#I tried to make the drawing look like a six-year-old did it

[chaethewriter]

You're dead to me [1]

Dad!Jake Sully x human!daughter!reader

In which Jake Sully leaves his life on earth to settle down with the Omatikaya people as Toruk Makto. Having a family that consists of four kids with Neytiri, everything seems to work out just fine, but what if the past comes back for him? And his babygirl is right there in front of him?

warning: english isn't my first language, angst, fluff, barely proofread, kinda rushed, prologue type of part.

Word count: 1,9k

next chapter

previous chapter

"Daddy daddy look what I made!" When Jake Sully entered the room, he was met with a pair of sparkling eyes staring directly at him, paper in hand as you jumped up and down in excitement. He closed the door with his hands before he moved them back to the wheels, rolling himself forward carefully as he had their dinner on his lap. When you headed towards him, your tiny feet stepping towards him in small baby steps, Jake Sully already knew he had to remove anything available on his lap for the tiny human that was about to jump in his arms. He quickly put the plastic bag to his side and opened his arms to welcome his adopted daughter in his arms. "Daddy daddy!!", your squeals filled the air as you pressed yourself against his body. Jake Sully had to steady his body for the huge amount of impact a tiny human like yours could give, but once he seated you comfortably on his lap, he couldn't help but lift you up to his face, his arms around her body to hug her close as she was kneeling on his lap. "Hi babygirl, did you make something for daddy?", he brought his lips towards your chubby cheek to blow a raspberry against your skin. Tons of giggles left your lips as you nodded your head to his question, "I drew daddy and me!" You held onto his shoulder to steady yourself with one hand before you brought the drawing in front of his face. Jake Sully had to squint his eyes to get used to the closeness, the little girl, that was you, basically pressing the drawing into his face. Another pair of giggles left your lips as you waited for his reply. He turned you around on his lap and you immediately took a seat, your short legs dangling against his. Jake took his time to analyze the drawing. It was incredibly messy, as expected of a six year old. A few scribbles in different colors. Something that is supposed to look like a rainbow? But in the middle, there he was. Jake sully himself. He was sitting on something that looked like a chair and his little girl was there, right on his lap. The drawing was very abstract, but it made his heart flutter nonetheless. "And you drew this all by yourself? You did this all by yourself?" One hand is held onto the drawing while the other was wrapped around your stomach.

"Yes daddy!! I love you daddy!!"

You, (Y/N) Sully, prior (Y/N) (L/N), were confused. Where did your daddy go? You were young, age 8 when he left you on earth. You didn't understand why. Didn't he love you? But he always made sure to remind you. Kisses, quality time, cuddling. He took you in when mommy and daddy died, so why is he suddenly leaving you? He told you it was for work, something important that would give the both of you a good life. Give you a good life. But you didn't care about anything of that. Being with your daddy already made you feel like you were living your best life. Painting with daddy, eating with daddy, cuddling with daddy. But he told you to be patient and that he would return to you soon. Yet, when was soon? You grew impatient, even though you yourself knew that it wasn't kind of you to be like that. He took you in when you were an orphan and took his time to care for you, even though he was paralyzed and having a hard time himself. You completed one another, because you both needed each other the most at the same time. So you tried you best to stay optimistic. Your daddy loves you, so surely he will come soon for you, right? But days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Then he missed your eleventh birthday. The neighbors Jake Sully was close with took care of you instead during the time. They were like your auntie and uncle, but they weren't your daddy. When two years passed, you decided to call it quits. He wasn't coming back for you. You were thirteen at that time, old enough to understand the reality of the world. A teenager without any goals is what you were, the light and will left your eyes the moment your daddy left you. You hated carrying his last name, yet couldn't bring yourself to change it back to your original surname.

The decision to keep your last name was the reason they found you. They, are a resistance group going against the destruction of Pandora. Pandora. The planet your daddy went to and never came back from. Like the reckless thirteen-year-old you were and not thinking about consequences at all in this terrible world, you went with these unknown, potentially dangerous, people to their underground base. There you were answered all the questions you had and wanted to ask. It was normal that you were curious about your dad, but tried to be nonchalant about it. Him leaving you wasn't a big deal, not at all. Why would that be a big deal? But you couldn't fool anyone with that type of behavior, as the liteaunant explained further than the questions you actually asked. Much more personal information. A daughter will always miss her dad after all. You learned that your father, Jake Sully, was still alive and one of the people. A painful way to know, from someone else, since it felt like your father indirectly slapped you in the face with an 'I don't care about you'. "Alive and well", were the words she told you. Alive and well your ass. When you were asked to join the program to protect Pandora, the indigenous and its nature from the greedy governments that tried to destroy it. The same governments that already have destroyed their own planet: ignoring global warming. Proceeding to pump gas from under the ground, bringing animals in danger, and destroying the nature humanity needs to even breathe. You couldn't lie, you wanted to decline. Saving the world and all sounded good and all, but you never wanted to do anything that even indirectly involved you so-called father. When money and status were involved, it started to sound interesting in your eyes. Ironic, the same way your dad left you. Like father like daughter, one could say. Yet, this was your chance to show everyone what you could turn out to be.

So, accepting is what you did. You soon started training, but it was no usual military training. You all learned about life on Pandora, you and the others that had potential in them learned to live like the people of Pandora: the bow and arrow, spears, but also hand-to-hand combat if anything were to go wrong. The training honestly went great, you didn't regret accepting the offer one bit. You felt fit and worthy, and most importantly you found people around you that cared for you. The liteaunant that guided you from the start was like a master to you. Not in an authority kind of way, but a respectful bond between two equals. You had friends that went through this entire process with you, telling each other about their lives and how they ended up here. While they were almost like warriors following orders, every night the group would sneak away to be like teenagers again, kids having fun and playing games. For a long time, it was the same routine. Wake up, eat, and train for almost the entire day, do homework, have dinner, sneak out, and sleep. You hated that homework so much, but knew that you needed to master everything you were given. It was to learn the language of the people, Na'vi. This felt like when you had to learn languages in high school, but ten times worse as you didn't even finish high school. "Oel nati kamy?", your voice sounded unsure as you tried to say the formal way of greeting someone in Na'vi, but you earned a slap against your forehead in return from one of your friends. "No, it's Oel Ngati Kameie, skxwang!"

Years of training together ended up being so worth it, because when all of you reached the end of your teenage years, it got announced that you were finally ready. You felt so delighted to know that all of your hard work paid off in the end. You knew everyone had a hard time trying their best to teach you the language of the people, so you were so thankful for everyone around you to get you where you are right now. Everyone worked so hard for it. As a parting gift, your liteaunant gifted you a katana. "It's to protect yourself, and always think of me", she joked to you, but the both of you could feel the heavy tension in the air. The grip on your katana tightened as you dropped your bag on the floor. You finally wrapped your arms around her, forgetting about the warrior exterior, that facade falling for just a moment. She didn't hesitate to hug you in return, "thank you for everything." You had whispered into her ear and pulled yourself together, being the first one to pull away from the hug. You knew that if you didn't let go now, you would second-guess jumping on your flight to Pandora. "Come on (y/n)!" Your friends already boarded and you were the last one left on the flat grounds. "Go on, child. You deserve this. And remember what I told you!" You don't reply, but only flash her a smile as you run after your friends with the katana and a bag. You all follow your superiors' suit, putting your stuff where they tell you to. With no seconds left to spare, they immediately tell you to follow them to your tubes, you were getting put into cryosleep. You still couldn't believe it. They were going to put you to sleep for six years and you're gonna wake up looking the same, but temporarily living in a dream world you trained your entire teen years for. You lay down in your tube, ready to get put to sleep. The nerves were truly getting to you. "See you on the other side!", you jokingly said to lift up the mood, and your friends started joking around, telling one another goodbyes and what they should do if one of them doesn't wake up. You just lay there quietly, waiting to get put to sleep as your mind starts wandering. You kept thinking about your leatiunant's words. She keeps telling you that you should make up with your dad or at least hear him out. You hoped you wouldn't run into him on Pandora, but he was Jake Sully. The Toruk Makto that went from being a sky demon to being one of the people. For sure you would get in contact with him. But as long as no one revealed your name, everything could be fine. He's dead to you after all. Surely, you were only there for the money and a good time, right?

Only time could tell.

A/N: my first time writing on tumblr so no idea how some stuff works. Had this type of idea for a dad Sully plot for a while and finally started it. Legit rushed through this to finish this asap cause backstory kinda lame. I'm a college student so give me some time until the next part. I need to release a novella for college so I'm double-writing a story— isn't smart of me but🤭

#jake sully x reader #jake sully #avatar #atwow #atwow x reader #dad! jake sully #dad!jake x daughter!reader #dad!jake sully #jake sully x daughter!reader #sully family #sully family x reader #jake sully x human!reader #jake sully x human!daughter!reader #dad!jake sully x reader #neteyam #neteyam x reader #lo'ak x sister!reader #neteyam x sister!reader

[randombush3]

another snippet while I slave away lol

this one hurt a bit to write x

“My mums are lesbian!” he blurts out, excited enough to attract the attention of his teacher. When she appears, he grins at her sweetly; the kind of smile that has melted many hearts, though Nico is unaware of how many people know he exists. “More paper, please.” 

“Nico, you haven’t even tried with your first one.”

She isn’t harsh at all, but he has slowly learnt to stop asking follow-up questions. Six months of exasperated ‘I don’t know, Nicolau’s has taught him that. 

He shrugs. “Okay.”

He learnt what a shrug was the other day, when Mapi told him off for doing it to her. (“Don’t shrug your shoulders at me, Nicolau Putellas!” she had chided playfully. “All I asked was which of your mamas’ houses we need to go to.”)

“Nico, what’s ‘lesbian’?” 

“Mama says football is lesbian. Basketball might be lesbian! That’s why your sister is lesbian.” 

“My mum says that lesbians kiss girls.”

“Mama kisses girls! And Mami. And they used to kiss each other but now they don’t speak and me and my sister swap houses.” Nico begins drawing it out for Paula when she peers at him, befuddled. “Here is Mama’s.” A big square, a glamorous-looking woman inside of the blue shape; a stick with a circle on the end of it; the notes he sees in his piano music floating in the air. “And…” he says, tongue sticking out as he concentrates on the opposite half of the page, “here is Mami’s.” 

He draws a football. He picks up the red crayon too, and uses both the blau and the grana simultaneously. “Mami plays football for Barça.” He draws two lines on Alexia’s t-shirt. 11. “Mami made me get 11 at football.” Nico had originally worn the 10, but then the affair had come to light and Alexia was suddenly deep in conversation with his coach and apologising to the boy Nico then had to swap shirts with. 

Then, he drops the crayons in his hand and searches for the stack near Paula. He selects the purple one, gripping it tightly, his friend still listening to him with intrigue. 

“This is me and Lela.” Two stick figures are drawn in the middle of the page; the middle ground between each of the squares. 

Nico sometimes feels stuck between it all. 

When Mami got very sad, he and Elena went to stay with Mapi and Ingrid for a few nights. He held his little sister’s hand as much as he could. He always tries to remind her that he is right there with her. 

Mami once told him that it was his turn to protect Elena. Nico hasn’t forgotten that. 

“I keep Lela safe.” He has encouraged her, slightly selfishly, to call him ‘skipper’, which he has picked up from the Lionesses. Luckily, Alexia has not told him off for it because she doesn’t know what it means. “Lela is my little sister. She is a baby. She doesn’t remember what it was like when Mama and Mami loved each other, but I do.” 

The purple crayon scrapes on the page as he presses it into the white, colour rubbing out in the shape of a heart. “Lela and I are together. Mami tries to take me from her sometimes, but I don’t let her.” 

His story – and ability to make Paula pay attention for longer than ten seconds – has already garnered the quiet attention of his teacher, but she moves closer as Nico continues. The four-year-old leaves out how Alexia usually is inviting him to training with her. With Elena yet to show any interest in football, it remains her and Nico’s special thing, and, of course, she misses him when it is not her turn. 

You usually give your permission if you have no other plans. Alexia is upset that the only hindrance is the little boy who once worshipped her like a god. 

“Nico, why did you want two pages?” asks Paula curiously, assuming he is finished now that his whole family is displayed on the piece of paper. 

He frowns. “Because now I have to do this.” And with that, he tears the sheet in half. 

Paula’s mouth drops open in surprise, as does his teacher’s. 

“What’s wrong?” comes a mature voice, a hand placed on his shoulder just like it is when the other children in his class cry. Nico doesn’t cry. He is strong and brave, like a little soldier. “Did you not like your drawing?” 

“No,” he replies neutrally, “half can live with Mama, and half can live with Mami.” 

“But now you are ripped down the middle.” 

He traces the jagged edges of the halves of his life. One leg is on your side, the other on Alexia’s. 

“I know, but it’s okay. I don’t cry.”

#randombush3 #woso x reader #woso fanfics #woso imagines #alexia putellas x reader #alexia putellas

[white-wolf-buckaroo]

In his own twisted way: Prologue

So here it is! First part of my new daughter of Ares fic! I hope you love it as much as I do <3

Word count: 2100 ish words

Warnings: mention of character death

Fic masterlist here!

Ares hated children.

He hated their whining, their crying, their clinging. He didn’t care for the drawings they did, or their “cuteness” or their wonder for everything new around them, and he hated when they cried like babies because of a scrape on their knee, or when they had nightmares and wanted to be held.

He didn’t like them, not even his own.

He hated how they reminded him of his own weaknesses. He hated how they made him feel something other than anger, something he couldn't name.

But he couldn't hate her. Not entirely. Not when she looked at him with those big eyes, so much like her mother's, and a grin every time she saw him at her doorstep. Not when she smiled at him with that gap-toothed grin, so innocent and trusting, a polar opposite as to how everyone else looked at him. Not when she held his hand with her tiny fingers, so warm and soft, completely trusting him to lead the way.

She was his youngest daughter. Her name was Emily, and just as his other children, he hoped she would grow up to be a troublemaker, a rebel, and a fighter. Someone like him. He had hoped she would make him proud, or, maybe more fitting for him, at least amused. Useful for his battles.

And at barely six years old, she was a true daughter of Ares: she loved adventures, exploring the wild, she didn’t mind getting messy or dirty, and she stood up to whoever opposed to her. However, she was also gentle, kind, curious. She loved nature, and stories, and the stars, and learning. Her little soul was still pure… something Ares bewondered, even if he wouldn’t admit it to himself.

But she was a mistake. A mistake he had made with a mortal woman, which he had tried to ignore, and he almost succeeded at it; he had visited her very few times, enough for her to know who he was, but not sufficient for him to get attached.

Until the day he found out she was dead.

Her mother, not the girl. The woman he had once loved… or, more like, had had a relationship with, was dead. The woman who had birthed and raised their daughter alone, without his help, without his care. She was now gone, leaving their daughter orphaned, alone, and unprotected.

Ares had been fond of her. He hadn’t loved her, no, not really, or at least, not in the romantical way. She had been someone he shared interests with, with whom he formed a connection with, and as a result of that, came Emily. As an immortal being, he was more than accustomed to death (it kind of came in the job description for being the god of war), and especially the death of mortals; their lives were brief, like the blink of an eye, and it rarely affected him anymore, if ever.

But Emily was alone now, without any family left, and even if he was the god of war, and all the brutality and horrors that came with it, he wasn’t exempt of having feelings (on the contrary of what he said about himself). They were the reasons why he found new lovers from time to time, and had children with them every once in a while.

Even the god of war longs for some sort of connection and human emotion.

So he had no choice. He couldn’t have Emily live with him, for obvious reasons, and he also didn’t want that. No, he’d take her to the only place where she would be safe from the monsters that would end up eventually finding her: camp Half-Blood. The camp for demigods, where his other children were. The children he hated, and who hated him back.

He was sure Emily would end up hating him as well. They all did… it was only a matter of time.

So there he was, driving a car towards Long Island, with little Emily sleeping in the backseat, her head leaning against her teddy bear, breaths even and rhythmic. He tried to not pay attention to her wet cheeks, still glistening with tears shed for her mother, or how she had raised her arms up at him upon seeing him when he picked her up, wanting to be comforted by her father; Ares tried to not think about how much she trusted him, with his rough exterior, and without really knowing him, and most importantly, he tried to not think much about how moved it made him feel.

The car stopped in the middle of the road, not too far away from the entrance to camp, hidden in the heart of the forest. Ares reluctantly turned off the engine, and silence followed, only broken by Emily’s breathing, and the faint sound of morning rain falling on the roof of the car.

Ares took a deep breath, pushing back the conflicting emotions that surged within him.

He didn’t know why he was feeling like this. It made him extremely uncomfortable in his own skin, and that was something he didn’t experience often. Perhaps Aphrodite had played some trick on him… making him actually feel something at the prospect of leaving his young daughter all alone at camp half-blood. Something like… dread, and pain, and not the one he was used to. This was pain that came from other feelings he had, that usually blossomed in his chest the few times he visited Emily, or when he looked at her from the rearview inside that car, watching her sleep soundly.

But he didn’t know how to do it. He didn’t know how to be a father, he’d never really had good role models to learn from. He didn’t know how to comfort children, talk to them… or hell, love them. And he didn’t want to even try to… because that wasn’t like him. He hated children. Why even care about his own? He was an Olympian, and Olympians didn’t do that.

When the rain stopped, Ares stepped out of the car, and went to the backseat; Emily only stirred in her sleep when he fumbled with the seatbelt, the unfamiliar task more challenging than he’d like to admit, and she kept on sleeping when he took her into his arms out of the car.

She had with her only her teddy and a small backpack filled with her essentials; Ares hadn’t grabbed more of her stuff when retrieving her.

On top of the hill, where the whole expanse of Camp Half-Blood could be seen for those who had divine heritage, Ares stood, listening: it was very early in the morning, the sun hadn’t risen yet, and the few people at camp were still sleeping; in a few weeks, most of the cabins would be full of demigod children, running around, training, and relishing in the beginning of summer. Emily would have settled until then, and she’d be ready to begin her training alongside her half-siblings to become a warrior, just as every Ares kid did.

His daughter woke up before sunrise, while he was still standing at the same spot. She mumbled something, her little eyes fluttering open, cheeks warm against the skin of his neck. She clutched her bear tighter, tired.

“Daddy?”

Ares hummed, not used to a small child talking to him in such tender voice. Like everything involving Emily, it made him feel that unfamiliar warmth he was uncomfortable with… but that he longed for when he didn’t have it, missing it.

Emily raised her head, slowly starting to look around, and at Camp Half-Blood. Her new home.

“This is where you’ll be staying from now on” he said, watching her. Her little eyebrows frowned, and then she looked at him, directly in the eyes.

“With you?”

“With people like you” he clarified, making sure she understood it “Demigods. Half-bloods. Remember what I taught you about the gods?”

“You are one. It’s your job”

She didn’t really get it, that was obvious. But she was still very young, and he didn’t really expect her to do so. Compared to him… well, his life had been already so long, that her presence in it was like a single grain of sand in the beach: small and imperceptible.

And yet, she was the only one of his children he had brought to camp himself. The only one who he had stayed around enough time for her to call him daddy to his face. The only, and first one, for many things.

At sunrise, a centaur emerged from the big house at camp, and noticed pretty quickly the silhouette of the god on top of the hill, and the small child in his arms.

Ares watched Chiron make his way slowly up to them, and he set then Emily down to the ground, helping her put her backpack on (which looked comically enormous on her little form); she grabbed his hand when she spotted the centaur, tiny fingers clutching his own, nervous. He couldn’t really blame her: she was facing many changes in a very short period of time.

“Ares” greeted Chiron, reaching them. The god acknowledged him with a nod, watching the centaur shift his gaze from him to the little girl by his side, trying to hide behind his leather coat “Hello there, young lady” Emily shyly waved back at him, and introduced herself after Chiron did “I assume… she is yours?”

“My flesh and blood” answered Ares “She will be staying at camp from now on, permanently”

Chiron nodded, and stretched out a hand for her; Emily, encouraged by a nod from her father when she looked up at him, went to the centaur, still uncertain.

“She will be taken care of here”

“I sure hope so”

Chiron looked down at Emily again, smiling at her, trying to ease up her nerves.

“Let’s go to your cabin then, young lady”

He gently guided her to the pathway that led to camp, Ares still standing there, watching them go. But Emily turned back around before leaving, searching for his eyes.

“Daddy?” she asked, with the same small voice from minutes before when she woke up “Aren’t you coming with us?”

He wouldn’t. He knew it from the beginning, of course, and Chiron also knew it. The pain in his chest, however, was unknown.

Ares told her no, and he bit the inside of his cheek when he saw sadness invading her gaze. She ran up to him, raising her arms up again, reaching for him with tears in her eyes. She was all alone, and he was abandoning her as well.

Chiron looked away, his heart breaking silently for the young demigod, while Ares stood there, conflicted by his feelings (those damn feelings he couldn’t handle).

“Listen kid” Emily still had her arms raised up, not budging, and he gave in, picking her up “You’re gonna stay here, you like it or not. Don’t go soft on me now”

Emily pouted at her dad, sniffling.

“But I want to stay with you”

“Yeah, but you can’t. You’ll stay here. That’s final”

She made a mad face at him (which made her look more like an angry kitten in his eyes, actually cute, but he wouldn’t admit that), frowning.

“You’re a meanie, Daddy”

There it was. She was starting to hate him too. Yep… All of them did.

“Sorry to break it to you, kid, but life isn’t fair”

He set her down, but she didn’t move, instead looking up at him with her big eyes. She looked like him, he noticed then, very much so in her way of staring at his face: she was fierce, but also vulnerable.

“Will you come visit me?”

Ares sighed, waving his hand as if to shrug it off.

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Maybe sometimes. Now go”

Emily sighed, mirroring him perfectly, and obeyed, going back to the centaur. She did look back at him one time before leaving, though, waving at him.

“Bye Daddy. Love you”

Ares felt that uncomfortable pressure in his chest as a response to her words, feeling like his insides tightened, constricted, twisted and turned all over. He watched her go in silence down the hill alongside Chiron, and he dared to take one last look at her before leaving for good, having completed his self-imposed task of taking his daughter to camp.

“Goodbye, little warrior”

Tough exterior be damned, Ares cared for his daughter.

In the quiet of the moment, where no one was watching him, being completely alone, he allowed himself to hope: He hoped she would be happy. He hoped she would be safe. He hoped she would forgive him for leaving her there.

And he also hoped he would someday be able to forgive himself for doing so too.

***

Taglist: @strawberryys-stuff @ladysybilchronicles

#percy pjo #percy jackson fanfiction #daughter of ares #ares #percy jackson #ares x reader #ares god of war #adam copeland #walker scobell #leah sava jeffries #annabeth chase #aryan simhadri #grover underwood #clarisse la rue #dior goodjohn #charlie bushnell #luke castellan #percy series

[hamlets-ak]

Can you write a fic about Reader and Tim celebrating their’s child’s birthday.

Have a nice day ❤️❤️

thank you so much for your request!! have a nice day as well <3

birthday boy ༊*·˚

༘♡ sometimes instead of lines, she'd draw stars, stars, stars...

in which you, timothée and your daughter wake up your son for his birthday

« Wake up! Come on! Wake up! »

You gasped your eyes immediately opening wide at the feeling of an object hitting the back of your head. A painful grunt escaped your lips, your fingers fumbling around the pillow only to find a purple stuffed dragon.

