and matching blue eyes. The two coming down the stairs was a very lightly tanned teenage boy with blond hair and green eyes carrying a five-year-old boy with dark brown skin, messy black hair, and matching green eyes.

The two teens nearly crashed into each other as they both said with a slight French accent: “Sorry mom!”

Wanda shook her head. “What were you doing that took you so long? Marinette? Adrien?”

“Tikki’s hair was a real mess so I’ve been messing with it so it stays flat for the day,” Marinette said as she let Tikki down to get a poptart from SB. Wanda nodded to Marinette before looking at Adrien and Plagg for their excuse.

“Plagg was being a butt and whining about going to school so he was not being cooperative this morning,” Adrien said bluntly.

“SCHOOL IS BORING!” Plagg yelled from Adrien’s arms.

“Plagg sweetie. If GIR and Tikki have to go to kindergarten then so do you. As much as you want it to be so, Adrien can’t carry everywhere.” Wanda explained calmly.

Plagg pouted and said “Fine but there better be Camembert in my lunch.”

Wanda nodded and looked at SB who was giving the Bubblegum Pink and Red lunch boxes to Marinette and Tikki. “Oh right!” SB said as he grabbed the Gray and Bright Green lunch boxes and walking over to Adrien and Plagg. He handed Adrien the Gray lunch box before kneeling down to Plagg’s height giving him the Bright Green lunch box.

“And I put extra Camembert so you can be an extra good boy today!” SB smiled.

Plagg grinned hopping up and down. “Cool! Thanks, SB!”

If you couldn’t tell the girls are Marinette Dupain-Cheng and her little sister Tikki while the boys are Adrien Agreste and his little brother Plagg. Adrien is 15, Marinette is 14, and Tikki and Plagg are both five years old just like GIR. All four of them are originally from France actually and came around the same time about a few months before Poof was born so it was a little stressful for mom but dad handled it really well. Marinette and Adrien are also dating too and follow the same rules as Danny and Sam.

Marinette and Tikki’s parents tragically died in a car crash on a really rainy night while Marinette was babysitting Tikki. Her parents always dreamed of moving to America with their daughters to start a franchise of bakeries so that’s what Marinette told her grandmother, who really was too busy traveling to take care of her granddaughters. So she came over to America with them and dropped them both off here and they stayed here ever since.

Adrien and Plagg’s story is a bit more troubling. See shortly after Plagg was born Adrien’s mother went missing and Adrien’s father became more and more closed off towards his sons. His father wanted the Agreste name to be absolutely perfect with no smudges what so ever. So he forced Adrien to be a model and controlled what Adrien did, where he would go, who he would talk to, and even what he ate. Plagg though wasn’t as treated as “nice” as Adrien was. Their father didn’t see Plagg as his son due to his skin color and locked him away in a back bedroom. Adrien was the only one allowed to care for him and this caused Plagg to become inseparable with Adrien. After Adrien’s bold move of divorcing his father, he and Plagg were moved to be closer to their mother’s friends, the Bourgeois’, who lived in America leading them to come here.

Marinette is a lot like Jenny actually. She’s sweet, outgoing, and very into fashion. She’ll be the one most likely to help Jenny shop for clothes for us. This is because the boys don’t care except for Adrien, all Sam knows is Hot Topic, I get distracted by the simplest things, Dora is still new to this “teenage girl” thing, and Tikki, Vendetta, and Charlotte are way too young to understand. Though her differences from Jenny, Marinette is a bit more awkward in social situations and way clumsier than any of us. She has her moments of confidence though. Especially when she’s sticking up for Tikki or any of us for that matter.

Tikki is the polar opposite of both GIR and Plagg oddly enough. For a five-year-old, she is incredibly calm and quiet. Like to strange level. Of course, she’s extremely kind and loving towards us. Sometimes though she just quietly follows us around. She does this for cookies. We give her a cookie and she goes away to follow someone else. We know we shouldn’t be feeding her habit but that’s literally all we can do. She won’t accept anything else. The only one that doesn’t seem to mind is Marinette because she’s used to this. Tikki is a really sweet girl though.

Adrien is definitely a people person during parties but he’s actually much of an introvert due to his father’s “brainwashing”. We’ve been helping him get more freedom though. This has turned him into a more fun loving person. Oh sure he’s still kinda serious but he’s getting better. Unfortunately, Danny has gotten him into saying puns and it’s gotten kind of annoying. Still, Adrien is an extremely kind person despite what his father has done to him over the years and is being a big help to us with the smaller kids.

Plagg apparently used to be a very silent and obedient child under his father’s rule according to Adrien. Yeah... I don’t buy it for a second. To me at his best Plagg is carefree and sarcastic, at his worst he’s a lazy and sour little kid. He has become Timmy, Manny, and Snap’s protege when it comes to pranks. It sucks but it makes him happy so why not? Plagg is also an extremely picky eater. He will not eat anything unless we give him Camembert cheese with it. It’s kinda weird.  

“By the way Mari? Tikki? Where’s Dora? Don’t tell me she’s still asleep.” Wanda said.

“Oh no. Perrito was whining earlier this morning so Dora took him out earlier than she usually does.” Marinette said as she bit into a banana.

Adrien came and wrapped an arm around Mari. “I think it was like six o’clock when she left cause I was in the bathroom with Plagg.”

“Well do you know when she’ll be back?” Wanda asked. Marinette tried to remember as Tikki tugged on her foster mother’s pant leg. “Yes, Tikki? What is it?”

Tikki starred at Wanda chewing on her poptart until she finally said: “Dora said she would be back before school.” Just as Tikki said that in walked a 12-year-old girl with tanned skin, long chocolate brown hair, and brown eyes holding a leash with a chocolate lab at the end of it.

“Lo Siento mama. Perrito really had to go to the bathroom,” (Translation: ‘Sorry mom.’ {Spanish}) the girl said.

Wanda sighed and said “It’s alright Dora. Just remember to take your phone with you next time you go out with Perrito. Okay?”

“Si, mama.” (Translation: ‘Yes, mom.’) Dora said letting Perrito off the leash to get his food. “By the way Patrick, could I have one of those little cookies for Perrito? He had a hard time going outside.” Dora asked. Patrick nodded as he got a special biscuit for Perrito and put it in Perrito’s food.

“Dora! Here’s your lunch box.” SB said handing the Fuschia lunch box to her.

Dora grinned and said “Gracias SB!” (Translation: ‘Thanks, SB!’)

That’s Dora Marquez. She’s 12 years old and roughly came here about a few months after I did. Like Manny, she came here from Mexico and moved to the states when she was around eight years old with her parents, her little brother and sister, her grandmother, and Perrito. When she turned nine her parents had to go back on an expedition of the rainforest to help some injured animals so while her grandmother and siblings stayed in the city, Dora and Perrito moved in with us.

Dora is a super kind person. Like to the point that it’s almost sickly sweet and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her get angry at like anything. She is kind of a tomboy like me so I look up to her a lot and like to go on adventures with her. Though lately she’s been getting more and more girly. I mean I don’t mind it so much it’s just that I either have to go with my sisters who are girlier than I am or with the boys who can be very, very annoying. Otherwise, though Dora is probably the nicest sister I could ask for.

“Dora? Did you see Bunsen or Snap get up for school?” Blik asked as Dora turned to him.

“Well I did see Bunsen’s door closed but I’m not sure about Snap,” Dora said shaking her head.

“Oh. Snap is still asleep. At least he was when I left our room.” Timmy said casually.

Wanda and Blik both facepalmed. “Sport, if he was still asleep why didn’t you wake him up?” Wanda asked.

“I dunno. I’m not his keeper!” Timmy argued.

Blik mumbled an ‘Oh my god.’ as Wanda asked: “Can one of you please go and remind your brothers that you can’t sleep in on a school day?”

“I’ll do it!” Sophie said raising her hand and then running upstairs.

“Thank you, sweetie!” Wanda called after her.

I guess it’s my turn to tell you about me huh? Like I said at the beginning my name is Sophie Hathaway and I’m 10 years old. I used to live in Hawaii with my biological family and we were all pretty happy. That was until my mother died when I was three then our family just started to drift apart. By the time I was six years old everyone was kinda placed where they needed to be and while I was supposed to go with my uncle, he was traveling too much to take care of me. So that’s how I ended up here a few years after Blik came but before Dora, Marinette, Tikki, Adrien, and Plagg. I still see some of my older siblings often enough and my dad comes to visit us once a month with my siblings Skylar, Silas, Liv, Nate, and Stef so it’s okay I guess.

I was really scared of everyone when I first got here though. The smells and sounds were all different and while I was used to having a big family these people were basically strangers to me. Also, I spoke Hawaiian primarily in my old house and now I am forced into English daily now which six-year-old me did not approve of at all. However, they were understanding knowing I needed time and over that time I learned to trust them which was very hard for me to do. Now I couldn’t imagine my life without them.

Sophie finally made it upstairs and was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the bathroom faucet running.

