#shes always making like. grandma wailing noises

[system-architect]

if you dont play revenant you might not know that revenants have dialogue lines where their own invoked legends (shiro, kalla, etc) talk to them and the revenant responds back, and these happen like CONSTANTLY-- it gets mildly disruptive sometimes when it plays over story voice acting or such, but that aside

i love thinking about this in a world lore context. like, shiro is talking to me in my head, right? is my revenant just standing in a crowd in lions arch and abruptly screaming "DO YOUR WORST! I AM IMPERVIOUS!" at nothing in particular, in front of onlookers? does he ever just suddenly make a Face and then go "sorry, glint was making those weird grunts again"?? i enjoy the thought.

[aphroditelovesu]

A Flower in the Winter

❝🌾 — lady l: I wrote this as a preview of that headcanon I did of Demeter a while ago, you can read it by clicking here. I decided to delve into that and how Demeter felt before meeting the reader. I hope you like it! ❤️

❝tw: mention of parental neglect.

❝word count: 772.

The goddess of agriculture watched the beautiful snowy fields with a deep sense of melancholy. Her shoulders were slumped and her normally stern expression was sad and her gaze filled with unshed tears. It was like another one of her days away from her beloved daughter, she became just a dust than she used to be when Persephone was with her. She just felt empty and aimless.

She needed her beloved daughter with her. She was desperate and would do anything to have her loving daughter with her at all times. Anything.

Demeter missed her daughter very much and even the most terrible winters and the suffering of humanity with it did not help her feel better. Maybe nothing would make her feel she could never replace her beloved daughter and it's not like she wants to. She just wants to have Persephone back with her again, like they were before that bastard Hades kidnapped her.

Unfortunately none of that was possible.

Demeter took a deep breath, enjoying the cold winter breeze. It had been about two months since her daughter returned to the Underworld and again the goddess found herself alone. She doesn't remember how lonely she would be after the blessed six months had passed. With the departure of her beloved daughter, sadness completely consumed her and all the plantations were facing a harsh winter. It was a vicious and unbreakable cycle.

A loud wail was present near where the goddess was sitting and she looked towards the noise, but her eyes did not catch anything. Shrugging, she went back to focusing on her feelings, but the noise was heard again but closer. Demeter looked over her shoulder suspiciously and without much interest, but her eyes nearly popped out of her orbs after she glanced at a child, a girl she thought looked a lot like someone she detested.

This child was practically identical to the God of the Underworld. Identical to Hades.

For a few moments the goddess didn't know what to do, she was beyond confused and distraught. She was completely distraught. Just a few glances at the child in front of her was enough for her to figure out who she was.

The goddess of agriculture always knew she had a granddaughter but she never thought much about it. She never bothered to meet her despite being asked several times by Persephone, she didn't want to have to deal with yet another proof that her daughter really had been taken from her. Demeter wanted nothing to do with her, and a small part of her felt resentful of a child she'd never seen in her life because of everything that had happened. She knows it's irrational but she doesn't care.

But now looking at the tiny, frail, crying figure of the child, she didn't know what to do. Why was she there? How did she get out of the Underworld? Did she run away or did Persephone send her daughter to go comfort her mother?

She honestly couldn't say, but just contented herself with watching the child who also didn't take her teary eyes away from the goddess. The two stared at each other for a while, until the girl decided to break the silence, ''Grandma?'' The voice was low and uncertain, but Demeter heard it loud and clear.

Demeter was silent, she felt strange being called that. The girl didn't even wait to hear an answer and ran to where the goddess was sitting. Demeter shuddered as she felt small arms hugging her tightly and with a certain desperation. Not knowing what to do, she hesitantly returned the hug which grew warmer the longer it lasted.

This isn't so bad, she thought. How long has it been since I received such a warm hug?

She finally understood what had happened to her granddaughter after hearing the hurried words come out of her little mouth. Demeter felt sulky and she saw herself in that child, she had been neglected by her parents and that's why she decided to flee to the surface. And she felt a satisfaction in discovering that she was the one her granddaughter was looking for.

Maybe it's not such a bad thing to take care of a child again. It's not so bad having a granddaughter to love and care for.

Demeter decided to take in her granddaughter. She saw in her a second chance to have what had been taken from her but this time the goddess knew she wouldn't make the same mistake twice. Nobody would take her granddaughter away from her, she won't let that happen again.

It's not so bad having a granddaughter to love and care for.

[st4reintoabyss]

You May Find It Useful

"You will find it useful, at some point," Grandma had told her of the picture frame. She had kept it ever since, even empty. It was small, wooden, painted a strange maroon. It was the only thing she had of her grandmother's, who had passed when she was ten.

Useful, she had thought. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that what she meant was something much different than putting a picture in it. Of course, it was a full twenty years later. But something compelled her to bring it with her to the run-down apartment her mother had moved into after her father's death.

Her mother was not so well. She had a key, but knocked at her mother's request. It took her several minutes to come to the door. She had her key poised to use when the door flew open to reveal her wide-eyed, jittery parent.

"Asha," she said, relieved, as if she had expected someone else. She walked back from the door to let her in.

"Hi Mom, what's wrong?" Stupid question. Same thing that always was.

Her mother collapsed into a chair at the kitchen table. "It's HERE, Asha, and it won't let me sleep. It won't let me be." She began to sob pathetically, her head sunk into her arms.

Asha petted her mother's head sympathetically. "Have you been to see Dr. Bundt?" Through her mother's sobbing she heard a soft tapping, perhaps water dripping from a pipe.

Her mother picked up a bottle of sleeping tablets on the table and shook it to demonstrate it was empty. "Sure. Wouldn't give me more until I saw the wacky quack." Her mother's way to say psychiatrist.

Just as she seemed to be calming down, the tapping became louder. She shrieked and clung to her daughter.

"Mom, relax, it's just a bad pipe!" Asha squirmed to get free; her mom was unintentionally hurting her.

Her mom let go. "It's not!" She shrieked. "You can hear it too! It's... the thing...oh... it wants us both." She moaned.

Asha began to feel slightly dizzy and nauseous. Carbon monoxide leak? She'd have to check the detector - just then, her mother picked up a dish and threw it past her against the wall. It shattered.

"MOM-"

Her mother began to make a horrible wailing sound, and started to paw through Asha's purse. Once Asha had managed to get ahold of her, she saw she was clutching the picture frame. Letting go of her mother who seemed momentarily more composed, she opened her mouth to ask her about it, and the tapping sound suddenly increased, and swelled, and seemed to fill Asha's head. She was certain she was about to pass out when she heard her mother scream and slam what she assumed to be the picture frame against the wall.

The noise suddenly stopped. Asha opened her eyes and turned around and saw her mother shaking, holding the frame against the wall. And within the frame there was...

A mist, coalescing around a horribly warped image of her father. His skin was green and protrusions that looked infected grew from it. His mouth was twisted in agony to reveal blackened, misshapen teeth. After his neck, the rest of his body was out of frame.

Her mother chanted something three times, then moved the frame from the wall. "Thank you for bringing it, Asha," she said, and as Asha stared, broke the whole thing in half over her knee. A pained guttural sigh emerged, like the whine of a human balloon, then faded. "You bastard," her mother said to it.

[maries-gallery]

This happened when i was little, i was 3 my and my sister was 5 my grandmother who lived cross country was getting on her bus to go home.

I didn't understand why she was leaving and started to cry, which made my sister start to cry. My mom, 34 alone at the bus terminal with two heartbroken kids, starts to cry. We are all standing on the side walk crying HYSTERICALLY as the bus pulls away.

The bus STOPPED. The bus driver and every single passenger was CRYING or tearing up at the site (except my grandma) The bus driver made her get off the bus to comfort us and say goodbye to all of us again.

Imagine Armin has to go cross country and his two little seashells start crying, the youngest bawling hysterically, his older usually cheerful seashell making this heart wrenching wailing noise. and his beloved wife is trying very hard not to, but eventually does start sobbing along.

How would Armin react when the bus driver makes him get off and comfort them?

(I'm sorry for this, the memory popped in my head while i was reading your stories and had to ask, feel free to ignore)

Please that is the cutest thing I've read today. Thank you so much for sharing this very heart warming souvenir, anon !

genre : fluff

warnings : none

Armin saw many things during his survey corps years and as a commander, but one thing he can't bear is the sight of his girls' tears.

His heart aches in his chest, heavy like a stone and tongue bitter in his mouth as he stares at the three of you with trembling blue eyes. His little seashells' cries tear through his resolve as he ponders over getting off the bus and staying with you. Go back home holding your hand, play with the girls like they always do and embrace you at night.

But he can't.

The bus driver doesn't even have the time to open his mouth before Armin climbs down from the bus and crouches in front of his seashells, wiping his youngest's tears away with his thumb before kissing her forehead softly. Then pressing a kiss to the top of her older sister's head before finally turning to you with a soft smile, emotions rippling in his tender gaze. He misses you already.

"I'll be back soon, okay ?" He whispers gently, lips meeting yours in a tender kiss as he holds his seashells to his sides. "I promise."

Once away, he sends letters every two days, with news of his trip and some funny anecdotes. He asks about you, how you are doing and if you've all been visiting the sea in his absence. Have you found some new shells for your collection ?

The only thing keeping him from running back home to your sides being the pictures he keeps in his wallet, the four of you, smiling brightly as you play in the waves and bathe in the gentle light of the Sun. Every day, he kisses it goodnight before bed. Every day, he holds it close to his chest when things become unbearable without you here. All until he can finally hold the three of you in his arms and breathe again.

[collabwithmyself]

1-3: Turnabout Transfix (1/2)

Ray and Maya both teased him about his "old man phone," but in Miles's opinion, it worked perfectly well, so he saw no point in replacing it. It was simple, it was solid, and most importantly, he could still customize a ringtone with it.

This meant that waking up abruptly to a tinny rendition of the Steel Samurai theme song had him in a marginally better mood than if it were a normal, repetitive ringing dragging him out of slumber an hour earlier than usual. He fumbled blindly for the cell phone chiming away on his nightstand and dragged it over to him, squinting futilely at the caller ID before answering.

"Mlejerth," he managed.

"My!" screeched a voice, shouting directly into his ear and startling him into sitting up. "It's a disaster!"

"Wh-- Maya? What happened? Are you in danger?"

"It's the Steel Samurai!" Maya wailed. "He killed the Evil Magistrate!"

"Well, that seems largely out of character for him," Miles mused, rubbing his eyes. "...Wait, hold on, where did you get this information? Why are you giving me spoilers?"

"I mean in real life! Turn on the TV, or whatever it is you old men do to get news!"

"In real--" Miles's sleep-addled brain struggled to comprehend what Maya was trying to tell him. "You... do you mean their actors?"

"Yes! Duh!"

He fell back against the headboard in shock. "You're telling me Will Powers killed Jack Hammer?" Why didn't she say that in the first place?!

"That's what the police are saying! You're a defense attorney, My, do something! There's no way the Steel Samurai would kill anybody!"

"Wh-- Maya, you can't expect me to be able to catch the attention of a celebrity, let alone be picked by him to defend him in court! I've only acted as an attorney in two trials!"

"Yeah, and you beat Sascha von Karma! That's better than a whole resume of cases or whatever! Come on, My, you gotta!"

Miles pinched the bridge of his nose. "You won't stop pestering me until I agree to this, will you?"

"Nnnnope!" Maya popped the P emphatically. "Meet you at the detention center!"

"Yes, I'll see you--"

Click.

"...there..."

What had he just gotten himself into?

⁂

"So this is Global Studios?" Maya asked, hands on her hips as she peered around. "I kinda expected it to be... I dunno, bigger."

"Bigger isn't always better, you know," Miles replied, pushing up his glasses. "They make do excellently with what they have, wouldn't you agree?"

"You can say that again!"

Maya strolled closer to the gate, standing on her tiptoes. "Geez, where's the handle for this thing? You think we might have to climb it?"

Miles gave her a look that he hoped conveyed his lack of amusement properly. "We are not breaking into the studio. I highly doubt they'd let just anyone in, especially after a murder just took place. We might need to go back and get, well, a permission slip from Mr. Powers."

Maya smirked at him. "You just wanna get his autograph."

Miles's ears burned. "It's important to the case--"

A horrible screech startled them both, and Maya sprang back from the gate, reflexively snagging Miles by the sleeve and making him flinch a second time. It took him a moment to recognize the piercing cry as a human voice instead of some furious animal.

"Hey! You there! You wanna get in, you're gonna have to go through me! Honestly, all day I've had to deal with nothing but gawkers and sightseers, it seems like nobody in this city knows how to keep their nose out of things, they've all got another thing coming if they think they can get past me--"

He turned to find a person in blue storming out of the nearby security station and towards them both. Intimidated, but knowing better than to let that show, he straightened up, and beside him, Maya did the same.

"Er, pardon me. I'm a defense attorney, and this is my," Miles hesitated, "paralegal. We're here on behalf of--"

The elderly woman squinted at him, then brightened like a light being turned on. "Oh! What a lovely young man you are, aren't you just a sweetheart?"

Miles blinked at the praise. Beside him, Maya made a sudden retching noise, though he couldn't fathom why. "Er, I'm representing Will Powers," he continued, gesturing to the badge on his lapel, "and I was hoping you could let us in to conduct an investigation? You are the security guard, aren't you?"

"Oh, where are my manners? Wendy Oldbag, Global Studios security, but you can just call me grandma!" The old woman waved a hand at him. (Miles was... not going to do that.) "Why, you're so polite, not at all like most people these days, so pushy and impatient, looking to sightsee just because something horrible happened! No, I can tell you're an honest young man, you wouldn't dream of causing trouble, would you?"

Miles shook his head. Oldbag continued to ramble, so his gaze slipped away from her and towards Maya, who looked positively mortified.

"My, I think she likes you," she stage-whispered.

"Is that not a good thing?" Miles was puzzled. "She'll be more likely to let us in."

"Ohh, boy..."

It took a lot of convincing to assure this woman that they didn't need a personally guided tour, thank you, and it was Maya being her blunt self that eventually got her to take the hint and leave in a huff.

"That was..." Miles searched for the right word as he gazed about the studio grounds.

"Yikes," Maya finished.

"Maya, she was a perfectly agreeable woman--"

"Are you that oblivious, My? She was totally into you!" She threw her hands into the air. "You get such a bad crush you practically block out your memory when Mr. Powers talks to you, but this lady flirting with you doesn't set off any alarm bells?"

Miles spluttered. "She was not flirting!"

"She was totally making kissy eyes at you!"

"This is an entirely irrelevant discussion topic anyways, we should be investigating."

Maya puffed her cheeks out, balling her fists. "You can't just stand there and let weird old ladies creep on you, My!"

"Believe me," he huffed with finality, "I would never let any weird old person get into my head."

They didn't get far before a figure standing under the archway leading to the studios spotted them. The already large detective puffed up in anger when they approached.

"Hey! Aren't you that murderer from the other day?!"

Maya squeaked, bravado evaporating. "Yikes! It's that himbo detective...!"

"I-- I beg your pardon, Maya, what--"

The detective - Gumshoe, was it? - stomped a foot in frustration, chest heaving. "Prosecutor von Karma's real upset because of you! All frustrated and can't focus on work, staring out the window and muttering..."

Maya seemed to regain her resolve. "How is it our fault she's a sore loser, huh? And besides, if anyone's at fault, it's you for doing sloppy detective work!"

This only served to agitate Gumshoe further. "Don't you insult my boss!" he exploded. But then, all at once, he deflated, brows knitting together guiltily. "...I did my best..."

Maya looked thrown. "Um... s-sorry," she stammered. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings..."

The detective shook his head. "Nah, you got a point, pal... I shouldn't be blaming other people like that..."

Miles refrained from pointing out that it was pretty much his job to be blaming other people, along with his boss's. "Well, I suppose there's always the next case."

"Yeah... hey! Speaking of which! What the heck are you two doing here?!"

Maya put her hands on her hips and tried to make herself look bigger. "Well, we're on this case too, pal!"

Gumshoe's mouth fell open in offense. "Hey! You can't just go around calling people pal! That's my endearing character trait, pal!"

"Well, what are you gonna do about it, pal?!"

"Pal, I'm gonna--"

"Are you here," Miles interrupted loudly, "on behalf of Miss von Karma?"

It was the wrong thing to say, evidently, as Gumshoe set his jaw again. "I told you to address Prosecutor von Karma by the proper title! Don't let me catch you saying that around my boss, or you're in for it!"

What an odd thing to insist on, Miles thought, but he nodded along nonetheless. "Well? Are you?"

"Am I what...?" Gumshoe took a moment, most likely replaying the conversation in his head. "Oh! Yeah! Prosecutor von Karma's on this case, and this time, we've definitely got it in the bag!"

Miles remembered the strange, uneasy feeling he'd gotten when staring down that woman in court. How her eyes burned with a disgust and hatred Miles couldn't hope to decipher. How her cold composure had dissolved into furious outbursts and frantic bluffs in an effort to save face as Miles took her case apart. How angry, humiliated tears had pricked at the corners of her eyes, and she'd clung anxiously to her right side like she was preventing a wound from bleeding out.

"I'd be worried about her punching you, My," Maya had said to him, "but I think she might just break her hand trying."

How the scrawny brunette managed to be so imposing, Miles had no idea. Everything about her made his stomach twist, like something was inherently incorrect about her. He almost felt sorry for her, having to be raised by a man like Manfred von Karma, but she had been molded into his likeness - a ruthless prosecutor who sought no less than a perfect win record - which made her his enemy.

Some part of him wondered if they could have been friends in another life - a life where they'd crossed paths earlier.

But Miles had far more important things to worry about than that.

[let-me-love-you-loki]

Too Late for R-n-R Part 3

Part 3

Mattie

            I hated it. I absolutely hated it. My arm was in a cast, my leg was in a brace, I had to walk on crutches, and I wasn’t allowed anywhere near the ring. At all. Momma was adamant about that much at least.

            There was nothing to do being stuck at all home day hardly able to do more than hobble from my room to the bathroom or living room. Plus, I was stuck at Papa’s house. I couldn’t even go across the patio to Dad’s. It sucked. So fucking hard.

            “What’s got you looking so sour?” Papa said as he plopped down on the sofa, stretching out his leg. He was almost healed—he was already in physical therapy. I hated that too.

            And I hated that I hated it. I wanted to cry because of it.

            “I want to go back,” I whimpered, letting my head fall back against the cushions. “I hate it here.”

            Papa groaned as he turned toward me. He looked sad. Kind of like he had that time when Dad left for a while. “You don’t mean that.”

My head pounded. I could feel my heartbeat beneath my cast. It made my stomach turn upside down. “I want to go back to Jacksonville. I don’t want to be here.”

            “You’ll get back, Tea. I know you don’t think so now,” Papa said quietly. “It’s better to stay out and get healed up than go back to early and be out permanently.”

            I tugged my blanket over my head and huffed. “You don’t understand.”

            “Mattie…”

            “No! Just… leave me the fuck alone, Papa.” I wished I could storm out, go back to my room and slam the door. The sound would have been satisfying.

            “Mattea Kourtney Jackson!” Papa shot up to his feet, yanking the blanket away from me, his voice deep and dangerous. It hit my ears and my gut, making me feel like I was going to puke. “Don’t you ever let me hear you say that again.”

            “I’m nineteen,” I spat back, wishing I could stand up to him. I hated feeling like a little girl. Whenever Papa and Dad were around at shows, everyone treated me like I was five. Most of them had known me since the day I was born. It was hard enough to be taken seriously without my parents breathing down my neck. “Kenny and Adam say it all the time. So do Chuck and Trent and Cassidy and Mox…”

            “I don’t care what they say, Mattie. You were raised better than that!” Papa was practically shouting. “Grandma Buck would pop you in the mouth for that.”

            My chest ached as my heart thundered behind my ribs. I could feel my pulse slamming against the inside of my cast. My stomach turned sideways, and for the first time in a long time, I wanted to wail for my mom. I just wanted her.

            “Why do you care?” I asked suddenly, not sure where the words came from.

            Papa’s face turned red. “Because you’re my daughter!”

            “No, I’m not!” I shouted, absolutely loathing the words the moment they came out of my mouth. I watched Papa’s face crumple. He sank onto the couch like someone had kicked his legs out from under him. His eyes were big and brown, vulnerable and hurt. And they were already spilling over with tears. “Papa… I…”

            His jaw clenched. He settled one hand over his heart, and for a moment I was terrified that he was having a heart attack or something. “Mattie…” Papa’s voice was smaller than I’d ever heard it. Sadder than it had ever been, even when Dad was gone and Mama had been in tears for a week. “How could you…”

            For a moment, he was completely silent. His hands fell into his lap and he stared at them. Tears slid down his cheeks and into his beard. It was the first time I noticed that it was going a little grey.

Matt

            I’d had the air knocked out of me plenty of times in my life. But nothing compared to the ringing sound of Mattie shouting those words at me. It was like gravity fell apart and everything was going topsy turvy. There was a dull ache in my chest, like someone had punched a hole straight through. My gut felt like it was trying to crawl up my throat.

            “I cut your chord… I held you the day you were born… I watched you come into this world…”

            I wondered if she even heard the words. They were so quiet I barely heard them myself. Instead I was lost in memories of the little girl with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes that had stolen my heart the moment she’d let out her first wail. Bringing her home, pacing the floors as Nick and I tried not to wake Y/N with her crying, driving around and around the block to get her to sleep when she had colic. Those petrified months when she started to crawl, when I was obsessed with making sure she didn’t run into anything. Her first tottering steps, watching Nick and Y/N chase her through the yard. Trying so hard to build her swing set and her bicycle and her princess castle. Teaching her to swim.

            Walking through Disneyland with her on my shoulders. Getting buried up to my knees in sand on the beach in Hawaii while she giggled and ran off to catch starfish and sand dollars. Agonizing days and nights when we had to be away from home on loops. Setting her off on her first day of school with her Beauty and the Beast backpack and her light up glitter sneakers.

            My throat threatened to close. I could feel the tears running down my face, but I couldn’t catch a breath. That ache in my chest grew until it felt like that was all I knew.

            Tumbling with her in the ring in the backyard. Teaching her those first few precious things. Helping her with her homework. Watching her paint and sketch, looking for all the world like my wife made over. Christmases and birthdays and Easters and dragging her out of bed at six AM to make breakfast for Y/N on Mother’s Day. Sitting around our picnic style dining table and talking about wrestling, Oreo sleeping on her feet. Watching her sob and curl into a ball after everything that happened at her school. Seeing the temporary loss of Nick break her heart like it had ours. Then following along as she opened up and bloomed in her co-op, in the ring.

            I’d watched every moment of her existence, and I didn’t think I could love someone as much as I loved her and her brothers and sister. Mattie was my oldest, my firstborn, regardless of what the DNA test said. I’d always promised Y/N that… promised Nick that.

            There’d been a moment of terror when Y/N told me what Mattie had wanted for her eighteenth birthday—to know who her birth father was. My wife had taken me aside and told me, so I wouldn’t be blindsided when it happened. And God knew, I’d dreaded the moment that Mattie would look at me and see someone other than her Papa.

