#i was so enthusiastic about the idea when her parents suggested it & they said they'd message me when the weather was better... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

miracleonice87 · 1 year

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Matthew Tkachuk and his partner as the perfect couple and babysitters 🙈🙈 like maybe they have slightly older friends or the older couples on the team just know they'd be the perfect parents together but they're not ready so they do a lot of babysitting and are both great with kids!

(okay I honestly know nothing about anyone else on the Panthers roster except the Staal brothers, which.. 😬🫠🥴 no thank u.. so pardon my inclusion of Johnny Hockey and Keith “Ironman / SONK” Yandle instead 😇)

also, cw: slight breeding kink simply bc of who I am as a person

I feel like the switch would’ve flipped for Matthew when they were still back in Calgary and Meredith Gaudreau got pregnant. he watched you stroll through Target picking out clothes, toy, and other gifts for their baby, calling out to him in the aisles and holding them up with the sweetest, softest, frowny look on your face as he chuckled and shook his head. he watched you plan her baby shower and decorate your house in a neutral-toned Noah’s Ark (get it?) theme, watched you dote on her when she arrived and made sure she was comfortable, fed, hydrated. he watched you touch her growing belly (with permission, of course) with the gentlest of hands and “ooh” and “ahh” over the baby kicks you felt from the inside out.

and all the while he was trying to hide the fact that there was a weird, new gnawing in his gut that he just couldn’t ignore.

then, obviously, the deals happened, and both you and the Gaudreaus went your separate ways physically. that provided a welcome distraction from the baby fever for Matthew…

at least for a while. then, baby Gaudreau was born, and you were constantly showing Matthew photos and FaceTime screenshots of the tiniest, sweetest, softest, snuggliest, loviest little girl and fuckkkk that gnawing feeling was back. one day, when you had settled in Sunrise and he was on the golf course with old Tkachuk family friend Keith Yandle, you texted him a screenshot of you making a kissy face at Noa and her grinning back at you on the screen, and he literally groaned. Keith was driving the golf cart and glanced down to figure out the culprit. it took one look at Matthew’s phone to figure it out.

“uh oh… I thought she might’ve sent you a sexy pic but that’s even worse,” he said with a knowing chuckle. “you got it bad, huh?”

Matthew nodded. “and it’s only gotten worse. we have so much time, and we’re not even married yet, but… I dunno man, something about it…”

Keith nodded, too. “I get it. it’s tempting. birth control no longer needed, they’re lookin’ all hot when they’re pregnant, you get a cute little smushy baby. but it’s a lifelong commitment, man.”

Matthew sighs. he knows.

“tell ya what,” Keith suggests. “I got some kids you can babysit. how about you guys come over tonight and you start there?”

Matthew’s heart leaps at the idea, and he texts you to confirm before he enthusiastically agrees.

and in his head, babysitting was supposed to soothe the sting, to pacify (for lack of a better term) the need he couldn’t seem to escape. but watching you do cartwheels across the backyard with Lola and Mila, French braid their hair, film TikTok dances with them, and read them a few chapters of Harry Potter before they fell asleep… melted him. Matthew honestly couldn’t take it anymore.

as soon as you closed the door to the girls’ room after tucking them in for the night, Matthew wrapped his arms around your waist from behind and pulled you flush against his torso, kissing at your neck and jaw, making you giggle at the unexpected embrace. you were about to ask what he was up to when you heard his voice, soft but gravelly in your ear…

“I love watching you with kids. lemme put a baby in you.”

you stopped in your tracks and suddenly, nothing was funny anymore. you turned to face him and could tell that he was absolutely, deathly serious. and Matthew didn’t know exactly how you’d respond to that, but he definitely couldn’t have anticipated the next word out of your mouth to be…

“okay.”

you watched his blue eyes light up like fireworks and relaxed into him as he kissed you fiercely. suddenly you found you were walking backwards, being angled into the nearby guest bedroom where you’d be staying the night so that Keith and Kristyn could stay out late. as he swung the door shut with one foot, lips still covering yours, you realized…

“mm.. mm-mm, mm-mm, no, Matty. you’re not getting me pregnant in Keith’s guest room…”

😉

#m’s concept night #matthew tkachuk

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bookwyrminspiration · 1 year

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Relating to your last ask on how Sophie handled your parents, I'm always interested as to what alternatives could have been. Could they have done a fake boarding school esque situation, possibly having to use Beguiling or the like to convince her parents to let her go? Could they have erased only Sophie but kept the rest of their memories intact (but they might still have to remove them from their location)? If that's beyond an average telepath's capabilities, is that something Sophie might be able to do (likely with the training she didn't have at the time)? Could she have brought them to the elven world with her and in doing so become the beginning of rebuilding the bridge between humans and elves? What do you think would be best for all parties, if the situation had been approached differently and with more care than the elves showed in canon? Would it inevitably be a tradeoff between keeping Sophie in her parents' lives and keeping her parents safe?

Oo okay alright alright! Very interesting. I'm going to go through these and assess them based on what problems may be encountered and whether they'd be a plausible alternative--but! this is just for fun and my opinion, please don't take it against you, I'm doing this enthusiastically not critically :)

Fake boarding school: I feel like this is close to an idea Sophie wondered about, and the main obstacle here would be getting them to agree--hence the beguiler thing. But then we also encounter the problem of how long would the beguiling last? Would they need to be continuously beguiled, and would the council approve using a beguiler for that when they could use an alternative? Probably not. This also requires Sophie to continue constantly lying to her parents--even more so than before--which was something she didn't think she could keep up much longer. It's not impossible, but the technicals of this seem difficult and strenuous

Erasing only Sophie: Possibly! But like you said, that level of skill is probably beyond the average telepath, making it significantly more difficult. And given what we learned from Damel, until he worked alongside Sophie, he'd never washed memories without risk of triggering them back. There would be so many things that could trigger those memories. Another question would be: how many memories are left after that? Sophie has been integral to their lives for over a decade, how are they going to fill that gap? What's Sophie-free? I think it's a plausible solution, but would be very very difficult and time consuming, and have a good risk of triggered memories (since Sophie wasn't able to help yet).

