#something also about going from amelia to amy. there’s something a little more masculine about amy. especially in comparison to amelia.

[quietwingsinthesky]

AMY “I COUNT AS A BOY” POND

rubbing my dirty little transmasc hands over another doctor who character. you can’t stop me. he said it. amy pond boy mode activate.

[eomma-jpeg]

silly in the meadow info that was never explicitly mentioned in the fic (they may make an appearance later but they just never came up in the Big Boy)

Knives has 5 scars: 2 in his shoulders, one over his heart, and 2 in the center of his thighs. This is pulled directly from the fight in the anime !!! Vash shoots him 5 times

Milly and Knives don't have sex for..... a while after they start their relationship. I have always felt that Knives struggles with both emotional and physical intimacy and has made exceptions for Milly,,,, but sex is... its too much that early on. He almost feels unworthy or scared he'll ruin something or hurt her T-T

Pet names are always hard for me to write bc they seem so cheesy to me. I think Knives refers to Milly by her name for so long, but he does eventually start calling her "my love"

I think milly would use cute country pet names such as: pumpkin, sweetheart, honey, hon, babe. But more often than not she just calls him Nai

I'd like to think that Knives grows his hair out at least once... and Milly just... its almost too much for her. The waves and the black stripe and when he puts his hair up ? RIP Milly Thompson

So there's 5 boys and 5 girls in Milly's family, and they're named in a fun order

Girls in age order

Amy (Amelia)

Ellie (Eloise)

Penny (Penelope)

Jenny (Jennifer)

Milly (Millicent)

Boys

Arthur

Emerson

Phillip

Jonathan

Marcus

I did this bc im from Utah and big families almost always have silly naming conventions hehe

Penny works the farm mostly bc she likes doing it but also bc her husband passed away soon after their daughter was born. Secret little behind the scenes tragedy (his name was Hiro!)

I think Vash and Meryl leave soon after the ending of in the meadow. They probably stay for the next cycle and up until the market... but Meryl is getting anxious. She doesn't particularly like to stay in one spot (and Vash unsurprisingly is returning to his old habits of wanting to wander)

Milly and Knives leave too but idk how far in the future.

@veilder got me thinking about plant ethics because that is talked about in trimax but the squad never gets to truly talk about it in 98, so I love the idea of Meryl and Milly going into journalism and traveling around to report on the sentience and incredible partnership humans have with plants.

Veil also convinced and solidified the idea of the twins becoming plant engineers (?) And traveling with the girls to help their advocacy and show how to properly treat plants !!!

Roberto is Milly’s Mom's brother,,, so Melinda's maiden name is De Niro

Oh ! I have hc heights !

Knives and Vash - 6'2

Milly - 5'11 (nearly 6 feet)

Meryl - 4'11

Wolfwood - 6'1

Meryl knows that Knives' real name is Nai but ABSOLUTELY refuses to use it. She can recognize her privilege

One day, Knives says Meryl's first name quietly to her with this like stupid bratty grin on his face and Meryl is about to go screaming around the lot that Knives said her name, but then Knives says "whos gonna believe you" and Meryl just 💀💀💀 (please refer to this clip)

Knives is the little spoon (most of the time)

This will become evident with a one-shot I've written, but when Knives has night terrors or panic attacks he just crawls up on Milly and lays his head on her heart. It's a steady beat that calms his racing mind (and her body is soft....)

In accordance with recent Tristamp concept art and ideas... the twins are genderless, but are certainly masculine presenting. This means that genitalia is .... different. Please refer to @millionsknives for their sketches

This also means that I don't think bio children are plausible for either couple... and that might be a hurdle that milly has to jump. And perhaps !!! Because of this!!! They do adopt a few kids

It takes Knives a minute, but when he finally feels like Milly's family is his family,,,, all of those nieces and nephews are His Children and if anything happens to them you have Him to deal with.

I do have names, ages, and birthdays for all of the members of millys family lol

I doubt I'll ever write this, but I think one day Knives reveals some pieces of his plant nature to Milly, like wings and feathers and milly is just ENAMORED. He's so pretty already and with the added softness of feathers and wings????? Milly is done for

This is like.... a trigun hc (not just itm) that I have in my mind but the boys have 3 sets of wings. One main pair on their shoulder blades, another medium pair that sprout at their mid back and a small pair at the base of their spine. Some of Vashs wings are damaged bc of the scarring on his back.

