wakandama2

[wakandama2]

Wading Towards Shore Pt1

A/N: I bet yall forgot I be writing angst too! 😈

Smoke and Annie settle back into life with one another once again. However, Annie can't help but let her insecurities of being left being creep into her mind at same time she is plague with bizarre dreams of grief and fish.

Trigger Warnings: grief, dream sequences, mentions of child loss and drowning

Annie was a strong woman. A woman who prided herself on being able to build up her root and to better herself.

Annie has had seven years of solitude, a brutal supernatural night of bonding and survival, and finally a year of reconciliation with Smoke to push passes… it. 

She should have the strength to push past the aching tangle of rage, sadness, longing and resolve Smoke planted in her heart. Annie likes to pretend that the night that he ran away from her (and their shared loss) to Chicago was just a nightmare. 

She tries to forget that her breasts had dried of milk just four days before those brothers drove off in the blue light of dawn to the north. She pretends that the ashes from the note and money he left for her doesn’t linger in the old firepit out back. For seven years Annie bit the lie bumps off her tongue from the amount of times she lied to Mary, declaring she was fine, that the twins wrote and they were fine, and that the bones told her they’d be back any day now and Stack was gonna wife her next. 

Annie is fine now. 

Annie had worked a strong root to heal her heartaches, damnit! She is over it, so over those insecurities that her and Elijah built a whole house together! Four rooms, a basement, indoor plumbing, a wrap around porch and a greenhouse! They built that together.

The Nile was just a river hundreds of miles away from her. She is over that fleeting insecurity that she’ll never be enough for her soulmate to stay (Smoke is back with her after all, sleeping right beside her on the mattress at this very moment). She is over that petty fear of being left alone. She is over the fear of being abandoned. 

So, Annie had no reason to fear the possibility that her and Elijah’s love had combined together once again to make something more than just a home and that she could be with...

Not a thing is growing in her, she is not-  

Annie is fine.

She is a healthy woman with a healed heartache! She's got her man back and he ain't going anywhere, not off with money, not off with another woman, not running away again. So! There wasn't a thing wrong with her.

Annie is back in her dreams again.

She finds herself dressed in light blue and basket weaving in a field of butterfly weeds. The breeze cool and gentle, the sun warm and bright, water laps around her and minnows tickle her feet, a bone white bass leaps high sprinkling Annie with twinkling water splashes.

No… no water… there shouldn’t be water here. 

Annie focuses on the weaving, she can’t knot the reeds, but there goes those two big shining goldfish splashing and bumping into her ankles like a child wanting att-

Annie stands abruptly,  the wind swirls dark clouds overhead as she dashes away from the waters. Her feet pound the dirt until it melds into mud, then slashes into marshy shallow waters. Annie can’t help but cry as she runs into deeper waters now. She forces herself to stop, chest heaving and aching as she tries to breath ties to race away but is paralyzed as the water rises and rises over her.

Now here she stands at the bottom of the Mississippi river, her breath is a cloud of bubbles while the minnows racing by feel like whizzing bullets.

Annie can only brace herself and scream as two golden fish the size of ferry ships crash into her.

Annie wakes up with a jolt, a wave of nervous nausea slamming her just as quickly and she catches the dry gag into her hand. She is barely able to swallow it back when Smoke snaps awake and sits up as well at her hitch of breath. Annie shivers as his arm wraps around her shoulders then forces her face towards him so he can inspect her. Smoke frowns as Annie barely swallows back a sharp sting of heartburn, her hands clutching together over her chest in a plea for strength.  

“Ya okay? Sumthin’ spook ya?” He asks, before she can answer Smoke stares out their window tuning his ear to calculate the creaks of the house. 

“Want me to get Stack to check the boundary? It’s like fo’ in the mornin’, he still out ‘dere” Smoke strategizes and Annie shakes her head. Annie gently pulls away from his hold, swinging her legs over the side of the bed so she can force her head between her knees to breathe through the sharp dizzy need to throw up. 

“Ann? Baby, what’s wrong?” Smoke asks his voice low and deep from sleep, he rubs a hand up and down her spine in comfort. Smoke goes to curl an arm around her middle but Annie abruptly stands, his touch too much.

Annie stands there, back to Smoke with hands on her achy hips, just trying to breath through this…sickness…not not sickness just, nerves. Annie’s nerves were bad from a nightmare is all. It has been storming lately, she’ll have to tell the weather man at the newspaper about her concerns in case the riverbend outside of town floods. 

“Annie? You okay?” Smoke asks again, his concern prickles the hot skin of her neck.

“Huh? Yeah… yeah I’m fine ‘Lijah. I had a bad dream is all.” Annie says in a croaky whisper.

“A dream dream or one of dem premonitions?”

“I…I don’t know right now. Gonna throw some bones ‘bout it.” Annie excuses as she sways out of their bedroom into the hall. She ignores the bed creaking behind her, determined to go towards their office at first, but quickly staggers into the bathroom to vomit instead. Annie only makes it to the sink before losing her dinner, fearful tears prick her eyes at the sounds of Smoke’s hustling steps in the hallway. She slams the door closed before kneeling over the toilet and gagging again.

“Annie! What the Hell is goin’ on witcho?” Smoke asks through the door. Annie shakes her head in frustration.

“Now Woman…”

“Go on somewhere, Smoke! Just…just give me a minute.” She grumbles before spitting out the sour taste in her mouth just to heave again. Smoke still stands on the other side of the door, “Smoke?” he mouths in disbelief with a frustrated sigh as he opens the door.

“Go on somewhere, Man!” Annie retorts before fighting off another wave, by the time she comes back to herself Smoke sits on the edge of the tub rubbing the back of her neck. Annie hums when he presses the back of his hand to the side of her forehead then holds her cheek, his thumb rubbing away the tears from where her eyes watered.

“Ya ain’t too warm, just clammy.” Smoke reports and Annie shrugs. “Told ya, that dream just rattled me.” 

“Never seen one make ya sick before… ‘cept when-”

“Let’s just go back to bed.” Annie mutters over him, blinking up at him with sad sleepy eyes. Smoke frowns but nods firmly. Annie bites back a whimper when his hands leave her face. (Is he going to leave her? Where is he running to with out her again?)

Instead of vanishing into mist like her mind projected, Smoke’s arms go under hers and gently he brings Annie back to her feet. Annie goes to pull away but is stopped by Smoke wrapping her to his chest in a comforting embrace, Annie lets her head rest above his heart. 

“You wanna talk ‘bout it?” Smoke asks after a quiet moment and Annie shakes her head.

“ Elijah please, I jus’ wanna go back to bed.” Annie tells him, he leads her over to the sink where she quickly rinses out her mouth. Smoke holds her hand steady as he leads the two of them back to bed. Annie lays down but stops Smoke from tucking the sheet back around her, the action makes Smoke lift an eyebrow in question. Annie smacks her lips, Smoke sighs and climbs in on the other side.

“No cover?”

“Too hot.”

“Too hot? You ain’t complain bout that in a while.” Smoke notes, easing back in bed. He extends his arm out and Annie shuffles into the space he’s made. Her head resting over his heart when his arm then cuddles her close by the shoulders. Annie hums and settles further into him, closing her eyes as she lets out a sigh.

The next time Annie wakes up to sunlight shining on her face while her hand meets the cool and empty side of bed. Panic strikes Annie in the chest, she tries to calm herself by looking at the clock on the wall, it reads 10:06 and that makes her scramble out of bed to search for her man (again.)

“Elijah!” she chokes out with tears prickling her eyes. 