            Now that the moment had come, I couldn’t bear it. The pain rocketed through me, radiating out from that excruciating cavern behind my ribs. This is what it feels like, I thought, staring dumbly at my hands, this is what it feels like to have a broken heart.

            “Mattie…” I said her name, and it felt like knives stabbing me in the back. How could I have lost my little girl so completely?

            A noise made me look up. Maybe it was the nineteen years of listening for her every breath and whine and cry that made me hear the whimper that she tried to hide behind her cast. She’d pulled herself to the edge of the sofa and was slowly scooting her way over to me. Her eyes—blue like my brother’s—were full of sadness and regret. Her lip trembled the way it always did when she was about to burst into tears.

            I saw her for an instant as she had been at three. Dark curls and wide eyes, clutching an elephant in one hand and Nick’s ponytail with the other as we told her that he and I were going to Japan for a month. And that she couldn’t come with us. Her bottom lip had trembled, those sapphire eyes had turned glassy, and she’d cried so hard and so long that she made herself sick and we missed our flight.

            “I’m sorry, Papa,” she said softly. The sound of her voice shattered my heart just then. It was the sound she’d made when she told us about the girls at school. About the bruises on her arms and the taunts the kids yelled at her in the halls.

            My next words came out before I had a chance to think about them. “You’re the one who gave me that name.”

Mattie

            My knee hurt so bad as I pulled myself down the sofa toward Papa. I’d never wanted to take words back as badly as I wanted to take back telling him I wasn’t his daughter. I hated myself for making him look so sad.

            His words thumped me in the chest. They were wistful, a little bit sad with a tinge of nostalgic happiness.

            “I did?”

            Papa looked over at me, a smile spreading over his face. “You did. We were sitting on the sofa in Dad’s house. You were all wrapped up in one of his Clippers shirts—” He stopped and let out a laugh. “He was determined that you’d be like him. You didn’t have blankets as a baby. You had Nick’s old Clippers gear. But this one was your favorite.”

            I knew exactly which one he meant. It was folded up in the bottom of my gear bag. The image was faded into almost nothing on the front and the fabric was worn thin in places.

            “I had you right here,” he said, pantomiming holding something against his chest. “Dad was making you laugh and Mama came in. Before you were born, she decided what you’d grow up calling us.” He leaned in, a smile on his face that only showed up when he talked about Mama. “Nick and I didn’t like them, but you know how we are with your mom. I sat you up on my lap and Dad told you to pick which of us was Papa.”

            He stopped, and I couldn’t help but drag myself further over the sofa to put my head against his shoulder. His chest hitched. “And you… you leaned against my chest. Just like that…” Papa reached up and put his hand on the side of my head. “I don’t care that I’m not your biological father, Mattie. You’re my daughter. I’ve loved you with every breath in my body since the second you came into the world. A piece of paper doesn’t change that. Not for me.

            “Do you still… think of me like…”

            I hugged him as tightly as I could. I wished harder than I’d ever wished in my life that I could take back everything I said to him.

            “I didn’t think you…” I whispered against his shoulder. “Not knowing that Dad was…”

            It shocked me when Papa started laughing. He wrapped his arm around me and grinned. “How can you not be my daughter? You’re as stubborn and sometimes stupid just like me.”

            I hid my face against his shoulder just like I’d done my whole life. “You’re my Papa. And I’m your Tea.”

Tag List

@mox-made-me-do-it @not-that-kinda-gurl08 @lilred91 @imagineall-the-fandoms @maelleoute @librathepheonix13​ @justamess44​

[lilylysanderscorpius]

Lily stopped abruptly almost tripping over a step at the sound of her own name.

Then she heard the unsettling sound of her grandmother crying.

'We have to warn her Ginevra- did you not warn her about associating with his kind?' Molly lamented.

Lily frowned, her heart beating fast.

'Warn me about what?' she asked, stepping down the last few steps and into the kitchen.

There was a loud noise of paper rustling as Ginny immediately thrust whatever she and Molly had been looking at behind her back.

'Lily' Ginny's face went pale as she addressed her daughter.

Lily looked from her mother's face to her grandmother's. Molly Weasley looked as though someone had died; her face was stained with tears and her nose was running a little. Upon seeing Lily she let out another long, sorrowful wail.

Ginny looked at her mother with an exasperated expression before turning back to her daughter.

'Lily, we don't want to upset you. This could be a little… surprising'

'What is it?' Lily's voice rose and her chest heaved in trepidation. She'd never seen her grandmother so upset- at least not since James had vandalized her signed copy of 'Magical Me' by Gilderoy Lockhart.

Ginny looked her gravely in the eye and slowly took the magazine out from behind her back.

'We need to ask you if this is real' she said swallowing hard.

Lily looked down at the magazine in front of her. Splashed across the top were the words 'Witch Weekly' in large pink letters. But it was what was underneath those letters that made Lily's stomach flip and her entire body start to sweat. Her eyes widened, her lips parted and she let out a small whimper of shock.

Underneath those awful pink letters was a moving photograph- a very close up photograph of Scorpius.

Scorpius with his lips on her lips.

Scorpius with his hands on her neck and his thumbs brushing her cheeks affectionately.

And there she was kissing him back just as passionately.

Their faces took up the whole cover, every movement of their lips and flutter of their eyelids as they moved against each other clearly visible.

The colour drained from Lily's face and her hands shook violently. She looked up at her mother and grandmother with an expression of utter horror before instinctively turning on her heal and running back up the stairs.

'Lily! Lily wait!' Ginny yelled up after her with concern. Her calls were drowned out by the sound of Molly's distressed wails at the realization that Lily's reaction could mean only one thing; that photo was no fabrication.

Lily throttled back into her room and slammed the door shut behind her. She let herself fall back into the door and slid down it into a heap on the floor, breathing heavily.

Her mind raced. Witch weekly. The cover of witch weekly. How many people would see it? All of magical England? Perhaps some of France and America too?

The thought made her feel suddenly nauseous.

Could she stop it? Get her mother to make a complaint to the editors; stop the sale of it?

But of course not- if her grandmother had it then it was already out there. Already printed. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of copies. Of that photo.

Lily gulped. That photo. Judging from the studs in Scorpius' ear and nose it had to have been taken when they kissed on Halloween. Her face burned, her entire body hot with embarrassment.

There was a loud thumping sound and Lily jumped, pulled out of her muddled thoughts. It was Ginny knocking on the door behind her.

'Lily- dear please come out. You- you're not in trouble. Of course you aren't- we just need to...need to figure this out' Ginny pleaded through the door.

Lily stayed silent. She didn't know what to say. What was there to say?

'You need to tell us what's going on with you and this Scorpius boy… just explain so that we can make sure there are no false rumors going around-'

Scorpius, Lily thought with a jolt. She had to warn him.

Lily hurriedly got up off the floor and ran forward to open the window and call for Weebles. He swooped up into her room and she immediately went about writing a short note to send Scorpius;

Our photograph is in Witch Weekly. My family's seen it. Be careful.

She didn't know how, or of what, he was supposed to be careful but in her current state of mind she couldn't think of anything else to say. She quickly attached the small piece of parchment to Weebles' leg and instructed him sternly to give it to Scorpius and Scorpius only.

As Lily watched Weebles fly off into the distance, she could still hear her mother pleading through the door.

She sighed deeply.

She would have to face this. There was no other way but to go back downstairs and explain. Lily gathered her wits about her, took a deep breath and opened the door.

Seeing the look of nervousness on her daughters face, Ginny silently pulled her into a tight hug.

'Come on' she said gently, giving Lily an encouraging smile. With an arm around her shoulders she led her downstairs to where Grandma Molly was still weeping in distress. Only now Grandpa Arthur was standing by her side looking incredibly uncomfortable as he tried to console her.

'Come now dear, don't cry, it's just a photograph… we'll figure this out' he mumbled, sounding stiff and terribly unconvincing.

Lily stopped in front of her grandparents and looked down at her hands, which she was twisting together nervously.

'It'll be alright dear' Ginny said, standing by her side and softly rubbing her shoulder.

Lily gingerly stepped forward and took her grandmothers hands in her own.

'Grandma- I know you might have heard some bad things about Scorpius's family- I know they weren't, well that they weren't on the right side in the war but-'

'Not on the right side? Not on the right side?!' Molly wailed incredulously. 'Lily, they were death eaters! Their lot are responsible for the rise of the dark lord! For the death of Teddy's dear parents- and of your grandparents! For the death of- of-'

Molly's lower lip trembled and she looked as though she might break at the seams from her grief. Arthur quickly put his hands on her shoulders and gently squeezed them as though hoping the physical act of holding her together would keep her together mentally too.

'-of my dear boy, your late uncle Fred' Molly finished with a heartbreaking sob.

Lily's gaze fell and she stared at the table, unable to face her grandmothers grief stricken eyes.

'I know that Grandma- I do' Lily whispered. She swallowed hard and forced herself to speak louder. 'But Scorpius- he has nothing to do with that. And he's a good person, if you had ever met him you would see that-'

'No my poor dear- you've been tricked!' Molly exclaimed, throwing her head back and looking at Lily with alarm. 'I know what their lot is like. I was at Hogwarts with his grandfather! Always seemed so charming, so handsome. A very popular boy that Lucius Malfoy. Fooled all the girls, he did- but he was rotten to the core-'

'Mum-' Ginny cut in quickly, putting a hand to Lily's shoulder again. 'Please, we can't jump to conclusions. None of us have ever even met the boy-'

But Ginny was interrupted by a loud knock at the front door. She let out a sigh and hurried off to open it. Moments later Ron's voice could be heard in the hallway getting louder and louder as he approached the kitchen.

'Ginny! There's something you need to see. Something terribly distressing I'm afraid. Quite shocking indeed. It concerns Lily-'

Ron stopped abruptly upon reaching the kitchen and finding himself face to face with a very annoyed looking Lily. He looked from her to Molly, who was still letting out loud, heaving sobs seated at the small breakfast table.

'Oh...' Ron exhaled awkwardly. 'Already seen this then?'

He held up a copy of Witch Weekly in one hand and Lily lunged forward to tear it out of his grasp so that she could get it out of everyone's line of vision. She threw it angrily in the sink and inexplicably caused a stream of water to burst out of the tap above drenching it.

'Lily! No magic outside of Hogwarts!' Ginny scolded her, hurrying forward with her wand out to stop the stream of water.

'Hey! That cost almost a whole Galleon you know-' Ron exclaimed but he swallowed the rest of his sentence upon seeing the death glare Ginny sent his way.

'A galleon you've just contributed to the magazine that is prying into my daughters private life!' she yelled at him.

'Well I didn't know you already had a copy...' Ron muttered sulkily.

Rose and Hugo peered awkwardly out from behind Ron who still stood frozen in the doorway. Upon seeing Lily, Rose pushed past her dad and ran over to throw an arm around her in comfort.

'I'm guessing you didn't get the 'talk' then' she whispered to Lily sympathetically as Ginny forced Ron down into one of the chairs next to Molly so that he could comfort her.

'What 'talk'?' Lily shot back in confusion.

'The 'no dating Scorpius Malfoy talk'' Rose hissed under her breath.

'I've heard it almost a million times. Dad gives it to me at the beginning of every semester'

Lily shook her head at the ridiculousness of it all. She'd never seen her uncle exchange even one word with Scorpius and yet he'd felt compelled to warn his daughter away from him. She looked over at her Uncle Ron with renewed annoyance. He sat with a comforting hand on Molly's back whispering to her.

'It's alright mum. Remember when Ginny went out with that twat Micheal Corner? That only lasted about three seconds…'

'But I LIKED Micheal Corner!' Molly exclaimed, missing Ron's point entirely.

'Who on earth is Micheal Corner?' James asked lazily from the doorway.

Lily shot around in alarm. She could see Albus standing behind him. The pair were in their good dress robes, ready for the dinner party. They both looked equally confused to see Grandma Molly in tears and everyone else standing around looking shell-shocked.

Lily ran over to the table to grab the other copy of Witch Weekly before her brothers could spy it, but just at that moment there was a tapping on the glass of the kitchen window. A large black raven was perched on the windowsill outside.

It took her a few moments to realize this was the raven that had delivered Scorpius's presents all those years ago when they had spent Christmas in the Room of Requirement.

Lily forgot about the magazine momentarily and ran instead to the window. She opened it up and held out a hand into which the bird dropped a small piece of folded parchment. Lily heard an outraged gargling noise come from behind her signaling that James had seen the magazine.

'LILY- WHAT? WHAT? WHAT- IS- THIS?' James spluttered loudly and stupidly in her direction.

Lily let out a sigh, closing her eyes. She still couldn't believe this was happening. She heard Albus muttering and tutting under his breath, seemingly unsurprised.

'Merlin Lily- I told you this would happen…'

Lily ignored them both and quickly opened up the folded parchment, hoping whatever Scorpius had to say about this sorry situation would somehow be comforting.

But she had no such luck.

Lily's eyes bulged and her heart thud upon reading the neat, cursive writing in front of her.

'No! No!' She exclaimed in despair.

Ginny rushed forward to see what was wrong as James continued to have a meltdown in the middle of their kitchen.

'SCORPIUS MALFOY? MALFOY? LILY WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING?'

'What is it dear?' Ginny asked hurriedly, taking the piece of parchment out of Lily's stunned hands to look. She looked down and gasped under her breath.

'Oh Merlin…'

The small piece of parchment read;

Don't worry- I'll come over and explain.

Lily looked up at her mother with a pained expression.

'He's coming here! Mum he's coming here-!'

Lily felt panic flood her veins. She did not want Scorpius to see her family like this.

'Yes, not such a good idea right now' Ginny agreed hastily. 'Perhaps owl him back and let him know now is not a good time. He's welcome of course some other time- after, well, after I've explained all this to your father-'

Lily's stomach clenched with dread; her father. He was still at the Ministry but the moment he came home he would find out. He would see it. That photo. In fact, maybe he already had.

'THE BOY WHO THREATENS PEOPLE WITH UNFORGIVABLE CURSES!? THE BOY WHO SPENDS ALL HIS TIME READING UP ON DARK MAGIC? YOU CHOSE TO SNOG THAT BOY?!'

James was still yelling in the middle of the kitchen and his descriptions of Scorpius were causing Grandma Molly to gasp in despair that her suspicions about his character had been confirmed.

'SHUT UP JAMES!' Ginny roared, sending the entire room into a tense silence.

Lily ignored them all and rushed around looking for a quill and ink.

She tried to find the right words to put it politely but in her current panicked state all she could think of was; Don't come. She lent on the kitchen bench and began to write, but her shaking hands caused her to blotch up the paper and need to start again several times.

'Lily hurry dear, he might be on his way…' Ginny said quietly beside her.

Lily took a few deep breaths, steadied her hand and went about writing;

Scorpius, please don't come. Now is not a good time.

She folded it up and held it out to Scorpius's raven. The bird just blinked back at her.

'Please take this to Scorpius and please hurry' she begged, willing the menacing looking creature to listen to her. The raven cocked it's head to the side before opening it's large, sharp beak to take her parchment.

To Lily's surprise it flapped its wings and flew not outside but inside. It shot past her stunned looking relatives and down the hallway towards the front door.

Lily rushed after it, a feeling of dread tugging at her heart. Just as the bird reached the end of the long, slender entranceway, the doorbell rang.

Lily skidded to a halt in front of the door. She groaned internally. It couldn't be. It truly couldn't be.

But it was.

She gingerly opened the door to find a very nervous looking Scorpius standing on the doorstep, wearing a pair of ripped black jeans, an old grey t-shirt and the dusty brown apron that he wore when helping his father with the shop. He must have come directly from Knockturn Ally and thus arrived so quickly. The raven immediately flew out and deposited the parchment into his hand.

'Lily-' he gasped as he took the parchment from the bird. He looked more stricken than Lily had ever seen him.

'I don't know how this happened- but I think we ought to explain this to your parents and-

Scorpius stopped suddenly and looked her up and down in surprise.

'You- you're dressed nicely' he noted looking at her dress robes.

He absentmindedly opened up the parchment and began to read as more words tumbled out of his mouth.

'Anyway I thought- I thought I should really help you explain seeing as how this is sort of my family's fault for being so notorious and all and- oh'

Having let the words on the parchment sink in, Scorpius's face became even paler.

'S-sorry. I'll- I'll go-' he spluttered turning around quickly and making to disappear as fast as he had appeared.

'No, Scorpius-!'

Lily rushed out and grabbed his wrist.

'You're welcome to come in Mr Malfoy'

Lily and Scorpius both turned quickly around at the sound of Ginny's voice. She was standing in the doorway looking much more together and calm than either of them, beckoning for them to come in.

'Go on. You've come all this way' Ginny said gently giving him a kind smile.

Scorpius looked at Lily's face to see if it was okay. Lily looked back at him blankly, her mind racing. This did not seem like a good idea.

This did not seem like a good idea at all.

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12973166/100/

[psychospeak-blog]

Won’t Go Slowly // 67

A/N: I’m so sorry once again that this took so long!  I so appreciate you guys being so patient and kind with me - you’re the best :)

 One // Two  // Three // Four // Five // Six // Seven // Eight // Nine // Ten // Eleven // Twelve // Thirteen // Fourteen // Fifteen // Sixteen // Seventeen // Eighteen // Nineteen// Twenty // Twenty One // Twenty Two // Twenty Three // Twenty Four// Twenty Five // Twenty Six // Twenty Seven // Twenty Eight // Twenty Nine // Thirty // Thirty One // Thirty Two // Thirty Three // Thirty Four// Thirty Five // Thirty Six // Thirty Seven // Thirty Eight // Thirty Nine // Forty // Forty One // Forty Two // Forty Three // Forty Four // Forty Five // Forty Six // Forty Seven // Forty Eight // Forty Nine // Fifty // Fifty One // Fifty Two // Fifty Three // Fifty Four // Fifty Five // Fifty Six // Fifty Seven // Fifty Eight // Fifty Nine // Sixty// Sixty One // Sixty // Sixty One // Sixty Two // Sixty Three// Sixty Four// Sixty Five // Sixty Six

It was almost perfect.

You had a perfectly poured ice coffee, a muffin that you hadn't yet bitten into yet, the sun shining on your legs while you watched Gerry play in the water at the shoreline, while Marshall had found himself a spot in the sun, the sleeping baby on the baby monitor.

Really the only thing that would make it better would be if Tyler was home to share that muffin with you.

"Hi Sweetheart," your mom answered the phone, and you could instantly picture her curled up on the couch in her front room, likely a cup of tea next to her.  "Is Bentley sleeping?"

"Yes, he's napping," you said gratefully because you were at Tyler's house and a little worried about messing up Bentley's routine with having to sleep in the playpen that you had stashed in Tyler's bedroom, but he didn't seem to notice any difference.  "How are you?"

"Good, I'm good," she said, "Tell me about your trip."

"It was great, it was really relaxing," you said, telling her about all the hikes you'd gone on, and the cute little stores and incredible wine. 

"You'd almost wished you'd never left," she joked, and you smiled, using your bare foot to rub Marshall, who was never too far from your side. 

"Almost," you said, "Although it is kinda nice to get back into a routine, you know?"  

"Yeah, I'm sure," she said, and then paused a moment.  "Are you at home?"

"No, we're at Tyler's," you said, breaking into a smile, because you loved being here when he got home and having something ready for him to eat more than you'd ever thought you would, suddenly loving the whole domestic thing.  "He's at the gym."

"Are you out back?"

"Yeah, we are, I just made muffins," you said, smiling because it was just easy to move between your and Tyler's house, and it just further solidified how well your two lives fit together, even with the baby now, and that only just reaffirmed your decision that you could step away from this place you'd always called home, that you'd been certain Bentley would call home, knowing that you'd get to come back.  "So....ummm...Tyler asked us to move in with him, Mom."

You ran your hand through the hair hanging out of your pony tail, hearing nothing but the blood circulating through your ears.  "In Dallas."

And now your Mom's laughter filled your ear.  "Yes, I know you meant in Dallas," she said, "I thought he might."

"You did?" you asked, with such shock that Marshall raised his head to look at you.

"You didn't?"

"Well, I didn't -" you said, trying to put the swirling in your brain into words.  "I don't know, I guess I just didn't want to think about what was going to happen when summer was over."

But now you'd be leaving her, rather than him leaving you.

"I said yes," you said, simply, tentatively, like when you'd told her you'd been accepted in University, and that you'd be moving out.

"I know you did," she said, and you couldn't get a sense of her emotion through her voice.  You really should have waited to be in person to tell her, but you didn't want to go to long without her hearing.  "It's just going to be for the season though, and I'll be keeping my house, for now anyways, so I'll be flying back with Bentley to visit, and you can totally come down, too, if you wanted."

"Well, yeah," your mom said, like you didn't have to explain any of this to her.  "That's great, sweetheart, I'm so happy for you."

"Yeah?" you asked, your voice lifting up now.

"Of course I am," she said, her voice steady like she would be anything but.  "It'll be great for all of you. You, and Tyler, and the dogs.  And Bentley..."

"Yeah," you smiled, your chest constricting because you truly didn't know how you'd ever had been able to have him be apart from Tyler now.  

And he wouldn't have to be.

"I know he won't really know that he's apart from him yet, but they change so much during the first year, and I think it's really..." your mom said, "I just think it's really important that Bentley is with his --- "

You let out a laugh at her speechlessness, and yet you smiled looking at Tyler's backyard, one of Bentley's blankets hung up over the railing of the deck, his stroller parked at the side of the house, knowing there were toys for him just inside the door.  "His Dad-to-be?" You asked.

"Yeah, that," she said, and now you could hear the smile in her voice.

"It's important to me that he knows his Grandma though," you said, your voice kind of breaking a bit because you wouldn't just be able to drop him off or pop by for a couple of hours on the weekend.

"Oh, he will," she said reassuringly.  "It might just mean that I get to spend a few days with him at a time rather than a couple of hours, and I'm totally okay with that."

"Yeah," you said, smiling, and thinking that maybe he'd learn to get so excited to come home and spend the summer with Grandma.

You'd still have the summers.

And you could work on little art projects to send back home, to get him to start practicing his letters when he got older.

It was just this year, for now, though.

You jumped a little when Bentley's cries came through the monitor, the soundbar moving wildly, and now you shifted, listening to see if he was going to put himself back to sleep.

"Do you need to go?" your mom asked.

"Umm.." you said, your eye still on the monitor, and you could see Gerry eyeing you like he didn't believe the sound coming out of it.  

"What's up, bud?"  you heard Tyler's voice come through the monitor, even over Bentley's cries.  "Are you done with your nap? Or are we going to get in trouble if we get you up now?"

"No," you smiled, even though your mom couldn't see you.  "Tyler's got him, he must have just gotten home."

"Did I wake you up?" you heard Tyler ask in a soft voice, followed by a shuffling of fabric that made you think he was picking Bentley up.  "Oh, you stink.  Where'd Mommy go, huh?"

You didn't even realize that you were leaning forward like you were about to stand up until you heard Tyler's voice through the monitor, loud like he thought he had to be right up against it to be heard.  "I got him, babe."

You laughed, despite the fact that he hadn't heard you, using your one hand to pull on Gerry's toy, which he was nudging into your lap, finally getting it free so you could throw it for him.