“Maybe Snap or Bunsen is already up?” Sophie thought as she knocked on the bathroom door. “Hey, is someone in here?” A few seconds later a man with neatly combed green hair holding a little baby boy with a tuft of curly purple hair and purple pajamas came out of the bathroom. “Morning Dad! Morning Poof!” Sophie cooed at her little brother.

“Morning Muncha-Bunch,” Cosmo said kissing the top of her head.

That’s our dad Cosmo Cosma. He eloped with our mom! His mom never did forgive him for that but it’s fine. She stopped being mad at our mom when we came into the picture. She’s like the super cool grandma that brings us gifts like all the time.

Cosmo is our fun parent that likes to take us on trips and out to eat a lot. Though Wanda seems to rain him in when he goes too far because he can be a little careless at times but he definitely loves us. Like I said he’s the good cop to Wanda’s bad cop. He usually sneaks us dessert when Wanda scolds us too hard.

And that little baby he’s holding is our baby brother Poof. Poof is Mom and Dad’s only biological kid but despite that, they still love us equal. Poof is only like a year old so he’s the youngest of all of us

He is literally the sweetest thing. We all take turns looking after him. Except for Vendetta, Charlotte, GIR, Tikki, and Plagg. Four out the five of them should never be trusted with babies. I mean Tikki is arguably okay but everyone else is a disaster waiting to happen so just trust me on this. Don’t.

“So what are you doing upstairs? I thought you guys were ready for school?” Cosmo asked bouncing a gurgling Poof.

“Well most of us are but Snap, Bunsen, Charlotte, and Vendetta aren’t. They didn’t come downstairs.” Sophie explained.  

“Well, I saw Snap was still in bed with his door open and your sisters are outside but not sure about Bunsen,” Cosmo said tapping his chin.

“Thanks, Dad! I’m gonna go figure this out.” Sophie said.

“Okay. Get your brothers up though. We are on the clock!” Cosmo said patting her head before heading downstairs with Poof gurgling.

“I will!” Sophie called back.

She made her way to Timmy and Snap’s room to see her light blond brother hugging his pillow dreaming. Sophie sat down on his bed and started to gently shake his shoulder. “Snap. C’mon you gotta get up. We gotta go to school.”

Snap groaned and gripped his pillow tighter. “Mmmm five more minutes Buckette…” He said in his thick Bronx accent.

“No, you need to get up like right now,” Sophie said sensing the urgency of the situation. “We leave in literally 15 minutes.” Snap snored loudly to indicate the conversation was over. Sophie narrowed her eyes and said, “You leave me no choice dear brother.” Sophie pulled back her covers, slipped her hands under Snap’s light blue t-shirt, and tasered his sides.

Snap flipped the heck out and made a girlish squeal before falling out of bed. “What the heck Buckette?!” Snap yelled his bright blue eyes glaring at her.

“Told you I was left no other choice.” Sophie shrugged sticking out her tongue.

That’s one of my younger older brothers, Snap White. He’s 10 like me and Timmy though he’s a few months older than Timmy. He came here about six months after Poof was born. He originally came from a foster home in Greenland before moving to the states. Specifically the Bronx part of New York City which is where he gained his accent. So his speaking is a mix of West Greenlandic and English. He didn’t really enjoy being moved again so he acted out a lot which concerned my parents. He got super mad at a teacher for telling him his superhero clothes were ridiculous and put glue on their chair which Mom and Dad were not happy about. Then one day he saw me drawing and asked me if I was an artist. I said yes and suddenly he’s super cuddled up to me. Cut to a day later and we are basically best friends. He tells me that his cape is actually his old baby blanket and it’s the only thing that makes him feel secure. I told Mom and Dad and they took care of it. Since then Snap has been one of my closest brothers.

Snap can be really stubborn about things he thinks he’s entitled to like you just saw with the sleep problem. He’s always looking for ways to get out of boring things like adult parties or school and tries dragging us along with him. He is super clingy though like in a physical sense. He’ll cling to your arm, random hugs, hold your hand, etc. I think he may have abandonment issues but I don’t really wanna say anything to him since he’s just gonna deny them to be a “real man”.

“Þú ert að borga fyrir þetta.” (Translation: ‘You are going to pay for this.’ {West Greenlandic}) Snap glared as he put on his mask and cape.

Sophie laughed and shot back in Hawaiian, “Inā 'oe makemake i wale loaʻa i loko o ka wahi mua au makemake ole i kūpono ai i loko o ka hoʻokolokoloʻiaʻana” (Translation: ‘If you would have just gotten up in the first place I wouldn’t have resulted in the torture.’)

“I’m just saying when you walk through that door this afternoon you are dead,” Snap said as he put on his gloves and boots before walking out the door. Sophie just responded by blowing a raspberry at him. Now she was going towards Bunsen’s room.  

Sophie noticed the door was closed so she knocked on it. “Bunsen? You up? We gotta get to school.” After waiting for a minute Sophie quietly opened the door to see Bunsen’s St. Bernard puppy, Boodles, sitting at the door waiting to be let out for breakfast. “Okay, Boodles go get breakfast,” Sophie said pointing downstairs. Boodles barked and ran downstairs. Sophie quietly went into Bunsen’s room and shook his shoulder while he slept. “Bunsen we gotta go to school. Wake up.” Bunsen slowly woke up and grabbed his glasses rubbing his eyes.

“Sophie? What’s wrong? Why are you rushing me?”

“We need to go to school in like 15 minutes,” Sophie stated.

“WHAT?!” Bunsen screamed as he rushed out of bed and to put his school clothes on.

That’s one of the newest members of this family Bunsen Knai’livac. He’s 12 years old and originally came from Taiwan because his parents thought more opportunities would arise here. He’s still getting used to being with us and speaking English mostly instead of Chinese. He got here about two months ago but he’s made progress at least. The first thing he connected with was Boodles in a pet store so naturally, Mom and Dad got Boodles to give him some stability.  He still does have panic attacks about breaking the rules cause he grew up in such a strict household. We’ve been getting really good at calming him down and he’s even joined theater at school!

People who don’t really know Bunsen would describe him very loud and excitable which I mean is true to a certain degree. However, to us, we know him better than some strangers. He has the anxiety of letting his parents down constantly on his shoulders that he wouldn’t be a real functioning member of society. He can be a total theater nerd sometimes but for the most part, he’s pretty quiet and nice with the occasional bits of snark here and there.

“Ó, wǒ de shàngdì. Wǒmen yào chídàole wǒmen de lǎoshī huì shēngqì, māmā hé bàba huì shēngqì. Nàme tāmen bù zài xūyào wǒle!” (Translation: Oh my god. We are going to be late! Our teachers are going to be mad and Mom and Dad are going to be mad. Then they won't want me anymore! {Chinese}) Bunsen ranted off quickly as he got dressed.

Sophie sighed and put her hands on his shoulders to calm him down. “Bunsen it’s okay. You made a mistake. Nobody is gonna send you away for that Bunsie Boo.” Sophie kissed his nose to drive her point home.

Bunsen smiled a little and kissed her forehead. “Thanks, Soph.”

“You’re welcome. Now finish getting ready and get downstairs.” Sophie said going out of the room.

Sophie made her way downstairs with Snap close behind. She didn’t think much of it until Snap’s hands found his way to her sides and Sophie squealed and started laughing. “Snap! What are you doing?!”

“Hefnd er mín!” (Translation: Vengeance is mine! {West Greenlandic}) Snap shouted. Bunsen passed them giving his siblings a weird look as Snap tickled their sister and Sophie laughed like a doofus and clung to the stair railing.

“Jenny! Snap is trying to kill Sophie again!” Bunsen yelled as he entered the kitchen.

Jenny poked her head out and glared at Snap. “Snap! Leave your sister alone! Look at her! She’s dying!”

Snap groaned and rolled his eyes complying with his older sister’s request. “Fine!”

Snap continued to walk down the stairs smirking as Sophie panted and clung to the railing. “Oh thank the gods he stopped.”

Suddenly a knock came from the front door. “I’ll get it!~” SB called as he opened the front door.

A 10-year-old boy with poofy blond hair, hazel eyes, and wearing a dark brown aviator jacket with a glow stick bracelet is on his left wrist was standing there with a smile.

“Oh hello, Xavier! You here to go to school with us?”

“Yup! Managed to escape my stick in the mud parents. Is Sophie around?”

“Hey, Xavier!” Sophie waved as she laid on the stairs.

“What are you doing lying on the stairs?” Xavier asked before sitting next to her.

“Snap nearly killed me!” Sophie yelled loud enough for Snap to hear.

“Not my fault you are so sensitive!” Snap laughed from the kitchen.

“I mean he’s not wrong.” Xavier shrugged sheepishly as he sat next to her on the stairs. Sophie playfully hit his arm in response.

That’s my best friend Xavier. He’s 10 years old like me and is a week older than me. While he isn’t part of the family he might as well be. His parents are kind of overbearing so he likes coming over here more. I met him when his family was vacationing in Hawaii. Since then we’ve been inseparable. He was the one who helped me with my English and helped me to adjust to mainland America. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine living without him. He’s just always there for me and gets along with the family well. He’s kind of like the unofficial kid of the family where he’s part of the family but “legally” we aren’t responsible for him. So that’s pretty cool.