The sheets tangle around the bottom of her legs causing Annie to yelp as her side crashes into the vanity. Annie holds on to the edge of the wood trying to get her breathing under control (Why in the world wouldn’t Smoke wake her up, it’s so late! )

Silence. It feels like water is filling her lungs and the sharp bards of catfish cut her calves.

“Elijah!” Annie calls out louder this time. A cabinet door closes loudly and a gruff, “Huh?” answers her from the kitchen. 

Annie swallows down her lump of panic until it melts into a fading anxiousness at his clueless answer. She roughly wipes away the stray tears and slips into her house coat. Annie made way to the kitchen with quick steps, Smoke meets her in the doorway. In one hand is a bowl of scrambled eggs with a buttermilk biscuit drowned with apple butter and the other a chilled lemonade. 

“There ya is.” Annie mumbles, more to herself than to him, then gives him a kiss. 

“Mornin’” Smoke says as soon as his lips are free. There is a soft somberness in his tone before Annie can linger about it; Smoke presses the bowl into her hands before turning back into the kitchen. Annie hums as she makes her way through the back door and onto their porch, Smoke follows behind her with peach preserves smothering his biscuits and a steaming coffee mug. The two settle into their respective chairs on the west facing deck, Annie squints at the three-room shotgun cabin at the edge of their new property line as she eats.

The cabin is a solid thing painted creamy white to reflect the light with a slimmer porch tucked behind three huge jasmine shrubs to block more light. A big outdoor tub rests on the north side of it and the only window on it is two skinny panels of frosted glass facing east towards them. A navy wool curtain is currently pulled taunt to close as if not to let a single steam of sunlight in. Annie looks down to see two sets of deer antlers covered in dried blood resting on the path leading up to the cabin door. 

“Glad they got back in time last night. Mary said Stack’s been lingering until it’s blue dawn.” Annie says and Smoke hums as he lights his pipe. 

“Had ‘im do another patrol around the riverbend fo’ they went in fo’ the day. Since ya was spooked I had ‘im make sure them honkies stay in they spot.” Smoke says as he smoothly puffs out a cloud of tobacco high over their heads. Annie resisted the urge to take a deep whiff of it like she did when she was first preg-

Annie stuffs a forkful of eggs in her mouth to shake away the ridiculous thought. Smoke puffs again and Annie takes a swallow of lemonade to chase the urge off again, maybe she was wanting the habit. (she hasn’t smoked tobacco since she was 14 and tried to impress Smoke by stealing a pull off his cig, she promptly choked on it)

“You ain’t have to do that for me.” Annie says and Smoke shakes his head. 

“Why wouldn’t I? You talkin’ nonsense.” 

He is quick to dodge to the left when Annie goes to pinch his side.

Annie rolls her eyes then makes a point to lay her legs over his and look away. Smoke chuckles at her antics continuing to smoke and eat. It’s Annie’s turn to giggle when he locks their ankles together. Soon the bugs buzz and some of Annie’s goats and chickens belt for attention, the birds call out loudly for one another overhead. Annie takes a deep breath, trying to smell for the chance of rain (not to smell tobacco!), instead she sneezes like a barn kitten on the pollen and Smoke smothers laugh behind a gulp of coffee. 

“Dontcha laugh, Man!”

“I ain’t say a word, Woman!” 

“Yeah right. Whats the plan for today?” Annie asks

“Well, first imma leave ya again. Imma promise to write, then never do it. And the-”

“Da fuck you say!?” Annie spits, she whirls her legs away from him then slams her feet to the ground as she stands. A desperate and hurtful fury fills her as she glares down into Smoke’s bewildered eyes.

“What da fuck you heard? I said we going to Bo’s to getcha libation stuff!” he argues as he scrambles up as well, breakfast and pipe abandoned to his chair.

Annie blinks hard at him, once, twice, on the third time she opens her eyes to see Smoke’s has stepped in close and his hand cradles her face. Seeming to search Annie’s eyes for any kinda answer to this shifting pendulum of emotions from her.

Smoke frowns in deep concern, Annie can practically taste the sadness rolling off of him at her behavior. (The fuck he sad for? He can just leave all the sadness in her like last time) She tries to look away but Smoke won’t allow it, stepping in another step and enclosing her between himself and the porch post.

“Now, Antonia Moore, you talk to ya husband now.” Smoke instructs with a pointed look and Annie scoffs.

“Oh, so now my husband likes talkin’? Took ya eight years to learn that new trick huh?” Annie snaps. Smoke’s eyebrows shoot up, his hands drags down until they rest on her shoulders to hold down his tremors.

“Annie? What the hell is wrong? Ya sick or sumthin’? Or is it-” Smoke asks again, pushing past Annie’s anger to get to her hurt. Annie shakes his hands off her and marches down the porch steps towards their daughter's tree “Or is it what? What you know, Smoke?” Annie snaps once more. 

"You own my name woman, you betta use it. Now talk to me Ann, I'm hurting too." Smoke scolds as he grabs Annie’s wrist to stop her running off. Annie whirls around, at the last minute forcing her free hand down to clutch the fabric of Smoke’s shirt so she wouldn’t hit him. Smoke bites his lip as tears gather in the corners of his eyes to see Annie shaking with the energy of emotions she refused to communicate to him. 

But he had an idea for this cause. 

“You best unhand me! Fuck you know 'bout how I hurt?” Annie argues, tears in her voice as well to see him tearing up. Her chest burns in an aching familiar way that Annie must swallow down and push past. Her mind is a haze of fury and hurt that want to drown her. Smoke shakes his head, pulling her close again he rests his hand over hers on his chest. 

It's gonna rain today, Annie can feel it.

“Today’s July 1st…. I’m sorry today’s July 1st.” is all Elijah says in a croaky whisper.

Smoke lets his own tears roll as Annie pounds the side of chest with a mix of hysterical and weak thumps. Annie alternates between clutching him back and buckling around as if to tear out of her skin as she cries. Smoke holds on strong and steady to Annie while the navy curtain across the way moves and waves, tugs taunt as if someone was fighting the decision to open it wide to the morning sun. 

Those words are like scissors on puppet strings and Smoke braces the both of them as Annie’s knees buckle. Annie collapses into his arms, forehead knocking his chin and all Smoke can do is hold her tight and ease them to the ground as she wails.

It is a sound Annie hasn’t let out in eight years. A deep bellied, soul shattering wail that silences the buzz of bugs and animal calls, it pauses the wind from jiggling her blue glass chimes, even the heat goes still, choking the air.

It is the same wail of aching grief that Annie cried when her daughter let out her last breath at just 7 months old.  

---

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[wakandama2]

Uncle Stack Attack (Pt. 1)

Part 2 of my Smoke/Stack babysitting series

Hi beautiful people!

I can't believe I haven't posted a fic in almost two weeks. I lost track of time working on my more personal writing and entering my content creator phase (you can follow me on Substack (AJwrites555) and Tiktok (ajenine) if you want to keep up), but we’re back! 

As promised, here’s part 2 of Daddy Duties (Disclaimer: It doesn't really have anything to do with that fic it’s just in the same realm). I will be doing a part 3, so stay tuned! As always, I hope you enjoy :)

TW/CW: Fluff, mild cursing, use of the N-word, original character, modern AU, angst

****************************************************

Annie was always weary of leaving her and Smoke’s daughter, Amalia, with her Uncle Stack; Especially after everything that went down following the tooth gem incident (the strong minded 2 year old refused to let her parents brush her teeth for a week in fear of losing the sparkling mouthpiece). However, Annie and Smoke were in need of some desperate alone time – and desperate times called for desperate measures.