"So - "

"Okay," you heard Tyler huff, sounds like he was dragging the diaper bag across the floor, all the while making soothing noises to try and shush Bentley, and you couldn't help but think it was adorable, even though Bentley was crying through it all.

"He sounds really confident," your mom laughed.

"He knows what he's doing," you said.  Although truth be told,  you'd never actually watched him change a diaper, only because you didn't want him to think you weren't confident in his abilities or make him second guess his instincts.  But you'd never had any problems, so you knew he could handle it.

"Oh, I know," your mom said, "he just doesn't sound like he knows he knows."

"Yeah, he's...still a little bit intimidated sometimes," you said, "he's way better,

 now though, like he was too nervous to even pick him up before, now he's just..natural."

That was the word for it, really, the change from the awkward way that he held Bentley before like he needed to cater to the way the baby was laying, like it was the only way that the little bundle would stay calm, to now where it was like Bentley's body molded to his like he needed him for comfort.

"A lot of men are kinda like that in the beginning, though, I think just because they're bigger they just....need time to grow into each other or something," your Mom said.  "But any guy who talks to a baby like he's an actual little person is gonna be hands on."

"Yeah,' you smiled, thinking back to when you got to bring him home together when the first thing Tyler had wanted to do was to make sure that Bentley got to see his room, like he wasn't in that sleepy newborn stage or like his eyes could actually focus on the pictures hung on the wall across from him.  

"That's why I think it's going to be really good for you to be together and for Tyler to get that time with him," your mom said, and you laughed under your breath as a wail broke through the monitor again.  

"Cash, you gotta move bud, I gotta get in there," you heard Tyler said, and you smiled, leaning forward to turn the volume up, leaning forward.  You knew he could change a diaper, obviously, but you'd never actually watched him doing it because you didn't want him to second-guess himself or have you hovering over him, but just the thought of him caring for Bentley made your heart swell.  

You bit your lip harder, trying hard not to laugh, like Tyler could actually hear you, your mom's snickers coming through the phone.

"Bentley, you gotta work with me, bud," Tyler said, "I'm trying to help you out, c'mon."

"Just wait 'till he can crawl and get away," your mom laughed.

"He can't even roll over yet," you said, laughing at Tyler mumbling under his breath.

"Shh...shh...sh..." Tyler whispered, "K, all done, all better,  let's get your clothes back on, hang on, bud.  Why does Mommy always put you in these things with the really little zippers?  What other outfits did you pack?"

Bentley's cries grew louder, and you could almost picture his little fists waving in the air, his pissed-off, scrunched up face, clearly unhappy with being half undressed for so long.

"Hey, hey, Bentley, Bentley Bear," Tyler said, half-singing, and you smiled, "Awe, look at this, you're stylin'.  You want to go find, Mom?  Do you miss her?"

You had your mom off speaker, phone back to your ear by the time that Tyler pulled open the back door, Bentley snuggled up in his arms, a few tears still settled on his cheeks, Cash trailing after them..  "Hey," you said brightly.  "Is he okay?

"Yeah, he's great, he just didn't like the outfit you put him in," Tyler said, smirking as he leaned down to shut the monitor off, leaning in to kiss you on the cheek.  "Who are you talking to?"

"My mom," you said.

"Hi Mom!" Tyler said loudly, and then in an impossibly high-pitched voice, "Hi Grandma, I miss you!"

"Oh, I miss you too," your mom said, like it was actually Bentley speaking to her, and you smiled, eyeing Tyler.

"He was actually hoping that you would be able to babysit on Friday or Saturday," you asked, hopeful.

"I will babysit him anytime," she answered, and your body relaxed at the excitement in her words.  "What are your plans?"

"We're planning a double date with Danielle and Jeremy," you said, smiling at Tyler, half excited and half nervous for going out for so long without Bentley.

"That sounds fun," she said, "Not as fun much fun as Bentley and I will be having, but, still fun."

"Yeah," you grinned big, unable to resist the urge to tickle Bentley's toes.  "We'll drop him at your house so you can have lots of time to play."

"You can bring the dogs, too," she said, adding, "if you don't want to leave them alone for too long..."

"Do we need someone to watch the dogs?" you repeated, looking up at Tyler, who just kind of shrugged.  

"Cash, definitely," Tyler said, loud enough for your Mom to hear, "He will judge all your baby watching skills."

"I'll look forward to it," your mom said, and you laughed at Gerry jumping up on Tyler, Bentley still whimpering a little, Tyler trying to fend the excited dog off, your arm instinctively reaching towards Bentley.  

"You want to go see Mama for a bit?" Tyler asked, shifting with him as if he was waiting for a response, planting a kiss on his cheek and then shifting to settle him in your arms, and then immediately bending over to give Gerry some attention, ruffling his ears until he darted off to grab his ball.  Tyler stuttered his step to try and get Gerry even more excited, pausing only to reach and pick off a piece of your muffin, his eyes sparkling towards you as he chewed.

"Hey!" You said, using your foot to playfully sway at him since your hands were full, Tyler laughing as he grabbed your ankle and held it, getting himself another bite.  

"Good muffin," he said, settling your foot back down only so he could teach for Gerry's toy as he circled back around, wrestling it free and then tossing it towards the lake, running after him and trying to get Marshall and Cash to come to play, too.

You ended up Facetiming your mom now that Bentley was up and Tyler was keeping Gerry busy so she could see the baby, no longer really talking, but enjoying the way that Cash and Marshall kept nosing at Bentley, finally getting some soft smiles out of him when you ran your fingers over his belly.  When Gerry finally came back, panting and laying down to stretch out on the deck you had your eyes trained on your screen, looking away long enough to pat him on the side.  "You need a drink, Ger?" You asked, laughing at the way he was almost looked like he was smiling.  "Did you check your dish?"

"I think he drank enough lake water to keep him going for a bit," Tyler said, and you instinctively turned your phone away from him and he frowned, leaning towards you. Your hand tilting your phone up.

"What are you doing?" He asked, laughing awkwardly.

"Nothing," you said, moving to set your phone down beside you and interact with Bentley like Tyler would just forget all about it, but he stood there, looking at you with an amused grin on his face, moving to cross his arms casually.

,"You know, I'm not going to be mad at you for looking at porn."

"I am not looking at porn!" You reacted in shock, Tyler's giggles making it clear that was the reaction you wanted.  You sighed, picking up your phone and turning it over and the screen illuminating with what you'd been looking at before, Tyler's eyes widening, taking a step back and then forward again.

"You want to get a puppy?"

"No, I don't want to get a puppy," you said, your arms already full with a baby and the full-grown puppies that had become your own, even more over the last year, as you and Tyler had become each others.

"Then why are you hiding from me that you're looking at puppies?"

"Because..." you said, and then you shook your head, realizing you didn't actually need to, but it seemed like it should be a secret.  "I don't know, I was looking for my mom."

"You were looking for your mom?" Tyler asked, now, sitting down next to you.

"Yeah," you said, looking away from your phone now.  "I'm moving.  And I'm taking her grandson with me."

"Yeah, but you're going to come back though.  And she can come down.  We're gonna be here all summer, too."

"No, I know," you said because the last thing you wanted to do was make him feel like you were second-guessing your decision.  "She's happy that we're gonna be living with you.  But she just lives alone, and she loves having something to take care of, and I want her to have company.  And having these guys visit me made it so much easier for me to be away from you."

Tyler gave you a sweet look and then moved his head to rest on your shoulder, reaching for your phone to scroll through the website you were looking at.

"Well, we should get her a puppy then."

"I'm not trying to get her a puppy, I'm just thinking about how I can try and suggest to her that she get a puppy," you said, "Like maybe if we take the boys over there with Bentley and they all have a good time, I can just casually mention to her this breeder that I saw."

"Why don't we just buy her a puppy though?" Tyler asked, his finger running over the screen.  "That one's super cute.  Do you think she wants a girl or a boy?"

"You can't just buy someone a puppy, Tyler."

"Why not?"

"Because it's a big responsibility, it's not just something you throw on someone," you said.  "Like there's dog food, and toys, and vet bills, and like actually needing to take care of it."

"Which is why we'd get all the dog stuff for her when we surprise her with the puppy," Tyler said like it was that simple, and you gave him a look, to which he just laughed, kissing you on the nose.

"Tyler," you repeated, "You can't just -"

"You can't just give people your sperm, Tyler," he imitated, leaning over to kiss Bentley and then you once more, somehow managing to rub Marshall's ears at the same time.  "Jesus."

******

"Are you ready yet, babe?" Tyler asked, stepping into your bedroom and pretty much immediately going to sit down on the bed next to Bentley, who was stretched out on your bed, just waiting to go.

"I thought we were going to leave at 3:30?" you asked,  stepping out from the bathroom to double-checking the time on your clock to make sure you weren't running late.

"We did, but I really, really want to get going," he said with a sigh.

"Why?" You asked.

"Because my sisters are trying to tell me about this guy they think you'd really like and they want to set you up with, and they want me to offer to babysit when they bring him up to encourage you to have a night out."

Between that information and the dejected look on Tyler's face, you burst out laughing.

"It's not funny," he said, clearly over the whole thing. 

"It's pretty funny," you said.

"I thought you were supposed to be on my side," he said, pouting his bottom lip out like he wanted a kiss, which you gave him, but you still pulled back with a grin on your face.

"You're the one who wanted to wait to tell him," you said, your hand slowly moving away from his face.

"Because the look on their faces is gonna be the best," Tyler said, "and you didn't get to see their reactions when I got to tell them you were having a baby."

"Are you saying that because you mean it, or because you just want me to agree with you that they're being annoying and try to get them to stop?"

"Both?" Tyler asked, a half-sheepish grin on his face, and you gave him a look to let him know that you may be in love with him, but that didn't mean that you were going to take his side on everything, and he sighed, rolling onto his side to look at Bentley.  "That's what you're for, huh?  You're so cute you'll distract your aunties and they'll forget to bother me, right?"

"Well, your back-up is ready to go,  I'll just be like two minutes."

"Is his stuff ready?" Tyler asked, eyeing the diaper bag on the floor.

"Yeah, I packed his stuff already," you said, thinking it over.  "Actually, can you double-check he's got a pacifier in there?"

"Mhmm.." Tyler said, gingerly crawling off the bed, while you went back into the bathroom to finish putting your hair up.

"What is this?" Tyler asked, holding the offending item in front of the ensuite door.  

"What do you mean what is that?  It's his swimsuit."

"This isn't his swimsuit," Tyler said.

"I'm pretty sure it is," you laughed, the little blue wetsuit covered with sharks that you kind of couldn't wait to see Bentley's chubby little legs sticking out of.

"No, he has swim trunks," Tyler said, and now you remembered the little shorts he was talking about.

"I think he's too little for those, Tyler," you said, and you could have laughed at the way his bottom lip pouted out, and you could only imagine Bentley pulling the same thing in a few years.

"But they have a tie and you always say how big he's getting."

"I know, but this one will protect him from the sun."

"It's gonna  be in the shade, babe."

"I know, but he's too little to wear sunscreen though, I don't want him to get burnt, the sun can still peek through."

And now Tyler gave you a dejected look, a small smile creeping across his face and he stepped towards you, moving to wrap his arms around you and placing his chin on your shoulder.  "How about if we bring a shirt for him and then he can wear a shirt with his shorts if he needs to," Tyler said, like he was trying to entice you to do something for him other than negotiating your son's clothes, "And I'm sure you packed a ridiculous hat for him."

You didn't even have time to answer before Tyler continued.  "And I'm gonna wear mine and I'm gonna look really stupid if he's not matching me."

"Okay," you said, laughing at Tyler's triumphant "yes!" , "but he's wearing a shirt if there's too much sun."

"Deal," Tyler said like that wasn't something he cared about anyway, "not that this other thing isn't cute, but he doesn't want to wear it right now.  He can wear it in Dallas when his other suit is in the wash."

"Mmm.." you smiled, looking at Bentley who was still stretched out on the bed.  "What do you think, Bentley? Are you gonna like swimming so much?"

"Yeah, it's like the bath but way more fun because there are more people," Tyler said, and then looked at you with a smirk,  "Well, sometimes you can have guests in the bath with you."

 You shook your head and tried hard not to smile, Bentley's gurgling in response to the conversation.  

"Yeah, I know, I like taking baths with your mom, too," Tyler said, laughing at your reaction and the way Bentley seemed to get more excited.

"You already got the kicking part down for swimming, don't you?" you smiled, Bentley's legs kicking out from under him, content as could be.  "Kick, kick, kick.  Don't kick Cash though."

"You need to go like this," Tyler said, going back over to the bed and taking Bentley's hands in his, moving them in the air, which only made Bentley more excited.  

"Are you practicing your doggy paddle?" You asked, giving Bentley and Tyler a smile before going about getting dressed, Marshall circling your legs as he already sensed you were getting ready to go somewhere.

Tyler had picked Bentley up when you came back out of the bathroom, giving you an interesting look when you bent down to add Bentley's towel to the diaper bag, seeing that Tyler had already thrown in the pacifier along with the swim trunks and an extra shirt.

"What?" You asked, trying to decipher the look on his face.  

"That's short," he said simply.  

"Well, it's a cover-up, I have a bathing suit on underneath."

"Well, it's not covering much up," he said, stepping closer now, using one hand to flip the bottom up and down. 

"Stop," you laughed, pushing his hand away as it came to playfully cup your ass, half glad Bentley was too young to know any different, but also kind of anticipating the way you'd laughed together when Bentley was old enough to be grossed out by the fact that his mom and dad couldn't stop kissing each other.  "Are you gonna be like this around your mom?"

"Depends what bathing suit you have on underneath," he said with a quirk of his lips like he had that line prepared.

"It's my "Mom taking her baby swimming for the first time" swimsuit."

"Makes sense, I guess," Tyler said, "But do you also have "Hot girlfriend who happens to be a mom" swimsuit."

You shook your head vehemently.  "I threw it out as soon as you got me pregnant."

"I don't know, that little bikini you were wearing in Dallas was, like pretty much nothing.  You should definitely  pull that out again sometime and show your boyfriend how hot you are," Tyler said, and you gave him a look, "What? When you wearing it before you were supposed to be my friend and I wasn't supposed to be checking you out.  Now I can look.  And touch."

"Are you sure your sisters' comments aren't getting to you?" You laughed, your hand moving over his.

"Other than the fact that they're being annoying as hell?  No."

"You seem a little possessive," you said because he was somehow managing to touch you while also holding onto Bentley.

"Babe, I've always been protective of you, you know that."

"So you're not jealous?" you asked, leaning in to kiss him because you could.

"Am I jealous of a fake guy that my sisters made up to piss me off?" Tyler asked.  "Babe, I'm the idiot that set up on numerous dates, and like met all the guys and actually liked them.  I was actually friends with your boyfriend, for god's sake."

You started laughing because the past year had been such a whirlwind that you had almost forgot how deadset he'd been on trying to find you, someone.  

"I guess you did find me a boyfriend," you said, quirking your lips.

"Yeah, if only I'd known how easy it would have been, then I probably wouldn't have made myself look so dumb," he said, opening his mouth like he was going to say something else and then laughing under his breath.

"What?" you asked.

"I was just gonna say that would be a really funny story to tell our kids one day, but..." Tyler nodded towards Bentley, lifting him up in his arms.

"Yeah," you smiled, your finger coming out to brush Bentley's cheek, "we can't get anything by him, you've been here the whole time, huh?"

"Good thing he was," Tyler said, turning his head to kiss Bentley's cheek.

"Oh, you're so smiley today," you cooed, and Tyler grinned, tilting his head against Bentley like he was the one you were talking to.  

"He says, "I'm gonna pick up so many babes by the pool today, Mom.'" Tyler said.

"I know you are," you said, and then to Tyler, "Can you put him in his car seat and I'll grab the bags and the dogs?"

"Oh sure, make me the bad guy," Tyler said but did it anyway. 

But you were pretty sure that you were the bad guy because it was you who was trying to keep Bentley content while Tyler was driving, your hand quite often in the backseat holding pacifiers or toys, both you and Tyler singing in a way that would likely have everyone judging you had they not known that you had a baby in the backseat.

Both Bentley and the dogs were whimpering by the time you pulled up on the street that Tyler had grown up on, although the dogs' noises were clearly from excitement, Bentley's noises only signaling that he wanted to be anywhere other than buckled into his car seat.

You weren't really surprised to see the front door open before Tyler had even shut the car off, dropping his hand to run over yours and raising his eyebrows like you were sharing a secret, his hand moving away when his sisters came close to the car, both of you reaching for your respective door handles.

"Is that Bentley?"  

"Mhmm," Tyler answered, opening the back door and you leaning in, quickly unbuckling him and avoiding his errant fists, pulling him into your eyes and standing back up, Tyler's eyes softening, simultaneously trying to sway back and forth with the baby and offer him his pacifier.  

"Awe, he's so sad."

"He'll be okay in a second, he just really hates his car seat," you said, your eyes catching Tyler's, your faces both leaning into towards Bentley, singing animatedly.  "He only loves his crib and his mom, he's sorry."

When you pulled away from pressing a kiss to Bentley's forehead you noticed Tyler's sisters sga4inf a glance and then giving you an interesting look from behind their mom, and you advertised your eyes quickly, knowing if you made eye contact you wouldn't be able to keep it a secret anymore.  

"Did you give your aunties a smile?" You asked Bentley.  "And Grandma Jackie? Are you telling them you missed them?"

"We missed you, we haven't seen you in so long," Jackie said, and handing Bentley over to her, smiling at the way that she so easily pulled him into her arms.  "You're getting so big."

"I know," you said, "We would have seen you sooner but we weren't doing too much when he wasn't feeling well."

And while you and Tyler were discovering this new part of your relationship.

"And he has no ill effects?" Jackie asked.

"No, he's all back to his normal self.  Well, his new normal self, he's even more awake and engaging with stuff now," you said, "But he's perfectly healthy.  Those antibiotics work miracles."

"And he had the best mom taking care of him," Tyler said, stepping around from where he'd been letting the dogs out, and then looked at his mom, rethinking himself, "I mean, she's his best mom, you're still my best mom."

Jackie just laughed, and Tyler grinned at Bentley, moving away from where he was giving his mom a half hug, his hand brushing against yours like he was reaching out to hold it, but then he thought better of it, taking the diaper bag from you like that was what he was planning to do the whole time.

"We were really lucky that we had Tyler to help, though, I was losing my mind," you said, looking at him rather than who you were talking to, "And with his shots, too..."

"Yeah, how come you never told me how horrible it is to make a baby get shots?" Tyler asked his mom.

"Well, you didn't ask," she shrugged, with a smile.

"You told me it wasn't that bad!" you guffawed at Tyler, following the group back into the house.

"Oh, no, it was horrible," he said seriously, smiling slightly, "I only said it wasn't that bad because you were freaking out."

"He's gonna have to get more shots, Tyler."

Tyler looked at you for a moment.  "He'll be fine," he said, giving you a squeeze on the shoulder, an incongruous look on his face, and you inhaled, yet knowing it would probably be okay if he came with you again.  

"You went with them to the doctor?" Candace asked. 

"Mhmm, Y/N needed help because Bentley was just getting over being sick," Tyler said, "And you know how she hates needles."

"That was nice of you," Cassidy said, and Tyler smiled.

"You just seem to be spending a lot of time together this summer," Candace said, words which might seem judgemental had it not been for the look in her eye, the subtle uplift of her lips. 

"Well, of course we're spending a lot of time together, she's my best friend," Tyler said, "I'm not gonna ditch her because she has a kid."

"Well, no, I didn't mean.."

Jackie looked over wearily like she might have to intervene in a disagreement between her adult children.

"I just like hanging out with her and stuff..." Tyler said dryly, his hands suck in his pockets, which meant you weren't prepared for it at all when he spun around and pressed his lips hard to yours, your hand moving to his bicep to regain your balance, trying to contend with the fact that he had somehow wrapped his leg around yours, making a show of it, and yet you could feel his lips turning up against yours.  You squealed as you were knocked off balance, Tyler laughing as his arms came back around you, his feet walking back against yours, planting one last kiss on your lips.

"I knew that was your hand!"

You laughed, your and Tyler's arms moving around you, looking at the combination of shock and excitement on Tyler's sister's faces, Tyler's mom smiling steadily, even though your face was heating up at the thought of Tyler's attention-grabbing display of affection.

"Yeah, so I hope you're okay if she's spending a lot of time around here," Tyler said coyly, met with just an eye roll from Candace, and then you were meant with open arm hugs, your arm momentarily breaking away FL Tyler to hug his sisters again, even though you just had moments before, but the hugs were even tighter this time.  

"This is so great," Candace said, and Tyler cleared his throat loudly, garnering attention.

"Oh, of course, it's great for you, too," she said, going to hug him, "Actually probably

 better for you than her."

"I mean, I'd argue with you, but you're not wrong," Tyler said, smiling at you over top of his sister's head.

"Awe,"  his sisters said in unison, Tyler tilting his head like he knew just how adorable he was, lips turned up in a smile until the moment was interrupted by the sounds that Bentley made when he started to cry. 

"Oh, what?" Jackie asked him softly, swaying back and forth with him.  

"You fed him before we left, right, babe?" Tyler asked, walking towards the source of the cries as you were, arms instinctively opening up as if to cradle him.

'Yeah, he shouldn't be hungry yet," you confirmed, your eyes on that scrunched up sad little face.  "He might just want his pacie."

"It's in the side," Tyler said, nodding towards the diaper bag in his hands still, and you took the whole thing from him, wanting to pull out a toy or two as well for something to entertain Bentley with.

You smiled at Tyler and his mom talking to Bentley while you searched through the bag, not really rushing because you knew he was getting attention and Charley was realizing that company had arrived.  You were just about to stand up with the items you'd grabbed when the abruptly cut off with a couple of shuddery breaths, Tyler still taking Bentley from his mom, Bentley settling like he'd been content the whole time.

Tyler frowned, looking back between the baby and his mom.  "What was that about, dude?" He asked, moving Bentley make towards his mom again until he started to cry again, and then Tyler shifted him so he could look at Bentley.  "You like Grandma.  Well, I think you do, she gives you lots of presents.  You should like her."

"He's probably just not used to me holding him, Tyler," Jackie said. 

"She's held you before, bud," Tyler asked in a soft voice, "Did you forget?"

"It's been a while, he probably just needs time to warm up, it's okay."

And even though you obviously wanted Bentley to be happy with Jackie, you kind of couldn't help but love the way that Bentley was finding comfort and familiarity in Tyler.  

"Usually he's just a Mama's boy," Tyler said, and you weren't sure if he actually believed that or if he was trying to make his mom feel better like she didn't understand just how temperamental babies could be.

"He looks pretty happy to me," you said, running your hand through Bentley's hair, handing a couple of his toys to Jackie so she could play with him until he got a little more settled in this new environment.  She suggested going into the living room to have some lemonade and let Bentley calm down from his car ride before you introduced him to the new experience of the pool and, although the girls were distracted by the baby, you could tell that Tyler was itching to tell them the other bit of the news.

"So...." he said, a means to attract everyone's attention, "there's kind of something else that we wanted to tell you guys, too."