Bringing them to the elven world: At the time, the council was involved and overseeing things. I can't imagine any situation where they'd knowingly allow three humans to live in the elven world just because Sophie didn't want to leave them. There's also the fact that they are human. Sophie moves to the Lost Cities for many reason, but one of them being that she's an elf who doesn't belong in the Forbidden Cities. Her family would be just as out of place if not more so in the Lost Cities, and I don't think Sophie could do that to them. They don't speak the language (although it can be given, as we saw with Amy), they can't light leap without help, they're not going to be treated kindly by anyone else if anyone else even knows of their presence. Amy said in Nightfall that as amazing as the Lost Cities were, she could tell that she didn't belong and wanted to go back home.

I've said this before, but honestly? I don't think there is a better option than what we saw in canon, or at least I haven't encountered it yet. There's no good option, it's inherently an immoral and unethical situation, and I just can't envision one where everything works out best for everyone and could actually be implemented. Your second suggestion about erasing only Sophie could be an improvement, but I worry that retaining the rest of their memories would inevitably lead to triggered memories of Sophie, and that can only happen so many times before they'd just erase their memories fully because it wasn't working.

If everyone was super super agreeable and realism disregarded, the closest I get is if Sophie's human parents are made fully aware of the situation and then knowingly allow her to attend Foxfire and engage in the elven world while still living with her. But the elves won't let that happen and that puts a huge target on her family, who are human and can't defend themselves against the Neverseen once they enter the story more fully. It can't last

So for now (and my opinion may change) it does seem like an inevitable trade off. I don't think they're good, but the two options presented in canon (fake death or erased) are the best of a bunch of shitty options. I'm not sure what I would've picked between the two if I were in that situation, but I think Sophie picking what she did was in character, and therefore the better option for the story.

But again, these are all just my thoughts and opinions and how I've engaged with the story. There's no right answer here, and I say this all as part of an enthusiastic analytical conversation, not as critical judgement of anything :)

#kotlc #quil's queries #nonsie #long post #i keep going over it. i don't think the situation allows for a 'better' option #based on multiple different parts #what happened to her parents being awful and it also being the best compromise are two things that coexist I suppose #and now i'm wondering whether I would let my family think I'm dead or if I'd have their memories erased...#i'd feel horrible if they were grieving while I was still alive. i hate misunderstandings like that #but I'd feel horrible taking them away from their lives #ough sophie so sorry you had to face this at the tender age of 12 #anyway! i agree thinking of alternatives is very fun :)#i just. unfortunately. have been unable to think of a realistic alternative here :/#perhaps I'll find one at some point thought!

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sherlocksstuff · 7 months

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Chapter 3: Morning Wake-Up Call

It had been week since Mina arrived in London. Kit hadn’t protested much to Mina when she informed him about staying at Blackthorn hall.

"Silly Melon… Mina mine it's time to wake up," a soft voice whispered, pulling Mina from her dreams. She blinked and found herself staring at the pale Grey London sky. Once again, she had fallen asleep outside in Blackthorn Hall's gardens. To her, it was the best place to take a nap, even in the winter, and a simple heat spell could fend off the cold.

This time of year was always difficult for her, ever since her parents had passed away. Kit was there for her, but he had his own life in London now. She hardly saw him since he took up the responsibilities of running the Institute with Ty. Emma and Julian had come to Blackthorn Hall for the London Christmas party, and Mina had been glad that she could stay with them then the institute. However, he had been occupied with Enclave matters since their arrival.

"Mina, food's here," Dru called, interrupting her thoughts. "Coming!" she yelled back.

Julian's voice greeted her as she entered the house. "So, you fell asleep outside again, Min?"

"It's not my fault that your garden happens to be the best place to nap," Mina replied with a grin. "Besides, I was bird-watching."

Julian raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying her excuse. He exchanged a glance with Emma, a silent communication they seemed to share effortlessly.

"So, Mina, I was thinking we should train more later with Cortana. You're getting really in tune with her," Emma suggested.

Mina nodded enthusiastically. "That's a good idea. I need to train more. Are Kit and Ty coming for dinner, or is it just us?"

Dru answered from across the table, "Kit texted that they're a bit delayed, but they'll be here soon."

"Good thing we ordered pizza for dinner," Mina said with a grin, glancing around the kitchen. Emma and Julian were sitting close together, and Dru was to her left. Church, her dad's cat, lay asleep in the corner with his feet up in the air, on a bed she purchase from the pet shop.

Their dinner was cut short when Dru's phone rang. Kit and Ty hadn't made it for dinner; they were dealing with more Enclave problems. Strange occurrences, like unexpected portals, had been happening all over London.

"This sucks," Mina muttered, to which Church responded with a contented "Meow."

"You're right, Church. I still have you," she said, petting the cat affectionately. Church was known for being somewhat unfriendly to people other than Emma, but he was her dad's cat, and now he was hers.

Later, lying back on the ballroom floor, Mina pulled out her phone to text Max, her best friend. Loneliness crept over her; maybe coming to London so early had been a mistake. She sent a quick message, "Max, you up?" and waited for his response.

While she waited, her thoughts wandered to her parents. What must the place have looked like when James and Lucie were her age? She couldn't help but wonder. Her phone buzzed, breaking her reverie.

Max: Yeah, actually heading to London Institute with Bakpia. You're there, right?

Mina: No, at Blackthorn Hall, but I'll portal there now. What's happening, though?

Max: Don't know, something about portals, but not the usual ones that open in different places.

Mina: They're letting you help out? Jules and Emma left me at Blackthorn Hall, said they'd be back.

Max: Well, I'm 19, you know, and you're still underage, so…

Mina: I can still help out! See you there.

Opening a portal had become second nature to her; she could do it in her sleep if she wanted to. With a few practiced gestures, the portal opened with a shimmering silver hue.