« Mom! », you heard your daughter’s loud groan as she shut the door behind her. You smiled at the sound of her little high-pitched angry voice. The room filled immediately with the energy of your six-year-old child, Zoe.

« Good morning, sweety, come here, » you motioned with your hand. She walked towards you and stood beside your bed, her lips pressed shut and her arms wrapped around her waist, amber eyes glaring at you.

« Good morning, » she said with a frown. The light slipped through the window and landed on top of her hair making it look golden like bleached buttercups. « Why are you still sleeping? Don’t you know what day it is? »

« Of course, we do, baby, » you turned around balancing on your elbows.

« Then why are you still sleeping? », she whined.

« We were just waking up, » you leaned to kiss her forehead while pulling behind her ears pieces of unruly hair. She still had her baby smell; warm summer skin, clean cotton, sugared milk. Her freshly washed hair made your whole room radiate chamomile, honey, and olives. She had definitely woken up in a mood but how could you be mad at her adorable face, her pouted lips, and her small nose that had Timothée’s little bump on it?

« But you are not waking up, » Zoe continued. « Daddy’s still sleeping! » You rubbed your eyes and covered your mouth to yawn before bringing forward her little stuffed animal.

« Why did you throw me on mom’s head, Zoe? », you changed your voice pretending it was the animal speaking. It was a game you had developed since she was a little kid and for some reason, it always made her happy. 

« It’s Marc’s birthday and they’re still in bed, Spike, » she replied. You clenched your jaw to hold your laughter. She was so cute and precious for this world. You just wanted to take her into a long hug, and never let her go.

« I think that if you give mommy a kiss and a hug she will fully wake up, » you added, a small smile growing on your face. Zoe stood on her tippy toes, pecked your lips, and gave you a quick hug. « That wasn’t a hug. »

« Oh! », she groaned in annoyance and then fell on you hugging you tightly with her small arms. You grinned and kissed her forehead again multiple times.

« Did Marc wake up? », you asked rubbing her cheek, her fingers hugging your wrist as she nuzzled her head in your palm.

« The birthday boy is still sleeping, » she mumbled. « No one is excited for today but me! » You laughed as your little girl tried to climb on top of the bed. « Dad, wake up! »

« Dad’s tired, baby, » you smiled at her warmly. « Let him sleep a few more minutes and then we'll go prepare the cake together, ‘kay? »

« No! », she cried and pulled the bed sheets to climb on top of the bed but failed miserably at her every attempt.

You gave her a hand to help her up. She struggled to move with her small feet getting tangled between the sheets until she finally stumbled and fell on the place between you and Timothée.

« Are you good baby? Did you hurt? », you rushed to ask her. She mumbled something but nodded.

« Dad, daddy! Wake up! », she sat on her knees shaking his shoulder. « Dad! » You fell back on your pillow and closed your eyes for a moment. It was Timothée’s turn. « No, mom, don’t fall asleep too! », she turned to you pulling your arm this time.

« I’m not sleeping, baby, » you chuckled at her. « Just resting my eyes for a second. »

« You always say that but then you end up sleeping, » Zoe furrowed her brows.

« Come here, » you opened your arms. « Let’s just rest our eyes for a few more minutes and then we’ll wake up daddy. »

« No! He has to wake up! », she cried and quickly climbed on top of Timothée’s chest. Tim’s first reaction before even opening his eyes was to smile. « Dad, » she softly touched his cheeks and leaned closer until their noses touched. « Get up! », she groaned lightly slapping his face a few times and then tried to pull his ear.

« Ah! », Timothée gasped, a painful expression painted on his face followed by a laugh. Zoe chuckled at the reaction she got until Tim started to tickle her belly making her collapse on top of him and burst into laughter.

« You tried to pull my ear? », he asked.

« No, no, » she said with difficulty between her giggles.

He then pulled her down, squeezing her into a tight hug, causing the girl to leave a small scream against his skin.

« Mom, help me! », she tented her hand to you with a grin. Timothée decided to let her free and turned his head to the side to face you. His face was pale, lips red and swollen, and the sleep was still hanging from his puffy eyes. You smiled at each other hearing your little girl’s giggles turning into uncontrollable laughter.

« Good morning, » Timothée whispered to her burring his head between fluffy curls and pressing his lips on her cheek.

« Morning, » she mumbled. Timothée held her hands as she sat on his stomach. 

« Baby, why are you up so early? », he asked then.

« It's Marc’s birthday! You forgot? »

« Who’s birthday? », Tim furrowed his brows.

« Dad! », Zoe cried. He laughed at her and then ruffled her hair.

« I’m just messing with you, my heart. »

« We don’t have time for jokes! », she widened her eyes and exchanged a look between you and Timothée.

« Careful, baby, » Timothée said giving her a hand as she jumped off the bed.

« Mom! Get up! Come on! », she shouted while running out of the room.

« Hey, careful with the running! », you shouted worriedly. Timothée chuckled as he nuzzled closer slipping his hand to your shoulder to get you into his arms.

« Careful with the running? », he left another small laugh. « What's next? Careful with the walking? »

« You want me to remind you what happened the last time she was running around the house? », you raised your eyebrows.

« You just exaggerate. You always do, » he pressed his lips at the edge of your mouth. « The floor was just wet and she slipped. » You lightly shook your head but Timothée smiled at your reaction. 

He held your gaze for a few moments before leaning his head to kiss you hard, his body slowly sliding on top of yours. You pushed him away making him fall to the side and release a heavy breath.

« Not now, » you laughed. « The kids are home. »

« Why do you have to be so dirty-minded? It was just a kiss, » he coked an eyebrow and pushed you playfully.

« Ah! », you gasped holding your shoulder. He beamed his eyes turning back to you.

« I love you so much. »

« Love you too, » you tilted your head to kiss his shoulder, your fingers kindly scratching his skin. He pulled back his hair and then rubbed his face with his palms as you kept staring at him, noticing the huge grin drawn on his face, caused by the thoughts he was having.

« I can’t believe it. Our little boy is nine. Nine! » You laughed, your fingers moving upper to pull his fallen curls behind his ear. His eyes moved at you.

« It’s crazy, » you bit your lips holding your smile. You shook your head lightly. « I still remember when they were tiny little babies and now... » Tim breathed out and then chuckled.

« Fuck they grow up so fast. » A smile grew on your lips as you gave him a last peck and stood up to move to the bathroom. « And before we know it they'll be off to college, » you heard Timothée’s voice.

« Don’t even want to think about it, » you murmured to yourself, cleaning your face and then brushing your teeth. Tim put on his shorts and followed you, balancing at the door with his bare shoulder, looking through his phone.

« My mom texted what time we’ll be there, » he said and then laughed. « She said that your mother has been up since five and she already started cooking. » You chuckled at his words. « I love your mom so much. She’s always so excited about our visits. »

« That’s because she loves the kids, » you said. « And you. » Tim moved closer wrapping his arms around you, his lips planting kisses from your neck, to your chin and your jaw, to your cheeks, your nose, your lips.

« I was thinking… », he said with a small smirk.

« Oh, » you muttered.

« Stop, » he bit your skin making you chuckle again. « I was thinking that maybe we could... you know, » he clenched his jaw, fingers slowly slipping between your hand. « Maybe we could have another baby. » Your lips separated not really sure how to respond. You didn't expect that. Your head turned back to look at his face balancing on top of your shoulder and locked eyes for a moment. He gulped and lowered his gaze to the sink. « No pressure, of course. I’m just throwing it on the table. I mean, I wouldn’t mind having another little creature running around the house when the floor is not wet. » You smiled warmly. « It’s really not a big deal, I just think we can do it - if you want it, of course. »

« Well, I really didn't expect that, » you left a laugh. « I need some time to think about it. »

« Sure, » he pecked your lips again and moved to the sink.

You waited for Timothée for a few moments before moving together to the kitchen. He pulled you back by your t-shirt causing you to laugh. His head leaned down pressing your cheek with his lips making you giggle.

You silently opened the door of your son’s bedroom and looked inside. There he was, a nine-year-old boy sleeping on a sunkissed bed. You couldn’t stop staring at him. He was a baby only a few years ago and now he was speaking, walking, going to school, playing basketball, and having friends.

« Our baby is nine, » Tim whispered to your ear. He pouted his lips. « I am so proud that we got ‘em. » You stayed silent staring at his figure spread across the bed, short curls of dark hair covering his face as small snores escaped his mouth. You got Timothée's hand on yours, intertwining your fingers, and pulled it up rubbing it lovingly. Your eyes moved up at him looking at the way he was gazing at your kid.

Timothée touched your back gesturing for you to follow him. In the kitchen, Zoe had already found her seat at the end of the counter, her color pencils spread around her, as she finished her painting.

« You are finishing your drawing, baby? », you asked as Tim got the video camera to see if it was charged.

« Mhm, » she nodded too absorbed. You leaned on your elbows next to her. « You like it, mommy? », she asked.

« Like it? I love it! Tell me more about your artwork, » you said truthfully.

« Girls, camera's on, » Timothée's voice was heard in the background and you motioned with your head for him to come and see Zoe's drawing.

« It’s me and Marc sitting at the beach, » she explained. You nodded eagerly and then pointed at the sky.

« Why is the sky purple? », you asked.

« It’s the sunset. »

« And that red circle it’s the sun? », you asked.

« Yes! », she grinned and hugged you tight. You messed her hair and then moved to the fridge to get out the cake and the frosting. Tim moved closer with the video camera in his hands.

« Can you tell us your name? », he sat in front of your girl.

« Em… my name is Zoe, » she mumbled her whole face heating up as she kept coloring the paper not making eye contact.

« Is it a special day today? », Tim asked.

« Yes! It's Marc’s birthday, » she smiled. « I’m finishing his drawing. That’s my gift for him. »

« Can you show the drawing to the camera? »

« Do you like it? », Zoe turned the drawing in Timothée’s direction.

« Wow! », he said making Zoe grin. « It's incredible, baby. We should frame it, » Timothée left the camera down.

« You think Marc’s going to like it? »

« Marc’s going to love it! », he kissed the top of her head wrapping his arms around her. « I noticed you put a lot of green. »

« That's because green is his favorite color. »

The conversation went on for quite a while, Zoe explaining to Timothée her artistic choices and him happily listening to everything she had to say and being a silly dad as always, while you were preparing the birthday cake writing ‘Happy Birthday Marc’ on top of it. Even though you were trying to be extremely concentrated not to ruin the cake you couldn’t help but laugh when you heard Zoe telling Tim that she didn’t want to be an artist, she wanted to be a swimmer or a « veterinariterian ».

Tim gave you a funny look of confusion to make sure you heard before turning back to your daughter. You raised your head to look at them.

« You mean veterinarian, baby? », he asked. She half-opened her mouth processing the word and then nodded.

« Ve-te-ri-na-te- »

« Veterinarian, » Tim repeated slower. « Come on you can do this. »

« Ve-te-ri-na-ri-an, » she tried to say it back.

« Yes, that’s it! »

« Veterinarian, » she nodded.

« You are doing so great, sweety, » you said. Timothée kissed her cheek and moved closer to you getting the dishes out of the way to the sink to wash them.

« I’m almost done here, » you let him know.

« Mom, can I eat the frosting? », Zoe asked.

« Baby, I don't think that’s a very healthy breakfast, » Tim replied instead of you.

« Dad, please, » she begged. « Mommy? »

« Dad’s right, Zo. »

« Please, please, please, please, » she begged you her hands tied together. « Just a spoon, please mommy. » You looked at Tim once but then gestured to her with your hand.

« Come on, get a spoon, » you smiled.

« Y/N, they are going to eat so much cake today that they’ll be sick tomorrow. »

« It’s just a spoon Timo, » you pulled his hair back, on your way to get your spoons.

« It’s a special day, dad, » Zoe murmured happily. 

« Okay then, I want some frosting too, » he mumbled taking the spoon off your hands.

« You shouldn’t eat because you’re going to eat so much cake today- », you started saying before he squeezed your waist making you jump away and leave a laugh. 

« Come on finish your sentence, » he laughed before squeezing you again.

« You need to stop this, » you widened your eyes a smile plastered on your lips as you held your arms forward to defend yourself. Zoe couldn’t stop laughing watching Timmy tying tightly his arms around you and pressing kisses on your lips.

There was this routine you followed on your children's birthday. You were waking up early, finishing the cake you had already spent hours preparing the previous night, and then waking up the kids with the song.

« Can I put the candles? », Zoe asked.

« Sure, baby, » you said looking at the way she carefully placed nine candles on top of it in a circle.

« I’m getting the lighter. I’m getting the lighter, » Tim repeated excitedly as you took the cake in your hands and moved to the door of your son’s bedroom with Zoe’s small feet following you, drawing in her hands and a grin that reached her ears. « Okay, » Timothée said out of breath.

After lighting the candles he slowly opened the door. Your boy was still on his bed sleeping. Timothée mouthed ‘one, two, three’ and then you all started singing to him in unison. You noticed how his hazel green eyes opened wide raising him from his sleep and then a small grin appeared at the edge of his mouth.

« Happy Birthday to You // Happy Birthday to You // Happy Birthday Dear Marc //Happy Birthday to You… », you sang all together. He quickly stood up on his feet and blew off the candles.

« Happy birthday, » Zoe left a small childish scream as she fell into his arms pushing both of them back to the bed. They hugged each other tightly and kissed the other’s cheeks.

Timothée crouched in front of him to reach his height holding his knees with a huge smile. He gently pushed the hair behind his ears, one hand resting on his cheek.

« Okay, » the words came out like a whisper. « You are one of the best things that ever happened to me and I am so grateful for having you, » he pressed his lips on his cheek and took him in a long hug. « I want you to know that I love you and I am so proud of the person you are becoming. »

« You are proud? », Marc held his wrist to look him in the eyes. Timothée chucked and leaned down until their foreheads touched.

« Of course I am, and you should be too. Happy birthday, Mars, » he ruffled his hair standing up.

« Ah, dad! », the boy gasped only for Tim to ruffle his hair again and press a kiss on the top of his head.

« I’ll take this, » Timothée kissed you on the lips and took the cake off your hands. « Baby, you’ll come and help? », he asked Zoe who rushed to follow.

You pulled out your lower lip looking at your son who lightly shook his head knowing what was going to follow.

« Happy birthday, » you took him into a hug, arms tightly wrapped around him as you pressed your sealed lips not to get emotional. « Can’t believe you are nine. Nine! Oh my God! »

« Come on, mom, » he patted your back. You smiled and pulled away letting him breathe.

« I love you so so much. »

« I know, you tell me every day, » Marc mumbled.

« Yes, and I will never stop saying that to you because no matter how old you grow, you will always be my sweet little boy whom I used to be so protective of and always will be in the future. »

#hamlets-ak #timothee chalamet #timothée chalamet #timothee chalamet x reader #timothee fanfic #timothee chalamet social media au #timothee chalamet x you #timothee chalamet imagine #timothee chalamet fanfiction #timothee x y/n #dad timothee

[guess-my-next-obsession]

In The Cold, Cold Night: Chapter One

pairing: cowboy/frontier!joel miller x oc (Dorothea) / unrequited tommy miller

rating: M (talks of death, bordellos, gender constructs, other wild west things, tommy is a cocky flirt)

wc: 7.2k

series masterlist | playlist

It was a hot and dry spring in Texas, the corn fields out in front of the Mackey family farmhouse dying underneath the brutal and unforgiving sun. John Mackey, the patriarch of his small, humble family, tried his best to conceal his worry over the season’s meager harvest, but his wife, Jessa, and his eldest child, Dorothea, or Dottie as her family called her, had a unique ability to see right through his hardened exterior to the vulnerable, frightened man inside.

Although she was a grown woman, her twenty-fourth birthday passing just seven months prior, Dorothea chose not to venture out from her parent’s watch like all the other girls in their small town had done years before. She liked the predictability of home—the sound of her father’s work boots hitting the hardwood after a long day in the field, the smell of her mother’s cooking, the loud chatter of her five younger brothers as they ran around the house and farm like they were wild animals. Though a part of her did crave more, it was a small enough part that she could ignore, fixing her brown eyes instead on taking care of the things she already had.

“Daddy!” James, the youngest of the clan at only six years, came hurtling into the kitchen as his father sat at the dinner table sipping on a fresh cup of black coffee, Jessa Mackey and Dorothea standing at the sink scrubbing this morning’s dishes. “Look what the lady at the store gave me and Ed.”

“Let me see what’cha got,” the gruff man said, lowering his cup and newspaper to the tabletop as he fixed his attention on his son.

James wore a wide, boyish grin as he reached into the front pocket of his dirty, denim overalls and pulled out a burlap sack, his tiny fingers pulling the drawing string loose so that he could dump out the contents on top of his father’s morning news.

“Well, what’s all this, now?” John said, catching a few of the tiny glass spheres as they began to roll off the uneven table.

“Marbles,” he said, full of wonder and excitement. “She even taught me how to play with ‘em.”

“Can you teach me?” he asked, setting the handful of marbles into the little boy’s hand.

“I forgot,” he smiled bashfully. “But Eddie—“

“I didn’t ask Eddie, now did I?” John smiled back. “Come on, figure it out. You learned once, you can remember.”

“Oh, will you leave him be,” Jessa scolded lightly, chuckling at her husband’s insistence as she walked over, drying her hands on a cloth before throwing it over her shoulder. “Where’s your brother?”

“Outside playin’ with Sarah,” James said, looking up at his mother with round eyes as she carded her fingers through his dust-covered brown hair.

“Who’s Sarah?” Dorothea asked as she dried her hands off on her apron, her brows stitching together.

“She’s new ‘round here,” her youngest brother replied. “She ain’t got any friends—“

“Doesn’t have,” John corrected, lifting his newspaper back up.

“How old is she?” Jessa asked.

“My age,” the boy said, a big toothy smile on his face. “May I go play with ‘em, mama?”

“Yeah, go on,” Jessa smiled and watched as her son ran out of the room with his bag of marbles in hand, the wicker screen door slamming against the wooden frame of the old home as he bolted through it. “I gotta talk to Maggie about givin’ him new toys every time I send ‘em over.”

“She likes it,” Dorothea interjected. “Can’t have babies of her own, it only makes sense she spoils everyone else’s.”

“Don’t matter,” Jessa took a seat at the table to rest her aching feet. “We don’t need another tab.”

John’s eyes lifted to meet his wife as if he were daring her to continue.

“If that girl’s new, maybe I should bake a pie and take it over to her mama and daddy,” Dorothea suggested, sensing the building tension. “We got some blueberries that’ll turn any day now.”

“Sure, honey, go on,” John said, looking back to his paper.

“Don’t use more than y’have to, Dot,” Jessa ordered. “I need flour to make biscuits for supper.”

“I’ll only use what I need, ma,” Dorothea promised with a saintly smile, flashing her emerald green eyes at her mother before heading into the pantry to start out on her baking.

“Daddy!” Sarah’s squeal could be heard from a mile away, causing her father, Joel, to turn his head in the direction of the dirt road, spotting his daughter riding on the handlebars of of a brand new, candy red-painted bicycle, his younger brother pedaling towards the opened gate of their farm. “Look what Uncle Tommy got!”

Joel shook his head at the needless expense as he watched them ride up to where he stood near the porch, his white cotton shirt soaked down his spine from spending the better half of the afternoon fixing the old wooden steps.

“You ain’t got nothin’ better to spend your money on?” Joel asked as they came to a skid in front of him, Sarah hopping off the handlebars and skipping up to her father’s side to hug his hip, his hand smoothing her wild curls out of her face. “Where you been all day, missy? Out causin’ trouble?”

“I made friends with some boys down the road,” she replied, looking up at her father as he quirked an eyebrow.

“Boys, huh?” he asked, his tone playful. “You ain’t old enough to be hangin’ around any boys.”

“But daddy, they’re sweet,” she insisted, rounding her hazel eyes at him and poking out her bottom lip for good measure. Joel smiled and nodded, rubbing his hand across her shoulders.

“I’m just kiddin’, baby girl,” he assured. “What did y’all get up to?”

“We played cowboys on their farm,” she beamed. “I got to be the sheriff.”

“You know me and your daddy used to be cowboys?” Tommy said, leaning against the post of the porch.

“Well, I would’a caught you,” she said, tilting her chin up in confidence.

“Alright, sheriff, why don’t you go inside and wash off all this dirt before supper?” Joel ordered, patting her back as she begrudgingly obeyed her. “Cheer up, I’m makin’ your favorite.”

“Chicken soup?” she squealed again.

“You got it,” he nodded before waving at her to head into the house like he’d asked.

“If you’re gonna yell, yell,” Tommy sighed, taking a seat on the second step.

“I ain’t gonna yell,” Joel sat down with him. “But you can’t be goin’ around town showin’ off and spendin’ like that. We don’t need people pryin’ into our business and gettin’ the wrong idea.”

“It ain’t a crime to be a bounty hunter,” Tommy argued.

“Not when you’re workin’ for the law, but you and I both know we were about as far from the law as we could get,” Joel said. “Just don’t want people treatin’ Sarah bad because of what we did to make ends meet. That’s why we had to leave the last place, remember?”

“Yeah, I know,” Tommy nodded. “I just saw it and thought it would make droppin’ Sarah off at the schoolhouse easier on me, s’all.”

“Well, I ain’t gonna make you take it back,” Joel said, offering a soft smile, bumping his brother’s shoulder with his own. “Just…talk to me before you go out and buy somethin’ that pretty next time, alright? I might want one for myself.”

“Well, speaking’ of pretty,” Tommy nudged his chin forward in the direction of the gate, Joel’s eyes following his eyeline until he saw what he was so fixed on. Tan, freckled skin, a head of chocolate brown waves thrown up messily, a pair of bright green eyes and an equally bright smile heading up the dirt path to the porch.

“She here for you?” Joel whispered to his brother.

“I certainly hope so,” Tommy replied with a smile.

“Hi, y’all, sorry to interrupt,” the unfamiliar face greeted them as she reached the bottom of the steps, both men staring at her with a mixture of confusion and awe. “I’m Dorothea. My little brothers were playin’ with your sister earlier, and I thought I’d bring a pie over to welcome y’all to the town.”

“Sister?” Tommy asked, fixing a charming smile onto his face. “No sister here, but we’ll be glad to take that pie off your hands.”

“Oh,” she furrowed her brows in confusion. “I’m sorry, I guess I must’a—“

“You talkin’ about Sarah?” Joel spoke up, drawing her eyes to meet his.

“Yeah, I think that’s what her name was.”

“That’s my daughter,” he smiled.

“Oh!” Her eyes widened in shock. “I’m sorry, I thought—you look young, so I just thought—“

“No need to apologize,” he assured, standing up and unintentionally towering over her as he walked down the steps. “I had her young; I’m used to it by now.”

Dorothea smiled softly and nodded, her eyes lowering to the pie in her hands rather than at his dark, round eyes.

“Well, this is for y’all, then,” she said, holding the pie out for him to take.