He’s super intelligent in the book smart kind of way. I remember when his family visited Hawaii and we became friends, he would read on the beach and I would just listen to him. Sometimes I would even fall asleep to him reading. Xavier is also 87% of my impulse control. Like if I didn’t have him, I’d probably would've died by now from a stupid decision.

“What? I’m just saying you are and there is nothing wrong that.” Xavier said putting up his hands in a defensive position.

“Ugh, you’ve spent too much time with this family. I swear to the gods. You are starting to sound like most of my brothers. You better not start selling me out to them.” Sophie scolded. “BLIK does that enough!”

“Hey! I have never done that in the four years you’ve lived here.” Blik argued as he walked into the room

“Yesterday you sold me out for a root beer to Danny!” Sophie argued.

“That wasn’t a sellout that was a trade. Very different. Now can you please get our sisters from the backyard so we can leave?” Blik smirked.

As Xavier said “Yup” Sophie let out a less enthusiastic, mumbled “Yeah.”

Blik grinned and said “Oh Timothy!~ Sophie needs-”

Sophie immediately hit his arm. “No. Shut up. I’m fine.”

Blik chuckled ruffling up her hair. “Fine then.”

“C’mon let’s go get them,” Sophie said getting off the stairs and heading towards the backyard with Xavier in tow. They walked into a pretty big backyard which has an above ground pool, a trampoline, a small playground, some swings hanging from trees, a sandbox, and a playpen for Poof to keep himself from roaming anywhere he pleases. It also has quite a lot of trees as well. Sophie spotted two girls around eight years old huddled in a corner doing… something? Sophie and Xavier both couldn’t tell what they were doing. They could only see the backs of the short, curly blonde hair of the peach skinned girl and the long, brown hair styled in messy pigtails of the much paler girl who seemed to be holding something.

“Um, Vendetta? Charlotte? Mom says to get inside. It’s time for school and Grudge still hasn’t eaten.” Sophie said pointing her thumb to the back door.

Both girls turned their heads around revealing the blonde girl’s bright blue eyes and the brunette girl’s dimmed green eyes.

“Okay Sophie!” the blonde girl said chipperly as she skipped over to hug Sophie’s waist. “Grudge made a new friend and me and Vendetta watched it!” Charlotte said bouncing up and down happily.

“What do you mean new frien- oh my god!” Xavier shouted as Vendetta came over holding her pet raccoon, Grudge, who had a snake in his mouth. A dead snake in his mouth. Lovely.

Sophie put her face into her hands and groaned. “Vendetta. You know what mom and dad have said about Grudge… erm… “making friends” with wild snakes,” Sophie censoring herself for the sake of Charlotte.

“Stupid Raccoon wanted to make a fiend.” Vendetta stated simply in her thick Bulgarian accent. “That is not mine or Charlotte’s fault.”

“Don’t you mean friend?” Xavier asked curiously.

“I said what I said.” Vendetta shot back rather rudely.  

Xavier gave a look to Sophie as Sophie sighed, “Look. I’m your big sister now so tell Grudge to drop his snake friend or fiend or whatever and get in the house so we can go to school.”

“Fine. Stupid Raccoon. Drop.” Vendetta commanded as Grudge spat out the snake.

“Yay! Time for school! Come on Vendetta!” Charlotte cheered as she grabbed Vendetta’s hand skipping into the house.

“Do not touch me you stupid blue girl!” Vendetta yelled as they both disappeared into the house.

Xavier turned his face back to Sophie and said: “I’m sorry but what the heck is wrong with your new sister?”

“Oh, so many things…” Sophie sighed shaking her head.

So like you just saw those are our new additions to the family Charlotte Winfrey, Vendetta Mortcheva, and Vendetta’s pet raccoon… yes, raccoon… Grudge. Charlotte and Vendetta are only eight years old and just got transferred here last month. They got transferred here from their old foster home in a place called Clamberg because the foster home was terrified of Vendetta and her and Charlotte are a package deal.

I’ll explain Charlotte first because really. She’s a lot easier to understand than Vendetta is.

Charlotte got put into the foster care system when she was super young. Both her parents died while attending a music festival outside of Vermont in a mass shooting, unfortunately. This caused Charlotte to be placed in Clamberg with her only known living relative, her grandmother Charlene. The sad thing is that Charlotte still doesn’t know her parents died. Charlene told her that they were both astronauts living up in a space station. Nobody has had the heart to tell her yet. Charlene got too sick to raise Charlotte so when she was six years old Charlotte was placed in the foster care system.

Charlotte is a super sweet girl. Like probably the sweetest you’ll ever meet. She loves everything in the world and everyone in it. Probably if you take her to Disney World she would be smiling the whole time and say hi to all the characters. Even the villains! She is a little… “slow”… sometimes though. She doesn’t quite understand what's happening most of the time unless someone, usually Vendetta, tells her.

Speaking of Vendetta, let's talk about her because oh boy. There’s a lot to talk about.

So as you noticed by her accent Vendetta is from Bulgaria. She moved to America when she was a toddler with both of her parents, her older sister Vasilika, and her twin sister Joanna. Soon after her parents had three more children. Vendetta’s younger twin brothers, Darian & Valko, and her baby sister Rosica. However starting after Darian and Valko were born, Vendetta’s father started to get more...abusive towards his wife and older daughters. Well, TWO of his older daughters. He never laid a hand on Joanna or any of his younger children. He did frequently hurt his wife Violetta and Vasilika but it was Vendetta who got the raw end of the deal. Vendetta’s father, if you can even call him that now, considered Vendetta his child from hell. It wasn’t just physical abuse either. When Vendetta was finally admitted to the foster after the incident (which I’ll get to in a minute) she was malnourished and was so dirty that initial reports had Vendetta’s skin and hair color way darker than it actually was.

About the incident. One night Vendetta’s “father” had been drinking quite a lot. Violetta tried to get him to stop for the children’s sake but that just made him angrier. He ended up shouting so loud he had woken up Vasilika, Vendetta, and Joanna and in a moment of panic, Vasilika grabbed the family gun. When the girls got downstairs that had found their father had just finished strangling their mother to death. When he saw his three daughters standing there witnessing him kill his wife. He was enraged and started moving towards Vasilika first and she ended up shooting him once in the head. He fell dead on the floor inches from his now dead wife. Joanna had broken down into tears. Vasilika had no idea what she had just done and just stood there in shock. But Vendetta… oh, Vendetta. She was furious. She began yelling at Vasilika for not doing that sooner. That they all could have been freed earlier if she would have thought of this. She yelled at Joanna to stop crying and blamed her for being the “perfect” one. She yelled at the corpses of her parents. Her mother for not being stronger and her father for being a complete asshole to his own wife and children. She even yelled at herself for being a ‘devil child.’  The only people she didn’t blame for this was her younger brothers and baby sister since they had nothing to do with this. Later in the early morning, Vasilika called the police and all six of them were put in the custody of CPS. Three of them scarred for life and three of them too young to understand what was happening.

After that Vendetta essentially disowned her sisters and refuses to talk to or about them. She doesn’t talk about her parents either. She still visits her younger siblings as long as Vasilika and Joanna aren’t there. When she got to the foster home in Clamberg she never played with the other kids and spent nights alone in the backyard. The entire staff and all of the children were terrified of her. Accidents started happening around the home and they blamed Vendetta but none of them could prove it. She even one night came back with a raccoon which was Grudge. He was trained to essentially be a house cat. This confused the staff for two reasons. One: Raccoons are not native to Clamberg. So where did she find this raccoon? Two: How did she even train this creature? The staff had no idea on either of these questions and they weren’t about to question Vendetta of all people so they let her keep Grudge. It was just the two of them for two years until Charlotte got there. She was the only person that wasn’t afraid of Vendetta and that struck a nerve with Vendetta. So Vendetta became Charlotte’s soul defender even though she still insulted Charlotte from time to time, though Charlotte clearly doesn’t mind.

Cut to a month ago where the Clamberg foster home had enough of Vendetta’s reign and sent her here far away from Clamberg. Charlotte just came with cause they are now a package deal.

Vendetta doesn't seem that bad as her previous foster home made her out to be. Sure she’s dark, sarcastic, weird, sometimes super mean, and cusses in Bulgarian thinking we can’t hear her when we can. She’s also super bright though and probably the smartest girl in the house. We just wish she would relax a little bit and realize we won’t let her get hurt here but we also realize she needs time and we will give her that.

...What? I told you Vendetta is a complicated creature with a complicated history.

“Let’s just go so we can finally get to school. Max is gonna chew the two of us out if we are late again.” Sophie said tiredly. Xavier nodded and followed her back into the house and into the kitchen. They stood next to Charlotte and Vendetta who was letting Grudge eat his clams from the palm of her hand. The two of them just watched the chaos conduct in the large kitchen as everybody was shouting over each other.

“Alright, kids! Listen up!” Cosmo clapped loudly as all his children proceeded to quiet down. “Okay everybody go upstairs one last time. If you have a pet put them up in your room or if the pet is in a cage in your room feed them. Double check you have everything and then proceed to the van as planned. Ready? Go!” Cosmo yelled.