Stepping through, she arrived at the London Institute's courtyard. The ancient building's spire loomed above, casting a shadow that reminded her of gothic cathedrals. She made her way up the steps and into the Institute, expecting to find Max.

"Min-min, what are you doing here? I thought you were at Blackthorn Hall," Kit called out, jogging down the stairs.

"Kit!" Mina exclaimed with joy, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

"I was texting Max, and he said he was coming here, so I portaled here," she explained.

Kit looked at her with a serious expression. "I know you want to help, but for now, stay in the Institute, okay?"

Mina was about to protest when he continued, "Listen, some weird things are happening, and I need you to stay put. Max, Rafe, and Tavvy are going to be here too. If we need your help, you can join, but listen to Rafe and Tavvy, understood?"

"Fine," Mina grumbled. "But I still want to be there for the meeting."

Kit sighed, his expression softening. "Alright, you can come to the meeting, but promise me you'll stay put otherwise."

"What about Ash? Is he here too?" Mina asked.

"No, he's in Faerie, asking about what's happening here. Now scram, Min," Kit said with a smile.

Mina ran up to the library. Hopefully Max and the others would be up there.

#mina carstairs #shadowhunters #max lightwood bane #kit herondale #the shadowhuter chronicles #rafe lightwood bane #jem carstairs #tessa gray #emma carstairs #Cortana #fanfic #London institute

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wolvesandcomputers · 1 year

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B.T. and the Campus Cop

Names, other than my own, have been changed

I had a rough time in middle school, and went into high school with a dim view of my fellow students. In middle school one of the sources of conflict was that I was an enthusiastic student, I sat in the front and asked questions. This made my less motivated peers feel embarrassed, and they took it out on me. Sure enough a few weeks into the school year this pattern started to happen again. Most of my classes were fine, but geology was the problem.

In the science classes we had 4 rows of 8 seats with an aisle down the middle. I sat in the front row near the door, the back two rows behind me were occupied by the cheer squad, 6 girls and a boy. The cheer squad were mostly freshman and sophomores, and they didn't like this freshman siting in the front row asking smart questions and getting praise from the teacher.

They started sniping at me, and me being just barely 14 started sniping back, because I certainly wasn't smart enough to pick my battles at that age. Things escalated. I found that if I blew in a certain pen cap it made a whistling noise at a frequency the teacher couldn't hear, but it drove the cheer squad mad. They started harassing me outside of class as well.

They started wearing out my name. They'd call my name in the hall, or in class, and when I turned around they'd laugh, or pretend they hadn't said anything. Since there were seven of them and one of me they were able to keep up a pretty constant harassment without to much effort. It got to the point that I stopped responding to my name unless it was an adult talking. I told my few friends to call me "Brushtail" if they needed my attention.

Now I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by this, and had no idea how to extract myself from the situation, so I complained to my mother. Her suggestion was that I find out their names, and she would call their parents and tell their parents ot make them stop. This seemed like a sensible solution, so I set about getting the list of names.

(If you live in the US and have participated in the school system since the Columbine Shooting in 1999 you can probably already guess why the campus cop got involved.)

I managed to get about half the names from listening to the teacher call roll, but there were a few more I needed, so I cornered one of the mousy little hangers on who followed the cheer squad around and laughed at their jokes. I asked her for the names I was missing. She wanted to know why. I, enjoying the feeling of intimidating someone smaller than me, said something along the lines of "they're going to get what's coming to them." She told me the names, and I went on about my day.

To be clear, my idea of "what was coming to them" was getting scolded by their parents.

The next day on my way to class I was approached by Officer Lewis, the campus cop. He asked me to come down to his office. I was not concerned by this because I knew I was a Good Kid™ and didn't imagine that I could possibly be in trouble. I figured I was a witness to something and he needed information from me. I tried asking about what was up, but he just said, "We'll talk in my office."

When we get to his office he asks, "So what is this I hear about you having a hit list?"

"A what?" I ask.

"I heard you've been making a list of names of students in your class?" He clarified.

"Oh yeah, I have." Always a very literal person, I tended to answer the questions adults asked, and not elaborate.

"Why were you making a list of names of kids in your class?" He asked, seeming a bit baffled in the face of my oblivious cheerfulness. I remained firmly convinced that I had done noting wrong and was therefor not in trouble.

"My mother told me to." I told him.

"So if we called your mother right now, she would say she told you to do this?" Officer Lewis asked.

I cheerfully agreed, and gave him my mom's work phone number. It's been a lot of years ago, and I couldn't hear my mom's side of the conversation all that well, but I got the gist of it. My mom told Officer Lewis that her daughter was being harassed at school while she was trying to learn, and that she has asked for the names of the bullys so she could talk to their parents. She also told him that if the school didn't do something about the harassment now that it had been brought to their attention, she would consider them complicit in it.

What I didn't find out until I got home later was that my mom actually knew Officer Lewis quite well, though he had know her under her maiden name. They had gone to the local community college together, and their room mates had been dating. When the room mates had claimed a room for a night alone together, my mom and officer Lewis had shared whatever room was unoccupied.

After talking to my mother, Officer Lewis sent me back to class, but kept the list. The cheer squad was talked to by someone at some point, and the harassment dropped down to manageable levels. I made some friends not long after, and things got better.

The final piece of the story came a few weeks later. The local paper would publish the town police log a few weeks after it was recorded. The paper edited it for anonymity and humor where possible. Noise complaints were generally published in the form of limericks for example.

Anyway, a couple of weeks later I was amused to read the following. "A mother was concerned about her son being on someone's high school hit list, there was a list, but it was for other purposes." In spite of the editors best efforts, there was only one boy on the cheer squad, so I knew exactly who they were talking about.