“Thank you,” he accepted it and lifted the cloth covering the top, bringing the pie close to his nose. “Smells great.”

“It’s a family recipe,” she said. “I can give it to your wife if she’s around?”

“Oh—no,” Joel tensed, his smile faltering. “She, uh, she passed givin’ birth to Sarah.”

“Oh,” Dorothea’s eyes turned soft and sympathetic. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright,” he assured, flickering his eyes over to his brother who remained watching their new friend with eager eyes. “We’re about to have supper, you could join us? Let us repay you for the pie?”

“Oh, I wish I could, but my mama’s makin’ biscuits and gravy tonight and she’d throw a fit if I stayed out past dark,” Dorothea said, offering him an apologetic smile.

“Well, you’re always welcome,” Joel shrugged. “Your brothers, too. I’m sure Sarah would love it if her new friends stopped by.”

“I’ll let ‘em know,” she smiled. “Well, I should be goin’.”

“You need a ride?” Tommy asked, standing up.

“Oh, no,” she giggled. “I like the walk, gives me a little time away from all the noise.”

“Alright,” Tommy smiled. “You said your name was Dorothy?”

“Dorothea,” Joel corrected.

“That’s right,” she chuckled. “And y’all are?”

“I’m Tommy, he’s Joel,” Tommy said.

“Well, Tommy, Joel,” she smiled as she turned her eyes from Tommy to meet Joel’s again. “It was nice meetin’ y’all. Enjoy that pie.”

“I’m sure we will,” Joel smiled. “Get home safe, now.”

“Everybody knows not to mess with me,” she smirked as she began backing her way towards the gate.

“That so?” he smirked.

“Yep,” she giggled. “Bye now!”

“Bye,” Tommy called, waving at her as she turned around and started down the road in the direction she came. “What a looker.”

“She wasn’t lookin’ at you,” Joel teased.

“What, you think she was lookin’ at you?”

“No,” he replied defensively as he started up the steps. to head into the house, Tommy trailing closely behind.

“You got a crush, old man?”

“Twenty-eight ain’t old,” Joel argued, setting the pie down on the dinner table.

“Older than me,” Tommy quipped. “Older than her.”

“Alright, well since you’re so young and spry, why don’t you go out back and fetch us some milk for supper, charmer?” Joel teased, grabbing the cloth from the pie and swatting it at his younger brother.

It was Sunday afternoon, Joel and Tommy finished with the week’s chores and labor, Sarah skipping down the road with them as they made their way to town to look around at the shops and stands.

Joel, as always, kept his pistol tucked into the holster on his belt, his eyes scanning his surroundings for any potential trouble while desperately hoping none found him.

Joel had lived a lot of life in his twenty-eight years. He started out as a ranch hand to his father, Tommy just old enough to form a sentence while his older brother was expected to go out and tend to the horse, sheep, and cows at five in the morning. School wasn’t a priority to his parents, but learning to take care of the ranch was, to them, as essential to living as breathing.

Joel was fifteen when his father passed from typhoid fever, his mother following shortly after getting caught in the middle of a shoot out in town, leaving him to not only take care of the ranch, but his eleven year old brother as well.

Two years later, Joel and Tommy got swept up in the bounty hunting lifestyle after seeing how much the sheriff was offering for an outlaw on a wanted poster. They bid their ranch goodbye, packed up what little they had, and rode off into the desert to start anew, not knowing a single thing about what was to come.

Though their endeavors started out lawful, a then-seventeen year old Tommy quickly grew bored of their meager earnings and convinced Joel to abandon the lawful bounty hunting in favor of working with outlaws, the two of them hunting out sheriffs and their own people instead.

This was how Joel met Sarah’s mother at the young age of twenty-one. She was ten years older than him, working in a bordello Tommy insisted on staying at for the night during one of their hunts. Joel was hesitant at first, but quickly found his footing once he spotted her across the room. She had dark skin, rich, brown eyes, and a figure like he’d never seen before. He was already hooked then, but once their visits grew more frequent, he realized it was more than just a drunken lust he felt for the woman. He loved her. And when she fell pregnant with his child, Joel took her down to the town church and married her before riding off again to go on his next hunt. He only saw her two more times before Sarah came, and then she was gone.

Joel tried to go back to his old life, but found it difficult to do what he needed to do with a baby in tow. The boys settled down in Utah for a while, but Tommy’s antics at the local saloon had them packing up and heading west to California. Tommy had some luck there panning for gold, but just as quickly as the last time, he got into a brawl and the three of them were forced back on the road. It went like this for a while, up until just a few months ago when they were talked out of moving out of their old family ranch by a wealthy man looking to buy it for a handsome sum, the money too appealing for Joel to decline.

That’s how they ended up here in the Middle of Nowhere, Texas.

Joel liked it here. It was quiet, there wasn’t any trouble, and everyone seemed to have an understanding that this place was for families, somewhere safe to keep your children in the midst of all this shooting and debauchery. Joel wanted to stay here, but there was a nagging voice every time he looked over at his reckless younger brother that told him it was only a matter of time before they’d have to pack it all up again and run off. He hoped this time, Tommy would learn his lesson.

“Daddy, can I go look at the flowers?” Sarah chimed as they reached the booming Main Street, her little finger pointing at a flower cart.

“Yeah, but don’t go runnin’ off too far,” he said, keeping a watchful eye on her as she skipped towards the daisies.

“I’m gonna go see about that wheelbarrow,” Tommy said, nudging his head in the direction of an old man’s roadside stand of junk.

“Anything that keeps you outta the saloon,” Joel said, his eyes still locked on his daughter as she chatted the ear off of the older woman selling flowers.

“Robert, you better stay out of there!”

Joel’s attention was turned in the direction of a faintly familiar voice calling down the street. There he spotted Dorothea, surrounded by five boys ranging from Sarah’s age to somewhere around her own. The eldest looking boy, Robert he assumed, waved her off as he continued ahead of them into the saloon and bordello, leaving her fuming as she tried to corral the three youngest to follow her while the second oldest followed in his brother’s footsteps.

“Dottie, look! It’s Sarah!” the youngest squealed, his finger pointing down the road at Sarah who was getting a flower pinned in her curls. “Can I go say hi?”

“Yeah, just stay where I can see ya,” she said, watching as all three boys ran off in Sarah’s direction.

Joel cleared his throat as he felt obligated to go over and say hello, but Dorothea spotted him first and gave him a polite nod from down the road before turning to head into the general store. A strange pang of disappointment hit him in the chest at her lack of interaction, but he quickly reminded himself that he didn’t want the responsibility of a friend. He had enough on his plate with his ranch, his daughter, and his brother.

“Daddy,” Sarah came strolling back over hand in hand with Dorothea’s youngest brother, both of them smiling cheekily. “This is my boyfriend, James.”

“Boyfriend, huh?” Joel gave the boy a playful once over and shook his head in feigned disapproval. “How about a boy friend?”

“Daddy,” she pouted and fixed a stern look on her face that looked every bit her mother.

“Alright, James, but I expect you to respect my daughter,” he said, playfully wagging his finger in the little boy’s face and poking his nose, earning a giggle.

“Yes, sir,” James smiled. “I think Sarah’s the love of my life.”

“Love of your life?” Joel asked, resting a hand on his hip. “You ain’t lived much life, son.”

“Six years of it,” he countered.

“Six years a long time to you?” Joel continued with a smile.

“Yeah. It’s my entire life,” the boy quipped, pulling a laugh out of Joel.

“I guess you’re right,” Joel chuckled. “Long as you treat her right, we ain’t gonna have a problem.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Those your brothers?” Joel nudged his chin in the direction of the two slightly older boys, one of them chasing the other with a flower he’d plucked from the lady’s cart.

“Yes, sir,” James nodded. “Ed and Bo.”

“And the other two?”

“Robert and Paul,” James said. “But they’re mean.”

“Yeah? They mean to you?” James nodded. Joel smiled and squatted down to be eye level with him. “Let me ask ya somethin’. One day, you’re gonna be big enough to be mean right back to ‘em,” James nodded. “That somethin’ you’re looking forward to?”

“No,” James shook his head.

“No? Why not?”

“I don’t like bein’ mean,” James said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Good answer,” Joel smiled. “I don’t want my daughter with somebody mean.”

“Boys! Come help me with these groceries!” Dorothea called from the shop, her eyes flickering to Joel as he stood up and turned to look at her. “They ain’t botherin’ y’all, are they?”

“No, ma’am,” he said, tipping the brim of his cowboy hat at her.

“Lord almighty, she’s a fine lookin’ woman,” Tommy appeared next to Joel, earning a stern glare from his older brother.

“She’s off limits,” James said, his own face scrunching up. “My daddy said so.”

“Well, your daddy hasn’t met me yet,” Tommy smiled. “She got a boyfriend?”

“No,” James replied defensively. “And she don’t want one neither.”

“What about a friend?” Tommy persisted.

“I’m her friend,” he said, crossing his little arms over his chest.

“Did you get the wheelbarrow?” Joel asked, desperate to stop his brother’s back and forth.

“Yep,” Tommy nodded.

“Good, now go on and use it. We need fire wood,” Joel said, tipping his chin towards the hardware store. Tommy sighed and did as his brother commanded while Joel urged both Sarah and James off towards the general store to pick up their weekly groceries.

“Daddy, can we get some blueberries to make another pie?” Sarah asked, pointing ahead at a pint of blueberries sitting on the table in the middle of the store along with the rest of this week’s harvest.

“I didn’t make the pie, baby,” he said. “Don’t know what else we’ll need.”

“Y’all talkin’ about my pie?” Dorothea asked, offering a smile to Sarah as she walked over holding a basket of fruit in her hand while her younger brothers carried the rest of the haul.

“You made it?” Sarah asked with delight.

“Yes, ma’am, I did,” Dorothea nodded. “You want the recipe?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Sarah smiled. “I’ll make my daddy teach me.”

“Is your daddy good at bakin’?” Dorothea chuckled, glancing over at Joel who watched her carefully.

“No,” Sarah frowned.

“No, he doesn’t look the part,” she smirked at him, watching as a subtle blush grew on his cheeks. “Well, maybe I could come and teach you since your daddy ain’t so good.”

“Daddy, can she?” Sarah asked, tugging on her fathers arm.

Joel looked down at his wide eyed daughter and felt affection bloom in his chest for her, immediately caving in to her request. “Sure, baby girl.”

“Alright, you want me to show you what you need?” Dorothea spoke to Joel, bringing his eyes back to hers.

“Yes, ma’am,” Joel nodded, gesturing at her to lead the way.

“Gonna need flour, y’all got that at home?” Joel nodded. “Butter?” Another nod. “How ‘bout milk?”

“We got our own cows,” he said.

“Looks like y’all ain’t gonna need much, then,” she smiled. “All’s left is some blueberries, a lemon, some sugar, and…I think that’s it.”

“You think?” Joel teased, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“I know,” she corrected herself with a smirk. “I’ll come by tomorrow afternoon, if that’s alright by y’all.”

“Sounds alright with me,” Joel smiled. “I’ll make sure Tommy ain’t around to bother ya.”

“Oh, you ain’t gotta worry about him. I think he’s kinda sweet…in his own special way,” she shrugged. Joel lifted his eyebrows in surprise at the jealousy that sparked inside him at the thought of Tommy and her together.

As if on cue, Tommy walked in, his eyes scanning the room until he spotted the three of them.

“Well if it ain’t Miss Dorothy,” he grinned.

“Dorothea,” James corrected from the counter as he scooped up the final sack of groceries.

“My apologies,” Tommy smirked. “Guess I’ll have to spend more time around ya. Get the name to stick.”

“Alright,” Joel rolled his eyes and patted Sarah on the shoulder, guiding her towards the counter to pay for their hail. “We’ll see ya tomorrow, then, Dorothea. Bring that James with ya if ya want. Word is him and Sarah are in love. I’d hate to come between that.”

Dorothea giggled and nodded. “That’d be a crime, now, wouldn’t it?”

“You’re comin’ by tomorrow?” Tommy asked, leaning against the counter.

“Yes, sir,” Dorothea nodded. “Showin’ your niece how to make my famous blueberry pie.”

“Got room for one more student?” he asked. “I’ve been meanin’ to learn how t’ bake.”

“Oh, have you now?” she giggled. “I suppose you can join us, long as you pay attention.”

“I’m gonna be payin’ attention, alright,” he smiled. “Have a good day, now, Dorothy.”

“Dorothe—“ She stopped herself from correcting him again once she realized he was now doing it on purpose, her head shaking as she smiled at him. “How ‘bout you just call me “Miss” from now on? Can’t get that wrong, can ya?”

“Ain’t no fun in that,” he smiled. “I’ll get it one ‘a these days.”

“I’m sure you will,” she rolled her eyes before looking to Joel. “See ya, Joel.”

Joel tipped his hat at her and watched her walk off back down the long road headed towards her ranch, her horde of brothers following closely behind.

“You gotta mess with her?” Joel asked Tommy as he pulled out a few notes and handed it to the clerk.

“Least she’s a nice woman,” Tommy reasoned. “Could be goin’ after one of my women at the bordello like you—“

“Watch it,” Joel warned seriously, no trace of amusement in his eyes as they flickered to an oblivious Sarah. “That mouth’s gonna get you in trouble, Tommy. One ‘a these days someone’s gonna come along and do somethin’ about it.”

“They already tried,” Tommy chuckled. “I’ll take my chances.”

Joel only shook his head as he led the three of them out of the store, Tommy’s hands busied by the wheelbarrow hauling lumber while Joel carried their bag of groceries and Sarah worked on the lollipop the cashier handed over to her.

“Dot, come down and help your mama with hangin’ clothes!” Dorothea’s mother, Jessa, called up the staircase of their quaint farmhouse, interrupting her journaling.

“Yes, mama!” she called back, closing her books before making her way downstairs to tug her boots on before entering the mid-morning heat. She joined her mother out in front of the lawn as she sat scrubbing the dirty laundry on her washing board, a few sheets already hung up on the line.

“Thank you, baby,” she said, wiping her brow. “It’s hot out today.”

“It’s been hot out every day,” Dorothea commented. “How’re the crops lookin’?”

“Your daddy don’t bother tellin’ me anymore,” she said. “Half of me wonders if we wouldn’t be better off packin’ up and movin’ west. I hear there’s still plenty gold.”

“Who ya gonna get to mine for it? Daddy’s back can’t take it, and your two eldest don’t seem to care ‘bout nothin’ except goin’ to the saloon.”

“Don’t you wish we had that luxury?” Jessa said with a smirk. “I know I’d like to be able to run off whenever I want and drink the night away.”

“I don’t care much for the drinkin’, but I would like to know what it feels like to do whatever I want whenever I wanna do it,” Dorothea replied. “Instead we gotta ask permission anytime we wanna leave the house. Makes ya sad if you think about it too much.”

“I’ll tell you somethin’,” Jessa locked eyes with her daughter. “You ever feel like sneakin’ off for a night—maybe go see a pretty boy—you can count on me t’keep your secret. Long as ya tell me, I’ll watch out for ya.”

“You gonna lie to daddy for me?” Dorothea giggled.

“Lord knows I’ve done worse things.”

Dorothea quirked an eyebrow at her mother, smirking in interest.

Jessa ignored her daughter’s curiosity. “So this mean there’s a boy?”

“No,” Dorothea shook her head. “Not yet, at least.”

“Come on, now,” Jessa smiled.

“James’ new friend, Sarah, has an uncle,” she shrugged. “He seems interested.”

“But you ain’t?”

“I don’t know, mama,” she blushed. “He’s fine and all, but…he ain’t really what I’m lookin’ for.”

“Why’s that?”

“He talks too much,” Dorothea replied, earning a hearty laugh from her mother.

“You’re just like me, ain’t ya?”

“Sarah’s dad, however—“

“Dad? How old is he?” Jessa furrowed his brows.

“He doesn’t look much older than me,” she replied. “But he’s quieter. Doesn’t talk unless he has to. And he was sweet with James,” she said. “Thought it was cute.”

“But he ain’t interested in you like the brother is?” Jessa asked.

“I don’t think so,” she said, grabbing the last piece of wet clothing from her mother’s hands and wringing it out before hanging it on the line. “Either way, I don’t foresee any sneakin’ out in my future.”

“A little sneakin’ out would do you some good,” Jessa argued. “You’re too well behaved for your own good.”

“Someone’s gotta be,” she smiled and nudged her head in the direction of the house. “Alright, I gotta go change.”

“Where you off to?”

“Helpin’ Sarah make a pie,” she said.

“Mmhm,” Jessa smirked. “Well tell the uncle and the daddy I said hello.”

“Sure, mama,” she smiled back knowingly before skipping off to the house.

“There she is,” Tommy chimed as Dorothea walked up the steps of the porch, a sweet tea in his hand as he leaned against the doorframe.

“Where’s my student?” Dorothea smirked, tilting her head at him.

“Right here,” he said, gesturing at himself. “Ready to learn.”

“I meant my promisin’ student,” she countered, bringing a grin to his face.

“She’s out back with her daddy,” he said, tipping his head back towards the house. “But we could get started without her.”

“I’m sure you’d like that,” she chuckled. “I’m gonna go find her.”

“I’ll be right here,” he drawled, watching her as she walked down the steps and rounded the corner of the house.

Out back, she was met with the sight of Sarah filling the pigs trough full of scraps while her father brushed the mane of a chestnut horse, his white shirt pulling taut across the breadth of his shoulders.

“Hey, y’all,” she announced herself, drawing both pairs of eyes to hers.

“Dorothea!” Sarah chimed, abandoning her work at the pig pen to come skipping over. “Time for pie?”

“Yes, ma’am,” she smiled, her eyes trailing from the little girl in front of her to her much larger father as he walked over, his blue jeans clinging to his legs as if they were painted on.

“Miss Dorothea,” he tipped his hat at her. “You come to take this trouble maker off my hands?”

“You causin’ trouble?” Dorothea asked, looking back to the six year old.

“Daddy’s lyin,” she grinned.

“So I got a troublemaker and a liar on my hands,” Dorothea smiled, looking back to Joel. “Ya gonna stay out here, or ya gonna join us inside?”

“Ain’t gonna be much help, I’m afraid,” he smiled.

“You can be our taste-tester,” she shrugged. “And maybe you can keep that brother of yours on a leash. He seems particularly determined today.”

“I apologize for his forwardness,” Joel spoke sincerely. “He thinks he’s smooth ‘cause every woman he’s ever talked to has been eager. He don’t realize it’s ‘cause he paid ‘em to be.”

Dorothea laughed, her brows lifting in shock at the racy nature of his joke.

“I’m sorry,” he said, realizing himself. “Forget I’m talkin’ to a lady.”

“Am I that homely?” she teased. “Maybe I’ll wear my best dress next time. Get Tommy to remember my name and you to remember you’re talkin’ to a woman.”

“Yeah, daddy,” Sarah scolded. “Where’s your manners?”

“I must’a lost ‘em,” he joked.

“Well, me and Dottie’ll help you find ‘em,” she sassed, grabbing Dorothea’s hand and dragging her along back to the house, Joel smiling to himself as he followed them.

“So, cows, a horse, pigs…looks like you’ve got yourself a ranch,” she said, looking behind her as Sarah continued tugging her along.

“Yep,” he agreed.

“You don’t talk much, do ya?”

“Try not to,” he said.

“Any reason?”

“Find people like me a little better when I keep my mouth shut,” he replied, earning another laugh.

“Someone must’a trained you right,” she joked. “Tommy on the other hand—“

“Y’all talkin’ ‘bout me?” Tommy spoke from the porch as the three of them ascended the steps. “Good things, I hope.”

“Hope is a dangerous thing,” Dorothea quipped, earning a chuckle from Joel, the sound drawing her eyes away from Tommy and over to him.

“I don’t get it,” Tommy said, smiling even though his brows were drawn together.

“Nevermind, let’s just get workin’,” Dorothea said, gesturing for him to lead the way.

“He ain’t too clever,” Joel leaned over Dorothea’s shoulder as they filtered inside, whispering to her, and she would’ve laughed if she hadn’t been so caught off guard by his proximity.

“You know anythin’ ‘bout makin’ a carrot cake? My mama used to make the best, and I haven’t found anythin’ quite as good since,” Tommy called from the kitchen as Dorothea remained frozen in the entryway, her eyes watching Joel as he squeezed past her to join his brother and daughter inside the small kitchen. “You hear me?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Dorothea cleared her head and composed herself as she walked in to join them. “Carrot cake, ya said? I don’t think I’ve ever made one.”

“Well, you had to have a flaw,” Tommy drawled.

“I’ve got a few,” she countered.

“Like what?”

“I’m very particular,” she replied.

“‘Bout what?”

“I like the quiet,” she said, smirking at him. “And I get real bossy.”

“I can shut up,” he said. “And I can follow orders.”

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Joel groaned, sitting down at their round dinner table.

“Alright, then, if you’re so good at shuttin’ up and followin’ orders, how ‘bout you go sit down and stay quiet while me and Sarah get to work.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Tommy grinned, walking over to the table by the window to sit with his brother while Dorothea and Sarah got to work. “She likes me.”

“She hates you,” Joel corrected.

“What d’you know about women, huh? When’s the last time you talked to somethin’ as pretty as that?”

“Just a few minutes ago in the yard,” he said, lifting an eyebrow to signal his victory.

“You think she likes talkin’ to you anymore than me?” Tommy asked with a smug smile. “I can’t imagine how crazy someone’d have to be to find you interestin’. All you do is take care ‘a the ranch and complain.”

“I didn’t say she liked talkin’ t’me,” Joel shrugged. “Just that we talked.”

“Yeah, well, leave the talkin’ to me,” Tommy said. “I’ll have me a wife come winter, you’ll see.”

“She ain’t gonna marry you,” Joel chuckled.

“Why not?”

“You ain’t committed to nothin’ but causin’ trouble,” he said. “No amount ‘a pretty’s gonna change ya that quick.”

“Well,” Dorothea smiled across the table at Joel as he hauled a bite of her and Sarah’s creation into his mouth, Tommy long gone and out at the saloon while Sarah laid in the living room fast asleep from two thick slices of pie. “Any good?”

“Ya know it’s good,” he said, flickering his eyes at her before dropping them back to his plate.

“Is it always like pullin’ teeth with you?” Joel furrowed his brows as he looked at her again. “Givin’ a sincere compliment?”

“It was sincere,” he said.

“Guess I’m expectin’ somethin’ more like Tommy’s reaction.”

“What, fallin’ to my knees?” he joked, cracking a half smirk. “My knees are busted. I’ll have to praise you from my seat.”

“You and him are so different,” she commented, watching him as he ate. “He’s…wild. Too wild. Reminds me of my two brothers.”

“The ones who went into that…establishment?” he asked, wiping his mouth on a scrap of cloth he’d fashioned into a napkin.

“Yeah, them two,” she nodded. “You ever…been to one ‘em?”

Joel froze a bit, his hand pausing as he lifted a glass of milk to his mouth for a sip. “You askin’ me—“

“I just wanna know what they’re like,” she shrugged. “What they do.”

“You’re better off not knowin’.”

“Well, the men always seem to leave happy,” she said.

