#to be fair this is a christmas present for my husband and kids

[notjustjavierpena]

Where I'm Supposed To Be, a husband!Javier Christmas fic

Series Masterpost | Main Masterpost

A/N: Here’s my Christmas present for you all. I wrote this with blood, sweat and tears. I love you. Thank you for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to make myself, and everyone who reads my work, happy due to a silly, little, fictional family. Thanks to @javiscigarette and @joels-shitty-puns for being amazing and caring ❤️ and obviously thank you @angelofsmalldeath-codeine for being my sweet Spanish tutor 😭🙏

Summary: Just Christmas morning with the Peñas. Lots of chaotic and sweet children but also some alone time between you and your husband who very much has a present for you this morning.

Pairing: Javier Peña x Reader/You (No y/n)

Tags: +18 smut, domestic life, three children being cute, unwrapping of gifts on Christmas morning, dancing to the radio, butterflies, being courted by javi, some rough pussy eating (javi is a cunning linguist and a fucking menace), nose riding, multiple orgasms, dirty talk, praises and pet names, rough sex, kitchen sex, lactation kink, tit play, bit of breeding kink. creampie, they are gross and in love, absolutely married to each other

Word count: 7.1k!!!!!

Link to this work on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52364101

Where I’m Supposed To Be

Your eyes open wide as soon as you feel the weight of two children in your bed, and the realization of what day it is comes to mind. Since you are lying on your side, facing your husband, you watch the same shock settle in him as his own slumber is interrupted. Javier is lying on his stomach, hugging his pillow tightly, and when Inés starts jumping up and down at the foot of the bed, he shoots up to look around with a confused expression. You smile as he catches your eye. He yawns back at you. 

“Wake up! Wake up!” Inés’ squeaky voice announces. She sounds out of breath from jumping continuously, “It’s Christmas!”

The whole bed shakes. Lucas has joined in on the jumping, a contrast to his usually so well-behaved and calm manner, but you remember the magic excitement that Christmas brought along when you were a kid yourself. 

You yawn loudly to tease, turning onto your back. Inés barely survives the way you drag out waking up properly.

“Alright!” You sit up in bed with a little smile, letting your hands come down on top of the covers, “We’re up.”

“I’m not,” Javier grumbles into his pillow. Inés takes it as an opportunity to jump on her father’s back, sitting down on him with a knee on either side of his torso. You can hear the air being knocked from Javier’s lungs and can’t help but smile fully now, fighting a belly laugh as your insistent daughter starts tugging at his hair and shoulders.

“Come on, Mom!” Lucas begs too but without bordering on violence. He grabs at your hand to pull it, and you throw the covers to the side to let him lead you out of bed. 

“I’m coming, mijo (my son),” you say and slip on a t-shirt that you have laid out the day before; there’s been a fair amount of Christmas mornings at this point but with Inés getting older, and thus more steadfast in her personality, you have resorted to creating a system that you hope neither of your kids has realized exists. 

When Inés sees you out of bed, she quickly abandons her father at the realization of your willingness. Javier takes in a deep breath as he loses her weight on top of himself, imitating the sound of someone falling asleep again. You’ll let him for now; after all, he’s been the one up all night to arrange the presents so it looks like Santa came to visit. 

“I have to check on Seb first,” you inform their hopeful faces. Inés groans and even Lucas looks like he might join in but you don’t give in to being rushed, simply shrugging, “If you are quiet, he won’t wake up and it’ll be quicker.”

You grab the baby monitor from your nightstand and then your kids follow you down the hallway of family photos to Sebastian’s nursery. Your baby is sleeping soundly when all three of you enter ever so quietly, a sign of contentment and feeling safe, and you don’t dare reach out to touch him in case he is disturbed from his sleep, even despite him being the easiest one of all three, so often off to dreamland that you have had Javier needing to reassure you.

You stare down at Sebastian for a few moments. He has his arms above his head, hands squeezed into fists and his little mouth slightly agape. You can feel yourself being overcome with emotion as both Lucas and Inés observe their little brother’s slumber with you, and with such understanding in their eyes that you wish you could take a picture of them. They have all of their hands clutched around the railing of the crib to peek down at the baby. 

“Mom,” Lucas whispers without taking his eyes off Sebastian, “Can we please go see our presents?”

“Pleeeeease,” Inés follows.

“Okaaaay, let’s go,” you whisper back.

You leave the bedroom with the baby monitor in your hand and Inés hand clutched in your other, only to hold her in place in case she wants to run down the stairs. 

Both your kids’ eyes go wide as they enter the living room. There are several differently sized and shaped presents underneath the lit-up Christmas tree, sporting extravagant bows and wrapping paper designs. You know that none of them are for you but you’ll relish in your children’s faces as they run towards the pile. 

“Steady now,” you say as you place the baby monitor on the coffee table, “Everything has led up to this, I know, but we don’t want it to be over in a few minutes, do we? Let’s do one at a t—“

“But Santa’s been!” Inés shrieks in delight. Lucas looks at you, only seven years old and not convinced, and you wink at him only to receive a little smile. He looks pleased with himself, sharing a secret with his mother.

“Really? How do you know he has?” You say animatedly. It’s obvious, she tells you, look at the presents, but you distract her from ripping each of them open by walking up to gape at the empty plate and glass that are on the coffee table, gasping for show as if to imitate your daughter, “Inés! You’re right! Look!”

Inés whips around, darting towards you. She stares in shock. Lucas seems a little impatient, hovering around a big present that is for him, so you hold out your hand and call him over to look at the Santa-evidence too. 

He walks around the coffee table to lean against you instead, and you rest a hand on the back of his neck. You gently run your fingers through his hair, whispering to him as Inés lifts the plate to look underneath it.

“You’re the best big brother, sweetie,” you mutter and repeat the move, smoothing his bed hair. He leans into you further. 

“Look! All gone!” Inés parrots as she stares at the cookies that are nowhere to be found. Neither on or under the plate. 

Lucas still doesn’t look very convinced. In the future, you’ll tell him about the sugary kiss his father planted on your cheek when crawling into bed after eating cookies and drinking milk at three in the morning - and his preteen self will crinkle his nose in disgust.

Speaking of your husband, Javier enters the living room silently so as to not disturb Inés’ hunt for clues. He has put on a t-shirt that hangs over his boxers, looking beautifully disheveled, and you smile like a schoolgirl when he looks at you happily. 

“Is there anything else? Did he just leave behind all those great big presents?” You still talk excitedly, grinning as your daughter’s eyes scan the floor and ceiling. 

She continues to the fireplace, pointing out the small amount of soot mixed with glitter that you’ve spread out on the wooden floor, “He’s been! Look, Mommy!”

“Wow!” Javier now chimes in. Inés recognises his voice instantly and she runs to her father the second that she hears him. Javier picks her up from the ground with the groan of a father to settle her on his hip. He kisses her cheek repeatedly until he blows a raspberry, “He did all that for you?” 

Inés giggles like only a child can. You want to melt. She claps excitedly, “All for me.”

“You must’ve been very good this year, mija (my daughter),” he says, ruffling her already messy hair. She shies away from it but throws her arms around his neck as soon as he has stopped, burying her head in his shoulder. 

Lucas shifts impatiently but he doesn’t say anything. 

“You want to open a present?” You whisper to him. 

“Can I?” He whispers back with wide eyes.

“They still have a few clues to go through, outside even,” you crouch down to kiss his cheek from behind, hugging him close to you, “If you want to, I’ll let you. I’ll choose though.”

In the background, Javier catches on. He places Inés back down on the floor, holding out his hand for her and winking at his son whilst talking to his daughter, “Do you want to see if Rudolph ate the carrots you laid out for him on the doorstep?”

Inés, completely ignoring the offered hand, starts running towards the front door whilst naming other reindeer too. It’s Texan Christmas, so there’s no point in putting on a jacket for going outside, and the sudden silence of the front door closing behind her and Javier makes you strike.

You let go of Lucas to get his present from under the tree, searching only briefly as if you’re choosing something random. There’s a point to this but you don’t want to take out the magic of the moment.

Lucas sits down on the floor as he is handed the gift. He doesn’t hesitate to tear its wrappings off, and when he throws it to the side, he gasps at the sight of his very own brand new Game Boy that you have wrapped along with a few games. It’s a strategic move to let him open it now; Inés won’t try to steal it in the middle of Christmas family time if she isn’t aware of him getting it. 

“No way!” Lucas’ eyes are wide. He holds the Game Boy in its packaging in front of himself, not taking his eyes off of it in case it might disappear if he looks away, “Mom!”

“It’s the one you wanted, right?” You ask, rubbing his back and looking down at the cover over his shoulder, “Lord knows if I have a clue about what it does.”

“This is so cool,” he says, mostly to himself, and then looks up at you with a wide grin that reminds you that he is his father’s son, “Thanks, Mom!” 

“But I need you to wait to use it till after Inés is done with her presents, okay? I know you’re excited but you’ll have the whole day, no?”

“Entiendo, (I understand),” he nods, getting up from the floor very carefully as he still has the Game Boy in his hands, “¿ Lo tengo que compartir? (do I have to share it?)

“You might have to share it sometimes but it’s yours first and foremost,” you say with a little smile, “I think Inés might just want to see you play and then you can let her try it a few times. If it’s too much, we’ll figure something out.”

Lucas hugs you then, tightly and lovingly. He buries his head in your stomach and he doesn’t have to say anything because you know exactly what he wants to say with his embrace. It’s enough to make you choke up a second time today. 

When Javier and Inés return back inside the living room, Inés talking loudly, Javier gets a pair of scissors and a bag for the wrappings from the kitchen. You quickly add Lucas’ gift wrap to it to conceal any evidence of having started without Inés.

“Mom! Rudolph ate the carrots we laid out!” She beams. 

“He didn’t!” You walk up to her to make it seem like you are listening even more actively. You lean down over her with your hands on your thighs, feeling Javier’s eyes on you as you bend over, “Oh boy, I’m glad you remembered to feed them so Santa could reach all the kids without them getting tired and hungry.”

“Can we open presents now?” She inquires, falling to her knees in front of the Christmas tree. She looks back at you, suddenly very serious, “Are there any presents for Sebastian?” 

“Yes, Sebastian has a few presents too,” you reply.

It takes her a moment to think this fact over. She furrows her brow in concentration, going over the logistics of an infant opening Christmas gifts. Eventually, she stares at you and places a hand on her chest, “I— I will open Sebastian’s presents.”

You want to laugh and in the background, Javier actually does, “You can help Lucas open the presents for him.”

Lucas sits on the floor beside Inés but closer to the tree. He seems less anxious to begin now that he’s had a head start on his little sister so he reaches under the tree to find a present with her name on it, checking in with his father who nods and lets him proceed.

Inés eyes go wide as the gift is put down on the floor in front of her, and Javier moves to help her with cutting the ribbon. You take a seat on the couch to watch the scene unfold, her eyes practically sparkling with excitement as receives her first Christmas gift; a stuffed toy resembling a dinosaur that she keeps tucked under her arm during the whole thing. 

The rest of the unwrapping session goes with you letting out a series of oohs and aahs as each toy, which you have picked out yourself at the toy store, is revealed. It’s all a blur of plastic and noises, cries for batteries and Javier shushing his daughter when her pitch climbs a little too high. 

Lucas is in charge of handing out gifts, and you praise him for each card that he reads out loud successfully. Whenever he tries reaching for a certain gift for Inés, Javier shakes his head, and he moves on to the next despite the curiosity nearly killing him. 

Steadily, both Inés and Lucas each have a growing pile of toys, clothes, and snacks beside them. 

Lucas receives, amongst other things, a pair of light-up shoes that he has begged for months to get. He also gets a wooden tow truck with four magnetic cars and an unbelievable stack of Pokemon cards. 

Inés gets a few puzzles, markers, a microphone that makes an echo when you speak into it (a toy that might just disappear out of the blue with no explanation), and a collection of animal stickers. 

Lucas looks overwhelmed by the end. Inés looks far from done, so she is the one who gets to unwrap Sebastian’s new mobile with small UFOs and cows on it, a pair of cute shoes, and a hat to match.

Finally, Lucas gets the green light from his father to grab the mysterious present. He looks like someone who wants to tear off the paper so he can satisfy his curiosity but Inés is already beating him to it. There’s an anticipation of it being the final stages of the unwrapping process that hangs in the air, and everything is going well until your daughter crinkles her nose at the sight of what she has received from Santa.

“Mom,” she starts to say, cogs turning in her head. She turns to you, looking skeptical. Inside the package is a helmet, more specifically a bike helmet, in a soft green color with daisies painted onto it in a pattern not too harsh on the eyes. 

Lucas catches on a little quicker, “She’s getting a bike?!”

“A bike!” Inés yells out, standing up quickly, “Where? Wherewherewhere?”

“Inés, por favor (please),” you can’t help but laugh at her excited shock, “Let Papá get it for you.”

And moments later, Javier wheels a bike, so tiny that it is cute, into the living room. Its color matches the green on her new helmet, and on the handles hang white tassels with yellow flecks of glitter in them. The also has training wheels on it but with the amount of unrelenting bravery and determination that Inés has for new things, you doubt that she will be needing them for long.

Inés has gone quiet as she stares at her new bicycle which is very much not like the one without pedals she has. She gapes at it and it makes you and Javier exchange looks. Javier shrugs.

“Inés,” you start but you are interrupted by your daughter’s infectious laughter. She jumps on the spot, yanking at the handle and pulling it towards herself. You let out a sigh of relief, warmth flooding your heart at hearing her.

“I want to try it now!” She demands, giggling happily as she runs her hands through the tassels. 

“We can do it after breakfast, Daddy will take you out for a test drive,” you say, getting up from the couch to crouch down beside her. You admire the bike with her, continuing your reasoning when she starts to protest, “One should never try to learn how to ride a bike without having breakfast. Not even the coolest girls can do that.”

“I can!” She argues. In the background, Lucas turns his back to the three of you to sneak a peek at his Game Boy. 

“Actually, mija (my daughter),” Javier interjects. He opens the box containing the biking helmet, pulls it out, and walks over to his daughter, “Bike racers need to try out their helmets for at least an hour or two to break them in and to make sure they fit. Imagine if you got onto the bike and your helmet wouldn’t let you ride it.”

Inés furrows her brow but doesn’t look like she’s about to argue with her father’s logic. She glances at the bike and then at the helmet in Javier’s hands, quickly coming to a decision.

“I want to wear the helmet!” She says. 

“Excellent choice,” he replies and you snort.

Inés proudly wears the helmet a few seconds later. You wonder how you are going to get her dressed for going outside with it on her head but you suppose you’ll pass the task to Javier.

“Wait,” Lucas says suddenly, crawling underneath the tree to reach far underneath it. A small present rests along the foot of the tree, and he pulls it out only to find that there’s no card on it. He furrows his brow, “There’s one left.”

Inés looks nearly hungry for more.

Javier turns, obviously not expecting this.

“Actually,” you say and make Lucas hand it over. Holding the gift close to your chest, you walk up to Javier, “This one is for Daddy.” 

“Me?” Javier looks puzzled but then he smirks, as if he has decided something that you aren’t a part of yet. You feel your heart skip a beat as all three of you catch onto the mischief in his eyes. If only you knew that mischief is just for you. He snatches the present from you and shakes it. 

“It’s just something silly,” you say, “But it’s for work!”

Inés and Lucas are watching curiously, standing on their toes so they don’t miss anything. 

“Rip it, Dad,” Lucas encourages.

“Yeah!” Inés chimes in, holding onto her helmet as she tips her head. You’ll have to adjust it.

“Alright, I’m gonna, I’m gonna,” he does as he is told, letting the wrapping paper fall into a pile on the floor, beside the garbage bag that he has brought himself, and reveals a hideous, rolled-up tie with a Christmas theme. It is dark red with tiny cartoon Christmas lights and trees, crisscrossing across the silky fabric. It’s ugly, for sure, but it makes Javier’s face light up like he can’t quite believe that he has reached this destination; a life of kids and silly Christmas presents, and exactly where he is supposed to be.

“That’s boring!” Inés complains. 

“Mija (My daughter), that’s not very nice,” Javi tuts, smoothing a thumb over his present. He grins boyishly at you, and when he approaches you, he wraps an arm around your waist to give you a squeeze, “I love it.”

“You don’t have to wear it,” you reassure.

“I might just. The guys know I’m happily married to a catch like you so why shouldn’t I show it off?” He holds it up in front of himself, “How do I look?”

“Silly,” Inés argues. Lucas grimaces behind her.

You raise a brow, biting your lower lip as you grin, “You wouldn’t.”

“Sí. Gracias, mi amor (yes. Thank you, my love),” he kisses you in front of your kids, and both of them make disgusted faces. Inés even adds a gagging noise, saying something about cooties. 

Javier doesn’t let go of you when he turns his head towards them. He clicks his tongue disapprovingly, “Hey, you behave or I might do it again.”

“No!” They shout in unison.

“I should’ve gotten you something,” Javier says as he turns towards you again. You shake your head but then you feel his hand on your back travel down, “Maybe later.”

Quickly, you pull back. 

“Right,” you say, clasping your hands together and trying not to sound flustered, “Let’s say two hours tops. Then we’ll have breakfast together. Hot chocolate and all.”

When the gift rush comes to an end, Javier starts carrying all of the shiny new toys upstairs with a groan. He scolds gently as he has two tiny and enthusiastic humans bounding up the stairs, telling them to be careful. 

Meanwhile, you head to the kitchen and turn on the radio. You place the baby monitor on the counter, humming along as you prepare a sugary breakfast that you always regret afterward when you have to endure two sugar-high children. 

As you are toasting bread and filling bowls with candy canes and marshmallows, Javier enters the kitchen. You smile to yourself as he wraps his arms around you from behind, placing a kiss on your neck, “Morning. I put a movie on, so they’ll be occupied by that and their presents for a while now. Checked on Seb too, he’s fine.”

“That went well,” you say genuinely, “Don’t you think?”

“Mhm, the unwrapping? Definitely,” he murmurs against your ear, resting his forehead on your shoulder, “They didn’t even notice how I was staring at you.”

“How were you staring at me?” You ask, your heart fluttering in your chest.

“No particular way,” he teases and you try to concentrate on cutting fruit into smaller pieces. 

In the background, a slow melody hums through the kitchen. Javier’s hands wander down to settle on your hips, and you finally allow yourself to let go of the knife, give in, and turn around in his arms. 

“Merry Christmas,” you smile.

“Dance with me,” he replies. 

You walk further into his embrace, linking your arm around his waist and resting your chin on his shoulder. He entwines your fingers and rubs the back of your hand with his thumb as he sways with you in time with the song on the radio. 

As he moves you, your heads lean together, cheeks touching gently, and he radiates warmth and security. It makes you close your eyes and sigh softly, allowing yourself to be transported into a fantasy where you aren’t just wearing your underwear and a washed-out t-shirt. 

The hand that isn’t holding yours rests on your lower back, pulling you in after he twirls you once. You giggle when he beams at you but then you resume the first position, shifting your weight from one foot to the other, slowly turning, whilst Javier’s mouth rests just below your temple. 

And then you feel his nose brush against the side of your face as if he is starting to pull away, and a desperate voice inside of you wants to protest but the logical one tells you to go with the flow. The tip of his nose is warm even against your flushing skin, and by instinct, you pull away slightly to admire the gorgeous curve of it up close. Javier interrupts by kissing you instead. He captures your lips in the most drawn-out hot kiss, pouring with desire and devotion. 

“Tell me you love me like I love you,” you plea breathlessly. 

“I love you like you love me,” he tells you without hesitation, squeezing your hand, “Y  les quiero a Lucas y Inés y Sebastian (and I love Lucas and Inés and Sebastian).”

You respond by kissing him again, just about to slide your tongue across his lips and into his mouth when the song ends. 

He reluctantly lets go of you. However, instead of helping you cook breakfast, he starts moving things from one side of the kitchen table to the other; out of your reach. 

“Javi, what are you doing?” You start to protest.

“Let’s make another,” he suddenly says.

“Another?” You furrow your brow in confusion.

“A fourth one,” he explains as he stands in front of you, making you bump into the counter, “Un bebito (a little baby). Right now.” 

“Jesus, Javi,” you can feel his fingers dig into the waistband of your underwear. Blood goes to your core incredibly fast, “Sebastian is four months old.”

“If we start trying now…” His fingers start dragging the fabric down over your ass and thighs, “We’ll have one by next Christmas.”

“We can’t go at it right here,” you scold but don’t try to stop him. Instead, you step out of your underwear as they pool around your feet. 

“I told you,” he reminds you, already sinking to his knees with a self-satisfied look on his face, “That I put on a movie. They won’t even hear you.”

You lean your ass against the counter and then dare to hook a leg over his shoulder whilst balancing on the other. One hand grips the edge of the counter and the other rests on top of his hair, fingers threading through it as you wait patiently for him to put his mouth on you. 

“This your present then?” You tease him, yanking to make him look up at you.

“I think we’re both getting too much out of it to call it your present,” he points out. His eyes go down to stare right between your thighs and you find yourself clenching around nothing as arousal threatens to drip down your thighs, “Joder (fuck), look at you. Can I have it now?”

“Y-yeah,” you stutter. Your teasing has ceased after hearing him swear from just watching your quivering pussy. You swallow thickly, a breath hitching in your throat as Javier’s hand slides up the back of the leg you are standing on until it rests on the back of your thigh. He squeezes and you hold your breath, “Please.” 

He looks up at you through his lashes, no mischief to be found but rather absolute worship, as he closes his mouth around you, velvety tongue sliding between your folds to lap at your clit. You tighten the grip on his hair as heat flows through your lower body, your mouth falling open in a soft gasp. 

“I can’t stand still,” you half-laugh whilst he eats you. Each pulse of your heart can be felt in your clit, which he sucks and laps at until you can’t breathe. He knows how to make you come so fast that blood drains from your head to your cunt and thighs and makes you keen.

“Then don’t, mi amor (my love),” he says matter-of-factly as he pulls back to breathe, hair a mess and chin shiny with your slick, “Fuck yourself onto me, Momma, I know you love that.”

You instantly curl your toes at the suggestion. Javier dives back in, lowers his head slightly to tease your slit with the tip of his filthy tongue. God, the way he can roll those Rs, calling you his love in his mother tongue, translates so well into this. Coming on his face from your own doing? Yes, that’s exactly what you want. 

Without thinking it over much more, you tighten the leg that you slung over Javier’s shoulder earlier around him. With a hand in his hair and the other one tightly around the edge of the kitchen table, you move until Javier’s tongue is sliding inside of you and his nose catches your clit. It sends pleasure rocking down your spine, your pulse spiking instantly as you start working yourself toward orgasm.