You shared a knowing glance with Tyler's mom, Candace and Cassidy now transfixed on Tyler.  

"Do you want to tell them babe, or should I?"

"Awe 'babe'," Cassidy echoed. 

"I've been calling her 'babe' for forever, that's not new," Tyler snickered. "Only difference is she calls me 'babe' now.  It's super cute."

And honestly, the way he was looking at you only made you want to say it more. 

"You can tell them, babe," you said exaggeratedly.  "You're the one who asked me."

"Yeah, but you're the one who said 'yes',"  he teased.  

"Wait, what did you-" Candace started, only to be interrupted by Cassidy finishing by blurting out, "You proposed?"

Yeah, you were pretty sure your heart just stopped and then restarted all in the same second.

"What? No, no," Tyler said, his voice surprisingly even, "We've only been a thing for like a month, just, like, chill out a bit."

"Sorry, it's just you said you asked a question..."

"Yeah, I should have said it differently," Tyler said, "you guys would know about that though. I would need so much help."

You looked at Tyler, somewhat surprised at how he was handling this because it had always just been a common belief that you'd get married before he did.

And now...

"I asked her to move to Dallas with me," Tyler said, "and Bentley, obviously "

"And you said yes?'" Cassidy asked.

"Oh, yeah, sure, now you ask before you get all excited," Tyler said, with a roll of his eyes, but you caught the smile on his face.

"Yeah, I said 'yes'," you said, your smile mirroring Tyler's, your shoulder's raising in a combination of giddiness and a little bit of feeling shy because you weren't used to having the attention on you quite like this in this house. 

"That's so great, you guys," Cassidy said. 

"I'm so happy for you guys," Candace added, "And only a little bit mad that you're taking them away from us."

"Well, you guys can come to visit whenever you want," Tyler said, "Whenever I'm not there."

He started laughing even before he finished talking, earning him a head shake from you and a kick from his sisters.

"Ow, ow," he said, like it was actually hurting him, "I'm just kidding.  Although you can overlap it so you can hang out with Y/N too, so she has company.  Well, company that isn't a baby or dogs."

"I would," you said because it was kind of awesome to already be friends with your boyfriend's sisters and feel like you were a part of the family, and any sense of familiarity in a place that you were used to visiting but that you would hope would come to feel like home would be welcome.  

You couldn't really talk to them like you usually did though, not until Tyler offered to take Bentley upstairs to get the both of them changed into their swimsuits, and you could see his sisters just pleading with you to try and get him to leave so they could actually find out what happened, even though, of course, he just laughed at gave you a "babe, I know."

It was just as soon as he was out of earshot that Candace leaned in, "So, like, he finally said something to you?"

"Yeah," you said, smiling at just the thought of it, "it was when Bentley was sick."

"Really?"

,"Yeah, I was... it was a lot, and I was really starting to just lose like he wouldn't stop crying and I was just exhausted and couldn't even think about what to do," you said, your body shifting like you wanted to pull Bentley to your body, but instead just settling for pulling your legs up.  "The only thing I could think to do was call Tyler."

And, honestly, the way they were looking at you was enough to make you want to cry, just like you'd been on the urge of doing all of that night.

"He was so good, though, like he calmed me down, which helped me calm the baby down, and he just....stayed," you said because that was the easiest way to put it, that he'd been in it with you, fresher that you were, of course, but in a way that just made you feel like you were in it together.

And he'd really never left.

"You think Bentley being sick made him say it?"

You thought about it for a second and then shook your head no.  He would have told you eventually, you thought, but the catalyst seemed to be more being cooped up inside with each other and realizing that not only were you able to make each other laugh while you were going through it all, but that also you really worked well together.

"Bentley was starting to feel better when he told me," you said, which really should have been a clue because there wasn't really a need for him to stay after the first night, not when he had his own responsibilities and Bentley was at least able to get some rest.  "It wasn't even like anything happened.  I put Bentley to bed, Tyler ordered us pizza, and then I went out there and he'd lit candles and dimmed the lights and poured us wine..."

"Awe...."

'And then we just sat there for 45 minutes and watched TV before he said anything," you continued with a laugh, because he'd had to have at least figured he wanted to say something with the way he'd tried to set the mood, and now you were wondering if he'd even watched the show, or if he'd just been running through the words in his mind.

Or maybe he'd just been getting comfortable and enjoying spending time with you.  "I don't know, he did stuff like that a lot?" You said, answering the unasked question.  "Like, when I went to go visit him in Dallas he planned this whole picnic thing, and took me to the aquarium-"

"He took you to the aquarium?" Cassidy asked, "He always says that's the lamest date ever."

"Yeah, well," you shrugged, blushing just at thought of the way he'd held your hand like that was something you did every weekend, the way he'd talked about wanting to bring the baby there.

"You guys are actually so cute," Cassidy said, and you felt your smile grow even bigger because you couldn't even remember Tyler ever being like this with anyone either.

"How about you, though?  How's Brian?" you asked because you could honestly foresee yourself gushing about your relationship the whole time you were there, and you wanted to get the details while Tyler was gone.

"Oh, yeah, he's fine," Cass said, stumbling her words and you frowned.

C"What do you mean he's fine?" You laughed, watching her eyes until you heard Tyler clear his throat, realizing that she must have heard him coming before you did.

"Oh my God," you heard Jackie say, but it was all you could do to take in Bentley and Tyler in their matching pineapple print swim trucks, both of them wearing nothing else, although you noticed he  had Bentley’s shirt tucked under the arm he  was holding Bentley in.

"Super cute, right?" Tyler asked.  

"The cutest," you agreed, Tyler catches your eye, even as his fingers tickled along Bentley's belly.

It was almost as cute when Gerry started jumping up at Tyler like he knew it was time to go swimming, making your way outback.  

"So whose Brian?" Tyler asked, feigning simple curiosity.

"Nobody," Cassidy said.

"Yeah, he just helped me the last time I went into Cassidy's work, I was just telling her about it," you said casually, easily putting an end to the conversation.

"No, he's like actually nobody," Cassidy said, "he doesn't exist."

"What do you mean he doesn't exist?" You asked, watching her eyes dart towards Candace.

"We...made him up," Candace answered.

"What do you mean, you made him up?" you laughed, both of them looking half guilty towards you.

"We just thought that if you... thought about being into someone and not telling them, it might give you a nudge in the right direction."

You barely even had the chance to process that when Tyler burst out laughing.

"It's not funny," you said, even though you were laughing.

"Oh, it's funny," Tyler confirmed, "Especially when you were making fun of be before- wait, you guys knew that she liked me?"

He addressed the last part to his sisters, and now was your time to laugh.

"You guys are supposed to tell me stuff like that , Jesus," Tyler said, his head only turning to acknowledge all of Bentley's baby sounds.  "Yeah, bud, you tell them."

"We tried to tell you, but you wouldn't answer us when we asked if you liked her."

"Because I'm not gonna say that and then make you guys get all emotional and crazy, " Tyler said, "You could have just given me the head's up, at least."

"We're not telling you that if you didn't feel the same way," Candace said, like that was obvious.

"You guys are supposed to help me out," Tyler said, half-whining, and you laughed, causing him to look at you, his lips curling up in a smirk. "And you and I need to talk about the fact that you're supposed to be on my side even more now, and tell me all these Brian's or Ryan's or whatever."

You scrunched your nose up, shaking your head as you smiled.

"Can one of you guys take the baby?" Tyler asked, arms already coming out.

"Tyler," you warned, trying to push his hands away but he out-muscled you , working your straps down your shoulders, while you repeatedly tried to place them.  "Well, don't take my dress off."

"You've got a bathing suit on underneath, it's fine, " he insisted, "you've got your boobs out all the time anyway, like,  we go to the movies, boobs out."

"I was feeding the baby," you clarified, cheeks heating up because you knew he remembered what else you'd done in the movie theater and if he made some type of comment about that, you were going to turn into a babbling mess.

Which kind of worked in his favor, because then your mind was distracted momentarily, meaning that you weren't quick enough in fighting him off when his arm wrapped around your legs, shifting your body off the ground.

"Tyler," you laughed, but he just ignored you. 

"Can someone get the door?" he asked, nodding towards the sliding door, open other than the screen,

"You're on your own there, honey," Jackie said, and Tyler huffed, using his foot to try and push open the screen.

"Stop," you said, trying to wiggle free but Tyler had somehow managed to get door open, Gerry running through and then jumping right into the pool like he thought this was all part of some game.

"Why?" Tyler asked into your neck, your body getting closer and closer to the ground, his body bent over.

"Because I don't want to be wet when I get in with Bentley to get him used to the water."

"Fine," Tyler said, his arms letting your body move so your feet hit the floor, yet his arms remained around you.  "But don't think I'll forget this."

"Neither will I," you said, looking over Tyler's shoulder to where Candace was holding Bentley, propped up so he could look around., your eyes moving back to connect with Tyler's, dark chocolate pools of playfulness, "Just wait till I teach Bentley to splash you."

"Oh, you don't play fair," Tyler laughed, his arm coming around you and planting a kiss on your cheek, Tyler looking at Bentley now too. "Are you watching Gerry swimming? Are you gonna try it?"

You watched Bentley's lips turn up, a silent form of communication.

"I think that's a 'yes'," you said softly, your fingers reaching out to tickle his toes, letting Candace hand him back to you, because although you were psyched for them to play with Bentley in the water, too, you wanted to be as close to him as possible when he experienced the pool for the first time.

"Do you have your phone, babe?" you asked Tyler, "Can you take some pictures or a video or him?"

"I can do it," Cassidy offered, "then you can both go in with him."

"Thank you," you said gratefully, Tyler already dipping his toe in the water. "Is it cold you asked?"

Tyler should his head, "I think he'll be okay."

"Wait, wait, I got some pool toys for him," Jackie said.

"Awe, really?" you asked, "I brought a couple of his bath toys, but all of his pool toys are in Dallas."

"Well, you can leave these here and then he can play with them when he comes to visit Grandma's pool," Jackie said.

"See, I told you Grandma would buy you lots of presents," Tyler said to Bentley, running his finger along Bentley's cheek.

"Woah," you said to Bentley, smiling excitedly as she showed him the little boat and all the fishes.  "Can you say 'thank you'"?

Bentley cooed, his lips turning up in a smile, right on cue.  "Oh, you are so welcome," she said, leaning over to kiss him on the top of the head.  "We'll have to keep them away from the dogs, won't we?"

"And Tyler," Candace said, and you realized that Tyler had already taken the toys from his mom.

"He's too little to know how to play with them, I'm just helping," Tyler defended, laughing at himself, getting Bentley's attention as he walked into the water.,Gerry circling around him. 

"Gerry, c'mhere," Cassidy called, and  it wasn't long before he was running around with Charley, your eyes moving between Tyler and Bentley, slowly walking into the water until your legs were covered, running your free hand back and forth through the water, crouching so Bentley's toes were near the water.  

"You've got paparazzi," Tyler said, nodding towards Candace and Cassidy crouched down by the side of the pool, phones extended in front of him, tickling Bentley's toes and then slowly scooping water over them to get him used to the water.

"Whatcha think?" You asked him, lowering your body further into the water, watching Bentley's curious expression, his eyes wide, starting to fuss just a little bit and you started to sway back and forth with him.  "Baby beluga in the deep blue sea, you swim so wild and you swim so free."

"He's doing well," Jackie said from the edge of the pool.

"Yeah, he's pretty easy-going," you said, looking at exactly where he'd gotten that disposition from.

"And he loves the water," Tyler added, and you took the few steps to close the gap between the two of you.

"You want to take him?" You asked, Tyler making a noise of agreement, cradling his arms underneath yours, pulling Bentley to his hip, settling him.

"Are you swimming?" Tyler asked him, taking the boat and making noises as he drove it through the water in front of him.  "It's pretty cool, huh?"

You smiled, eyes still on Bentley's and just a smidge of Tyler watching him, only to be distracted by Gerry, who was running around the edge of the pool, crouching down like he wanted to jump in, and then jumping down the line.  

"You can come in , Ger, come here," you said, calling him over to the stairs, searching for one of the dogs' toys so you could tempt him away from getting his nails too close to Tyler and Bentley.  "Did you want to come play with Daddy, too? Were you getting jealous?"

"Jealous he didn't get a new toy," Tyler said, taking the fish toy and filling it with water, squeezing it so it sent an arc of water into the air, Gerry's tail wagging in the water.

"Careful," Jackie said, the water getting too close to outside of the pool, which really was the wrong reaction because Tyler just grinned, squirting more water in their direction, Bentley letting out a pleased squeal.

"See, it's funny," Tyler said, planting a kiss against Bentley's cheek, and you laughed at how skeptical Marshall looked at the whole situation, saying over to give him a pet.

"Well, you're getting me all wet."

"He wants you to come in," Tyler said, changing the way he was holding Bentley so his hands were under his arms, the baby facing forward, stepping through the water.  "Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo, baby shark doo doo doo doo doo doo doo."

Your eyes were on Bentley's face as he "swam" towards you.

"Is he smiling?" Tyler asked, and you nodded.  "Mommy shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo

Mommy shark.  Where's Gerry Shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo, Gerry Shark? Oh there's Grandma Shark, hi Grandma shark."

Tyler carefully passed Bentley over to Jackie, who swayed back in the water with him, clearly transfixed, the rest of the family joining in not long after.  You quickly discovered that while Bentley didn't mind being in the pool, he was not a fan of his little floatie even though Tyler had spent awhile blowing it u for him, much preferring to be in someone's arms, although he was also quite content on someone's lap outside of the pool to warm up a bit, and you were quite happy that Cassidy managed to get a picture of Tyler and Bentley lounging together in their matching swimsuits on one of the lounge chairs before you took Bentley inside to change him so he wouldn't get too cold. When you came back, everyone was clearly looking at something on Tyler's phone, although he looked up at you when you came back outside, tilting his head.

"Someone looks sleepy."

"Yeah, I thought he was gonna fall asleep while I was getting him dressed, he's tuckered out," you said, turning him in your arms so he was laying down, starting to rock him as you stepped closer, although you were getting an odd look from Tyler.  "What are you guys doing?" You asked.

"Looking at stuff for Bentley's room," Tyler answered, which wasn't surprising because you knew that it had been something that him and his mom were working on, but it usually wasn't happening right in front of you.

"Oh?" You asked casually, "so you decided on a theme then?" and Tyler only nodded.

"It's so cute" Candace added, to which Tyler smiled quickly and the shushed her.

"Babe," Tyler pleaded, and you frowned, continuing to shift Bentley.

"What? I didn't ask."

 "Yeah, but you're giving me that look," he said, " and if you keep giving me that look then I'm gonna give in and tell you and I really wanted this to be a surprise. "

 "Okay," you answered, because you could see that this was something that he was really excited about, but it was also becoming more and more real that you were going to be moving to another with a 4 month old, and you were almost getting that same feeling about needing to have everything ready and I'm place like you had before you gave birth.  "I just want to make sure that we have all the stuff we need for him."

"We will, you just tell me the big things we need, and I'll make sure it's all ready," Tyler said, because you'd already talked about how he'd go down before you to not only deal with what he had to do before the rest of the guys arrived for training camp, which would give him the chance to take the dogs down and decorate Bentley's room, and then he'd come back to help you travel with the baby.  "I already picked out a crib and a chair for his room, I just need to find something for him to sleep in our room."

"You don't want him to sleep in his own room?" you asked because while he was still in your room, Bentley would be older by then, and while you pictured him staying in your room with you for more of his first year, that was when it was just the two of you, when adult activities were the furthest thing from your mind.  And now, of course, your eyes were wandering over Tyler's bare torso, your free hand quickly making like you were brushing your hair back from your eyes, trying to focus back on the present moment.  

"I mean, eventually, yeah, because his room's gonna be awesome," Tyler said, grinning at you, "But, I don't know, we don't have to decide now. I just thought you'd at least want him in there with you when I'm gone.  Or if he's having a rough night or not feeling well or whatever, then we have somewhere for him to sleep."

Maybe Tyler wasn't that anxious to get Bentley out of your room, either.

"Yeah, okay," you agreed, because that was at least one transition that you could ease into.

"And obviously we need a stroller for down there," Tyler said, you noticing the way the corner if his lips turned up and his eyebrows raised, your mind flashing back to the pre-baby shopping you'd done with him and the way he'd gravitated to all the high-end stuff and the way he shopped for toys like he was shopping for himself. 

"Maybe we should set a budget," you said, and Tyler's expression uplifted even more, laughing as he shook his head.

"No, we're not setting a budget, this is my thing," Tyler said, his eyes flashing with the realization that he had support for his argument.  "We agreed that I would take care of this."

"Yeah, but," you said lamely, trying to figure out the words, but you were distracted by squirming and whining in your arms, the rocking clearly not enough as Bentley let out an annoyed cry, and you turned your attention to talking to him, only looking up at Tyler briefly.  "Do you know where his pacifier is, babe?  He had it when he came in."

"I think it's on the dining room table," Tyler said, already moving to sit up.  "You want me to grab it?"

"No, I'm good," you said honestly.

"I'll help her," Jackie said, her hand already moving around you to open the door, and you hung back around the entrance moving back and forth with Bentley as she went to go grab it, shifting him in your arms so she could give it to him.

"Is that better? You're so tired, huh? Did you stay in the pool a bit too long? Or are you getting hungry?" you said, running your thumb over Bentley's cheek.

"He'll probably nap really well," Jackie said, "That was my secret weapon, take the kids to swim lessons and they're out for the afternoon."

"Yeah?" you smiled, "I might look into that when we're in Dallas for something to do with him."

"You should, he seems to like the water," Jackie nodded, "and it'd give you a chance to meet some other families."

"Yeah," you said softly, running your hand through Bentley's hair, still trying to get him off to sleep.

"I think he's just excited," Jackie said.

"Hmm?" You asked, looking up at her and thinking she was talking about Bentley, who was really anything but excited right now, hos body still half fighting rest, but started to suck on his pacifier., but Jackie was nodding towards the door.

"Tyler?" you asked.

"Yeah, about having Bentley coming to live with him.  And, you too, obviously," she said, meeting your eyes and then looking behind you, like she was trying to think of just how to say this.  " I know he helped you get the nursery set up and get ready for the baby, but it wasn't his decision, really, you know? I think he's just having fun looking at all the baby stuff and thinking about what Bentley might like when he gets older.."

You thought about what she was saying, remembering that feeling you had when you went shopping for everything, and the hours that you'd spent imagining this life scrolling through nursery ideas on your phone, and the way now that Tyler was now, giving you a sly smile even as he shielded his phone away from you.  

It was about more than just things.

"Do you want to take him for a bit?" You asked, noticing the way that Jackie was reaching her arm out towards Bentley every time he made a noise like she could help him in that way. 

"I can give your arms a break for a minute," she said, and you smiled at the way she downplayed that she was dying to hold him,moving him so his head was resting against Jackie's shoulder, running your hand over his back, his breathing growing slower and deeper.

"Are you comfy cuddling with Grandma?" You asked him, satisfied that he was settling, "I think you're right.  He just..  always wants to buy him stuff."

.

Which you did too, really, just not on quite the same scale.

"Yeah, he can go a little overboard sometimes."

"Who?" You asked, feigning surprise, "Tyler?"

"Yes, Tyler," she laughed, leaning towards you, her hand steady on Bentley's back, "I'll reel him in though once we start making decisions.  Remind him that he doesn't need to get all the toys right now and to save some stuff for birthdays and Christmases and that he's going to be just as happy if you spend five minutes talking to him than getting him a cool new toy.  Or that he can really only sit in one stroller at a time."

"Yeah," you laughed under your breath, looking at her eyes.  "Thank you."

"Of course, honey," Jackie said, "he's so happy to have you about having you go with him, I think he just wants everything to be perfect for you."

 "Yeah, me too," you said, "really all I need is my five boys though and I'm good."

"Five boys," she repeated, "That sounds like a lot when you put it like that."

"I know, but I love it though," you said, laughing at the way that Cash was standing at the door, his tail wagging while looking up like he was curious about what was going on.

"Oh, are you checking on the baby?" Jackie asked, walking over to open the door and stepping outside, Cash already sniffing up at her, "I think he's sleeping right now."

You leaned over, checking to see if Bentley's eyes were closed, his cheek pressed up where he was rested his head.  "Yeah, he's sleeping."

"Awe," Tyler said sweetly, from where he was still sitting, Jackie crossing the deck, and every so gently sitting down with Bentley, and you took the opportunity to tuck his blanket under his chin. 

"Ty, can you pull one of those other chairs over for Y/N?" Jackie asked.

"Mmmmnope," Tyler said, a smile sneaking onto his face, moving his legs to create room, "we can share."

"Do you actually have to sit in the same chair now?" Cassidy asked while you were just frozen there, trying to not make anyone uncomfortable with this new dynamic.

"Yeah, we do have to," Tyler laughed, reaching for your hand, Cassidy rolling her eyes at his comment but smiling, and you let yourself sit down on the lounge chair, shifting until you got comfortable, Tyler's head curving around yours, lips brushing your neck and then stopping just breaths from yours.  "Hi," he said, soft enough like he only wanted you to hear.

"Hi," you answered, pressing your lips to his, like he'd just gotten home, not like you'd seen him just minutes before.

"Why are you guys actually so cute though?"

Tyler just shrugged, laughing against you.  "I don't know, we're just adorable."

"Seriously, I can't believe that you actually made her a picnic."

You could feel Tyler under his breath from behind you.  "That's like the move, huh? She tells everyone about that."

"Because it's sweet."

"And yet she still didn't realize I wanted to date her," Tyler said, "Like I kissed her and she was still clueless."

"What, he kissed you?" Candace asked, leaning forward in shock, "like before we talked on Mother's Day?"

"Oh yeah," Tyler answered, his voice half cocky.

"Tyler," you said, your face already heating up when you turned to look at him.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know it was a secret," he said, his thumb running over your arm like he was trying to be reassuring.  "Especially since you let me kiss you at the airport in front of everybody."

"Stop," you laughed.

"Okay, okay," Tyler said, leaning around to kiss your cheek.  

"Can you do that one more time?" Cassidy asked, her phone raised to take a picture.  

"Mmm.. I can do it as many times as you want," Tyler said, planting a series of playful kisses to your cheek, and it was one of those pictures that you just knew was going to turn out good with the way you were laughing, relaxing with your fingers intertwined with him, the sound of Tyler's phone repeatedly pinging with notifications the only thing interrupting the comfortable silence.

"How many times  did you send me that picture?" Tyler laughed, asking Cassidy.

"I haven't sent it yet," she answered, and you felt Tyler shift behind you, reaching for his phone.

"Well, everyone I care about is here so," he said, a pause as he scrolled through his phone.  "Awe, you let her post that picture of us," he said to you, and you didn't know what he was talking about until he shifted to bring his phone in front of you, that Cassidy had taken earlier of Tyler and Bentley filling the screen.

"Oh my god, I didn't even ask, I just thought, I can take it down," Cassidy said, stumbling over her words, already reaching for her phone.

"No, it's fine," you reassured her.  "You can leave it up."

"She just doesn't always want pictures with his face in it on Instagram," Tyler said, and you watched Cassidy's face get even more concerned.