“They sure do,” he blushed and brought his cup the rest of the way to his lips, taking a swig before setting it down. “But I ain’t completely sure if that’s somethin’ you need’a know about.”

“Why is it that you boys get’a have all this fun and us girls are supposed to stay home and bake pies, sit and wonder what y’all are doin? What if I wanted to go into a bordello?”

“I ain’t sure it’s they’d know what t’do with ya,” he chuckled.

“Is it—are they…makin’ love?” she whispered the last line, causing Joel to choke on his bite, his fist pounding against his chest to clear it.

“I—“ He shook his head, lost for what to say. “I don’t know that I’d call it that.”

“But they are…sleepin’ together?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “But they ain’t doin’ no sleepin’.”

“And that’s where Tommy ran off to?”

Joel hesitated for a moment but nodded.

“Well, then I know for certain I don’t want him,” she said, looking at her plate.

“You don’t like…those kinda men?” he asked, recalling his own past.

“I don’t like men who get around,” she clarified. “If a man wants me, I better be the only one. But so far, I haven’t met a man willin’ to hang up his hat.”

“They’ll grow outta it,” he said.

“Did you?” she asked, knocking his boot under the table with hers.

“I had my day,” he said, locking eyes with her. “Sarah’s mom—she, uh—I met her in one of those…places.”

“But you married her.”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Never liked two-timin’.”

“Well, there’s still hope to be had, then,” she smiled. “Just hope I’m still young and pretty by the time these boys decide t’grow up.”

“How old are you?” he asked, leaning back in his chair.

“I’ll be twenty-five on Christmas,” she said.

“Christmas, huh?”

“Yeah, makes it easy on my mama and daddy,” she joked. “What about you?”

“Twenty-eight,” he replied. “Twenty-nine in September.”

“Birthday just passed, then,” she said. “I’ll have t’bake you a belated birthday cake.”

“You tryin’ to win me over with food?” he flirted, just to test the waters.

“I didn’t know I was tryin’ to win you over,” she smiled.

“I wouldn’t mind if you did.”

“Your brother would,” she countered.

“Yeah,” he shrugged.

Dorothea sat there watching him with a smile, searching his eyes for any sign of a cruel joke being played on her but found none. Even still, she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do in this sort of situation. She’d been flirted with for half her life, but was never interested enough to flirt back. Until now.

“I guess I should be goin’ off,” she said, swallowing her feelings for the man in front of her out of sheer fear of falling flat on her face.

“You gonna get home alright?” he asked, standing up when she stood to carry her plate to the sink. “Could take the horse.”

“No, I’m alright,” she assured with a smile, turning around to find Joel right in front of her, his chin tipped downwards as she looked up into his molasses brown eyes. Though she remained breathless, she couldn’t help but let out an airy chuckle as she lifted her hand to press it against the firm wall of his chest. She didn’t push him away, she simply rested it over his heartbeat to feel for a similar rhythm to her own. “You’re awfully close.”

“Would’ya like me to step back?” he asked, his eyes darting across her features, admiring the curve of her button nose.

“No,” she replied, what was supposed to be playful turning into a whisper as she watched tongue peek out and swipe over his bottom lip. She couldn’t help herself but to want to trace the line, too, her hand raising to rest over his bearded jaw while her thumb ghosted across the bow of his lip. “Never kissed anybody before, y’ know that?”

“S’easier than you’d think,” he whispered back, leaning down to slowly fill the gap between their lips, Dorothea’s eyes fluttering shut as she splayed her hand over his cheek while the other lifted to bury her fingers in his curls.

Joel hummed into the kiss as his lips landed against the pillowy softness of her pout, his chest pressing to hers as he pressed her into the counter behind her, his hands gripping the edge of the rustic wood.

Dorothea’s brows laced together as she tried to keep her head above water in this sea of him. He tasted like the pie she spent all afternoon baking and a little bit of whiskey, the warmth of both heating her skin up as she melted into him.

“Daddy,” Sarah called from the other room, her tiny voice thick with sleep. Joel pulled back first, leaving Dorothea to chase his lips with her eyes still shut. He smiled at the sight and leaned forward to kiss her forehead, pulling her out of her haze.

“I gotta go take her t’bed,” he whispered, his voice raspy in her ear as his lips came to rest there. “Wait for me.”

Dorothea couldn’t speak, her olive colored cheeks turning a shade of red as she watched him walk back and out of the room, his voice soft as he spoke to his daughter, scooping her up in his arms and carrying her down the hall

She stood there resting against the counter, her hand resting on her heated cheeks, smiling at the wood beneath her feet.

Was this what it felt like to want somebody? Did it always feel this good? A blood rush to the head?

Joel found his way back into the living room a few minutes later, finding her in that same spot, still spinning over his touch.

“I…hope that was alright,” he said, seemingly catching her by surprise, her eyes jumping away from the floor to meet his. “I hope I didn’t…assume—“

“I think ya did, just a little bit, but that’s alright,” she smiled, walking over to meet him in the middle of the room, her hands sliding over his chest to loop around his neck. “You assumed right.”

“Tommy ain’t gonna like this,” Joel warned, resting his hands on the small of her back.

“He doesn’t got any claim over me,” she replied, her eyes flickering back to his mouth. “Y’know, your lips are softer than they look.”

“That supposed t’be a compliment?” he smiled and she nodded. “Well, thank ya, ma’am.”

“I like when you call me that,” she grinned. “When you use those southern manners.”

“Yeah?” he grinned back, leaning down to brush his lips over hers. “You like when I’m quiet and polite?”

She laughed softly and nodded, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “Like that you know when to talk and when to shut up.”

“Then I’ll shut up now,” he said, smiling into the kiss as he squeezed her closer, his tongue swiping across her bottom lip before grazing the tip of her tongue. Dorothea moaned into the kiss, the sound causing Joel to short circuit and pull away, his forehead resting against hers. “You gotta go home.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, still breathless.

“Come see me tomorrow, if you got the time,” he said, pulling back to comb his hand through her brown waves as they hung loosely down her shoulder and back.

“I’ll see if I can sneak off,” she grinned, stepping back from his embrace to walk out the front door to his porch.

“I’ll see ya,” she said, biting her lip as she turned on her heel to walk down the steps of his porch.

“Bye, Dorothea,” he smiled to himself, tucking his hands in his pockets and leaning against the doorframe as he watched her frame get tinier and tinier as she walked down the long, dirt road until she disappeared out of view, taking the sunshine with her.

#pedro pascal #pedro pascal fic #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal fluff #pedro pascal smut #joel miller #joel miller fic #joel miller fluff #joel miller smut #joel miller tlou #joel miller series #joel miller angst #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller x oc #joel miller x original character #ITCCN

[junkdrawerfics]

Hello! love your stories so much.

May I please request Jasper and the reader kissing in the rain?

Thank you!

Reunion in the Rain

Summary: Takes place when the Cullens come back at the end of New Moon. After six months of being separated from your love, Jasper, he finally comes back, and you have a sweet reunion in the rain.

Words: 746

Note: I'm glad you like my writing! I had a lot of fun writing this. Hope it fits what you wanted!

---

It’s raining in Forks the day they come back. The sound of it pounding against your roof almost drowns out the thundering of your heart as you sit at the front window, eyes narrowed to try and see through the blur of the rain.

You’re waiting. Waiting for Jasper.

They were gone for half a year. Six months. And each day of it was like hell. 

You missed him. His touch. His voice. His smile. The way he would sit with you on the nights you couldn’t fall asleep, and how he would hold every door for you. You’d talk on the phone practically every night, but that only seemed to make the ache worse.

And Bella. You had to watch your best friend turn into a shell of herself. You tried everything you could to help, but nothing did. Your pain felt like nothing compared to hers and the guilt almost broke you. She didn’t know. She didn’t know and it killed you that you couldn’t tell her.

But now they’re coming back.

And the moment you catch the blurry shape of Jasper’s Ducatti pulling up the driveway, you’re shooting out the door.

You barely notice the rain soaking your clothes, or how the cold concrete bites into your bare feet. It all fades away as you launch yourself at Jasper and he practically drops his bike in his haste to catch you.

The second you feel his arms wrap around you, the dam bursts.

A soft sob tears from your chest. It’s desperate, the way you hold on to each other, your fingers fisting in the soaked fabric of his sweater, his hands in your hair, on your waist, splaying across your back. Desperate and cold and perfect. He smells like rain, books, and old caramels - like home. 

You missed this so much.

Jasper draws you back, just enough to see your face, his cold fingers brushing over your cheek. You’re both a mess, hair dripping, rain - and tears in your case - trailing down your faces, clothes soaked. And he still looks beautiful. 

“I missed you,” you croak, voice barely above a whisper, “I missed you so much, Jazz.”

Jasper can hear the ache in your voice, can feel it - the loss, the loneliness of the past several months. The same things he’s felt since he was forced to leave. But now you’re here, in his arms, and he never plans to let you go.

In the blink of an eye, Jasper surges forward, drawing you into a bruising kiss. His lips press against yours, tender and desperate all at once, like he’s drowning and you’re his air, and you love it. Love the way his hands cup your jaw, pull you closer, closer, until you’re leaning into his chest, arms curling over his shoulders, fingers threading through the gold strands at the base of his neck. You all but forget the rain and the cold, too caught up in the feeling of his body pressed against yours. 

You missed this too.

You only break away when the burning in your lungs becomes too much to bear. Your chest stutters as you tuck your face against his neck to hide your smile, your cheeks flushed. Jasper chuckles, wrapping his arms back around you. The two of you stay like that for what feels like forever, soaking in each other's touch, until Jasper feels you start to shiver.

The vampire leans back, brows furrowing with a familiar look of concern, “You’re goin’ to catch a cold, darlin’.”

“It’ll be worth it,” you laugh, teeth chattering.

Jasper rolls his eyes, but a fond smile pulls at the corners of his lips. Without a word, he turns you around, ushering you back into the warmth of your house. You both change - he “accidentally” left some comfy clothes with you - and end up cuddling on your bed. 

You curl into his side, breathing out a soft sigh as you rest your head on his chest. It’s almost like he never left, if you don’t think about it hard enough at least. Which you are more than happy to do.

He’s back now, after all. That’s all you could ever ask for.

“I love you, Jasper,” you whisper, tilting your face to look up at him adoringly.

Jasper’s eyes glow with warmth and he traces his thumb over your cheek, “I love you too, darlin’, more than you’ll ever know. And I’m never leavin’ you again.”

“You better not.”

---

Sometimes it's nice to just write something short and sweet. I hope you guys liked it!

#reader insert #x reader #reader #jasper hale #jasper whitlock #twilight saga #twilight #jasper hale x reader #jasper whitlock x reader #jasper x reader

[tiny-pretty-sana]

be as one | twice

pairings: nayeon x jeongyeon, momo x mina, sana x jihyo genre: christmas fluff warnings/tags: au, unnie line as mothers, school meal club as kids, twice reunion, stablished relationships, domestic fluff, christmas day, subtle past angst, not proofread w/c: 11.2 K a/n: i wanted to post this for christmas but it's too cute to stay in my drafts, so take it as a belated christmas gift from me 🧸🤎

"Aren't you excited to meet the dogs?" Sana asks the little girl in the back seat as Jihyo watches her from the rearview mirror. 

Tzuyu looks at her with her eyes wide open and nods her head sheepishly even though she has been waiting a whole week to meet not one but three doggies as promised by her new moms, Sana and Jihyo. They also told her that she will meet two girls like her and their mothers, but this part is not so exciting to her and they know it. 

She is a really shy kid. She gets nervous in crowded places and it takes her a while to feel comfortable around new people. It took her around five visits to start talking back to Jihyo and Sana and she finally told them she wanted to go home with them after six months of almost weekly visits. So the idea of meeting six new people for the first time at the same time is not very appealing, that is why their moms have made sure that their friends bring their dogs. Tzuyu loves dogs and Sana and Jihyo love Tzuyu and they are willing to do anything they can to make her feel comfortable, safe, protected, cared for and heard. 

It has been a month since she arrived home and since then the three of them have been going through a process of adaptation that is not over yet. Soon she will have to start school, so when Jeongyeon told them that her sister had rented a hanok for her to spend Christmas with her family and invited them to join them with Momo and Mina as well, they did not hesitate to accept the offer. It would be the perfect opportunity to introduce them to Tzuyu and besides, their daughter could start socializing with children her age and it might go better than their attempts to get her to interact with other kids at the park.

A little further on, in Jeongyeon and Nayeon's car, Chaeyoung asks her moms in concern "Does Tzuyu like strawberries?" while absent-mindedly caressing Kookeu that sleeps resting his head on her lap.

Jeongyeon sighs while driving because she has already lost count of how many questions her daughter has asked them about the new member of their unique family. Since she found out that it was not a baby but a six-year-old girl like her, her interest increased and she has been asking nonstop about things like her favorite color, if she likes painting or drawing, what food does she like and a dozen other things that Nayeon and Jeongyeon can only answer by saying that she can ask them herself when they arrive.

Something similar happens with Dahyun, although her questions are undoubtedly much more complicated, as she doesn't quite understand how her aunts have had a daughter Chaeyoung's age instead of a baby. "I don't get it" she says, crossing her arms somewhat frustrated and looking at her mother suspiciously. 

"It doesn't make sense, mommy" she says fussing and raising her voice slightly "How can auntie Sana have a 6 year old girl in her belly? She can't fit in! And auntie Jihyo is even smaller!" she cries out.

In the driver's seat Momo tries to hold back her laughter, but can't help but let out a chuckle with her last statement. Next to her, Mina just giggles as she realizes why her daughter is so worried about the whole situation, maybe they should have had this conversation earlier and not on the way to meet Tzuyu, but with everything that Mina has had on her mind these past few weeks she has been letting the now unavoidable conversation slide.

"Honey, Tzuyu doesn't come from Sana's or Jihyo's belly. Remember when we talked about the different types of families there are?" Mina begins to explain.

"Yes" Dahyun nods energetically. "Some people have a daddy and a mommy, other people have two daddies or two mommies and sometimes they have just a mommy like me, but there are as many types of families as there are colors" she quotes the explanation her mother has given her so many times.

Mina can't help but smile as she hears her daughter repeat word for word the phrase she has repeated every time she leaves the father's information blank on field trip permission slips, when other children ask her where their father is, or that time she had to make a family tree. Her daughter knows these words by heart and she can only hope that she feels that way too. 

"Well, there are also children who don't have parents and there are families who don't have children, so they adopt those children and become a family. Tzuyu used to have no mommy and daddy, but now she lives with Sana and Jihyo who are her mommies" she explains, trying to find the best words.

During the explanation Dahyun listens attentively and her mother can see her opening her mouth slightly showing the gap left by her baby teeth that are no longer there as she processes all this new information. 

"What does it mean to adopt?" she asks, frowning at the new word. 

This time it is Momo who leads into the answer "It means they take her home to live with them and now they take care of her, give her hugs, help her get dressed, feed her...just like I did with Boo and-".

But before Momo can finish she is cut off by a slap from Mina on her thigh "Oh my god you're not comparing the dogs to Sana and Jihyo's daughter" Mina scolds her in a hushed tone so Dahyun can't hear her. 

"Sorry" Momo mutters as she turns her attention back to the road, pero Boo después de escuchar su nombre ladra durante unos instantes. 

"But if she didn't come out of no one's belly how can she be their daughter?". 

"She doesn't need to have come out of any of your aunt's belly" Mina smiles softly "Don't you love Momo?".

"I love Momo" she says, nodding quickly. 

"And I love you, Dubu" Momo speaks again with a big smile. 

"And she's your family, right?" Mina already knows the answer, as this has been confirmed to her by all the drawings pinned on the fridge door with three stick figures surrounded by hearts and joined by two circles with ears that are supposed to be Boo and Dobby. 

"Yes!".

"But you weren't in her belly and Momo takes care of you just like I do, she makes you breakfast, walks you to school, takes care of you when you are sick, dances with you and lets you sit on the counter while she cooks. She loves you just like I do" she says, watching Momo's cheeks blush.

"MOMO IS ALSO MY MOTHER?!” she screams and immediately adds a second question “Can I call her mom?" Dahyun asks, causing Momo to almost swerve

This time there is only one person who can answer the question, so Mina just looks at her partner with the most loving gaze while Momo is short-circuiting. It's not as if the conversation never came up, the two have talked about it many times and she knows that, to Momo, Dahyun is her daughter and that she loves her as such, even if she hasn't vocalized it yet at least consciously. On occasion the little girl has called her “mom” or “mommy”, but she always assumed she did it accidentally, so to hear from her own mouth that she wants to call her the same way she does with Mina is a big deal.

“S-sure” Momo stutters after a few seconds and just smiles widely.

Beside her, Mina feels like her chest is going to burst as she grabs Momo's hand and looks at her smiling with eyes sparkling with love. The truth is that for some time now when she thinks of family she no longer thinks only of Dahyun and her older brother but also of Momo, Boo and Dobby. When she thinks of family she thinks of her friends whom she sees as sisters and her daughters whom she sees as nieces. It's just a word, but it makes it all more real. They are a family. 

While the two adults in the front seats try their best to hold their tears back, behind them Dahyun starts rambling about how she will tell Chaeyoung that now she has two mothers too and that her mom can cook just like Jeongyeon, so she has a mom and a mommy who can cook yummy things as if it's some kind of competition. They know that at some point they will have to tell her that she should not brag about these things to other children, but for now they let her enjoy the moment.

The way is long, but they all think it is worth it when they see the stunning place that Jeongyeon's rich and famous sister has rented a belated birthday present and an early Christmas present so that they can enjoy this holiday with their other family, the one that her sister and sister-in-law have built and chosen. Jeongyeon's parents did not like the idea of not spending Christmas spoiling their first and only granddaughter, but when Jeongyeon told them that it would be a good opportunity to meet the newly adopted daughter of her friend Jihyo and her wife Sana, they were quick to ask their daughter and Nayeon to organize a lunch at their house with all the kids and went straight to buy matching pajamas for Chaeyoung and the other girls.

It is a large traditional style house surrounded by nature, away from the city, but close enough to a village not to be too isolated, to be able to easily go to a supermarket to buy some last minute ingredients or to take a walk. The air is fresh, there is no pollution and the only thing that can be heard is the one or two birds, since at this time of the year most of them have flown to other places in search of higher temperatures. Without a doubt, it is the perfect place to celebrate Christmas and take a well-deserved rest that will last until the last days of the year. The truth is that there is still no agreement on whether they will celebrate the New Year here as well, but at least they will stay long enough to celebrate Sana's birthday together.

They all arrive around the same time and as soon as the cars stop two little whirlwinds jump out of Jeongyeon and Jihyo's cars.

"BROOOOOOO!" they both scream at the same time as they do their – secret in theory – handshake before melting into an embrace as if they hadn't seen each other a few days ago at school. 

Mina sighs and covers her face with her hand "I need to have a word with my brother" she says aloud as a reminder to herself. 

"I think she's adorable" Momo replies. 

"Momoring, you are the least objective person in the world when it comes to these two" she smiles at her girlfriend. "They can literally do anything and you'd say they're adorable." 

Between all the fuss caused by the two girls who are slightly over a meter tall Tzuyu goes almost unnoticed for a few seconds as she clings to Sana's leg and grabs Jihyo's hand with her other hand.

"This is Chaeyoung and Dahyun, I promise you they are usually quieter" Jihyo informs Tzuyu as Sana laughs at the sight of the two's handshake and greeting. 

At the sound of their names the two immediately turn their heads to their Aunt Jihyo and then to the girl holding her hand. Their eyes widen and point at her, then they look at their aunt again and it is Dahyun who speaks first.

"Is she Tzuyu?" she asks in excitement.

Jihyo and Sana nod at the same time while Tzuyu shyly waves her hand without saying a word. 

They again turn their gaze to Tzuyu and then look at each other. 

"You are very pretty" Chayeoung says, looking at her again. 

"You are very tall" Dahyun says.

“Gracias” Tzuyu dice en apenas un susurro mientras intenta refugierse aún más tras las piernas de Sana. 

The women noticing how shy the little girl is decide to give her some space before starting the introductions. 

"Why don't we start taking things inside?" Jeongyeon asks saving the new family member. "And you girls could give the dogs a turn to pee, since there are three I think we're going to need Tzuyu's help, don't you think?".

The girls nod their heads and to which the eyes of the one Jeongyeon just named light up at the suggestion as since she got out of the car she hasn't taken her eyes off the three doggies still waiting in the cars for their seat belts to be unbuckled. 

"Tzuyu would love it" Sana states as she crouches down to Tzuyu's height to explain that she is her friend Jeongyeon, the mom of Chaeyoung and a pomeranian named Kookeu.

She just nods and stays silent but lets herself be guided by Sana, who walks with her to Momo's car, where Dahyun starts with the introductions. She introduces herself first, then her mom Mina, her mommy Momo and it is the latter who introduces her to Boo and Dobby while she puts the leashes on them and hands Boo's to Dahyun and Dobby's to Tzuyu who, despite her shyness, is clearly filled with joy. 

At all times Sana stays by her side and gives her comforting glances every time she looks up and gently squeezes her hand reminding her that she is by her side. The gesture reassures Tzuyu who dares to thank Dahyun, Momo and Mina and then says in a whisper "I am Tzuyu, nice to meet you", just as her moms have taught her.

Dahyun smiles as she grabs the leash and seconds later Chaeyoung and Kookeu join in. This time, the oldest girl introduces Chaeyoung and Tzuyu formally explaining that they are both the same age even though Chaeyoung is shorter and Tzuyu is even taller than Dahyun herself. Sana watches the interaction closely and can't help but laugh, her heart melts every time she sees Dahyun taking on the role of unnie as she usually does with Chae, and now she is doing it with her daughter. She walks and watches over the three of them as they explore the surroundings of the house with the dogs before going inside while the rest of the mothers are taking bags and backpacks full of clothes, food, supplies and - of course - gifts out of the cars while the girls are distracted and out of sight.

"No, no, no, no" they hear Nayeon say as she takes some bags from her wife's hands. 

"Oh come on honey, are you serious?" grumbles Jeongyeon. 

"I'm dead serious, join Sana and the girls. I'm not going to let you carry anything."

"Nayeon... Even on the assumption that I was you-know-what, I could carry this. I'm already taking all the precautions and taking vitamins, but I'm not going to be getting the pregnant woman treatment as if I can't do anything. I refuse to do that" she argues and in response receives a negative head shake. 

"Look, I have a good feeling so I'm not going to let you carry anything. And the only reason I'm letting you drive, for now, is because we both know that between you and me only one of us is capable of getting us safely to a house in the middle of the mountains. And obviously the one with the side of the car with scratches in the three colors of the parking column is not the one".

"Don't tell me you scratched the car again" sighs Jeongyeon tiredly. 

"Don't change the subject and go inside the house now or go stretch your legs a bit with your daughter before we lose her among these plants that I'm sure are taller than her."

Faced with such an argument, Jeongyeon has no choice but to accept her wife's suggestion and joins Sana, the three girls and the three dogs. 