“Fuck,” you groan while moving on him, rolling your hips. Your balance is off like this but Javier slides the hand on your thigh up to splay his palm across your side. You lean your body’s weight into his hand and use the support to press harder into his nose, feeling the flutters of an orgasm approaching as the curve of it slides up and down your clit just as you would do it if you were touching yourself, “I’m gonna- ah, gonna come. Fuck, you make me come so hard! Ah–”

Javier makes a satisfied noise against you, stiffening his tongue to let you use it even more. You don’t even need to have him speaking, know that he would tell you to give it to me, and when you finally tip over the edge, you feel him pulling your hand from the kitchen table to entwine your fingers. 

“Fuck, Javi, fuckfuckfuck, baby, don’t stop,” you pant, squeezing his hand so hard that a fleeting thought makes you worry if you might break bone. You ride his tongue, his nose, and come so hard that you make him whimper as you pull at his hair. 

He doesn’t let you go when it dies down. Instead, he slowly rises from the floor and lifts you along with him due to your leg still being slung over his shoulder and back. His mouth doesn’t leave you, even when he falters briefly, as he settles you down on the counter. 

You want to scream but even a movie cannot drown out the noise building in your throat, so you cover your mouth with your free hand. Something besides you falls over, you knock your head into the kitchen cabinets and whereas Javier would’ve checked in on you, he eats your cunt so enthusiastically that you can feel your body wanting to come again.

The whine you let out is sinful with how much you struggle to muffle it. You reach for Javier’s hair but he catches your wrist and pins it down against the tabletop. When you try to reach for it again, this time with your other hand, he does the same until you can’t take the slightest bit of control. 

He makes you come again in less than a minute. It is earth-shattering, causing you to throw your head back and bump it into the cabinet once more. You thrash and cry, burning with pleasure as he hollows his cheeks from sucking your clit.

You start giggling from the dopamine, knowing it’s a better way to get out noise than crying for him. Your legs twitch as he devours the wetness you spill into his mouth.

Finally, he removes his mouth from your sticky mess of a cunt and kisses up under your loose t-shirt until you can’t see his face anymore. He smears your slick across your belly, resting his head just above your belly button, and chuckles. 

“You’re so,” you begin but you don’t know how to finish the sentence. He lets you move your hands again and you proceed to pet the top of his head through the fabric of your shirt.

“Sexy? Devoted? ¿Loco por ti (crazy about you)?” His breathing is uneven.

“I was going to call you a goof,” you correct him, lifting the shirt up to reveal him again. When he lifts his head to roll his eyes at you, you use the hem of your shirt to wipe his mouth and thus make him grimace. 

“What a mom-move,” he teases.

“Shut up,” you laugh.

“I did mean it,” he adds, stretching and placing a palm on the counter on either side of your body, “I’ll cut down on work. I’ll be home more with you and the kids. Just until everything falls into place. We could get a babysitter.”

“Javi—“ 

“I think it could work,” he interrupts, “And if we want any more - kids, I mean - I feel like we should do it now and not wait.”

“Javi,” you reach up to cup his face gently. There’s no need for this conversation now, and there’s no doubt that you want to give him many more children if he wants. Technicalities can be discussed further down the road, and Inés is somewhat already counting for two kids so how should you not be able to handle a fourth? You kiss his lips, keeping your noses touching when you pull back again, “Just fuck me, baby. We can talk about it later.”

“Right,” he blinks his puppy eyes away.

You hungrily watch him pull his cock free from his boxers before stepping between your legs which you wrap around his waist, pulling him closer and moving yourself forward to the edge of the kitchen table. You are itching to feel him inside of you, your body feeling like it is missing something after going this long since you started to feel turned on. 

“Please,” you whine. 

“Relax,” he orders simply as he aligns his hips with yours. The sweet voice from before is gone and there’s no doubt that he’ll start speaking filth soon. You obey and go back to leaning against the cabinets, eyes half-lidded with lust as he runs the head of his cock through your folds in a way that has you whimpering with how sensitive you are.

When you get impatient, you reach down to guide the tip where you want it and shudder as he dips inside of you. He holds your gaze but as you want to look down at where the two of you are connected, he reaches for your chin with a shaky hand. You pant, eyes looking up as he forces your head up again. 

“That’s it,” he praises, holding your chin between his thumb and forefinger while moving forward and pushing into you. Your brows furrow at the stretch of your sensitive cunt but you still manage to hold his gaze despite wanting to close your eyes, and it earns you another praise, “Good girl, thaaat’s it, you focus on me, focus right here.”

When you smile sweetly at his words, he starts moving inside of you. The first roll of his hips makes your mind go blank and your noises climb in pitch. He fucks you against the counter, broad hands sliding up the back of your thighs to rest against the small of your back. It’s relentless, it’s desperate and it’s incredibly hot.

You settle your hands on his biceps, holding on for dear life as he thrusts hard enough to make your touching skin smack with each movement. You look up at the ceiling briefly, wondering if the moans you are letting out can be heard by your kids because Javier’s cock is hitting something inside of you that makes you want to sob. 

“El ruido (the noise)— shit, d-don’t worry about it,” Javier notices your mind drifting to concern, and so he slows down slightly to catch your attention. He kisses your lips between each word and drinks each noise you make from your mouth, “You sound so beautiful for me, amor. Forget about them, they’re fine.”

You nod repeatedly, whining feeble okays when he goes back to the harder thrusts from before, making you grab at his muscles until it’s not enough anymore and you have to dig your nails into them. His harshness makes your full tits bounce underneath the t-shirt too, and you let them until you know what’s coming; the happy chemicals in your body provoke it so often this time around. 

You cover your breasts with your palms and squeeze until you feel your pussy flutter, somehow creating a direct line to your pulsing, untouched clit. You follow it up by tugging slightly on your nipples too, all the while you repeat Javier’s name as if to get his attention, as if to say it in prayer. His gaze drops and his eyes nearly roll back into his skull as you start soaking through your shirt with milk. 

“You filthy girl,” he growls, “Pull it up for me. Lemme see.”

“Fuck, I— I think I’m close,” you half-moan and half-giggle, yanking your t-shirt up and watching the steady trickle of your milk. The way that Javier watches makes your cunt want to pull him in further but you don’t think he can go any deeper, so instead you hold him tightly with your legs so he can only grind roughly into you. 

Your stomach flips as Javier’s expert tongue laps at a trail of milk. He sucks along the streak it has already made until he can close his lips, swollen from kisses, around your nipple. When he sucks, you almost cry for your maker and you swear that you can hear how much wetter you get. 

“Where was this for my cookies last night, huh, Momma?” He asks with milk-stained lips and a smirk, cock touching inside of you just how you want it. 

“You’re so - fuck, baby, I’m gonna come soon - you’re so gross,” your eyes close, your belly tightens and so you concentrate to get there, “What wouldn’t Santa think? Cookies and breast milk?”

Javier laughs genuinely at that and you moan at the feeling of him being inside of you whilst doing it. He shifts so that his hands end up flat against the counter, underneath your knees, and he can lean into you further, “Watch it. Maybe Santa’s a kinky fucker like your husband.”

“My husband,” you repeat as if it’s turning you on just to refer to him like that. Even after years.

“Fuck yes, I’m your husband. Wife,” Javier aims to kiss you hard but the strain on his body to make you come makes him press his lips to your jaw. He continues upwards, mouthing along your chin and cheek. He speaks with ragged breath into the corner of your open mouth.

“Listen to you,” he pants as you reel with pleasure, sweat collecting at his brow. He is concentrating too but he still manages to tease, “Who are you making those pretty noises for?”

“Para tí (for you),” you moan with furrowed eyebrows, “Sólo  para tí, Javi (only for you, Javi).”

“I know— fuck, I know, baby, oh fuck, I can feel you,” he gasps as you clench around him without warning. Everything snaps and then launches into overwhelming spasms that overtake your whole lower body, clenching and unclenching in waves of pleasure. You sob as you come a third time this morning, arms falling to the counter and thighs trembling as you ride it out.

Javier looks like he is in awe as he always does. His pace picks up to near his own peak, and he kisses your mouth before going down your chin, neck, and shoulder, “You’re going to be the death of me, mi amor. You and this pretty pussy… So good at taking my come and making me a Papá.”

You can only cry feebly as he drives his cock in and out of you. The sound sends him into a frenzy, and he makes you whimper at the feeling of him coming inside of your cunt. He twitches with oversensitivity and pulses with each spurt of his warm seed, his breath is shaky and his forehead is against yours. His skin is burning hot, flushing with the way that his heart is hammering in his chest as he contorts his face with a groan of pleasure. It goes on for a moment until he slumps, head falling to your shoulder instead. 

Javier chuckles against the damp and hot skin of your neck from dopamine, pressing a long open-mouthed kiss to it and glancing down at your chest that still heaves for breath. Your gray shirt still sits above your tits and it clings to your body from how it’s been soaked through by your milk. Javier reaches out to circle a flushed nipple with the pad of his thumb, causing your body to shiver. 

“Stop,” you moan through post-coital bliss, not able to do much but rest against the kitchen cabinets. It almost feels like you want to cry in his arms, “Too sensitive.”

Javier removes his hand, “Sorry, mi vida (my life). You okay?”

“Mejoramos cada vez, ¿no? (We get better each time, no?)” You smile lazily. 

He hums in response, agreeing. With his palms flat on the counter, he catches your mouth in a long kiss and you reach up to cup the back of his head. The hair there is sweaty, creating a patch on his shirt right around his neck. 

You want to drown in him, not letting him pull all the way back when he breaks the kiss for air. He rests his nose against your cheek and exhales deeply, “We can’t stay here forever. I gotta fucking sit down too.”

“I need to finish breakfast,” you mumble with your eyes closed as if you’re in the state of being able to do that.

“What you need is a shower,” Javier laughs, kissing the corner of your mouth. He sighs deeply as he stretches to his full height, stepping away from you to let you jump down, “I’ll finish up here. Disinfect the counter, maybe. Then I’ll shower after you.” 

You look at the clock on the kitchen wall before hopping down, “We have a little more than an hour.”

“Think we can manage,” he shrugs. 

You put on the underwear that Javier discarded you of earlier, snapping the elastic as you pull them up over your hips. Javier grins at you, not hiding the way that he is eyeing you up as he puts on his own underwear.

“Wash your hands too, yes?” You tease, leaving him in the kitchen to watch your ass when your back is turned.

“Yes, Mom,” he calls after you.

You try to ignore the feeling of come dripping into your panties as you walk up the stairs, grimacing to yourself and quickly throwing them in the wash along with your shirt when you get into the bathroom. 

The shower spray feels amazing against your skin but nothing feels as good as when you hear Javier talking to Sebastian further down the hall as he gets him out of bed. Even better when you hear him burst the door open to the kids’ playroom, Inés giggling and Lucas following behind as he makes a remark about them being up to something. 

“Who wants to help me and Sebastian make pancakes?” Javier asks. When you close your eyes, you can see Inés and Lucas’ hands shoot up and then you hurry to finish so you can join them as soon as possible. You’ve never given it any real thought but you find that you, too, are exactly where you’re supposed to be.

.

.

.

FOLLOW @notjustjavierpena-fics AND TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS 💖❤️💖❤️

#pedro pascal characters #javier pena x reader #javier pena smut #javier pena fanfiction #javier pena fic #javier pena imagine #pedro pascal smut #javier pena narcos #javi peña #javi pena #javier peña #pedro pascal fanfic #pedro pascal fanfiction #my writing #husband!javi

[forever-rogue]

happy holidays! always thinking of javi and dulzura this time of year (well all the time but especially now haha) - I know they're in their matching holiday sweaters with all their kiddos!

thank you so much, love! i hope you had a great holiday as well 💕i miss them too, they’re my fave little family. enjoy a little blurb with them! javi x dulzura masterlist

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“You’re trying not to cry, aren’t you?” Javi had slipped into the living room behind you, wrapping an arm around your waist as he pulled you into his strong, warm body.

“Shut up,” you said without even a hint of malice, “look at them. They’re so precious, they’re ours, we made them.”

The scene in front of you was definitely adorable; your children, all five of them, were sitting near the Christmas tree, patiently waiting for the okay to open presents. Breakfast was first, as you’d reminded them, but they were just too excited to see what Santa had brought. They were all wearing matching pajamas, as were you and Javier. You’d almost lost it when Javi had come home with matching sets for all seven of you, including baby Bella.

“We sure did,” Javier chuckled warmly and pressed a kiss to the side of your head, “but you did all the hard work, really. I just contributed.”

“You contributed almost too much,” you turned your head to look at him, “I carry them - suffering, mind you - for nine months and they all take after you. Every single one of them.”

“Strong genes,” Javier joked before turning you around to kiss you properly, “but if it’s any consolation, I’m pretty sure Bella looks more like you.”

“Well thank you for giving me one of them,” you teased, softly dropping your voice, “you know, if we really wanted to, we could have another and see who they would take after. Maybe it's my genes’ turn.”

“Baby,” he groaned softly as you just beamed at him, “Dulzura, don't say things like that to me. It's not fair.”

“You just like seeing me pregnant,” you took his face in your hands before kissing his cheeks, “Javier-”

“Mama! When are we opening presents, we've been waiting forever,” Lucia thought she was being sneaky as she moved closer to the pile of presents.

“Lucia,” you tutted at her, “I see one finger on those presents, mija, and Santa is taking all the presents back.”

She gasped softly as she practically jumped away, “sorry mama.”

“I'm hungry,” Santi perked up as you looked at your husband, “I want pancakes…please.”

“You heard your son,” you ushered Javier towards the kitchen, “he's hungry. Don't let your children starve.”

“Are you going to help me?” He raised an eyebrow as you stepped towards the kids, “oh really.”

“I gotta make sure they stay alive,” you sat down next to them and Diego immediately crawled into your lap as Thea snuggled up to your side, “I'm their mother after all.”

“You're something else,” he came over and scooped Bella into his arms, causing her to giggle happily, “it won't be much longer.”

“I love you!” You called after his retreating back, “so much!”

“Yeah, yeah!”

“Say it back!”

“I love you too, Dulzura,” he stuck his head around the corner before smiling softly at you, “so much.”

#javier peña #javier peña x reader #agm #javi x dulzura #˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ mail call

[writerofadream]

Fortune favors the Bold ⛓

TDI!Duncan x Juvie Bestfriend! Reader ⛓

Chapter Twenty Four: This is my boyfriend's, boyfriend, Geoff-

Chris was monologuing again. You watched as the man landed the helicopter, currently Duncan was giving you a piggyback while jumping on one foot while Heather and Gwen bet if he would drop you or not. (the answer was not)

The current bid was one-hundred-and-fifty bucks. 

Chris gave you all the signals from above to line up. You let yourself fall off Duncan’s waist and skipped over to the line, dragging Duncan to join you. He laughed as unbeknownst to you stared at you with heart eyes.

As Chris landed he held up a pair of cuffs, and Duncan laughed. “Macy sent you a care package.” He smirked pointing at the cuffs.

“How do you know it wasn’t Marcel?” You crossed your arms. “Because Marcel loves me.” Duncan pointed out. “... Didn’t he sit on you until you admitted that you had taken drugs?” You covered your smile with your hand.

“It’s how he shows his love.”

–

Chris had you and Duncan cuffed up together. Duncan held up his hand which brought up yours as well. You both were staring at it and you resisted the urge to chuckle. “You know what this reminds me of…?” Duncan muttered.

“Christmas 2017!” You both laughed in unison.

Flashback

Duncan was thrown against a wall, and you were thrashing against the guards holding on to you. But, the guard happened to be Marcel who discretely made sure that you guys would be cuffed together. Duncan at his hands, as well as your hands, annoyed.

You gave the guards a glare that would make the world's manliest man shrink in his spot. That’s how you and Duncan worked, he thought of the future, how you both would get out of this mess, you focused on the present trying to put the fear of god in anyone who tried to mess with either of you. 

End of flashback

“This isn’t fair, they’re a couple who can work well together.” Heather whined.

Chris bopped her on the nose. “When you get a guy that the viewers love then we’ll talk. Stay sadly single, kid.” Chris smiled and the girl fumed causing you to bite the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from laughing.

–

The first challenge was to feed your partner. You had to laugh at that. Duncan was beaten so often that growing up you had to feed him so he’d you know, survive. But the only problem was that the food looked strange. Duncan had an idea pop into his head and a smile on his face. 

“Arm wrestle me for it.”

You smirked and took that challenge, you both clasped arms and laid your elbows on the table. You began the arm wrestle, smiling at your boyfriend. “Do you think we’ll have kids?” He asked randomly. “Hmm, maybe. I’d like a boy.” You gritted your teeth trying so hard not to fail. 

“I think I’d like a girl, name her Lily after your mom, and then maybe have a boy and name him after James.” Your heart melted and an audible aw came out of your mouth.

“I think we’d live in New York. You’d open up a half-way-house for ex-cons, I’d open up a bar.” Duncan continued. The overly feminine side in you was eating this up and you were so distracted that Duncan slammed your arm against the table.

Fast-forward

“Where are my children?” You had a big smile as you entered your home. “Mami!” You watched as your younger son ran down the hallways of your apartment and jumped into your arms. “James.” you yelled back equally excited.

“Mama.” Your older daughter ran down the hallway, shortly after her brother and jumped into your arms as well. You twirled you children in the air, who were giggling, so happy that their mama was home. 

“Now where’s your father.” You said with a mock-serious tone. 

Suddenly your husband walked into the room, his hair freshly wet and patted against his head. “Hola mi vida.” He smiled and hugged the three of you close to his chest, and gave you a peck on the lips. Much to your children's horror.

“Mommmm.”

“Dad…”

“No fair you used our relationship against me.” You complained nearly pouting.

“I told you the truth because I want you to eat. I see the way you throw away your meal sweetheart. I want you to eat.” Duncan sighed and a sad smile crossed his face. 

“Fine. But did it have to be camp food.” You complained as you looked back at the dish.

“Might as well start off with the worst of the worst.” Duncan shrugged, and you sighed. “You better be happy you're cute.” You lightly picked his cheek causing him to smile like a cheeky child. 

You opened your mouth and in seconds your boyfriend was shoving food in it. T

hen the challenge ended really quickly because why do we not give an anorexic person too much food at once? Because they’ll throw up.

You emptied your guts into the trash can as Duncan held your hair back. He rolled his eyes as you flipped him off, still actively throwing up. “Love you too sweetheart.” He smiled sadly, rubbing an arm up and down your back trying to convey comfort.

—

You sickly glared at the camera. “Food can go suck my big fat **** for all I ******* care.” You grumbled holding your stomach, in the outhouse.

—

Unsurprisingly Owen and Heather won, because she has a partner that has a vacuum as a mouth. Duncan sighed, rubbing your back as you laid your head on the table, every nerve you had left screaming in pain.

“Dollface, I need you to start eating at least once a day. There wasn’t barely any food, and you still got sick. I need you to try, okay?” Duncan kissed the back of your head and ruffled your hair. You nodded curtly. You should try.

You would try for him,

—

Chris had you all gather on the docks. You had your head against Duncan’s shoulder and he had an arm wrapped around you, holding you close as if you would fall away from him. 

“Last chance for a wimp key.” Chis waved the enticing key in front of you all, and you had half a mind to snatch it out of his hands and jam it in his jugular. You smiled at the thought, man whenever you get voted off is gonna be exciting.

“What’s the challenge, Chris?” Geoff asked, who was attached to Gwen, the goth-girl kept rolling her eyes at every other sentence the blonde spoke.

“There are three canoes on the beach, one for each team. Your challenge is to paddle the canoe while wearing handcuffs. All the way to Boney Island, once there you will get a package. Now go, go, go!” Chris was distracted by the herd of campers so you held your breath to stop yourself from laughing, when you saw Duncan shove the man to the ground.

Duncan sat in front, because sitting in the back made him seasick, and sitting in the front made you seasick. 

You quickly got into the water, and began to paddle.

You had arrived at Boney Island, third, Chris’s helicopter dipped so he could yell out the next instructions. Yadda, yadda, yadda, put the packages back in the cave, while piggy-back riding the other. Before you could protest that you were too heavy, Duncan snatched your hand and put both of them around his shoulders and hoisted you up.

A blush spread itself across your face.

You got to the cave rather quickly but were met with carnivorous beavers. “Ain’t nobody that tough.” Duncan grumbled and you both cartwheeled back to shore. (Well you cartwheeled, Duncan walked on his hands)

–

The next challenge was to make a totem pole of shame using the heads of your ex-fellow-campers. That would be easy, hopefully. Your memory was amazing, but Duncan’s was the best, he remembered everything that happened from ages five through seventeen. 

Everyone else was struggling, Owen was getting mad because Heather wanted to talk crap about Izzy, and Gwen and Geoff had terrible memories and couldn’t decide who was who, Katie or Sadie. You remembered that Katie was the one who was more quiet, Sadie was the one that helped you when you were sick.

You saw a carving of Izzy and Duncan tossed you his knife, sensing what you were thinking.

You carved the word ‘Kid’ and put a small heart next to it. Chris came over and saw what you had done. He had the audacity to laugh, and say “Aw, little Miss. Tough ain’t so tough.” which promptly caused Duncan to throw Courtney’s head at him.

“I love you so much.” 

“I know.”

Duncan and you had won. Chris held up both of your hands and slurred his words. “The winnerz arep Dunkykim anndl Y/Nes.” you had to stifle your laughter and the second you guys got back on the canoe you almost cried laughing.

—

That night at the campfire, you and Duncan got your marshmallows first, then Leshawna, Heather, and then Owen. It was left between Geoff and Gwen. You watched your boyfriend’s eyes fall on Geoff, and the sad realization hit.

You squeezed his hand. “Geoff will be going home tonight.” Chris declared and you watched Gwen stand up in indignation and yell at you all. “He’s the nicest guy!” she screamed. 

“Ciao dudes, y'all were cool, Duncan and Y/N invite me and Bridge to the wedding.” Geoff gave you the peace sign and you smiled sadly as Duncan nodded, biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from crying.

---

tagged: @lostsomewhereinthegarden

#queer artist #total drama #total drama island #duncan #tdi #duncan x reader #fanfic #total drama au #queer writers #writing #total drama art #total drama fanart #td izzy #tdi noah #tdi fanart #td fanart #tdi 2023 #tdi duncan x reader #warden #chef hatchet #lindsay #total drama series #courtney #ttte duncan #total drama duncan #td duncan #alenoah #tdwt #td alejandro #td noah

[runnning-outof-time]

The Perfect Tree | Arthur Shelby x Reader

Request: no - part of my Countdown to Christmas Event

Pairing: Arthur Shelby x reader

Summary: In which Arthur and his family wait until the last minute possible to find their Christmas tree…will it still be perfect?

Warnings: one bad word

Word Count: 1365

A/N: this one feels personal given that I’ve only just got me tree this past Saturday. Only 5 more days, y’all! Enjoy! :)

"Is today the day, mumma?" seven year old Stephen Shelby asked as he walked into the kitchen, where his mother and father were just finishing up with dealing with breakfast.

"I think it may be," (Y/N) answered her child, a smile on her face as she draped the dish towel over the sink.

"The day for what, son?" Arthur chimed in from where he was sitting with the newspaper, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"We're getting our tree today!" Stephen cheered, his smile just about touching his ears.