Since Smoke took it upon himself to book a last minute luxurious couples day at the spa, Annie couldn’t bring herself to refuse the thoughtful, spontaneous gesture. I mean who was she to say no to complimentary mimosas and a much needed massage? And with all the girls – Mary, Grace, and Pearline – busy on this particularly springy Saturday afternoon, Stack was the only viable option left to watch the rambunctious, fun loving child. So, Annie pushed past her reluctance and picked up the phone to call her husband’s rascally twin. 

“Ya know I love babygirl, but what the hell am I supposed to do with a 2 year old for 5 hours?!” Stack questioned his sister in law over the phone. 

Annie put the phone on speaker as she moved throughout the bedroom to finish packing her bag. She heard Smoke let out a small laugh from the closet, where he rummaged through his clothes in an attempt to pack a bag of his own.

“You feed her, entertain a few games, and make sure she stays in one piece the way we left her.” Annie replied, grabbing a change of clothes from her drawer and placing them in her duffle bag on their king sized bed.

“But what if she starts to cry? Or-or what if —”.

“Nigga stop acting like you never watched your niece before!” Smoke called out as he exited the closet with a pair of grey sweatpants and a graphic tee in hand.

“Never alone!” Stack exclaimed, sounding like a fussy toddler himself. “I’m the fun one man; that’s why I leave all that responsible parenting bullshit to you.”

Annie sighed. “I can't believe I’m saying this, but Elias… you’ll be fine.” she blurted out, picking up the phone so that the uncertain twin could hear her testy yet reassuring tone more clearly.

“Can you please just do us this favor?” 

Stack took a moment to contemplate his answer. The anticipation wrapped around Annie and Smoke like a rough wool blanket as they waited impatiently for their brother’s decision. With a heavy sigh, Stack finally responded: “Fine. I’ll be there in 20.” 

“Yay! Thank you so much!” “You a real one G!” Annie and Smoke exhaled, expressing their deep gratitude.

“Yea, yea. I’ll see y'all soon.” Stack finished, hanging up the phone. 

Taking another moment, he mentally prepared himself for the day ahead. What have I gotten myself into? he thought as he grabbed his wallet and keys, and headed toward the door.

***

“Alright we’ll be back by 6.” Annie stated, grabbing her sunglasses off the side table by the front door. Smoke met her there, placing their bags down by the foot of the table as he turned to look at his younger brother, who was listening to Annie intently; baby Lia in his arms. 

“She already took her medicine for the day so you don’t have to worry about that.” Annie started. “And if she gets hungry there’s leftover spaghetti in the fridge.” she added, earning a nod from the laser focused Stack.

“And her pull ups and wet wipes?” He inquired.

“We’re in the middle of potty training, so if she needs to pee just put her on her squatty potty In the bathroom.”

“How I’m supposed to know if she gotta pee?!” Stack asked, a wave of panic washing over him.

“She’ll tell you.” Annie replied plainly.

“And if she doesn't?”

“Bro relax! You got this.” Smoke laughed. “ If she has any accidents, wet wipes are in the cabinet under the bathroom sink.” he finished, coaxing his child-free younger brother. Stack took his older brother's advice, relaxing a bit as he looked toward his darling niece.

“You gonna tell Uncle Stack when you gotta pee, right princess?” He questioned little Lia with an eyebrow raised as she stared at him amusingly with her big, brown eyes. 

“You not gon have a playa wiping anything up off the floor?”

“Nooo!” Amalia giggled, burying her head in her favorite (albeit only) uncle’s neck.

“Pinky promise?” 

“Pinky pwomise!”

A faint smile crept up on Annie’s lips as she watched her daughter link fingers with her goofy uncle. See you have nothing to worry about she thought to herself in an attempt to ease the motherly anxiety that threatened to consume her.

“Alright – call us if you need anything.” Annie finally spoke, breaking herself out of her trance as she moved to kiss Amalia’s cheek and exit the front door. Smoke followed suit, giving his toddler a light kiss on the forehead before grabbing Annie and his bags.

“Only call if it's an emergency.” he whispered to Stack warningly. “ I don't want Annie worried over no dumb shit.” he finished, before exiting out the door.

Stack followed close behind, looking between Amalia and her swiftly departing parents.

“Say: Stop! Don't leave me with this fool!” he mocked in a high pitched voice as he and Amalia stood in the doorway, waving bye to the eager couple.

“We love you baby girl!” Annie called out, getting into the passenger's seat of their grey Subaru Outback. “See you soon!”

Stack and Lia watched as Smoke revved up the engine and drove down the sunny suburban block. As the car made its way fully out of view, Stack closed the door and headed toward the living room couch. As he gently placed down the chunky little girl in his arms, she suddenly burst into tears.

“Babygirl what’s wrong?!” Stack asked, alarmed at the bubbly child’s unexpected outburst.

“I-I wa-ant my mommy!” Amaila hiccuped through her tears.

Stack quickly moved to sit beside his distressed niece, pulling her in for a hug.

 “Aw princess, come on; She hasn’t even been gone 5 minutes yet…” he tried to console. “Besides, don’t you want to spend time with your favorite uncle?”

“I don't want it!” Amalia cried louder. 

Stack sighed, dragging a heavy hand down his face. Shit, 5 hours of this??? he thought to himself, already coming to the end of his wits. Turning toward the little girl, he cataloged all the things he thought would make her feel better.

“I promise your mommy will be back soon. In the meantime, what do you want? You want food?... A nap?” he asked, hoping to appeal to the little girl’s interests; but she didn't budge. Not until she heard her uncle say some of her favorite words:

“How about a dollar?” Stack implored in a last attempt, pulling out a crisp bill from the wallet that was lodged in his back pocket.

Slowly but surely, Lia’s wails trickled into soft sniffles as she wiped her eyes with one hand and grabbed the dollar with the other. Soon her face brightened, light giggles escaping her lips, as she enthusiastically admired the money in her hand. 

“Monies!”

Stack chuckled at the sight of the little girl’s now beaming face – amused at how similar she was to him at that age.

 “Lil’ lady, you just like me for real! Imma have to start calling you Lil’ Stack in a minute.” 

Amalia let out another one of her high pitched giggles. With adrenaline coursing through her tiny veins, she moved to stand on the couch – singing and jumping around in excitement. 

“I gotta a dowar, I gotta dowar, I gotta dowar hey hey hey hey!”

“Hey, hey, relax; it's just a dollar!” Stack laughed as he patted the couch, signaling the bouncing baby to sit down.

With a plop, little Lia sat down at her uncle’s demand, giggling harder at the fun she was having working his nerves.  As her laughter died down, she found herself in need of further entertainment. 

“I want Cocomelon.”

Stack’s groan came almost instantly, annoyed at the thought of having to watch the mind numbing YouTube short. 

“You sure, princess?” He asked, hoping to change her mind. “How about we watch the game instead – The Knicks are playing the Bulls.” 

“Cocomelon! Cocomelon! Cocomelon!” Lia protested, on the verge of another tantrum.

“Alright alright, Cocomelon it is!” Stack gave in as he reached for the remote to turn on the questionable tv choice. He watched in displeasure as Lia leaned forward, instantly mesmerized by the colorful cartoon coming into view.

***

It had been about two hours of watching JJ and his friends' antics, and Stack was damn near losing his mind! Silently refusing to let his niece sit around watching brain rot all day, he grabbed the remote and clicked off the tv – earning himself an unsatisfied whine from baby Lia, who was in the middle of singing along to the “Itsy Bitsy Spider”.