Once inside the house, Nayeon, Momo, Jihyo and Mina put everything in order and catch up with each other. Since the group was formed they try to see each other regularly and in the case of Momo, Mina and Nayeon - along with Jeongyeon - they often see each other at school and occasionally on play dates in the park. However, with the hectic pace of work, raising the girls and taking care of the house, sometimes it is almost impossible to meet all of them together. Besides the fact that Jihyo and Sana have been practically absent these last few months, since they spent some time preparing everything for Tzuyu's arrival at home, and that this last month has been entirely dedicated to adapting to this new situation. This is the main topic of conversation among the women who ask Jihyo how she is handling it, if it is difficult, assure her that the best is yet to come, ask her how Sana has been doing and give her some advice.

Jihyo is euphoric, she and Sana are the extroverts of the group and in general she is a very vocal person, but it is more than obvious to everyone that she is more talkative than usual. It is not the first time they see her like this, she was the same way when she met Tzuyu for the first time and when they started the adoption procedure. They love to see their friends like this and Mina and Nayeon remember that feeling of being new moms and how their friends were there to share the joy, the fears, the doubts and how they listened to them talk for hours about names, diapers, cribs, milk, clothes, ultrasounds and a thousand other things. 

In fact, it was Jihyo and Sana who were present during their pregnancies respectively. Jihyo was the one who took a Nayeon who was suffering from contractions to the hospital while Jeongyeon at her side told her how to breathe, even though she was the one who needed the breathing exercises the most at that moment. And well, Sana was even present when Mina gave birth to Dahyun taking the place of the biological father - or the sperm donor as Sana calls him -.

Momo, despite being the most recent addition to the group, two years ago, shares the excitement equally as the three of them listen to the first anecdotes that Sana and Jihyo have already experienced with Tzuyu at home. The truth is that they have all been hearing about her for more than half a year and although today they have finally met her, they already feel that they have known her for a long time and that she is part of their family. 

"And it looks like Jihyo and Sana aren't the only new moms in the group, right Momo?" asks Nayeon arching her eyebrows looking at her "new" best friend. 

Mina hearing it can't help but smile and Jihyo makes a surprised face, they both look at Momo who smiles shyly.

"It seems so" she says while still smiling "Dubu has officially given me the title".

"I was honestly surprised she hadn't called her mom by now. There are times she looks more like your daughter than mine" she says to Momo as she holds out her hand and strokes it with her thumb. 

Mina takes advantage of Nayeon bringing up the topic of conversation and explains that it all came up in the car talking about Tzuyu and the adoption thing. Nayeon almost gets tears of laughter listening to Dahyun's confusion with the logistics of the matter and, like Momo, can't help but let out a laugh when she hears that one of the things she was really worried about is that Jihyo would have had someone so big in her belly when she was so small. Nayeon, for her part thanks aloud that Chae's questions were not so complicated, although they all agree that she and Jeongyeon have admirable patience after hearing that the questions didn't stop during the three-hour drive. 

Jihyo's heart warms, despite her height being a joke even to her seven-year-old niece, to hear how the little ones have taken the news. It was clear to her that both her friends and her daughters would welcome Tzuyu with open arms, but hearing the girls' doubts and their mothers' responses gives her peace of mind knowing that her daughter is surrounded by such wonderful people. For a while she felt guilty for not being able to give Tzuyu some grandparents to spoil her since the relationship with her parents is non-existent and that Sana's parents live in another country, but that thought disappears from her head when she listens to her friends. This is her family.

Not only is she comforted by listening to the three women but she takes note of their experience and especially Mina's explanation to her daughter about the different types of family in case she ever has to use it with her own daughter. 

"Wow that's great" says Jihyo excitedly "Tzuyu still calls us by our name from time to time, but at least she has stopped calling us Mrs. Jihyo and Mrs. Sana" she laughs.

Once everything is in place, Mina starts preparing tea for the adults and milkshake for the girls. Chocolate for Dahyun, strawberry for Chaeyoun and for Tzuyu... When she is about to look for Jihyo to ask her about it, the three dogs run in followed by the two children, Jeongyeon and finally Tzuyu who hasn't left Sana's side the whole time. Seeing the cute scene makes Mina smile tenderly, it reminds her a bit of herself when she was a child, so she can't help but laugh a little as she imagines how such a shy girl will handle having the most outgoing people she knows as mothers, for now they seem to be handling it quite well, she doesn't remember seeing Sana this calm in her life. 

"Tzuyu, which milkshake do you prefer? We have chocolate, strawberry and vanilla" she asks her.

The girl looks first at her mother who gives her a little squeeze on the shoulder encouraging her to answer herself, even though she already knows the answer.

"Vanilla, please. Thank you" she replies immediately.

"Good choice. Dahyun is going to be delighted but you might break Chaeyoung's heart". 

"Don't worry about that part, Mitang. We brought that ice cream that has all three flavors and I think everyone will be happy" says Sana looking at her daughter. 

"Is Jihyo still competing with Nayeon for the favorite aunt spot?" Mina asks while Sana nods, rolling her eyes. "I think Nayeon brought the ingredients to make hot chocolate, I just hope Dahyun doesn't try to eat it all." 

Sana laughs and replies "If it happens let's hope then he won't get a stomach ache like that time. I just can't stop Jihyo, you know how she is. She is very sexy when she gets into competitive mode." 

"Have some decorum" she says laughing, covering half of her face with her hand and looking towards the little girl. "I can imagine, it's going to be fun when school starts. Remember when Nayeon almost got into a fight with a parent on sports day."

The two laugh while Tzuyu plays distractedly with the seams of her mother's pants and also with her hands and rings. The conversation does not last much longer because when the girl sees the dogs, she asks her mother to come with her to play with them.

As soon as Sana disappears from the kitchen Jeongyeon shows up, offering to help Mina, but they both know it's just an excuse. Like Momo and Nayeon, they haven't known each other practically all their lives - as is Jeongyeon's case with Nayeon and Jihyo - but from the beginning they connected very well and are now quite close probably because of how similar their personalities are. Being two people who sometimes deal with a bit of anxiety and have a tendency to overthink, they have found someone to lean on who understands them.

"You haven't done it yet, have you? "Jeongyeon asks Mina first. 

She shakes her head "I've tried, I promise. But the truth I'm glad I waited, if you give me a hand tonight I think I will do it" she says, unable to hide her gummy smile as she thinks about it.

"Yeah sure, just tell me what you have in mind and we'll find time to set it up."

"Same goes for you, I overheard your conversation with Nayeon earlier. So if there's anything I can help with, let me know" she offers.

"Don't worry about me, I've got it all planned out, Mitang" she tells her as she starts placing the cups of tea and milkshakes on a tray. "Or should I say bro" she teases her. 

"Oh shut up Jeong, I'm regretting letting my brother babysit. The other day she called me 'bro'!" she says making her friend laugh.

When Mina and Jeongyeon appear in the living room, they all sit around a table and start drinking tea while the girls drink their smoothies, obviously Tzuyu's choice of flavor doesn't go unnoticed by the other two. Just as Mina predicted, Dahyun couldn't be happier to keep all the chocolate for herself while Chaeyoung is a little put off that her new friend doesn't share her passion for strawberries, although she is more reassured when she tells her that her favorite is vanilla but she also really likes strawberries. Chae and Dahyun soon get up to start exploring the house and play hide and seek while Tzuyu, still overwhelmed by all these new people, stays by herself playing with the dogs.

She talks to them, throws the ball and tries to teach them tricks although the only one who responds to her commands is Kookeu.  They all look at Tzuyu with adoring eyes as they see how tender she is with the animals while Nayeon's look of pride is directed at her beloved dog. Still she can't resist how adorable her new niece is so she takes the moment to introduce herself while showing her the tricks she has taught the pomeranian, making Tzuyu feel more comfortable. She is a shy and quiet girl and it is normal that the situation is too much for her, but as soon as they start talking about dogs, Nayeon gets to see the Tzuyu that Jihyo and Sana have already known within the walls of their home. She is lively, smiling, intelligent and can become talkative when the topic of conversation interests her, at least if it's about dogs.

After a while Chayeoung goes to look for Tzuyu who is still playing with Kookeu and her mom while Dahyun makes a loud announcement for the adults. It seems that they have found a Christmas tree so big that it almost touches the ceiling with some boxes around it with all kinds of decorations in one of the rooms of the house, some of them similar to the ones they have at home and the ones they themselves have made at school. For the girls it is something magical and the adults let them believe it. 

The next few hours they are all together decorating the tree, both kids and adults, while talking, laughing and singing. The end result is... colorful and eclectic. The tree has lights, ornaments of different colors and shapes that they had at home, the girls have collaborated with diy decorations full of glitter and doodles and some stuffed animals and superhero toys and even Mina and Jeongyeon have made their contribution with ornaments made of LEGO. All that's left is to put the star on the top of the tree.

Deciding who puts the star turns into a rock-paper-scissors competition between Chaeyoung and Dahyun, but also between Nayeon and Jihyo who want their daughters to place the star. After three rounds, Sana encourages her wife who has already rolled up her shirt sleeves showing her shoulders and put her cap on backwards and it is not until Jeongyeon sees the same competitive expression on her wife and daughter's face that she decides to put an end to it. Fortunately, they make the wise decision to have the three girls together put on the star with the help of their mothers. Jeongyeon, being the tallest of them all, has no problem holding Chaeyoung in her arms. Mina is a little taller than Momo, but her daughter has grown up and she finds it harder and harder to carry her in her arms as she did before, so the girl ends up in the arms of the oldest one. The same happens with Sana and Jihyo, however, Jihyo's strength does not make up for her height even though Tzuyu is quite tall so she reluctantly lets Sana hold Tzuyu while Nayeon looks at her amused.

Each of the little hands holds a part of the star with the help of their mothers and it is Nayeon who captures the moment first with her film camera and then with her phone, sending the photos to the group chat instantly. As soon as she receives the photo, Mina smiles when she sees one of them with only Momo and her daughter in it and quickly makes it her new lockscreen. The camera stays in Nayeon's hands for the rest of the day. 

Decorating the tree together gets the youngest out of her shell, she continues to play with the dogs, but she also starts playing with Dahyun and Chaeyoung. They run around the house for a while until Chaeyoung takes out her notebooks, coloring books and crayons. In the kitchen Jeongyeon, Momo and Mina prepare lunch and in the dining room Sana, Jihyo and Nayeon set the table. The house is full of voices, laughter, jokes, curious questions from the girls and some barking from the dogs and the girls. When the food is ready all nine manage to adjust to the small table eating with their arms glued to the one next to them. They wouldn't change it for the world, but they comment that they should come back during the spring or summer so they might be able to eat at the large outdoor table under the sakura tree to enjoy the beautiful place where they are. From that moment some of them take out their phones and start looking at dates on the calendar, but Mina's mind travels to other places when she hears that the big tree outside the house is a sakura.

After eating and cleaning up together with the help of their daughters, they go around the house. Surprisingly, they get the girls to agree to take a nap, probably tired from being up early and having been awake throughout the long car ride. Jihyo joins them, as do Boo and Dobby who find a gap between Dahyun and Tzuyu, the younger one snuggles up to Jihyo's chest who even in her sleep puts her arms around her protectively, something that comes naturally to her.

In another room the rest have some Japanese sweets made by Mina and Momo with a game of cards between them, without Jihyo and Chaeyoung, there is no one to fuel Nayeon's competitiveness, leading to the most peaceful card game they have had in their life. It's certainly something that tends to happen when Nayeon is around Mina as long as Jihyo and some kind of game, competition or betting isn't also present and it seems that Tzuyu has that same effect on her mothers. But like all good things, the quiet is short lived and in less than an hour the girls wake up and show up with Jihyo, she could still take another hour of rest. She instead sits behind Sana resting her chin on her shoulder and wrapping her arms around her until she realizes that her wife has some cards in her hands and after giving Nayeon a defiant look she starts whispering a strategy in her partner's ear.

Dahyun realizes that they are playing cards and runs to her backpack and takes out her UNO for children and they start a more serious and less noisy game than their mothers. If it wasn't for the colors and the animals that appear on the cards, anyone would think that they are the ones who are betting money and not Jihyo and Nayeon who keep shouting while Sana only laughs. This time it is Momo who captures the moment on film after being the first to lose in the game. She stealthily sits next to Dobby and Boo and caresses them while watching and listening to them, she can't help but smile as she listens to the questions they ask Tzuyu trying to get to know her. When the game ends in a draw by Dahyun's decision and without any protest from Chaeyoung and Tzuyu, even though Momo doubts they have understood the game well, she finally asks.

"Who wants to make cookies?". 

The question revolts the three little girls who immediately get up and squeal an enthusiastic "YES YES YES!" in unison joined by an excited Sana. 

Momo takes them to the kitchen where there are two bags with everything they need. From the first bag she takes out three aprons like the one she wears in her restaurant, but these are a small version with each one's name embroidered on them. This small detail touches them so much that for a moment they forget the reason why they have put them on and Sana, despite not having an apron for herself, gives Momo a huge smile and says "thank you", touched by her friend's gesture.

In the end the little cooking class that Momo had prepared attracts the attention of the older ones as well and they all end up in the kitchen among flour, eggs, dough, icing and all kinds of toppings with all kinds of colors. Of course, they replace the Christmas gingerbread cookies with chocolate cookies, vanilla flavored cookies and cookies with strawberry icing to please everyone's tastes. Some mix, some knead, some shape the cookies and then bake them, and each one ends up with a pile of cookies to decorate according to her taste and decorating skills. When they are done with the cookies, they all dare to make a big cookie house, all nine of them.

To say that when they finished the kitchen was the typical mess after cooking would be an understatement, as it took almost as long to clean up as it did to make dozens of cookies and the eccentric cookie house. When everything is finally cooled down, they make some hot chocolate and coffee with whipped cream, marshmallow, caramel... Then again they gather around the table with a cup in their hands.

It's not very late, but it's been dark for a few hours now and the only light outside is from the lamps hanging from the ceilings of the house and some bulbs decorating the garden of the house and the lights of some houses in the distance. It's time to shower and get ready for bed, at least for the kids who instead of getting more and more tired are more and more animated as the evening comes and the time when Santa Claus will bring them their presents is closer. There are only three girls, each under the care of two adults, but it takes them more than an hour to get them showered and dressed in their matching pajamas in the bed they have prepared for them. At first Tzuyu does not seem very sure about the idea, not that she is not used to it, in fact she used to sleep in a room with about ten or fifteen other girls, but this month she has spent it in the bed between Sana and Jihyo because she is still not able to sleep alone and now the idea of sleeping without them does not convince her.

"Come on, Tzuyu sleep with us" asks Chaeyoung, who can't stay away from her new friend. 

"Sleep with us Tzuyu, you can sleep in the middle, since you are the little one we can take care of you just like when I let Chae the side of the wall so she won't fall" Dahyun tries to convince her.

That last statement just melts the heart of all the women who are watching their little negotiation, but especially Sana and Jihyo. They are no strangers to these special moments between girls but now, witnessing it as mothers, hits different.

"I have an idea" interjects Sana. "Why don't I read a bedtime story to the three of you so Tzu can test if she likes this bed and if she likes it you can leave her one of the sides so she can come to our room if she needs it" she says while looking at her daughter who nods in agreement with the solution offered by her mommy. 

"Yes, you read it, auntie Sana!" exclaims Chae excitedly as Dahyun nods.

They love to listen to Sana telling them bedtime stories with the funny voices she does and Sana loves to read them bedtime stories. It has always been her favorite part of babysitting either of them and on occasion when she and Jihyo would invite them to have a sleepover at home giving their moms a break while at the same time she could enjoy something she thought she would never have until Tzuyu came into their lives. Sana has always had a very strong maternal instinct and with these things it shows even more. Her storytelling, answering the strangest questions and convincing three kids excited for Christmas to be in bed even before their usual bedtime are things that come naturally to her. Jihyo feels like her heart is about to explode when she sees these kinds of scenes and her friends couldn't be happier for her, to see that finally something she saw as an impossible dream is now a reality.

Normally the only one who usually stays awake until the end of the story is Chae because she gets absorbed with each story and can't sleep unless she hears the end, but this time Sana has to read them up to three stories until they all finally fall asleep.

Finally it's time for the adults to relax, drink some wine, beer or soju and be able to talk and gossip without having to keep an eye on their surroundings to make sure that there is not a half-meter girl that they can badly influence if they hear them say a swear word or talk about some inappropriate topic. From time to time one of them goes to the room to check that everything is all right and that they are still asleep.

Once again, Mina somewhat nervously finds an excuse to drag Jeongyeon into the kitchen where she finally tells her about her plan and asks her to keep an eye out in case Dahyun wakes up or needs her while asking for some discretion. As she leaves the kitchen she heads to her room and returns with two coats, giving one to Momo to go with her to get some air. The others either don't notice or for Mina's sake pretend not to notice except for Jeongyeon who gives her a subtle thumbs up.

Her obvious nervousness and shaking hands suddenly catches Momo's attention causing her cheerful and slightly drunk expression to change to a worried face holding Mina's hands immediately.

"Babe, has anything happened, has your family called?" asks Momo worriedly knowing it's one of the things that triggers Mina's anxiety around this time of the year. 

"No, no. Everything is fine" Mina assures her with a nervous smile and unable to hold her gaze. 

"We've already talked about this, your hands are shaking. You can tell me anything, Mina. I got you" says Momo wrapping her arms around her and Mina can only feel lucky to have someone like that by her side.

She lets herself be taken in by the embrace and breathes in Momo's perfume, something that always soothes her, before pulling away and starting to talk. 

"Baby, I'm okay. I promise" she says, grabbing her hands to stop the shaking of her own hands. "But if I'm going to need you to listen to me".

Momo nods and looks at her expectantly.

"I'm going to need us to move to that tree" she says pointing to the huge tree that by this time has not a single leaf or flower. 

Once they are under the tree sitting on a small wooden bench while holding hands looking into each other's eyes, the youngest takes a breath and begins her speech.

"This isn't as cute as I had originally envisioned in my mind, but this is a sakura tree" she says gesturing awkwardly as if she is introducing the tree as the other looks at her in confusion. "I don't know if you remember" she takes a deep breath trying to calm her nerves so her voice doesn't sound so shaky. "But when things started to get serious between us, when I was afraid to let you into my life and Dahyun's, you told me that when you looked at the two of us you felt the same as when you saw the sakura blooming in the spring when you had only been here in Korea for a short time because they made you feel at home. I feel something like that too. When I think of you I think of family and when I think of family Dahyun's face is not the only one I see, I see you too." She thinks about her words for a bit and adds "It's not like I didn't see you as part of my family before, but today when Dahyun started calling you 'mom' I felt like everything was finally in place.... W-what I want to say is that I want you to be our Dubu's mom, I want to say that you are my daughter's mom when people ask me and I also want to say that you are my wife" she finishes saying with bright eyes full of tears while looking at Momo in expectation.

Momo also has some tears in the corners of her eyes and can barely articulate any words for a moment until she finally speaks "Minari, are you asking me to marry you?" she asks with a smile from ear to ear.

"Yes, s-sorry I forgot the most important thing" she stutters nervously searching for the ring in the pockets of the huge jacket until she finally pulls out a small velvet box and opens it before her eyes "I wanted to wait for the sakura bloom, but I couldn't wait any longer and when she asked if she could call you mom-" she starts to ramble as she does when she gets nervous.

They have been together for more than two years and it still happens to her at times like this. It still happens to her just like it did during the dozens of encounters they had until Momo understood that her best customer might be interested in more than just the Japanese food she missed so much and finally asked her if she would like to meet outside her restaurant. Mina hates that she still makes her stutter sometimes and for Momo it is one of her favorite things in the world to know that despite the time she still has the same effect on Mina. 

Suddenly she feels Momo's lips crashing against hers in an clumsy and rushed kiss, but full of emotions. Their arms are wrapped around each other's body and they can feel their cheeks wet with tears as the older one pulls away and softly says "Yes!".

"Let me ask you the question!" she whines. "Hirai Momo, will you marry me?" she asks finally resting one knee to the ground and all. 

"Yes. I will marry you, Myoui Mina" she says laughing as she uses her full name.

Momo smiles as she sees her with one knee on the ground giving her the ring, a scene she thought she would never experience like so many other things when she discovered she liked girls in her last year of high school. Now she has the most beautiful woman in the world saying she wants her to be a mother and a wife, asking her once again to make a family together. They are already family and they both know that the ring doesn't change anything because they have been a family since the moment Mina decided to introduce Momo as her girlfriend in front of her friends and then her daughter, when Dahyun started treating Dobby and Boo like her own dogs, when Momo offered to pick up her daughter from school when Mina couldn't, when Mina asked her if she would like to live with her and Dahyun, when Momo started calling the little girl Dubu and started reading her bedtime stories or just a few hours ago when Dahyun asked her if she could call her mom.

"I'm sorry but Nayeon and Sana's rings are going to have to go to the other hand", Mina bothers him being now more relaxed, taking her out of her thoughts while she takes her hand and starts to put the ring on it. 

It is a thin, simple, white gold ring decorated with three diamonds, while she puts the engagement ring on her finger she explains that since she prefers simple rings she thought it would probably be better to have a few small diamonds than one big one and that she liked the idea of three diamonds because they are three. This time she explains it more calmly, as if she isn't feeling her heart pounding in her chest at full speed.

"I love you" says Momo, this time in her mother tongue. 

"I love you, Momoring".

It's been impromptu, no picnic in the spring watching the sakuras bloom and no dinner at the nice restaurant she saw when they passed through the nearby village and the speech she's been preparing for a month was forgotten as soon as she saw how Momo cared about her when she thought something bad had happened, but Mina couldn't care less. Momo has said yes to continue having a life together now with the promise of forever and that's all she needs. 

It's cold and the first snowflakes are starting to fall from what looks like it will be the first snow of the year. Neither of them move, enjoying a little alone time before going back inside the house. The two cuddle and kiss, some of those kisses are short pecks on the lips and some turn into heated kisses that leave them breathless. When Mina's freezing hands sneak under several layers of clothing to caress the skin of Momo's stomach under her shirt sending a shiver throughout her body they go back inside.

When they came back they all know, even though all she asked Jeongyeon to do was to keep an eye on Dahyun and keep her mouth shut. You can't really blame her, the time they were there for them felt like an instant but it was really over forty five minutes of listening to Nayeon and Jihyo listing every moment they had told her some secret or gossip since they have known each other while Sana was about to have a breakdown thinking they were arguing and thinking about what she would do if they made her pick a side. All this while her social battery was at a minimum, so she ended up confessing everything and even shared some parts of the speech Mina had texted her asking if it was too cheesy.

As soon as she enters the door all eyes turn to Momo's hand and before Nayeon, Sana and Jihyo start to scream, Jihyo cures Sana's mouth with her hand and Jeongyeon covers Nayeon and Jihyo's mouths. Mina and Momo are completely blushing trying to hide in each other's neck while Jeongyeon apologizes for announcing it before them, knowing that they would have preferred to say it one by one to avoid this.