"Why don't you go make sure your sister is ready?" (Y/N) suggested to the boy, who eagerly jumped on the task that was presented to him.

"We're getting our tree today?" Arthur looked at (Y/N) the second Stephen left the room.

"I figured we would...given the fact that Christmas is now five days away," (Y/N) answered him, not shying away from placing emphasis on the lack of days that there was until Christmas.

It seemed like the Shelby family had really dropped the ball with the Christmas preparations this year. Like (Y/N) pointed out, there were only five days until the big day, and they'd only barely decorated. There was a good reason for this though.

"Well I thought that maybe you'd want to scale it back this year...with Leo being born and all," Arthur explained his thought process. Their youngest of three, Leo Shelby, had been born at the beginning of December, so it was only fair to assume that there was a potential of things looking a bit different this year.

Not in (Y/N)'s mind though. "Oh no, Arthur...if anything we need the tree even more now. We can't not have a tree on Leo's first Christmas," she stressed the importance of tradition. Her son was only going to have one first Christmas, and sure he'll most likely not remember it, but she damn sure will.

Arthur pursed his lips and nodded his head. She'd made some very good points. "What'll we do with Leo though? You plannin' on bringin' him with us?"

"No, having him out like that wouldn't be good for him. I'll call either Polly or Ada over to watch him while we're out," she explained her remedy for that roadblock.

"I suggest you call 'em now so they'll have some time to get over here," Arthur suggested, nodding his head towards where the phone was hung on the wall.

"Good idea," (Y/N) said with a grin, "how 'bout you go and check on the kids. I'm worried that Eileen's giving Stephen a hard time since they've not come down yet," she told him what he could in the meantime.

Arthur nodded as he stood, mumbling something about not being the best one to be put in for this situation. (Y/N) just rolled her eyes at his comments, ignoring them as she made her way over to the phone.

—

"Thank you so much for this, Ada," (Y/N) gushed as she opened the door to see her sister-in-law, who'd also brought her son, Karl, along.

"Of course, (Y/N)," Ada smiled back at the other woman, "I'll make sure Leo stays warm in here while the rest of you go out and find yourselves a tree," she said, stepping inside and following (Y/N) to the sitting room, where Leo was bundled up in his moveable bassinet.

"Stephen?! Eileen?! Are you ready to leave?" (Y/N) called out for her two older children then.

"Coming, mum!" they both shouted as footsteps were heard racing down the stairs then.

"Hi, auntie Ada!" Stephen greeted the other woman who was standing in the sitting room. Ada smiled at the two children as they moved over to hug her.

"Arthur! We're getting ready to go out!" (Y/N) called for her husband then.

"I'm comin’!" he called back from where he was in the kitchen. He appeared seconds later, working on getting his coat situated. "We all ready?" he asked once he was in front of his family.

"Yes we are," (Y/N) affirmed, a smile on her face before she let the two children go out the door first before following behind with Arthur.

——

"Are we almost back home?" Stephen asked as the family trudged their way back through the snow.

"We should be," Arthur answered, grunting as he continued pulling the tree across the ground, "don't know why we had to go out so far," he couldn't help but mumble.

"Because there were no good trees closer, and it had to be perfect," (Y/N) answered him, happy that Eileen had insisted on holding her hand. She didn't want to have any parts in the tree dragging.

"Well let's hope that there's still some branches on it by the time we get back," Arthur stated, squeezing his eyes shut as he used up whatever energy that he had left. He didn't expect to be pulling a tree through the forest today.

"I can see our house!" Stephen exclaimed, pointing out ahead of him.

"Thank Jesus," Arthur breathed.

"We're almost home," (Y/N) said with a smile, the excitement building up inside of her. Decorating the tree was her favorite part of getting ready for the holidays.

It only took them a few minutes to get to their door, and several more for Arthur to get the tree inside. Soon enough, it was standing upright in their front room, and the kids were bouncing with excitement as they prepared to begin decorating the tree. (Y/N) made sure that all of the materials were out before she spun around to see where Arthur was.

"Sitting this one out?" she asked him, looking to where he was sitting on one of the chairs; a glass in his hand.

"I'll let you and the kids have the fun," he answered her, fiddling with the glass in his hand then. He smiled as he looked at her, watching as she accepted his answer and turned back to their children so that they could begin working on the tree.

The tree was decorated rather quickly, and soon enough, all of the lights in the room were out so that Stephen and Eileen could bask in the warm glow of the candles that were positioned strategically around the garland, tinsel, and ornaments. (Y/N) was sitting on Arthur's lap, her arms hooked around his neck as she smiled down at her children.

"We picked a good tree this year," she started, looking it over once more, "I might even say it's perfect."

"You certainly have the eye for them," Arthur commented, a grin tugging the corners of his lips upwards.

"I'm sorry for getting upset with you in the woods today," she told him then as she turned to face him, a slight frown on her face. It wasn't obvious in the moment, because (Y/N) cared a great deal about her tree, but the fact that she and Arthur had what was on the verge of a full-blown argument over the type of tree that they'd be getting was a bit over the top thinking back on it.

"No need to apologize there, love," he brushed her off, "I should know by now that the tree is your area of business and that any feedback that I may give might only serve to complicate things more."

(Y/N) couldn't help but giggle at his statement. "I shouldn't 've said those things to you though," she said then, resting her head on his shoulder.

"The kids got a kick out of it at least. They're used to their dad saying shit like that...never would have expected it from their mumma," he said with a chuckle, his hand falling to rest on her kneecap. They both laughed at his comment before silence fell over them. A smile formed on (Y/N)'s face as she looked at her children again. "It does look perfect though," Arthur spoke up after a few moments had passed.

"It does," (Y/N) agreed, her eyes focused on the tree. Now they were officially ready for Christmas to come.

———

Tagged: @the-anxious-youth @mgcllovdrms @look-at-the-soul @mrsalwayswrite @julkaamazing @evita-shelby @lilyrachelcassidy @shelbydelrey @december16-1991 @onlydeadcells @peakyswritings @watercolorskyy @strayrockette @peakyduchesss @alexxavicry @stevie75 @dark-academia-slut @zablife @cillmequick @lovemissyhoneybee @letal-y-poetica @lora21 @just-a-blackhole @anotherblinder @christinasyellowflowers @insanitybyanothername

MASTERLIST

Countdown to Christmas MASTERLIST

#arthur shelby #arthur shelby x reader #arthur shelby x y/n #arthur shelby imagine #arthur shelby blurb #peaky blinders #peaky blinders x reader #peaky blinders x y/n #peaky blinders imagine #peaky blinders blurb #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #k’s countdown to christmas

[pintsizemama]

Christmas Writing Challenge 2023 Masterlist

Christmas Masterlist Main Masterlist AO3 Join my taglist

Day 1: North Pole Breakfast- The Yorks’ nanny plans a magical surprise for the girls.

Day 2: Tree Lighting- You and Frankie take the girls to the town tree lighting.

Day 3: Decorate the Tree- It’s your first official Christmas with your four lovers, and you want it to be special.

Day 4: Chestnuts- Marcus & Peanut roast chestnuts with Grandma.

Day 5: Angel Tree- You (the nanny) and Dave go Christmas shopping.

Day 6: Glühwein- Max tries Glühwein.

Day 7: Elf- You have to do some quick thinking when there’s an elf emergency.

Day 8: Dickens- You and Draco take your son to the local Dickens Christmas Festival.

Day 9: Reindeer- Simon has a surprise for you while on holiday in Norway.

Day 10: Favorite Christmas Movie- You want to watch a Christmas movie with Joel.

Day 11: Christmas Craft Fair- Marcus and Peanut shop at the craft fair.

Day 12: Christmas Blues- Maggie is feeling depressed as the holiday looms.

Day 13: Fruitcake- A neighbor gave you fruitcake…Max is not a fan.

Day 14: Perfect Gift- Daddy Maxwell gives you a present.

Day 15: Christmas Parade- the Peñas and Murphys go to the town Christmas Parade.

Day 16: Yule Log- Draco accompanies you and your family on a hunt for a Yule log. 💦

Day 17: Decorating Cookies- You decorate cookies with Will, Frankie, Benny, and Santi.

Day 18: Christmas Party- You’re invited to the management Christmas party…but it’s not what you expected.

Day 19: Coming Home- Ghost has been away a long time, but he’s coming home for Christmas.

Day 20: Looking at Lights- You and Din take Grogu to look at Christmas lights.

Day 21: Dressing as Santa- Draco doesn’t understand your family tradition.

Day 22: Krampus- Cassian tells the kids about Krampus.

Day 23: Cookies & Milk- Draco has a talk with your father.

Day 24: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas- Maggie goes to dinner at Maxwell’s.

Day 25: Christmas Dinner- You (nanny) prepare Christmas dinner for the Yorks.

Day 26: Polar Bear Plunge- Simon shares a tradition with you.

Day 27: Snow Angels- Din and Grogu make snow angels.

Day 28: Holiday Stress- Javi helps Ari de-stress after the holidays. 💦

Day 29: Blizzard- Maggie gets stuck at Maxwell’s after Christmas.

Day 30: Warm & Toasty- Simon has one more surprise for you while on holiday in Norway.

Day 31: Resolutions- You and your husbands discuss your goals for the new year.

#christmas writing challenge #writing challenge #fluff

[darkspine10]

GF Fanfic - Past Made Present

Dipper and Mabel Vs. The Past (20,707 words) by darkspine10

Chapters: 4/9

Fandom: Gravity Falls

Rating: Teen and Up

“So, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything,” Zera said. “The twins’ parents? Their names are-”

“Marc and Mary?” Pacifica said, lifting her coffee cup to her lips. “Yep.”

“No way.”

“Well, Marcus and Marianne if you want to get technical.”

“You’ve gotta be shitting me.”

Pacifica spluttered out her drink, trying to hold back the laughter. She put a palm over her chest. “Dead serious, honest.”

Zera wrinkled her nose. “And they gave their kids the names Mabel and Mason? Seriously?”

“Is it any wonder my husband goes by Dipper? Then again my family are hardly paragons when it comes to alliteration either. Thank the stars that Wendy breaks the trend.”

“Hear hear,” Zera said, raising her cup in mock toast. In her highchair, Wendy giggled and slammed her sippy cup on the table repeatedly.

After parting ways with the others, Zera and Pacifica had wandered down through the suburbs to the shopping district on Piedmont Avenue - which Zera was confused to discover was actually outside of Piedmont’s borders in the wider city of Oakland. Along with Wendy they’d found a small coffee shop. The square tables covered with wide umbrellas that shielded the afternoon sunlight gave them an ample view of the drying asphalt.

A thin layer of sweat had already built up on Zera’s skin. “It’s crazy how warm it is after this morning. I might need to take a dip in the bay to rehydrate.”

“You just wait for a real California summer, sister. Remember, I lived with the twins for a while, I know how bad the heat can get.” Pacifica delighted in squinting and blurring her vision. Before her eyes Zera morphed from her human disguise to her true self. Pacifica was amused by the incongruity of a blue fish alien sitting casually next to all the oblivious patrons of the coffee shop “You’re partly amphibious, yeah?”

Zera nodded. “At least this drink will keep me from drying out completely.”

She took a sip but Pacifica audibly scoffed. “How are you this basic? I thought, given all the globetrotting Mabel gets up to and the spacehopping you do, that you’d have a more varied palette. I was expecting you to like some weird mixture of grass smoothie with specially blended icing, or a rare middle-eastern tea. Something a tad exotic. But no: Pumpkin spice. Sometimes I forget you’re an actual alien.”

“Oh yeah, Miss High and Mighty, what’s your drink then?”

“It’s some kind of festive macchiato blend. I don’t know.” Pacifica scrunched up her nose. “Anyway, it’s beside the point. It’s an excuse to get a break from all of my husband’s tedious hand-wringings. Plus I thought it was high time the two of us had a proper conversation.”

“Really? That’s a new one,” Zera said, sitting back in her chair. She sipped her coveted latte for a moment, slightly frowning. “I always got the impression that you and Dipper didn’t like me very much.”

Pacifica raised a single eyebrow, as if challenging the statement. “Oh? What gave you that idea?”

“Well, the first time we met, when I tried to, you know: scam the three of you. Mabel was smitten and all, but you two - man, you sussed me out right away. After that… I guess I felt like you treated me as some hanger-on with May.”

Pacifica flashed a reassuring grin. “Eh, that stuff’s all water under the bridge. Uh, not that I meant to make a pun on the fact you’re aquatic.” Zera reacted with her lip set in a line. “I’ve said it before, we’re sister-in-laws now,” Pacifica said in an attempt to mollify the alien. “That means we’re family, no matter how strangely we all came together. Mabel may have unique tastes, but she chose right with you.”

“Thanks,” Zera murmured. “That makes me feel a bit less like an outsider.”

“Trust me, you’ll settle in fast. Wait until Marc reads his Christmas cracker jokes over dinner. We’ll all be in the same boat, cringing.”

“Except May. She loves cheesy jokes.”

“Ha, fair point.” Pacifica blew on her drink and took a sip, careful not to get foam all over her mouth. She idly stirred the liquid. “You know, I had coffee like this once with Wendy - Corduroy I mean - back before our portal quest. After motherhood that feels like a very long time ago.”

“You named your daughter after someone you only had coffee with once?” Zera asked, almost impressed.

“It was complicated, and mostly Mason’s idea. She did save my life, but tried to kill us several times, and saved the entire multiverse with her sacrifice. I dunno, there are complex feelings. Lately I’ve been taking to calling her Leah; that’s her middle name.” Pacifica tickled her daughter’s face. “You’re gonna like high class things when you’re older, aren’t you Leah? Aren’t you? You won’t have basic tastes.”

“Ha ha,” Zera deadpanned. “That’s a nice name for her though, Leah Pines.”

Pacifica frowned. “Although it is another in-joke technically. Mason wanted a subtle reference to his Great Uncle Stan.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Stanley. Leah. See? It’s kinda silly but Mason was keen and I didn’t feel like objecting. Kind of regret that now. He was naming her like it was the epilogue of Harry Potter, talk about tacky.”

“I’ll have to remind myself to ask Mabel what that means, since I’ve never heard of it.”

“She’ll probably say you’re better off not knowing. Like this whole debacle with their parents. Let them figure it all out, I don’t care.”

“You’re not tempted to intervene? Not even a little?” Pacifica gave a tiny shrug. “And here I was told you used to be a gossip magnet.”

“You couldn’t pay me to wade into this debate.” She slouched back in her chair. “It reminds me too much of my own parents. All that tiptoeing around, keeping part of myself hidden. It was hell. Everything was so much better after I actually got angry with them. The twins will be the same, as soon as they get this off their chest they’ll stop being so useless with worrying about it.”

Zera paused for a moment, then whispered. “So, Marc and Mary? Go on then, tell me the story.”

“There’s not much to tell: That’s the point, they’re average. Mary works as a receptionist in the twins’ old elementary school and Marc is a computer programmer. Has a job in some high-rise over in the financial district, strictly on the low end of the totem pole sadly.”

“There’s gotta be more to it than that though. Come on, you’ve known them for years. Why are they so… unlike the twins?”

Pacifica mulled this over, watching steam float off her drink. “Well, they had kids pretty young, like barely out of their teens. No-one ever plans for twins. Hell, they didn’t even know it ran in the family back then. And once you’re a young couple burdened with an over-imaginative bundle of energy like Mabel and a socially-awkward know-it-all like Mason you’ve got a recipe for chaos. Add in the fact those kids were fiercely protective of each other and it’s no wonder this divide grew to such big proportions.”

“It all sort of… happened by accident then? A mix of personality issues and different paths in life?”

“When you put it like that, pretty much. They did a good job handling the twins though. Raised them right with strong morals, even before their Grunkles got a hold of them. Although I’m not sure morally upstanding is a phrase that could ever describe Stanley Pines.” Zera was processing all this when Pacifica continued. “Look, if you really want a root cause to everything that led the twins apart from their parents then it goes back to my husband. He had an anxious moment all those years ago and has been carrying it around with him ever since. Mason’s had a thing about blindly trusting people ever since he found Journal 3. It might have made sense when he was 13, but now? He’s a husband and a father, with adult responsibilities and a life of his own. But we can’t force him to say anything. He and Mabel have to confront this on their own terms. Talk about a messed up family.”

“Not like you,” Zera said. “You’re completely different of course, with your adopted war orphan, newborn baby, and no steady income. All perfectly stable.”

“Low blow, S’aren, low blow.”

“Careful, better not buy another croissant or you might go bankrupt.” They both laughed. “You think Dipper and Mabel will get through it ok?” Zera asked, serious again. “They were split apart before, right?”

Pacifica chewed her bottom lip. “I think this time they’re united well enough. They certainly aren’t about to fall out like they did in the past. Who knows honestly. Like I said, what happens between them and their parents is their business. We’re here to support the twins and give advice, but I’m not about to get in the firing line once Mason finally opens up about magic and junk.”

“Hmm, I guess they are very close.”

“Take it from one Pines to another, there are only three topics you can bring up that will guarantee the twins will argue non-stop for a few hours: Whether direct action is more effective than protest marches, the pros and cons of nuclear power, and live-action Disney musical remakes.”

“Wait, what’s with the last one?” Zera asked.

“Trust me, don’t ask. I’ve seen the debates. Heated doesn’t begin to describe it. The fiery heart of the sun would be a cool winter’s day in comparison.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Zera stirred her latte. “With all this talk about parents, I was wondering. Have you ever thought about reconnecting with yourparents?” Pacifica choked on her drink for the second time. “Ooh, sore subject.”

“Now who’s joking?” she gasped, reaching for a serviette. “There’s a reason Marc and Mary had to take me in at 17. They’re saints compared to my dear old mom and dad.”

Zera smiled to herself. “Ok, drama queen. Sorry I brought it up.”

Pacifica tapped a finger repetitively on the table, before deciding to answer. “My parents made a lot of mistakes when I was growing up. Trying to introduce them to my family is a hassle I don’t need. I don’t know which of my kids they’d be more offended by, the full-blooded alien or the one with 50% of Mason’s genes.” She ruefully laughed. “Now there’s an irony. I couldn’t get my parents to care even when the supernatural was staring them right in the face. If they couldn’t make a profit off it it might as well not exist. What I wouldn’t have given to have parents like the twins, they’re actually there when they need them. I’m sure you can relate, growing up in space nursery with a million other tadpoles.”

“It was tough, yeah. I suppose it’s a good thing you and Dipper stepped up for Merrise, made sure she has a roof over her head and two people who love her unconditionally.”

“Uh, thanks,” Pacifica said, blushing a little from the praise. She’d always seen it less as something she had a choice in and more a duty. Merrise had shown up in their lives with nowhere else to go and they’d quickly come to adore her. Leaving her behind seemed absurd.

“See, you were right, we can be friends,” Zera teased. “Genuine praise makes both of us feel embarrassed.”

“Cheers to that,” Pacifica said, grinning and glad to have finally made something of a connection with the alien whom Mabel so adored. She was about to take another sip of her macchiato when a faint ripple danced across the surface of the liquid. “Uh oh.”

“What?” Zera asked, none the wiser.

A second, larger ripple shook her drink. “I think we’re about to have some trouble.” The table began to shake, rattling the cups and cutlery. The pine tree shaped pendant Pacifica always wore began to spin and she sighed. “I can’t go one day without them somehow-”

The monster seemed faintly ridiculous, cantering down the high street on narrow legs which supported a bulky upper torso and arms as thick as oak trees. Golden orbs trailed slightly behind, hovering above what passed for the creature’s neck. Pedestrians began running from their tables in panic. The chimaera picked up speed, rocking Pacifica and Zera’s table so hard it nearly toppled over.

A second later a bright pink car sped past the coffee shop, engine revving loudly. Pacifica leapt up from her seat, slung Wendy into a pouch across her chest, and set off after the car, all in one fluid motion. Zera did a double-take, blinking in confusion, before setting down her cup and flailing to her feet. “Wait for me!”

The Mini hurtled along the streets of San Francisco in hot pursuit. Mabel was no stranger to hairpin turns and insane acceleration, but her brother, parents, and niece were being juddered around constantly. She was worried they’d lose the chimaera when they veered near to Lombard Street, but the creature avoided the steep turns. The dense traffic in the city centre forced both the car and its quarry to slow. Self-driving vehicles littered the road at odd angles, having been unable to process the danger in time to swerve out of the way before being knocked aside in the chimaera’s wake.

Honking the horn, Mabel watched the creature weave through the slowly moving cars ahead of them. “Forget the car,” Dipper said, undoing his seatbelt. Merrise and Mabel leapt out of the car, while his parents were still reeling from the chase and struggling to release themselves. “Stop!” Dipper cried at the creature.

He was self-conscious of all the eyes on him. They hadn���t quite reached the most populated part of the city, but there were still countless passers-by along the street staring in disbelief at the Frankenstein’s Monster wildly careening around. Revealing the supernatural to his parents was one thing. Winding up on local news was another. The truth about weirdness wasn’t entirely clandestine - after all he’d encountered many individuals who’d independently stumbled onto cryptids and magic outside of the Falls. But broadcasting it to the world still felt like a transgression.

He had to end this quickly. He began to march determinedly down the street after the slowly trotting monster. Mabel called out to him. “What are you doing Dipper, are you nuts?”

“I have to go talk to that thing!” he said without turning. “It isn’t evil.”

“Uh, did you miss when it rampaged through the world’s greatest monuments!?”

“This thing only coalesced today. It’s probably confused and overwhelmed. If I talk to it I might be able to calm it down.”

Mabel seemed indecisive, but nodded anyway. “Ok bro. If you think you know what you’re doing.”

“I’ll come too”, Merrise said, trying to follow her father. She was still hobbling slightly on her grazed knee.

Mabel held out an arm and nudged her back in. “Nuh uh missy, you’re staying with me where I can keep you safe. Let your dad have a go first.” Merrise pouted and feebly slunk into her seat next to her grandparents. Unlike Merrise, who knew the dangers ahead of them, Mr and Mrs Pines had no such hesitations in going after Dipper. This may be a startlingly unexpected set of circumstances for them but they weren’t about to let their son stroll into the midst of the action without any guarantees of his safety.

“Son!” Mr Pines called. “Don’t stick your neck out for nothing!”

Mabel now had to contend with the unenviable task of keeping her parents back from the danger zone. She held her arms back and had to physically hold them at bay. Her mother stood back and gave her sternest glare. Somehow even Pacifica’s hardest stares paled in comparison to the ‘Mom Glare’. “Mabel Jessica Pines, you get out of my way right this instant.”

“Can’t do that Mom, really sorry.” Mabel grimaced and snuck a look over her shoulder. Dipper was right in front of the beast. “Someday we’ll look back at today and see it as a real turning point.” Neither of her parents were impressed by that.

Squeezing through the stalled traffic, Dipper yelled towards the back of the vast chimaera, which was forcing cars out of the way to get through. The golden stars that sufficed for the creature’s eyes turned to consider him. “Hey, Journal Man… uh, Llama-Tree-Star-Centaur… thing. Ugh, Mabel was always better at coming up with the names.”