“How about we go to the park princess– get some sun? That sound like fun to you?” Stack suggested inquisitively, standing in front of the little girl.

“YEA!” Amalia confirmed, jumping up from her seat excitedly at the idea.

Grateful that she didn’t put up a fight, Stack swiftly picked Lia up and crossed to her princess tiana themed bedroom to grab her shoes.

“I wanna wear that one.” she said, pointing to a pair of sparkly pink rain boots. 

The dandy man cringed at his niece’s request to wear the bubblegum inspired footwear. Though she was only 2 and he knew that fashion meant nothing to her, Stack couldn't help but think about how the shoes would clash with her red and white ruffled dress. If it were up to him, he would’ve opted for a simple pair of white air forces or red and white new balances; but he decided to pick his battles wisely.

“Sure thing.” Stack replied, as he placed baby Lia down on the bed to put on her shoes. “You must get your sense of style from ya daddy.” he remarked slyly, watching as she looked down at her freshly dawned boots with pride.

Stack moved to pull the stroller from Lia’s closet, remembering its location from the last few times he watched her with Smoke, and strapped her in.

“Ready lil’ lady?”

“Ready!” Amalia answered exuberantly, looking forward to what adventures awaited her and her uncle.

***

Stack sat on a nearby bench as he watched Amalia run around with other kids her age. Compared to her introverted parents, the toddler’s outgoing personality made her a natural at making friends.

“Make sure you stay where I can see you princess!” Stack called out before looking down at his phone. Entranced by the short form content that graced his screen, he didn’t notice the curvy, raven haired woman approaching him.

“Your daughter’s so precious. How old is she?” the woman’s sweet yet sultry voice spoke, breaking Stack’s focus.

“Oh she’s not my daughter, she’s my –” Stack felt his breath hitch as he peered into the warm hazel eyes staring down at him. The rich hues of autumn leaves almost made him forget what season it was. Completely forgetting his train of thought, Stack stood and reached out a hand to greet the admittedly attractive woman.

“Hi.”

“Oh im sorry, hi…” she giggled. “ I’m Iris.”

A slight smile crept along her round cheeks as she shook the hand of the tongue tied man in front of her. Stack admired the way the soft grin brightened her already glowing eyes.

“Sorry but um you were saying that’s not your daughter?” Iris questioned cautiously, easing the mesmerized man back on track.

“Oh yea...” Stack laughed, rubbing a nervous hand along his neck. 

It was rare for the usually smooth talking twin to lose his words – especially around women –  but it was something about the brown skinned beauty’s presence that made him dumbfounded. 

Get it together nigga he thought to himself as he cleared his throat.

“That’s my niece Lia – short for Amalia. She’s 2.”

“Aw! That's about the same age as my daughter Samantha. The two of them seem to be getting along well.” Iris said looking lovingly at the two chocolate babies taking turns on the slide.

“Yea, I guess so.” Stack said, watching proudly.

“So Mr. Uncle, you got a name?” Iris pried, taking a seat on the bench Stack once occupied. 

“My friends call me Stack.” He answered, moving to sit next to her.

“Stack?” She inquired curiously. “As in…?”

“As in stackin’ money. Let’s just say I’m very business oriented…” He trailed off, not wanting to get into too many details. 

“Ah, so good with kids and money? Noted.” The bronzed woman smiled flirtatiously.

Stack revealed a dimpled grin as he shook his head lightly in response. “Money–yea. But I don't know how good I am with kids…”

“You seem to be great with your niece.”

“I try my best.” Stack replied earnestly. “She’s a piece of work, but I love her.” he finished off, looking back over to the slide where baby Lia and Samantha played. 

But as his eyes focused on the scene, he realized that it was no longer Lia playing with Samantha. Instead it was another little girl in the same ruffled dress. Stack scanned the park in search of his niece's familiar outline, a wave of panic washing over him when he realized he couldn’t see her anywhere.

“Shit.” he muttered under his breath.

“What’s wrong?” Iris asked, turning to look at the scene. Instantly, her motherly eye clocked the little girl’s absence. 

“Oh no…”

Stack rose to his feet, anxiety close behind, as he began to call out his niece's name.

“Amalia! Amalia! Princess, where are you?”

***************************************************

To be continued…

I wasn't really sure where I wanted to go with this one, but I like where it’s headed. Shout out to my nieces and nephew for inspiration lol.

If you’d like to be added to my tag list, let me know in the comments and I will gladly do so! Also be sure to read/share Daddy Duties, as well as my other works (which can be found here), if you haven’t already.

Thank you so much for all of the support so far!!!! xoxo

@bigjh , @sarcastic-sunshines , @lizbehave , @christinabae , @destinio1 , @spicypiscesssss , @thefutureemmywinner , @whysoceerious , @lilblckraincloud , @katezy2x

[wakandama2]

[wakandama2]

I just know Mary was crying, screaming, and throwing up when 2000 hit and Stack told her should couldn't say nigga publicly anymore because she's gonna get them caught up.🤣🤭

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Mary: But-but, my mama🥺 see! *Brings out a photo of her mama who is only three shades darker than her with a 3B ponytail

Stack: Baby, it's been 70 years and you finna wear that photo of her out carrying it in ya back pocket like that 😮‍💨

[wakandama2]

pass it around

[wakandama2]

[wakandama2]

Hey so who tf can I talk to about Michael's little vampire teeth?

[wakandama2]

[wakandama2]

My Smoke and Annie headcannon (that you will see me use in my fics for them particularly) is that a personal term of endearment that this couple uses consistently uses for one another besides their given names is: Man and Woman.

We see Smoke call Annie, Woman, multiple times in the film and it's never said to her with the intention to demean her or belittle her like we usually see the use of the word. Smoke seemed to use it to stake his claim to her or to make a point on a statement in reference to her. And I just KNOW that Annie would reciprocate that energy to him.

I know Coogler said they met in late teenhood/very early adulthood but I can see if they met when they were younger. This nickname habit would be an evolution of them calling each other My girl, My boy as they grew into adults together. (Gotta fic on Ao3 about it🤭)

Is it a little Adam and Eve coded, yes, but it just fits to me! Also I know old ass Black county couples that do this in my real life and it just fits!

[wakandama2]

I just know Mary was crying, screaming, and throwing up when 2000 hit and Stack told her should couldn't say nigga publicly anymore because she's gonna get them caught up.🤣🤭

----

Mary: But-but, my mama🥺 see! *Brings out a photo of her mama who is only three shades darker than her with a 3B ponytail

Stack: Baby, it's been 70 years and you finna wear that photo of her out carrying it in ya back pocket like that 😮‍💨

[wakandama2]

Wading Towards Shore Pt1

A/N: I bet yall forgot I be writing angst too! 😈

Smoke and Annie settle back into life with one another once again. However, Annie can't help but let her insecurities of being left being creep into her mind at same time she is plague with bizarre dreams of grief and fish.

Trigger Warnings: grief, dream sequences, mentions of child loss and drowning

Annie was a strong woman. A woman who prided herself on being able to build up her root and to better herself.

Annie has had seven years of solitude, a brutal supernatural night of bonding and survival, and finally a year of reconciliation with Smoke to push passes… it. 

She should have the strength to push past the aching tangle of rage, sadness, longing and resolve Smoke planted in her heart. Annie likes to pretend that the night that he ran away from her (and their shared loss) to Chicago was just a nightmare. 