The three of them start asking them a million questions and start planning their wedding. Then Sana whines about not being the first to know but this topic doesn't last long because they all agree that she would have been so happy that she would have told the others and maybe even Momo herself if Mina had told her about her plans. After a while Jihyo shows up with more soju and even a bottle of champagne she had prepared in case they stayed to celebrate New Year's Eve, but the occasion is worth it. And if there's one thing Jihyo doesn't mess around with, it's alcohol, so you can trust that it's some good, expensive champagne.

They all toast to Momo and Mina's engagement with champagne except for Jeongyeon who raises her cup of tea, no one is shocked because since she started the artificial insemination treatments she has not been drinking for months, but they all need to know as soon as possible if she is finally pregnant because they really need to get used to the idea that Nayeon is going to keep drinking for the two of them at every celebration. Nayeon is not a bad drinker, but as she is drunk she won't be still for a second, she even becomes more giggly and hits the arm of anyone next to her. Jihyo and Jeongyeon tell that sometimes during their college outings they would wake up with bruises on their arms.

When they decide it's way too late and they have to put all the presents on the tree, the only one who is drunk – thankfully – is Nayeon. Momo and Sana have a slight blush on their cheeks while Jihyo has drunk twice as much as Nayeon and is doing better than Mina who has only had a glass of champagne because it is her own engagement, but is still a bit dizzy from today's emotions. 

It doesn't take them long to place the gifts despite Nayeon's interruptions and her and Sana's giggles threatening to wake up the girls. Luckily, Jeongyeon and Momo go a couple of times to check that they are sound asleep when they hear a soft snore from one of them.

They all say their good nights among smiles and laughter, feeling as excited as their daughters to open the presents as a family. Each couple disappears into their respective rooms and the moment they lay their heads on the pillow, they all fall asleep instantly. It has been a tiring and intense day and the best is yet to come. 

The next morning they are all woken up at 7 am one by one by the three girls who only scream "CHRISTMAS", "SANTA" and "PRESENTS". The strategy they follow is the same, Dahyun and Chaeyoung come in screeching and jump on top of the adults shaking them followed by Tzuyu who is less shy around them but not enough to assault the adults like her friends do, so she just carefully tugs at their pajama sleeves while the others do the rest of the work. When they arrive at Nayeon and Jeongyeon's room things are different and Chaeyoung instructs the attack to be directed only at Nayeon because she has told her that she has to be careful with her mama.

The older ones have only had a couple of hours of sleep and some have a slight headache, but they make their way to the tree at about the same speed as their daughters until all nine are seated around the tree. Nayeon takes pictures with her camera while Momo has her cell phone in one hand and a video camera in the other with the intention of recording at least the highlights. Each time she checks that the camera settings are correct she can't help but smile at the sight of the new ring that now decorates her hand. 

Finally it's time to open the presents.

Dahyun receives a small digital piano that is halfway between a toy and a real one to start with and a microphone, lately she is in her singer and rapper phase. Momo and Mina know that in a few days they might regret leaving her not one but two things that make noise and they also know that they will end up dancing and singing with her or that they will enjoy the small recitals that their little Dubu organizes at home. Another surprise they have prepared is for her to start piano lessons, but first they have to make sure that they know she would be going to real piano lessons and that it is not like when she plays her toy piano keyboard at home. They also give her some books from her favorite collection and of course, chocolate.

Chaeyoung, like every Christmas, birthday or any other special occasion, receives paints, sketchpads, watercolors, pencils and other art supplies that are of better quality as she gets older. The little girl always gets excited as if it were the first time she gets them as a gift because in a month half of the things are already used up and her mothers no longer know where to keep so many drawings. The last gift she opens, however, is something that makes her even more excited and that is a toy set to make temporary tattoos with markers. Since she was a toddler, she has had the habit of painting all over her arms and legs even before she could speak, and now there is not a day that goes by that she doesn't come home with a drawing in one hand and a note from her teacher in the other. When Nayeon saw the advertisement for the toy while she was on her phone, she ordered it online and it has been hidden in a corner of her house since summer.

Both Chaeyoun and Dahyun have among their gifts a package of a different color than the rest, Dahyun insists that Santa Claus knows they are bros and that's why he always gives them something that matches. The truth is that it's Jihyo and Sana who always get their nieces something special, since they didn't have a child to buy presents for until now. The fact that this year Tzuyu has come into their lives is not going to change this little tradition. This year Dahyun receives a stuffed eagle and Chaeyoung a tiger, their favorite animals. The choice of the oldest is surprising and even more surprising is that the couple found a cute stuffed animal of an eagle.

As for the new member of the family, she has been receiving gifts from her mothers ever since she arrived at her new home. Most of them such as clothes, school supplies, books and toys were just things that a 7-year-old girl needs at home, but Sana and Jihyo are still in the excitement of being new mothers so it is likely that she has been spoiled a little too much. After asking their friends for advice, they decided it was best to give her a few meaningful gifts rather than showering her with presents as they originally planned.

They didn't count on the fact that Tzuyu, given where she came from and with her background, is not the type of kid who asks for things, instead if she likes something you can see it on her face and maybe she mentions it because it has genuinely caught her attention and not because she is asking for it in a subtle way. They are both very happy to have such a good little girl and know that anything will be welcomed with sincere joy as they have seen so far, however it has made the job of being Santa Claus difficult for them. Luckily, since they discovered Tzuyu's passion for dogs, it was clear to them what the perfect gift would be. A dog, this was the perfect gift, except that they had their doubts about it. After much discussion and thinking about it, Jihyo and Sana agreed that they didn't want to be the kind of mothers who give a dog as a toy for Christmas, especially after listening to Jeongyeon talking about how many dogs arrive at the shelter a few months after Christmas when they are no longer adorable puppies.

Tzuyu for the first time receives presents that are actually for her and not generic toys donated to the orphanage. On her first Christmas with her new family Tzuyu opens a package bigger than her and almost the size of Jihyo, it is a life-size golden retriever stuffed dog that makes Tzuyu cry instantly. As soon as the stuffed dog is free from the wrapping paper the little girl hugs it tightly and goes to her mothers and hugs both of them. 

"Thank you mommy Sana, thank you mommy Ji" she says sobbing making her mothers also cry with her. 

"You don't have to thank us Tzu" says Sana as jihyo takes her and the huge stuffed dog in her arms. "Santa got it for you because you've been such a good girl," she says. 

" All we did was tell Santa that you changed your address," Jihyo adds and kisses her on the head.

There are still two gifts to be opened, one of them an illustrated book about dogs and then a letter that her mommy Ji has to read to her. It is an invitation to visit the shelter and help the dogs living there. At the bottom of the invitation are a pair of paw prints of different dogs for which Sana and Jihyo are very grateful to Jeongyeon who has also offered to be the one to accompany them to the shelter where she started volunteering and where she now works as a veterinarian. 

The other two children don't quite know what is going on, so they clap their hands when their mothers assure them that they are crying from happiness and not sadness. They themselves try to hold back their tears and in Nayeon's case hide them by covering themselves with the camera as she captures the emotional moment.

The next picture they take is one of the girls holding their stuffed animals. Dahyun poses like a rapper, Chaeyoun still doesn't know how to smile in photos and next to her Tzuyu stares at the camera with her eyes a little too wide. They take a total of thirty photos of them and they all agree that it's best to save those photos for posterity and not for Instagram. Luckily, the girls come out much better when they get their pictures taken while playing and Nayeon keeps saying that she can wait to develop the two rolls of film she has already spent since they arrived the day before. 

After the photos it's time for the older ones to open the gifts and as with the card game the task of telling who is more mature is difficult. Of course, Nayeon turns it into another rock-paper-scissors competition to choose the order and Jihyo accepts so the others are dragged into the game. The oldest loses and in addition to enduring her wounded pride, Nayeon will have to wait until the end to receive the gift. 

Contrary to other years when they have played secret friend, they have preferred to take the easy way and the gifts are only between the couples with the only condition that they are not allowed to give each other inappropriate gifts in front of the children. A rule especially addressed to Sana who on all Jihyo's birthdays gives her a lingerie set which is actually for herself and which Jihyo accepts with too much enthusiasm in front of all of them.

Sana gives Jihyo a designer leather jacket, a bottle of a really expensive soju that Jihyo loves with some glasses with a nice and elegant accompanying the bottle. " I'll give you your other gift later in the room" Sana whispers in her ear before giving her a kiss. 

Nayeon gifts Jeongyeon a fancy watch and a letter which she asks her to read another time and is quite insistent that she doesn't read it in front of the others.

Mina tells Momo that her gift was given to her in the evening, but she has a small detail. In the package is a t-shirt with a drawing of the family done by Dahyun, there are a total of five t-shirts and Momo for a moment freaks out at the sight of two small t-shirts until Mina tells her that they are for Boo and Dobby making everyone laugh at Momo's momentary panic.

In between laughter, there is a loud sob and suddenly they all realize that Jeongyeon is crying her eyes out as she reads the letter. "Jeong! I told you not to read it!" says Nayeon in between laughing and crying as he wraps his arms around his wife and whispers "Well it's already in the letter, I love you baby." At another time her friends would have teased, but Jeongyeon seems to be truly touched so they leave the couple a moment and continue. 

Mina is next and receives a LEGO set that Momo has caught her browsing through more than once when they go to the mall and a Nintendo Switch game, as well as a simple necklace adorned with three hearts. Mina loves it all and Momo is still surprised that jewelry always ends up being the gift that costs her the least money and effort.

Sana is surprised to receive an envelope from Jihyo because she has always been very thoughtful with gifts and usually receives a seasonal branded bag among other things. What she sees in the envelope, however, makes her scream in excitement more than any bag when she sees the tickets to go to Japan with their and Tzuyu's names on it. "Let's go see your parents next week, so they can finally meet their granddaughter," Jihyo says before she has to look up the details on the tickets herself.

Last of all is Nayeon. Finally her turn comes and she can't stop jumping up and down with excitement when she sees the box that Jeongyeon hands her. She tears the wrapping paper excitedly and when she opens the box and sees what's inside, her smile disappears. 

"Seriously Yoo Jeongyeon" she sighs, looking at her seriously.

The others just stay quiet not sure how to react because Nayeon seems really annoyed so they just watch the exchange between the couple. Then she takes out what's in the box and they all burst out laughing when they see a t-shirt that reads 'World's #1 Dad' on it.

It's a good joke and it's nothing that's unusual for the couple, they love teasing each other as much as they love giving each other kisses and whispering sweet nothings. This time it looks like Nayeon is not having it.

"I hope you have something better hidden, I spent days looking for the perfect watch" she whines and at that moment everyone sees the usual Nayeon again and the mood of the room instantly lightens up.

Jeongyeon also looks serious but it is obvious that she is holding in laughter when she says "I think I should have gotten you new eyeglasses, haven't you seen what else is in the box?".

Her wife rolls her eyes and looks in the box again, not very convinced that there is anything in there, thinking it is still just part of Jeong's joke. You never know with these two, once Nayeon gave her fifteenf boxes tucked inside each other for their anniversary in college, though then he gave her something that kept them busy for several days locked in the room. One of the best gifts she ever gave her, unless you ask Jihyo who at the time was sleeping in the room next door. To this day, the youngest of the three has not wanted to know what that gift was, but today she is dying of curiosity, just like the others.

"OH MY GOD JEONGYEON!" she screams at the top of her lungs, making her friends jump in their seats and catching the attention of the girls who have been busy with their new gifts for a while now. "If this is a joke I swear-" she says trying to sound tough as she starts bawling her eyes out.

"I'm serious," Jeongyeon says in a whisper, taking the paper Nayeon is holding in her hands and showing her friends the ultrasound.  "We're going to be mommies again" she says with a huge smile.

It takes a few seconds for everyone to react and all of a sudden everyone starts to congratulate them while the oldest one complains to her wife that she didn't tell her, even more so when she finds out that she is almost three months pregnant and that they are expecting twins. Neither of them can believe that Jeongyeon made it on the first try and they couldn't be happier, especially with Chaeyoun's reaction. The little girl stares at them with wide eyes and when they confirm that she will be the big sister to two babies, her eyes glaze over and she climbs onto her mom's lap to hug them and caress her mama's belly. 

"This is a better gift than the tattoo machine" she says, still pouting.

All these emotions seem to have made them hungry and they soon gather at the small table, which is now more crowded with the girls' stuffed animals. In the middle of the table they have a mountain of cookies that they didn't finish yesterday and there is also hot chocolate, tea, coffee and milkshakes. The Myoui-Hirai family is wearing their t-shirts. Sana and Jihyo tell Tzuyu about Japan, tell her about the food and let her know that she will meet more new people, this time it will be her grandparents. Jeongyeon is still forced to listen to a scolding from her wife for not telling her earlier that she is pregnant and lists one by one the things that could have happened until Jeong admits that she was afraid something would go wrong and Nayeon's gaze softens.  She knows that fear better than anyone, so she just stops and reminds her that everything will be okay because they have each other and because they have this wonderful family they've built. A family that was formed within the walls of their shared dorm during university and that has been growing ever since.

#twice fic #twice oneshot #twice au #twice imagines #twice fluff #twice nayeon #im nayeon #twice jeongyeon #yoo jeongyeon #twice momo #hirai momo #twice sana #minatozaki sana #twice jihyo #park jihyo #twice mina #myoi mina #myoui mina #twice dahyun #kim dahyun #twice chaeyoung #son chaeyoung #twice tzuyu #chou tzuyu #2yeon #nayeon x jeongyeon #jeongyeon x nayeon #mimo #twice mimo #momo x mina

[jungle-angel]

Lessons In Nursing (Calvin Evans x Reader)

Summary: You decide to have your mother-in-law come and give a lecture to your class, but woe to the heckler who incurs her wrath

Tagging: @floydsmuse Meggy, I hope you're good with it, but the entire time I wrote this I was picturing Emma from White Christmas as Patricia and could literally hear her voice as I wrote it (lol).

Warnings: Pregnancy, college admin being a sexist moron, misogynistic remarks, etc.

"You nervous Pat?" you asked as the three of you made your way towards the science buildings on campus.

"Not in the least (y/n)," Pat answered confidently. "I've had to give numerous lectures in the past and have yet to face one that I couldn't do. How about yourself? How are things?"

"I'm tired," you answered.

"I tried that home remedy you suggested the other day Ma," Calvin answered. "The one with the raw ginger?"

"Did it help with the morning sickness?" Pat asked.

"Morning sickness, yes but the fatigue is a different story," Cal said.

"A mug full of chamomile tea in the morning will do you good," Patricia explained. "Did it with every single one of my kids and it hasn't failed me since."

The three of you had at last arrived at Franklin Hall, a tall, imposing gothic monstrosity of a building that looked more like a medieval church than a reputable college institution. Here was where the science classes were all held, chemistry, biology, anatomy and physiology as well as the nursing courses that you taught.

"You gonna be able to make it this afternoon?" you asked Calvin as he handed Six-Thirty and his leash off to you.

"I'll make it," Calvin promised. "Dr. Powers and I will both be there after our classes get out at twelve. But after that I need you down to the cafeteria so you can get something to eat. I don't want you faint in the middle of the lecture."

You chuckled and kissed your husband, even as Six-Thirty nudged your belly with his nose. "Now you knock that off," you told the dog. "That's Daddy's job."

Calvin smiled as he gave you one last hug, his hands trailing to the slightly evident bump that had shown up overnight. He couldn't feel the baby kicking quite yet, but you knew that when he did, he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off you.

"Good luck Sweetpea," he said, pressing one last kiss to your lips. "I'll see you at noon."

"I'll see you then."

Cal pulled open the heavy oak and iron doors, letting you, Six-Thirty and his mother in first before he followed you both down the hall. He headed straight for the chemistry labs with Dr. Powers while you and Pat headed for the anatomy lecture room.

Your girls were all awaiting in the room, each one in their lab coats, chattering away as you and Pat took yours from the rack. "Good morning ladies," you chirped.

"GOOD MORNING PROFESSOR EVANS!" they chimed in.

"Alright ladies," you announced, taking your place in the lecture pit. "We've got our demonstration today at noon and to prepare, I've brought a little guest to help. So without further adieu, I present to you all, my mother-in-law, Patricia Evans."

"Thank you sweetheart," Patricia said, taking her place at the stand. "Alright ladies, none of the usual bullshit this morning. Lets get down to business....."

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

"So am I technically doing this right?" the eighteen year old asked Calvin.

"Yep, you're good," Calvin assured him. "Just let it drip into the beaker and let it do its thing."

Calvin absolutely loved working with the eager, fresh-faced students who had come from all the local high schools in the area. To him it meant being able to get back to basics, to go back to the roots of chemistry and to teach them from the ground up. He loved when they got creative with their notebooks, drawing colorful pictures and diagrams and experimented with their handwriting. Any other professor would have turned their noses up at it, but Calvin and Anthony Powers absolutely loved it.

"Hey Professor Evans?"

"What's up Frank?"

"Remind me again what color the fluids are supposed to be again after they've boiled?"

"It's supposed to be pale pink," Calvin answered. "What color is it now?"

"It's a dark pink."

"Let it go another five to ten minutes but no more than that," Calvin instructed.

He looked up at the wall clock and saw that it was ten minutes till noon. As soon as he had the chance, Calvin ordered everyone to clean up and to put their experiments in the glass cabinets until tomorrow. He dropped his lab coat in the laundry and made his way down to the other end of the wing, eager to hear and see your demonstration.

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

"..........Now these particular tests are quite easy, but determining the results can be a real hassle," Patricia explained to the audience. "Back in the day you wouldn't have thought to test the patient's blood at all and half the time you'd wait until really, truly, severe symptoms appeared......."

"Your mother's a knowledgeable lady that's for sure," Dr. Powers remarked to Calvin, the two of them sitting higher up from the pit.

"Knowledgeable isn't even the half of it," Calvin whispered back to him. "You should see when she really gets going."

"Now after the blood test has been done," Patricia continued to explained. "It's best to continue the treatment as is, until further notice or until the results come in and then determine the course of action therewith."

"Sounds like a brilliant plan," someone in the crowd spoke. "Coming from a woman."

The entire room fell so silent one would have been able to hear a dog whistle. "I'm sorry?' Patricia enquired.

"It just seems funny to me to think that you know more than the doctors on this campus," the grey-haired young man said to her. "After all, nursing is one of the lesser sciences."

Calvin wide-eyed and made a face, Dr. Powers groaning and running his hands over his chubby, round face. "Oh no, he didn't," Powers groaned.

"Brace yourself, this shitshow's about to get worse," Calvin warned him under his breath.

You and Patricia glanced at each other, your mother-in-law noticing the way your jaw clenched and how your posture stiffened.

"Young man do you work here?" she asked.

"Well......yes but I....."

"And to what department do you belong?" Patricia questioned sharply.

"Well, the medical arts," the young man replied. "You see I had studied at the Harvard Medical College and......."

"Oh and Ivy Leaguer huh?" Patricia said. "Tell me now, have you ever stitched up a man with shrapnel flying around you in all directions?"

"No I......."

"Have you ever had to repair a torn aorta in a tent before?"

"No I......"

"What about trenchfoot?" Patricia questioned again. "Ever had to deal with any of that?"

"No ma'am I......"

"Then I wouldn't consider you much of a doctor in that case," Patricia scoffed.

"Now ma'am you see here for a moment!"

"Young man, I had to earn my stripes in the middle of a shelled out church in France, rearraigning men's guts day after day while everywhere else was having the living daylights pounded out of them," Patricia snapped. "So until you yourself have been there, I suggest you sit up a little straighter, keep your legs crossed, shut your mouth and mind your own business!"

The young man cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter, as did everyone else including Six-Thirty who was in the corner at your feet. Not a single soul in that lecture hall dared to make another snide comment to Patricia Evans or to you.

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

"Well that went a little better than expected," Patricia commented as you, her and Cal made your way up the little brick path to the house. "Although I could've done without Mr. Ivy Leaguer there making those snide remarks."

"I saw him cross his legs the minute you snapped Ma," Calvin chuckled, unlocking the door.

"My apologies, but the damn fool had it coming," Patricia remarked. "Besides, if that had been your father, he would have said things that would have Ulysses S. Grant himself rolling over in his grave."

"Or blushing in most cases," you chuckled.

You both entered the house, the place warm and cozy as ever with the smell of dinner cooking on the stove. One could say whatever they liked about Henry Evans Jr., but the man was a damn good cook.

Henry and Pat both conversed about the happenings of the day while you and Cal enjoyed their company. All of you laughed at the lecture incident, but when Calvin looked at you and mouthed a silent "I love you", you couldn't help but lean into him, one arm round you and the warmth of your husband surrounding you.

#lessons in chemistry #calvin evans #calvin evans x reader

[hearts-are-connected]

Random Alex Casey Headcanons

There's an empty couch open to Casey whenever he needs it. I picture one of the Anderson's walking to the kitchen and finding Casey on the couch, sleeping deeper than he ever does at his home, and he stays for breakfast before hitting the road. Or they know he's been there and left early by the neatly folded blanket and pillow sitting in the living room.

Logan enjoys drawing pictures of tired, grump Uncle Casey while he's asleep. She says he's at his most relaxed.

The Anderson's keeping certain food items or coffee blend they know he likes in their home for such occasions. Even including gifts for him under their tree because it's tradition for him to join them Christmas morning.

If he reluctantly takes part in an ugly sweater competition or two, no one is wiser as he swears everyone to secrecy regarding their photos.

Casey and his wife Miranda got a divorce due to mounting issues. The worst loss for them being a miscarriage.

Miranda fell into bad habits, and as such, took her aggression and heartache out on Casey, who tried to make things work while continuing to do his job. It got so bad that in the middle of the night, after a particularly bad argument, Casey left. All he took from the home was his favorite three-piece suit, work related items, every drawing Logan had gifted him, and a pair of shoes. He then proceeded to walk aimlessly through the dark, leaving the car behind, seeing as it was in his soon-to-be ex-wife's name.

David Anderson was leaving to go to work the following morning and was surprised to find Casey asleep on their front porch with his small box of items beside him. After rousing him and collecting his things, David put Casey to bed in one of the spare bedrooms, which ultimately became his own until the divorce was settled and Casey found a place not far from them.

Casey is a fine cook, despite everything pointing to the contrary. For a man who looks like he survives off six coffees a day with the occasional sandwich, he can fix a meal that'll leave most wanting seconds or thirds. As a thank you to the Anderson's for their hospitality to him, he cooked enough food to last them a month and provided the recipe for each dish.

When Casey first met Saga, he didn't think much of her. Figuring she'd buckle under the pressure of the job and go back home to find another career. To his surprise, she became a bright light amongst her peers. Enough so that he took her under his wing personally to teach her what knowledge he'd acquired over the years. Not realizing that in doing so, he'd not only gain a new partner, but that he'd eventually come to be adopted into a family he would cherish and gladly give his life for.

The first time he met Logan Anderson was when she was only a day old. Reluctantly entering the hospital room, the sight of Saga laid up in bed cradling her newborn daughter had pierced his hard shell in a way he hadn't thought it would. When Saga and David finally convinced him to hold Logan, he did so carefully. It was one of the first times both the new parents had seen Alex Casey genuinely smile. Teeth and all.