The creature regarded him with a look that might almost have been quizzical, before letting out a roar of anger. It wrenched the nearest streetlight out of its foundations and hurled it towards Dipper. He wanted to appear on top of things, both to intimidate and pacify the creature and to make himself seem self-assured for his parents’ sake, but he had to dive out of the way in an undignified manner, tumbling onto the ground and landing hard on his journal.

“Right, that’s it.” He stood back up and dusted the grit off his jacket. He pointed at the scowling chimaera. “You might act tough, but I need answers.” He flipped through Journal 9 and clutched it in his palms. A certain incantation was written on the page he’d selected. Mabel might be the more accomplished spellcaster, but on this occasion he was willing to give it a go. He placed one palm on the open page and shouted at the beast. “Ipso Facto, Lorem Ipsum!”

A hurricane of words spiralled off the page and slammed into his enemy. The incandescent letters coiled around in the air, before merging into the monster’s flesh and bark. The creature coughed a few times, struggling to form sentences. The spell Dipper had read out was meant to translate specific languages, very handy for deciphering ancient codes. In this instance he was hoping it would make the creature a bit easier to understand, as well as making it stick around, awed by his powers.

Feeling quite impressed with his attempt at the spell, Dipper allowed himself a moment of smugness. “Now, are you going to explain what you want?”

“Must… catalogue all unique incidences and occurrences. Unusual artefacts, creatures not found in any bestiary, sacred sites and technological wonders beyond man’s wildest dreams.” Dipper felt momentarily wowed by the creature’s eloquence. It was embodying the journals to a tee and as before spoke with a multitude of voices juggling for dominance. Right now the chorus favoured Pacifica’s tones. “I am diary, journal, epistolary, record, and scribble. I am what’s hidden between the lines, confined to the margins, buried in subtext! I am Errata!” The sigil acting as the creature’s mouth twisted into an approximation of a smile.

Dipper opened his journal and scribbled a note. “Errata… is that with two T’s, or-”

“Silence!” The sigil curved into an ugly expression. Dipper’s attempt at levity had evidently failed to be appreciated. The creature wrapped its arms over its chest and shivered. “Mason Pines, you are prolific in my tapestry. Amongst the rest you imbued so much of your essence into me. You could say I’m an open book.”

“Ha,” Dipper said without humour. “So, you have intelligence, you can recognise me. Do you, I don’t know, revere me or something?” He resisted the urge to lift up his hair to show the constellation birthmark as if it might sway the beast over to his side.

Errata laughed with the mocking guffaws of Stan Pines. “No thank you, human. I am an independent entity now, not some puppet.”

“What do you want then? Just to wander around causing havoc?”

“I hunger for esoteric knowledge. I must consume that which is forbidden or arcane and feast on the ignorance of fools. Perhaps I will take some of your secrets, Mason.” Dipper took a step back. He was starting to suspect his hypothesis about the creature’s innocence was misplaced. That sounded like deliberate malice.

“Hey, we can help you. My family knows all sorts of stuff… although I suppose you’re probably made out of all of it already.” Dipper felt like he was running out of options. The creature didn’t seem swayed by his words.

Sniffing the air, Errata winced with pain, as if suffering from a headache. “This place is so mundane, so trivial. My apotheosis is incomplete. Perhaps I can speed things along.”

“Woah woah woah, you don’t have to do anything rash-”

The chimaera ignored him and spread his hands wide towards the sky. Columns of steam shot out and Dipper started to sweat. The creature screamed in a mix of pain and pleasure, a single great exaltation. Then it was gone, melting away like a ghost. In its place, more of the golden aura, a sight Dipper was growing to greatly dislike squinting at. Unlike the painstaking birth of the chimaera, this aura formed a recognisable shape almost instantly.

Dipper had to do a double take. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Errata had come from the journal after all.

Standing before him was a Mishipeshu, a fur-coated mix of catfish and tiger. This was his most recent find recorded in the journal, which they’d helped rescue in Salem. But as soon as the water-panther tried to bound away it melted back into plasma. A second later it reformed into a gangly legged, stalk-like alien with a bulbous cranium and protruding whiskers. Dipper recognised this as one of the Grown, a colonising fungus species Pacifica had extensively detailed in her journal after an encounter on a far-off planet.

Even this didn’t last, with the apparition morphing straight into a familiar pack of pointy-hatted gnomes, then a moustache-wearing hexagon and a flying phoenix he knew as his daughter’s pet. On and on it went, unable to fix on a single appearance and drawing from the collection of journals his family had contributed to in the last half a century. Even human beings appeared in the mix - if a Pines had written about or sketched someone then they were fair game.

Eventually the mass of energy split apart. Two or three distinct constructs began to run off into the city, each one morphing between different shapes from the journals and retaining that unmistakable golden hue. Dipper watched as a cackling hand-witch sprinted off in one direction, a hairy Standyak leapt off onto the nearest rooftop, and a herd of manotaurs charged down the street towards the Mini. Mabel climbed onto the nearest car to avoid the stampede, and Merrise was buffeted in the car.

Mr and Mrs Pines were directly in the path of the manotaurs. Dipper fruitlessly reached out a hand but they were too far away for him to do anything. Utterly lost, his parents stood there frozen like deer in headlights. He winced and fell to his knees, unable to prevent the collision.

Until an orb of orange fire consumed them first. Dipper’s jaw dropped, as the stampede thundered on. A second later his parents re-emerged on the sidewalk out of another cone of fire. Dazed, they were both shaken but otherwise unhurt. Dipper breathed a sigh of relief. As the clatter of hoofbeats faded away he saw Zera, deep in concentration just up the street.

Running up towards him, Pacifica was carrying Wendy in a sling. She helped him to his feet. “Easy there. It’s over.” Dipper stared around at the chaos. It was just like the golf course, with cars strewn about and people hiding behind cover, scared to come out.

“Oh Paz, it’s only just begun- ow!”

She’d punched him in the arm. “Don’t give me that over-dramatic crap. That’s for summoning up a magical demon in the single hour we were apart. C’mon Mason, that’s rule number one of good parenting.”

He could only laugh at the absurdity of it all. “I’m just glad to see you guys. We’re going to need all hands on deck to deal with this. A creature infestation is about to be let loose all over the city!”

“One thing at a time.” Her eyes flicked over to the Mini, where Mabel and Merrise had reunited with Zera. The alien was helping Mr and Mrs Pines after their near-impact. Mabel came over and led her parents to a nearby bench.

“That was… I don’t know what that was,” Mr Pines said, slightly crazed with adrenaline. Mrs Pines was staying silent for now, processing all that had happened in the last few minutes. “Zera, what on Earth just happened?” He had seen the magical aura surrounding her when she’d cast the teleport spell, a special technique favoured by her teacher in the mystic arts.

Zera kicked her heels and remained tight-lipped, unsure how much to reveal even now. Mabel’s face was full of indecision, so Zera caved. “It was a teleportation vortex. I moved you out of the way of the herd using… magic.”

“Ha, of course,” Mr Pines replied, laughing hysterically. “Next you’ll tell me you’re from another planet. What, do you, ha, have your own spaceship or something?”

“No, I don’t have a spaceship,” Zera deadpanned, and Mabel drew a sigh of relief. The true nature of her wife’s identity could stay hidden for the time being. “Not my own anyway. If I put out a beacon or something I could probably hitch a lift off world.”

Her father’s laugh died in his throat. “You’re… you’re serious.” He was now staring agog. Zera toyed with her earring and Mabel knew this was it. If she switched off the filter there was definitely no going back. This was the last possible moment they could backtrack. They could paper over all of this, maybe claim it as some kind of massive joke gone way out of hand. It could all be wrapped up and hidden again just like Dipper wanted.

On the other hand… in one simple second it would all be over, the charade, the lies of the last 20 years, the anxious waiting for the bubble to burst. So Mabel stood there and let her wife deactivate the illusion. No putting the genie back in the bottle now.

Zera tapped her earring. A brief ripple passed over her body. Her tanned skin became iridescent scales tinged aqua and turquoise, and the fins on her head and arms unfurled. “This is me,” she said, flashing a toothy grin and giving a thumbs up to Mabel. She could only shake her head at her wife’s innocent naivety.

“Holy cats…” her father began, but Mrs Pines interrupted.

“You really are an alien. A real life, actual alien.” Tentatively she reached out and brushed against Zera’s scales. They were smooth and slightly moist. Her fingers recoiled. “Let me guess,” she said somewhat bitterly, “My daughter fell in love with your human form then found out the truth?”

“Not exactly. Mabel fell in love with the fish part first.” Mrs Pines gave a small whimper. Zera smiled weakly. “You know, I was telling the truth about the magic as well. I suppose you could call me a space witch.”

“Z?” Mabel said.

“Yeah?”

“Not helping.”

“Oh.”

Pacifica was suddenly beside them, snapping her fingers. “Yo, ‘shape of water’, let’s focus. You can destroy all semblance of your perfect family life later. Right now we’ve got a bigger problem.”

Dipper was already strapped in and starting up the car with Merrise in back. She was gesturing for them to get in. There was only enough room for three more passengers and Mabel decided she couldn’t bear the thought of enduring the car ride back with her parents. “Zera? Whoosh us up another portal, would you babe?” Zera nodded, realising what she wanted. She flashed an apologetic look at her in-laws, then started speaking the words of the incantation.

Mabel hugged each of her parents, one after the other. “I promise, we’ll help you understand all of this when we get home. Or, at least Dipper will. This was all his bright idea in the first place.”

With that she stepped into a column of blinding fire and was whisked away, leaving her befuddled parents staring speechless.

#gravity falls #gravity falls fanfic #pacifica nortwest #dipper pines #mabel pines #dipper and mabel's parents

[nancypullen]

Hump Day

We’ve had a hot and sunny start to August around here. Isn’t that how it goes every year? The August sun drains the last bit of energy from us before we settle down into the cozy “ber” months. The dog days of summer used to be great when I was a kid - more swimming, more playing, more fun.  Now kids are dragged back to school in August and miss out on summer’s long goodbye.  No fair. The Edgewater branch came over last weekend and entertained us.  They spent a day at Rehoboth Beach where the grandgirl learned to boogie board and discovered FunLand.  The beaches here boast good, old-fashioned boardwalks with arcades, candy shops, and rides.  Sounds great, but I’ll bet it’s also expensive for families.  I took my boys to the beaches on the Gulf Coast every summer and my big investment was cold drinks in the cooler and a few snacks in the beach bag.  We kept beach chairs and boogie boards in the garden shed at Mom and Dad’s house and blew the dust off them every July.  Some of my best memories are of those two sun-kissed boys, with salty skin and hair, giggling in the back of the car.  And now I’ve wandered off course...

Anywho, this week has been uneventful.  I’m barely doing any puttering - not in the house or garden. I’m just not motivated at the moment. I need to get my hair cut, I need to get a few groceries, I need to decide which pumpkin plants get to stay, and I need to finish a couple of projects (what to do to make the laundry pretty?).  But I’m just not feeling it, any of it.  Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow full of determination and ideas, or maybe I’ll just keep talking to cats and doing the bare minimum around here.  Mind you, this is not complaining, I’m enjoying it.  Today I watched a gorgeous butterfly bounce along the zinnias.  Then I threw a load of towels and napkins in the wash.  I thought about mopping and gave the idea a pass. I unloaded the dishwasher and then cleaned out the frig.  That reminds me... See that bottle with “NO” written all over it in marker?

That’s to keep my husband from drinking the sugar water I mix for the hummingbird feeder.   Originally I marked a bottle with a big H and explained to him that H designated that it was for hummingbirds.  Didn’t stop him from opening the frig and taking a big swig.  Ever wonder why I’m always exhausted? Honestly, he doesn’t think I’m normal either.  A couple of days ago I went out to pick tomatoes and came in excited to show him this double-decker beauty.

I presented it with a flourish and at the same time that he exclaimed, “A snowman!”  I blurted out, “Conjoined twins!”   We’re very different people.  At least I’m not guzzling bird juice. That tomato in the photo is from one of the heirloom varieties that Jamie gave me and they’re delicious.  Like, holy-cow-I-didn’t-know-tomatoes-could-taste-this-good delicious.  It’s a Dr. Wyche’s Yellow and I’m a fan.

Last night I made eggplant cutlets with tomatoes and basil from our garden - it was so tasty and fresh, we ate every bite. 

Maybe I should grow eggplant next summer. I’ve never tried, might be fun. Time for me to think about tonight’s dinner and it’s looking like salad.  Hot day, plenty of fresh produce in the house, it’s a no-brainer.   I hope that your day has been a lovely one and that your evening will be too.  Let’s take it easy on ourselves during this last steamy month and see if we can glide to September without much suffering.  No more unnecessary boob sweat. Water the plants and give them a pep talk but let them know they’re on their own. It’s every man for himself in August. It’s the end of the Oregon Trail and the promised land of autumn is ahead.  Am I being dramatic? Look, I tolerate summer because it’s the growing season, but my soul yearns for socks and bowls of chowder.  I need to put on a sweatshirt and watch a Hallmark Christmas movie.  We binge-watched Virgin River and it somewhat satisfied that need, but it wasn’t enough. And I’m off course again.   Have a wonderful evening. Treat yourself to something nice, large or small, doesn’t matter - just be nice to yourself. Stay safe, stay well. XOXO,

Nancy

[feysandfeels]

Okay fair enough! I agree that Sarah’s juxtaposition of an abusive vs a healthy relationship is top notch. I was completely mind blown to realize that tamlin wasn’t meant to be the main love interest. And rhysands confession of love, him telling the whole story from his POV when they’re in the cabin just makes me cry every time. I definitely do love a lot of aspects of her writing.

I gotta ask you about one more thing tho: I felt like in the novellas both rhysands and feyres characters got kinda butchered. I think it was completely out of character for them to want a child so soon and to move to a bigger palace. Also rhysands lying about the risk of feyres pregnancy and his treatment of nesta (who did the only right thing imo) was extremely out of character and definitely abusive. I sincerely hope this isn’t swiped under the rug but i think I’ll be disappointed since the characters seem to be ok with all of it. What do you think about the whole thing?

Oh boy ACOFAS is just *high pitched mmmm*. It's just another Christmas Special and unless you are Downton Abbey Christmas Specials are rarely the highlight of the show. Like I love it for the vibes and Mor is terrible at presents and Rhysand just got her a house and Cassian and Feyre got drunk decorating and look at me painting. It was literally for the xmas vibes and the hot chocolate. And well if you have the means to buy a bigger house and you want the bigger house and it suits your needs, why not buy the bigger house you know? Although I deeply loved the town house.

The only thing I really disliked of ACOSF was how Feyre mocked Lucien's friends. Baby that was uncool.

Regarding the pregnancy thing that is the one aspect about Feysand's story that I am still oscillating. On the one hand the whole novella Feyre is talking to this woman who just lost her husband and I think that, paired with her loosing Rhys and the repercussions of the war make her change her stance on motherhood. So that makes sense, the change of mentality from that moment in MAF when she says she does not want kids now to FAS when she says she's open to start trying is completely mapped and coherent with Feyre. Rhys always wanted babies if she was down for it. When you experience so much loss and you get reminded of that trauma, it does not seem out of place to not take anything for granted and start exploring options now rather than wait for a "later" that will never come.

On the other hand I am extrapolating my current situation to this character and that makes me feel is too soon and she is too young. Like I am taking her situation out of her fantasy context it is in, and the very specific social and historical context these stories take place in and then applying it to my own 21st non fantasy one and that makes me say HONEY NO YOU ARE TOO YOUNG.

My indisposition towards Feyre's motherhood comes also from this deep rooted patriarchal view of motherhood that I am still untangling from that conveys motherhood as the moment the life of the woman shifts completely and everything becomes *her kid*. In other words, the woman who was before ceases to exist only to become a mother, her plans, her dreams, her hopes get put on hold for the sake of the child. I am tired of the discourse that one stops being oneself only to become the mother of someone else. While I know that even though becoming a mother those demand a big adjustment in anyone's life I feel people demand more adjustment from the woman than the man. I have talked about this to some of my friends who already have kids and they constantly tell me that despite the big adjustment they still feel they are living their lives and having aspirations that are just their own (and working towards those). My fear of motherhood comes from not knowing how one could effectively balance ones own ambitions and taking care of the baby.

This fear that they use this archaical notion of motherhood when writing Feyre's mothering journey is what makes me nervous of it. I understand that Feyre as the main main character is done, she will become a supporting role in the next stories and I am okay with that, but I do not want that on top of that they are sidelining her further because #SomeoneHasToStayHomeAndTakeCareOfNyx. I don't want the main battle happening against Koshei or the asteri or whoever is the big baddie, and everyone and their mothers are there but Feyre isn't because she had to stay behind for Nyx. This is my fear with this narrative.

Admittedly this is something I did not enjoy in ACOSF, that for the most part, what I got to know of my baby's journey was through Rhys. I was like I love you Rhys but if we could spend some of your page time with Feyre instead that would be amazing. I felt that kind of shifted towards the end of the book so all good.

Now, in regards to the way Rhysand behaved in ACOSF. Do I support it? No. Do I understand it? Yes, I kind of do. I like to explain his behavior as a "his logic was off but his heart was in the right place". Initially, I was quite mad at him, but him keeping this secret seemed more out of desperation, fear, frustration and guilt with the awfulness of it than with him wanting to control Feyre. He reverted to his "I will carry every burden because I do not want to ruin life for anyone else" attitude out of fear, but I think we can all tell that he was mortified and wanted to tell her as soon as he found the solution. He wanted to present her a solution and not a death sentence.

Talking with said friends who are mothers now, some of them were like "no actually I would prefer not knowing and if my partner knows and doesn't tell me because he hasn't found a solution, I prefer it that way" because they wouldn't want to ruin or be in perpetual fear throughout their pregnancy. That helped me see his actions in a more forgiving light.

It made me mad towards him however that he told everyone but Feyre, like even Helion knew... and that was a big no. It's just tactless. The same goes for everyone in the IC. Besties be better and call Rhysand out or go tell her.

I also do not think this will be swiped under the rug. Here I think is the connect the dots thing I mentioned. With sjm not everything happens visible on page but that doesn't mean it is not happening, which to me breathes live into the story. We know how Feyre is we know how she will feel about this... we know she whooped Rhys' ass for doing this and I wouldn't be surprised if he slept on the couch for some nights after. I do not need to see this on page because from the knowledge sjm has given me of her characters I know it happened. I would have loved to see it on page because I love drama. I'm still hopping blondie will release those Feysand chapters she had to cut out of ACOSF. You bet the fight is in those babies.

Nesta telling Feyre was not correct imo because she told her to hurt her because up until that moment she had been perfectly content keeping this secret from her. It was only when she knew she could hurt Feyre as she was hurting that she told her. Personally this nullifies whatever good Nesta's actions might have had. Had she told her before she got mad or as soon as she found out I would have been like "yes Nesta you did excellent my darling".

Finally, regarding Nesta-Rhys, I think Rhys made it perfectly clear on previous books why he wasn't vibing with Nesta so it did not seem out of character the way he treated her in ACOSF. I am glad he is making an effort now. But this goes both ways, Nesta also disliked Rhys and thus the Rhys we were presented in her book was not the Rhys we see from Feyre's perspective who is his mate. Nesta was not going to spend five pages going on how his sass made his eyes deepened with desire and skin glows brighter because of the magnificent intelligent compassionate creature he is. Nesta was going to be like "mmmmm cool leader, not even half as awesome as he thinks he is in person".

The way why these two did not vibe is an interesting one that speaks of their similarities and how they might see certain aspects of themselves that they do not find that amenable in the other one. It could also be a case of they are too similar so they will clash.... like my parents were hahahaha but yeah, I love when the discussion between their relationship dwells into that and not the "well he was mean" and the "well she was a bitch" one. Both had moments where they treated the other poorly, but it should go beyond that when talking about them because when you boil it down they do have many things in common that are presented differently but at their core are the same.

#FeysandfeelsAsks #Feyre Archeron #Rhysand #Feysand #Nesta Archeron #ACOSF #ACOFAS

[thestartofabeautifulride]

I took Clara to Walmart this morning so she could pick out a present to give Waylon for his birthday this week. After she found him something, we wandered over to the Christmas section (don’t judge me, I know it’s still October blah, blah, blah) and we were looking at the individual ornaments. Last year I started a tradition of letting the kids each pick one ornament every year and labeling them with name and year so that we can remember. So Clara was looking at them, trying to take her options in so that she could ponder them until we go back with Waylon so they can all pick together. And idk what it was about it exactly, but I just got punched in the gut with a missing my husband moment. Like here we are, a second Christmas in a row that he doesn’t get to be a part of these things. It honestly just isn’t fair, and I just want to be able to have my family together for the holidays. And then next year, after two years of missing all the holidays (and the year before that him leaving December 26th, so not the best Christmas vibe), we’re going to be nearby family and obligated to include them in our holidays.

[lovebykai]

Merry Christmas

》 Secret Santa 2021

WC: 900+

Pairing: Sawamura Daichi x Reader

Warning(s): Domestic Fluff.

Authors Note: I hope your holiday is bright and full if joy, @vanilleswtmacaron!

Daichi babies you. Maybe too much.

Dark eyes settle on you as you organize the gifts under the tree, lips pursed in annoyance when it doesn't look quite like you envisioned. He's humoring you— letting you shuffle and huff and pout as he sips his hot chocolate. He's even wearing the sweater you got him.

"I don't think the kids will care how it looks, my love." It's a teasing drawl that makes you roll your eyes; the fact you were awake so early doing this was enough of a tragedy.

"But the pictures!" You're not whining. You're not.

Daichi chuckles, shrugging when you turn to him with narrowed eyes.

"They're going to be half asleep in their pajamas for hours, I doubt the pictures are going to be as pretty as you're hoping." Its a fair assessment, but you’re so visibly offended he has to muffle his laughter. Right. Gotta get into the Christmas spirit or you’re going to throw a fit. It’s always a rough time of year strictly because you’re obsessed with giving everyone the perfect gifts.

"I love you." He chuckles at the confession, tilting his head to press a kiss to your temple.

“C’mere, sweetheart.” You obey, leaving the presents in their current configurations and crawling into his lap.

He sets his mug aside, pulling you close as the two of you get comfortable on the couch. Daichi tugs the nearby throw blanket up around your shoulders and drops his head onto your shoulder. The silence is comfortable and you're almost lulled back to sleep as he rubs his big hand up and down your spine. Your thighs are settled around his, face pressed against the column of his throat.

"I love you, too."

When the kids wake up, it's chaos. Of course it is. Daichi doesn't even wake you initially, just gently shuffles you down onto the couch and corrales the kids onto the kitchen for breakfast. They're too excited to truly contain, though, and you blink open your eyes sleepily to the sound of your youngest arguing that they should wake you up for presents.

It makes you smile to yourself, eyes drifting closed to simply enjoy being cozy while they all eat. It isn't until Daichi finally surrenders and let's them barrel into the living room like a tiny stampede that you decide to sit up. A cup of coffee is immediately deposited into your hands and you give your husband a grateful smile as you lift it to your lips, watching your kids tear into their gifts.