She tries to forget that her breasts had dried of milk just four days before those brothers drove off in the blue light of dawn to the north. She pretends that the ashes from the note and money he left for her doesn’t linger in the old firepit out back. For seven years Annie bit the lie bumps off her tongue from the amount of times she lied to Mary, declaring she was fine, that the twins wrote and they were fine, and that the bones told her they’d be back any day now and Stack was gonna wife her next. 

Annie is fine now. 

The Nile was just a river hundreds of miles away from her. She is over that fleeting insecurity that she’ll never be enough for her soulmate to stay (Smoke is back with her after all, sleeping right beside her on the mattress at this very moment). She is over that petty fear of being left alone. She is over the fear of being abandoned. 

Annie had worked a strong root to heal her heartaches, damnit! She is over it, so over those insecurities that her and Elijah built a whole house together! Four rooms, a basement, indoor plumbing, a wrap around porch and a greenhouse! They built that together.

So, Annie had no reason to fear the possibility that her and Elijah’s love had combined together once again to make something more than just a home and that she could be with...

Annie is fine.

She is a healthy woman with a healed heartache! She's got her man back and he ain't going anywhere, not off with money, not off with another woman, not running away again. So! There wasn't a thing wrong with her.

Not a thing is growing in her, she is not-  

Annie is back in her dreams again.

She finds herself dressed in light blue and basket weaving in a field of butterfly weeds. The breeze cool and gentle, the sun warm and bright, water laps around her and minnows tickle her feet, a bone white bass leaps high sprinkling Annie with twinkling water splashes.

No… no water… there shouldn’t be water here. 

Annie focuses on the weaving, she can’t knot the reeds, but there goes those two big shining goldfish splashing and bumping into her ankles like a child wanting att-

Annie stands abruptly,  the wind swirls dark clouds overhead as she dashes away from the waters. Her feet pound the dirt until it melds into mud, then slashes into marshy shallow waters. Annie can’t help but cry as she runs into deeper waters now. She forces herself to stop, chest heaving and aching as she tries to breath ties to race away but is paralyzed as the water rises and rises over her.

Now here she stands at the bottom of the Mississippi river, her breath is a cloud of bubbles while the minnows racing by feel like whizzing bullets.

Annie can only brace herself and scream as two golden fish the size of ferry ships crash into her.

Annie wakes up with a jolt, a wave of nervous nausea slamming her just as quickly and she catches the dry gag into her hand. She is barely able to swallow it back when Smoke snaps awake and sits up as well at her hitch of breath. Annie shivers as his arm wraps around her shoulders then forces her face towards him so he can inspect her. Smoke frowns as Annie barely swallows back a sharp sting of heartburn, her hands clutching together over her chest in a plea for strength.  

“Ya okay? Sumthin’ spook ya?” He asks, before she can answer Smoke stares out their window turning his ear to calculate the creaks of the house. 

“Want me to get Stack to check the boundary? It’s like fo’ in the mornin’, he still out ‘dere” Smoke strategizes and Annie shakes her head. Annie gently pulls away from his hold, swinging her legs over the side of the bed so she can force her head between her knees to breathe through the sharp dizzy need to throw up. 

“Ann? Baby, what’s wrong?” Smoke asks his voice low and deep from sleep, he rubs a hand up and down her spine in comfort. Smoke goes to curl an arm around her middle but Annie abruptly stands, his touch too much.

Annie stands there, back to Smoke with hands on her achy hips, just trying to breath through this…sickness…not not sickness just, nerves. Annie’s nerves were bad from a nightmare is all. It has been storming lately, she’ll have to tell the weather man at the newspaper about her concerns in case the riverbend outside of town floods. 

“Annie? You okay?” Smoke asks again, his concern prickles the hot skin of her neck.

“Huh? Yeah… yeah I’m fine ‘Lijah. I had a bad dream is all.” Annie says in a croaky whisper.

“A dream dream or one of dem premonitions?”

“I…I don’t know right now. Gonna throw some bones ‘bout it.” Annie excuses as she sways out of their bedroom into the hall. She ignores the bed creaking behind her, determined to go towards their office at first, but quickly staggers into the bathroom to vomit instead. Annie only makes it to the sink before losing her dinner, fearful tears prick her eyes at the sounds of Smoke’s hustling steps in the hallway. She slams the door closed before kneeling over the toilet and gagging again.

“Annie! What the Hell is goin’ on witcho?” Smoke asks through the door. Annie shakes her head in frustration.

“Go on somewhere, Smoke! Just…just give me a minute.” She grumbles before spitting out the sour taste in her mouth just to heave again. Smoke still stands on the other side of the door, “Smoke?” he mouths in disbelief with a frustrated sigh as he opens the door.

“Now Woman…”

“Go on somewhere, Man!” Annie retorts before fighting off another wave, by the time she comes back to herself Smoke sits on the edge of the tub rubbing the back of her neck. Annie hums when he presses the back of his hand to the side of her forehead then holds her cheek, his thumb rubbing away the tears from where her eyes watered.

“Ya ain’t too warm, just clammy.” Smoke reports and Annie shrugs. “Told ya, that dream just rattled me.” 

“Never seen one make ya sick before… ‘cept when-”

“Let’s just go back to bed.” Annie mutters over him, blinking up at him with sad sleepy eyes. Smoke frowns but nods firmly. Annie bites back a whimper when his hands leave her face. (Is he going to leave her? Where is her running to with out her again?)

Instead of vanishing into mist like her mind projected, Smoke’s arms go under hers and gently he brings Annie back to her feet. Annie goes to pull away but is stopped by Smoke wrapping her to his chest in a comforting embrace, Annie lets her head rest above his heart. 

“You wanna talk ‘bout it?” Smoke asks after a quiet moment and Annie shakes her head.

“ Elijah please, I jus’ wanna go back to bed.” Annie tells him, he leads her over to the sink where she quickly rinses out her mouth. Smoke holds her hand steady as he leads the two of them back to bed. Annie lays down but stops Smoke from tucking the sheet back around her, the action makes Smoke lift an eyebrow in question. Annie smacks her lips, Smoke sighs and climbs in on the other side.

“No cover?”

“Too hot.”

“Too hot? You ain’t complain bout that in a while.” Smoke notes, easing back in bed. He extends his arm out and Annie shuffles into the space he’s made. Her head resting over his heart when his arm then cuddles her close by the shoulders. Annie hums and settles further into him, closing her eyes as she lets out a sigh.

The next time Annie wakes up to sunlight shining on her face while her hand meets the cool and empty side of bed. Panic strikes Annie in the chest, she tries to calm herself by looking at the clock on the wall, it reads 10:06 and that makes her scramble out of bed to search for her man (again.)

The sheets tangle around the bottom of her legs causing Annie to yelp as her side crashes into the vanity. Annie holds on to the edge of the wood trying to get her breathing under control (Why and the world wouldn’t Smoke wake her up, it’s so late! )

“Elijah!” she chokes out with tears prickling her eyes. 

Silence. It feels like water is filling her lungs and the sharp bards of catfish cut her calves.

“Elijah!” Annie calls out louder this time. A cabinet door closes loudly and a gruff, “Huh?” answers her from the kitchen. 

Annie swallows down her lump of panic until it melts into a fading anxiousness at his clueless answer. She roughly wipes away the stray tears and slips into her house coat. Annie made way to the kitchen with quick steps, Smoke meets her in the doorway. In one hand is a bowl of scrambled eggs with a buttermilk biscuit drowned with apple butter and the other a chilled lemonade. 

“There ya is.” Annie mumbles, more to herself than to him, then gives him a kiss. 