Sophie picked up Lion and motioned for Xavier to follow her. She was followed up the stairs by Jimmy carrying Goddard, Timmy carrying Sparky, Danny carrying Cujo, SB carrying Gary, Patrick carrying Rocky, ZIM leading Minimoose, Bunsen carrying Boodles, Dora leading Perrito, and Vendetta carrying Grudge. The other siblings followed up the stairs to double check their rooms to not forget anything. All except Blik whose room was the garage and Poof who was safe in his mother’s arms.

Sophie lead Xavier into her room and closed the door behind them.It was a small bedroom with a tiny closet, a small bed, and a small bookshelf. When they move Sophie requested she get her own room since she was a growing young lady now and thought it be better if she didn't share a room with Timmy and Snap. Xavier flopped down on Sophie’s bed as Sophie put Lion in his cat carrier. Lion meowed in protest as Sophie answered back “I know Lion you don’t like it but it’s only for the morning.”

“Do you think he can really understand you?” Xavier asked.

“Mmm, I like to think he does.” Sophie answered as she went to her closet and pulled out a box labeled ‘Special Things.’ She rummaged through it and pulled out two books. One was was a glittery sketchbook while the other was a scrapbook with the title of ‘Family is Forever.’ She hugged them close to her chest before stuffing them into her backpack. “Okay, we can go now,” Sophie said smiling.

“Finally. You know Max is gonna kick us out of the group if we keep showing up late.” Xavier said getting up from her bed.

“No, he can’t,” Sophie said as she opened up her door and turned her light off. “First off he would have to find a new second to replace me. Second, I basically own his soul at this point. So even if wanted too he couldn’t kick us out.”

“Fair enough,” Xavier shrugged.

Sophie went to each room to check everybody was out and essentially take roll for their mother as one of her chores.

Timmy had put up Sparky in his crate as Snap fed his hamster Musty and his pet frog Wiggums. For two fifth grade boys, they could sure make a mess of everything. Sophie was glad she moved out of there.

Jimmy and ZIM put Goddard and Minimoose on chargers and left their neat bedroom. It was neat because they both pretty much spent all their time in the basement lab with Vendetta.

Danny put up Cujo in his crate as Adrien put on his mother’s ring to wear on his right hand and Plagg grabbed his black cat plush from the top bunk of his and Adrien’s bunk beds. Plagg refused to sleep with GIR and Poof in fear of losing Adrien.

SB had put Gary in his cat carrier and grabbed his clean uniform while Patrick carefully put Rocky on the side table on his side of the room. The two had shared a room every since Patrick got there and they decided to never ever switch.

Tak had fed Navis, his and his best friend Jeera’s shared guinea pig, as Manny grabbed his soccer uniform for the day. Tak wanted the room with the biggest window and Manny just wanted a huge bed so they ended up with the biggest room on the floor.

GIR had grabbed his green dog plush and Poof’s baby bag from their room as a favor for Wanda and Cosmo. ZIM didn't even want to be near GIR as he slept. GIR had his own room until Poof was born.

Finally, on the boy's side of the hall, Bunsen had put Boodles in his crate and grabbed his script for play rehearsal. Bunsen just had his own room for now until another boy showed up at the foster home.

Meanwhile, on the girl’s side of the hall, Sam had grabbed an umbrella, since it was supposed to be bright that day, and Jenny grabbed some fashion magazines for her and her best friend who was a girl, Misty, to share at lunch. Their room consisted of a lot of black, pink, and purple. The color scheme was a compromise.

While Dora had put Perrito in his crate, Marinette grabbed her late mother’s earrings to wear that day and Tikki grabbed her ladybug plush from the bottom bunk of her’s and Marinette’s shared bunk beds. As the only little girl in the house, Tikki ended up sleeping with her sister and Dora didn’t mind the extra roommate.

Finally, Vendetta set down Grudge down on her gothic styled bed, since she refused to put him in any confinements, and Charlotte fed her hamster Buttons and her bird Buttons 2 before grabbing her brightly colored girl scout uniform along with Vendetta’s black girl scout uniform. Their room was like night and day. Vendetta’s side was green and black the only decoration being her striped blanket… which was also green and black. Charlotte’s side, on the other hand, was bright blues and pinks with posters and frilly things just thrown everywhere.

Sophie counted each of her siblings going down the stairs before yelling down to her parents. “We are all ready to go, mom and dad!”

“Finally! Let’s go already!” Blik groaned as everyone went outside and piled into the large van.    

“Okay, Pacific Grove High School, Summerfield Jr. High, Sunnyside Elementary, Blue River Kindergarten, Grandview School for the Culinary Arts, Seaside Community College, and then the bank. Got it dear?” Wanda asked. “Got it and away we go!” Cosmo announced as he drove away from the house.

Cosmo was driving while Wanda sat in the passenger seat. Jimmy and Timmy were arguing about something stupid again while Danny tried to break them up with Sam chuckling at the three. SB was going over some new recipes he’s learned while Patrick drooled at all of them. Tak was messing with his seatbelt as ZIM was ranting about this kid named Dib. GIR, Tikki, and Plagg were playing with Poof happily. Manny was checking himself in the mirror, Jenny and Marinette were checking their Amazon account for new deals as Adrien listened, and Blik was reading the paper. Snap was telling Sophie something cool while she listened writing in her journal, Xavier read a book, and Bunsen was going over his lines once more as Dora giggled while Charlotte talked to her with Vendetta rolling her eyes in disgust at the two.

So yeah that’s my insane family except for my brother who's in college right now. You’ll meet him later!  Anyway, it’s a miracle I’ve survived this long. I’m glad I’m here though. I feel loved where I am and I know that I will always have a place with them even if it seems like nowhere will let me fit in.

[its8simplejulesblog]

I Was A Really Inquisitive Kid

You know how the terrible twos are a thing? Well I was like that my entire life, but never in the destructive way. Instead, I was always getting in everyone’s business. Whenever my brother would do something I had to do it too. I had to explore everything, research everything, ask why why why why. When we went to Disney World when I was younger my parents would always put me on a leash because I would wander off (true story, it was a backpack that looked like a monkey. If you ask me I can fish up the picture later). I was always a listener, my parents said I was of very few words growing up. In fact, they said that the things I said most when I was first learning how to speak was, “me too” or some variation of “how come.” Essentially, the definition of a follower. Other kids always made up the rules and I took part. Now, that’s not to say that I didn’t have a mind of my own, it was just entirely internal. As I grew up I absolutely came into my own more. I did robotics and finally put a voice behind the thoughts. I think, deep down though, I’ll always be majority living in my own head. What’s so wrong with that? 

One of my favorite hobbies has always been reading. I can’t say that I have much time for it anymore, but the things you can learn from books are incredible. Now, I recognize that this sounds like a fake trope from a movie and the following is probably going to sound cringey as all hell so fair warning. I always felt like I was at home in a book. I didn’t only read fiction, but those were definitely my favorite. Once I started becoming more extroverted in highschool I started reading less and transferring all of my inquisitive energy from books to people. I am so fascinated by the way people just..are. I never really thought of it this way before, but really every conversation you have with someone is like an interview. Whether you know it or not, every time you talk to them you’re piecing together more and more of their identity. That’s incredible! And each individual is so complex that never could you say that you’ve entirely figured someone out. If you say that, you’re lying..and probably lowkey narcissistic because that’s impossible and I’m sure you’re not that talented haha. 

Someone that I’ve enjoyed talking to more than anyone over the years is my mom. She is THE person on this planet that knows more about me than anyone. It’s crazy to think that you can have someone like that, that so undeniably has your back all the time that you can trust them with anything. I think a lot of times we think we have that, but we don’t. So of course, be careful who you share stuff with. 

If ever you have the absolute honor of meeting my mother, you will immediately know why I speak so highly of her. She’s like me in the sense that we both have this vivacious passion to understand the why’s of the world. She is bubbly and fiery, as all redheads are required to be, but she never makes you feel lesser. She is inherently attentive to everything that everyone has to say and she is unconditionally accepting of everyone in our lives. I jokingly always say that our house is like my mom’s own adoption center because once she likes you you’re a part of the family (and you have to be a real douche canoe for my mom not to like you..there’s a few). 

My mom is often steadfast in her opinions, and states them openly and prideful, graceful when people oppose her. She is so well-spoken in every situation and not to hype myself up, but I like to think I developed that (or at least am working on it). She taught me to always be proud of myself, know my worth, and forgive in the toughest situations. She’s taught me about working hard and appreciating the people you love. She taught my about family and dealing with differences. She taught me that curiosity is a strength.

I think in my hardest times, when I’m lying in my bed thinking about..anything really, I try to dig deeper. I mentioned this before when I talked about A New Earth, but in everything in life, your emotions are only half of the story. Everything that happens to you is so much bigger than you realize. Every person you meet, there’s a reason. Sometimes I like to think about those reasons, and sometimes..it’s just not clear. We’re all meant for something, yes you, the little speck of dust, you’re meant for something too. 