#true story

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asknarashikari · 2 years

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Funny minific idea: Hiromi gets invited to family dinner with the Igarashis and to Daiji’s horror his parents make it clear they’re okay with Hiromi and Daiji getting married

Me, having watched the preview for next week's episode: HIROMIIIIII WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO THEEEE

"Pardon my intrusion," Hiromi said as he entered the Igarashi home. "Good evening, Igarashi-san," he bowed to the matriarch in greeting. "Thank you for your invitation. Please accept this in thanks." He said, handing her a small cake box.

"Oh, Hiromi-san, you shouldn't have!" Yukimi exclaimed, receiving the gift. "Please, come in, make yourself at home!"

"Alright, Igarashi-san..." Hiromi said, slipping off his shoes and putting on the slippers Daiji had given him to use.

"Dinner's not quite ready yet, so why don't you join Daiji and the others at the lounge?" Yukimi suggested. "I'll call when dinner is ready, alright?"

"Okay ma'am," Hiromi said. "Or maybe I can help out somehow...?"

"No, it's alright," Yukimi reassured, gently pushing him in the direction of the bathhouse lounge. "And please, call me 'Mom', alright? Now, just go and rest up before dinner, okay?"

"Of course, M- wait, what?" Hiromi asked, but Yukimi had already left him behind.

He entered the lounge, where he saw the siblings seated at the table, arguing about something or the other. He cleared his throat loudly, and they looked up to see him awkwardly standing there. "Hello."

"Hiromi-san!" Daiji went over to him, and Hiromi pecked him on the cheek in greeting. Sakura squealed and Ikki chuckled as Daiji went slightly pink, but returned the gesture. "Not that I mind, but... what are you doing here?"

Hiromi blinked. "...Your mother invited me over for dinner?" he said. "She didn't tell you?"

"No....?" Daiji looked at his siblings, who looked equally baffled.

"Ah, Hiromi, my boy!" Genta exclaimed as he came out of the back office. "I'm glad that you can make it tonight!" He clapped Hiromi on the back enthusiastically, making him nearly bowl over.

"Ah, thank you for the invitation, sir, I appreciate it..." Hiromi began to say.

"Oh, cut it out with the whole 'sir' thing!" Genta chuckled boisterously. "You're part of the family anyway, no need for such formalities!" He winked at Hiromi, who was quite confused at this point. "You might as well start calling me 'Dad'!"

Hiromi and the siblings looked at each other, blinking once, then twice, processing the words, before they sunk in and they all realized what was being implied.

"DAD!" Daiji yelled, mortified. "Hiromi-san and I are- We- We're not at that stage yet!" he protested.

"I'm not saying that you are, I'm just saying that we wouldn't be opposed to it." Genta said, apparently oblivious to Hiromi and Daiji's chagrin. "I'm sure Mama-san would love to have Hiromi-san in the family, as well."

"Dad, what are you saying- Hiromi-san?" Daiji stopped in his tracks as Hiromi took hold of his hand tightly.

"Your mother... she also asked me to call her 'Mom' just now." Hiromi admitted, his entire face beet-red. Genta made a gesture as if to say 'See, I told you so.'

"W-Wha.. You guys are too much!" Daiji cried out, utterly embarrassed. He looked to his siblings in support. "Help me out here you two!"

"I wouldn't mind having Hiromi-san as a nii-chan though!" Sakura said cheerily.

"Sakura, what the hell?! Nii-chan..."

"Sorry Daiji, I have to agree with her." Ikki snickered. "It'd be nice not to be the eldest sibling for once~"

"You guys are the worst..." Daiji groaned. "I'm so sorry Hiromi-san... I didn't know they'd do this..."

"...No. It's okay, Daiji." Daiji looked at him, surprised. Hiromi bowed towards Genta. "Please take care of me then."

Genta chuckled. "Of course, my boy. As long as you take care of my son, as well."

"I intend to, sir. For as long as I can." Hiromi stated seriously. "I'll lay down my life, if that is what it takes to make him happy."

Daiji choked, looking at his siblings, his father, and his boyfriend in shock. "Wait... W-What is going on here?!" he asked.

Sakura grinned at her brother, grabbing his arm and laughing merrily. "Dai-chan, I think you just got yourself a fiance~"

"Congratulations, Daiji!" Ikki cheered. "My baby brother's getting married!"

"E-EEEEEEEEEEEH?????"

#kamen rider revice #kadota hiromi #igarashi daiji #otp: spider guy and dai chan #igarashi family #minific #askrikkaiandhyotei

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stargazer-sims · 2 years

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42 - Unexpected Quartet

The park across the street from the building where Artie and Emma both work has somehow become their park in Artie’s mind. He can’t even recall the number of serious talks they’ve had in this park over the years. They used to meet here after school when they were teenagers, each making up some hopefully plausible excuse so as not to tip off their parents that they were secretly dating when neither of them were old enough to be allowed to. Back then, they had no idea of the direction their lives would take, and they certainly couldn’t have imagined the situation they’re currently finding themselves in.

They’ve just come from Emma’s doctor’s office, and Artie still isn’t sure how to take the news they’d received from him.

Emma’s appointment had been scheduled for half-past two, which turned out to be a good thing, because there wasn’t enough of their work day left afterward to make returning to their offices logical, not that either of them would’ve been able to concentrate anyway. But, they did have to come back to the building to collect Artie’s car for the drive home, and they’d decided to detour through their park.

It feels right to talk here. It’s far less confining than the car, and despite neither of them mentioning it, they don’t want to wait until they return to their house to discuss what happened.

Emma’s doctor has known them long enough that he no longer questions Artie’s presence at appointments. Artie and Emma almost never go to the doctor alone, even for the most intimate care, so it wasn’t the least bit surprising that Dr. Ford didn’t bat an eyelash when Emma asked if Artie could stay while he checked her. Artie stood next to the exam table and held his wife’s hand while Dr. Ford worked. The doctor punctuated his examination with a dozen questions about Emma’s sleeping and eating habits, her mental health, alcohol consumption, exercise routine and overall general condition.

Emma was able to answer everything with apparent ease until Dr. Ford came out with, "Is there any chance you may be pregnant?"

Emma shook her head. "No, I don’t think so,” she said. We've been trying to be careful lately. We've been using protection."