“Mornin’” Smoke says as soon as his lips are free. There is a soft somberness in his tone before Annie can linger about it; Smoke presses the bowl into her hands before turning back into the kitchen. Annie hums as she makes her way through the back door and onto their porch, Smoke follows behind her with peach preserves smothering his biscuits and a steaming coffee mug. The two settle into their respective chairs on the west facing deck, Annie squints at the three-room shotgun cabin at the edge of their new property line as she eats.

The cabin is a solid thing painted creamy white to reflect the light with a slimmer porch tucked behind three huge jasmine shrubs to block more light. A big outdoor tub rests on the north side of it and the only window on it is two skinny panels of frosted glass facing east towards them. A navy wool curtain is currently pulled taught to close as if not to let a single steam of sunlight in. Annie looks down to see two sets of deer antlers covered in dried blood resting on the path leading up to the cabin door. 

“Glad they got back in time last night. Mary said Stack’s been lingering until it’s blue dawn.” Annie says and Smoke hums as he lights his pipe. 

“Had ‘im do another patrol around the riverbend fo’ they went in fo’ the day. Since ya was spooked I had ‘im make sure them honkies stay in they spot.” Smoke says as he smoothly puffs out a cloud of tobacco high over their heads. Annie resisted the urge to take a deep whiff of it like she did when she was first preg-

Annie stuffs a forkful of eggs in her mouth to shake away the ridiculous thought. Smoke puffs again and Annie takes a swallow of lemonade to chase the urge off again, maybe she was wanting the habit. (she hasn’t smoked tobacco since she was 14 and tried to impress Smoke by stealing a pull off his cig, she promptly choked on it)

“You ain’t have to do that for me.” Annie says and Smoke shakes his head. 

“Why wouldn’t I? You talkin’ nonsense.” 

Annie rolls her eyes then makes a point to lay her legs over his and look away. Smoke chuckles at her antics continuing to smoke and eat. It’s Annie’s turn to giggle when he locks their ankles together. Soon the bugs buzz and some of Annie’s goats and chickens belt for attention, the birds call out loudly for one another overhead. Annie takes a deep breath, trying to smell for the chance of rain (not to smell tobacco!), instead she sneezes like a barn kitten on the pollen and Smoke smothers laugh behind a gulp of coffee. 

He is quick to dodge to the left when Annie goes to pinch his side.

“Dontcha laugh, Man!”

“I ain’t say a word, Woman!” 

“Yeah right. Whats the plan for today?” Annie asks

“Well, first imma leave ya again. Imma promise to write, then never do it. And the-”

“Da fuck you say!?” Annie spits, she whirls her legs away from him then slams her feet to the ground as she stands. A desperate and hurtful fury fills her as she glares down into Smoke’s bewildered eyes.

“What da fuck you heard? I said we going to Bo’s to getcha libation stuff!” he argues as he scrambles up as well, breakfast and pipe abandoned to his chair.

Annie blinks hard at him, once, twice, on the third time she opens her eyes to see Smoke’s has stepped in close and his hand cradles her face. Seeming to search Annie’s eyes for any kinda answer to this shifting pendulum of emotions from her.

Smoke frowns in deep concern, Annie can practically taste the sadness rolling off of him at her behavior. (The fuck he sad for? He can just leave all the sadness in her like last time) She tries to look away but Smoke won’t allow it, stepping in another step and enclosing her between himself and the porch post.

“Now, Antonia Moore, you talk to ya husband now.” Smoke instructs with a pointed look and Annie scoffs.

“Oh, so now my husband likes talkin’? Took ya eight years to learn that new trick huh?” Annie snaps. Smoke’s eyebrows shoot up, his hands drags down until the rest on her shoulders to hold down his tremors.

“Annie? What the hell is wrong? Ya sick or sumthin’? Or is it-” Smoke asks again, pushing past Annie’s anger to get to her hurt. Annie shakes his hands off her and marches down the porch steps towards their daughters tree “Or is it what? What you know, Smoke?” Annie snaps once more. 

"You own my name woman, you betta use it. Now talk to me Ann, I'm hurting too." Smoke scolds as he grabs Annie’s wrist to stop her running off. Annie whirls around, at the last minute forcing her free hand down to clutch the fabric of Smoke’s shirt so she wouldn’t hit him. Smoke bites his lip as tears gather in the corners of his eyes to see Annie shaking with the energy of emotions she refused to communicate to him. 

But he had an idea for this cause. 

“You best unhand me! Fuck you know about how I hurt?” Annie argues, tears in her voice as well to see him tearing up. Her chest burns in an aching familiar way that Annie must swallow down and push past. Her mind is a haze of fury and hurt that want to drown her. Smoke shakes his head, pulling her close again he rests his hand over hers on his chest. 

It's gonna rain today, Annie can feel it.

“Today’s July 1st…. I’m sorry today’s July 1st.” is all Elijah says in a croaky whisper.

Those words are like scissors on puppet strings and Smoke braces the both of them as Annie’s knees buckle. Annie collapses into his arms, forehead knocking his chin and all Smoke can do is hold her tight and ease them to the ground as she wails. It is a sound Annie hasn’t let out in eight years, a deep bellied, soul shattering wail that silences the buzz of bugs and animal calls, it even pauses the wind from jiggling her blue glass chimes, even the heat goes still, choking the air.

Smoke lets his own tears roll as Annie pounds the side of chest with a mix of hysterical and weak thumps. Annie alternates between clutching him back and buckling around as if to tear out of her skin as she cries. Smoke holds on strong and steady to her while the black curtain across the way moves and waves, tugs taunt as if someone was fighting the decision to open it wide to the morning sun. 

It is the same wail of aching grief that Annie cried when her daughter let out her last breath at just 9 months old.  

---

Comment for taglist add!

Taglist: @brownskincheyenne @lizbehave @bigjh @uzumaki-rebellion @milkywayzard @biancalhurttt @partylikemajima @pastelprintessa @c0tt0ncandi @theethighpriestess @blowmymbackout @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @kdoxkeic @hdfen2474 @milkywaydoll @leahnicole1219 @margepimpson @melodyofmbaku

[wakandama2]

GET HIS ASS😝🍿

brat!reader gonna get her lick back one way or another…. | song in ig story

🧁 @prettyfilmz , @hallucinagin , @woahitslucyylu , @queenofklonnie22 , @cafeluvs , @earthreturn , @bl3ssyn , @michifilmz , @tonichildsdaughterduh , @thebumbqueen , @tojisteddy , @nahimjustfeelingit-writes, @christinabae , @ami-s-k , @luna-thecreator

[wakandama2]

Oop 👀🍿

brat!reader finding out elijah got caught at his exs house..

🧁 @prettyfilmz , @hallucinagin , @woahitslucyylu , @queenofklonnie22 , @cafeluvs , @earthreturn , @bl3ssyn , @michifilmz , @tonichildsdaughterduh , @thebumbqueen , @tojisteddy , @nahimjustfeelingit-writes , @christinabae , @ami-s-k , @luna-thecreator

[wakandama2]

🫡🫡🫡

Okay writers another set of prompts. This was inspired by a few fics I’ve read (AND LOVED)!

@blackpantherismyish ‘s storys: Tell Me You Missed It & Smoke Signals pt. 1 has me craving more.

• Possessive Smoke

• Possessive Stack

• Possessive Annie

• Possessive Pearline

• Very OOC but Possessive Sammie

[wakandama2]

Ok, I'm on lole rewatch 12 or 13, and i noticed so the suits... we know Stack dressed them, but its deeper than that. So they were working for the mob and allegedly playing both sides, the Italian and the Irish. Stack's suit is more in line with the italian American style of menswear, whereas Smoke's is more traditionally irish American. That can lead us to believe thay one was working for the Italians (and Stack's personality is more on line with the typical Italian american gangster loud, brash, crude) and the other for the Irish (and Smoke's temperament would be way better suited for the Irish, quit, cold takes care of business. ) and they were likely pretending to be 1 person, and THAT'S how they ripped off both mobs.