I’m a big proponent of positive psychology. If you’re a cynical person, which subsequently I can be, stuff like this sounds like a load of bullshit..but the majority of the time this is what I like to base my life on. Essentially, it’s the belief that you are what you put out. If I believe that I am ___, then I am..simple as that. If my definition of success is making meaningful relationships with people around the world then let me tell you I am successful and only becoming moreso by the day. It’s all in the thought. Granted, I am also someone with depression so that’s a scary statement, but when I am able to rationalize and reign in the tornado that is my emotions, then I am more confident than ever. 

My mom taught me that I am my own worst enemy. On the days that I think that I am worthless I like to analyze why. If you pick apart your thoughts and get to the root cause, it’s doesn’t have as much of a hold on you as before. Lately, I’ve based my worth on my communication with my friends. In quarantine, it seems like that’s all we’ve got. If people aren’t talking to me then I’m boring or annoying or they straight up don’t like me. The likelihood of those things being true, probbbbbably slim to none, but in the thick of the thought you can convince yourself otherwise. 

If you’ve seen Frozen 2 (which if you haven’t, our friendship is on thin ice...omg wait I didn’t even mean for that to be a pun) then you remember that scene where Elsa is trying to lasso the water spirit and it literally kicks her to the bottom of the ocean and then she *spoilers* learns how to control it, well that’s how I view myself wrestling with my thoughts. 

At the end of the day, I’m lucky to have my mom: someone who has taught me so much about life in such a short amount of time, but I know that not everyone has that relationship with their parents, if they even have their parents around. That’s not to say that you can’t deepen the relationships you already have though. I know we can’t physically see people now, but I really encourage you to reach out to new people, it’s a really fun thing to do. 

It’s a nice balance between being in my own head and learning about the world around me at the same time. I’m an introvert in an extrovert skin, basically. Also, if you didn’t know, introversion and extroversion is actually based on your source of energy. If you say that people are extroverted just because they’re loud, that’s not necessarily true. If you go to a party and talk to everyone and dance and hug everyone and make everyone laugh and then go home and knock out and feel emotionally drained then not to diagnose, but you’re probably an introvert, sorry, I don’t make the rules. 

This post was supposed to be about being curious, just do it, learn something new each day. I have my mom to thank for telling me that, but now you can thank me. What it turned into, however, was a lot of a discussion about personality type. I figure that this blog will turn into a lot of psychological and sociological discussion too, because that’s my favorite thing, but that will have to wait. In the meantime though, if you’re curious and haven’t already taken it, I really suggest taking the Myers Briggs to learn more about your personal personality type: https://www.truity.com/test/type-finder-personality-test-new

They make you pay for the full report (rude) but if you’re curious, here are my top three personality types. 

ENFJ - The Teacher

VERY GOOD MATCH

ENFJs are idealist organizers, driven to implement their vision of what is best for humanity. They often act as catalysts for human growth because of their ability to see potential in other people and their charisma in leading others.

ENTJ - The Commander

VERY GOOD MATCH

ENTJs are strategic leaders, motivated to organize change. They are quick to see inefficiency and conceptualize new solutions, and enjoy developing long-range plans to accomplish their vision.

ESFJ - The Provider

GOOD MATCH

ESFJs are conscientious helpers, sensitive to the needs of others and energetically dedicated to their responsibilities. ESFJs like a sense of harmony and cooperation around them, and are eager to please and provide.

Anyway, curious to hear your responses. Love you all 

-Julia 

[atths--twice]

A Remarkable Christmas

It’s Christmas time in the Unremarkable House. Time for decorations, memories, friends, happiness and celebrating the holiday.

This is the first chapter in a two chapter story. Hope you enjoy it!

Christmas Trees and Confessions of Love

Scully closed the gate, stopping Bella from running off the porch and out into the night, as Mulder set the last bin down, sighing deeply as he did. 

“That’s the last of them,” he said, scooping Bella up and holding her to his chest, kissing her head before setting her back down. 

“Did they multiply out in the shed? Why don’t I remember having this many last Christmas?” she asked, frowning as she touched the lid of the top bin. 

“No, this is how many we had. Six, nearly full to the top.” 

“I don’t remember so many.” 

“Well, that may be because you didn’t carry each one out to the shed last year,” he quipped and she looked at him. 

“Oh that’s right, because I had pushed a baby out of my va…”

“Hup,” he interrupted her, putting up his hand and pointing a finger at her face, giving her a look. “That’s enough of that then, Miss.” She laughed and he shook his head, taking off the lid of the bin. 

“Oof,” she said, leaning up to look inside. “That’s… a lot. Most of this stuff goes inside, but I don’t think we need all of it in the house.” She stopped speaking at his scoff and looked at him. 

“Her first Christmas, well the first one she won’t mostly sleep through, and you want to skimp on the decorations? For shame, Scully,” he tut tutted at her, shaking his head. 

“Mulder, six bins.” 

“Scully, first Christmas.” 

They stared at each other and she smiled, reaching for a bin and lugging it to the door. He muttered a yes under his breath and she laughed, stepping inside the house, Bella following behind, rising on her hind legs to look inside the bin when it was opened. 

“No, Bella!” she laughed, as she grabbed at the golden garland Bella had taken into her teeth, attempting to run away. A game of tug of war ensued, the garland missing some bits as a result. “I know it’s new and exciting, but we don’t eat decorations.” Bella barked and Mulder tossed a ball across the room and she chased after that instead. 

They unpacked the bins, exclaiming over the decorations they acquired last year and the ones from years previous. She smiled at the small items that brought such joyous memories. The dishes, ornaments, and candles; it all held happiness within, even if some were bittersweet. 

Working together, they cleared spaces and placed the usual home decor into the bin, taking the place of the Christmas items. By the time they had finished, stopping occasionally as he twirled her about the room, singing along to the holiday music that was playing, the house resembled the winter wonderland from last year.  

“We just need the tree,” he said, setting the stand on the floor and looking around. She smiled at him, watching his face as he took in all the beauty. He loved Halloween, she knew that, but truly he was just a kid at heart, and it showed up most during the holidays. 

He caught her staring and he walked close to her, his eyes asking questions. She put her hands on his chest and he placed his hands over them, smiling happily at her. She laughed softly and he shrugged, their conversation silent, though each of them heard it. 

“Let’s put these bins away and have a cup of tea before we head to bed. We can get the tree tomorrow, yeah?” she asked and he nodded. Closing the lids, they carried out the bins, leaving Bella inside the house. 

She shivered as they closed the door and then she gasped. “Bella!” she cried and ran over to her dog bed, taking away the decoration she was chewing on. “Oh, Bella.” She sighed, knowing she did not understand what she had done or why it was wrong. 

“What did she do? Oh, Scully, I know you liked that one.” He took the wooden nutcracker from her hands, large bite marks now covering his face and head. “Maybe they have another one at the tree farm.” 

“It’s okay, but we could ask tomorrow,” she sighed, taking the nutcracker back, as Bella came and sat at her feet. “I know, you don’t understand, but you’ve got a box full of toys, girl, let’s stay away from the decorations, okay?” She knelt down and patted her head, rubbing her ears, and Bella licked her face. “I know, you’re sorry. It was too much of a temptation.” Mulder laughed beside her and she looked up at him with a smile. 

They sat on the couch with their cups of tea, candles glowing in lieu of any lights, reminiscing of last year. She set her cup on the coffee table, and laughed as she remembered his struggle with the tree and he huffed, but then laughed a rather evil chuckle. 

“What’s that laugh?” she asked, glancing at him. 

“Oh, it’s just quite ironic that you’re laughing at my struggles, when this year you’ll get to help. We’re in this together now, baby,” he said and she laughed. 

“Should go smoother than, especially if I’m helping,” she teased. 

“Ha. With your height?” he teased and she gasped in mock shock. He laughed and she pounced on him, his words of warning about his cup of tea, falling on deaf ears. Bella barked and ran over to see what all the excitement was about. 

She jumped on the couch and wedged herself between them, whining and wiggling as she licked at them excitedly. They both laughed, struggling to stop her, as they disentangled from one another and she moved from atop his lap, Bella still licking at him. 

“I’m liking your thinking, Scully, but let’s move this to a more… private location,” he said, as he handed her his cup and lifted Bella off the couch, grabbing her leash to take her out one last time. 

Scully put their cups in the sink and blew out the candles. She smiled as she imagined the wide eyed look of wonder Faith would have when she came downstairs tomorrow. She picked up the snow globe and turned the winder on the bottom, hearing Greensleeves playing as the snow fell on the house and the small woodland animals inside. 

Yes, she thought looking around again with a smile, she was going to love it. 

The time it took to put the decorations up was worth it as they watched Faith look around the room, her head swiveling back and forth, trying to stare at everything all at once. They let her toddle around, not guiding her or trying to draw her attention, simply letting her look her fill. 

Bella walked beside her, gentle as always when it came to Faith, which was still incredibly spooky every time it happened. Mulder tapped Scully’s hip and nodded with his chin toward Faith. She had walked over to the snow globe and stared at it closely. 