"Have you used protection every time?"

She exchanged a look with Artie, and he suddenly felt uncomfortable. Had they used it every single time? He was positive they had, but then he remembered the night of his twenty-ninth birthday.

Unlike Tae and Davian, who'd also had their birthdays in July, Artie hadn't wanted to celebrate with a party or a group dinner. He and Emma had gone to dinner at their favourite Italian restaurant and attended a symphony concert, and then they’d rented a hotel room for the night and pretended they were on an expensive getaway. They'd definitely protected themselves that night, but in the morning...

Artie groaned inwardly when he recalled what had taken place the morning after his birthday, when he and Emma had awakened next to each other in that enormous, ridiculously luxurious hotel bed. It'd been slow and gentle and amazing.

And unprotected.

"My birthday," is all he said to Emma, and the look on her face told him that she remembered, too.

That was the point at which Dr. Ford suggested that he should perform a pelvic exam. Emma didn't look particularly enthusiastic about it, but of course she acquiesced. They had to know, although Artie was already reasonably sure and he presumed Emma was as well.

It didn't take long for them to have a definitive answer. Dr. Ford's examination took a few minutes, and when he was done, his voice betrayed no strong emotion one way or the other as he said, "You are most certainly pregnant, Emma. We'll confirm it with a blood test, though, and we'll want a scan to see how far along you are. We can do your blood test today, and we'll have you back the day after tomorrow or early next week for a scan.”

“Okay,” was all Emma said.

“After that, I’d like to make a referral to an obstetrician,” Dr. Ford said. “I can still follow up with you, but I’d be more comfortable if you were in the care of a specialist, given your medical history.”

Emma merely nodded, and it seemed to Artie that she was in shock. He couldn’t blame her, honestly. Having their suspicions was one thing, but hearing the words coming from the doctor’s mouth made the situation real, and it was a lot to take in.

Emma said nothing as Dr. Ford's nurse entered the room to draw blood for the test, and only nodded again when the nurse explained that someone would call the following day with the results.

They were both silent as they'd walked the four blocks from Dr. Ford's office to the park, hand in hand.

It's only now, seated on their favourite bench, that Artie finds the wherewithal to say something. He's not sure it's the correct thing. Maybe nothing's really the right thing at the moment, but he tries not to get anxious about it. Now isn't the time for him to break down.

"I'm sorry."

"Me too," Emma says quietly. "This isn't what I wanted."

"I know."

“What are we going to do?” Emma asks.

It’s a rhetorical question, as realistically there’s nothing they can do. Artie smiles tentatively, but he doubts it's particularly reassuring. "Wait and see, I guess," he says. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Emma replies. "I suppose so. I want to be happy. I mean, this isn't bad news. It's just..."

"Scary?"

"Yeah," she agrees. "I didn't want to get pregnant again. Not now. Not with Hope on the way. You're going to need me to be strong for you, and what if I can't? What if something goes wrong?"

Artie has to admit to himself that he's concerned about all of this too, but he's more worried about him not being able to look after Emma if something goes wrong. He reaches for her hand. "We'll be as strong as we can for each other, okay? Just like always."

"What if we need help? Are you going to be all right with that?"

"I think so," he says. In the beginning, he'd been reluctant when it came to the subject of outside help because he'd been too afraid to trust anyone but Emma or his parents, but he realizes that since joining the peer support group and meeting all their new friends, he's not nearly as anxious about it any more. "It might still be hard, but I'm willing to do whatever we need to do to keep our babies safe."

"Babies," Emma echoes softly. "I don't think I quite believe that, yet."

"Me either," says Artie. "It might take a while to wrap our heads around it. What did Dr. Ford say? Based on the date we told him, he thinks you're eight weeks along?"

"Yes. Only a few weeks behind you. We'll know for sure after the scan though, I think."

"Once you have your scan, should we tell our parents?"

"No," Emma says. "I want to wait at least until we're past twelve weeks, in case..."

She doesn't finish the sentence, but she doesn't have to. Artie understands exactly what she's trying to communicate. The highest risk of miscarriage is in the first trimester, and she wants to be sure she and their surprise baby make it past that point.

"Okay," Artie says. "We'll wait as long as you want."

At this, Emma manages a little smile of her own. "We can only wait so long before people start figuring it out on their own, you know." She glances down at his bump to emphasize her point. "But, I really do want to wait as long as we can before we make any announcements about us becoming a quartet."

"A quartet,” he says. “I like that. An unexpected quartet."

#ts4 #sims 4 #eagames #willow creek #Artie Greene #Emma Greene #aucieletoile side plot #aucieletoile #stargazersims

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achitka · 2 years

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Doors (an Encanto fanfic) Chapter 2

What will happen with them new shiny blank doors...Seriously the stress must be fun. This takes place where the movie ended, you know after the celebration. While these are actually character studies, I cannot say a story won't pop in there when I'm not looking. It is a vagary of my writing method. You should also note - a lot of these scenes are overlapping - Time can be funny like that.

Camilo

The day had been exhausting, but he had done it. He managed to get through the whole party without shape changing even once. He wondered if anyone even noticed. It was a lot harder to do than he expected, but it was worth it. A whole year of not shifting or being able to, made him realize he had relied heavily on it in social situations. He had even made actual friends with other kids his age in the town. Mirabel had helped with that the most. She seemed to know everyone’s name. Seriously, how did she keep them all straight?

He discovered quickly that he really wasn’t made for working on buildings. He and tools never got along and after a few ‘accidents’ his father suggested he help keep an eye on the kids who were too young for school. That was something he was good at, and it was fun to gather them together, putting on little shows for them. His Tío Bruno noticed this and gave him a few ideas for shows that he had written down. The parents of the Encanto would sometimes drop off a little one while they were working on rebuilding the Casita. It did not hurt that the children idolized him, of course. He had even managed to talk a few of the older kids into helping him with his shows when they weren’t busy with chores. It surprised him how enthusiastic they were. He had thought that he needed his Gift to do all those things. It was a revelation to discover he could still help people out and make friends, just being Camilo.