I think if there's ever a proper marriage proposal, it'll be under the apple tree. And milly will be the one to propose

I won't reveal too much bc I would like to write this but.... but Knives is there when Milly dies. That is all I will say.

Thank you for indulging me and if I remember more I will be sure to add them lol.

Also ! If you wanna share your own hc with me plsssss do. Stick em in the tags, replies, or my inbox. I will graciously accept them 💖💖💖

[jordan202]

My Boys: Beneath the Surface - Chapter 5

Hey Guy, here comes the update. Thank you @jia911. Previous Chapters can be found HERE.

 My Boys: Beneath the Surface – Chapter 5

 Amelia finished washing the breakfast dishes and distractedly leaned against the back door arch, folding her arms in front of her body at the same time her eyes observed the backyard.

At a close distance, the kids played in the pool, obviously having a great time away from school and their everyday activities. Amelia was genuinely happy that her kids were enjoying themselves and for a few minutes she forgot all about her own troubles, keeping busy just watching them.

Ever since they’d made it back from her sister’s home the night before, things hadn’t exactly been good between Owen and her. He had woken up a little later than she and it was obvious he was still upset because her husband hadn’t even bothered to say good morning, which was very unusual. He’d only spoken to her once every few minutes after breakfast, offering to do the dishes but Amelia instantly refused, eagerly looking for something to keep busy with.

Soon after, Owen had gone with the kids to the pool and she’d been left to wonder what exactly was going on. The events of the previous night replayed in her head and she figured Owen must have been extremely displeased at the way she had childishly ignored him during the entire dinner. Not only had Amelia done that, she had also kept busy talking to a person Owen had never met before, but who he had probably figured once meant something in her past, after the comments her sisters made.

Amelia knew that even though Owen could be jealous, he often didn’t act on it, which sometimes could backfire because instead of expressing his sentiments, he would just silently reveal his discontent through a very annoying foul mood. Whenever Owen was dissatisfied, for whatever reason it may be, it was very common that his smiles and easy manners vanished, giving room to a heavy frown and the total inability to say something pleasant

Amelia knew she wasn’t exactly easy either, but Owen’s stubbornness and his very masculine response to simply close off completely drove her angry, sometimes irrationally making her act out even more in an attempt to pester him just to see if he would lose his mind and open his mouth. It wasn’t the best approach, she knew, because it often made Owen even angrier, but it was usually very effective.

Her thoughts were distracted by the rushing caravan of kids that ran by her, startling Amelia completely. First Thomas, then Ellis and last one of the twins came running from the living room, all three carrying what looked like inflatable balloons. The oldest kids slipped through Amelia’s grasp but Danny wasn’t able to escape his mother, being unexpectedly held back.

“Mom,” He complained when Amelia showered his head with kisses. “You’re making me late to the war.”

“The war?” Amelia raised one eyebrow at the eight year old, sitting down on the back porch steps, still not letting go of him on purpose.

“The water balloon war,” Danny explained with a wide smile.

Amelia let out an amused chuckle at the undeniable expression of happiness on her son’s face. She took her time to give him one last squeeze, enjoying watching him run to the pool. Just like their siblings, the twins were healthy and lively kids, but while Lucas, Thomas and Megan were slimmer, Robbie and Danny had a delicious small share of baby fat that Amelia loved to squeeze.

The neurosurgeon spent the rest of her morning watching her family from a distance, wondering when it would be the best time to talk to her husband without turning their passive aggressive distance into a heated argument.

.

Later that evening, Amelia was still distracted with her own thoughts as she sat down with Megan, Danny and Robbie, surrounded by books and pencils. The kids were quietly drawing and coloring, visibly tired after spending the entire day outside. The sudden ring coming from the doorbell brought Amelia back to reality, and leaving the three younger kids in the living room, she got up and went to answer the door.

“Liz!” Amelia’s voice showed her surprise as her sister took one step forward to quickly hug her. “What is going on? Are you okay?”

Since it was a Monday night, Amelia didn’t expect to find her sister still in Connecticut. Both Liz and Kathleen had come over for the weekend but after the dinner party at Nancy’s were scheduled to return to their homes, being expected only a few days later for Nancy’s wedding later that weekend.

“Yeah,” Liz replied with a cheerful smile, coming inside after being instructed to do so by Amelia. “I just finished work a little early and I thought to myself, ‘why don’t I drive over to see my baby sister’? I never see you, so I thought since you’re here, it’d be nice to spend some time just us,” Liz confessed, wondering if it’d been a good idea after all. “I’m sorry, I should have called.”