“Ha,” she said, touching the glass and looking closer. “Ha.” She looked up at them and smiled, before looking at the snow globe again. 

Scully knelt beside her and smiled as she gently moved Faith’s hands. “It looks like a horse, you’re right, my love. But it’s a fawn, a baby deer.” She picked up the snow globe and turned it over, winding it to play the music, and set it back down. “See how the snow falls? It’s falling on the little house and the animals. You don’t understand, but that group of animals symbolizes our little family. The fawn is you, daddy is the fox, mama is the bunny, and Jackson is the bear. He’s hibernating right now and that’s why we don’t see him much, but we might one day. Until then…” She turned the globe over again, letting the snow fall as she looked at Faith, who touched it gently and stared inside. When the snow had stopped, she looked up at Scully and smiled, making the more sign with her hands. 

Scully turned it over a few more times and Faith stood in front of it, mesmerized as much the fifth time as the first. Smiling once again, she moved on, looking at the snowmen, santas, the gingerbread house which Scully allowed her to touch and then hold the little boy and girl who stood outside the house. She wandered around, holding them tight as she looked at the angels in white flowing robes, blowing golden trumpets. Turning around, she smiled at them again and they smiled back. 

Mulder lifted her up, causing her to squeal with excitement, and brought her to her chair at the kitchen table. She set the gingerbread children down and stared at them as Scully and Mulder worked together to make breakfast, Christmas music playing from her phone on the counter. He kissed the back of her neck as he passed by to grab a plate, pinching her butt as he did. 

“See, six bins,” he said triumphantly. 

“Yes, you’re right once again.” 

“Oh… I never tire of hearing those words,” he said with a happy sigh. She laughed as she dished up the food and he kissed her softly. “Never tire of it.” Giggling, she sat down to join them, before they went to find their Christmas tree. 

__________________

“So, we’ll stop in the house and drop this off and then head out to find the tree,” Scully said and Mulder nodded, sliding on the backpack and then setting Bella down, as she put Faith in the carrier and grabbed a plastic bag from the backseat. 

Doors closed, car locked, they walked toward the little gingerbread house inside the Christmas tree farm. Breathing deeply, she smiled as she looked around. Memories of last year hung about like ghosts, coming to meet her as though waiting to say hello; tired but happy with a newborn, relief that everything was healing as it should, being home with the man she loved, Christmas being planned in their little house. 

She glanced at Mulder, the leash held loose in his hand as he let Bella explore, her excitement evident in the wiggling of her little body. Reaching for his hand, he turned his head to look at her, happiness in his own eyes. 

“Do you feel them too, the memories?” she asked, surprising herself at what she was admitting. 

“As if they’ve been held within the trees?” he asked, nodding with a smile. 

“It’s weird,” she whispered. 

“Spooky. It’s spooky or it’s nothing,” he corrected her, squeezing her hand, and she laughed. 

They walked to the house and at the door, he picked Bella up, shrugging as Scully looked at him. “Not sure their policy on dogs and I don’t want to get in any trouble.” 

“You? Trouble? Isn’t that one of your middle names?” she teased, as he wrapped the leash around his arm. 

“Government facilities, places with no trespassing signs: yes. Little old women who look like Mrs. Claus: no. Can you imagine how long I’d be on the naughty list?” He shuddered as he opened the door and she laughed, squeezing Faith’s legs gently and kissing her head. 

It was warm in the little house and smelled as she remembered; of chocolate, spices, cookies, and Christmas. Everything was the same; the large sled for photos, the pot bellied stove, and the extraordinary amount of decorations filling tabletops and shelves, with Christmas music playing softly in the background. Yes, it was the same and it made her smile. 

A door opened and Betty walked out, carrying a wreath with a red ribbon woven into it, pine cones, and red holly berries. She glanced up and smiled at them, then looked again, her face breaking into a huge grin. 

“Hello!” she exclaimed, setting the wreath on the counter beside the register. “Oh my goodness, look at you all! Look at that girl!” She walked over and stood in front of them, her eyes shining with happiness. “I can’t believe how much she’s grown, but of course she has, it’s been a whole year already.” She smiled at Faith who stared at her and then smiled back, before she looked up at the decorations all around her. 

Betty laughed and turned her attention to them. “I am so pleased to see you again, I was hoping you would be back this year. How are you? Oh my goodness, look at that, you also have a puppy! You are very brave indeed.” They all laughed and Mulder nodded in agreement.

“If you can believe it, was her idea not mine,” he said with a smile and a nod toward Scully. 

“Of course it was, we mothers are a special breed. We do crazy things at times, like agreeing to open a Christmas tree farm with three children underfoot,” Betty said, with a wink at Scully. “A puppy is tiny in comparison.” She reached out and held Bella’s head in her hands. She wiggled and tried to lick at her hands as she pet her ears. 

“Howard will be happy to see you both. He was just talking about you two, you especially, Fox. He said he wanted to continue your conversation about, I believe it was, moth men?” 

“Mulder, no,” Scully said, looking at him with a groan. He opened his mouth to say something, but knowing he had been caught out, he sighed and nodded. Scully sighed in exasperation as Betty laughed. 

“He truly enjoyed it, so apparently it was a good conversation,” she said, patting his arm and stepping back. 

“See? He enjoyed it,” he said, looking at Scully, and she rolled her eyes with a smile, before looking back at Betty.  

“Betty, last night we were putting up all the wonderful items we bought last year. Well, I say bought, but…” Scully said as she looked at Betty, who smiled as she touched Faith’s arm before winking quickly at Scully. “Thank you so much for each of them, they are all so beautiful. The snow globe especially, as they are important in our home and that one in particular… it’s very special.” 

“It was calling to me, like I said. It was meant to belong to you,” Betty said with a smile. 

Scully nodded, smiling back as she opened the plastic bag and took out the nutcracker, holding it out for Betty to see. “This was another favorite, and somehow little miss puppy got a hold of it. I was hoping you might have one similar to it.” 

“Well, my goodness. Puppy teeth can be quite sharp and at times dangerous, can’t they?” she asked with a laugh as she took the nutcracker from Scully and ran her fingers across the teeth marks Bella had made. “She obviously liked this one nearly as much as you. Yes, I think I might have a similar one, let me have a look around.” She smiled and took the bag from Scully, placing the nutcracker back inside. “Howard was just helping another customer load their tree, I’m sure he will be back soon. Why don’t you head out and he’ll meet up with you out there among the trees?” 

Scully smiled and rubbed her hand on Betty’s arm. Looking at Mulder, he nodded and they began to walk towards the door, when it opened and two people walked in, stopping short as they looked up. 

“Fox?” 

“Rachel?” 

“Dana?”

“Skinner?” 

“Rachel!!” 

Everyone froze, looking at one another. Scully looking at Betty, wondering how in the world she knew Rachel. Faith clapped her hands, reaching for her Uncle Walter, as they continued to look at one another. Then from behind them, a great booming voice sounded and it broke the silence. 

“Rachel!” Howard shouted and quickly walked towards her, engulfing her in a bear hug that lifted her off the ground. “Oh, my girl! It’s wonderful to see you!” She gave a strained laugh and he set her down, kissing her loudly on the cheek. 

“Hey, Uncle Howard. I’d ask how you are, but you’re obviously still strong as an ox,” Rachel said, rubbing her ribs and moaning. 

“Ha!” he laughed, clapping his hands loudly, pulling her in for another hug as Betty walked over, smiling and waiting for her own hug. 

Scully, Mulder and Skinner stared at one another, not sure what to do or say, when suddenly Bella barked and Faith screamed, her arms still out, trying to get to Skinner. 

“Come on, hand her over,” Skinner said gruffly, stepping closer to Scully, causing Faith to laugh and bounce up and down. “I know, honey, you just need to wait for your mama to release you from that strange contraption.” Scully grinned as she opened the carrier and handed Faith to him. “Ah see, isn’t that better? Now you’re free.” She put her hands in her mouth with a smile as they all turned to look at Howard, Betty, and Rachel, who looked back at them and laughed. 

“If you could see your faces,” Rachel said, shaking her head, a hand covering her laughing mouth. 

“So, you all know each other somehow?” Howard asked, a large smile on his face. 

“Uh, something like that,” Mulder laughed. 

“Uncle, Auntie, you obviously already know Fox and Dana, and little Faith there,” Rachel said with a smile, looking at Faith in Skinner’s arms. “Howard and Betty are my uncle and aunt, well, not blood, but family just the same.” She smiled again as Howard put his arm around her with a chuckle. “And this… this is Walter.” Skinner stepped closer, his hand out to shake Howard’s. 

“Oh, Walter, hello,” Howard said and grasped his hand in what Scully saw was a hearty handshake. Betty stepped forward and shook his hand too, though a much softer version of Howard’s. 

Scully watched them, a hand to her mouth to hide her smile. She cut her eyes to Mulder’s as she felt his hand tapping her back. He raised his eyebrows and she nodded slightly, knowing this was a big moment and she felt giddy with happiness for Skinner. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both, Rachel’s told me a lot about you,” Skinner said, switching Faith to his other arm, and Mulder stepped forward to take her, but stopped when Skinner shook his head. “I just got her and I haven’t even said a proper hello.” Everyone laughed and Scully saw Betty nod as she looked Skinner up and down, apparently approving of him instantly. 