Yes!!!! I've read this theory too and it makes since with a lot of the dialogue and Spotify clues left behind by Coogler. I'm actual wanting to explore this is a Stack Fic I'm cooking rn 😁

[wakandama2]

Wading Towards Shore Pt1

A/N: I bet yall forgot I be writing angst too! 😈

Smoke and Annie settle back into life with one another once again. However, Annie can't help but let her insecurities of being left being creep into her mind at same time she is plague with bizarre dreams of grief and fish.

Trigger Warnings: grief, dream sequences, mentions of child loss and drowning

Annie was a strong woman. A woman who prided herself on being able to build up her root and to better herself.

Annie has had seven years of solitude, a brutal supernatural night of bonding and survival, and finally a year of reconciliation with Smoke to push passes… it. 

She should have the strength to push past the aching tangle of rage, sadness, longing and resolve Smoke planted in her heart. Annie likes to pretend that the night that he ran away from her (and their shared loss) to Chicago was just a nightmare. 

She tries to forget that her breasts had dried of milk just four days before those brothers drove off in the blue light of dawn to the north. She pretends that the ashes from the note and money he left for her doesn’t linger in the old firepit out back. For seven years Annie bit the lie bumps off her tongue from the amount of times she lied to Mary, declaring she was fine, that the twins wrote and they were fine, and that the bones told her they’d be back any day now and Stack was gonna wife her next. 

Annie is fine now. 

The Nile was just a river hundreds of miles away from her. She is over that fleeting insecurity that she’ll never be enough for her soulmate to stay (Smoke is back with her after all, sleeping right beside her on the mattress at this very moment). She is over that petty fear of being left alone. She is over the fear of being abandoned. 

Annie had worked a strong root to heal her heartaches, damnit! She is over it, so over those insecurities that her and Elijah built a whole house together! Four rooms, a basement, indoor plumbing, a wrap around porch and a greenhouse! They built that together.

So, Annie had no reason to fear the possibility that her and Elijah’s love had combined together once again to make something more than just a home and that she could be with...

Annie is fine.

She is a healthy woman with a healed heartache! She's got her man back and he ain't going anywhere, not off with money, not off with another woman, not running away again. So! There wasn't a thing wrong with her.

Not a thing is growing in her, she is not-  

Annie is back in her dreams again.

She finds herself dressed in light blue and basket weaving in a field of butterfly weeds. The breeze cool and gentle, the sun warm and bright, water laps around her and minnows tickle her feet, a bone white bass leaps high sprinkling Annie with twinkling water splashes.

No… no water… there shouldn’t be water here. 

Annie focuses on the weaving, she can’t knot the reeds, but there goes those two big shining goldfish splashing and bumping into her ankles like a child wanting att-

Annie stands abruptly,  the wind swirls dark clouds overhead as she dashes away from the waters. Her feet pound the dirt until it melds into mud, then slashes into marshy shallow waters. Annie can’t help but cry as she runs into deeper waters now. She forces herself to stop, chest heaving and aching as she tries to breath ties to race away but is paralyzed as the water rises and rises over her.

Now here she stands at the bottom of the Mississippi river, her breath is a cloud of bubbles while the minnows racing by feel like whizzing bullets.

Annie can only brace herself and scream as two golden fish the size of ferry ships crash into her.

Annie wakes up with a jolt, a wave of nervous nausea slamming her just as quickly and she catches the dry gag into her hand. She is barely able to swallow it back when Smoke snaps awake and sits up as well at her hitch of breath. Annie shivers as his arm wraps around her shoulders then forces her face towards him so he can inspect her. Smoke frowns as Annie barely swallows back a sharp sting of heartburn, her hands clutching together over her chest in a plea for strength.  

“Ya okay? Sumthin’ spook ya?” He asks, before she can answer Smoke stares out their window turning his ear to calculate the creaks of the house. 

“Want me to get Stack to check the boundary? It’s like fo’ in the mornin’, he still out ‘dere” Smoke strategizes and Annie shakes her head. Annie gently pulls away from his hold, swinging her legs over the side of the bed so she can force her head between her knees to breathe through the sharp dizzy need to throw up. 

“Ann? Baby, what’s wrong?” Smoke asks his voice low and deep from sleep, he rubs a hand up and down her spine in comfort. Smoke goes to curl an arm around her middle but Annie abruptly stands, his touch too much.

Annie stands there, back to Smoke with hands on her achy hips, just trying to breath through this…sickness…not not sickness just, nerves. Annie’s nerves were bad from a nightmare is all. It has been storming lately, she’ll have to tell the weather man at the newspaper about her concerns in case the riverbend outside of town floods. 

“Annie? You okay?” Smoke asks again, his concern prickles the hot skin of her neck.

“Huh? Yeah… yeah I’m fine ‘Lijah. I had a bad dream is all.” Annie says in a croaky whisper.

“A dream dream or one of dem premonitions?”

“I…I don’t know right now. Gonna throw some bones ‘bout it.” Annie excuses as she sways out of their bedroom into the hall. She ignores the bed creaking behind her, determined to go towards their office at first, but quickly staggers into the bathroom to vomit instead. Annie only makes it to the sink before losing her dinner, fearful tears prick her eyes at the sounds of Smoke’s hustling steps in the hallway. She slams the door closed before kneeling over the toilet and gagging again.

“Annie! What the Hell is goin’ on witcho?” Smoke asks through the door. Annie shakes her head in frustration.

“Go on somewhere, Smoke! Just…just give me a minute.” She grumbles before spitting out the sour taste in her mouth just to heave again. Smoke still stands on the other side of the door, “Smoke?” he mouths in disbelief with a frustrated sigh as he opens the door.

“Now Woman…”

“Go on somewhere, Man!” Annie retorts before fighting off another wave, by the time she comes back to herself Smoke sits on the edge of the tub rubbing the back of her neck. Annie hums when he presses the back of his hand to the side of her forehead then holds her cheek, his thumb rubbing away the tears from where her eyes watered.

“Ya ain’t too warm, just clammy.” Smoke reports and Annie shrugs. “Told ya, that dream just rattled me.” 

“Never seen one make ya sick before… ‘cept when-”

“Let’s just go back to bed.” Annie mutters over him, blinking up at him with sad sleepy eyes. Smoke frowns but nods firmly. Annie bites back a whimper when his hands leave her face. (Is he going to leave her? Where is her running to with out her again?)

Instead of vanishing into mist like her mind projected, Smoke’s arms go under hers and gently he brings Annie back to her feet. Annie goes to pull away but is stopped by Smoke wrapping her to his chest in a comforting embrace, Annie lets her head rest above his heart. 

“You wanna talk ‘bout it?” Smoke asks after a quiet moment and Annie shakes her head.

“ Elijah please, I jus’ wanna go back to bed.” Annie tells him, he leads her over to the sink where she quickly rinses out her mouth. Smoke holds her hand steady as he leads the two of them back to bed. Annie lays down but stops Smoke from tucking the sheet back around her, the action makes Smoke lift an eyebrow in question. Annie smacks her lips, Smoke sighs and climbs in on the other side.

“No cover?”

“Too hot.”