“No, no, no,” Amelia quickly changed the expression on her face, going from intrigued to genuinely happy. “I’m glad you came. Come in, the kids are here.”

Liz sheepishly followed her sister to the living room, taking her time to say hi to the twins and Megan. After explaining that the oldest kids were somewhere probably playing videogames, Amelia made them coffee. Soon after, the two sisters sat next to each other on the big fluffy couch in the living room, idly gazing at the children who still played.

“Do you ever ask yourself how did you end up like mom?” Liz asked with a smile, still looking at the children.

“What?” Amelia replied immediately, sounding almost offended.

“With so many kids,” Liz explained with a naughty smile, apparently having fun with the fact that her sister hadn’t liked being compared to their mother.

“Oh,” Amelia blushed, feeling embarrassed for her obvious rejection at being equalized to Carolyn. “Not really, actually,” She chuckled and turned her head sideways to look into her sisters’ eyes. “I mean, I’ve always kind of wanted a big family.”

“Me too,” Liz confessed, silently starring at the other woman for long seconds, as if hesitating. Finally, the older sister decided to talk. “I’m really happy that you seem happy, Amy.”

Amelia embarrassingly bit her bottom lip, not quite knowing what to say. Liz had always been the kindest one of her siblings. And even though at that moment things were a bit shaken up in Amelia’s life, she couldn’t deny that for all that was worth, in her daily life she was happier than most people she knew.

“What about you?” The neurosurgeon asked, enjoying the quiet time she was having with her sister. “Are you happy?”

“Yeah,” Liz nodded affirmatively with what looked like honesty. “I am.”

Amelia knew her sister was always very busy splitting her time between her seven kids, her marriage and work as a public health specialist for the state of New York.

“How is work?” Amelia asked with a naughty grin. The other four Shepherd siblings had always made fun of Liz for the medical specialty she’d chosen. “Still constantly on the edge of your seat?”

“Absolutely,” Liz replied with playful sarcasm. “You know how busy epidemiologists are. There’s just too much excitement… Charts, data, computer programs…” She added with a grin. “And you thought that burst aneurysms were the real deal.”

Amelia threw her head back in a fit of laughter, genuinely enjoying her sister’s company. She couldn’t remember the last time she and Liz had been alone together. The harder she thought about it, the more she came to the conclusion that it had probably been before she was even in college.

“You should really come here more often,” Liz decided with a happy smile. “It wasn’t until last night that I realized how boring and predictable our family dinners had become without you there to shake things up.”

“What?” Amelia scoffed with playful pretense. Even though her sister was accusing her of stirring up trouble, by the tone in Liz’s voice, the neurosurgeon could tell she wasn’t being made fun of.

“Secretly operated on the mother in law… Didn’t tell husband that the guy he shook hands with was the one you lost your virginity to… Yeah I know all about that,” Liz added when she noticed the shock on Amelia’s face.

“I didn’t tell you that William was my first!” Amelia chided, horrified.

“You didn’t have to,” Liz tried her best not to laugh at her little sister’s mortified expression. “Nancy did.”

“I never told Nancy,” Amelia argued.

“Well, one of you two did,” Liz playfully added, recovering from laughter. “It doesn’t surprise me though… Will is her neighbor and close friend. I bet they talk a lot about you.”

“About me?” Amelia inquired, finding it strange.

“Well, he’s often there to dinner when we’re at Nancy’s and I’ve heard him asking her or mom about you a couple of times. Weren’t you surprised that he knows you’re married, has five kids and all of that?”

“I don’t know. I guess…” Amelia replied with a shrug of her shoulders, realizing she hadn’t even thought about that.

“Not that there’s too much to tell, really,” Liz said with a grin, obviously bickering. “You never tell us much anyways.”

Amelia playfully rolled her eyes in response and nudged her sister’s shoulder with hers.

“There’s nothing to tell,” She confessed, but the shadow behind the blue of her eyes as she said the words didn’t go unnoticed. “I’ve been out and about… I finally settled down. Got married. Had kids. Wasn’t that the plan all along?” Amelia joked.

“Yeah, I guess it was…” Liz replied with a smile, obviously being assaulted by childhood memories too. “Not that I am surprised, really. I’ve always had a feeling you’d be the most successful of all.”