“Well, it’s wonderful to meet you too, Walter, and to see you all again,” Howard said, smiling at Scully and Mulder. “Would you mind if I held this little one? You can have her right back, I promise.” Skinner handed Faith over without hesitation and Howard held her, making faces and bouncing her around. She laughed as she touched his face and he made an elephant noise. “Absolutely gorgeous.” He handed her back to Skinner, smiling at Scully with a wink. 

Scully glanced at Rachel and smiled. She smiled back, taking a deep breath, and then clearing her throat. “So, we getting a tree or what?” Laughter and agreement rose up and everyone but Betty headed outside. Mulder set Bella down and Rachel bent down to pet her. “What did you decide to call her?” 

“Bella,” Mulder said and Rachel stood up with a look of disbelief. 

“Bella? That’s it? A black dog was given to you on Halloween, the birthday of your daughter, and you named her Bella?” she asked, raising her eyebrows and Scully smiled, liking Rachel more and more. 

“Well,” Mulder laughed. “Her full name is Belladonna, which I chose, and yet her name tag, with that name engraved on it, had been already been purchased beforehand and sat in her box of items. Is that a more fitting name and story for a Halloween dog?” 

“Oh, hell yeah. That’s a much better story than simply saying her name is Bella,” Rachel said, rolling her eyes with a smile. 

“Uh huh,” Mulder grinned and then pulled her in for a hug. “It’s great to see you, Rachel.” 

“Of course it is,” she said, stepping back and grinning. Scully smiled and Rachel looked at her, hesitation on her face until Scully embraced her, telling her she was happy to see her again. 

“Hey! What the hell? Let’s go get the trees!” Skinner yelled, holding a laughing and happy Faith, as Howard laughed. 

“Cool it, man. We’re coming!” Rachel called back and they all laughed, walking over to join them and pick out their trees. Mulder fell into step with the men and Scully and Rachel walked behind them, smiling at one another. 

“It’s amazing how big Faith’s gotten in just over a month,” Rachel said, looking at her and Scully smiled, waving at her as she looked at her over Skinner’s shoulder. 

“She has been going through a growth spurt. Eating a lot and sleeping more. Some of her clothes never had a chance to be worn, she’s growing so fast. I think she’ll be tall, well, taller than me anyway. Although that’s not too hard to accomplish.” She laughed and Rachel nodded with a smile. 

“I here I always wanted to be shorter. It’s how it seems to go, right?” Rachel said and Scully nodded, truth in the statement. 

“So, Howard and Betty. How exactly are they family?” Scully asked, as she heard the men laughing heartily knowing they were definitely not discussing moth men. 

“Oh, they are old family friends. We moved here when I was ten, and that year we searched around to find a cut your own tree place like we had gone to in Washington, and we found this place. We didn’t really know anyone and my dad was a very charismatic man. You can imagine how he and Howard got along,” she smiled at Scully and she nodded, knowing how much she and Mulder had liked Howard. “Well, their kids were grown, and the oldest had gotten married and had a little girl, I think she was about four. We all sort of became this little non family-family. They were there after my father passed away, taking care of us and making sure we had food, and were doing okay. I didn’t come out here last year as my mother and I took a trip, so I missed them, and I’ve been busy recently with… well.” She looked at Skinner and Scully grinned. 

“Yeah ya have,” she said under her breath and Rachel looked at her, her face reddening more than from the chill of the day. Scully laughed and hooked her arm through Rachel’s. “Please don’t be embarrassed or think I’m teasing you out of maliciousness. I am truly happy for the two of you. Mulder has never had anything but wonderful things to say in regards to you. And Skinner, Walter…” She shook her head and smiled, stopping them for a second, so she could look at Rachel. “He’s a good man, one to which I owe my life. I know you and I don’t know each other very well, not personally anyway, but seeing him with you, knowing you through Mulder, I can’t think of anyone better for him.” Rachel smiled and blinked her eyes, wiping at them quickly. 

“Walter has said so many wonderful things about you, and Fox too, but mostly you. He’s told me how he was always impressed and in awe of you; the command you demanded without saying a word. As much as that is impressive, I told him that’s simply a woman getting shit done,” Rachel said with a smirk and Scully laughed loudly, her head falling back. She looked back at Rachel and they smiled at each other. “But he also said he owes you his life, so it seems you two are equal. I don’t know everything that’s happened, but I thank you. Thank you for saving him.” Scully stared at her and her eyes filled with tears. Nodding, she put her arms around her and they both gave a shaky laugh, wiping their eyes when they pulled apart. 

“SCULLAAYYYY!” Mulder bellowed and Scully shook her head and laughed. 

“Come on, we better catch up. He only says it that way when it’s really serious,” she said, rubbing Rachel’s arm as they started to head toward the sound of his voice. 

“A fox in a forest calling for his mate,” Rachel said, shaking her head and laughing, as Scully smiled, thinking of all the forests and places he had called for her in that manner. 

Yes, that was exactly what he was doing. 

Catching up with them, the next forty five minutes were spent arguing, laughing, and passing Faith and Bella between them as they searched for the perfect trees. Howard laughed at them, siding with the women in every dispute over height, fullness, and kind of tree. 

“I’ve been around a long time,” Howard said, slapping Mulder on the back as he shook his head at Scully. “It’s always best to side with the woman.” Scully smirked and Mulder sighed as he mouthed never, causing her to laugh. 

Finally settling on a tree, they took turns, Scully and Rachel laughing, as Mulder and Skinner argued over the best way to cut them down. 

“I did this last year, I know what I’m talking about,” Mulder said, instructing Skinner of the angle at which to cut the tree.  

“One tree. You’ve cut down one tree and that makes you an expert? Shut up,” Skinner said, looking up from the base of the tree and shaking his head. “Just hold onto it and I’ll cut it down.” Mulder looked at Scully as Rachel danced around with Faith. 

“One tree,” he said quietly, wiggling his eyebrows, looking down at Skinner and over at Rachel. Scully nodded with a smile, understanding the implication. 

The tree cut, they carried it to the one Mulder and Scully had chosen, and set it down. Rolling up his sleeves, Mulder cleared his throat and knelt down to cut theirs down. 

“Anyone interested in taking notes or a video even, to see how to properly cut down a tree, I’ll be here for a few minutes and willing to narrate as I work,” he said, as he began to cut down the tree.

“Seriously, how do you put up with him?” Skinner asked Scully and she laughed. 

“He’s really cute and a great kisser,” she replied and he made a sound of disgust as he shook his head. Howard laughed and Scully winked at him. 

The tree cut, Mulder stood up and grabbed Scully, kissing her loudly as he lifted her off the ground, causing Bella to bark excitedly. Scully laughed against his mouth and kissed him again before he set her back down. 

“One tree, Scully. Whose place do you think will be gifted with it?” he whispered close to her ear. He grinned as he stepped back and she bit her lip to keep from laughing. 

“Jesus… come on,” Skinner said and Scully saw Rachel smack his chest, Faith reaching for him with a laugh. “Sorry, honey. I have to help carry the trees, but I will hold you again soon.” He kissed her head and Scully saw a look on Rachel’s face that she had seen before, almost a sadness or longing. She smiled quickly, but her eyes still seemed sad. 

“Here, I’ll take her,” Scully said, walking over to Rachel, smiling as she reached for her. 

“Oh, it’s not a problem. You have Bella there, and I really don’t mind,” Rachel said, tickling Faith, not looking at Scully. Dropping her hands back down, Scully nodded and kept an eye on her as the men picked up both trees between the three of them, laughing and cursing as they did. 

Walking behind them, Scully held Bella’s leash and stayed close to Rachel, feeling she wanted to say something. She heard her sigh, as Faith laid her head on her chest, saying Mama as she looked at Scully. Rachel suddenly sobbed out a breath and Scully stared at her. Tears ran down her face as she held Faith close. 

“Rachel?” Scully asked, stopping her and touching her arm. Faith wiggled and pulled back to look at Rachel, touching her face with one hand, causing Rachel to cry harder. 

“I’m… I’m so… sorry,” she gasped out and Scully shook her head. 

“Don’t apologize. It’s okay, you go ahead and cry.” They stood in the middle of the trees, Scully gently touching her arm as she cried and Faith continued to stare at her, before laying her head back on Rachel’s chest. 

Her tears slowing, Scully took off the backpack she had taken from Mulder and searched inside for a tissue. Finding a small pack, she took them out, putting the backpack on again and handing one to Rachel. 

“Thank you,” she whispered, taking it and wiping her eyes. “I don’t normally do this…” She gave a shaky laugh and Scully smiled. 

“I shed some tears here myself last year. I think this place may carry some magic. Please don’t tell Mulder or he would want to conduct a thorough investigation,” she said, handing her another tissue. 

Rachel laughed softly and nodded. “I’ve always felt that way about this place,” she agreed. Wiping her eyes again, she shook her head. “What you must think of me.” She looked down, not meeting her eyes. 