"No, I just worry about you posting pictures with him on Instagram," you said to Tyler.

"What? Why me?" Tyler asked innocently, like you hadn't already discussed this.

"Because you've got so many followers and her account is private," you said, looking back at Cassidy, "I don't mind if you post Bentley at all.  We're just trying to keep Tyler and I being together on the down-low.  For now."

"And you don't think the kid and me wearing matching swimsuits is a giveaway?" Tyler asked, laughing.

"No," you laughed, shaking your head, "You had those before we were even a thing, we're all friends, I'd be here anyway."

Really, you weren't sure if you were trying to convince her or yourself.

"Tyler's just annoyed because I don't let him post the baby as much as he wants to," you said.

"Well, can you blame me?" Tyler asked, "It's not my fault he's so adorable."

"A little bit your fault," you clarified, "I love that picture though, you should leave it up."

"I haven't even seen this picture yet," Candace said, looking at her phone with an "awe", and then frowning, looking back and forth between Tyler and the picture.  "Did you get a new tattoo?"

"You guys," Tyler said with exasperation, laughing.  "Yes, I got a new tattoo, I told you guys I was getting one for Bentley before even Y/N noticed."

"No, not that one," Candace said, waving him away and moving her fingers like she was zooming in on the picture before remembering the real thing was right in front of her, "The one on your shoulder.  What does it say?"

"Oh," Tyler said, a smile in his voice, his hand squeezing yours.  "It says 100%."

"What-"

"It's for Y/N," Tyler said, his lips pressed into your hair.  "It's like our thing: before we decided to... do this whole baby thing, when we made all the decisions like telling you guys, when she was having the baby, and then when we decided to do the being together thing, we both agreed we had to be in 100% or we wouldn't do it."

"Oh my god, that's so cute."

"And here you said you would never get a tattoo for a girl."

"It's not for a girl," Tyler said, "It's a friendship tattoo, I got it before we were a thing.  So it's not gonna be bad luck."

"He got it on my necklace, too," you said, your hand playing with the charm that was pretty much always pressed against your chest.

"Awe."

"Yeah, it's just because we've been friends forever. I think it's pretty fitting, too, she's probably the only reason I ever got 100% on a test in school. Now I just need to get a heart with 'Mom' in and I'll have all my favourite women," Tyler said, laughing at himself, ""What are you frowning over there for, Mom? I did graduate, remember? Or you don't want me to get a tattoo of your name?"

"No that's not what I'm thinking," she said, and then smiled, shaking her head, "Well, no I don't want you to get a tattoo with my name on it."

Tyler laughed, "Why are you making that face then?  Does the baby need his diaper changed? Because you know where we left the diaper bag."

"Ty," you said, which only made him laugh harder, his arm locking you in even as you tried to turn to see if she needed help.

"No, he's fine," she said, running her hand over his back and kissing him on the head as if to illustrate that point, "I just don't think I bought corn."

Now Tyler gasped.  "How can we have dinner without corn?"

Jackie laughed.  "Someone started talking to me, I got distracted."

"I'm sure it'll be fine without," you said.

"I know, I just had this recipe for Mexican street corn I wanted you guys to try," she said, "I got everything but the corn."

"Well, I can go grab some," Tyler said easily.

"Well, you don't have to..."

"It's fine, Y/N forgets stuff all the time, I'm used to it.  Must be a mom thing," Tyler said, tapping at your thigh.  "Come with me?  Make sure I don't get lost."

"And leave Bentley here?"

"Mhmm.." Tyler said, "Actually, you got any references, Mom?  Before we leave the baby with you?"

"Yeah," she said, laughing, pointing at her children, "They're called you three."

"I don't know," Tyler teased, "You think that's gonna be okay, babe?"

You ignored his comments, looking at Jackie and then the girls.  "Are you okay with him?"

"Oh yeah," Jackie said reassuringly, waving you off like it was really no trouble at all, and you tilted your head, looking at Bentley's sleeping face.

"I think I'll just pump some milk for him really quick before we go; he hasn't eaten for a while and he might wake up staving," you said, sliding forward, and you felt two large hands across your chest.  

"Yeah, you need to, these things are really full," Tyler said, your face turning red as you pushed his hands away.

"Okay," you said, "So I'll just --"

"There's a good chair in Tyler's old room," Jackie said, "But wherever you're comfortable."

"Yeah, I'll come to keep you company," Tyler said,

"Keep the door open when you have a girl in there," Candace said. 

"Haha," Tyler said dryly. "She's taking care of her kid, it's not that exciting.  Do we need anything else at the store?"

"Marshmallows," Cassidy said, "For s'mores."

"Oooh, we should get dark chocolate," you said, leaning into him.

"And Reese's," Candace added, and Tyler made a face.

"Bentley, these girls are crazy," he whispered, and you shook your head with a smile.

"Can you want to grab the Dockatot from the car?" You asked Tyler once you got inside, "So they have somewhere to put him down if they want?"

"Babe, there's three of them, there's no way he's not being held the entire time," Tyler said, before stretching out in the bed, head propped up in his hand, watching you dig through the diaper bag for what you needed.  "Never did I think you'd be pumping milk in my old room."

"I know, right?" You laughed, looking at Tyler laying on the bed like he had so many nights when you'd been watching movies, or doing homework, or talking like you had so many nights that summer after he'd won the Stanley Cup, you completed your first year of university paling in comparison.

"Hey, are you actually okay with my sister posting that picture?" Tyler asked, and you nodded.  "Because I know she's private but...stuff still gets out."

You looked at the way he was looking at you and thought back to the number of notifications he'd gotten, which was a lot, even for him.  "Has it?" You asked, to which Tyler simply nodded.

"I can talk to her about it if you're not okay though," Tyler said, his lips turning up in a slight smile.  "Be the bad guy."

"No, it's okay, I would have said something before if I didn't want people taking pictures or sharing them," you said, your eyes still on Tyler, "Are you okay with it?"

"Me?" he asked, "Well, he's your kid..."

You didn't say anything but gave him a look.

"We talked about that already, didn't we?" Tyler said, "I said it didn't bother me if people see me with him and like, talk, or whatever..."

"No, I know," you said, "I meant how do you feel about having his picture out there on social media?"

"Oh," Tyler said quietly, his eyes bouncing back and forth like he was thinking, his hand running over his chin, "I mean.. I think what we've been doing has been good?"

You didn't respond, but waited, because you wanted to know just how he felt about it, too.  You didn't want this to just be your decision anymore, not if this was going where you hoped it was.

"I just, I guess with you guys moving down with me, I want to share stuff of him because I want everybody to see how awesome he is?  And I want people to see that and focus on who he is then like gossip about who his dad and how he got here and everything."

"Yeah," you said, and now he looked at you rather than off in the distance.

"Does that make sense?" Tyler asked, and you thought about it, and then nodded.  "I think we should just kinda keep putting stuff out there gradually with him.  'Cause you know you guys are coming to everything with me in Dallas."

"Yeah," you smiled at the way he was looking at you like he had a lifelong date, and then you just had this vision of taking Bentley to one of Tyler's games, of being surrounded with your baby, with Tyler too far away on the ice.

"Why do you look so freaked out at that?" Tyler asked, and you bit back a laugh.

"Nothing," you reassured him.  "It's just a lot, you know?  I never thought I'd be dating a professional hockey player."

"Well," Tyler said, grinning.  "I'm still the same guy you used to spend so much time hanging out with in this room, you know.  Smarter, richer, better looking.  But still the same guy."

You laughed at his expression, completely cocky but his eyes will soft for you.  "We'll just take it slow and figure it out, babe," Tyler reassured you, propping himself up even more.  "I think it'll be good for us, moving.  Like I know we're together all the time here.  But you and Bentley kinda already had a routine going.  And now we'll get to make our own routines."

  "Yeah?" you asked.

"Mhmmm.." Tyler answered, still looking at you like he has something on his mind.  "You did it again, you know."

"I did what?"

"You called me 'Daddy'," he said, his eyebrows slightly raised.

"What?  No, I didn't."

"Yeah, you did," he insisted.

"When?"

"In the pool," Tyler said, "You said 'go play with daddy' or something."

"Oh," you said, with recognition now.  "I was talking to Gerry."

"Since when do you call me 'Daddy' for the dogs?" Tyler laughed.  

"Since you've had dogs."

"No," Tyler said, his voice teasing, "That was always 'your dad'."

You laughed, your head moving back against the top of the chair, looking at Tyler's amused expression.  "What? You can call me 'Mama' and 'Mommy', but I can't call you 'Daddy'?"

"No, I didn't say that," Tyler said, his voice still light, "It's just different, that's all."

"I guess I kind of say it more when you're not there," you said.

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked.

"Like when you're gone and I have the boys, I tell them when I'm talking to Daddy on the phone, or like ask them if they miss you because Daddy's gonna be coming home soon."

You half expected Tyler to make fun of you, but he didn't, his gaze soft towards you and you would have gone over to kiss him or run your hand through his hair had you not had bottles attached to your chest.  

"Do you do that with Bentley?" he asked softly, and you smiled, nodding.

"Even more because he can understand more - or will be able to understand more -," you said, "Like when you went down to Dallas earlier this summer, we talked about how you were going golfing with Papa, and we looked at pictures of you playing hockey with the kids. And we counted down the days until you got home."

"I like that you do that," Tyler said simply.

"Well, I'll keep doing it," you said, looking at Tyler's eyes, which looked full of emotion, and you almost wanted to say you just hoped that you'd get to tell Bentley what Daddy was up to rather than Uncle Ty-Ty, until Tyler cleared his throat.

"You almost done?" Tyler asked, "We should go before the kid wakes up and realizes we left him."

You nodded, and now Tyler got up, coming over and pressing his lips to the top of your head.  "Maybe we can even swing by the baby aisle," he said, his voice wavering with laughter, even as he raised his eyebrows up and down, "'Cause I think we're almost out of butt cream."

"So romantic," you laughed.

"Yeah, I know," Tyler said with satisfaction, laughing as he pressed his lips to yours.

[ubemango]

farmer!taehyung 1: after the mulberries (m)

just a re-upload for his birthday!!!! 💖💖💖💖

You’d left the mulberries to soak in wine an hour ago. The vineyard isn’t that far a walk, but you’d still waited just a little before sunset to go picking, and even then you had sweat right through your blouse. Hauling your mulberry-heavy basket back through that muggy heat wasn’t fun. The shower you took, though—it was a different experience of divine. 

The fireflies are out and around the cabana when Taehyung stops by your family’s lot. 

“Hi lady.” He adjusts the basket slung on his shoulders with a jump. “You finally finished the couch.”

The monstrosity of bamboo you relax on creaks when you nod. “Pretty, right?”

“You worked hard,” he compliments.

“Whatcha got in there?”

“Ribs and liver.”

The announcement had rung clear just now, town horns cutting through your cross-stitching session. Cow’s been killed; come get what you want before it’s gone! You hadn’t gone though. You still have ham in storage, and Taehyung makes better beef stew. “Yum. You wanna stop by when you drop that off?”

Taehyung hums. “What do you have in mind we do, miss?”

“I need help building an oven for my sister,” you say. He doesn’t hide it when he sags with disappointment, frowning like he’d wanted another suggestion. “Kidding. Everyone’s gone to the city, you need to keep your fiancée preoccupied another way.”

“You promise it doesn’t involve me getting dirty?”

“I’ll get you dirty with something else.”

“Well shit,” he laughs with relief. He won’t step closer for a kiss because he knows you’ll gag from the smell. “Be back, then.”

You’re just about done stitching the last petal of a sunflower when you hear Taehyung coming along the walkway again. The sun’s set, lamp flickering under the fuzz of the mosquito net. Taehyung’s sure to secure the zipper before he slumps on the cushions next to you. He curls the smell of soap into your side.

The sigh he lets out bears the weariness of a long day. “How long are your parents gone for this time round?”

“Probably two weeks,” you say. Another visit to your auntie who made it big in the corporate world, plus you’d asked for another phone because yours was starting to give out. There’s cracks from when Taehyung dropped it on the cement a couple days ago. “You tired?”

“Mm.” He leaves a slow kiss on your shoulder. “Rice paddies are no fucking joke.”

“Aw. It was so hot today too.”

He lays a light hand on your cheek to turn your mouth to his. Eager with his tongue that says he’s not as tired as he lets on, so you kiss him like you want it. “As much as I wanna appreciate this couch, I don’t want it to break.”

“From doing what?”

“From doing what you said would make me dirty,” Taehyung answers.

You don’t hesitate to get up with shaky legs, leaving behind your unfinished threads. You beckon with impatient fingers. “Bed’s waiting.”

The lamp squeaks when Taehyung twists the flame out. When you pop up from the net you don’t feel the mosquitos flying around anymore. Means all the old people have gone to bed, and now you’re extra-cautious when you bring Taehyung back inside the house like new lovers caught under the secrecy of night. The layout’s familiar to him though—he doesn’t knock you over the low table in front of your bed when he strips you of your dress. His shirt falls on the floor. You tumble with him onto the sheets. 

“Let’s get married already,” he whispers when he crawls over you. “I’ll build our house near that pond you love to visit so much.”

As much as you want to hurry with all the marriage prep, you know your mom would have a fit if she wasn’t there to contribute. Tradition called for ceremony upon ceremony, and if you so much as got a shade of colour wrong for the drapes then you’d be cursed with bad yield, too much rain. Her gossip is petty but you wouldn’t risk it. Taehyung licks quiet love on your neck. “That sounds nice. And I found a new video for a nice marble sink.”

“Yeah?”

“Our bathroom’s gonna be more beautiful than Miss Taehee’s.”

“I donno, Miss Taehee’s built a mean bamboo sink.”

You cluck your tongue. “Whatever.”

“Hm. I’m really fuckin’ sleepy, peaches.”

“Then come back up here and kiss me,” you prompt. He doesn’t. Just sucks lower down your stomach and slipping your panties down for a quick lick up your sex you’re not prepared for. “Tae—“

“Sh-h. Missed you. Let me just…”

He’s got you hooked with a sweet tongue and hard arms wrapped around your thighs. It hasn’t even been that long since you last saw each other; you’d stopped by the rice paddies when you went mulberry picking, and you’d thrown some in his mouth as he worked knee-deep in the water. Had simple conversation with a hi to his little siblings wading around him. You know he’s worked hard today. “Oh,” you sigh when he suckles hard. “P-Please don’t make me come, I can’t last.”

Taehyung pulls off with a hard prod to your clit. “Want me to stop?”

“No, keep going,” you plead. You’re sticky with heat and slick, halfway to wrecked and he hasn’t even put his dick inside yet. Bucking your hips isn’t easy but you try under his locked attention anyway. It’s a grumble he responds with. Then he laves the stretch of your pussy like it’s punitive and you’re heaving. “Oh. F-Fuck, please. Please—I won’t—“

“The fireflies might hear you,” he chides. 

“Shut up.”

“Remember when Grandma Min asked us if we heard that wailing sound before?”

“Shut up.” Taehyung dodges the smack you deliver, catching your fingers between his teeth. You pulse hot from the pinch of his wet mouth. “You’re so annoying.”

He ignores you. “Your hands still taste like berries.”

“Picked a ton. Come up here mister, I miss your mouth already.”

“You’re so sweet.” He probably means it literally but you still smile like it was meant to please you. Your head digs into the pillow when he meets you with a heady kiss, tongue tracing all the noises you don’t want Grandma Min hearing. 

Taehyung grabs at your back. Twisting you over him with the drag of his hand down your thigh till he has your leg splayed over his waist, and you prop yourself up with a lazy elbow and a perplexed expression. “You wanna fuck like this?”

“Yeah. I mean I’d love to pound you into the bed but that’s way too loud and I have zero energy, those goddamned rice paddies.” You snort. He slides his pants and underwear off fast just to rub on your cunt slow. “You still have coconut oil here?”

“Bottom cubby.” A reach to your bedside table, the pop of the vial, a slicked up dick that Taehyung teases along your clit just to hear you sigh before he slides it in. The angle is new but you cream him senseless regardless. You bury a moan in his sweaty neck. “Fuck.”

He growls a low sound. Hands woven tight on your ass so he can grind up on your push down, and your eyes roll back stupidly hard. “Feels so good.”

You vibrate from the praise. It’s silent save for your desperate breathing, the sound of your slippery skin on his. Ribs knocking against each other because you’re so close like this. Your gut twists when Taehyung ruts up that extra inch. “H-ah—! O-Oh, right there. Likethat—“

“Christ,” Taehyung chokes. “Keep talking and I might r-really pound into you.”

“Thought you were tired.”

“I always work hard for this pussy.” You stutter through a laugh, not fighting him when he spreads you flat on the bed under his leaking cock. He’s deep in your cunt within a second, balls a hazard when they threaten high volume because he really can’t keep from fucking you hard when you’re lain pliant like this.

You can’t say you’re not into it either. The bed creaks under Taehyung’s quick hips, sheets bunched tight in your fists. And you don’t prompt the thumb he licks and pushes against your clit but the croaky groan you let out. “Oh god—“

“I want you to come first,” Taehyung says.

It’s not a hard thing to achieve, and you give it to him straight. Your neck aches with the need to stay silent. He doesn’t let up for that exact same reason, cock heady in its thrusts to get you on your high. You know he wants it loud. “T-Tae—“

“Just let me have it, please—!”

You might as well have the mic for the town horns to blast. So you give it to him: burning hot along your nerves just to feel that sweet unraveling you can’t control, convulsing from your core and you know Taehyung feels it too when his dick sputters through his rhythm. You squeal. Grabbing onto his arms to anchor the squirming you’re liable to when you come so good. 

“Fuck,” you heave with satisfaction. And he’s desperate for that high too, cock slapping fast in the race for an orgasm he’s sweat all day for, one he spills over your stomach when he pulls out in the last second. Taehyung pumps with a slow hand, tired beyond his wits. Brain melting in the heat of post-climactic achievement. “Dirty.”

He laughs into your embrace, cum on your stomach and all. “Be my wife already, god. Don’t wanna pull out anymore.”

You simmer with excitement at the thought. “I know.”

“A month.”

“I know,” you say again, with just as much impatience. “How’s ice cream sound for tomorrow?”

“Absolutely wonderful. Please. I worked so hard with the rice paddies—“

“Yeah I know.” 

Taehyung huffs. “I’ll always work hard for you,” he promises. 

You croon into his hair. You won’t ask for help when you go strawberry picking tomorrow. He’s worked too hard.

[owlsoldwritingcorner]

The Ghost (Part 1)

Pairing :Wrench x Reader

AO3 Link

Summary:

The Chicago Dedsec branch struck up a deal with the San Fran Dedsec branch and the two will start working more closely from now on. The Chicago branch also believes that giving a few people from their “clean up” crew would help out the other branch significantly and luckily for both of them, you happened to already be moving to San Francisco with your family.

Funny enough. You meet the man who unintentionally coaxed you into joining Dedsec in the first place.

“Wait, hold up. As in, The Ghost? The one who helped out The Fox?” “They say whenever you took a job, the victims would disappear without a trace. A recording of their crying would be left on the premise, acting as their ghost wails.” “Oh, am I a household name already? Oh, how embarrassing.”

Note: This is the first Watch dogs fic I've written so I'm sorry if anyone seems too OOC. One big difference would be that Marcus's group doesn't kill unless absolutely necessary. Aiden and Reader on the other hand are a bit more... Morally Ambiguous at times.ALSO! Reader is Asian (Specifically Southeast Asian), I try my best to to mention it too often (Mostly with their family and a passing comment) so you guys can still relate to them more. Also, certain characters will have their own pronouns for reader cuz they don't know (i.e Marcus says He/him but Ray calls them She/her). They also have a certain kind of body type similar to mine, but like the race, it won't be mentioned too often! Different pronouns will be like this until a certain point so I am sorry if you aren't into that!

Chapter 1: Moving Day

God, who fuckin’ knew moving was gonna be hell on your back? You had already packed everything from your room and started helping your family with the rest of the packing up. Boxes are now your worst goddamn enemy, at this point a close second to Blume.

So, the Chicago Dedsec branch struck up a deal with the San Fran Dedsec branch and the two will start working more closely from now on. The Chicago branch also believes that giving a few people from their “clean up” crew would help out the other branch significantly and luckily for both of them, you happened to already be moving to San Francisco with your family.

“Hey pumpkin, could you get some of these boxes for me?” Your mother comes into the room, interrupting your glaring battle with the room full of boxes (of which you were totally winning), with a tower of even more boxes in her arms. Quickly, you took half of the stacked boxes in her arms and placed them with the pile, you can now see her tired eyes that were previously covered by cardboard.

“Thank you, pumpkin. My arms were killing me,” Your mother emphasized her point by stretching out her arms and a few popping noises accompanied the movements. “So, how are you feeling about the move? I know we’ve lived in this house since you were a baby but… A change of scenery is always nice. Right?” You let out a little sigh. You really are going to miss those places you’d go to as a kid. The Honeymoon Cafe, that Thai restaurant, hell you’re gonna miss that damn dog that would bark through the night every day.

“Plus you can always make new friends over there!” You know your mom was trying to comfort you but, making friends was never your strong suit in the first place. Plus…

“Mom, I’m 20 years old now.”

“Just cause you’re 20 it doesn’t mean you can’t make friends.”

“I take classes online and stay inside for weeks straight half the time. The other half being at work. ” Work being, well, Dedsec. Clients always preferred going at night. Granted, cleaning up the area during the day is much harder than at night considering all the bystanders during these jobs.

“Oh! You should be able to make friends with your new coworkers at the other branch then! Speaking of work, that reminds me, sweetie. Make sure to bring mace with you whenever you get back home. I don’t know why you’re so adamant on keeping this job, you work so late!” It’s not like mace is gonna fully stop someone. Especially not the kinds of guys you deal with on the daily.

“It plays really well!” Might not have insurance, but, still. Clients pay good money. “And anyway, by that logic, you should have been able to make friends with your old coworkers too.”

“That’s different, honey. I hated my old coworkers.” She gave you a sweet smile but you could feel the rage that was hidden underneath. But you just rolled your eyes.

“Yep. Had an earful of that info everyday. Thanks.”

“You’re seriously just as bad as mom now when it comes to complaining, sis.” Your aunt finally came out of the bathroom and was currently heading towards your grandmother's room to help her out of bed.

“They could barely organize their files! Madeline couldn’t even train me properly!” You and your aunt just gave each other a knowing look before giving your mom little nods as she went off on another tangent about her coworkers. After that whole spiel, you finally got around to carrying your sweet pit bull, Ripley, into the car trunk (All the boxes were in the moving truck just behind you all).

“God, she’s just a big baby, aren’t you?” Your mom baby talked to the big dog often, who in turn gave a happy bark as if saying ‘I am! You gotta love me!’, your mother then turned to you. “I’m still shocked you can carry her so easily like that… She’s as big as you!” To which you just shrugged. Finally, your aunt came, grandma in one hand and helped the elder woman in the car before taking her seat next to grandma.

“I guarantee you’re gonna love it in California, mauppy.” Your aunt said. She did live in California for almost ten years now, so she was the expert compared to the rest of you. You just rolled your eyes at the nickname and another one of these ‘hey new places to live but you’ll love it!’ talk.