“What?” Amelia frowned, looking for traces of irony in her sister’s voice, but finding none. “What are you talking about? Derek’s career launched much faster than mine, Nancy runs the top rated OB practice in the East Coast and you’re not behind eit…”

“That’s not the success I meant,” Liz interrupted her. “I am not talking about careers. I am talking about personal lives.”

“Oh,” Amelia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, taking her time to digest her sister’s words. “Well, in that case, you’re not behind me, I mean, look at your life… You’re happy in your marriage, your kids are all in college or graduated already…”

“Yeah, but that really wasn’t a big surprise to anyone that I would get married and settle down, you know,” Liz smiled as she looked at her sister. “The big surprise is that you did.”

“Only because I used to take a bunch of pills and once actually killed myself against a tree?” Amelia joked, seeing her sister burst out laughing. Unlike Nancy or Kathleen, Liz had always been appreciative of dark humor. “That was just a bad week,” Amelia joked, feeling surprisingly good that she had someone who knew about it and with whom she could touch the subject so easily and with good humor.

“Not because of that small detail,” Liz joked. “But because you never really stopped anywhere long enough to settle down. To create some roots. You’ve always been a free spirit.”

“You sound like mom,” Amelia rolled her eyes.

“Don’t say that,” Liz gave her a scornful look.

“Why?” Amelia laughed, seeing how much her sister had hated it too. “You still think she doesn’t love you?” The neurosurgeon provoked, knowing her older sister had always accused their mother of not loving her enough.

“That’s because she doesn’t!”

Amelia laughed harder, remembering how her sister had always accused her of stealing all the attention. Since Liz was the fourth child, she was the closest in age to Amelia, but the six year difference had still made a difference while they grew up. Now that they were older and more mature, that age gap didn’t really feel like much and Amelia had just realized how much she actually missed her sister.

“How come you’ve never been to Seattle to visit me?” Amelia asked, surprising herself by how much she actually wanted her sister to go.

“The last time I was there you were still living in…Where was it?” Liz asked with a heavy frown. “Anyways, it was right after Derek had that plane accident.”

Amelia stayed silent for a while, breathing in while procession the information. It was sad to realize that at some point in life she’d been so distant from her family that they now had actually a hard time remembering where she was.

“I really miss him,” Liz confessed, feeling a lump on her throat at the same time she held her breath, afraid of shedding tears if she let go. “You were the last one of us to see him…” The older realized, staring into distance to avoid Amelia’s eyes. “How was he? Was he…?”

“He was doing well,” Amelia interrupted her sister, seeing how emotional she was getting. Without thinking, the neurosurgeon reached out and grabbed her sister’s hand, giving it a firm squeeze of reassurance. Liz had probably never gotten the chance to talk about it. Even though the Shepherds were a very supportive bunch, they tended to avoid talking about painful topics. Amelia had learned that the hard way. “He never got to find out about Ellie, though,” Amelia added, feeling her chest constricting. “I bet he would have been thrilled.” She added, looking for her sister’s eyes.

“I’m glad he had you there,” Liz confessed, tightening her grip on Amelia’s hand. “I wish we had got to say goodbye to him, though.”

Amelia didn’t dare reply to that, because it was something she knew she had never gotten over either. Despite the fact the neurosurgeon was only a phone call away, her brother had been let go and she hadn’t been allowed to even talk to him first or review his medical case.

“Alright, enough of this sappiness,” Liz decided, wiping off a tear that had insisted on falling. “Tell me about your life. Your kids are so god damn adorable,” The older sister added with a sincere smile. “Look at these two little Vikings,” Liz smile widened when she stared at the twins. “My God, they’re the spitting image of Owen.”

“They are,” Amelia agreed with a smile of adoration to her boys.

“I was really surprised last night when you mentioned you’re close to Owen’s family,” Liz confessed, slightly jealous. “I didn’t expect to hear that at all.”

Amelia swallowed hard, hoping her sister didn’t notice how the topic made her uncomfortable. She didn’t want her sisters or mother to feel bad at the obvious conclusion that Amelia preferred to spend time with Owen’s family than with them.

“Why not?”

“Well…” Liz embarrassingly confessed, belatedly realizing she’d been excessively honest. “I just never really realized Owen had family there. I thought he was single and alone when you met him.”

Amelia let out a chuckle, seeing the absurdity of the situation.

“Owen is very dedicated to our family,” Amelia put it simply. If she dwelled too much on the subject, Liz would end up questioning why they hardly ever showed up at family events and Amelia didn’t exactly want to answer that.