Logan became the brightest light Casey could remember entering his life, aside from her mother, of course. To those at the bureau, he was still the same jaded, hardened agent they'd known for years, but to those who paid closer attention, small glimpses of change appeared. Little things like a child's drawing appearing on his desk, or a coffee mug with 'My favorite Uncle' printed on it alongside a cartoon fox.

He was once thrown through a second story window, resulting in numerous injuries and a decent recovery time. It was the first time Logan had ever seen her uncle hurt that severely. It felt as if each time Casey woke, he'd find a small reminder that she'd been there hidden somewhere near his bed. He occasionally woke to a small kiss on his cheek. He kept one of the smaller stuffed animals she's placed on his bed. Furthermore, he always packs it in his suitcase when he's away from home, either for work or the rare rest and relaxation. Saga's never let him live it down.

The angriest he's ever been, besides numerous incidents with his ex, was when he saw a group of older kids shove an eight-year-old Logan to the dirt at the playground. Saga swears all four boys who'd bullied her daughter ran home crying when confronted by Casey.

Saga and Logan are the only ones who Casey allows close enough to snuggle. Something he'll deny until blue in the face, but on more than one occasion, either Anderson can be found using his lap as a pillow while he uses said time to catch up on some reading.

#alan wake #alan wake 2 #alex casey #saga anderson #Logan anderson #headcanon #Sam Lake what have you done to me #David Woods

[minamorsart]

What , And how did you start pairing lotura, And Plance .?

Ooooh boy am I excited to answer this!!! This is going to be a long answer, hope you don't mind! Because I have some specific memories about these two ships, particularly lotura, that I would absolutely love to share with you!

Prepare for a long read! Hehe

Starting with lotura, when season 3 came out and Lotor made his debut, of course I was all 👀👀👀 Because that day something awoke in 19 year old me that I didn't realize could ever be awoken lol. And I wish I could remember exactly what my reaction was to his cat-and-mouse chase with Allura in the episode "The Hunted", but at the time I must not have considered the idea of them ever going in the direction of a romance. Looking back now though, how could I have been so blind??! That chase scene is HOT. I mean just look at them!!! Look at Lotor especially woah mama 😳

Season 4 was mediocre to me at the time, I will confess, for a lot of different reasons. But then season 5, man... SEASON 5!!!! I remember it was March 3rd, 2018. I wasn't keeping up with the show anymore, but I just so happened to see an article online that said season 5 had been released the day before on Netflix. I told my sister and we decided, "eh, let's watch at least the first episode."

And we watched the first episode, alright. And then another, and then another and another until we watched all six episodes in one sitting. We were both blown away! Lotor... Allura... together???? 😲

Their adventures, their chemistry, their clear attraction to one another... I was OBSESSED!!! I shipped them hardcore after that. They were and are still my #1 OTP, and it's because of them that I really tried to work hard and improve my art! I wanted to draw them all the time, making mini comics and AUs, and while their tragic ending actually left me in tears and I was upset for a really long time, I can now say that I have been able to heal and move on from it--eh, mostly anyway, haha.

It still hurts, but 5 years later I feel that I've matured and come to a greater understanding and acceptance. I have come to really appreciate how perfect they are for each other, both aesthetically of course (cuz lookit that sexual dimorphism babeyyy) as well as the many, many things they have in common. I have also come to appreciate their flaws, their imperfections, and the mistakes they made regarding each other and their relationship. They may have gotten a sad ending, but they were still truly equals in every way. It's just beautiful, and my love for them now is stronger than ever :')

For Lance and Pidge on the other hand, it's not quite as clear as when I started shipping them! I remember rolling my eyes at Lance and Allura's first meeting, like "okay Lance is one of THESE guys, here we go 🙄"

Other than that I didn't really ship Lance or Pidge with anyone! If I'm recalling correctly, I don't think it wasn't until after season 6 that I started shipping them together. I remember reading metas and analyses of their relationship that people were making in anticipation for season 7's release, and the more I thought about it, the more I started to really like the idea of Lance and Pidge getting together! And there are definitely subtle hints throughout the earlier seasons of Pidge's feelings for Lance, as well as their fun chemistry with one another, like the episode "Space Mall"!

The hints are not so subtle to me now, but back then it wasn't until I watched season 7 that I actually became hopeful that they could be a couple! I especially loved the moments when Pidge indirectly called Lance "cute, in a creepy, hideous sort of way" lol, and when Lance become very protective over Pidge in such a way that I don't think we ever saw him react before! I was honestly taken aback by that moment!

And again, their ending was definitely less than satisfactory, particularly Lance's ending (still hate it with a passion), but just like with Lotura's relationship, I have also come to appreciate many things about Plance's relationship today. While Lotor and Allura have so much in common and are able to reach an understanding with each other that they can't with anyone else, it would seem at first that Pidge and Lance are far too different to be compatible. And it is true that they are very different, but for one, that can be a good thing! The foundations of some relationships are built off of their differences. It can make someone more compassionate and more open-minded when they have a willingness to accept and appreciate the differences they have with their partner, and a willingness to take a genuine interest in the things that their partner is passionate about, even if they don't completely understand.

And two, at the same time, Pidge and Lance DO have things in common! They both love their families, both have a stronger connection to Earth compared to the other paladins, and they are able to bond with one another over fun pastimes such as video games! How cute is that??!

And just like with Lotor and Allura, I also love Pidge and Lance for their flaws. It did take me a while to come around to Lance, because while he has his funny moments and one-liners, I also found him very annoying at times lol. But I think the fact that he can be really annoying honestly makes him the most realistic character in Voltron. Not necessarily the most relatable, at least not for me, but definitely the most human! Because there are people in our real lives that we love and cherish deeply, but they absolutely have their moments where you go, "ugh, you're so annoying and it really frustrates me when you act this way" but we still wouldn't trade them for the world 🥰

And just to draw one last comparison between Lotura and Plance, I especially LOVE how incredibly different the two pairings are even from each other! To me, Lotor and Allura are sexy and passionate, while Pidge and Lance are pure and fun! They're all so unique and special in their own ways, and they bring so much to the table, both for their characters and for their relationships.

I can't help but write essays every time I get asks, I'm so sorry lol 😭 There's so much more I could say about these guys, but I think I'd better stop here haha! I had a lot of fun writing about Lotura and Plance, and I hope you had just as much fun reading this! I really love these characters a lot. I'm so incredibly grateful that they exist, even if in the form of fiction, and I'm even MORE grateful that my love for them has continued to grow over the years. Thank you so much for the ask!!!! 💖💜💙💚

Oh and one last thing: we were robbed of a lot of different potential interactions with a lot of different characters, but I have to say it would have been fun to see more of Lotor and Lance interacting with each other! Lance was always acting out due to his jealousy, while Lotor on the other hand mostly just ignored him lol.

#asks #lotura #plance #lotor #allura #vld lance #pidge gunderson #katie holt #voltron #voltron legendary defender #meta #voltron meta

[kingschclar]

KINKTOBER DAY SIX — sounding with floyd leech

contains :: gn!reader, sub!floyd, mean!reader, bondage, punishment, overstimulation, edging, vibrators, third year floyd, cock slapping (once)

kinktober mlist!!

Exam season was approaching, and while you weren't overly worried about it, you still had to do revisions for all the topics tested. The third year in Night Raven college was one of the most important years, after all. That combined with being Crowley's helper and taking care of Grim, you were running dangerously low on time to yourself. Floyd, as your boyfriend, wasn't helping much either. In fact, it's almost as if he's been getting more frustrating recently, even going out of his way to get in yours. What happened today, however, was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Floyd, I'm not in the mood today. Please return that notebook to me," you tried to be patient, knowing that it'd do none of you good if you were to get mad at him. You've already lost at least 3 hours today on the headmaster's stupid errands, and he was just messing around. You also didn't want all the other students around the courtyard to witness your possible outburst. Floyd pouted, the hand with your notebook still raised up high. "Please, I have to study."

"Awww, you're no fun." He sighed but lowered his arm anyway. You thanked the heavens above that he was cooperating with you today, feeling some of your stress dissolve at the act.

Until his fingers loosened their grip.

You watched in horror as the notebook fell backwards, and Floyd spun around quickly, his action unexpectedly pushing the notebook away from him and right into the old well. He looked at you with panic in his eyes, only seeing anger and hurt in yours. A million thoughts raced through your head, but you just grabbed his hand tightly, a visible sneer on your face. "Do you just want my attention? Is this what it's all about?" He tried to tell you that it was an accident, that he wouldn't have done that to you, but you tugged on his arm harshly before he could. "I'll give you my damn attention then, Floyd."

The merman knew where this was going. Obviously, he did, and though he felt bad, he was just a little excited. What would you do to him? How would you act when you're angry? Would you be rougher? Or manhandle him and make even the walls shake?

The moment you got into your room, you pulled out your chair and pushed him onto it, seething as you looked around for something. Probably rope. Bondage wasn't his favourite thing, but it wasn't really up to him to decide what you were going to do at this moment.

As expected, you pulled out a familiar red rope, walking over to Floyd wordlessly before wrapping them around his wrist, then tying them to the back of the chair securely, hard enough to leave marks on his pale, perfect skin. He stayed mostly still the entire time, save swaying just a little and hands trembling just slightly. You took more rope, tying his ankles to the legs of the chairs as well.

“I didn’t want to take this out yet, but…” you grumbled, pulling out a set of rods. Sounding rods. Floyd gulped as he eyed the rods, then you. “These are sounding rods, and they’re supposed to go up and into your urethra.” You almost sounded bored as you moved to unzip his pants. You pulled his cock out, staring at it for a moment as it twitched in your hand. You scoffed, slapping it and drawing a yelp out of the tall man and causing pre to dribble out of it. “You’re a freak, Floyd.” He winced, watching you contemplate for a few seconds before selecting a rod of medium thickness.

You decided that you were feeling generous, practically covering the rod with lube before placing it at the slit of his dick, pushing it in slowly. Floyd let out an awful noise, hands struggling against the rope as he felt the unfamiliar feeling spread through his body. He cried out your name, squirming around like a worm. “Hurts! It hurts!” He complained, yet his cock only got harder in your hand. You spat on it, stroking him harder as you continued inserting the rod till it was all in.

Floyd’s head was thrown back, panting and shaking as he tried to get used to the feeling of the rod in him. It was so foreign, and he didn’t know if he loved it or not. He felt so sensitive, so exposed under your gaze, but it only made him ache for more pleasure. He repeated your name over and over, continuing to jerk around as he pouted at you, hoping that you’d do something instead of standing there, staring at him.

His calls for you finally worked as you got down between his legs, ghosting your fingers over his cock before starting to stroke it once again, watching as your boyfriend tried to thrust up into your hand, sounds that can only be described as pathetic flowing freely from his lips. Such a masochist. “Ah! I’m going to cum!” He sniffled as he met your eyes, seeing that cruel glint in them that he knew too well. You withdrew your hands from him almost immediately, making the eel tremble and whimper. You held back a smile as you leaned up, pecking his cheek.

You pulled out a vibrator out of your pocket, quickly attaching it to his cock before turning it on. Floyd screamed unabashedly, pulling on the ropes harshly and making the chair rock slightly. “I’ll be back soon, Floyd,” you cooed, and he looked at you, eyes wide.

“W-Wait! I-”

“See you later.”

#; — ares’ kinktober 2022 ! #; — sealed w a kiss. ares #dom reader #sub twisted wonderland #sub twst #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland smut #twst #twst smut #sub floyd #sub floyd leech #floyd #floyd leech #floyd smut #floyd leech smut

[yieoacn]

notorious

scarakazu + raiden family

modern au

*

kazuha has always found kuni’s younger sister absolutely adorable. despite her sometimes disturbing comments about topics that are normally far beyond a child’s comprehension, she’s a gentle and compassionate kid. kazuha doesn’t mind her company when he’s at ei’s house.

but he never expected to be left alone with the task of babysitting the six-year-old while kuni leaves for an emergency board meeting because of the stock market collapse or something.

now, kazuha isn’t jobless. he’s a lit professor and is normally too busy to be appointed as an unpaid babysitter. but it’s, sadly, winter vacation.

“you have old man hair,” mei says, with a savage flat tone of voice.

kazuha winces, he physically winces, and strokes his hair. “would you like to play? i have dolls. one of them looks like you, in fact—” “i’m drawing.”

she was, in fact, drawing. with four crayons and a sheet of old newspaper. her long, purple ponytail kept getting in the way though. she still refused to let it sit on her back. instead it was proudly tucked on her shoulder.

kazuha bravely tries to make conversation. “who are you drawing? is that nii-san?”

mei nods at this, face slightly brightened. “nii-san bought me a computer yesterday. this is my present to him back!”

kazuha is suspicious. “does your mother know?”

ei does not like technology. ‘it disturbs the nature’s eternal balance’, she says, ‘brings in unpredictable variables’. to this day, she doesn’t own a cell-phone.

mei is alarmed by the question, and dodges it with, “nii-san is buying you a present too!”

kazuha isn’t gullible enough to fall for this. he isn’t. “what present?”

mei colours kuni’s hair with her purple crayon. “it’s a ring! he says it’s really special and that i’m not supposed to tell you.”

kazuha loses the ability to speak for the next half-hour. mei looks pleased with herself, at least.

scaramouche comes home at 1 am that night, to kazuha sleeping on the couch with his ponytail undone, and mei sleeping on top of him, still holding the rubber band she obviously stole from kazuha’s hair.

scaramouche takes about a dozen pictures before picking up mei and putting her to sleep in the guest bedroom. she mumbles something about secret, sorry, and drawing. but scaramouche pays it no mind.

when he goes back to carry kazuha back to their bedroom, he finds him sitting up on the couch, disoriented and rubbing his eyes with his palm like a sleepy 5 year old. “kuni?” he mumbles in scaramouche’s general direction. “did you save the economy?”

scaramouche smiles and scoops kazuha into his arms, kissing him senseless until they have to breathe. “i love you so much,” scaramouche whispers, gently biting kazuha’s nose. “i’ll marry you too!” kazuha mumbles, then drapes himself all over scaramouche and falls sound asleep.

it takes a few minutes for scaramouche to reach a conclusion. it takes all of his conscience combined to not return mei’s computer the next day.

#scarakazu #kazuscara #kaedehara kazuha #scaramouche #genshin #genshin impact #kunikuzushi #scarazuha

[captainjacklyn]

Another DOL post..I'm never stopping with these, it's just fun for me to share my characters which I am disappointed to not be able to draw. My art skills can be easily bested by that of a six year old's hand paint.

He indeed identifies as a male though if you saw the previous post about him (the first post about him really) Elias can change his genitals, due to his human DNA being mixed with several different animals.

Degrees of Lewdity :

ReLaTiOnShIpS :

ROBIN

"Robin? You better be careful with him, if I find out that you're planning something- Uh? Oh, you just want to get to know him? Very well, I guess that's alright, I'm not even sure why I got worked up. It's his fault if he gets into trouble...doesn't mean I wouldn't go out of my way to protect him."

Looks after Robin.

Acts like a mother for him, highly strict and demanding when interacting face to face but behind the scenes, he does everything he can to look after him and make sure he's safe.

The only one Elias genuinely cares for.

*pat pat* you stay there and play games while I sell my body to take your debt okay?

Good.

Manipulates this one like crazy, "I'M DOING ALL OF THIS FOR YOU HOW DARE YOU TALK BACK TO ME-"

His words not mine.

SYDNEY

"He's my partner if that's what you were wondering, I've spent quite a good amount of time with him. Don't fill his mind with too many lewd thoughts if you plan on seducing him, his purity is rather useful. He even gifted me a dress last week..Mhm? Yes..I am fond of Sydney."

Elias doesn't particularly understand his own emotions.

He just likes having Sydney since his privileged life/status makes it easier for him as well.

Did go out of his way to spend time with him at the beach, proceeded to question every single idea which led him to do so.

WHITNEY

"Whitney tried to use me for quick money making on multiple occasions, you ram your knee in the balls and run, he doesn't take hits there very nicely."

Yeah no.

They don't get along.

Elias just ignores him whenever he tries to interact, will dismiss him when the time comes.

I've tried to allow it, but from the shaming to the constant abusive scenarios, there isn't much to allow.

KYLAR

"He got his ass thrown into prison, and for all I know, he just belongs to the asylum. I assure you that I attempted to aid him, he wasn't treated very kindly so I assumed to have found someone I can understand and relate to. Turns out he was a perverted psycho...Oh really ? I'll give you this one fact, Kylar never loved me, he just wanted to keep me as a possession."

Dismissed Kylar.

You think this guy wants to make out with the equivalent of a pathetic wet rat ? He doesn't even know if he likes the librarian who treats him with kindness.

Nuh-uh.

Nah.

Stans are coming after me, but my boy openly defended a dude who decided to stalk him in response.

BAILEY

"...What about Bailey? He has done many things for me as a child, I know that our hearts have never been one, I see that now. But if it means seeing her again..I'll pay him off, I'll pay Robin's debt along with my own and we'll run from this god forsaken swill of a town."

The first reason as to why Elias is so hardworking is because he believes that once his debt is fully repaid, he'll be able to see Monika.

Otto Hightower and Alicent toxic dad and daughter~

Woohoo and the line of trauma doesn't stop there cause Elias also treats Robin like SHIT-

The pressure of needing to save those he cares for is so great that it causes him to install his own suffering on them as well.

You're stronger than you think Elias, you're strong enough to stand as a wall between Robin and Bailey, between Sydney and Himself, between the Orphans and this Fucked up Place.

Burn your feelings to the ground and carry on.

Woah too emotional on the last one chill-

#degrees of lewdity pc #degrees of lewdity oc #degrees of lewdity #dol sydney #dol #dol kylar #dol pc #dol robin #sydney the faithful #kylar the loner #dol whitney #whitney the bully #robin the orphan #bailey the caretaker

[barry-j-blupjeans]

"Can I be honest for a second?" Magnus asked, which was always a good way to start a conversation. Lucretia paused, her hand stalling over the drawing she had been doing of him. Magnus was sitting cross-legged on her bed, trying to figure out the Fantasy Rubik's Cube that Taako had given him earlier. Lucretia had no plans of telling him it was enchanted to never be able to solve.

"If you want to be?" Lucretia said.

"I'm..." Magnus glanced over his shoulder as if someone would be listening in on them. Lucretia was pretty sure that if anyone wanted to do that, they would have given up fifteen minutes ago when Magnus started yelling at the Rubik's Cube. "I lied. On my application."

Not so subtly, Lucretia opened to a new page in her journal.

"Oh?" she said.

"Not like, a big lie," Magnus said. "In fact, it probably doesn't even matter anymore, because technically it's not a lie anymore. But I feel bad about it. And I figured that no one can really kick me off the ship anymore, with the resets and everything, so!"

"You've intrigued me," Lucretia said. "Go on."

"I'm not actually twenty-two," Magnus said. "Or, I wasn't. I'm twenty-one."

"I already knew that," Lucretia said, slightly disappointed. She was hoping for something like "I killed Greg Grimaldis before Lup got the chance to" or "last cycle when I said I didn't steal your hair conditioner, I actually did, I'm so sorry, I'll buy you some more" or even something like "It's actually me that's been eating all the dirt from Merle's greenhouse, I'm just letting Merle take the blame."

Maybe the lack of drama is something she should be thankful for what with the yearly apocalypse.

"What!?" Magnus said, dropping the Rubik's Cube. "How??"

"Davenport had me do background checks on everyone before we left," Lucretia said. "You lying about your age is not the worst thing I found on you, Magnus."

"Well now I wanna know what was the worst thing you found," Magnus said, leaning forward.

"You got kicked out of your middle school football team because you punched your teammate. That also got you suspended."

"Darwin deserved it and I stand by that," Magnus said, lifting his nose into his air. Lucretia chuckled. "What else you got? Anyone else get suspended? Ooh, ooh! How old are Taako and Lup actually? Because they said they were four-twenty but I think they're just fucking with me."

"I can't disclose that information," Lucretia said. Magnus groaned, rolling his eyes. "But one time Barry got detention for throwing a pickle in someone's face and hitting them in the eye."

"Oh hell yes," Magnus said. "Give me more."

"Merle's got a criminal credit on the account that he has repeatedly tried to steal various plants from different areas, including the IPRE's director's office."

"Sounds about right!"

"Taako was one admitted to a hospital for severe burns on the same day Lup conveniently nearly got arrested for setting a store on fire," Lucretia said, getting into it now. "Davenport's got six older siblings and four younger ones. Merle got caught eating mulch from Fantasy Home Depot's garden department. I'm actually nineteen. Barry is banned from a Fantasy Party City in a town called Redwater because-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Magnus said. "Repeat that again."

"Barry got banned from-"

"No, the one before that," Magnus said. "You're nineteen?"

"You just told me you lied about your age too!" Lucretia said. "If anything, I was just following your lead."

"I added six months to my age!" Magnus said. "Not- not-"

"Four years," Lucretia said before she could stop herself. Damn. She needed to stop talking.

"How the hell did I think you were twenty-three," Magnus said, staring at her. "You look so young!"

"You told me literally yesterday I looked like I could be thirty," Lucretia said drily.

"That was a joke," Magnus dismissed. "Luce. Lucretia. Oh my gods."

"Magnus, please-"

"You let everyone make fun of me for being the youngest for the past six years!" Magnus said, throwing his hands up into the air. "Six years, Lucretia! And you never thought to help me once?"

"It was pretty funny," Lucretia said.

"It was not," Magnus said. "I can't believe you. How could you do this to me?" He turned his head away dramatically. Lucretia rolled her eyes. "I feel like I don't even know you anymore, Lucretia."

"I think being the youngest is more of a mind frame at this point," Lucretia said. Magnus huffed. "And you just proved my point, thank you."

"I'm gonna tell Dav," Magnus said.

"You can't," Lucretia said.

"I can," Magnus said, delightedly. He started to get up from the bed.

"You won't," Lucretia corrected. "No one will ever believe you."

Magnus paused, halfway off the bed. He narrowed his eyes at Lucretia.

"You're nineteen," Magnus said. "You can't tell me what to do. I'm older than you." He was grinning again. "I'm your superior now, Luce!"

"I'm not sure that's how it works," Lucretia said, but Magnus was already launching himself towards the door. She sighed, watching him throw it open and run down the hall. There was a faint shout of the word "nineteen!" and a very loud yelp from Barry that followed.

Lucretia turned back to her journal and continued to draw. Maybe she'd be able to sketch in peace before someone else burst in here.

#lucretia #magnus burnsides #taz #taz balance #taz stolen century #mine #ise cube writing #a weird lil thing that i wanted to do #getting the words out for this was Hard oof but it's the best I got sldfsd #just didnt wanna lose the idea #if u see typos no u dont!

[naavispider]

A follow up to this post, which is a bonus scene from Quaritch's POV at the end of The Cat's in the Cradle. This one was egged on by @hyperfixatedfandomer who always manages to inspire me!

It’s been four years since Spider decided to stay with the Sullys, effectively cutting his father out of his life. Quaritch has been coping the best way he knows how, but it’s been rough and life moves on. He always hoped that someday his son might change his mind and miraculously show up on the doorstep. What he didn’t count on was that day being today.