“I think Uncle Scott is gonna be the happiest out of all of us, he’s gonna have his impulse control back.”

“Yeah, he ate two large pizzas by himself in under an hour just the other night.”

“I don’t see what’s wrong, that’s just a Tuesday night.”

“Sweetie. I’m going to marry him in a couple months. Next thing you know he can’t even fit into his tux and just have his whole gut out while we say our vows.” You wince at the image. Yeah that… That looks kind of sad.

“ Next thing you know you’ll have to roll around your husband to his clients !” Your grandmother joked around before taking a puff of her inhaler. You all laughed at the thought before you quietly checked your purse for your daily asthma meds and inhaler.

Good. Everything is ready to go.

Goodbye, Home.

Hello, San Francisco.

As you fell asleep during the road trip, you dreamt of a familiar masked man.

You smiled at the image of his hidden face.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, it was time to move everything in the new house. Just as you got out of the car, you stood still as if the ice queen herself froze you.

Both your legs were asleep.

“Aw, while your legs are waking up, make sure to help Ripley get used to the new house!” Your aunt said as she helped grandma from the car, you let out a pained groan that your aunt took as an affirmative sound.

After all the boxes were in the house and you got the dog’s bed in your room, you flopped onto your bed. Exhausted to the bone. Unfortunately, you just received a text message. Limply, you flipped yourself over and reached for your phone.

Oh, It’s Clara!

It's been a couple years since you’ve seen her. She and Aiden finally got together soon after the whole Damien and Maurice situation, moving in with Aiden’s sister and nephew. Good riddance, they always gave each other googly eyes.

So gross.

Wonder how he’s doing now?

You let out an exasperated huff at the memory.

Yeah but like… The man has a justice boner sometimes. Not literally but, he tried to catch every. Single. Crime  he walks past. That man has never relaxed a day in his life.

Someone got robbed on the street over? Guess who’s already there. The almighty masked vigilante! The man’s probably never relaxed a day in his life, hell, you never even seen the dude take a nap.

God… You already missed Chicago.

You put your phone on charge on top of the nightstand near your bed, turning off the lights and finally getting into bed to sleep off all the work.

Tomorrow is going to be a long ass day.

You can feel it in your gut.

[mingjue]

Candy? For the one word prompts?

OK SO…………technically this is for the immortal lxc & reincarnated nmj au, but it’s focused around the time lxc is starting to consider coming out of seclusion. which means baby time w Lan Yue/Lan Yingtai who is OC. i swear it’s cute, it’s their first time meeting pleading emoji

word count: 2,810 (SO PLEASE READ……..)it’s all unedited and i did this in one sitting heehee

————

Lan Yue knows she isn’t supposed to travel this far away from the Cloud Recesses. She knows that once she got to the thin river with little minnows, she was further than she was allowed to go. But at this moment, curiosity made this little girl ignore everything she’s been told.

She’s found a gravel road, and at the end of that road was a small, empty looking house.

The road obviously wasn’t used much. Where the tire tracks didn’t burn into the ground, patches of grass grew through the rocks. The undergrowth surrounding the road went up to her waist– and she was tall for her age!– while the trees hung down low in a thick canopy. When it opened though, there sat the house.

Lan Yue stood at the other side of the road, tiny dagger clutched in hand with a determined expression on her face. She wanted into the house. Should she go in? Probably not, but she’s never heard about this house. So she wanted in.

She knew every part of the Cloud Recesses like the back of her hand. She couldn’t remember everyone’s name, but she could definitely place faces. A lot of the houses built around the Cloud Recesses were very similar too, so it wasn’t hard to remember their layout. This was going to be her clan to rule over when she’s older, and she wanted to know about every little thing that sat in these mountains– even if her baba didn’t want her to.

Confidently, Lan Yue marched up to the house. But, instead of knocking at the door, she decided to peek in through the window. 

Up on her tippy-toes she got a good view of a small kitchen. It looked terribly bare, and not a single light was on, not even in the equally bare living room. All of the windows seemed to have their curtains drawn back. Lan Yue squinted, seeing light coming in from a doorway through the living room. The back. 

Maybe she should check the back first. The person living here might just be gone for the day, and what if they had a dog? That’s why the back door is seemingly open, or at least with the curtains pulled away. If the door was open and she came in, she didn’t want a dog rushing in to attack her.

Lan Yue quietly pulled away from the window and started sneaking towards the back of the house. Already she could see short, white picket fencing. A small dog? Those things could still be annoying, wouldn’t want to test it. Or a really domesticated dog. A short huff from her nose.

As she reached the edge of the house and to where the picket fence began, she started placing her steps lighter, holding her breath in, just in case. Lan Yue crouched slightly, as to hide behind the fence, and looked around the corner of the house to get a quick look.

What she sees isn’t what she expected.

A man was sitting on the porch at a simple table, seemingly focused on something in the treeline that surrounded the small backyard. His skin was almost deathly pale with bags under his eyes weighing against it, and grey streaked through predominantly ink black hair at his temples. He didn’t look old, but at the same time he did.

Lan Yue bit back a yelp as she hid back behind the house. Normally, she was fine with just making her presence known. But she’s never seen this guy. Not even once! And she’s never been told about some hermit living in the middle of the forest. Usually she has a good idea of who to expect when wandering around, since only disciples and their families live up here. She toyed with the cover of her dagger while considering what to do.

She could do as she always does and just straight up say hi to him. Or she could climb into a tree and spy on him. The latter sounded more fun, and she’d still be able to do the prior if he saw her. 

She stuffed the dagger into the big pocket on her overalls, and skirted around to the treeline. She made sure to watch the man as she crouched into the undergrowth. He didn’t move a single muscle. What was he staring at? It was kinda getting creepy.

Lan Yue tried to ignore that aspect of it the best she could. Instead, she paid half her attention to finding a good tree to climb up. It ended up being a tree around the area the man was staring at. Before she began climbing, she looked around to see if it was anything she needed to be worried about– but there was nothing but trees. So, she grabbed onto the lowest branch and hauled herself up without disturbing the leaves around her.

By the time she got to a good spot that would support her well, the leaves around her blocked a lot of her vision.

As carefully as she could, she scooted over on the branch. She got as far as she was comfortable reaching before she decided to start moving the leaves.

That’s what failed Lan Yue.

When she pushed away a smaller branch silently, a loose branch that had been resting on it fell outrageously loud to the ground. She gasped, holding onto the branch to keep her balance, but what jarred her was the mans gaze immediately locking onto hers, and a bright shine of silver flashing towards her.

“Shuoyue!” The man shouted, just as Lan Yue screeched in shock and fell back.

With little time to react, Lan Yue promptly fell out of the tree. Miraculously, she didn’t hit her head on anything too hard, but her tail bone and heels of her palms definitely took a lot of damage. She landed onto the ground to be immediately sent into a daze. A second afterwards, a sword dropped onto the grass next to her. 

She didn’t pay much mind to it though, as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Oh god,” The mans voice was suddenly a lot closer, “Oh, I’m so sorry–” 

Lan Yue looked up, while bringing her hands to her chest, to see the man climbing over the fence hurriedly.

“Are you alright? What’s your name?” He asked, crouching to pick up the sword. Lan Yue couldn’t figure out how to respond. So she burst into tears, “Oh no–” A thunk– from what she could tell through blurry vision, he threw the sword over the fence, “–Hey, hey, I won’t hurt you, you’re okay.”

Before he could get too close, Lan Yue briefly came to her senses to pull the dagger from her chest-pocket. She pointed it at him with both hands on the handle, sniffling and crying as she pulled her legs to her chest.

“Who are you?!” She wailed, “Why do you have a sword?!”

The man stammered, “I-I–” He couldn’t seem to place any words for a second, “I’m– um, Lan Huan, courtesy name Xichen,” Lan Yue hiccuped, but she was beginning to calm down, “Let’s put the blade down–”

“No!” Lan Yue retorted, “Why do you have a sword?!” 

The man sighed as he rocked his knees down to rest on the ground, now sitting a yard or so away from her. She furiously blinked away tears so she could see him clearly. He didn’t seem so dead looking now, with how much worry was on his face.

“I’m an immortal,” He finally answered, hesitantly, “I was a sect leader a long, long time ago. That’s why I have a sword.”

“Why don’t I know about you?”

“You may only know me as Zewu-Jun, at your age.”

That rang a bell, making Lan Yue furrow her brows while slowly lowering that dagger, “… You swore brotherhood to um … someone.”

“Chifeng-Zun and Lianfang-Zun.”

“Yeah, them,” Lan Yue paused, squinting up at him, “Why do you look so old if you’re immortal?”

Lan Xichen blinked, letting out a noise of shock, “I look old?” He self-consciously felt at his face, “Oh, you mean my hair?” She nodded, “It just … does that, because of how long I’ve been alive.”

“How long have you been alive?”

“A while,” Lan Xichen hummed, hands now folded in his lap, “It’s hard to keep track.”

Lan Yue held the dagger at her chest for a moment, with Lan Xichen looking at it nervously, before finally putting it back in its sheath. The old man let out a quiet sigh at that.

“Immortal-gege,” She said, “Do you have band-aids?”

“Of course!”

He made a confused face at the sudden nickname just a second later, once it hit him.

-

Lan Yue kicked her feet back and forth as she sat on the kitchen counter. Lan Xichen had helped her wash her scraped hands, and was now searching for band-aids in the bathroom down the hall. 

This house was boring. It looked cool from the outside with the old styling, but the inside was plain and boring. The most technologically advanced item in this house so far was the touch pad fridge. 

“Immortal-gege,” She said as he walked back into the kitchen, holding some bandages, “Why don’t you have a TV?”

“I’d never use it.”

“Why not?”

“I enjoy reading more than watching television.”

“You sound like my grandma.”

“I’m sure she’s a lovely woman, I take no offense to that,” He said lightly, setting the bandages save for one onto the counter next to her, “Let me see your hand.”

Lan Yue offered him her hand with her reddened palm up, watching as he gently placed the large band-aid and pressed it down.

“You still haven’t told me your name,” Lan Xichen said.

“Oh,” Lan Yue blinked, “Lan Yue, courtesy Yingtai.”

“Lan Yingtai,” He echoed, before raising his brows, “You’re the sect heir.” He took another band-aid and motioned for her other hand.

“Mhm! That’s why I came here.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I need to know everyone in my sect before I become sect leader.”

A soft smile appeared on Lan Xichen’s face, “Really?” He said, “Why’s that?”

“So they trust me!” She answered swiftly, a lift of her chin to follow, “If your people don’t trust you, then you’re not a good leader.” The smile on his face grew wider as a chuckle left him.

“That’s right,” He paused, “Are you still hurting anywhere, A-Yue?”

“My butt hurts.”

“Your baba should have some medicine you’re used to to help with that,” As he spoke he took the trash from the band-aids and tossed them into the trashcan sitting next to the fridge, “I’ll text him real quick.”

She kicked her legs a few times and wiggled her thumbs to mess with the band-aids as Lan Xichen pulled out a rather tiny phone from his pocket. She cringed for a second as her wounds stung, but she was quickly distracted by the sight of his phone. It was a little but sleek flip-phone with dark blue casing, and the screen on it still looked quite nice from what she could see. But why was he using a flip-phone?

“Immortal-gege?”

“Yes, A-Yue?”

“Why do you have an old phone?” She asked, “Is it because you’re old?”

Lan Xichen struggled to hold back the laugh that left him, before shaking his head, “I just don’t like more modern phones.”

“Oh,” She smoothed her hands out on her legs, looking down at them. Her leggings were dirty from the fall, along with the back of her overalls, “My baba has a really big smartphone and he lets me play games on it.”

“Mn,” Lan Xichen hummed, eyes now focused on his own phone again, “It’s all too fancy for me.”

“It’s easy to learn how to use it.”

“It is,” He tapped away at the phone, “I just don’t prefer it, at least at the moment.”

There was a short pause, save for when Lan Xichen flipped his phone shut and tucked it back into his pocket. He glanced over her with a small frown.

“It may take him a bit before he can get here, do you want something to eat?” He asked, “I wish I could get you some clean clothes, but you’re a little small.”

“I’m not small!” She quickly said, hands going to each side of herself and feet slamming back into the cabinets beneath her, “But I’m hungry,” Lan Xichen looked at her with raised brows, “Do you have any candy?”

“Candy?” He said quietly, “Oh, no, I have fruit though.”

“… Do you have any starfruit?” 

“I do!” He seemed to lighten up at that, heading over to the fridge.

“Immortal-gege, why don’t you have candy?”

“I’ve never been too fond of it.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know,” He pulled out a small container, “I’ve never had any recent candy though, maybe I should try some.”

“You should!” Lan Yue perked up at that, kicking her feet again, “Next time I come, I’ll bring you some candy. We can share some because I’m not gonna let you eat all of it.” Lan Xichen smiled again.

“Sure,” A short pause, as he got a plate and knife, “But, I don’t know if your baba would want you wandering all the way up here by yourself.” He opened the container to reveal a few starfruit, taking out one to start slicing it. There was a small buzz, “That must be him.”

The small buzz turned into ringing. Lan Xichen hummed, setting down the knife.

Lan Yue watched as he pulled out his phone and answered the call smoothly, shaking his head to get hair out of his face.

“Hello?”

There was some chatter on the other line.

“She’s a bit battered, but she’s okay, yes.”

Lan Yue leaned over and plucked a slice of starfruit from the plate, shoving it in her mouth.

“No– she was climbing in one of the trees outside my yard and fell out of it.”

“Because you threw a sword at me!”

Alarmed chatter through the phone as Xichen let out a shocked noise.

“She– she startled me, yes, but I stopped the sword before it got close to her,” He explained, “Her only injuries are from falling out of the tree, I don’t think she’s even sprained anything.”

Lan Yue huffed and took the second slice.

“Alright,” He paused, “Alright, I’ll see you in a few minutes. Bye-bye,” He ended the call by shutting his phone, “You like getting people in trouble, don’t you?” His tone was light as he asked that, and he returned to cutting more slices of the starfruit.

“Huh-uh,” She shook her head, “You can’t get in trouble anyways, you’re immortal.”

“Oh, I can, believe me,” Lan Xichen laughed softly, “I almost got in trouble for the garden in my back yard by your great-great grandfather.”

“Yeah, ‘almost’,” Lan Yue took another slice, “I’m the one that gets in trouble all the time, and for no reason!” She threw up her free hand at that to emphasize her distress over it, “One of the old ladies my baba has to listen to threatened to spank me because I was climbing trees when she didn’t want me to. My baba doesn’t care if I climb trees!”

Lan Xichen hummed with a nod, “You do have to listen to the clan elders, A-Yue.”

“Whatever, grandma.”

-

“I must apologize, Zewu-Jun,” Her baba said as soon as he hopped off his sword, “Lan Yue normally doesn’t come out this far,” As he spoke he looked directly at her with an incline of his head, “And she won’t be doing it again.”

Yes I will. She thought, but decided against saying it out loud.

“It’s fine, really,” Lan Xichen said, “It was nice to have company for a little bit, I wouldn’t mind her visiting again.”

“But your seclusion …”

“It’s not really seclusion at this point,” Lan Xichen stood perfectly poised as he spoke, all with a smile, “It’s fine, Sect Leader Lan.”

Lan Yue skipped over to her baba, grabbing his hand before swinging their arms back and forth.

“I’m gonna bring Immortal-gege candy next time I come here,” Lan Yue announced, “He said he’s never had new candy before, baba!” She looked up at him, before glancing between the two adults.

“Lan Yue!” Her baba almost flinched when she called Xichen ‘Immortal-gege’, stilling their arms, “It’s ‘Zewu-Jun’, no ‘gege’–”

“I don’t mind that either, Sect Leader,” Lan Xichen cut in. Her baba looked a little horrified, but relaxed shortly after.

“O-Of course.” 

Lan Yue smiled up at Lan Xichen, returning to swinging her babas arm back and forth. But it quickly fell off her face, seeming to startle Lan Xichen, as she suddenly remembered the pain in her tail bone and hands.

“Baba, my butt hurts!”

“Lan Yue.”

[gumnut-logic]

The Hero (Part Two)

Title: The Hero

Sequel/companion piece to The Joker

Part One | Part Two

Author: Gumnut

27 Oct – 3 Nov 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: Thunderbird Two, with Virgil and Gordon aboard, is hijacked and stolen. With Virgil injured, it is up to Gordon to save his brother and his ‘bird. Sequel/companion piece to ‘The Joker’. Gordon is far more than he seems.

Word count: 3140

Spoilers & warnings: Violence, WASP!Gordon, Military!Scott, whump.

Timeline: Sequel/companion piece to ‘The Joker’.

Author’s note: For @corbyinoz because she has written some magnificent Virgil and Gordon fics and is a great inspiration. Thank you for all your wonderful words.

It started with ‘The Joker’. I got interested in WASP!Gordon and decided to explore his side of the story. Then PLOT happened. Now I have no idea what is going on.

Many thanks to @vegetacide and @scribbles97 for putting up with my crazy.

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

“Count?”

“Four. One at my door, one in the hallway, another at Virgil’s, plus the interrogator.” He stared at his hand. His gloves had saved his knuckles, but the impact was still there.

They were standing on the residential balcony overlooking the main part of the house. The sky was darkening, the breeze cooling. Below them in the Comms room, Grandma was doing busy work dusting Virgil’s piano. She always got fidgety when members of her family were ill or injured and today definitely qualified. The whole week qualified.

Behind him, on the far side of the building, Virgil was curled up in bed in his room. Today, they had finally got him home. Three days in hospital wrestling with the cocktail of drugs and injuries those bastards had inflicted on his brother.

Virgil wasn’t military. Never would be. It wasn’t lack of skill or capability. It just wasn’t Virgil. At the edge of things there was a factor that made a soldier a soldier. Scott had it, Gordon had it, Virgil did not.

It was not a deficit on his big brother’s part. It was just not his place in the world. What he contributed was different to what Gordon contributed, but it had no less value.

But it meant his brother should not be on the front line, should not face what he had had to face. Virgil was strong, that was not the issue.

It was just wrong.

And it put bile in Gordon’s throat.

“I think we should call him in.”

Scott shifted beside him, but neither man looked at each other. “Already have.” The fading sun sparkled light off the tumbler in his hand as he drank a mouthful.

“Good.” A pause. “Tin?”

“Pissed, but she’ll live.”

“They are better together, no matter what she says.”

Scott snorted. “They are one hell of a pair.”

A grim smile. “Two is always better than one.”

-o-o-o-

Gordon crouched in front of his brother. “Hey, Virg, that was some speech. Who knew you could be so eloquent under pressure?”

Brown eyes struggled to focus on him. Virgil remained canted to one side, his whole posture limp. “He’s strong. He’s going to kick your ass.”

Shit. Virgil was so far gone he didn’t even recognise his own brother. Gordon bit his lip. Time. He didn’t have time for this.

“Hey, hey, Virgil. I’m Gordon, remember? The joker guy you said was going to save your ass.” He traced the ropes holding his brother. Virgil’s baldric was missing. A quick glance around the room located it in the shadows. Excellent. Virg always had tools at hand. He took a second to grab the green length of silicone leather and strung it over the khaki hanging off his torso. An attempt at his brother’s comms gave as much result as he expected it to. Nothing.

The penknife blade made short work of zip-ties and rope and Virgil sagged into his arms, mumbling. His brother was heavy. This was going to be a problem. “C’mon, we gotta get you outta here. Won’t be long before they discover I escaped.” And they were in a dead-end corridor, not exactly a strong defensive position.

“Don’t underestimate my brother. He’s funny, but he’s so much more.”

Gordon ran a hand through his brother’s hair as he lay on his shoulder, taking just a split second to hold him tight.

“In any other circumstances, I’d be lapping this up, but Virgil, we need to get you onto your feet. I’m strong, but not strong enough for your heavy lifting. C’mon, up you get.” Gordon pushed up with his thighs, his brother’s weight on his upper body. Virg, please.

The interrogator on the floor squirmed, wailing something against the wad of the man’s uniform Gordon had shoved in his mouth.

Virgil responded, swaying where he stood. “Gordon is going to come. You’re going to regret it.”

“Yes, yes, help me here, Virgil. I did come. I’m here. It is time to go.”

Virgil continued to mutter his faith in his brother to the world at large as Gordon manhandled him into a position that could enable them to move efficiently as possible.

“Okay, arm over my shoulder, we gotta move!” Virgil’s weight fell on him and Gordon grunted. The muttering continued. “What the hell did they give you?! Some kind of truth serum?”

They stumbled from the room. The guard outside was still out cold. Gordon took the opportunity to grab his firearm before hurrying himself and his delirious brother up the hallway.

Sneaking a look around the corner, he found the coast clear and they made the length of it until they were back to the main corridor. Virgil’s head had fallen limp onto Gordon’s shoulder. Blood was staining the khaki brown as Virgil muttered into the material.

A group of men were striding down the corridor.

Shit.

Gordon dragged himself and Virgil back a little down the hallway, avoiding the door he had already stashed one knocked out guy, he tried another, only to find it locked.

Shit.

Shit.

The voices grew closer. “Um, you’re going to have to be quiet for a bit, we have to sneak past some bad guys.”

Virgil started in his grip, his head wobbling on his neck. “Bad guys want to hurt Gordon. Can’t let them hurt Gordon. Tried to kick their asses, but I’m not like Gordon.” His head lolled. “Or Scott. Couldn’t do it.” His voice faded a moment, only to return much louder and panicked. “Too many. Now they want to hurt Gordon. Can’t let them hurt him. No, no, can’t...”

“Shit, Virgil, shhh!” Gordon dragged him further down the hallway and around the corner they had already escaped from. “Just be quiet for a minute, please.”

Virgil froze and Gordon held his breath, but it was only a moment and Virgil’s panic returned. He appeared to think Gordon was going to be attacked.

Which wasn’t far from the truth, because the men in the corridor had stopped and responded to the noise Virgil was making.

Gordon slammed himself against the wall, his hand clamping over Virgil’s mouth.

It was a mistake.

His brother, forced beyond his limits, took it as a threat and fought back. Gordon lost his grip on Virgil and was flung away just as three men tore around the corner and spotted the both of them.

Virgil collapsed, the dull thunk of his head on the linoleum floor registered briefly before Gordon found himself in a fight for his life.

-o-o-o-

“There were four of them.” A swallow. “Virgil received his second head injury because I had to let him go.”

“He’ll be fine, Gordon. You did what you had to do.” A hand landed on his shoulder.

What he had had to do was fight for himself and his brother.

He got off a shot before the gun was knocked from his hand. After that it was a blur of fists and impacts. He had been so lucky. Only one of the men was armed. He went down with a bullet in his side. Gordon had been aiming for his weapon, but he moved at the last second. Regardless, he didn’t regret it. He hadn’t had time anyway as the other three had piled onto him.

One had half a brain and went for Virgil, face down against the wall. Gordon had been hard put to divert him...into the wall. The snap of bone had been nasty.

But that had left two and he could handle two.

“Remind me to thank Tin for the two-opponent drill she made us run through so many times. It paid off, big.”