“How is he as a husband?” Her sister upfront asked, genuinely concerned about the answer.

Amelia noticed the loyalty and worry on Liz’s eyes and felt grateful for it. She didn’t really have to ponder on the question much, because the answer was pretty easy.

“Very good,” The neurosurgeon replied with undeniable affection, feeling stupid because she could feel herself blushing. Growing up, Amelia had always been sassy, confident and even a bit unaffected, so she felt silly to be flagrantly confessing something like that, especially when it was obvious all over her face how she truly felt. “I honestly can’t say how lucky I feel to have him.”

“Well, is he good in bed?” Liz raised both her eyebrows, enjoying grilling her baby sister like that. She noticed how Amelia cracked up laughing and kept staring at her, as if patiently waiting for an answer. There was a lot about her sister’s husband that Liz didn’t know about but she was excited to find out.

“Good doesn’t begin to describe it,” Amelia confessed with a dirty expression and very suggestively opened her palms apart. “I know what you’re thinking, he is all uptight and serious, but boy he can be nasty.”

“No way,” Liz laughed hysterically, not quite believing the size of the gap between her sisters’ hands and what it obviously meant.

“And he knows how to make good use of it,” Amelia gloated, seeing her sisters burst out laughing, attracting attention from the kids.

“Well, that’s no surprise considering he’s knocked you up so many times,” Liz dried the tears of laughter from her eyes as she lowered her voices to avoid being heard from the trio.

“Look who’s talking,” Amelia rolled her eyes playfully, watching as the kids went back to coloring.

“How am I ever going to look your husband in the eye and not remember this conversation?” Liz asked, still laughing.

“Well, as long as you don’t keep imaging what’s inside his pants, I’m good with it,” Amelia shamelessly added.

“You’re hopeless,” Liz realized, having more fun than she ever imagined she would. “Hopeless. I’ve thought you’d changed,” The older sister smiled with pride and affection. “But damn, it’s good to see you’re still you.”

Amelia felt touched by her sister’s words and was thinking of what to say when she spotted her husband coming down the stairs, attracted to the living room by the sound of a familiar voice he couldn’t quite identify.

“Liz,” He seemed as surprised as Amelia to see her there. “Hey,” He walked over to her and after a quick hi sat on an arm chair opposite to them, closer to the kids. “Is everything okay? I had no idea you were here or I would have come downstairs sooner.”

“That’s okay, Amy and I were just talking… She was just telling me what an exemplary husband you are.”

When Owen noticed the semi embarrassed look on his wife’s face and how her sister visibly suppressed her laughter, he realized there was much more to the conversation than casual comments.

“I see,” He frowned, wondering if they were making fun of him. His gaze met Amelia’s for what felt like the first time that day and even though Owen was still angry about the way she had childishly ignored him, he lingered his eyes on her face, glad to realize she was obviously enjoying her sister’s company. And at the same time Owen felt like he should say something to add to the conversation, his pride also believed Amelia should talk to him first, considering she’d been the one to start that stupid situation.

“It’s all very true,” His wife’s voice interrupted his inner battle for coming up with something to say. Owen looked at her and realized the traces of playfulness had gone from her face as she starred back at him with a mix of loving affection and a bit of embarrassment. “You really are the most amazing husband, babe.”

Owen took in a deep breath, delighted at how wicked smart his wife was. He let out a breath through his nose, unable to hide his amusement. Amelia knew he was angry, but she also knew he wouldn’t make a scene in front of her sister. She had charmingly used the situation in her favor and her words were an attempt at sneaking into his good graces without actually having to admit to anything, because she knew that he wasn’t angry enough to ignore her flattering comments and prolong that fight, especially when they had company.

“I must be the most patient too,” Owen gave up completely and genuinely smiled at her, feeling his anger slowly fading. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

Liz was confused when Amelia chuckled and bit her bottom lip, silently admitting to something she had no idea what. The three adults talked about lighter subjects for the following twenty minutes and only when Danny fell asleep holding a colorful marker half way to the paper, Owen realized it was time to put the kids to bed.

Liz left soon after and Amelia stood by the door seeing off her sister, not quite believing how much she’d enjoyed their time together that evening. Her thoughts were still on how much she wished they could do that more often when Owen returned to the foyer, seeing his wife was still near the front door.