"We can take pictures after." He promises as he sits beside you on the couch, throwing an arm around your shoulders.

It's all so domestic and soft you could cry— and Daichi was right, none of your kids remembered to put on their matching pajamas before hustling down to see what Santa had dropped under the tree.

You're unsurprised by this development, though.

"They'll never sit still for it." The rueful grin you send him earns you a chuckle in response.

"I could make them." And he could. His kind personality did not override his ability to bring rambunctious children to heel. But then your youngest is squealing as he spins to show off the game system in his tiny hands and you just shake your head.

"We'll just have to settle for some cute candids." Daichi outright laughs then, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of your head before wandering back to the kitchen. He returns with his phone up and you make sure to pout at the camera when it's your turn, brushing your fingers through the mess that you know your hair is.

Bedtime comes too soon.

At least, that's what the groans and negotiations your kids pull tell you. Once they're settled into bed, though, you and Daichi are left cleaning up the remains of Christmas. He's his usual relaxed self, shuffling through the living room with a trash bag to gather up wayward wrapping paper as you finish up the dishes from dinner.

“Ready for your gift?” He’s teasing as a dish gets put away; you huff and pout like he’s expecting.

You can’t help but smile when he deposits a few more mugs into the half finished sink, a kiss pressing to the back of your head as he totes the trash out. For years, it was the two of you against the world, then you and a beautiful bundle— followed swiftly by two more. These chores have been divided for years, but you never tire of seeing his beautiful smile when he waltzes in through the back door and grabs the nearest dish towel to start drying.

“I’m ready for bed.” The gripe makes him laugh and you lean your head against the arm closest to you affectionately.

“Then let’s go.” You squeal when he drops the dish back on the dry rack and hefts you up by your waist. Sudsy hands slap down on his shoulders with a guffaw as he totes you down the hall towards your bedroom and you point out he left the sink running between giggles. When he darts off to correct this travesty, you crawl into bed and wriggle back to wait.

Daichi is back seconds later, shutting the door behind him before prowling towards you. His kiss is intense— more intense than you’d been prepared for, honestly, as he nudges you back to crawl over you. It makes your toes curl eagerly, a dreamy sigh passing your lips as he pulls back to press his forehead to yours.

“Merry Christmas.” The mumble passes your lips on instinct and the two of you start snorting with giggles again.

“Merry Christmas, my love.”

#haikyū #haikyuu #haikyū!! #haikyuu!! #hq!! #hq #sawamura daichi x reader #daichi x reader #daichi sawamura #sawamura daichi #secret santa 2021 #✒️ . kai fecit

[spideymarvelws]

can i request Dad! tom being interviewed (on a press junket maybe)by kid(s) but what he didn't know was that he was being interviewed by his own child(ren) 😌 thanks in advance!

Decided to make this in theme with the holidays🥰

Also its cut a bit short cause i feel like any fluff i write is the cringiest shit lmaoo but i hope you enjoy!

Main Masterlist

Warnings : just fluff, a few curse words, tom being a confused father

Word Count : 922

Questions From The Little Guy

Dad!Tom Holland x Reader

“I’m sorry, what was the question?” Tom asked, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward in his seat.

You watched closely as the interviewer tried his best to hold in his chuckles, smiling brightly as he repeated the question again.

“I asked if you could tell us where you hid the presents this Christmas?” He turned away, letting out a small breath before facing the actor once again, “Did you web them to the roof like last time? Or give them to the avengers to hide them for you?”

You giggled as your watched your husband’s confused face through the monitor. Your two-year old son, Harold sat snuggling in your arms, his chubby, small arms wrapped around your neck while his head laid agaisnt your shoulder, sleeping soundly. You five-year old son, Jonathan, however was listening closly through the bulky headset on his head, barely containing the brown curls that fell in front of his face.

You watched as he stared intently at the screen with Tom’s manager besides him, giggling along with the rest of employees who stood in the room. You were suppose to meet Tom when he came back from work next week, but when you got the call for the idea of an interview, you couldnt pass it up.

“Why would my fans want to know that?” he shook his head back, he let out a breathy laugh.

“Maybe they just want some tips and tricks from they’re very own Spider-Man?”

“To hide presents?” He said in disbelief, “In all honestly I’m pretty sure Peter Parker would be the worst at hiding presents, I mean, we all know what happened with his identity,”

“Answer the question!” Your son pouted, rubbing his palms together, “Mommy!”

“I’m sure he’ll get to it sweetie,” you reassured him, tickling his tummy, “Patience,”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he mumbled, looking back intently at the screen.

“So sassy,” Tom’s manager whispered to you, giving you a knowing look.

“He grows more like his father every day,” you whispered back, rocking your baby boy in your arms, “I already had to deal with one sassy man child, I don’t know how I’m going to deal with two, let alone three,”

You moved your gaze back to the screen in front of your, watching on as the interviewer, flipped pages in his notepad, looking for another question your son hastily wrote down, “Fair enough, next question?”

You son let out a loud groan, huffing as he feel back agaisnt the cushions. You shook your head, leaning down to swipe a loose strand of hair behind his ear, “Don’t worry sweetie, you’ll get him afterwords,”

“Why-,” he coughed, trying to contain the laughter trying to erupt from his throat, “Why is it bad to say shit and fuck in the house,”

“I’m sorry, WHAT?!”

The next thirty minutes went by in the same fashion. Your husband confused with every question, the interviewer trying his best not to burst into laughter, to the piont where you swear you saw a tear slip from his eyes that he wiped away quickly. And your son sitting down with his chin in his hands, you’ve never seen his still so still or listening so intensively at a screen before, mainly when gifts or presents where metioned (which was often cause the little shit worded the same question differently about ten times)

He was a spiolt little boy that’s for sure.

Harold however was left unbothered in your arms, sleeping soundly with his pacifier in his mouth, being the soundless angel he was.

“Last question Tom,” The interviewer smiled, biting his lip as your husbands eyes blinked rapily, his head leaning in the palm of his hand as if trying to crack a code.

“Please not another one about the fucking presents,” his eyes widened, “Shit, sorry,” he groaned, tossing his head back.

“No, no, no nothing like that,” the interviewer reassured, placing down his notepad, “It’s quite sweet to be honest,”

“That’s what you said about the one with-,” he blushed, “You know what? We’re past that,”

“I’m sure we are,” he said, grinning as he took a breath to ask the last question, “Now, how much do you love your family,”

Tom’s eyes widened with yours, from that piont you knew the gig was up. You watched as the gears in his brain turned, puzzling all the pieces together.

Your son was a curious boy, he tended to ask a lot of things when he first learnt how to speak but the amount only grew his first day of school. But the most frequent one he asked what how much both you and tom loved him. Sure, it was mainly for the attention (since he could never get enough of it) but it warmed both your hearts, hugging him tightly every time he asked it.

“I-,” He said, his mouth hung open, “These weren’t fans were they?”

“Was it obvious?”

Tom sighed, burying his face in his hands as everyone in the room started to laugh, trying to stifle them as much as possible, feeling bad for the father who just spent the last hour dying of embarrassment.

“Where are they?” He grumbled, getting up from the chair.

“In the back room,” his manager came out, crossing her arms over her chest, “Your son is pretty angry with you might I add, the older one that is,”

“I’m gonna kill you,” he mumbled jokingly running towards the door.

“Thank me later for bring your family to you, you twat!”

...

Permanent TagList : @jadegill @sarcastic-sunset-7

#tom holland #dad!tom #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #husband!tom #tom holland fluff

[runnning-outof-time]

A Silent Night | Modern!Arthur Shelby x Reader

Request: no - part of my Countdown to Christmas Event

Pairing: Arthur Shelby x reader (modern AU)

Summary: In which Arthur and (Y/N) are able to spend a night by themselves; away from their children and the other craziness that the holdiays bring.

Warnings: one bad word

Word Count: 1085

A/N: we’re coming to the end of these festive stories…only 2 more days left after this. I’ve really channeled myself through this one as well - I still need to do all of my wrapping. Thanks so much for helping me decide to turn this into a modern Arthur story. Enjoy! :)

Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future stories similar to this one!

"Alright, the night's ours, love...what are we doing?" Arthur asked as he and (Y/N) exited their car and walked through the front door of their home.

"I was thinking that I'd get started on wrapping the kids' presents," (Y/N) answered him while taking off her jacket and hanging it on one of the hooks by the door. She turned to see Arthur giving her one of those 'are you being serious?' faces. "What? I have a lot of wrapping to do," she defended her idea.

"I'm sure you do, but we've finally got a night away from the kids. Wouldn't you want to do something...else?" he trailed off at the end, a smile starting to quirk the corners of his lips upwards.

"The night's still young. Let me do this first and then maybe," she told him, putting extra emphasis on the final word of her sentence.

Arthur pursed his lips as he looked at her, taking a moment to think over her words. "Fair enough," he responded with a slight nod, his words being enough to allow (Y/N) to head upstairs and go into their closet, where the majority of the kids' presents were stashed. The bigger ones were being kept safe in the basement.

She then began the process of carrying everything down the steps and stacking it into a pile in the living room. Once she was done with the relocating, she sat down in an open spot on the floor with a huff.

"Do you think we got them enough?" Arthur questioned jokingly from where he was sitting on the sofa.

"I can't help that gift giving is one of my love languages," (Y/N) defended herself before she glanced over at the small mountain of gifts that she had to wrap. "I think we may have," she then answered his question, looking back over at him with a sheepish smile on her face.

"They'll be ecstatic," Arthur assured her, grabbing the remote then so that he could begin flipping through the channels to find something to watch. He settled on one of those home improvement shows, which made (Y/N) giggle...he always chose to watch things like that. She wasn't complaining though. His knowledge came in handy when things broke around the house.

(Y/N) grabbed the first present and some gift wrap so that she could begin measuring it out and starting the process of wrapping. She went on like this, wrapping in silence, until she got to the fifth present. That was when something popped into her mind. "Arthur, can you check to make sure that the dollhouse for Avery is still set to arrive tomorrow?" she asked her husband. They'd cut it pretty close - hoping that the present would arrive on Christmas Eve, but it insisted that it'd come in before the big day, and (Y/N) was willing to place a bet on the accuracy. A few moments passed without an answer, making her look up to see that his head was tipped back against the couch's cushion. "Babe," she called out to him, her voice a little louder this time.

"Huh?" he asked, waking with a start as he sat up on the couch.

"I can't believe you've fallen asleep already," she pointed out with a slight chuckle.

"There isn't much else to do," he countered, "I've already seen this episode," he added, motioning to the television then.

"I can think of a few things you could do," she said to him, motioning to the presents she still needed to wrap.

"What was it you needed?" he slyly changed the topic, not wanting to open that can of worms. He was absolute shit at wrapping presents.

"I wanted you to check on Avery's dollhouse...to see if it's still expected to come in by tomorrow," she told him, watching as he picked his phone up and began tapping away on it.

A few moments passed before he gave her the answer, "it still says that it's expected by nine at night tomorrow."

"We're cutting it close with that one," (Y/N) commented, shaking her head at the verdict.

"We'll take our chances," Arthur assured her, making (Y/N) shrug in response. There wasn't much they could do now.

Silence fell again as (Y/N) got back to wrapping while Arthur kept busy searching the channels again. A handful of presents later, (Y/N) was standing from her spot on the floor. She groaned at the feeling of stiffness in her kneecaps (it always happened during these marathon wrapping sessions), and hissed at the aching as she slowly made her way over to where Arthur was laying.

"What's this?" he questioned as she came to lay in the sliver of space next to him on the couch. He then repositioned himself closer to the cushions so that she'd have more room before he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I needed a break," she hummed, tucking her head into the crook of his neck and closing her eyes as she exhaled a content sigh. Arthur said nothing in response to her statement as he, too, was quite content with the sudden arrangement. "Do you hear that?" she asked him after they'd been snuggled up for a few moments.

"What?" Arthur responded with a question of his own.

"Nothing...absolute silence," she answered, her words making Arthur chuckle.

"It is weird not having two kids running about," he commented on the lack of craziness that blessed their home on a daily basis. Two kids under the age of seven normally called for that.

Another period of silence rang out, and the two basked in it. They simply enjoyed the feeling of being cuddled up together on the couch while time passed by slowly.

"You're really not going to get more stuff done?" Arthur asked after a good chunk of time had passed without any movement from either of them.

"We rarely get a silent night like this, let's enjoy it," she answered him, not even bothering to pull her face out of his neck.

"Maybe your parents should take the kids for a night around this time every year," he suggested then, his idea making the both of them laugh.

(Y/N) couldn't deny though that she really liked the sound of it. And that she was already considering pitching the idea of it becoming a tradition to both parties involved when they went to pick the children up tomorrow morning.

———

Tagged: @the-anxious-youth @mgcllovdrms @look-at-the-soul @mrsalwayswrite @julkaamazing @evita-shelby @lilyrachelcassidy @shelbydelrey @december16-1991 @onlydeadcells @peakyswritings @watercolorskyy @strayrockette @peakyduchesss @alexxavicry @stevie75 @dark-academia-slut @zablife @cillmequick @lovemissyhoneybee @letal-y-poetica @lora21

MASTERLIST

Countdown to Christmas MASTERLIST

#arthur shelby #arthur shelby x reader #arthur shelby x y/n #arthur shelby imagine #arthur shelby blurb #peaky blinders #peaky blinders x reader #peaky blinders x y/n #peaky blinders imagine #peaky blinders blurb #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #k’s countdown to christmas

[study-coffee-chicago]

1930s AU (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister + Upstead AU for AU-gust)

A/N: Hopefully this one pops up in the tags now! Sorry to the few people who already liked/reblogged this, but it’d really help me out if you liked/reblogged this one since I’m deleting the one I posted last night. Anyway, the italics at the beginning are essentially "present-day" for the characters (which, in my time frame of the story would be 1945) and the regular font would be a "flashback"...but since the flashback is essentially the whole story which takes place during the early 1930s, I wrote it in regular font. Just didn't want you guys to be confused! Here’s the playlist I listened to while writing this if you want to listen while reading (did not create the playlist myself, I found it): an old fashioned diner jukebox. Anyway, enjoy!

You walked towards the little house that had been your home since you were six years old. "Hey old girl," you said as you petted your horse's head. "I'll see you in the morning, okay? I know Jay and Hailey are awake waiting for me and are probably worried, aren't they?" Your horse picked up her hoof and gave it one good stomp. "I thought so. I'll feed you some sugar cubes in the morning. I'll even give you extra because it'll be Christmas." You gave her one more caress and then walked up to the door of the house.

You used your key to unlock the door and were not at all surprised to see Hailey and Jay in deep conversation.

"Hailey, if she's not here in the next hour, I'm calling the train station. She was supposed to be here yesterday. And it's not like it's that long of a ride."

"Well, luckily you won't have to call," you said as you sat your two suitcases on the floor.

"Y/N! You don't know how worried sick we were," Jay said as he hustled over to you and pulled you into a hug.

"To be fair," Hailey began, "he was more worried than I was."

"Aww, you still worry about me when I'm nineteen," you said as Jay pulled away and Hailey hugged you. "I'm flattered, Jay, really."

"How's betternanian school?" Jay asked with a teasing glint in his eyes.

"Would you give that joke a rest? I was six and didn't know how to properly pronounce veterinarian."

"That probably won't happen."

"How's Natalie?" Hailey asked. "Is she doing okay that Will's away and all her kids are married or at college across the country?"

When you decided to go to veterinarian school, you chose one close to Will and Natalie and they let you stay with them. Then, World War 2 broke out and Will went overseas to work as a doctor in a combat hospital. Natalie's twin boys were both off at separate medical schools across the country, intent on following in their father's footsteps and becoming doctors themselves, and their daughter was married now and living with her husband.

"She's doing as well as expected," you told them. "It helps that Elizabeth and her husband, James, come over for dinner once every week so at least Natalie's seeing one of her children. And, I guess having me around helps mitigate the loneliness. The twins are home from college now for a month's break, so she'll have them there right now, too."

You looked around under the Christmas tree and you spotted a big object covered with a bedsheet.

"Is this what I think it is?" you asked as you walked closer to it.

"It is," Jay confirmed as you lifted the sheet and saw the old rocking horse you used to ride on. Jay had made sure to get you another one when you moved here as the one from Chicago you couldn't bring with you.

"I haven't ridden it since I was eight. You kept it all these years?"

"Right up in the attic," Hailey answered. "We figured it would be the perfect Christmas present for Lilly since she's six now."

"You want something to eat?" Jay asked. "We should probably get out of here and close the doors since all the gifts are wrapped in case Lilly or Anna come to find us."

You grabbed your suitcases and the three of you walked out of the living room and closed the doors.

"Mind if I eat a few of these?" you asked, pointing to the plate of cookies for Santa that Lilly and Anna had placed by the fireplace.

"Go right ahead," Jay told you. But then he heard giggles. "Wait."

You took a step away from the cookies and milk.

"I think we should go check on them," Jay said.

So, the three of you walked down the hall and to the bedroom that the girls shared. "I'll do the honors," you said.

You slowly pushed open the door.

"Now, girls, I thought you were supposed to be asleep."

Eleven-year-old Anna and six-year-old Lilly gasped. "Auntie Y/N!" they exclaimed and rushed out of their respective beds and you first gave Anna a hug and then crouched down to give Lilly one as well.

"Mommy and Daddy said you might not get here in time," Anna told you.

"They did? Well, I'm here now and tomorrow we can play all day with what Santa brought you. But right now, I think you two need to go to sleep so that Santa will come," you said.

"But you just got here!" Lilly complained.

"Yeah!" Anna agreed. Then she gasped. "Can you tell us a story, Auntie Y/N?"

You looked to Jay and Hailey, silently asking if it was okay to let your two nieces stay awake longer. Jay nodded.

"What story do you want tonight?" you asked as you sat down on the rug in the middle of the room and Lilly sat in your lap.

"How Mommy and Daddy met!" Lilly exclaimed.

"You already know that one, Lil," Hailey said as she and Jay sat down and Anna sat between her two parents.

"But it's so good, Mommy!" Anna said. "Please just one more time, please?"

"Oh, alright," Jay caved. "I don't know how much Aunt Y/N will remember since she was your age, Lil, but me and Mommy can definitely tell you the story."

Lilly leaned into you and you ran your hands absentmindedly through her blond hair while Jay started to tell his and Hailey's story of true love and hard times.

***

"Bye, Y/N, I gotta go to work," your big brother said as he woke you up.

"Is Miss Rosalie here?" you asked.

"She is. But, you can sleep longer. I'll be back in time for dinner."

"Why you gotta leave so early, Jay Jay? It's still dark out."

"Because I have to get the milk before the sun rises so the milk doesn't spoil when I'm bringing it to other people."

"Oh, okay." You yawned.

"Go back to sleep. I'll be back later tonight. Be good for Ms. Rosalie."

"I will. Love you, Jay Jay."

"Love you, too."

Then, Jay gave you a kiss on the forehead and grabbed his cap and satchel, said goodbye to Ms. Rosalie and thanked her as he always does, and left the house, the street lamps illuminating the way as he walked towards work.

As he was walking, Jay reflected how it had essentially gotten this bad. At least he had a job now, he used to not have one and you and him were living off of what little money your parents had left behind when they died...at least, the portion that the bank didn't keep.

He had essentially been your primary caretaker for two years. The stock market crashed in 1929, and your mom died a few months after when you were two years old. Not that she had a job though, so it didn't really matter money-wise. Your dad had died in 1931, the same year that Will had graduated from medical school and went to New York to look for a job as a doctor. Jay had worked in a factory at that time and had gotten laid off soon after. But, then he found a job as a milkman. He wasn't getting paid much, but it was enough to pay rent in the crappy and cramped apartment building you both lived in and put food on the table. But, sales were dropping now as no one had money to pay for as much milk as they used to. His sales were half of what they used to be. And, you were now five, six in two weeks, so you were growing and Jay knew that you'd be eating more soon.

When he started loading his company car with milk once he had arrived at work, his supervisor walked over to him and told him that he'd be picking up some of a coworker's route. Well, he was an ex-coworker now because they had laid him off. Jay was just glad he had a job and had enough money to support him and you...even if it was really tight. He hoped he'd be home for dinner like he promised you.

He started on his way and finally, after hours and hours, he was on his new portion of his route.

He made his way up the steps of a house on the corner.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," he said as he set the four bottles of milk down on her front porch. She was currently outside sweeping the porch, her wavy blond hair tied back in two braids. She was in a short-sleeved dress with an apron covering it.

She turned to him and stopped sweeping. "Good afternoon. You're not Jimmy, my usual milkman," the woman said.

"No. Jimmy doesn't work with me anymore. I picked his route. I'm Jay Halstead, ma'am," he replied while tipping his cap.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't introduce myself. I'm Hailey Upton."

"Well, Ms. Upton, pleased to meet you. I'm guessing you have kids just based on me delivering four bottles of milk?" he asked. God, was she pretty. He was getting tongue-tied just looking at her! He knew it wasn't polite to ask that, but it just slipped out.

"No, actually I don't. I'm doing some baking today and that's why I need it. And please, call me Hailey."

"Well, Hailey, I hope it goes well. Should I put you down for four bottles tomorrow as well?"

"No, only one should do for tomorrow, Mr. Halstead."

"Please, call me Jay, ma- Hailey."

"Alright, have a nice rest  of your day, Jay."

"You, too. Again, I hope your baking goes well." He tipped his cap once more and headed off. That was his last stop of the day. You and Ms. Rosalie were back at home waiting for him.

***

Jay quickly opened his eyes the minute he felt your hand on his arm. "Jay Jay?" you whispered.

"I'm awake, pumpkin." Your mom had called you pumpkin based on the one time you picked up a pumpkin and dropped it and it splattered everywhere. And, this nickname just stuck.

"I- I know I'm not 'sposed to ask, but I'm real hungry," you said.

Jay didn't bother correcting you on how you didn't ask anything at all; you just told him that you were hungry. And, he was hungry, too. You were running out of food in the house and he needed to run to the market, but everything seemed to be too expensive, so he could only buy the necessities. And, you and Ms. Rosalie had made French onion soup for dinner last night, because that used very minimal ingredients.

Jay hated himself as he scooped out the soup after she left because he realized portions would only be 3/4 of what both of you were used to. He had toyed with the idea of giving you 1/4 of his, so you could have a full serving and he'd have half, but he figured he'd see what would happen. Tomorrow, he knew he'd be giving you a normal portion of whatever he had. After all, he could convince himself to go back to sleep, but you were just a child.

Your parents had always drilled into your head that it was breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And, Jay did his best to try to feed you enough to abide by that rule. But, it was getting harder and harder to do when the entire United States seemed to be going hungry.

"Pumpkin, it's late--"

Your stomach rumbled and Jay swore he felt tears prick his eyes. He couldn't expect you to go to bed hungry.

"Let's go get you something. I'm sure I can find something," he said as he got up.