The hand was still on his shoulder.

He didn’t object.

-o-o-o-

“Virgil?! You with me? C’mon, bro, please.” If there was desperate pleading in his voice, so be it. His ribs hurt from a blow that had made it through his defences and a shin wouldn’t be forgiving him anytime soon.

And if Virgil didn’t wake up, he would have to throw him over his shoulders and stagger out of this complex best he could. C’mon, Virg.

As if he had heard him the second time, his brother answered, his voice rough. “Gordon?”

Oh, thank god. “Yes. You with me?”

“Knew you would come. Kick their ass.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that.” He sighed. Whatever the hell they had given his brother, it was strong. He grabbed an arm and pulled as gently as possible. “Can you stand?”

Virgil looked up, but Gordon got the distinct impression he couldn’t see, his eyes vague and unfocussed. Hell.

“Don’t mess with my brother, he’ll kick your ass.” And he was back to vaunting Gordon’s defence skills. Gordon had no idea Virgil had such faith in him. It was something he would have to analyse at a later time.

“I’ll take that as a maybe.” Another tug on that arm and Virgil complied, awkwardly pushing himself to his feet. The moment he straightened, his brother’s pallor shifted from grey to green to almost white. He wavered and would have fallen if Gordon hadn’t caught him.

“Shit!” It was rasped out and Virgil’s face clenched shut.

Gordon straightened throwing his brother’s arm over his shoulder. “Sorry, bro, but we gotta move now. You can throw up on my shoes later.” For a moment he thought Virgil was going to puke right then and there, but he must have found some inner strength, because as Gordon guided him down the hall, he kept it together enough to stumble alongside.

Gordon fingered the gun in his hand.

-o-o-o-

It was Scott who broke the moment. His hand dropping from Gordon’s shoulder, he turned back to the two chairs, fingered the decanter and poured two more shots of the whisky.

“Another four. That brings the count to eight.”

Gordon’s glass found his hand and he sipped the drink absently. “Yeah, it does.”

“The total was fifteen.” And Tin appeared at the edge of the balcony, her cat-like stride slinking her through the glass doors. Dressed in shorts and a loose top, she eyed the alcohol in their hands, but did not comment.

Scott stared at her a moment before turning to Gordon with a frown on his face. “Fifteen?”

Gordon shrugged. “Well, I had to get Two back, didn’t I? It’s not like I could leave her there. Virgil would never forgive me.”

Scott’s head tipped slightly to one side. “You know that’s not true.”

He hid behind his tumbler, revelling in the liquid fire it poured down his throat. “I couldn’t leave her there.” Security and technology be damned. She was his brother’s ‘bird.

They couldn’t have her.

-o-o-o-

Virgil was flagging by the time they made it back to the hangar, Gordon virtually carrying his big brother. Words were muttered about Gordon kicking butt, but they were barely coherent. It was the clearer and desperate ‘make it stop’ that wrenched Gordon’s heart out.

“Not much longer, Virgil, I promise.” There was a breathlessness to his voice. Virgil was damned heavy.

He hauled his brother down the last corridor and prayed he didn’t run into anyone else.

A set of doors and he held Virgil with one arm and peered through. It was the hangar, Two sitting there in all her glory. Nearly there, Virgil, nearly there. There was no one in sight, so he slipped himself and his brother through those doors and towards the open module of Thunderbird Two.

An indrawn breath and Virgil attempted to lift his head, eyes searching as if he sensed his girl.

Gordon shuffled his brother over to the side of his ‘bird. The moment they reached the green hull, Virgil reached out and his hand found the cahelium alloy.

An exhale and his brother rested his forehead on the cold metal.

Voices echoed from inside the module. Eyes darting, Gordon took a chance and lowered Virgil to the floor. “Sit here. I’ll be back in a moment.”

His brother curled up beside his ‘bird, his cheek against her green skin, eyes closed and frowning.

A moment. He only needed a moment. Please be safe.

A prayer to the powers that be and Gordon slipped around and through the open module door.

Another three men. All in khaki, all with red criss-cross patches on their arms, pulling apart the mechanics in one of the pod bays.

Virgil would be so pissed. He kept that machinery well-ordered and functioning flawlessly. These assholes had probably screwed up the robotic alignment and it would take half a day to get it back in sync.

Yes, pissed, Virg was going to be so pissed.

He crept along the wall silently, taking advantage of their absorption in their investigation to sneak as close as he could. The moment he was spotted, he charged.

One of them yelled and Gordon swore. That one was the first to go down, the thud of his head hitting cahelium was almost enough to make the aquanaut wince.

Almost.

The other two, less aware and slower in reaction, went down even harder.

One glance at exactly what they had done to the pod robotics had him muttering profanities as he dragged the three bodies hurriedly out the door, flinging them onto the hangar floor out of range of where he fully intended to taxi the giant cargo plane.

Returning to Virgil, he found his brother reaching out blindly calling his name.

Aw, hell.

“It’s okay. I’m here.” He grabbed Virgil’s wavering hands. “We’re okay, but we need to be fast.” A heave and his brother’s arm was around his shoulders again and he dragged him into Two’s module.

Virgil’s collapsed against him, his legs folding as if finally aboard his girl, he had nothing left.

Shit.

Gordon staggered and nearly fell. With some effort he was able to lug Virgil over to the wall and lay him gently down, rolling him into the recovery position. Hell, Virg, don’t do this. A very quick vitals assessment, and his brother appeared stable, but considering the unknown substance in his system, Gordon wasn’t game to trust anything.

But first things first.

He hurried to the module remote and pulled up a ship’s status screen. A quick scan for life signs and he found two in the cockpit.

Damn.

Of course, this was when he wished Virgil was both awake and in his right mind, because the engineer could make his lady dance and do whatever he wanted her to do.

But he wasn’t. Work with what you have. A Scott Tracy motto which meant it was likely a Jeff Tracy motto, too.

And what he did have was access to the security system.

Punching in his co-pilot’s code, he brought up the anaesthetic gas defence network and hit the button to flood the cockpit. An extra flick of a finger secured all the exits to that space.

A count to ten and he closed the module door. Another flick and TB2 lowered her body and drew the module up to dock.

He had to move fast.

Raiding the module’s supplies, he dug up a gas mask and with a quick check on Virgil made his way to the cockpit. Another code to unlock the door and, ready to take on whatever he encountered, he leapt through.

He needn’t have worried. A man and a woman were out cold on the deck plates.

Gordon hurried over to the pilot’s seat and activated the security system that electrified the skin of the ‘bird.

Now no-one could get in, he could breathe a moment.

Pumps began cycling out the gas and clearing the air. Gordon took that moment to dig up some zip-ties and secure the couple. He dragged them to a supply closet, stripped the tiny room of anything that could aid them - Virgil was likely to be pissed at that, too, he kept his supplies in neurotic order and now they were scattered all over the corridor - and stashed them in there for safe keeping.

Then he ran to get his brother.

He didn’t want Virgil out of his sight. In his condition, he needed monitoring.

His brother was exactly where he left him. Blood still sluggishly dripped from his head wound and Gordon was harshly reminded of the steel bar responsible.

With Virgil out cold, Gordon hauled his brother up as carefully as possible, walked him the short distance to his own cockpit and gently placed him in his pilot’s seat. Harness secured, Gordon took his own co-pilot seat and started a very hurried pre-flight.

Someone outside started yelling, but Gordon shut it out as he initialised Two’s engines and her familiar whine began to build.

The hangar door remained an obstacle, but his brother’s ‘bird had a laser for a reason.

“Two.” It was slurred and rough, but it was Virgil.

A glance in his brother’s direction found him still slouched in his seat, head lolling, eyes still closed.

“Yeah, Virg, we’re on your ‘bird. Hang tight because I’m afraid I might have to scratch her paintwork.”

“You wouldn’t do that. We only joke about it.” Slurred, but clearer.

“Well, I’m not in a joking mood right now.” And he fired the laser, Two’s targeting computer slicing a Thunderbird-sized hole in the steel door.

“What are you doing?” Virgil’s eyes were open, but still glazed.

“Cutting our way out of here.”

“Where?”

“They stole your ‘bird, Virg. Remember?” The moment he said it, he knew it was a mistake. Virgil’s response was to start an anxious muttering about Gordon getting hurt, he had to protect Gordon.

“It’s okay, we’re escaping. Another five seconds.” Literally, the laser was nearly finished. “Hang in there, Virgil.”

The muttering got louder. A mix of faith in Gordon and terror for his safety. Virgil’s voice was slurred and random and he needed a hospital as soon as humanly possible.

Two roared as Gordon engaged VTOL, the whole ship lifting off the hangar floor. Ship’s sensors tracked their intended flight path, and with no little amount of vengeance, Gordon engaged her rear thrusters, likely torching whatever was behind the Thunderbird, and pushed her through the hangar doors with a godawful crash.

-o-o-o-

“Virgil lost consciousness again not long after that. I got in contact with John and we flew to Wellington. You know the rest.” Those moments with Virgil limp beside him had lasted forever.

The hand on his shoulder returned. “You did good, Gordon.”

“Yes, he did.”

The familiar voice was calm and quiet and ever so controlled, but it made all three of them start in surprise.

“Mister Gordon, it is good to know you’ve kept up your training.”

Tin was glaring and Scott smirking. Gordon found himself lining up with his big brother, his lips curling into a grin.

“Hey, Kyrano.”

-o-o-o-

End Part Two

[detectivejigsawpines]

The Barber of Gopher Road

Or, Stan finds his potential calling.

Here’s something funny and wholesome to (hopefully) make up for the emotional roller coaster the last two stories in this AU has put you through.

The front door opened, and Ford stomped in, carrying an empty satchel and grumbling to himself.

Stan, who was looking in the bathroom mirror and wondering if his ears had always been this big (getting a haircut recently seemed to have really made them stick out), peered out and saw him looking like a storm cloud with glasses.

“No luck?” he asked, turning off the bathroom light and going into the main room after his brother.

Ford dumped the satchel on the giant toe coffee table and flopped into one of the chairs which had been set up on either side of it.

“Mutter mutter unicorn mutter mutter mutter pure of heart mutter,” he replied.

Stan took a moment to process that.  “I’m gonna take that as a no.”

“The dumb unicorn said that I wasn’t pure enough of heart, okay?” Ford snapped.

“Pure of heart?  What does that even mean?”

Ford gave an irritable shrug, looking more like a sulky toddler than his usual semi-dignified self.

“Sounds kinda hinky,” Stan said, frowning.  “Cuz if that’s supposed to mean someone who’s never done anything wrong, that’s impossible.  Nobody’s ever been pure of heart unless you believe in Jesus and the Dalai Lama and stuff.”

“Stanley, the Dalai Lama is a real person.”

Stan was no longer listening, because the wheels of his brain were busy turning.  Absentmindedly he began pacing back and forth, in a way that was quite like his brother except that he was rubbing the back of his neck, brushing over the spot that used to be covered by his hair.

His hair…

Suddenly, eyes bright with an idea, Stan snatched up the satchel.  Then he headed for the kitchen and dug around in the drawer they used for miscellaneous items (which was always sticking because neither of them could remember to make sure the items were laid in properly) until he pulled out a pair of good sharp scissors.

“What are you doing?!” Ford demanded, chasing after him.

“Watch me, Sixer.  I’m gonna get you that unicorn hair.”

Ford let out an incredulous scoff.  “You? If I am not pure of heart by her standards, then you are definitely not-”

“See ya later.”

And Stan snatched the journal that contained the incantation to open the entry to the unicorn glen, and was out the door.

********

After a stop in town to pick up some extra supplies at the convenience store, Stan headed into the forest.  The glen was easily found and opened, even though he felt a little stupid reading the chant aloud. But at least it worked-even if it meant being nearly blinded by the horrendous rainbow light when he opened the giant golden doors.

It looks like a six-year-old girl’s backpack threw up all over this place, he thought, taking in the trees, the waterfall above the limpid pool, and above all, the unicorn posing curled up on a rock in front of the random rainbow which was hanging in the air for no apparent reason.

“You again!” the unicorn exclaimed when she saw him, leaping to her dainty hooves and stamping one of them in agitation.  “I told you, you are not pure of heart-!”

“You got the wrong guy, sister,” Stan said, putting his hands in his pockets.  “I’m his brother, Stan. Nice ta meet ya.”

The unicorn blinked her enormous purple eyes in bewilderment.  “Amazing!  I’ve never seen two humans who looked so much alike!”

Stan snorted.  “Eh, personally I think I’m the handsome one.  Anywho, I wanted ta see you for myself, and-”

“Only a human who is pure of heart may have some of my hair!”   The unicorn stamped her hoof again, and flared her nostrils in a dainty snort.

Stan barely refrained from rolling his eyes.  “Yeah, well, I’m probably not gonna make the grade, but feel free ta check.”

The unicorn, Celesta-whatever (Ford had mentioned hearing her name from the gnomes, but Stan had already forgotten the full thing), looked confused for a moment, but then jabbed her horn into his chest.

Stan resisted his next impulse, to smack away the sharp object being jabbed at him.

She’s not using it as a weapon, he reminded himself.  Be cool.

Sure enough, after the heart shape appeared for a few seconds, Celesta-thingy reared her head back.

“Yooooouuuuu are not pure of heeeeaaaaart!!!!!!” she wailed.  “And you didn’t take off your shoes when you came in!  You must leeeeeaaaaave!!!!!!!”

This time Stan was unable to resist rolling his eyes a tiny bit.  But he shrugged, and hoisted the bag higher up on his shoulder.

“Okay, fine by me.  If you wanna loaf around with your hair looking like that, what do I care?”

And he turned on his heel.

“WHAT WAS THAT?!”

Stan glanced over his shoulder, and hid a smirk at the look of shocked outrage on the unicorn’s face.

“Nothing, nothing.  Have a nice day.” He turned back around and headed for the exit-

Seconds later Celesta-whosit was in his path, teeth actually bared.  “What did you say about my hair?!  How dare you! My hair is beautiful and perfect!”

Stan chewed his lip, and did an indifferent shrug.  “Okay, if you say so.”

“What?” she demanded.  “Tell me what you’re implying this instant!”

“Oh, you don’t wanna-”

“TELL ME!”

Stan sighed in fake reluctance.  “Well, if you insist…” He took a deep breath.  “It’s just...your hair is completely last year’s style, okay?  I mean, have you looked at it recently?” He strode around her in a circle, plucking at it with the tips of his fingers and making disapproving noises.  “You’re behind the times, letting it grow all long like that-I’m surprised you haven’t been laughed out of the forest! And don’t even get me started on those awful split ends.”

“I do NOT have split ends!”   But now there was a waver of uncertainty in her not-so-angelic voice.

Stan shrugged, coming back to face her.  “Whatever you say, lady. All I’m saying is, give me fifteen minutes and I could fix you up real nice, make it so you could actually show your face outside.  But you obviously don’t want anyone touching your hair, so just don’t worry about it. See ya around-”

Seconds later he was being shoved bodily into the center of the glen, until he landed on his rear on a large rock (ow).  Then the unicorn draped herself in front of him, tossing her rainbow-colored locks until they were facing him.

Stan tried not to grin.

****

It was surprisingly relaxing, cutting the unicorn’s hair.  He hadn’t had much experience, but he did his best to keep it even, stuffing the chopped-off parts into the satchel.  He was almost done, when two more unicorns stepped into the glen from the other side of the pool.

“Hey, C-beth, you busy?  We were wondering-WHAT THE HECK?!”

Both of them stopped, jaws dropping practically to the ground.

Celesta-whatsit raised her head, the tip of her horn glowing.  “Oh, hi, guys!  This wonderful human is giving me a haircut to help me keep up with the times!”

Stan raised the hand not holding the scissors and waved to them.  “How’s it hanging?”

And she’s not the last of her kind either.  These guys really are a bunch of lying jerks.

The pink one daintily stepped forward, head tilted in bewilderment.  “Keep up with the times?  What are you talking about?”

Stan trimmed the last piece, and cleaned off his scissors on his sleeve.  Maybe it would be best to grab the satchel and run with it...but suddenly he wanted to know if this would work.  “You guys really don’t get out much, do you? If you did you wouldn’t even have to ask.” He patted C-beth’s hide.  “Go on and take a look.”

The unicorn got to her hooves, and stepped over to the pool, where she peered in-and gasped.

Stan had turned her mane into a bob which stopped just at the base of her neck, and curled at the ends, so she suddenly bore an odd resemblance to some pictures of his grandma that his mother had shown them once.  It was a little ragged, and he hadn’t quite gotten it to look like the picture in one of the hairdo magazines he’d brought, but on the whole it was better than he’d worried it would turn out.

C-beth tossed her mane back and forth, eyes wide.

“I-it’s been so long since it’s felt this light,” she marvelled.  “I’m not sure how I feel about it…”

“Can you do my hair too?” the turquoise unicorn suddenly asked, bounding over to Stan.

“Yeah, me too!” cried the pink one.  “Cut my hair-I’ve had this same stupid ‘do since I was a foal!  Do you think you can do layers?”

“Man, we gotta tell the girls at the hooficure place!”

“We’ll pay you!”

Before Stan’s eyes, they briefly turned into wallets with hooves.

****

A few hours later, Ford stared at Stan, jaw dropped, as he emptied out a bag filled with rainbow colors.

“And I think I can probably get more if I go back tomorrow-they said they were gonna tell their friends, and they’ll want to keep up with the new ‘style’ too.  I’m gonna need some practice with haircuts, but maybe I can learn how ta do head massages or something too. And look!” He grabbed the enormous treasure chest he’d been given by the gushing unicorns, and pushed it open with his foot.  “We finally have treasure!”

Well, technically it had been him.  But still. Ford was the one who had found the unicorns in the first place, so he was kind of involved.

“...You tricked the unicorns into giving up their hair?” Ford asked in a tone of strangled disbelief.  “And they paid you for it?”

Stan grinned, and shrugged.  “Guess being a liar and a cheater works for me after all.  So, what’re you gonna do with this stuff?”

Ford still looked a little shell-shocked.  “Well, I-I need to study what sort of magical properties all of this has.  I’ve read all sorts of stories, but I don’t know how much is fact and how much is fiction yet.”

“Heh, you could probably use some of this to knit a sweater.”  Stan didn’t know why, but as soon as he said that it felt...oddly appropriate.

Ford snorted as he gathered up some of the hair and rushed off to the lab.

****

Word gets around the forest fast-soon enough other magical creatures show up wanting Stan to cut their hair for them. Fairies, wood nymphs, merfolk, even manotaurs who want to go with a buzz cut or something. Stan worries a little bit about how 'manly' of a job being a hairdresser is, but it works until or unless he can find one in the human world. And in the meantime, it keeps Ford happy by giving him plenty of samples to study, so win-win.

[ecto-american]

October Nights C4

Ectober fanfiction || Day One | Day Two | Day Three || On AO3

Summary: Danny may have died, but he is certainly not gone. And he refuses to be forgotten.

Day 4: Artifact & Nursery Rhyme

She knew that she would not sleep a wink that entire night the moment she had somewhat accepted the ghostly presence. What choice did she have when Tucker wasn’t answering her frantic, desperate calls or texts, and she couldn’t bring herself to contact Jazz. Let her see her brother in such a way.

Even when she refused to watch him watch her, she knew that he never gave up. That he was creeping around her room, keeping an eye on her. Sam was able to occasionally repress the anxiety from being constantly observed, letting her eyes rest and her mind settle, they’d both snap to attention to hear him walking around in her room. It was almost as if to psych her out, as he normally floated around her, hovering over her literally. Despite knowing that by now, he absolutely did not need to breathe anymore, he seemed to insist on doing so heavily.

While he didn’t touch her again, thank god for the beautifully crafted artifact that was the specter deflector, he certainly pushed so many boundaries. Twice Sam woke up from a shallow sleep because that gut fear of being watched was so overwhelming that she had to look. Her eyes would see only him, floating as close to her as he could without being shocked. Red eyes staring right into her purple ones, always blank and void of anything. The lack of something almost scared her more than having something malicious. He was a hollow shell of the boy she loved so much before.

Sam just needed to get through the night until she could meet up with Tucker again. Of all the times for Tucker to ghost himself from social media and to be unreachable. However not unusual of him ever since…

She just had to get through this night. She could survive the night. She had to. Sam had been through worse and battled worse, and all she had to do was survive the night. This she’d repeat to herself over and over, but the more she had to say it, the more doomed she felt.

The worst part came at the stroke of midnight, the witching hour. She, of course, couldn’t sleep. Not when she knew that he was staring at the back of her head as she laid facing away from him on her side. From an earlier creaking and shifting on fabric, she knew that he had made himself comfortable on Danny’s favorite armchair. The armchair that he’d always claim whenever they hung out at her house. Sam focused on staring at her bedside alarm clock as it informed her of the hour.

“Sammy?” his voice came in a whisper from the darkness behind her, and she shivered in disgust. “Are you awake?”

Sam was hesitant to answer. Part of her told her that she should respond. Otherwise he may get angry, and he’d lash out. Her Danny would never but this...this definitely wasn’t Danny. And he had already proved earlier that he wasn’t afraid to lunge at her. With what intentions? She could only guess, but that look in his eyes made her sure that it wasn’t good. But overall, she knew that continuing to feed into his actions, responding to what he said or what he did would only encourage it’s hauntings, make it more determined to be near her.

The figure shifted, and she knew he stood up as the floor creaked. He took steps towards her, and the bed dipped. Her eyes teared up with fear as she shifted to scoot closer to the edge of the bed. She could feel the distinct dip of him crawling on the covers over to her.

Like before, he was getting as close as he could without touching her. She refused to let herself shake, despite feeling his cold aura the closer he got, the more he leaned in. His heavy breathing was soon right in her ear, and out of the corner of her eyes, she could see a red eye staring right into her, white hair hanging over and into her direct line of vision.

“Sammy?” it repeated itself in a breathy tone. “Are you awake?” She swallowed hard.

“...Yes…” she finally answered. She was worried about what he’d do if he saw her clearly still awake but refusing to respond. Sam could feel his grin. His hand hovered over her, making the motions he would if he could stroke her hair. Thankfully her belt was keeping him at a cautious distance, and so he settled for the odd gesturing less than a half a foot away.

“There’s no need to be afraid, Sammy,” he spoke softly. She could feel him shift behind her to fully lean over her using his ghostly floating to literally half-hover over her. She took a deep, shuddering breath to try and collect her nerves as she could see fully over her. Casting a shadow and causing her vision to be full of his white hair and light blue skin. “I’ll keep all the ghosts away. Please...sleep. You have school tomorrow.”

Sam was absolutely exhausted, and her lower lip quivered. Indeed, she had school tomorrow. But how could she, how could any one, sleep when being watched so intensely. He was who she was afraid of. How could she get him to just go away.

“...I’m trying,” she said slowly, and her mind struggled to find something that would convince him. “But you’re really distracting. You should go home.” Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see him glaring.

“I am home,” he insisted. Sam pulled her covers over her shoulders, sinking into them more. “You’re my home. My moonlight…”

“To the Ghost Zone,” Sam said sharply. “You can’t stay here.” The ghost’s upper lip snarled back, and she froze upon seeing the fangs his ghostly form had acquired. He looked absolutely insulted, and she could see him shake violently before he seemed to snap from it. He blinked before staring at her.