He yawned mightily and decided he had to just go to bed. Moving quickly down the darkened hallway, Camilo felt suddenly uneasy. Someone or something was behind him. He was sure everyone had gone home. He rounded a corner and stopped to listen for whoever or whatever it was. But there was nothing, like they'd stopped moving at the same time he did. Camilo took one small step and heard its echo around the corner. Startled, he took a quick step back and lost his balance and realized too late he was much too close to the stairs. He screwed his eyes shut, he was falling, and nothing would stop that. Camilo braced himself for the pain he knew was coming.

THUD

Whatever had been following him grunted in a satisfied fashion, then hands were on him, and Camilo lashed out.

"Hey, hey, Cam it's okay…Camilo!"

Wait…he knew that voice…he knew that voice.

"Are you alright? Open your eyes. It's okay, it's just me, Mirabel.

Camilo open one eye, focused on his cousin, and almost went limp with relief. Just a dream…just a dream. Still, it'd seemed so real. "Mira, you did not happen to see anyone hanging around…"

"No, but I was headed to the kitchen and saw you sleeping on the sofa…"

"Sofa?"

"Cam, you fell off it. That's why I came over here." She said, as she adjusted her glasses, which he saw were slightly askew.

Camilo hoped he wasn't responsible for that and sat up, letting out a nervous laugh, "Thought I fell down the stairs."

Looking back at Mirabel, he could see her look of concern and felt a moment of embarrassment that turned him crimson. That flared to anger and then back to embarrassment. Camilo sighed. Probably best to put it out of his head. He stood and thankfully Mira pretended not to notice any of it as he helped her up off the floor as well.

"Hungry?" she asked, smoothing her skirt. "I was headed for the kitchen after all."

"Snacks? Yes…race you," he said and took off full speed.

"Hey!" Mirabel shouted, but he heard her laughing and running behind him. There was a rule about not running in the house…usually. Both rounded the last corner at a dead run and skidded to a jarring halt (only thanks to Casita) just in front of Abuela. Startled, Abuela set down the small tray of tea and polvorosas she had been carrying with a slight clatter. "What are you two doing?" she asked in an amused tone. Still, Camilo and Mirabel immediately straightened.

"Sorry, Abuela," both said simultaneously.

She seemed to be waiting for more, and Mirabel said with a nervous laugh, "We were going to get some cookies..."

Abuela nodded and said, "Please do not run through the house," she said and was smiling as she retrieved her tray. “It's dangerous,” Abuela then calmly walked past them, "Dios Mio, what a menace." She moved into the hallway they had just vacated, all the while chuckling to herself. Camilo glanced at Mirabel. She was looking just as weirded out. A year ago, they would have been in for some serious tongue lashings. First from Abuela, then from their parents. So different.

"That is still unnerving." Camilo said when he was sure she was out of earshot.

Mirabel nodded in agreement. "I know, but in a good way? I'm certainly not complaining." and shrugged. "Come on, let's see if there are any more cookies."

Walking into the kitchen, both immediately spied the platter with the left-over sweets piled upon it. The snack foray was interrupted by Mira's mother, who walked into the kitchen from the opposite side.

"Please wash your hands, hijos."

Both stopped dead and turned back to the sink. How could she know they had not? After washing, they turned back to find Mira's mother was already gone.

They looked at one another…unsupervised snack time? This was an unexpected dream come true. There was a clatter of tiles behind them, and Mirabel just sighed. She turned around and picked up the small plates Casita had provided. Really small.

She handed him one, along with a cup that Casita had conveniently filled for them with lemonade. They sat at the table and Camilo stacked his little plate seven high. Mirabel took three and made a show of eating them with tiny bites.

"So," Mirabel began, "You been in your room yet?"

Camilo paused for a moment in his eating and shook his head. "I saw Dolores standing in front of hers, not sure if she went in though." Camilo knew that Dolores wasn't all that thrilled about the magic coming back. But she was so happy about Mariano that she did not seem to care. Mariano, of all people? "She probably did." Camilo said as he replenished his cookie stack. "What about you?"

"No, I’m not really expecting a whole lot and to be honest, I'm a little afraid to touch it."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Me too…"

Mirabel finished her last cookie and took her plate and cup to the sink. "I wonder if Hernando is available..." Mirabel gave a snort at her private joke and said, "I'm going to see if I can find Tío Bruno. There is something I want to ask him." She watched him snitch four more onto his plate and remarked, "You're going to make yourself sick."

"Nah, I will be fine. I'm a growing boy."

"If you say so, primo. Casita, do you know where Tío Bruno is?" There was an answering clatter of tiles and she replied, "Oh." She turned and headed for the door nearest the plaza, and absently waved as she disappeared around the corner.

Alone and full of sweets, Camilo wondered absently who Hernando was. He downed the last of the lemonade, gathered his dishes, plopped them into the sink and headed for the back stairs to the upper level. His room had always been right next to Dolores' and as he passed it, he saw the image of his sister etched into the wood and paused. Was she smiling? He walked up to 'his' door and just stared. Glancing over, he saw Antonio's was still blank too. Where was he? His brother had let slip that he was worried about the walls cracking. He had tried to reassure his little brother, but Antonio was one stubborn little kid. Getting and then losing his Gift within a few days was super hard on him. He was back to whisper talking again, like he lost his voice.

Camilo returned his attention to his own door and froze. Did he really want to do this? He had only just gotten used to not being able to shift. He could just walk away from it, not that it would change anything. There was a creak in the floor near him, and he looked over to see his father approaching.

"Hey Papá," Camilo said absently.

His father did not say anything, just came up and put a hand on his shoulder. They both stood and stared at the colorfully glowing wood for a while. His father broke the silence as he said, "You did well tonight, Camilo."

"Huh? I did not do anything." Camilo said, turning toward him.