“Too hot? You ain’t complain bout that in a while.” Smoke notes, easing back in bed. He extends his arm out and Annie shuffles into the space he’s made. Her head resting over his heart when his arm then cuddles her close by the shoulders. Annie hums and settles further into him, closing her eyes as she lets out a sigh.

The next time Annie wakes up to sunlight shining on her face while her hand meets the cool and empty side of bed. Panic strikes Annie in the chest, she tries to calm herself by looking at the clock on the wall, it reads 10:06 and that makes her scramble out of bed to search for her man (again.)

The sheets tangle around the bottom of her legs causing Annie to yelp as her side crashes into the vanity. Annie holds on to the edge of the wood trying to get her breathing under control (Why and the world wouldn’t Smoke wake her up, it’s so late! )

“Elijah!” she chokes out with tears prickling her eyes. 

Silence. It feels like water is filling her lungs and the sharp bards of catfish cut her calves.

“Elijah!” Annie calls out louder this time. A cabinet door closes loudly and a gruff, “Huh?” answers her from the kitchen. 

Annie swallows down her lump of panic until it melts into a fading anxiousness at his clueless answer. She roughly wipes away the stray tears and slips into her house coat. Annie made way to the kitchen with quick steps, Smoke meets her in the doorway. In one hand is a bowl of scrambled eggs with a buttermilk biscuit drowned with apple butter and the other a chilled lemonade. 

“There ya is.” Annie mumbles, more to herself than to him, then gives him a kiss. 

“Mornin’” Smoke says as soon as his lips are free. There is a soft somberness in his tone before Annie can linger about it; Smoke presses the bowl into her hands before turning back into the kitchen. Annie hums as she makes her way through the back door and onto their porch, Smoke follows behind her with peach preserves smothering his biscuits and a steaming coffee mug. The two settle into their respective chairs on the west facing deck, Annie squints at the three-room shotgun cabin at the edge of their new property line as she eats.

The cabin is a solid thing painted creamy white to reflect the light with a slimmer porch tucked behind three huge jasmine shrubs to block more light. A big outdoor tub rests on the north side of it and the only window on it is two skinny panels of frosted glass facing east towards them. A navy wool curtain is currently pulled taught to close as if not to let a single steam of sunlight in. Annie looks down to see two sets of deer antlers covered in dried blood resting on the path leading up to the cabin door. 

“Glad they got back in time last night. Mary said Stack’s been lingering until it’s blue dawn.” Annie says and Smoke hums as he lights his pipe. 

“Had ‘im do another patrol around the riverbend fo’ they went in fo’ the day. Since ya was spooked I had ‘im make sure them honkies stay in they spot.” Smoke says as he smoothly puffs out a cloud of tobacco high over their heads. Annie resisted the urge to take a deep whiff of it like she did when she was first preg-

Annie stuffs a forkful of eggs in her mouth to shake away the ridiculous thought. Smoke puffs again and Annie takes a swallow of lemonade to chase the urge off again, maybe she was wanting the habit. (she hasn’t smoked tobacco since she was 14 and tried to impress Smoke by stealing a pull off his cig, she promptly choked on it)

“You ain’t have to do that for me.” Annie says and Smoke shakes his head. 

“Why wouldn’t I? You talkin’ nonsense.” 

Annie rolls her eyes then makes a point to lay her legs over his and look away. Smoke chuckles at her antics continuing to smoke and eat. It’s Annie’s turn to giggle when he locks their ankles together. Soon the bugs buzz and some of Annie’s goats and chickens belt for attention, the birds call out loudly for one another overhead. Annie takes a deep breath, trying to smell for the chance of rain (not to smell tobacco!), instead she sneezes like a barn kitten on the pollen and Smoke smothers laugh behind a gulp of coffee. 

He is quick to dodge to the left when Annie goes to pinch his side.

“Dontcha laugh, Man!”

“I ain’t say a word, Woman!” 

“Yeah right. Whats the plan for today?” Annie asks

“Well, first imma leave ya again. Imma promise to write, then never do it. And the-”

“Da fuck you say!?” Annie spits, she whirls her legs away from him then slams her feet to the ground as she stands. A desperate and hurtful fury fills her as she glares down into Smoke’s bewildered eyes.

“What da fuck you heard? I said we going to Bo’s to getcha libation stuff!” he argues as he scrambles up as well, breakfast and pipe abandoned to his chair.

Annie blinks hard at him, once, twice, on the third time she opens her eyes to see Smoke’s has stepped in close and his hand cradles her face. Seeming to search Annie’s eyes for any kinda answer to this shifting pendulum of emotions from her.

Smoke frowns in deep concern, Annie can practically taste the sadness rolling off of him at her behavior. (The fuck he sad for? He can just leave all the sadness in her like last time) She tries to look away but Smoke won’t allow it, stepping in another step and enclosing her between himself and the porch post.

“Now, Antonia Moore, you talk to ya husband now.” Smoke instructs with a pointed look and Annie scoffs.

“Oh, so now my husband likes talkin’? Took ya eight years to learn that new trick huh?” Annie snaps. Smoke’s eyebrows shoot up, his hands drags down until the rest on her shoulders to hold down his tremors.

“Annie? What the hell is wrong? Ya sick or sumthin’? Or is it-” Smoke asks again, pushing past Annie’s anger to get to her hurt. Annie shakes his hands off her and marches down the porch steps towards their daughters tree “Or is it what? What you know, Smoke?” Annie snaps once more. 

"You own my name woman, you betta use it. Now talk to me Ann, I'm hurting too." Smoke scolds as he grabs Annie’s wrist to stop her running off. Annie whirls around, at the last minute forcing her free hand down to clutch the fabric of Smoke’s shirt so she wouldn’t hit him. Smoke bites his lip as tears gather in the corners of his eyes to see Annie shaking with the energy of emotions she refused to communicate to him. 

But he had an idea for this cause. 

“You best unhand me! Fuck you know about how I hurt?” Annie argues, tears in her voice as well to see him tearing up. Her chest burns in an aching familiar way that Annie must swallow down and push past. Her mind is a haze of fury and hurt that want to drown her. Smoke shakes his head, pulling her close again he rests his hand over hers on his chest. 

It's gonna rain today, Annie can feel it.

“Today’s July 1st…. I’m sorry today’s July 1st.” is all Elijah says in a croaky whisper.

Those words are like scissors on puppet strings and Smoke braces the both of them as Annie’s knees buckle. Annie collapses into his arms, forehead knocking his chin and all Smoke can do is hold her tight and ease them to the ground as she wails. It is a sound Annie hasn’t let out in eight years, a deep bellied, soul shattering wail that silences the buzz of bugs and animal calls, it even pauses the wind from jiggling her blue glass chimes, even the heat goes still, choking the air.

Smoke lets his own tears roll as Annie pounds the side of chest with a mix of hysterical and weak thumps. Annie alternates between clutching him back and buckling around as if to tear out of her skin as she cries. Smoke holds on strong and steady to her while the black curtain across the way moves and waves, tugs taunt as if someone was fighting the decision to open it wide to the morning sun. 

It is the same wail of aching grief that Annie cried when her daughter let out her last breath at just 9 months old.  

---

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[wakandama2]

To all the fanfic writers I have a few prompts in honor of Father’s Day:

- [ ] Smoke being a daddy to Stack, Annie, baby or other character

- [ ] Smoke finding out he’s going to be a daddy

- [ ] Smoke getting Annie pregnant

- [ ] Pregnancy cravings: Smoke edition

- [ ] Secret baby: Smoke didn’t know

- [ ] Smoke and Stack / Daddy Moore

- [ ] Daddy Lessons: Smoke giving advice

- [ ] Protective Daddy Smoke