Quaritch sighed wearily as he resigned himself to another afternoon sorting out Selfidge's mess. The RDA had welcomed him back with open arms when he'd got of prison six years ago, but he'd been too obsessed with trying to get custody of his son back for the first two. Then, Spider had turned his back on him and Quaritch had slipped into a dark place; his loneliness and self-hatred had driven him to the verge of insanity. Only Lyle had been able to reason with him. He'd turned up at the door after Quaritch was re-arrested and hammered some sense into his superior officer.

And Quaritch was grateful. Getting stuck back in at the RDA was a chore - especially when working with civvie pencil pushers like Selfridge - but a welcome distraction from the pit of sadness that had found a home in his guts. He cleaned himself up, dusted himself down and focused on commanding his squad. Eventually, time stitched over some of the deepest cuts Spider had left him with, and Quaritch simply grew used to living with the pain.

It had been four years since he'd seen his son, and even though it killed him, he'd kept his word. If I get out… you draw the shots. No more plots behind your back. If you want nothing to do with me… I’ll leave. He hadn't tried to contact Spider. The boy had made his choice, and the biggest mistake of Quaritch's life was that he once didn't respect that.

He would now, even if killed him.

At that moment, the doorbell rang, rousing Quaritch from his thoughts. He frowned, unsure who was calling. It was probably Lyle - the man was always dropping in unannounced. He left his laptop open and went to the door. But wait. Just as he was about to open the latch, he realised that couldn't be right. Lyle was out of state on RDA business. Must be one of the others he shrugged, though his hand hovered over the Beretta in his waistband just in case. He opened the door.

For four years he had waited for a moment like this. He stared at the young man in front of him. He just stared.

"Um... Hi, Dad."

Quaritch focused his eyes on every aspect of the boy's face, taking in every inch of his appearance. If he didn't know his son like the back of his hand he would have believed it to be trick from the enemy. Spider was here. He was really here.

"Son..."

Spider's hair fell carelessly in a messy half up, half down style. The years had matured the angle of his jaw, the arch of his brows. This wasn't the sixteen year old boy that Quaritch remembered. This was a twenty year old man.

Spider smiled awkwardly, dreadfully reminiscent of the way Paz used to, and for a moment Quaritch couldn't speak.

Spider looked like he understood, and shifted awkwardly on his feet. "Can I come in?" he asked. God, his voice was deeper. He had to reach out and touch him... make sure he really was here....

He nodded, stepping back slowly to let Spider in the house. He couldn't take his eyes off him as Spider stepped over the threshold. In a daze, Quaritch shut the door and walked to the living room. "Sit down..." It should have come out as in instruction, but instead it sounded more like a question.

Spider tentatively crossed the room and sat on the edge of the comfortable sofa. Quaritch couldn't remember the last person other than Lyle to sit on that sofa. Was his son really here?

Spider's eyes drifted down to Quaritch's hands. Without realising it, Quaritch had started to run the MJ tattoo on his wrist, like he always did when he was stressed. He immediately stopped, not wanting to freak Spider out. They were both quiet for a moment, before Quaritch followed Spider's suit and sat next to him on the couch. He measured the distance between them carefully. There wasn't quite enough room for a third person between them, but there was plenty of space. He took a deep breath as he stared at the floor, trying to pull himself together.

"This is weird," Spider stated.

Quaritch let out a dry chuckle. That was one word for it.

"I'm sorry for... dropping in."

Quaritch forced himself to look up and meet Spider's eyes. He was met with the familiar blaze that burned behind his chestnut irises. A necklace dangled around Spider's neck, catching the light. The sight of him was breath-taking. Spider was an adult. He'd outgrown him in the most complete sense imaginable. It made Quaritch's heart yearn for the years he'd missed. He wasn't sure if he could do this. Suddenly, all he wanted was that fiesty sixteen year old back.

He wanted to be cussed out, insulted. He wanted to know that the best place for Spider was by his side. He didn't want to see that Spider was doing fine without him. It was breaking him.

"What are you doing here?" Quaritch finally managed to say.

Now it was Spider's turn to avert his eyes. He looked... ashamed. "I... I wanted to explain. I wanted to see you."

"It's been a long time, son," Quaritch reminded him.

"I know. And I'm sorry." He paused, clearly unsure what to say next. "You really hurt me."

Quaritch closed his eyes slowly, pursing his lips. "I know." He did. He knew what he'd caused.

Thankfully, Spider continued. "I didn't know how to handle that. You were supposed to be there for me. You were supposed to love me because I'm your son, not because you wanted to be a father."

Quaritch nodded. Spider was being completely fair.

"Would you have done it?"

Quaritch looked up. He knew what Spider was referring to. The reason he'd decided to maintain the restraining order in the first place. He sighed. "I don't know. I was a desperate man who'd lost eleven years of his son's life. I wanted you back, but I don't know how far I could have gone through with it. Not if you weren't cooperative."

Spider pursed his lips. "I wish I'd never found out."

"That I was gonna take you?"

His son nodded. Quaritch's heart bled. "For the record, I wish I'd never come up with it."

Spider half smiled.

The damn that had been waiting to burst since Quaritch first opened the door reared its head at last. "Is it really you?" he whispered.

On the couch, Spider turned to face him full on. "It's me, Dad."

His arm moved of its own accord, reaching up slowly to rest his hand on Spider's shoulder, then slowly, making sure Spider could pull away if he wanted, up Spider's neck until he was cupping his son's face. It took Spider a moment to give him eye contact, but when he did it was all he needed. Warmth flooded his insides as light filled up the bottomless pit of despair he'd worked so hard to live with all these years. Spider's presence alone was enough to cure it all. He could see him melting into his touch, and without realising it he'd shuffled closer and was enveloping his son in a fierce embrace. Spider's shoulders shook with emotion and Quaritch held him tighter. If anyone ever tried to take his son away again, he'd see them in Hell. "Shh, it's okay." He breathed in the scent of Spider's hair, wrapped his arms around his boy as if his touch was the only thing keeping him alive.

"I'm sorry-" Spider choked out, but Quaritch shushed him, letting him cry it out. Quaritch didn't cry, he just thanked his lucky stars that his son had returned home. "I'm so glad you came back," he murmured, because it was the only thought he was capable of holding.

When Spider's breathing finally seemed to return to normal, Quaritch released him. "Stay here," he ordered, making his way to the kitchen. He didn't want to leave Spider, not for one second, but he needed to make him comfortable. They had a lot of catching up to do. He returned with two cups of tea, and his adult son kicked his feet up onto the couch, making himself at home. He took the mug as Quaritch sat back at his end of the couch.

"Tell me everything."

#spider socorro #miles quaritch #avatar the way of water #avatar 2 #miles spider socorro #avatar modern au #atwow #recom quaritch #the cat's in the cradle #my stuff: cat's in the cradle epilogue

[thegeeksideofsr]

Keeping Secrets

I had an idea about Eliot and a single mom of an eight year old, and I couldn't get it out of my head. I hope you enjoy!

Takes place around season two.

Content: mention of a kid slipping on a flight of stairs, bruises, and single parenting

" Look, we need this for the job. I know it's short notice, but you said you have some on hand."

"I said I had half finished ones. It would take at least six hours of painting to finish. Then the process to make the paint cure and ageing takes another four. I can't Nate." I say into my phone as I add cut carrot to the pot of soup on the stove, then turn to glance at my daughter drawing at the table. "I have priorities that are outside the team that are more important then conning someone."

" Alright. I talk to Hardison, see what he can cook up."

"Good plan. I'm sorry I couldn't help. See ya."

I pull the phone away and hangup, tucking it into my pocket. I turn back to the pot on the stove and give the contents a stir.

The call with Nate still on my mind after dinner, even though I tried to punch it out of my mind and focus on Odette

After she went to bed I texted Hardison to make sure it was all good, which it was of course, but the guilt of not telling the team was starting to get to me. Especially not telling Eliot.

He and I would flirt and dance around each other all the time, we have since I joined the team. But I still keep my life private, being one of the best forgers is dangerous. Even if it's part time.

The next morning I bring her to school, making sure to sign her field trip permission slip, then give her a long hug, before sending her inside.

I head to McRory's to check in and do some legitimate work.

I walk into Nate's apartment, finding him and Hardison there with security feeds on the screens.

" Hey guys. How's it going?"

" It's going. Managed to pull something together. Not as good as yours but it's getting the job done." Nate says with out looking at me.

"I'm sure he did a great job." I reply as I pull out my sketch book to work at Nate's dinner table.

"Nice of you to join us." Eliot's voice cracks through the comms.

"Nice hear you too, El. Sorry I couldn't help last night."

"S'alright. Hardison managed. But I'd love to hear about what kept you busy."

"Was it a date?" Parker asks.

" Kinda."

"Oh? Who with?"

"Somebody special. Now can we stop talking about my personal life?"

The rest day passes with out much excitement. The team comes and goes and soon enough we are all down in the pub. I note that school let out thirty minutes ago, but Odette has a practice for a school play for an hour and a half after school. Meaning I hang out for another half hour with the team, then head to pick her up, and grab some take out on the way home.

A light touch at my elbow makes me jump and turn to see Eliot grinning at me.

"Didn't mean to scare you, darlin'. I was just asking if you had plans later."

I let out a sigh and look down. This isn't the first time he's asked that, and I doubt it will be the last. He's asked me out before, but the thought Odette getting attached to him like I have, or getting caught up in something scares me enough to not risk it.

" I do. I'm sorry, Eliot."

"With the someone from last night?"

"Yeah. But please, Eliot, I want to keep my private life, private."

" I understand. I won't push it, but I wish you'd tell me why we do this dance, yet you always have mysterious plans."

" I know. But I can't tell you, El."

" Because you don't trust me?" His voice is low as he looks at his feet.

I step close to him, I cup his cheek and make him look at me.

"Eliot, I trust you with my life. But this is something I can't risk, this part of my life shouldn't touch the other side."

"What do you think would happen?"

"I don't know, and I am terrified to find out. But if something changes, you will be the first to know, okay?"

A small smile crosses his face, I return his smile and press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. I wish I could let my self fall for him with out a care, kiss him properly, but I can't.

I pull away and step back, taking a deep breath, I grab my stuff and turn back to him.

"Good night, Eliot."

"Good night."

I turn and head out the door and once in the safety of my car I relax just a little. I check the time, almost an hour to kill till pick up, I drive over to Odette's school and park. I pull out my sketch book and wait.

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

A rapid knock on my car window pulls my attention away from work to find my daughter's face pressed against the glass making a face, causing a laugh to bubble out of my chest.

When she pulls away I roll my window down.

"Hey kiddo! How's was today?"

"Good. Miss. Anne read to us and we got to make a recipe form the book."

"Cool! Hop in and you can tell me more on the way home."

She grins and runs to her side of the back seat, tossing her turquoise backpack next to her. She buckles in and kicks of her shoes before she begins retelling her day of school, while I drive towards home, stopping for take out on the way.

*********

"Are you okay, Mom?" She asks suddenly during dinner.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine, just thinking about work."

"Just work?"

I let out a sigh.

"I got asked on a date tonight before I left."

She lets out a shriek of excitement and starts bouncing in her seat.

"Was it Eliot? Did you say yes? Please say you said yes !!"

"Yes, it was Eliot, and no, I didn't say yes."

Her excitement fades, making my heart ache.

"But why? You like him a lot. You talk and tell stories about him all the time. You've even drawn him."

"Because it's complicated, love. We work together and it might end badly and mess up the friendship we have. And you. I don't want you to get hurt."

"But you like him!"

" Odette. It's not happening. I'm sorry."

She lets out a dramatic sigh and slumps back in her chair.

It's silent for a few minutes, then she starts telling me about something that happened during the play rehearsal.

*********

The con had been rough to say the least. A mark with trust issues, a head goon who was actually good at his job, and a forged master piece all part of Nate's plan. At least I wasn't a main option grifting or thieving.

Hardison, Parker and I were sitting in a booth while Nate and Sophie talked with the client. I was laughing at something Parker said, when out of the corner of my eye I see the flash of my phone ringing.

My heart drops to my stomach when I read her teacher's name.

"Shit." I mutter as I pick it up to answer.

"What? What's wrong?" Hardison asks as he looks at me concerned.

I ignore him as I put it to my ear.

"Hello? Anne, what's up?"

"Hi, Y/N, I'm calling because of an incident that happened during the field trip today."

"What happened? Is Odette okay?"

"We were at the top of the steps to the second floor of the museum, the kids were a few steps ahead of Rick and I, and her foot slipped on a step. And she fell about four feet to the next landing "

I try to stand, but the table of the booth stops me in my tracks.

"What?"

"I know, it's not the best news. And I feel terrible that it happened but she's ok. A small scrape on her knee and some bruises. I wish it had never happened but it could have been so much worse."

"Are you back at the school? Should I come get her?"

"We are at the school. She asked me to call you to come and get her. She seems ok for the most part, I think it just scared her."

"I'm on my way. I'll be there in twenty."

"Alright, I'll let her know. See you soon."

I pull the phone away from my ear and shove it in my pocket. I grab my stuff, slide from the booth, and head for the door.

" Yo, where you goin'?" Hardison calls after me.

" It's private. Tell the others I had to cut out early."

I head for the door of McRory's trying to dodge people, but failing as I run in to someone, nearly falling on my face.

But a familiar scent of warmth and spices floods my nose as a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist. Eliot.

"Careful, darlin'. Where you off to in such a rush."

"I'm sorry it's hard to explain. I have to go." I say to him as I detangle my self from his arms and rush out the front door.

I make it to my car and toss my bag in the passenger seat, start the engine, and pull out of my spot and head towards the school.

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

I practically run through the school to Odette's class room. I open the door to find her sitting on a beanbag chair with her teacher and a book.

She looks up when I enter, and starts to wiggle to get up. Once on her feet she runs over to me, and I drop to my knees to hug her tight.

"Hey, baby."

"Hi, momma." Her voice muffled by my shoulder.

I pull away from her and look over her arms and see a bruse forming on her upper left arm, some on her leg, and a few scrapes on her knees. I cup her face and kiss her forehead.

"Let's get you home, okay baby?"

She nods, then pulls away to grab her backpack.

I look to her teacher, who is now standing, then walk to give her a quick hug as well.

"Thank you, Anne, for taking care of her."

"You're welcome. I took her to the nurse when we got here, nothing broken, just bumps and bruises."

I offer her my hand, which she takes and holds tight, then we say goodbye to her teacher, and head to the car.

I give her a nod, then turn back to Odette who looks all too ready to go home.

Once she's settled in her seat, I get in as well, and head home.

A few minutes into the drive my phone starts to ring, I answer without looking at the contact.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I just wanted to check in. You flew out of here like a bat outta hell." Eliot grumbles with a concerned tone.

"Yeah. I'm okay. But it's personal. I might be out for a day or two."

" Hardison said it sounded serious. You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, it's just-"

My sentence is interrupted from the back seat, loud enough I know Eliot hears.

"Momma? Can we get pizza for dinner? With olives? Please?"

I glance at her in the rearview, she's barely awake, her eyes heavy and head lulling to the side.

"Sure thing, love." I say to her, receiving a sleepy smile in return.

Eliot is still silent on the other side of the line. I let to go a second longer, then start to speak.

"Look, I have to go. I see you when I see you."

I hear him try to say something, but ignore it and hang up. I know is rude to hang up on someone like that, but he already heard Odette, and it was the only way to not have to answer his questions.

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

As I pull into the driveway, I see Eliot leaning against the side of his truck, arms crossed and staring a hole into the ground.

I park next to him and shut the car off. I let out a sigh as he looks at me through the window. I toss my keys in my bag, swing it to my shoulder, open my door to climb out, then shut it quietly so I don't wake Odette.

I walk around to the front of the car and stand a few feet in front of Eliot. We stand in silence, just starring at each other.

"Hi, Eliot."

"That all you got to say. You ran out of the pub, then when I called to check in you brush it off, and then to top it off I hear a kid your car call you mom."

His tone is calm and even, but I know him well enough to know he's boiling under the surface.

" It's complicated, Eliot."

" Is it? Is that what you have been keeping a secret all this time? Why?"

"Because she is my whole world, and if something happened to her because of a job I would never forgive myself."

"Is she the reason you always said no?" His voice quiet and heartbreaking.

I take a step closer to him and cup his face in my hands.

"Eliot. You have no idea how many times I have wanted to say yes to you. How many times I have dreamt about what would happen if I did. But if I take that leap and something happens, it won't be just me who would be heartbroken."

"You think I'd hurt you?"

"Not on purpose. But with the jobs we pull, and the danger we put ourselves in, there are somethings we can't control. And if something happened to you during a job, and you didn't get back up."

I stop short, the lump that had been growing in my throat making it hard to speak. His hands come up to hold my head.

"I get it. I do. But you can't live with that fear forever."

"I know, I just-"

I cut off at the sound of a car door opening, and a sleepy voice calling my name.

I pull my head from Eliot's hands and turn to look at Odette, who looking between us confused and tired at the same time.

"Hey, baby." I hold my arm out to her as I take a step back from Eliot. "Come here, I want you to meet someone."

She walks over to us, never taking her eyes of Eliot. She hugs my waist, and I wrap and arm around her shoulders.

"Odette, this is El-"

" He's Eliot. I recognize him from your drawings." She says with a cheerful tone.

I feel my face heat up as I close my eyes, a low chuckle come from Eliot, causing me to open my eyes.

He's trying to fight a smile, the corners of his eyes crinkle as he looks between Odette and I.

"Not a word."

He raises his hand in surrender, then squats down to be eye level with Odette, offering his hand to her.

"You're right, I'm Eliot. And who might you be?"

" I'm Odette." She says shaking his hand.

"It's good to meet you."

I watch the interaction with a smile on my face. It's going better then I ever could have hoped. My feelings for Eliot growing more intense as he talks to Odette.

Odette's voice pulls me from my thoughts.

"Momma?"

"Yes, baby?"

"Can Eliot stay for supper?"

She has a pleading look in her eyes. I look to Eliot who is already looking at me with a soft smile.

"Sure. You asked for pizza earlier, you still want that?"

"Yes!"

"Alright," I laugh at her excitement, " go get your backpack and we'll go inside."

She lets out a squeak, then runs to the car. I look to Eliot as he stands up.

"Are you sure you want to stay?" I ask him.

"Yeah. I'm sure. I got win her over if I want to date you don't I? You come as a package."

We share a smile, then when Odette comes back with her backpack, we head inside.

Once inside I take Odette to her room to change and to give her a once over my self. She has bruises and scratches all down her side and on her arm and leg. The scrapes all ready treated my the school nurse.

"Oh baby. I'm sorry you have so many bruises. Do they hurt?"

"A little. But not bad, just when I poke them like this."

I watch as she pokes a dark bruise, then flinches. I pull her hands away, and hold them.

"Well don't poke them if they hurt. Why don't you pick out some comfys and get changed. Then we can go make Eliot watch a Disney movie. I don't think he's ever seen one."

She lets out a shocked gasp then runs to her dresser.

I leave her room and walk back to where I left Eliot in the living room. I find him looking at the wall full of photos from the day Odette was born, to one I took at the beginning of the school year.

I watch at he stops at a picture of me holding Odette when she was maybe eight months old, with matching grins on our faces.

"That one is my favorite." I say to him.

He spins around like he got caught looking at something he shouldn't.

"She looks like you."

I nod, walking forward to stand next to him.

"She also looks like my dad." I point to to picture of him and I.

Eliot nods, then takes a breath to say something, but let's it out without a word.

"What? What were you gonna ask?"

"Where's her dad? I don't want to step in anything."

I shake my head, slip my hand into his and give it a squeeze.

"You aren't stepping in anything. He was a one night stand. I don't think he ever even told me his name."

"So you did it all on your own?"

"Pretty much. My family helped as much as they could, and I took as much legit work as I could find, but then when Nate approached and asked for a favor, I said yes. Plus the paycheck was nothing to laugh at."

His face scrunches.

"You knew Nate before you joined the team?"

"Yeah. He and my dad worked together at IYS. My dad left because he couldn't stand Blackwell. But he kept in touch with Nate over the years."

He let's out a huff of a laugh, and shakes his head.

"I ordered a pizza while you were in there."

"You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to. Made sure it had olives." He gives me a knowing smile.

"Well then you have won Odette's heart already."

"What about yours?"

"You won that a long time ago." I lean up and press kiss to his cheek.

I pull away when I hear little feet pound down the hallway, into the living room, then she bounces onto the couch.

Soon enough the pizza arrives, and we enjoy dinner in the living room. Eliot and Odette getting along like they've known each other for years, rather then an hour and half at most.

After dinner, and clean up, Eliot tries to leave, but Odette uses her professional puppy eyes get him to give in to her pleas for him to stay.

He finally caves and sits rigid of the couch while Odette diggs through our movie collection, and settling on Lilo and Stitch.

We manage to Eliot to relax, jacket and boots by the door, and sitting on the couch next to me, Odette squeezed between us, and a blanket over the three of us.

I notice Odette stops wiggling half way through the movie. I turn to check on her, and find he asleep, her face pressed into Eliot arm. He looks more relaxed then I have ever seen him in the entire time I've known him.

He turns to look at me and we share a smile.

When the movie is done, I turn it off, then get up and go to scoop Odette to bring her to bed, but Eliot raises a hand to stop me.

"I got her."

He moves slowly, so he doesn't wake her. Cradling her head, then lifting her into his arms resting her head on his shoulder.

I lead him to her room and open the blankets for him to lay her down. He lay's her among the blankets like she's made of glass. I pull the blankets up and tuck her in snugly, press a kiss to her head, then we both creep out of the room, latching the door behind us.

We walk back to the living room, sitting close enough the our legs are touching. He leans his head on the back of the couch, exposing his neck. It's a position I had never seen him in before, probably because it left his neck vulnerable, but it also made me want to kiss his neck. He looks peaceful. Head back, eyes closed, body completely relaxed.

" I can feel you starring."

I breathe out a laugh, then shift to sit on my knees, lean over him, cupping his face in my hand, turning his head gently towards me, the scruff on his cheek is rough against my palm. I lean down and kiss him. I feel him take a deep breath, then his hand comes up to hold the wrist of the hand on his cheek as he kisses me back.

It doesn't last long, but it's enough to take my breath away. When I pull away, he's already looking at me, his blue eyes fulls of confusion and hope.

"I've been wanting to do that for a long time." I whisper, rubbing my thumb along his cheek.

" So have I, darlin'. Can I kiss you again?"

I nod, leaning into him again. He wraps and arm around my waist, lifting and dragging me into his lap, wrapping both arms tight around me.

"Can I take you in a date?" He asks, pulling away just enough to mumble against my lips.

I humm in response, then lean in for another kiss.

Time seems to disappear as we sit there, making out like teenagers. We eventually separate, trying to catch our breaths. It's quiet, until he asks something I hoped he'd forgotten about.

" Did you really draw me enough that she could recognize me?"

I let out a groan and drop my head to his shoulder, his laugh ringing through the room.

××××××××××××××××

Eliot Spencer Taglist:

@katbratsupernaturalwhore @fictional-hooman

#leverage #eliot spencer #eliot spencer x reader #christian kane #eliot spencer x oc #leverage fanfic #leverage fanfiction