“I won’t leave you,” he replied. Sam’s grip on the covers tightened. She began to fear that the anti-ghost artifact, the only thing keeping him from dragging her off into the night, would power down or break during the night.

“Then back up. You’re crowding me, I can’t sleep.”

The figure frowned, but he did as he was requested, reluctantly floating up towards the ceiling. Sam felt the smallest of relief as he pinned himself against the ceiling. Sure, he looked like a sleep paralysis demon the way he clung to it, never breaking his gaze, but least that put him about six feet away from her.

Sam turned onto her other side, finally feeling comfortable staring at the old armchair. Her eyelids drooped, and she softly exhaled. Disturbingly, she was already becoming used to him watching. Her room fell into false peace. The rain was still going, but the rhyme was a comfort. The thunder no longer was roaring, and the power had returned hours ago, but the goth always slept in complete darkness.

“Do you need help?” his voice broke the silence. Sam didn’t reply. “Falling asleep?” Sam said nothing, and she heard a humming from him.

The hum was a tune she knew, but didn’t quite recognize. It was eerie, his deep ghostly graveled voice making what she could at least tell was a childhood tune into a disturbed echo that filled her room. Sam pulled the blanket over her head, trying to block out the noise. But it only got worse.

“Ring-around the rosies, a pocket full of posies,” the melody hauntingly began to come out. Sam shivered under the covers. “Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.” And he didn’t stop there, instead continuing the nursery rhyme. “The king has sent his daughter; to fetch a pail of water. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.” She took a deep breath. She just had to last until the morning, until she could meet with Tucker. “The robin on the steeple; is singing to the people. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.”

She threw her covers back, sitting up and staring at him. He stopped, staring back at her. Sam narrowed her eyes tiredly, shooting him a dirty look.

“What are you doing?” Exhaustion fueled her newfound anger. His head cocked in confusion.

“Singing you to sleep,” he replied, as if it was obvious. Sam huffed.

“It’s not helping,” she snapped, and she rubbed her eyes. She had to go to school tomorrow. When she looked to him once more, he was frowning.

“Sammy,” his voice took on a snappy tone back to her. “Why are you so upset with me? I’m just trying to help, Moony.” Hearing him call her that, Danny’s nickname for her, visibly made her sour up in disgust.

“You’re not Danny,” she told him. She put her hand over the glowing center of the artifact keeping her safe, looking coldly at him. His frown deepened as his glare turned icy as well. “You’re not him. You’re Danny Phantom, but you’re not, you’re just not Danny Fenton.”

“I am,” he hissed. She heard the ceiling crack as the ghost dug glowing fingers into it. Her heart sank. He couldn’t touch her. But he could certainly still attack her from a distance. Fear bubbled once more in her chest. “I am Danny Fenton, I am your boyfriend who loves you more than anything, and I will never let anything happen to you.” It was not the loving comforting promise he’d tell her softly whenever he hung out at her window in the late hour. It was absolutely a threat.

“No, you aren’t.” Sam summoned any courage that she could find. Her grandma used to say that boldly declaring that they weren’t welcome would often ward off spirits. Sam bit her lip. It was...worth a shot. “You aren’t welcome here. You’re not my Danny, and I want you to leave.”

His eyes snapped wide, and an angry snarl exposed so many sharp teeth that were lit up subtly by the red glow. He opened his mouth, and he screamed.

Sam curled up on her side, slapping her hands over her ears as she began to cry again. The voice shook the room, his ghostly wail causing that horrible echo to crack as he screamed in an agonizing anger. His pitch unsteadily would rise to a shriek before dropping to nearly a growl. It felt like it would never end.

It did, and her ears rang by the time she finally let go of her ears. The figure was breathing heavily, his chest heaving as he glared at her. His fingers were still glowing and dug into the ceiling.

To her horror, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Slowly, but steadily, and a frantic voice calling for her.

“Sam! Sam, what’s going on!?” her grandma called out. Sam froze in fear. Oh no. Oh no, she couldn’t let her grandma get involved in this. She could barely walk.

Enough was fucking enough. Sam met her stalker’s eyes, and his anger dropped in surprise upon seeing how pissed she had become. The teen flung herself towards her nightstand, for her blaster, and she picked it up. Aiming it for him, she began to rapid fire shots at him. His eyes grew wide, and to her horror, instead of flying, he opted to crawl along her ceiling to dodge.

“GET OUT!” she screamed. She didn’t bother pausing, continuing to blast at him. The figure crawled along the ceiling quickly towards her window, that haunting low chatter emitting from him before he finally phased through the window and left.

Sam dropped her weapon, bursting into a loud crying. He left, but she knew he wasn’t gone. A glance at the ceiling saw his crawl pattern to the window, the ghost having left ghost ray burns in his path. As well as her blasting pattern.

“Sam!” her grandma opened the door, and Sam felt horrible. She looked so frazzled as she turned the light on. Sam scrambled out of bed to rush for her, pulling her into a tight hug. “Oh Sam, are you okay? What on Earth was that?”

Sam couldn’t answer. She could only cry.

[dancingkirby]

So I heard that y’all were asking for more Bopal fics

And I decided to write one!  This is a missing scene from Part 2 of the epilogue of my fic “Into Open Waters.”  Brief recap: Bolin and Opal are in a polyamorous relationship with Eska in which they’re all married to each other, Opal had just given birth from Eska’s PoV, and then Eska had to leave the room briefly because it brought up traumatic memories for her.  This is what happened while Eska was out of the room.

WARNING: Mild gore; i.e. normal postpartum stuff.

Bolin, Opal, and Suyin all looked up at the sound of the door closing, and glanced over to see that Eska’s spot on the bed to Opal’s left was now vacated.  Suyin’s nostrils flared.

“If she thinks that she can just up and leave without so much as saying anything…” she began.

“Mom.  She can,” Opal interjected.  “She was here for hours on end, with all the noise and talking, and she obviously needed to go cool down.”

“Should I go check on her?” Bolin asked.  “Make sure she’s okay?”

“I’d recommend giving it a while.  She needs her quiet time,” Opal answered.  Having settled the matter, the two of them turned their attention back to San, whose initial lung-filling wails had quieted down to grumbling as An the midwife loosely wrapped him in a towel.  

“He’s beautiful,” Bolin murmured.  He knew that he’d already said that, but there wasn’t anything wrong with saying it multiple times, right?  “And so are you.” 

 The front part of his wife’s hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat, the back part was sticking out every which way, and her eyes had dark circles under them.  Bolin thought that it was possibly the most wonderful thing he had ever seen.

At that moment, An cleared her throat and said, “Well, it’s time to cut the cord.  Dad, would you like to do the honors?”

Bolin thought at first that the midwife was talking about her own father, and he looked all over the room for a really, really old guy.  It was only when Suyin prompted him by saying his name that he realized: Oh yeah.  He was the dad.  Of course, he’d known that already since this wasn’t even his first kid, but Kinalik preferred to call him by his given name and he had a tendency to let her. Thus, someone actually addressing him as “Dad” was a bit jarring.

“Uh…sure,” he finally replied.  An put the clamps on and showed him where to cut, and he got through the whole thing on his very first try.  Everyone applauded politely.  Shortly thereafter, An pressed on Opal’s stomach with one hand while pulling on the severed cord with the other, and…

“Did her guts just fall out?” Bolin cried, painfully aware that his voice had gotten higher and higher until it was a nearly inaudible squeak by the end of the sentence.

“That’s the afterbirth, Bolin,” Suyin explained like this should be perfectly obvious to anyone. “It’s supposed to come out. In fact, it’s a very bad thing if it doesn’t.”

“Oh,” Bolin mumbled, looking down at his shoes.  

“Mom,” Opal warned again, her voice nearly a growl this time.  Even Suyin looked surprised, and was briefly at a loss for words.

“She’s right,” the older woman conceded when she found her voice again.  “I shouldn’t have used that tone with you.  I’m sorry.”

That was his Opal, all right: normally patient and gentle and introverted, yet terrifying when that patience ran out.  Bolin squeezed her hand in gratitude.  However, his heart plummeted again when Opal’s teeth started chattering despite the room being well-heated.

“Oh, honey, you’re getting chills.  Why didn’t you say that you were cold?” Suyin said quickly.  She did not have to tell Bolin what to do next; he had already grabbed a blanket from the stack near the bed.  Opal’s mother gave him a nod of thanks, and told him, “Be sure to wrap that nice and snugly…and around San, too.”

Meanwhile, An was examining that big, red, angry…thing… and confirmed that it had all come out in one piece.  Then she stepped into the smaller room off the main one that was strictly off-limits to non-employees of this birthing center, and returned bearing several small, pointy instruments.  Opal groaned in dismay.

“She doesn’t like needles,” Bolin explained as he and Suyin finished tucking the blanket corners in.

“I’m sorry.  She has a tear that needs repairing,” An said briskly.  And, to Opal, “You don’t have to worry.  It looks to be fairly uncomplicated as far as these things go, and should be able to be fixed in a few minutes.  And I will give you a shot that will numb the area.  You might not feel anything whatsoever if you’re focused enough on your baby.  Just be sure to hold still.”

Opal had to hold on tight to Bolin’s hand, and although she yelped a bit during the shot, the numbing medicine appeared to do the trick. Suyin had moved towards the back of the room to give An some space (was it wrong that he felt a little relieved?), so Bolin decided that he would help distract Opal in the way that he knew best: talking about the first things that came to his mind.

“I want to buy you something,” he said in a rush.  “Anything you want.  Even if it’s the most expensive necklace at the most expensive jewelry store in Republic City.  Or…or…that humongous toy stuffed armadillo bear that you thought looked cute while we were shopping for stuff for San’s room.  Or…”

He was cut off by Opal placing a finger against his mouth.

“You don’t have to buy me anything,” she said with a confused look on her face.  “Why would you think that?”

It was a good question.  Bolin had always had trouble putting his feelings into words, especially when they were all jumbled into a huge knot like this.  Thinking very hard, he started, “Well, you went through all that, and I feel bad that I have nothing to give you in return.  And I guess…”–he finally had his epiphany mid-sentence– “It doesn’t seem fair that I only did the one part at the beginning, and you had to do all the hard work.  And then you were in labor for I don’t know how long, and then you got hurt while doing it, and, and…I just love you so much.  Him too, of course.”

He kissed each in turn, before adding, “I think I’m starting to cry again,” as he once again rubbed at his damp eyes with his equally damp sleeve.

“You’re sweet,” Opal replied, looking a bit teary-eyed herself.  “But you don’t have to worry about me.  I decided to have your baby because I wanted to; I didn’t feel any kind of obligation.  And it’s true that the labor was more difficult than I was expecting, but I knew going in that it wasn’t all going to be a walk in the park.  Besides, I enjoyed being pregnant overall…and there were perks.”  At Bolin’s confused silence, Opal leaned over and clarified in a whisper, “The sex was great, with both you and Eska.”

“Oh,” was all Bolin could come up with in response.  Most other times, he would have preened over the praise, but his brain was fried from staying up all night.

“If you still really want to buy me something…I could always use more books.  Eska can help you find some if you want.  Just…don’t go overboard,” Opal said.

“Is ten going overboard?”

Opal gave a drowsy smile.  “Ten would be great.”  

She looked like she was on the verge of drifting off, needle and all, so Bolin simply held her in silence until An announced, “Done!  See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?  Now let’s get mom and baby all clean and bundled up, shall we?”

And so An measured, cleaned, and swaddled San, while Suyin helped Opal into her nightgown and bathrobe and redid the blanket.  Then, at long last, Bolin got to hold his son.  It was exhilarating and nerve-wracking all at the same time.  Bolin had never held a newborn infant before, and although San was a sizable baby, he was still so fragile.

“Uh…question. How do I not drop him?” Bolin asked.

Suyin, not looking concerned in the slightest, replied, “Just keep supporting his head and bottom, and everything should be fine.”  

And it was.  But now what was he supposed to do? He thought about this, and after several seconds recalled from one of Opal’s classes that it was important to talk to babies so they could start building up their language skills for later.

“So…uh…hi.  I’m your dad,” he began; it was still weird to say it.  “And over there are your mom and grandma.  And you’re San, obviously.”

Opal giggled a bit. Bolin looked over, worried that he messed it up, but she assured him, “Keep going.  You’re going great.”

“Right.  So of course, there’s Eska too.  She’s going to be like a second mom to you, and to be honest she’s the only one of us who knows what she’s doing. And Ki’s back at the house.  She can’t wait to meet you; it’s pretty much been all she’s talked about for the past two months!  And there’s also Baatar Senior and Baatar Junior and Huan and Wing and Wei.   You’ll meet Mako and Grandma Yin and all the rest on my side of the family in a couple months when we get back to Republic City.”

San peered up at him somberly; he had completely quieted down by now.

“Oh, and you’ll get to see Korra and Asami too; they have this awesome pool, and Asami saved all her toys from when she was a kid.  And you’ll probably be going to Air Temple Island a lot.  And, in a couple years, you can come to the pro-bending arena and hear me commentating some games…”

He broke off because San was starting to fuss again.

“Already decided you don’t like pro-bending, huh?” Bolin mused.  He looked up and asked, “No, seriously, did I do something wrong?”

“I think it’s more likely that he’s ready to try to nurse,” An replied.  “If you would…”

“Hm?  Oh, yeah, here you are.”  Bolin handed San back to the midwife, who gave him back to Opal in turn. As they started the process of assisting San with latching on, Bolin began to feel like this was a special moment between only Opal and her baby, and didn’t want to intrude.

“Should I see how Eska’s doing?” he asked.  “Or did you want me to stay here longer?”

“Go on ahead,” Opal said, wincing slightly as San apparently found his target.  Bolin felt a little anxious, and his face must have showed it, since she added, “I’m fine.  It just takes a little getting used to.”

“Okay then.  I’ll be back soon.  Hopefully with Eska.”

Bolin hoped that he wouldn’t have to walk all around the building to retrieve her.  To his relief, as he cautiously opened the door a bit to look out, he saw that their wife was sitting only a few doors down the hallway.  She looked up at the noise of the hinges, and he was further happy to see no evidence that she had been in crying or otherwise in major distress.

“Hey,” he said to her, “What’s up?”

[selfships-in-spanish]

Man i could only imagine how quickly the mafia boys would come to Onas aid, someone brakes into her home and steal lot of shit n leaves her in a jam? The boys instantly go kill the man and then make sure their girl lives comfortably. Someone begins to harass her at work or somethin? they make sure the person regrets even being alive. Man i love them

Connor’s phone vibrating on his nightstand wakes him from his deep slumber. He lifts his head from the pillow, hair mussed in all directions, and looks at if as if it personally offended him. It kinda did, he was having a rather nice dream involving sweet smiles, soft curly white hair, and the voice of an angel saying sweet nothings to his ear.

Groaning he picked it up from the nightstand and blinked to see the caller ID.

Ona Boix 

Oh.

OH.

He answered at the speed of light, his sleep deprived brain cells waking up instantly.

“This is Connor.”

He heard sobbing noises on the other side of the line, heavy breaths in between.

“Connor? Connor--” a strong wail came out after. More crying.

“Fuck! Fuck, Ona where are you? Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he spurred in action, almost kicking down his brother’s door. 

Richard woke up with a knife on his hand, ready to murder the intruder. But he saw his brother and his worried expression, phone glued to his ear, and dropped it. He heard whimpering noises coming from the device.

“Okay, okay breathe. I’m with Richard, we are coming okay? We are on our way.” Richard heard more distressed noises, making out a please somewhere in the middle. He recognised that voice and he did not like that at all. “We are coming to you, okay?” Richard heard more affirmative noises and the call ended.

He asked no questions, not yet. Richard threw over his head the first t-shirt he found and some pants, looking for his socks and shoes. Connor ran back to his room to get dressed too, leaving the door between their rooms open. Once dressed and hair semi decent, they ran to the garage. As soon as Connor closed the door, Richard made the engine roar and speed up to Ona’s place. It was late, not much traffic, and honestly? Right now they didn’t give a single fuck about getting a speeding ticket. Something happened to Ona, that was a top tier priority.

Richard came to a screeching halt, parking just right in front of Ona’s apartment building. Closing the car, they both looked up to Ona’s windows, seeing the light on. Richard shouldered the front door open and Connor passed through it, racing up the stairs to her floor. Once there his heart stopped.

The door was broken, and from what he could see, the whole apartment was upside down. He came in, worry chilling his guts.

“Ona?” he called out, cautiously. He heard a sob and ran to it without thinking it twice. He found her curled on the floor at the feet of her bed. Her eyes were swollen and red from crying, tear tracks visible on her cheeks, being refreshed again and again. That sent him a pang through his entire body. He never wanted to see Ona like this ever again.

Connor knelt next to her, gently caressing her face and kissing her head as he coaxed her into his arms. He looked around the bedroom, seeing all the drawers and closets open and their insides spilled on the floor. Richard found them and knelt on the other side of Ona, touching her shoulder.

“Are you hurt?” 

“N-No, no I’m okay.” she sniffled, taking her wet face from Connor’s chest to look at Richard. “I just-- I came home, and, and found the door broken and open and-- “another sob, ”it’s gone, my things are gone, my TV, my switch, my belongings, even my grandma’s necklace-- “more heavy breathing,” I went to visit my parents for the weekend and when I came home tonight I saw this and I panicked, because, because I don’t have much and now it’s gone and I don’t know what to do. I won’t ever have anything back and-- joder!” she buried her face in her hands, another wave of crying taking over her.

The brothers looked at each other and nodded. Connor stood up, phone in hand. Richard took Ona to his arms and made her sit on her bed while he let her cry herself out, softly kissing the crown of her head.

“We will see what we can do, okay? But for now I need you to stay here with me and help me pack, just for a couple of days, alright?

“W-what?”

“C’mon, we are going to take you somewhere safe. Connor and I will take care of this.” He gently coaxed her to stand up and rummage around the thrown pieces of fabric. They found a suitcase on the other side of the room and opened it on top of the bed. They filled it with what Ona could salvage and closed it. He took the bag she used for the weekend and deposited next to the closed suitcase.

Connor was on living room talking to the phone. He was already moving strings to find out who was the fucker who did this. They were going to pay dearly for it. The house was a mess, they took their sweet time taking it apart and stealing everything of worth. They knew Ona didn’t make that much, that this was a small place and she really didn’t have much of an option, but it infuriated them anyways.

Richard and Ona came to the living room just as Connor was ending his phone call, having a lead. Ona looked around with a heavy heart, not wanting to think how was she going to get back on her feet after this. Maybe she could ask for extra hours, filling for someone who wanted some early vacation days, or she could ask for an early payment, or-- Gods, what would she do now?

Connor took her out of her dark thoughts by gently taking her hands.

“Let’s go. We will sort this in the morning, okay? Now you need to rest, we will take care of it”

“Please I don’t want to be a burden. I can go back to my parents for a while, I’m sure they won’t mind.”

Richard took the suitcase and her back from her hands, already marching down the stairs to the car, ignoring Ona’s protests. Connor made her step out of her ruined apartment and closed the door, making her march down the stairs with his arm securely holding her close to him. Once on the street, Richard was already waiting for them with the door open and the engine on, a worried expression on his face. Connor got her in and kissed her hand as he went to the copilot’s seat. Richard drove back to the mansion in absolute silence. Connor fiddled with the radio, asking Ona if she wanted something in particular. She shrugged her shoulders, settling for whatever they preferred. The radio put on an old song, surely Father would know it by name and year.

Ona did have half a mind to look around and be completely taken aback. It was huge, well cared for and it yelled money everywhere she looked. She felt out of place. 

They took her inside, the maids already prepared a room for her next to the brothers. Her suitcase and bag were already there, the clothes gone from them and a note that they took it to the laundry room. Oh. There was a very beautiful and expensive-looking pajama waiting for her on the bed, slippers on the floor. The brothers left her to get changed, patiently waiting outside as two guard dogs. She timidly opened the door to let them know she was finished, some droplets of water still clinging to her strands. She let them in, Richard closing the door. Connor took her by the hand and made her lie down on the bed, him following after discarding his shoes and socks. Richard did the same, getting on her other side. She found herself sandwiched between the brothers, safe, their arms around her, Richard being the big spoon while Connor rested her against his chest. Ona fell asleep in a restless sleep, still too agitated by the prior events. 

She woke up in a warm and secure cocoon provided by the brothers, not having left her side all night. It truly was a sight to see them with their hair mussed and out of place, having it always perfectly styled. As well as not wearing their expensive suits but plain t-shirts and jeans. Connor even had his mouth slightly open. Her giggle woke them up, Richard tightening his arms and pressing himself closer to her, while Connor snuggled closer. She could get used to wake up like this, if someone asked her.

They found who did it, caught them like street rats and strapped them to chairs. 

Most of her possessions were retrieved, her switch neatly secured inside her protection case with all the games. Saves too. They even managed to find her grandmother’s necklace, secure in a new jewellery box. All was stored inside a van, ready to be taken to her new apartment Ona still didn’t know of. It was in a very secure neighbourhood, an attic with a beautiful view of the city and a big and sunny terrace ready to be filled with Ona’s plants rescued from her flat. 

Richard and Connor smiled at the men’s whimpers, the tape muffling it.

“You thought you could get away with this, scum?” Connor stepped to the light, his smile sending chills over the thieves bodies. “You really thought you could steal in our territory, harm our beloved citizens, get away with it and feast on the dirty money like pigs?”

One of them whimpered, surely trying to plea for mercy. It was useless. Mercy was not something they gave.

“Not only you harmed our citizens, but one in particular. One we hold very, very dear to our hearts.”

Richard came into the light too, having his suit jacked discarded and neatly folded over a chair. He was rolling up the sleeves of his black turtleneck, his eyes drilling frozen holes on each of the thieves.

“And that has to be punished, don’t you think?” he looked at his brother with his eyebrows raised in a mocking question. 

“Of course, my dear brother. Filthy thieves must pay for their sins. To set an example.”

Twin smiles looked back at the thieves. They trashed and screamed, crying for their lives as Richard approached them while Connor took a chair to enjoy the gruesome show.

His brother was ruthless but had the patience of a saint. He made sure they suffered for every tear and sob their beloved sunshine spilled. For every frown, every second her heart hurt. It was slow, painful, maddening.

Connor whistled in awe.

“Brother, I think this is your best work.” He looked at what formerly were the thieves bodies, now a bloody mess.

“This is what they get for hurting her. The only tears I wish to see falling from her eyes are tears of joy.” 

“Indeed. Let the boys clean up, we gotta go.” he turned on his heel on a second thought, ”But you should clean yourself first, I doubt she will appreciate you being covered in blood.”

Richard looked down at himself and his ruined clothes. He clicked his tongue. Oh well.

“Thank God I brought spare clothes.”

“I got clean wipes somewhere. I knew you would make a mess”

Richard snorted.

“Always prepared, huh?”

“You offend me, Richard” Connor put a hand on his heart in mock disbelief.

Richard let out a short laugh, a rare thing to be heard and his brother was grateful to be blessed by it.

“C’mon, let’s go”