"Exactly." His father said and grasped his other shoulder. "You did not shape-shift at all. It was nice to see you having fun. Your mother and I were very proud."

Camilo smiled at the praise, did a double take, and asked, "Wait, do not you want me to use my Gift?"

"Of course, Son, but for needed things."

Camilo thought about this, but wasn't coming up with anything that his Gift would actually be needed for, so asked, "What kind of needed things?"

"You'll know." His father sounded very confident about this and turned him back toward the door. Camilo, however, was not so sure. As if sensing his distress, his father continued, "Camilo, you've always been so giving to those around you. Working to make people smile and help them with their burdens. All you need to remember is that we all love you, just as you are."

Camilo smiled and nodded. Maybe it really would be okay. With his father's hand on his back, he gathered his courage and grasped the doorknob. The sudden rush of magic felt weirdly okay, and Camilo smiled as the magic flooded back into the door. Almost like it was trying to get to know him. Really weird, but nice. He walked into his room and paused to take in what he saw before him. It was actually a good size. Nice furniture...carpets. He hated getting out of bed onto a cold floor. He let out a relieved sigh. The thing he most feared was not present in his room.

"This is nice," his father said. "You know, it reminds me of my old room. Good size bed, nice mattress. Very nice."

"Yeah, it is." Camilo said as he lay down on his bed. Why was he so tired? "It's perfect Papá."

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

Félix waited for Camilo to be fully asleep and removed his sandals and ruana. His boy was getting big, but he managed to shift his son into a more comfortable position. Before he headed to the door, he noticed the lack of mirrors and wondered if it was Casita or Mira's influence on Casita that had brought about that tiny miracle. Camilo really did not need to practice; he could shift in his sleep if he chose to. Félix stopped at the door and looked it up and down. It was the same as before, but he noted the difference in Camilo's expression, etched so clearly. He chuckled to himself and wondered if Camilo would notice. He grunted with satisfaction and closed the door.

In the past, that face had worn a mischievous grin that exuded confidence. Confidence he knew Camilo did not feel when he was just himself. That smirk was gone, replaced by a smile of a shy young man, learning to be a confident one.

Link to Chapter 1 below

Next Chapter: Isabel and Luisa

#encanto disney #familia madrigal #felix madrigal #camilo madrigal #mirabel madrigal #encanto fanfic #abuela alma madrigal

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echo-three-one · 3 years

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Run run run....

Table of Contents

Previous Chapter : Going Dark - Part 1

Chapter 23 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

Going Dark - Part 2

John "Soap" MacTavish

London, United Kingdom

Soap never knew that the bloody guy would pull that trick off his sleeve. He's been sick of the same ringing he first experienced when they went out with Francine.

So he did what he could and quickly got up to his feet as soon as he saw Alex attempt to halt the hostage on his tracks. That bastard's going to pay for stomping on Alex like that.

With comms down once again, he had to act fast, stomping down the stairs, never leaving sight of the runner. He could sense someone following him and assumed it's any of Roach, Price or Jack. And it looked like Ghost caught wind of what happened too.

"Oi! Let's flank him!" Soap roared across the empty streets as Ghost and Roach split ways and ran toward their target.

They're not kidding when they said the Shadow Company is at par with the 141, the guy ran like a horse which Soap never expected from his build. He could see Ghost and Roach sprinting from his sides, one wrong turn and he's done for, but he still had one last trick.

He raced to the emergency stairs as his heavy feet clanged against the metal. Soap followed, optimizing the steps on edges to gain on him. Going up the rooftops was his biggest mistake.

"Bollocks, he's still running!" he announced as he felt his ears crackling.

"Well…. st….by…. do….airs.." His earpiece crackled through the static. It's recovering but they're already far off MacMillan's truck where their line connected.

He leaped. Soap almost stopped in his tracks as the runner courageously leapt across the huge gap and rolled on to the next building. He braced himself and continued dashing across the roof and did a mighty leap, his arms circled like he was swimming and he carefully placed his feet to perform a proper land and rolled.

That's going to hurt as soon as the adrenaline fades, but he quickly got up and made use of his remaining burst of energy.

The runner stopped in his tracks as soon as Roach emerged from the opposite fire escape, raising a pistol pointed straight at him as he raised his hand in surrender.

"Nowhere to run now." Roach said, cautiously walking near him. He's aware that his phone is still inside his pocket and that they had no idea when it'll go off again.

He didn't talk, but he looked panicked. He was sweating all over and his face was beyond recognizable. It looked like he's out of options.

"Tell us Where Shepherd is…" Gary pointed the loaded gun on his head, the desperation in Gary's eyes were obvious.

"There's an abandoned plane graveyard near Afghanistan…" he whimpered. His voice was shaky enough to warrant the truth.

"What's he doing there?" Soap added.

"He's trading the blueprints for the I.P. Address… Please that's all I know" he begged and they quickly left the place, walking back to MacMillan's car.

"You got something?" Ghost asked as soon as Roach's feet landed on the dark alley.

"A place. In Afghanistan." Roach answered.

"And he also had the I.P. Address.." Soap added.

"But that's impossible… didn't Samantha already forget about it?" Ghost asked but there was a quiet pause. Their brains almost looked like working together.

"Holy Crap." Roach finally broke the silence.

And from that moment they realized the other reason behind Samantha's memory returning. One way or another, her memories were once again toyed with.

"So how was it?" Price asked the team that ran off to chase the runner.

"We got an address. An abandoned plane yard in Afghanistan." Roach replied. Soap turned to Alex as he sat at the back of the jeep tending to his wound.

"You okay mate?" he asked walking close to his ally, who was wincing in pain.

"The guy's boots are heavy." He chuckled and so did Soap.

"Listen, Alex. We heard that Shepherd has the I P. address, did Samantha tell you anything about remembering it?" Soap asked as the whole team fell silent and turned to the two.

"Not really. What's bothered me is that she remembers everything except after when Shepherd explained his plans to her… Could it be that…" Alex trailed.

"She remembered because they undid their operation on her…" Jack continued. The whole group stood in silence.