“I didn’t know Liz was coming tonight,” He said, obviously confused. “If I did, I would have made dinner and…”

“I didn’t know either,” Amelia interrupted him, noticing how adorable he looked when he thought they weren’t being proper hosts. “She just showed up here without notice, but I am glad she did.”

“Really?” Owen inquired with a frown. He had never seen Amelia excited about having any contact with her family or spending time with her sisters.

“Yeah, we talked a lot,” Amelia confessed, walking up to her husband, defensively embracing herself and rubbing her arms up and down. She stared into his eyes for a few seconds before adding with a naughty smile. “Are we good? Can we just forget everything that happened last night?”

“You mean the way you kept glaring at me and pretending I wasn’t there, or how your attitude made me look like a fool in front of your entire family?” Owen ironically replied, visibly grumpy.

Amelia chuckled at how worked up he had gotten over it. It was adorable how much effort Owen was always putting into getting to know her mother and sisters better. Amelia once again remembered of the conversation she’d had with Liz just a few minutes before. Owen really was an amazing man and husband.

Too proud to admit she had indeed ignored and pouted like a child the night before, Amelia took two steps in his direction and smiled mischievously, swiftly wrapping her arms around his waist.

“You are far from looking like a fool,” Amelia seductively ran her hand on his back, pressing her body against his. “You are many things, but a fool isn’t one of them,” She stood on the tip of her toes, on purpose leaning to whisper in his ear.

Owen felt his wife’s warm breath against the side of his face and shook his head in denial, clearly reading right through her.

“Witch,” He smiled, using one arm to hold her close while the other traveled to her face. “Stop trying to flatter me. I know your family doesn’t like me.”

Amelia immediately threw her head back, unable to control the fit of laughter that assaulted her.

“I’m sorry, did I say something absurd?” Owen asked, between offended and amused at her reaction.

“Where did you get the idea that my family doesn’t like you?” Amelia frowned, not quite getting the absurdity of the situation.

“They always look at me and talk to me like I am the big villain that stole you from them,” The trauma surgeon explained. “Besides, your mom and your sisters are always saying how much they wish to see you more often so they probably think it’s my fault that they don’t.” Owen analyzed the situation. “You know, it’s all very confusing, Amelia. You always tell me how big of a bully they were to you and how unsupportive they are, and yet when we’re with them, it doesn’t feel at all like it.”

“Well, I wish I could say you’ll find out in due time, but hopefully we won’t be here long enough for that,” Amelia defensively argued, hoping to avoid the subject. She didn’t want to let Owen into her past because even though her husband knew a lot about some of the things she’d been through, his good opinion meant everything to Amelia. She didn’t want Owen to hear how much of a disappointment to her family she had been. All her life, Amelia had always heard how much she’d let everyone down and the way her family always kept bringing that up every time they saw each other was a constant reminded of her failures. She didn’t want Owen to be contaminated by it. And she especially didn’t want them to treat him like he was to blame for anything bad, because truth was, her husband was responsible for some of the best things that had ever happened to her.

“Amelia?” Owen let out a heavy sigh, trying his hardest to understand why his wife would talk to him about everything, except the relationship she had with her family.

“Look, we’re on vacation, can we just enjoy our vacation? Let’s forget about all of this… Forget about my family, let’s focus on our family,” Amelia proposed with her best begging eyes, smiling adorably to destroy whatever defenses he had left. “Please?”

Owen was frustrated, but just like her, he really didn’t feel like fighting. Telling himself someday they would probably need to go back to that conversation, Owen accepted her proposal, gently wrapping her inside his embrace.

“Have the kids fallen asleep?” Amelia asked.

“Only Meg and the twins,” Owen spun her around in his arms and kissed her temple, gently guiding her to the hall. “The others are watching a movie, I think. Wanna join them?”

“More than anything,” Amelia confessed, playfully biting her husband’s knuckles before being followed by him to the TV room.

She found her sons, nieces and nephew scattered around the couches and fluffy chairs, all focused on the giant screen. Amelia sat next to Lucas and snuggled up with him in her arms, quickly catching up on the storyline playing out on the TV.

Even though Amelia couldn’t change what had happened to her growing up, she had turned the table around and built a better future. She would much rather let go of what she'd once done and focus on what she had now. And at that moment, it was better to simply forget about all the failure in her past and focus on how successful her present was. The family and the life she’d built with Owen meant everything to her.

And Amelia had absolutely no doubt that she would do whatever it took to make sure that nothing or no one would ever risk changing that.

  ---