“I think you’re carrying something heavy within you and it’s been there for a while. Something you may not even have known was there, but it’s decided to poke its head out and it’s causing you hurt and pain,” Scully said softly, watching Faith’s eyes grow heavy, tired from the excitement, and feeling warm and cozy as she was held by Rachel. “That’s what I think. Nothing more, nothing less.” Rachel nodded and rubbed Faith’s back, her eyes closed as she rested her cheek on Faith’s head. 

“I’ve always wanted kids. Always. But…” she swayed slightly and shook her head. “It just didn’t work out. Seeing Faith at your wedding dinner, and even little Raina, it brought those feelings to the surface. I hadn’t thought of them in so long and that night… they were there again. And now,” She laughed softly and bitterly. “I’m with this amazing man, and all I can think is how much I would love to have a child with him. I know it’s fast. So fast.” She opened her eyes and looked at Scully, tears pooling in them. “I love him so much. It sounds so cliche, but I can’t imagine my life without him. I can’t.” Scully smiled and pulled her close for a hug, mindful of Faith sleeping, and they both sighed. 

“Is your fear that he wouldn’t want a child? Because…” Scully said, shaking her head, stepping back as she looked at Rachel, who shook her head sadly. 

“I’m 43. I’m… past child bearing age. There is adoption or foster care, of course, but I really wanted to have one of my own and my time has passed.” 

“Oh, Rachel,” Scully said kindly. “No, you’re not. My situation was… well different to say the least, but… I’m 55 now and well…” She touched Faith’s back gently and smiled. “It’s not too late.” 

“We haven’t even discussed anything close to this,” Rachel whispered. “I haven’t even told him that I… it’s too fast.” 

“Is it?” Scully asked softly. “Is it really? Who determines when we fall in love? It may seem fast according to what society deems as “normal” but, six weeks, six months, would you still feel the same?” 

“I would. I can’t begin to explain it, but I would. I knew when I first saw him.” 

“You just needed to be sure,” Scully whispered, staring into the distance, remembering many days of uncertainty, until she knew beyond a doubt that Mulder was her choice. He was and would always be the choice she made, again and again. 

“Seven years,” she breathed, shaking her head, and closing her eyes with a smile. Laughing softly, she opened her eyes and looked at Rachel. “Don’t wait seven years to tell him how you feel. Don’t wait seven days. If you love him, tell him.” Rachel smiled, tears filling her eyes again, and Scully handed her another tissue. 

“As for children…” Scully smiled at Faith. “I don’t think you need to worry about him. He acts gruff and grumbles a lot, but that’s how he shows his affection. How quickly did he take Faith from me? And he wouldn’t give her back.” They both laughed and Rachel nodded. “However children may come into your life, Rachel, if they do, he will love them with his whole heart.” 

Rachel nodded and smiled, wiping her eyes again. Shifting Faith a little, she held her close and took a deep breath. “Thank you,” she said. “I talk to people every day for a living, but sometimes I’m the one who needs to be heard.” 

“We all need that,” Scully said with a smile. “Are you ready to head back? Or would you like a little more time?”Rachel smiled and nodded once more.

“I’m ready” she said. Scully gave a gentle tug to Bella‘s leash and they continued walking toward the little gingerbread house which they knew would be warm and inviting, and smelling of hot cocoa. 

As Scully suspected may be the case, Betty had found a nearly identical nutcracker and would not hear of charging them to replace the one Bella had destroyed.

“You keep both,” she said. “It’s always good to see how what we do affects those around us. Seeing something like this, is a good learning tool sometimes. Life is messy, but we can always try and fix it, but it might not be exactly the same, which is why care needs to be taken with things we love.” 

“Damn,” Mulder said. “You come for the trees and the pretty decorations and you get words of wisdom to boot.” She smiled at them both, and then continued to wrap the nutcracker. 

They drank hot cocoa and ate fudge and cookies as they looked around, rehashing the experience of cutting down the trees, laughing as they did. Faith woke up happy to find everyone still together, demanding attention and finding it was not hard to come by, when she flashed her blue eyes and smiled her sweet smile. They let her try some fudge and she enjoyed it, evidenced by her chocolate drooling smile. 

New decorations were chosen for the tree and the house. Scully saw Betty throwing extra items into their bags and she knew by the time the decorations had been packed up and put away, they would most likely need another bin to hold all their new treasures. 

Howard encouraged them to take a picture in the sled, all of them together, Bella included, as Mulder held her in his arms.

“Let’s get one of everybody,” Rachel insisted. “That means you too Uncle and Auntie.” Despite their protests, she maneuvered them into the sled as she set the timer on her phone and ran back to stand beside Skinner and wait for the picture to be taken.

They left together, walking out to their separate cars, the trees tied securely to the tops. Mulder placed their overflowing bags and the backpack in the backseat and put Bella in the travel crate they bought for her, in rear of the car. 

Rachel still held Faith, but Scully saw a difference in her now, as though a worry had been lifted. Catching her eye, Rachel smiled and Scully knew it had. Whatever happened next, Rachel was ready to face it. 

“Mama!” Faith shouted, reaching for Scully and Rachel smiled. Hugging her close once more, she handed her to Scully. 

“She always smells so deliciously wonderful, I had to have one last sniff. That’s not super creepy is it?” Rachel laughed and Scully shook her head with a chuckle. 

“Not at all. I find myself absolutely intoxicated by her scent as well. There’s something about the smells of a baby.” 

“Hits you right in the ovaries, that’s for fucking sure,” Rachel mumbled and they stared at each other, understanding passing between them. Scully nodded and Rachel smiled. “Thank you for everything today. The listening ear, the discussion, the lending of this beautiful girl.” She touched Faith’s cheek and smiled again. “She’s so beautiful and such a happy little girl.” 

“Unless she’s tired and hungry, then you might not recognize her,” Scully warned her with a smile. 

“I don’t blame her, I’m the same way. Ask Walter about Pittsburgh one day. It was not pretty,” Rachel said with wide eyes. Scully laughed and nodded. 

“Mulder could tell you many stories about that in regards to me. We’ll just steer clear of that topic around them, agreed?” 

“Agreed,” Rachel laughed. 

“You ladies ready?” Mulder asked, walking over and kissing Faith’s head. 

“Yeah,” Scully answered, smiling at Rachel. 

Skinner walked over and they all shook hands and hugged goodbye. Faith was taken from her, lifted up and hugged and kissed. Mulder took her from Skinner, and as they said goodbye once more, Rachel grasped Scully’s hand and smiled, silently thanking her again. She nodded and squeezed her hand before Skinner and Rachel got into their car. 

Watching them drive away, Scully smiled and took a deep breath, happy for what she knew was coming for them. 

“What’s got you smiling so happily, Miss Scully?” Mulder asked, putting his arm around her. 

“She loves him,” she said quietly, turning her head to look at him. He stared at her and gave her a look of mock astonishment. 

“Yeah, obviously,” he said with a puzzled frown. 

“Oh, did she tell you too?” 

“She didn’t have to, I could see it,” he said, opening the car door and buckling Faith into her car seat. 

“You could see it?” she asked as he shut the door. 

“Yeah,” he answered, crossing his arms and staring at her. She raised her eyebrows at him and he grinned. 

“I recognize the signs,” he shrugged. Her eyebrows went higher and he laughed, uncrossing his arms and pulling her towards him. “She looks at him the way you looked at me… the way you do look at me.” 

“Is that right?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck with a smile. 

“Mmm-hmm,” he murmured. “Has she not actually said it yet?” 

“No, not yet.” 

“Hmmm… and what was the brilliant advice you gave her?” 

“I told her not to wait for seven years. Not even seven days. If she loves him, she should tell him.” She stared at him and he nodded, smiling as his eyes dropped to her lips. 

“I love you,” he whispered. 

“And I love you,” she smiled. 

He kissed her and she pulled him closer, trying to put every missed I love you moment into the kiss. The times when they had nearly died and she wanted to tell him. The moments that seemed so small and insignificant, when her love for him had bubbled up to the surface, only to be tamped down; she tried to convey it all. 

Breaking apart, they smiled, kissing once more before they got in the car. Reaching for her hand, he softly kissed her fingers and smiled. 

“I know saying it, putting it out there, leaving yourself vulnerable, is terrifying. Seven years, Scully,” he said quietly, staring at her with a smile. “Hearing it, of course it’s important. But, Scully… I saw your love far before I ever heard it. Rachel may be worried to say it, but trust me, Skinner already knows. Love can’t be ignored, not when it’s being silently shouted every time you look at the person you love.” 

“God… you always say the science talk gets you hot, well when you talk like that, hoooo boy…” she said with a low moan. He raised his eyebrows and she nodded slowly. 

“Well…” he said, clearing his throat, letting go of her hand and fumbling with the keys to start the car. “I say we, uh, we head on home.” 

She laughed as he quickly backed up and they started down the road. The car smelled of Christmas as Faith babbled away in the backseat and Mulder reached for her hand again. Interlocking their fingers, he hummed under his breath, and she smiled at him, her heart filled with happiness and love.