Price's phone rang and delivered them with more bad news. It looked like while chasing the runner, Shepherd had caught wind of their activity and had some of London police scour the nearby streets for them.

"Da, It's time to go, my comrades." Nikolai announced as soon as Price relayed the message. Their ride home was compromised.

"Where to?" He asked.

"I know a place." Soap said.

TRAIN STATION

It looked like Soap's hunch was right. None of the people onboard to Scotland mind about the faces of the fugitives flashed on the news recently.

Their day packs had reserved clothes and they opted to change to something more civilian. Soap could smell the fabric conditioner France used to wash his newly bought clothes and couldn't help but miss her. If they weren't on a rush, Soap could've topped up for international calls.

"How long is this trip? 7 hours?" Price asked a civilian with surprised expressions.

"Wow. It's like a plane ride, but I'm still in the same country!" Jack cackled at the idea. He does have a different sense of humor. Just as Alex described him.

The rest of the team took this time to rest, they sat on the emptiest part of the train, away from the people that might recognize them and report their presence.

"I've contacted Samantha. It looks like they're having a small problem over there." Alex said.

"Someone saw one of us fugitives and tried to get inside the house to claim his bounty. At first they just talked him off but he's persistent now. So they decided to fly to our location and regroup there. And Soap, where exactly are we going?" Alex asked. Soap took a careful look around his team and felt nervous about his decision.

"Our old house. In Scotland. It's far off civilization. I think no one would look for us there." he muttered, gaining a nod from Price and Jack. Soap sighed in relief as soon as they thought of it as a good idea. Roach actually felt excited despite having to go there by train for seven hours. He immediately made that decision a few minutes ago without anyone's approval, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Hey, you three… Thanks for chasing that runner while we were out. Go catch some sleep. We'll watch over this train. It's going to be a long trip." Price nudged and Jack nodded. Soap gave a pair of earbuds to Price, the old man immediately looked at him with question.

"What's this? A hearing aid?" Price asked.

"Our runner wore that so it might be the reason he wasn't affected by his own blast." He muttered before crossing his arms.

"Thanks, mate. I'll let someone have a look at this." Price nodded and Jack immediately inserted with a suggestion.

"I know someone near Glasgow. A close friend of mine."

"That's great. He's closer." Price agreed and Soap slowly drifted himself asleep, trying to rest his tired legs all while also trying not to worry about Francine.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND

The never shifting scenery of the road home sent John MacTavish into a little nostalgia trip. The sound of trains screeching across the station reminded him of so many things from the past. The road they're walking along now was the same road he's walked on everyday of his life, and now after a lot of years, he can't believe he's back.

"I don't see anything nearby, are you sure we're not lost Soap?" Roach asked.

"We aren't. The house is just obstructed by the trees. They've grown taller since I last left." he replied enthusiastically. He looked obviously excited to see his home.

As soon as they reached the short curve, a huge cream-painted house greeted them from the distance. He could hear Alex and Roach's collective oohs and aahs every step they took closer.

"When you said old, I was really expecting it to be abandoned." Roach mused.

"It is, actually. My parents are off… somewhere else." he replied leading the way inside the house. The pool was already dirty and most weeds already outgrew the fences.

Soap pushed the huge wooden double door open and was greeted by the same visage of their entrance way back when he was a kid. Same pictures hung on the walls of his adventures as a kid up to the recent photo of his graduation. His mom was always proud of him no matter what, but he couldn't forget the way she looked at him once he chose to enlist to the riskiest job ever.

The rest of the team helped themselves to discovering the inside of the house, looking at photos, sitting on the couches and grabbing a glass of water. Soap quickly gave them a tour of the house and that they're free to pick a guest room of their choice. It was appropriate that they'd feel comfortable after a tough day.

"Nice place you got here, comrade. Why'd you give this all up for a life that's always hanging on the ledge?" Nikolai asked, tapping his shoulder.

"I don't even know." he muttered and Nikolai chuckled, making his way to the living room. The team was quick to adapt to the place. Roach and Ghost already chose their rooms and he assumed they already attempted to recover while the three older men gathered around the television and watched the news. Alex was by the telephone, probably contacting Samantha. He wanted to check on France himself, so he planned to go to his room and make a call.

"The New York attack stopped." Price discussed with Nikolai and Jack, the three began speculating about a lot of things. Soap would love to join in the conversation but he decided to update on Francine first.

His room looked the same as when he left, the same shade of blue wallpaper, the same color sheets that were changed weekly and the same things on top of his bedside drawer.

Dialing her number, which he subconsciously memorized, he immediately placed the receiver on his ear and anxiously waited for her to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" her voice sounded different over the phone, but it still sent shivers across his spine as soon as he heard it.

"Hey. It's me." he replied.

"Angelo?" she asked, her voice almost sounded like she's fighting herself not to laugh.

"It's John."

"I know, silly. Who would mistake you for anyone else with that accent." she retorted.

"Do ya like it?" he teased, making sure he emphasized his Scottish accent well.

"Why'd you call?" She changed the topic. She wasn't budging on his teasing, but he knew she's already blushing on the other side of the line.

"Did Price give you the landing coordinates?" he asked.

"Yeah. Maxine looked it up on the map. It looks like a shady house in the middle of nowhere. Who are you?" she joked.

"Great. I'll see you here. I-" he hesitated. He wanted to tell her how much he misses her. But even with his oozing confidence, he felt like chickening out this time.

"Yeah. We're on our way. Take care out there John." She said and dropped the call. Soap sighed and plopped himself on his bed, deeply sighing at his actions. This girl was making him crazy… and the funny thing is he's all fine with it.

Next Chapter : Going Dark - Part 3

Notification Squad my Beloved

@smokeywhalee @samatedeansbroccoli @enderio @beemybee @whimsywispsblog @ricinbach

#horrayfic #codmw #john soap mactavish #john price #simon ghost riley #alex echo 3 1 #gary roach sanderson #whateverittakes

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