You grabbed his hand and you two walked into the kitchen. He pulled the string to one of the dim lights, which barely illuminated the kitchen and dining area. Then, he opened the icebox and pulled out a hard-boiled egg and a bottle of milk. He poured half the milk into a glass and handed you the egg.

You went to stick it in your mouth when he stopped you. "No, you have to peel it." You held it out to him. "Do I need to start it for you?" You nodded and he took off a section of the shell and handed it back to you and you continued to peel it.

Normally, Jay would put salt and pepper on it, but you were very low on that as well. And, seeing how hungry you were, you started to eat it without asking for those two basic spices.

Then, you finished the glass of milk and Jay led you back to your bed and you fell asleep with a full tummy...well, as full as anyone in your position could get nowadays.

Unbeknownst to you, you had just eaten half of Jay's breakfast for tomorrow.

***

"How did the baking go yesterday?" Jay asked Hailey as he switched out her four empty milk bottles for one full one.

"It went well. Thank you for asking. I actually had a lot left, so here." She handed him a slice wrapped in tin foil. "It's strawberry pie."

"You didn't have to give this to me," Jay said, trying to hand it back to her.

"Nonsense. So many people are going hungry right now. I have no right to waste food."

"It makes sense when you put it that way. Thank you. My little sister will most definitely enjoy it."

"Oh, let me go grab you another slice so that you don't have to share."

Before Jay could protest, she ran back into her big house and grabbed him another slice.

"Thank you," Jay said as he took the other slice as well.

"You're welcome. No use letting it go to waste. How old is your sister?" Hailey asked.

"Y/N will be six in two weeks," Jay answered.

"Oh, I remember what I was like at that age. I was a little troublemaker, running around with my older brothers even when my mom and dad called me in. And then I'd always make messes in the kitchen."

Jay laughed. "I'd hope she's more well-behaved than that. But, I'd best get going. Thank you for the pie. Can I put you down for one bottle tomorrow?"

"Yes, please. Have a nice day."

Jay nodded at her and then reached down and grabbed the crate with the empty milk bottles. Then, he got in the company car and started on his way back to the factory and then home.

***

"Jay Jay!" you said as you jumped up from your seat at the kitchen table. "I missed you!"

Jay set his satchel, four bottles of milk, and the slices of pie on the counter next to the stove and picked you up and spun you around. "I missed you, too! Were you good for Ms. Rosalie?" He settled you on his hip.

You frantically nodded your head and Jay turned to the older woman. "She was an angel as always. I hope you don't mind, but I made French onion soup again for dinner."

"That's fine, thank you. Your two bottles of milk are right next to mine."

That's how he paid her: by buying her milk. He knew it wasn't a lot, but it's not like he could pay for a nanny. And, she was the one with the cheapest rate in the apartment building. Plus, she had known you since you were a baby, so Jay knew that you trusted her and he trusted her to look after you.

"Oh, thank you, dear." She picked up the two bottles and started towards the door.

"Oh, and tell Mr. Edward I say hello," Jay said, referring to her husband.

"Will do. Enjoy your evening."

Then, she left, and Jay put you down on the floor and moved to start dishing out dinner. When you were both at the table with the food in front of you, a smile spread across his face.

"Pumpkin, after dinner I have a surprise for you."

"Really?" you squealed.

"Yes, really. But, you have to finish your food first and then I will give it to you."

Jay chuckled at how fast you ate your food. He was usually done before you, but tonight you both finished around the same time.

"What's the surprise?" you asked as you set your bowl and spoon on the counter near the rusty sink by Jay's bowl and spoon.

He reached up into the creaky cupboard and grabbed two plates and then two forks from the drawer that would occasionally get stuck.

"How about you go sit at the table and I'll bring you the surprise. How does that sound?"

"Okay!" you scrambled back into your seat and watched as Jay put the things on the plates. He must really have wanted this to be a surprise because he positioned himself so that his back was towards you and you couldn't see a single thing he was doing.

"Now, I need you to close your eyes and I'll tell you when to open them," Jay said, still with his back turned to you.

You quickly closed your eyes and also put your hands over your eyes, causing Jay to chuckle.

He first set his plate with pie and a small glass of milk at his place at the table and then did the same thing in front of you. He crouched down next to you and put his hand on the back of your chair. "And, open."

You threw your hands down at your side and snapped your eyes open. You gasped and turned your head to look at Jay. "We get dessert?"

Jay smiled. "We do. It's strawberry pie from someone who I give milk to. Do you need help cutting it?"

"No, I can do it! Who gave it to you?"

"Her name's Miss Hailey." Then, he went back to his side of the table as you started to eat your pie. He was glad he had given you the bigger slice because you enjoyed it so much; he'd be sure to tell Hailey this.

***

Two weeks later

Jay sighed as he counted out what little money he had saved up in a lockbox under his bed. He barely had enough to buy you a few sugar sticks from the market after thinking about rent that needed to be paid in another two weeks. At least he knew that Will had sent you something because he told Jay in his letter from last week that he'd be sending you a gift along with your birthday letter. But, Jay still felt bad that he barely had enough money to buy you candy for your birthday. He knew you'd prefer chocolate over hard candy, but he also knew that he had to save money for rent and groceries, so when you both went to the market later, you'd only be able to buy a couple of hard candies.

The change clanked back into the box when he heard the sound of little footsteps coming towards him.

"Happy birthday!" he exclaimed as he picked you up and spun you around. Then, he settled you on his hip and walked into the kitchen. "Does six feel any different than five?" You shook your head back and forth frantically, causing Jay to laugh. "Now, what do you want for your birthday breakfast?"

"Hotcakes!" you exclaimed. Luckily for Jay, you didn't notice how his smile flattered for a quick second when you said that.

"Okay then, hotcakes it is! Can you go put on a dress while I make these?"

You nodded again and then Jay set you down and you ran to your room to change.

When you came back into the kitchen after you got dressed--and got distracted by playing with your doll--your pancakes were sitting on the table. But, you noticed there was only one plate.

"Where's yours?" you asked your big brother as you sat down in your chair and he started cleaning the pan that he had cooked in.

"I ate while you were playing. I didn't want to disrupt your game, pumpkin," he told you, with a smile on his face.

"Oh, okay. Can I eat them now?"

"Of course you can. And then, we'll go to the post office to see what Will brought you."

But, Jay hadn't actually eaten any when you were playing with your doll. There was barely enough flour to make you pancakes, let alone him. So, instead of depriving you of pancakes on your birthday, he just went without.

***

"Mail for Jay Halstead, please," he said at the window of the post office while holding your hand.

"Alright, just one moment." The teller went to the back and grabbed a letter and then handed it to Jay.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Jay?" a voice behind him said.

Jay turned, only to be met with Hailey Upton.

"Hailey, good morning. Came to pick up your mail I presume?" he asked.

"You presume correctly." She stepped out of line to stand with him. "And who might this be?" she asked, stooping down to your level.

You blushed and moved to hide behind Jay's leg. Jay chuckled. "Sorry about that. She's particularly shy around strangers. Pumpkin," he started, addressing you. "This is Miss Hailey. She's the one who made us the strawberry pie a few weeks ago."

"It was good. Thank you," you said as you peeked your head out from behind Jay.

"You're welcome. And you must be Y/N?" You nodded. "Jay's told me a lot of good things about you."

You looked up at Jay as if asking him to confirm it. "I've got nothing bad to say about you, you know that."

"I know. If you did, you wouldn't make me hotcakes today," you said.

"Can you tell Miss Hailey what today is?"

You finally moved out all the way from behind Jay. But you still held his hand as you answered the question. "It's my birthday! I'm six!"

"Wow! You're such a big girl! Are you doing anything special today?" Hailey asked, stooping down to your level.

"I'm gonna get some chocolate!"

"Y/N, what'd we talk about on the way here?" Jay asked.

"Oh." You looked down at your feet. "I'm getting hard candy instead."

Hailey looked up at Jay and saw the sadness in his eyes, something that you didn't pick up on since you were so little. She knew what that statement meant. Chocolate was more expensive than hard candies, so she knew the reason that you weren't getting it was because Jay didn't have any money.

"How about we see what Will got you so that Miss Hailey can get her mail?" Jay asked.

You nodded excitedly and Hailey got back in line. Then, Jay opened the large envelope and handed you a small pouch.

You opened it and looked inside. There were these little metal x's and a red bouncy ball. "Jay Jay, what's this?" you asked as you held the pouch out to him.

He looked inside and smiled. "That is jacks."

You cocked your head to the side. "Who's Jack? And why do I have his things?"

Jay laughed just as Hailey started walking back towards them. "It's the name of the game, pumpkin. You bounce the ball and try to pick up one of the pieces before the ball hits the ground. Me and Will played it a lot, but he always won."

"You lost?" you asked as your eyes grew wide. Jay never lost!

"I lost a lot."

Hailey was next to you and your brother now. "Jacks, huh?" Jay nodded. "Me and my brothers used to play it all the time. I'm actually quite good at it."

"Can you teach me, Miss Hailey?" you asked excitedly.

"I'm sure Miss Hailey has things she needs to do today, pumpkin," Jay said, giving Hailey a sympathetic look.

"Oh, it's no trouble. I've actually got ingredients for a delicious chocolate cake at my house if you two would like to come over. I can easily whip up a nice lunch for us, too."

"Hailey, I can't let you do that."

"Please, Jay Jay? Pretty please?" you asked, looking up at him and clasping your hands together to make it look like you were praying. "It's my birthday. Please?"

He looked to Hailey and she nodded once more. "Just because Miss Hailey said it was okay. Care to accompany us to the store to get her some candy before we go to your house?" Jay asked her.

"I'd love to."

***

You were so full after a delicious lunch of turkey sandwiches, potatoes, apples, and chocolate cake, that you had promptly fallen asleep at the table while you were waiting for Jay and Hailey to finish the dishes.

Hailey said it was no big deal, that she could do them, but you mentioned that Jay always washed the dishes and you always dried them. So, then Hailey finally gave in and let him help with the drying.

"Not to be too forward," Hailey began as she handed a plate to Jay to dry, "but is it just you and Y/N? I've just never heard either of you mention your parents."

"Uh, it's just the two of us. Mom and Dad died a few years ago. Will, our older brother, went to New York to become a doctor, so it's been the two of us ever since."

"Well, that little girl really seems to love you."

Jay sighed. "It's probably because she doesn't know any different. Mom died when she was two, so she barely remembers her. And Dad died when she was four, so two years ago. She remembers him a little, but for most of the past two years, I've been the one taking care of her. Along with our neighbor who helps out by watching her when I have to go to work."

"That's very kind of her."

"It is. So, what about you? What do you do to have such a big house? Secret baking company you run? Because I've had desserts you've made so far and both were absolutely delicious."

"They were nothing fancy."

"Oh, but to Y/N they were. She was so excited when I told her we'd be getting dessert. But, how did you end up here, Hailey?"

"In Chicago? Or in this house specifically?"

"Both," Jay said.

"Well, I was born and raised in Chicago. But, my parents are gone, too...not that I was ever too fond of my father. But, they had this house because they used to own a bar, which pulled in some decent money. They left the house to me and my brothers. All of them have their own families and are scattered across the country, so I got it."

"Would be a bad time to be in the brewing business right now, wouldn't it? With prohibition and all," Jay mused. "That might contribute to the high unemployment rates...but, I'm pretty sure that was mostly because of Hoover." He paused. "I'm sorry. I really shouldn't be talking about the complicated politics of our country right now...especially not in front of a lady."

"I have the right to vote now, you know. And have had it for thirteen years," Hailey said.

"I know. I didn't mean it like that. I think it's great that women can vote. I just shouldn't be talking about it that first time I'm in your home is all." He gestured to you. You were still asleep at the table, your head resting on your arms which were resting on the table. "Glad that little rascal gets the chance to voice her opinions."

Your head popped up. "I ain't a rascal, Jay Jay!"

"Oh really now?" He walked over to you and picked you up and started tickling you. "How about now?" he asked with a giant smile on his face while you laughed big belly laughs.

"Jay Jay! Please stop!"

"Only because you said please." He set you back down.

"Aw, she's so cute," Hailey gushed.

"Did you hear that, kiddo? Miss Hailey thinks you're cute. What do you say?" Jay asked.

"Thank you." You blushed. "Can you teach me how to do braids like yours?" you asked, referring to her French braids. "They're real pretty. Jay can only do plain ones."

She turned to Jay while she raised her eyebrows. "You know how to braid?"

He opened his mouth to dispute what you said, but you butted in. "He does! He braids my hair every day when he doesn't have to work!"

You spun around, giving Hailey a view of your braids.

"Okay, birthday girl," Jay said. "I think it's time we head home. We can play jacks there."

"Can we play checkers, too? I like checkers!"

"I know you do. Now, can you say thank you to Miss Hailey for lunch and for the cake?"

"Thank you, Miss Hailey! It was really good!"

"You're welcome, honey." She stooped down to your height and handed you two slices of chocolate cake wrapped in tin foil. "These are for you and Jay to take home. And, you get the bigger slice."

***

A month later

You had been six for a month, and Jay had known Hailey for around two months. The weather was starting to cool down as summer was turning into fall and there was a slight chill in the air. Because of this, Jay was spending more money on more firewood to place in the wood-burning stove because you now weren't just using it to cook, but for heat as well.

Ms. Rosalie had come down with a nasty cold and didn't want to get you sick. Jay had tried to find a last-minute babysitter for you last night by knocking on nearby apartments, explaining the situation, and even offering to buy them a bottle of milk for their troubles. But no one agreed.

So, Jay told you that you'd have to stay home by yourself. You asked if you could go to work with him, but he said no...even though he desperately wanted to bring you. But, he couldn't risk his job; it was the only meager income the two of you had. Jay needed that job to keep a roof over your heads and food in your bellies. Because of this, he taught you how to lock the door and had made you a quick breakfast and lunch and stuck them in the icebox so that you'd be able to eat while he was gone. And above all, he told you not to answer the door for anyone.

"Bye, Pumpkin," Jay said as he gave you a big hug. "You remember what I told you?"

"Yes. Breakfast and lunch are in the icebox and no opening the door," you answered as you sat up in bed.

"Unless..." Jay prompted.

"Unless it's you, Miss Rosalie, or Mr. Edward."

"Exactly. Now, go back to sleep. I'll lock the door on my way out. I love you."

"Love you, too, Jay Jay."

Then, he left, leaving you alone to go back to sleep.

***

"Halstead!" Jay heard his supervisor yell as he was stacking the last of his crates back at the factory before he hurried home to you.

"Yes, sir?" he asked.

"My office."

Jay swallowed but followed his supervisor.

He entered and closed the door behind him.

"As you know," his supervisor started, "milk sales have been declining at a steady rate as families don't have enough money to buy as much as they used to."

"I'm aware, sir," Jay said as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"This means that we need fewer workers."

No, this cannot be happening, Jay thought to himself.

"I'm sorry to say, but I have to let you go, Jay."

"Please," Jay begged. He knew begging was unbecoming and most likely wouldn't get him his job back, but he had no other choice. "I have a six-year-old sister. I'm the only one who takes care of her. Please sir, I really need this job. If not for me, then please do it for her. Please."

"I'm sorry, son, but I have to let you go. I wish you the best of luck on finding other employment."

Jay wanted to beg for his job back some more, but he knew it was no use. So, he just nodded and left the office, not knowing what to do next.

And, to make matters worse, his rent was already ten days past due.

***

Jay was about to walk into his apartment when he saw a yellow piece of paper nailed to his door. He ripped it down and scanned the big, bold letters.

An eviction notice. He was going to lose the apartment.

If he didn't come up with some money fast, then he and you would have to be out of your apartment in three days.

He sighed and folded the paper and stuck it in his pocket, and then unlocked the door and went inside.

He began to panic when he didn't see you right away, but then he heard a sniffle coming from your room.

You gasped as you heard someone coming towards you and quickly buried yourself under your covers and tried to stay as quiet as possible.

"Pumpkin?" Jay asked. "It's just Jay Jay."

You carefully peeled the covers back from your head. "Jay Jay?" When you saw it was him, you jumped out of bed and quickly crashed into his legs, and clung to them for dear life. "Jay Jay!" you cried. "I was so scared!"

Jay tried to pry your little fingers from his legs, but your grip was so tight that he knew if he tried any harder, he might hurt you and he definitely didn't want that. "Why were you so scared, pumpkin?" he asked as he placed a hand on your head and ran his fingers through your slightly tangled hair.

"There- there were people at the door," you shuddered. "And they made really loud noises and kept yelling."

"What were they yelling?" he asked gently.

"They were yelling for you."

"Did you open the door?"

"No, you told me not to, so I didn't."

"Good girl," he praised. He knew what you were talking about: the men who had nailed the eviction notice to the door of the apartment had probably yelled out his name a few times very loudly, which is what caused you to be scared now. "How about I make us dinner and then we can play checkers, hmm?" he asked. "How does that sound?"

You looked up at him, a few tears still rolling down your cheeks. You wiped them away with your little fists. You nodded. "Can you braid my hair, too? I tried, but I couldn't do it."

That explains all the tangles, Jay thought to himself. "I can do that."

He grabbed your hairbrush and then sat on your bed. You sat on the floor in between his legs and allowed him to brush your hair and start to braid. As Jay was doing this, he was wondering what he was going to do. He didn't have a job, he had an eviction notice, and he had to provide for you. Even though he liked to think he had great problem-solving skills, at this very moment, he had absolutely no idea what to do.

***

"Where are we going, Jay Jay?" you asked as you held his hand and walked through town the next morning.

"We are going to see Miss Hailey," he answered.

"Why?" you asked as you curiously looked up at him.

"Because I think she'd like to spend some time with you."

"Where are you gonna be?"

"I have to go run some errands."

"Can I come? I wanna come with you, Jay Jay."

"I wish I could bring you, pumpkin. But, this is adult stuff. You'd be really bored. You'll have much more fun with Miss Hailey."

You sighed. "Okay."

About twenty minutes later, Jay took a deep breath as he walked up the steps of Hailey's front porch. He hoped he was making the right decision by doing this. He knocked a few times and then Hailey answered the door.

"Jay? What are you doing here so early?" Then, she saw you and stooped down to your height. "Hi, Y/N. Did Jay wake you up to come see me this morning?"

"Yeah," you answered as you rubbed your eyes. You were still kind of tired. Jay didn't know if that was from lack of proper nutrition or general tiredness. He hoped it was the latter. "Jay Jay said he had to do adult things and I can't come with him."

She looked up at Jay and then back to you. "Honey, how about you go run inside to the sitting area and grab a deck of cards or another game we can play while I talk to your brother, how does that sound?"

You looked up at Jay and he nodded. Hailey moved out of the doorway. "Okay!" you exclaimed and then quickly let go of Jay's hand and rushed inside.

"Don't forget to take off your shoes before you get to the carpet!" Jay shouted after you, which caused you to stoop down and take off your shoes on the hardwood before you got to the carpeted areas.

"So, you needed someone to watch her?" Hailey asked.

"Yes. I'm really sorry, but you're the first person I thought of since our neighbor got sick and I need to run to the bank before it gets really busy--"

"Jay, it's fine. She's a little angel. I can take care of her for a few hours." She studied his face and his very worried expression. "Is everything alright?"

Jay sighed. "Hopefully it will be after I go to the bank. Thank you for--"

He was cut off by someone yelling at Hailey from the sidewalk. "Hailey! Still on for tonight?" It was Christopher Hermann, a firefighter.

"Uh, no I'm not baking anything tonight," she quickly answered.

Hermann gave her a confused look but quickly recovered as he realized what she was saying. "Okay, thank you, Hailey."

"You're welcome." Hermann tipped his cap at her before he continued walking. "As you were saying?" Hailey asked.

"I thought you said you didn't own a baking business?" Jay asked.

"I don't," Hailey said quickly. "Sometimes I'll just make some pies for him, his wife, and kids."

"Sorry if I wrecked your plans of baking by dropping Y/N on you. I can try and find someone else."

"No, it's fine. Good luck at the bank and I promise I'll take good care of your little sister."

"Thank you. I'll see you soon."

***

"Sir, I'm sorry," the bank teller told him.

"Please." At this point, Jay wasn't opposed to begging. "I really need a loan. Just a small one so that I can keep a roof over mine and my little sister's head and food on the table. She's just a child. Please."

"If I gave every person in here who had a sob story a loan, I would be out of a job and this bank would be out of business. I'm sorry, but I can't. Best of luck to you and your sister."

He moved on to the next person, leaving Jay close to tears. He was out of options. He was out of a job and he was about to lose the small apartment you two shared in the next two days.

He walked out of the bank with his head held low and tears pricked his eyes. The only option he had was to beg Will to let him and you move to New York to stay with him. But, even though he was a doctor, he still had to feed himself, his wife, Natalie, and his three children. He might not be able to take in two more mouths to feed.

The other thing Jay thought about as he walked down the street back towards Hailey's feeling like a disappointment was moving to a Hooverville. Those were camps set up by the homeless where they lived in tents. Because, in two days, the two of you would be homeless. He could try and sell everything of value he had in the small apartment, but it'd only cover this month's rent, if that, and then he'd just encounter this same problem again next month.

Jay knocked on the door of Hailey's house and she quickly answered it, you right on her tail.

"Jay Jay!" you exclaimed and quickly hugged him.

"Hi, pumpkin. It's time to go home now."

"But, me and Miss Hailey are in the middle of a game!" you argued.

"I've got no issue if she stays to finish it," Hailey said. "Y/N, why don't you go and make sure the pieces are where we left them while I talk to your brother?"

You ran off to go check on the pieces while Hailey stepped outside and closed the door behind her. She took a good look at Jay and saw the tears in his eyes that he was frantically trying to blink back.

"Jay, what happened at the bank?" Hailey asked gently.

"It's nothing I can't handle," he responded coldly.

"Jay, please, just tell me. Maybe I- Maybe I can help. I can't do that if you don't tell me anything."

"I'm just your milkman, well not anymore because I got fired yesterday. Why do you care so much, Hailey?"

"Because that little girl in there needs her big brother. She needs you to be rational about whatever's going on because I will not let her get hurt."

"I would never hurt her," Jay said quickly. "Where is this coming from?"

"Don't worry about it," Hailey said flippantly. "Just, tell me what's going on. Please, Jay. Not just for me, but for that little girl who loves you so much. Maybe I can help."

Jay sighed. "I got let go yesterday. And now I'm getting evicted from my apartment. I even went to the bank to try to take out a loan, but couldn't. I don't know what I'm going to do, Hailey. I really don't."

"Come with me," she said and opened the door.

You were focused on something in Hailey's sitting room, so weren't paying attention as Jay and Hailey made their way to the kitchen.

"I may not have told you everything about myself," Hailey said.

"Hailey, not to be rude, but what are you saying?"

"The reason I have this big of a house when I'm a single woman is because my parents used to own a very successful brewery. My dad, let's just say he wasn't that great of a man, so when prohibition hit, he didn't know what to do. So, he sold the brewery and they moved to another part of the country."

"And you got their house?" Jay asked.

"Yes, but I have to work to make sure I can still pay my bills."

"Then what do you do?" Jay asked. He knew she couldn't make enough money to pay for this place by working in a factory or being a seamstress, which is what most women did to support their husband's incomes.

"You don't know anyone in the government, do you?" she asked.

"No. If I did, they would've been my first visit when I saw the eviction notice, not the bank. Where is all this going?"

"Jay, if I tell you this, I need to know I can trust you, that you won't tell a single person what I'm about to show you."

"You have my word."

"Alright." She walked over to her huge, white kitchen island and pushed, revealing a staircase. "Follow me."

She pulled a string and the staircase became illuminated and Jay followed her. Once they got all the way down the staircase, she pulled another string and then a few more, making the secret basement become illuminated in light.

Jay looked around. There was a bar with glasses behind it and bottles of whiskey and other liquors. On either side of the bar, there were two huge barrels of what Jay assumed had to be beer. There were also three high-top tables with two chairs at each table.

Jay's jaw dropped. "You run a speakeasy?"

"I do," Hailey answered.

"B-But this is illegal," Jay stuttered.

"I'm very much aware."

Jay continued to look around in awe. He knew of course that speakeasies existed and that people had ways of getting alcohol from Canada, but he had never tried it since prohibition happened. Well, he did a few times. But, the minute his mom died, he stopped what little bit he did drink.

"Why did you bring me down here? To drown my sorrows in whiskey?" Jay asked.

"No, I have a proposition for you."

Jay raised an eyebrow. "A proposition?"

"Yes, would you like to hear it?" He nodded. "Since people can't appear drunk on the streets because they'll face arrest and could possibly tell the sheriff about my speakeasy, I need people here to make sure that they sober up before they leave here at night. One of the two people I hired for this job quit last night because his family is moving out west."

Jay nodded, still very unsure where this was going.

"I was wondering if you'd like that job?" Hailey asked.

"You're offering me a job?" Jay asked, trying to maintain his composure.

"Yes. You can have it if you want it."

"I'll take it. Not to be rude, but how much would I be paid?"

"That's just the thing," Hailey began. "Liquor is getting more expensive to smuggle in and brewing supplies are getting more expensive as well because it's all illegal. So, I can't pay you." Jay's face fell. "But, before you say you can't do this, let me tell you one more thing: I have two spare bedrooms in my house. They're yours and Y/N's if you take the job."

"Hailey, I can't put you out like that. You'll have to feed us and I can't let you do that."

"Jay, I have money to pay for more food. Just not to pay for another worker because they always want their wages high since what we do here is so risky. It's no problem. And, think of Y/N. She'd have a roof over her head and she could even have that strawberry pie you said she liked so much," Hailey explained.

Jay couldn't pass up this offer, not when he would be kicked out of his apartment in two days. "Okay, I'll get mine and Y/N's things over here in the next few days. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"It means a lot to me, too. Sometimes men get a little rowdy down here, which is why I have to close when there's only one to help."

"So, that's what that guy was asking about when he asked if you're still on tonight?"

"Precisely."

Jay and Hailey walked back upstairs after Hailey turned off all the lights. Then, she pushed the island back into place and Jay headed over to you.

"Will you play Go-fish with me and Miss Hailey, Jay Jay?" you asked as you held a deck of cards out for him to shuffle.

"I most definitely will, pumpkin, " he said as he sat down on the floor and took the cards from you. "But, I have a question for you first."

"What is it?" you asked as you furrowed your eyebrows. Jay found it cute how concentrated you looked every time he said he had a question for you.

"How would you like to stay with Miss Hailey for a while?"

"What- What about you? You'll be here too, right? I don't want you to leave," you said as your lip started to tremble.

"Oh no," Jay quickly said. "I'll be here, too. I promise. We'll just be living here for a while. How does that sound?"

You nodded excitedly. "Can I bring my dolly, Emmy, here?"

Jay chuckled. "Yes, you can." He started shuffling the cards as Hailey walked back in. "Alright, time for a game of Go-fish."

As the three of you played the game on the carpet of Hailey's sitting room, Jay still couldn't believe it: Hailey Upton ran a speakeasy.

***

"What about this guy?" Jay asked as he held up an old stuff animal Dalmation that once belonged to Will that he found when he was cleaning out the apartment to move into Hailey's. "You want him on your bed, too?"

"Who's he?" you asked as you studied the stuffed animal.

"This was Will's, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you renamed him." He held the stuffed animal out to you and you took it and held it tight to your chest.

"I love him."

"What are you thinking for a name, pumpkin?"

You pursed your lips to the side, a telltale sign that you were in deep thought. "Spot."

"Spot," Jay repeated. "I think that's a perfect name. You think Spot and Emmy are going to be friends?" Emmy was the name of your doll.

"Best friends," you told him.

"Do you want to help me unpack my room or play in here?"

"Play in here," you answered as you picked up Emmy to play with along with Spot.

"Okay. I'll be right across the hall if you need anything."

Jay walked into his room where Hailey was already busying herself by making up Jay's bed.

"Hailey," Jay started, "you didn't have to do that. I'm perfectly capable of making my own bed."

"I'm not busy until tonight, so I figured I'd help you out. I can leave if you'd like some privacy while you unpack, though," Hailey replied.

"No, no, you're fine. This is your house after all. You're allowed to go wherever you want." Jay started busying himself with taking a few things out of a crate. "Can you tell me more about the job I'll be doing tonight?"

"So, tonight, people will knock on the back door. I usually let them in, but they have to say bakery because that's the secret word to be let in. If there's a new person, I'll grab you or Adam, the other guy who does the same job as you, to let him in because I don't know him personally."

"So, for your safety?" Jay asked.

"Exactly. Then, I make the drinks and one of you hands them to the customers. The other cleans tables once someone leaves. And, if the person still seems like a drunk before they leave, you have to stop them from leaving for a few hours until they're essentially back to normal. Typically, I'll explain this to them and it works fine, but sometimes I need some help because, well, I'm small and some of them think it's okay to get handsy."

"I won't let anyone lay a hand on you, Hailey. You have my word."

Hailey nodded. "Thank you. And, before you ask like Adam did about why I don't let you guys make the drinks, it's not that I don't trust you, it's that I know the proper proportions. And, if something happens and one of you is busy making drinks..."

"Something bad could happen to you. I get it," Jay said understandingly. "Being behind the bar is safest for you. You don't have to feel bad about putting your safety first, especially since what we are all partaking in is illegal."

"Thank you for understanding. Now, I'll let you unpack. Just yell downstairs if you have any questions. I'll be in the kitchen making something special for after dinner tonight."

"Please tell me Y/N didn't get a hold of you when I was outside and ask you to make strawberry pie."

"She didn't. And even if she did, I was already planning on making it. She's very polite, Jay. You don't have to worry about her not having manners. You've raised her quite well on that front."

"That means a lot, thank you. This all means so much, thank you."

"Hey, you needed help and I needed help. The feeling's mutual." With that, she left Jay alone to unpack and think about how he was staying with one of the most beautiful and kind-hearted women in the world.

***

"So how does this work?" Jay asked Hailey later that night after he had tucked you into bed.

"Jay, I already told you how it works. You just make sure I'm safe and no drunk customers leave or try to get handsy with me," Hailey answered as she was setting up the bar.

"I know that," Jay laughed. "I meant with Y/N. What do we do about her? She's sleeping in a place she doesn't know and I'm not in my room. I don't want her to get upset when she can't find us."

"Oh," Hailey said. "Guess I didn't think that far ahead." She paused as she thought about what she and Jay could do. "How about this: every fifteen minutes either you or I go upstairs to check on her."

"That works," Jay said.

There were thundering footsteps walking down the stairs.

"Hey, Adam," Hailey greeted when he got all the way down. "Jay, this is Adam. Adam, Jay."

Jay and Adam shook hands. "So you're the new replacement?" Adam asked and Jay nodded. "Don't worry, everything's pretty tame down here. There's just occasionally one or two rowdy newcomers because they haven't drank in a long time and forgot what their limits are."

"Good to know," Jay said.

"It's almost time to open, so how about me and Jay go upstairs for the first few customers so he can see how it's done," Hailey suggested.

Adam waved his hand. "Go ahead. Usually, I know most everyone's regular drinks, so I can handle bartending for a little bit."

"Thanks, Adam," Hailey said.

Jay and Hailey made their way upstairs and Jay went to check on you and then went back to Hailey.

"She still asleep?" Hailey asked.

"Out like a light," he answered.

There was a knock at the door. Hailey opened it a crack. "Bakery," the man said. It was the same one who asked a few days ago if they'd be open when Jay came over to ask Hailey to watch you while he went to the bank to see if he could take out a loan.

Hailey opened the door all the way and allowed him in. He came with a friend. "Christopher, Randall, welcome back," she said once they were all the way inside.

"Thank you," they both said.

"This guy new?" Christopher Hermann asked.

"Jay Halstead," Jay said as he stretched his hand out for Hermann to shake. "Pleasure to meet you."

"You as well. The real pleasure is being here where I can drink alcohol, am I right, Randall?" he asked as he turned to his friend.

"No doubt about it," he replied.

"Any stories from work today?" Hailey asked.

"No, just a simple cat caught in a tree. Nothing that caused somebody's house to burn and thank the Lord for that because of how hard it is to secure a loan for a house right now," Hermann answered.

"You two can make your way on in," Hailey said. "You know where to go."

"Thank you," Randall said and then the two walked away and towards the island that hid the speakeasy underneath.

"They're both firefighters," Hailey told Jay. "And, the one that Christopher kept calling Randall, well he told me that at the station they call him Mouch."

Jay furrowed his eyebrows. "Why? Why would a man want a nickname as silly as that?"

"Apparently it means half man half couch. But, just call him Randall. I'm not supposed to know about that nickname, but Hermann told me one night when he got a little too drunk."

"I'm sure Randall's wife is thrilled that he's a lazy bum," Jay said.

"Only at the station where he sits on the couch and listens to the radio until the bells go off. But, his wife, Trudy, can command a room."

Jay looked at his watch. "I should go check on Y/N again. Be right back."

He checked on you and you were still sound asleep.

After a few more customers came in, he went back downstairs and started his new job. It was hard not to like it when he got to look and talk to Hailey all night.

***

It had been a few months since you and Jay had moved in with Miss Hailey. Well, she was just Hailey to you now because she insisted you call her that. Jay insisted on you still calling her Miss Hailey, but Hailey had vetoed that decision.

Jay cracked an eye open as you excitedly pushed his door open. He quickly closed his eyes again and pretended to be asleep.

You pulled on his blankets. "Jay Jay! Jay Jay, wake up! It's Christmas!" He still pretended to be asleep. You pulled on his arm and he cracked his eyes open and rubbed them.

"Mhm, Y/N, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing's wrong, Jay Jay! It's Christmas! Do you think Santa came?" you asked excitedly.

"I think so," Jay said as he sat up and stretched. "Should we go see if Hailey's awake and then we can see if Santa came?"

You nodded excitedly and he got out of bed and you grabbed his hand, practically tugging him out of his bedroom.

You saw Hailey walking up the stairs with a tray with three mugs on it. "Hailey!" you exclaimed and quickly let go of Jay's hand and ran to her. "Did you go downstairs?" you asked excitedly.

"I did," she told you, letting out a small giggle at your excitement.

God, Jay loved that giggle. Hell, he loved everything about Hailey, her heart, her looks, how she wasn't afraid to run a speakeasy when it was illegal. For all intents and purposes, she was a little rebel and he loved it.

"Did Santa come? Did you see him?" you rushed out excitedly.

"I didn't see him, but he came. There's lots of presents and your stocking is almost overflowing."

You smiled widely and squealed in excitement.

"Here," Jay said as he walked up to Hailey. "Let me take that."

"Oh, sorry," Hailey apologized. "I figured I'd make us some coffee and for that little angel, there's some hot chocolate with whipped cream and a candy cane."

"Hear that, pumpkin?" Jay asked as he took the tray from Hailey. "Hailey made you hot chocolate with all the fixings."

"Thank you!" you exclaimed and then tried to reach for your mug.

"Pumpkin, it's hot. I'm gonna hand it to you when we get downstairs, how's that sound?"

"Okay, Jay Jay!"

When the three of you got downstairs, you gasped. Hailey wasn't kidding when she told you there were lots of presents and your stocking was overflowing. "Santa came! Santa came!"

"He did," Jay said as he set the tray on the coffee table. "Do you want to open your stocking while your hot chocolate cools down?"

"Yes please!"

Hailey walked over to the radio and turned it on to a low volume while Jay helped you get your stocking down. Then, he handed it to you and he and Hailey sat down on the floor next to you as you emptied it.

"Oranges!" you exclaimed as you pulled out two of them. "Chocolate...and candy canes!" You pulled out two more things, too, a new hairbrush and socks, but you were more excited for the chocolate and candy canes. "Your turn!" you told Jay and Hailey.

Inside theirs were only oranges, candy canes, and chocolate. They had both agreed to spend the money on you and not on each other.

You opened your presents and you had gotten a stuffed animal Mickey Mouse from Jay and a pack of cards that were specifically for Go-Fish. They had different color fishies on them! You also got a new nightgown from him.

"What's that?" you asked as you pointed to an object in the corner under the Christmas tree that was covered by a bedsheet.

"That, is my present to you," Hailey told you.

"Can I open it?" you asked as you clasped your hands in front of you as if in prayer.

Hailey laughed. "Yes, you can."

As you had been asking Hailey, Jay was wondering where this gift came from. He knew Hailey had been in charge of your stocking, but he didn't think she had gotten you anything else...much less something so big that it couldn't be wrapped.

You tugged the sheet off and gasped when you saw what was under it.

"A rocking horse!"

Jay's eyes went wide. She wasn't even supposed to get you anything and here she was with a brand new rocking horse for you.

Hailey walked over to you. "There's even a pocket on the side of the saddle so that Emmy and Spot can ride with you," she told you as she pointed it out to you.

"Jay Jay! Can you help me get on?"

Jay smiled and walked up to you and picked you up. "One...two...three!" He set you down on the rocking horse, but not before he threw you up in the air once and then caught you and placed you on the rocking horse.

You started moving back and forth on the rocking horse and singing the lyrics to Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. Jay and Hailey just watched you while they drank their coffee, enjoying the morning and seeing you so excited.

"Where's your presents?" you asked after a few songs. "Santa didn't bring you any?"

"He only brings presents to good little children, pumpkin," Jay told you.

"But you were good, Jay Jay!" you argued.

"I know," he chuckled. "But I'm a grown-up, so is Hailey."

You scrunched up your nose. "I don't wanna be a grown-up. It doesn't sound fun." Then you remembered something. "What about the presents I helped you with?" You looked down at the red tree skirt. "They're right there!" you exclaimed as you pointed to the two gifts that were still waiting to be unwrapped. You pointed to one. "That once's for Jay Jay from me and Hailey!" You pointed to the last gift. "And that one's for Hailey from me and Jay Jay!"

Jay got up and grabbed both gifts. "After you," he told Hailey, his eyes twinkling because he knew what was inside.

She gently took the wrapping paper off and then smiled and looked up at him. "How did you know this was my favorite book?" She ran a hand over the cover of a brand new copy of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. More importantly, she wondered how he could afford all this. She knew that she had started paying him a little a few months ago as prices for products dropped, but she knew it wasn't a lot.

"I noticed it on your bedside table one night when I brought you a cup of tea. I just assumed it was your favorite because of how worn the pages were. I'm glad I guessed correctly," he said.

"Thank you. This is- I love it," Hailey said. Her mom had given her a copy of that book once she reached second grade and her mom had helped her read it. She always remembered those good memories when she read it, which was why she's always read if she couldn't make it to the library, even to this day. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." His fingers brushed her hand.

Hailey turned to you. "Did you help your brother pick this out?"

"Yeah! I went to the bookstore with him! It was so big!" you told her as you continued rocking back and forth on your rocking horse. Jay had no doubt that that would be your favorite toy.

Hailey passed Jay his gift. It wasn't hard like her's had been, it was sort of flimsy as well.

"I wonder what it could be..." he trailed off, thinking that you would tell him.

"It's--" you clamped your mouth shut as you remembered what Hailey had told you. "Hailey told me I can't tell you yet! You gotta open it!"

"Okay, okay, I'm opening it." Jay also gently took off the wrapping paper so that it could be saved for next year's Christmas.

Jay removed the paper and saw what was inside: between two pieces of cardboard were two shirts. They were both made out of the same blue and white striped fabric, but one was short-sleeved and the other was long-sleeved. He held the long-sleeved one up to get a better look at it.

"Wow, Hailey, these are amazing. Did you make these?" he asked.

"I did. Y/N helped me pick out the fabric. She said you liked blue," Hailey said.

"Well, she's right. I do like blue."

"And, we figured we'd give you a long-sleeved one that can be worn almost any time and then a short-sleeved one for the summer months."

"You both made great choices. Thank you so much." He looked up at you. "Thank you, too, pumpkin. Now, can you get down and give me a hug or do I need to help you down?"

"I can do it!" You slid down off the rocking horse and then ran to Jay, barrelling into his open arms.

"Arghh, my favorite girls. No better way to spend Christmas."

Your stomach rumbled.

"I should get started on breakfast," Hailey said and stood up.

"I'll help," Jay offered. He let go of you and set you on the couch and then handed you your hot chocolate. "Can you do something for me?" he asked you.

"What is it?" you asked after you had taken a sip of your hot chocolate, getting whipped cream all on your upper lip.

"Can you not get on the rocking horse and stay here and listen to the radio until me or Hailey get back?"

"Okay!" You paused. "Can you put me on there now? I promise I'll be good," you pleaded.

Jay agreed, but only because it was Christmas. "Now, me and Hailey will be in the kitchen if you need anything. Merry Christmas, pumpkin."

"Merry Christmas, Jay Jay."

Jay handed you your hot chocolate to take one last sip and then you handed it back to him. Then, Jay and Hailey made their way into the kitchen to start on the Christmas breakfast.

Hailey opened the icebox as Jay began grabbing some plates...the fancy China ones that Hailey said she'd only get out for holidays.

"So, I'm one of your favorite girls?" Hailey asked while she took the cinnamon roll dough, which she had made a few days ago and rolled up, out of the icebox and set them on the counter.

"I mean, you are, but if you're uncomfortable with that...you know, I think I just meant to say favorite girl to Y/N, but I made it plural and--"

"Jay," she cut him off. "You're one of my favorite boys."

"Only one of them, huh?" he joked. "Who else is there?"

"The firefighters," she answered nonchalantly. "They were the ones who helped me with the rocking horse."

"I was wondering who made that."

"I just told Hermann one night that I thought Y/N would like a rocking horse, and he offered to build it with help from some of the other firefighters. All it took was a night of free drinks for each of them who helped."

"How'd you get it inside? It wasn't there last night."

"Hermann and some of the other firefighters stopped over early this morning and dropped it off. I just threw the bedsheet over it."

"So that's why you had coffee and hot chocolate all made up. You had been awake."

"Exactly right."

Jay opened the oven door turned the dial, then moved out of the way to allow Hailey to put the cinnamon rolls in the oven.

"You don't have to help me, you know," Hailey pointed out when she closed the oven door. She had never met a man so keen on helping her in the kitchen or with daily household chores before she had met Jay.

"Hailey, you tell me this every day. I've been used to cooking and cleaning for the past two years since it was just me and Y/N. I'm not going to wake up one day and stop doing that. Besides, I'm helping you out. You shouldn't have to do everything around here."

Hailey nodded and smiled. God, was Jay sweet and very handsome, too! "Well, in that case, do you want to get started on the eggs while I whip up the icing for the cinnamon rolls?"

"Uh, I was wondering if maybe you'd make the eggs?" Jay asked.

Hailey shrugged. "Okay."

"It's not that I don't want to do it," Jay backtracked. "Y/N just told me she prefers your eggs over mine."

"I think I know why," Hailey laughed.

Jay's eyes twinkled with humor as he looked at her. "Is that so?"

"It is so. It's because you whisk the eggs in the pan and not in the bowl before."

"So she likes the whites mixed with the yolks, got it," Jay replied and reached into the cabinet and grabbed Hailey a bowl. "In that case, care to pass me the icing recipe?"

She passed him a piece of paper and they worked in comfortable silence, the only noises to be heard were the sounds of whisking and sizzling and the faint sounds of the Christmas carols coming from the radio in the living room.

Hailey began plating the eggs and placed them on the counter. "I'll pop them back in the oven to keep them warm once the cinnamon rolls are almost done."

"Good idea. I'll go check on Y/N. Icing's finished as well."

Hailey nodded and then began filling the sink with warm water to start washing some of the dishes.

"I'll be back to help you dry in a minute, don't you worry."

"You'd never miss that," she joked and Jay shook his head as he walked over to go check on you.

When he saw you, he held back a laugh. You were still on the rocking horse, but your head was leaning against the horse's head, the reins loose in your hand, as you quietly snoozed away to the Christmas carols.

He thought about waking you up but thought that Hailey would like to see how adorable you looked as well. So, he walked back to the kitchen.

"Back so soon?" Hailey asked. "Where's my little angel?"

"She's asleep on the rocking horse. Guess waking up early and all the excitement of the presents really tired her out. She's adorable."

Jay waved his hand, signaling for her to follow him and she did.

Hailey cooed at how cute you were as the two of the them stood in the open doorway to the sitting room.

"She really is the cutest little girl alive," Hailey said.

"I'd do anything for that kid," Jay said.

"You're a good brother, Jay. Raising her to have manners and know how to behave, you did really well with her."

"Thank you. I just tried to do what my mother did for me and Will." Since their time together, Jay had told Hailey stories about his childhood and his parents. These were mostly told downstairs in the speakeasy when Hailey had allowed Adam to go home and it was just the two of them cleaning up together.

"Well, she'd be proud of you."

She looked up at his green eyes, which were gazing at her gently. Then, she looked up at the doorway and laughed softly.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, it's nothing."

Jay looked up and spotted the mistletoe. They had hung it up there a week and a half ago when they had decorated for Christmas. But, they never really did the tradition of kissing under it; it was solely for decoration purposes.

"I don't think we can avoid it now since it's Christmas," Jay said. Hailey furrowed her eyebrows. "Hailey, we've been avoiding the tradition since we hung it up." He took a step toward her and grabbed her hand. "You're beautiful and I've never met anyone as kind-hearted and sweet as you and we're underneath the mistletoe." He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"That we are," Hailey agreed and smiled a toothy smile.

They looked into each other's eyes and all they saw was love and affection. So, Jay did what he wanted to do since they hung that piece of mistletoe: he leaned in and gave the most beautiful girl whom he had ever laid eyes on, a kiss and a Christmas kiss at that.

***

Winter had come and gone and spring was finally in the air. Jay and Hailey had finally admitted their feelings to each other and whenever they kissed, you always giggled...which caused Jay to pick you up and tickle you.

You were sitting in the garden with Hailey working on planting new flowers and vegetables, while Jay went inside to grab the three of you glasses of lemonade.

"Are these tomatoes, Mommy?" You asked as you picked up a package of seeds.

Hailey froze. Mommy. She most definitely wasn't your mommy.

"They are, baby. They'll be tomatoes once they get lots and lots of water and sun."

Jay was walking back at the same exact time you started to reply to Hailey. "Okay, Mommy! I can't wait to see them! I hope they're good."

"Hey, pumpkin," Jay said as he walked up to you and squatted down next to you. "You thirsty?" He sent Hailey a look that read that he had no idea what was going on with those names either. He held the glass of lemonade out to you.

"Thank you, Daddy!" you exclaimed as you took the glass of lemonade from him.

Jay's eyes widened and he looked at Hailey once more as you took big gulps of lemonade.

"Pumpkin, who are you calling Mommy and Daddy?" he asked gently, trying to word this as easy as possible so that you could understand it and so that it wouldn't upset you.

"You're Daddy and Hailey's Mommy!" you told him.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "I thought I was Jay Jay."

"You are. But you're Daddy, too," you told him.

"Pumpkin, me and Hailey love you so, so much, but we aren't your mommy and daddy. Mommy and Daddy died when you were little," Jay told you as he took the empty lemonade glass from you.

"I know that," you said as you started digging another hole for more seeds, not grasping how important this conversation actually was.

"Then why are you calling us that?" Hailey asked as she twirled one of your braids between her fingers.

"Because Annie told me all about her mommy and daddy and you and Jay Jay do the same things as them. So you're like my mommy and daddy." Annie was one of the neighbor girls you'd play with outside occasionally. Her dad also came to the speakeasy every Saturday night...but you obviously didn't know that. You didn't even know what a speakeasy was, let alone that there was a speakeasy in the basement of your house. You moved the dirt from the hole and to the side of you.

"Y/N, we love you so much, but you..." Hailey trailed off, not knowing how to tell you that you couldn't call her and Jay Mommy and Daddy.

"You can't call us Mommy and Daddy, pumpkin," Jay told you.

Your lip began to tremble. "Why not? You are my mommy and my daddy."

"Why do you want to call us that?" Jay asked as his heart broke when he saw the tears forming in your eyes.

"Be- because you do Daddy things like pick me up and spin me around. And wake me up and tuck me in and let me sleep in your bed when I'm- when I'm scared."

"And Hailey?"

"She does Mommy things like tuck me in and wake me up, too. She helps me with my hair and you guys always give me bedtime kisses and stories."

Jay looked at Hailey. He really didn't know how to tell you that you couldn't call them that.

"Is there anything else, Y/N?" Hailey asked, looking directly at you as she started to rub your back to hopefully stop you from crying.

"I don't 'member Mommy and Daddy!" you cried and hurled yourself into Jay's arms. "I don't 'member them and I want a mommy and daddy!"

"Oh, pumpkin," Jay said. He never really thought about the fact that you wouldn't really remember your mom and dad and how you might call him that because that's what he seemed like to you. He knew you'd have questions, but he didn't think you'd try and call him and Hailey those titles. "You do have a mommy and daddy. They're just in heaven, remember?"

"But I don't 'member them!" you cried again.

"I know, I know. Would it help if I show you pictures of them?" Jay asked.

"You have pictures of 'em?" you asked, removing your head from Jay's chest.

You had only seen a few pictures of them that Jay had in his room in frames and those were the ones that used to be in your old apartment, too.

"I do. What do you say we all go inside and look at them?" Jay asked.

"Okay."

He helped Hailey to her feet and then placed you on his hip and the three of you made your way inside.

You stayed with Hailey on the couch in the sitting room while Jay went upstairs to grab a box of old pictures.

"This is our mommy and this is our daddy," Jay said as he pointed out the people in the picture when he sat down a few minutes later. "See, you have a mommy and daddy. You just can't see them right now."

"When can I see them?" you asked.

"Not for a long time until you go up in the sky to heaven," he told you.

"Like all the old people?"

Hailey laughed. "Yes, like all the old people," Jay answered.

He pulled out another picture. "There's Mommy, there's Daddy, there's Will, and there's me," he told you as he pointed to the people in the picture.

"Where am I?" you asked as your fingers brushed the black and white photograph.

"You are right here." He pointed to your mommy's belly.

"But that's mommy's tummy, Jay Jay. I'm not there!"

"Yes, you are. You had to grow big and strong and then one day you just came here," he explained.

You placed your hand on Jay's belly. "Where's your baby, Jay Jay?"

Hailey held back laughter while Jay placed his big hand on top of your small one. "I can't have babies."

You cocked your head to the side. "Why not?"

"Because..." he trailed off, looking to Hailey for support.

"Y/N," she began. "That's a talk for when you're bigger." She grabbed a deck of cards from the table in front of you. "Do you want to play Go-Fish? I'll even get you some more lemonade."

That piqued your interest. "Yes, please!"

You slid off the couch and Jay breathed a huge sigh of relief. He had no idea what he'd do without Hailey Ann Upton.

***

"Wow," Jay mused as he looked at the morning newspaper while he and Hailey were sipping their morning coffee.

"What? Shocked that Y/N's still sleeping? Maybe she fell asleep late because she was so excited to go to the fair today," Hailey said.

"No, no," Jay said. "It's not that, even though I am shocked that she's still sleeping when it's eight o'clock already. But, no, they're thinking about ending prohibition."

"What?" Hailey gasped.

"Right here." Jay passed the newspaper to Hailey and pointed to the heading which is what told them that the US only needed one more state to ratify the 21st amendment, which at this point looked like it would be Utah.

Hailey skimmed the article. "Wow. You're right. I mean, I think we kind of knew this was coming, but I didn't think it would actually happen."

"Me neither. Do you know what you're going to do if it does become legal?"

"I mean, I've obviously thought about it, but not all the way if you know what I mean. I kind of wondered about it, but I never made a plan." Hailey tried her best to explain how she had been thinking.

"Do you want to stay in Chicago?" Jay asked.

"I don't know. I love the city, but I'd also like to have the country air. Give Y/N a big yard to run around in instead of the small one we have now."

"Jay Jay! Hailey!" you exclaimed as you ran into the kitchen.

"Speak of the devil," Jay laughed. "We'll talk more about it later." He turned to you as you pulled yourself up on a kitchen chair. "You excited for the fair, pumpkin?"

"Yeah!" you exclaimed. "I can't wait to see all the animals!"

"Which ones do you want to see the most?" Hailey asked.

"The piggies!"

"The piggies, huh?" Jay asked. "Why are they your favorite?"

"They're pink and they're fat and they're cute!"

"Pink, fat, and cute," Hailey repeated. "Great description of pigs. How about me and Jay Jay get started on breakfast and then we can get going. How does that sound?"

"Yay! Piggies!"

Jay laughed and got up to help Hailey with breakfast while you were practically vibrating in your seat with the excitement at the thought of seeing all the animals at the fair.

***

"Piggies!" you exclaimed as you saw them in their pen and tugged on Jay's hand to make him walk faster. "C'mon, Jay Jay!"

Jay laughed. "They'll still be there in a few minutes when we get there."

"There's chickens, too!" Hailey told you. "Maybe you'll see some babies, do you remember what those are called from the book we read about animals at the library?"

"Chicks!"

"Great job!" Hailey praised.

By now you had made your way to the pen and tugged Jay's hand when you walked into it.

"Piggy!" you exclaimed as you ran up to one.

"What sound does a pig make, Y/N?" Jay asked as he crouched down next to you to make sure you didn't put your hands near the pig's mouth.

"Oink oink! Mr. Piggy says oink oink!" you said, quoting the book you and Hailey read the other day.

"She must've really liked that book," Hailey said.

"Obviously," Jay agreed as you kept petting the pig. The pig made its snorty oink oink sound which caused you to pull your hand away and giggle loudly.

"Can we get a piggy, Jay Jay?" you asked.

"Not while we're in Chicago, Y/N," Jay told you.

"So if we go out of Chicago, we get one?" you asked hopefully.

"Maybe, pumpkin, maybe."

***

"So, what are you thinking?" Jay asked a few days later when it was he, Adam, Hailey, Hermann, and a few others in the speakeasy late at night.

"I don't know," Hailey said. "But, you saw how Y/N looked with those farm animals and how she loved petting all of them."

"So, you want to move out of Chicago?" Jay asked.

"I don't know, but it sounds like you've thought a lot about it. Care to enlighten me?"

"Oregon, Wisconsin, New York. Those are all options," Jay shrugged.

"I thought we were getting out of the city and not going into another one," Hailey joked. "So why New York?"

"Upstate New York, where there'd be all the forests and wilderness. Obviously, we wouldn't be living out in the middle of nowhere. I don't think either of us would enjoy that."

"No, not in the slightest," Hailey agreed.

Hermann walked up to them. "So, if you two leave with the kid, what's gonna happen to this place?" he asked.

"Didn't your mother ever teach that listening to others' conversations is actually quite rude?" Jay asked.

"Well, sorry. But all us firefighters will have to find a new place to blow off some steam," Hermann replied.

"We'll only be leaving if prohibition actually ends," Hailey explains. "Still waiting on one more state to ratify the amendment."

"So, if it does end, what are you thinking?" Hermann asked.

"Alright, spit it out already," Jay joked. "What are you thinking, Hermann?"

"Well, I'm thinking about retiring soon and if it ends, I'd love to have a business endeavor to throw myself into. If I don't have anything to work on, the missus will not be happy with me."

"So, what are you saying?" Jay asked.

"Hailey Upton, if prohibition ends and you and Jay decide to leave, would you allow me to buy this place and turn it into the most booming bar in all of Chicago?"

"I--"

"Excuse me?" A man asked rudely as he leaned over the bar. "I've been waiting on another drink for minutes now!"

"Sir," Hailey began, "I can only give you so much because we need you to be sober enough when you walk outside to leave."

"I'm paying for this! You can't tell me how much I can and can't drink!"

"Sir--"

"Make me my damn drink, bitch!"

He reached out a hand to grab Hailey's wrist, but she jumped back so she was out of his reach.

"Reach over that bar one more time and I will lay you out where you stand," Jay told him sternly.

"I highly doubt that," he scoffed and went to reach over the bar again.

But, Jay was too fast and landed a solid punch to the man's jaw.

"Son of bitch," he muttered as he grabbed his jaw.

"Believe me now?" Jay asked smugly. Then, he turned to Adam. "Care to take care of this?"

"Yeah, I got it." Then, he turned to the man who was still grabbing and massaging his jaw. "You need to go take a seat, buddy, while I get you some ice. Because, hate to break it to you, but we're not letting you leave for at least another hour."

The man groaned but reluctantly went to take a seat while Adam got him some ice...mostly because he didn't want another punch to the jaw from Jay.

Jay walked behind the bar. "Are you okay?" he asked Hailey.

"I'm fine. He didn't even touch me," she replied.

"Still," Jay said. "I'd really prefer if you went upstairs and went to sleep. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Jay, I'm--"

"Hailey," Hermann cut her off. "I can make the drinks. You just go upstairs and get some rest."

"Hermann, I can't pay you for this. And, do you even know how to make all the drinks?" Hailey asked.

"I'm fine with not being paid, Hailey. I just want to help you out and make sure you're safe, just like Jay here. And, I've been here enough and seen you make the drinks that I'm pretty sure I can handle it."

"Okay," Hailey relented.

"I'll walk you upstairs," Jay offered. "Can you two handle it if I'm gone for a few minutes?" Jay asked Adam and Hermann.

The two said they were fine and Jay and Hailey went upstairs.

"If prohibition ends," Hailey began when Jay and Hailey were almost to her bedroom, "I think we should take Hermann up on his offer."

"Hailey, that's a big decision. Are you sure you don't want to think about it?" Jay asked as he grabbed her hand.

"Tonight opened my eyes. Late nights, the possibility of being in situations I don't want to be in. If we have kids, I'm going to need to be there with them."

"Hailey, I'd love to have kids with you. But, I'm lost. What does this have to do with selling the speakeasy to Hermann?"

"If we have kids, I want us to be there for them at night when they have nightmares, not one of us going upstairs every fifteen minutes to check on them like we do with Y/N. And, if it's all legal, we'll have more rowdy customers. I don't want either of us to get hurt and I also don't want one of the kids to walk downstairs, if we have kids, and see angry customers," Hailey explained.

"I understand that. It's your decision, though. You own the speakeasy. It's your decision. I'll be with you on whatever you decide to do."

"Jay, I love you so much and I never want to be without you. And if you want to move, I'm going with you. I'm going where you go."

"I love you, too. And, you're gonna have to put up with me for a long time because I'm not leaving you."

***

"We've got everything, right?" Jay asked as he and Hailey looked on to the house. Jay held suitcases in his hand and so did Hailey. You held Spot and Emmy close to you.

"You sure about this?" Hermann asked. "You still have an hour before the train comes to back out."

"We're sure, Christopher," Hailey confirmed. "Everything is ready for us in New York."

"My brother had a lot to do with that," Jay supplied.

Prohibition had officially ended a month ago and when Jay had told Will over a quick phone call what was going on, he was shocked, to say the least. But, he agreed to try and find a place for them in upstate New York. So, he took Natalie and his three kids on a day trip there where they looked at some houses and went through the shops and got ice cream. Then, Will told Jay he had found the perfect place. So, Jay and Hailey sent him the money and Will bought the house for them.

"Bar have a--" Jay was quickly cut of by you asking a question.

"What was Mommy's name?" you asked.

"It was Molly," Jay answered. "But, we don't interrupt, okay?"

"Sorry. But, Hailey told me she'd get me another dolly when we get to New York and now I'm gonna name her Molly."

"That's great, pumpkin, really great. Anyway," he started, turning his attention back to Hermann, "Bar have a name yet?"

"You know, I think Molly's would be a good name," he answered.

You gasped. "You're gonna name the restaurant after my mommy? Did you hear that, Jay Jay?"

"I did. Hermann, you can't. It's your bar."

"I know. But, if your mom didn't have you, then you wouldn't have fallen in love with Hailey, and I wouldn't be getting the most important thing to me: the bar," he told him.

"I'm telling Cindy you said that," Hailey joked.

"You wouldn't do that. You're too nice for that, Hailey."

"So, it's Molly's?" Hailey asked.

"The bar's Molly's."

"Well, take good care of it. I didn't run it illegally for years just to have it be destroyed by a regular."

"Don't you worry. And, if all else fails, at least the firefighters will come to it."

***

"This is our house?" you asked excitedly when Will picked the three of you up from the train station. Apparently, he and Natalie made enough money to feed them and their three children and still have enough money to afford a car.

"It is, pumpkin. And look over there." Jay pointed outside the car to a pen...well two pens and a chicken coop.

"Piggies!" you exclaimed. You gasped. "We get to keep them?"

"We do," Jay confirmed.

"There's even a horse that you can ride," Hailey told you.

"Like my rocking horse?"

"Just like that. But you can feed him and brush him. And we have hens, too. Those are the girl chickens."

"They lay the eggs?"

"That's right," Will said. "You sure know a lot about animals, pumpkin. Are you gonna be a veterinarian when you get bigger?"

"What's that?" you asked as you furrowed your eyebrows.

"So, I'm a doctor for people, but you'd be a doctor for animals."

You gasped. "Yay! I wanna be a betternanian!"

Everyone laughed at your pronunciation of the word veterinarian, but you were too excited to realize you had said it wrong and to even care.

As Jay grabbed a few things out of the car and made his way to the house, he reminisced on how he got here. If he hadn't had his route changed as a milkman, if he wouldn't have gotten fired and gotten an eviction notice, then he wouldn't have met the love of his life, Miss Hailey Anne Upton...even though he hoped he'd be able to change her title to Mrs. Hailey Anne Halstead in the next few months. And, even though he had to go look for a job tomorrow, he had a home with you and Hailey, you were happy with all the animals, and he was closer to the rest of his family in Will, Natalie, and his nephews and niece, and that was all that mattered.

A/N I hope you liked the first AU of AU-gust! I think the next one I will be writing will be a high school AU. If you have any ideas for AUs, feel free to comment or send me an ask!  As always, thank you for reading! Don't forget to reblog/like and comment as notifications always make my day! And, if you like my writing, you can support me at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Kayela It's only a dollar and it's through Paypal and any currency can be used, no subscription required! (I write these fics for free, so I figured I'd try this out!) Finally, if you want to be added to my taglist, just comment and I’ll add you!

taglist: @theambracer88 @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl @dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox @onechicago18 @iamasimpingh0e @i-like-sparkly-things @herecomesthewriterwitch @liampayne88

#jay halstead #jay halstead imagine #will halstead #will halstead imagine #chicago pd #chicago med #imagine #fanfic #upstead #fanfiction #jay halstead fanfic #will halstead fanfic #jay halstead fanfiction #will halstead fanfiction #upstead imagine #upstead fanfic #upstead fanfiction #halstead sister #halstead sister imagine #halstead brothers #halstead bros #au-gust #au #great depression au #writer #writing #my writing

[bokutosworld]

a wish come true | oikawa t. 

pairing: oikawa tooru x f!reader

wc: 1.6k words, fluff. domestic husband and wife relationship with my fave pretty setter <3 

summary: Oikawa loves Christmas. And what better way to celebrate his favorite season than with his avorite person in the world? 

this is part of the winter wonderland collab! masterlist here

Oikawa honestly believes that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. Ever since he was young, he has looked forward to waking up to snowy mornings and the sounds of Christmas carols playing in the house.

The holidays made him feel happy, warm, and blessed. More so now that he will be spending his first Christmas married to you.

Always the first one to wake up, Oikawa opened his eyes with a content smile on his face. A glance to the window on his right side and he sees the tiny snowflakes falling down, he can already imagine how they have painted the streets in white.

His eyes then land on the picture frame sitting on the bedside table. Stretching a hand to grab it, he admires the joyous moment where he has you engulfed in his arms, the two of you looking at each other with so much affection. It's like he traveled back in time as his body remembers the overwhelming feeling of joy from your wedding day. He recalls how he teared up seeing you walk down the aisle, smiling from ear to ear and looking gorgeous in your dress. He thought that you were an angel that descended from the heavens. Most of all, he still feels emotional, his heart beating twice as fast when he thinks back to the first kiss the two of you shared as husband and wife. It was a gesture that sealed a promise of a lifetime, the beginning of forever with the one and only person that completes his life.

He returns the photo in its place when he hears the rustling of the blanket and quiet groans as you slowly come awake. Oikawa shifts and admires your sleeping face, bringing a finger to gently trace the outline of your features starting from your eyebrows to the bridge of your nose and hovering over the shape of your lips.

You murmur softly, opening one eye to look at him. It never failed to make you warm when you are greeted with Oikawa's smile first thing in the morning. Groggily, you cup his face and tenderly stroke his cheek, "Good morning, love."

"Merry Christmas." He hums and leans closer, showering you with morning kisses. He has you trapped in his embrace as he continues to pepper you with love, and just like that the first few minutes of the Christmas Day are spent tangled in the sheets and enjoying each other's warmth.

While this was your first Christmas as a married couple, Oikawa didn't have that much expectations as how the day would go by. As long as he had you by his side, any activity became extra special - whether it's watching classic holiday movies, making a snowman on the park, or sipping on hot chocolates by the fireplace together. But there is one thing that he would like to make as a tradition for the Christmases to come.

"A Christmas market?" You ask when he shows you the event poster on his phone. Oikawa enthusiastically proposed the idea of heading down to the city and spend the evening in the annual Christmas market. Back when you were still dating, weekend bazaars and community fairs were events that you and Oikawa enjoyed. While these places were often crowded, the two of you managed to have fun and act lovey-dovey in your own little world, much to the envy of the people around you.

"I heard there will be a string quartet that will be performing later this evening," he suggested. "There's also an illuminations show near the square where a massive tree is located. And of course, our favorite food booths and vendors will be there." He takes your hand and looks at you expectantly, "What do you say?"

With the way Oikawa presented the idea, he seemed like a child talking about what he wants  for Christmas. And how could you say no to that?

Which is how you and Oikawa currently found yourselves decked in your coats and matching red and green scarves, hand in hand and standing in front of the brightly-illuminated arch that served as the entrance to the market. From your position, you can see the park bursting with life as many people came to enjoy with their loved ones. You can already see the different booths that were lined up in the path and Oikawa excitedly tugged you to the first stall that was selling gingerbread cookies in a box. 

"Love, can we take a 10 minute rest? I'm tired." You begged after spending the last 30 minutes upon your arrival, walking around and going from one booth to another to either play parlor games or stuff your stomachs with whatever food and snack you find. Of course, Oikawa didn't pass up on buying the Christmas gifts that he thought he could give to his former teammates.

Sensing your exhaustion, Oikawa relented and brought you to the nearest bench. As you sat down, he put the shopping bags by your side and bent down. He slid off one of your shoes and massaged the heels that were starting to hurt. Oikawa looked up at you inquisitively, "Is this helping? Am I doing this right?"

You chuckle, "Very much so. Thanks." He continued his ministrations for a few minutes, the joyful sound of Christmas carols filling the silence between the two of you. When he's done, he takes the space beside you and instinctively, you lean your head on his shoulders.

However, the quiet atmosphere didn't last for long as it was replaced by the loud wailing of a child who sat alone near your bench. Worried, you both stood up from your place and accompanied the little girl.

"Ssh, hey, princess, stop crying." Oikawa consoled her, gently patting the kid on the head as she continued to sob. Her frail body was shaking and you quickly brought her to your chest and embraced her,

"Where are your parents, sweetheart?"

Her answer came in a hushed tone, "I lost them. I let go of my mommy's hand. I'm scared." She was really terrified with the way her tiny hand gripped the lining of your coat. You glanced at Oikawa and he was also close to crying, his lips quivering as he was trying to stop the tears from flowing down his eyes.

Wiping away her cries, you comforted her, "Alright, don't worry. We're here for you, okay, sweetheart? Let's go find your parents. I'm sure they are looking for you right now."

You get up and offer your hand to the girl, but she surprised you when she clung on to Oikawa, hiding her face in his coat. His heart warmed at the action so he carried her in his arms all the way until she was reunited with her mom and dad.

Luckily, the search wasn't as difficult as you thought it would be. When you arrived at the customer service, a couple was already standing in wait. Their eyes widened when they saw you and Oikawa walking over with their daughter, and they couldn't be more thankful for keeping their little girl safe and returning her to their side.

Now, you and Oikawa were taking a stroll along the sidewalk, the cold evening breeze fanning over your faces and the lights decorated on the trees guiding the path. Oikawa's mind seemed to be somewhere distant as he simply looked straight ahead. You remember how he reassured the child when she hugged him tightly, and you thought that Oikawa would be a great father someday.

Oikawa suddenly stops in his tracks, turning to you with a look as if he has realized something. "Have I told you that I love you lately?"

So this was what he was thinking so seriously about. You smiled, "I don't know. You could always tell me again."

He nods and pulls you close to him, burying his face in your neck. He exhales your familiar and comforting scent, and it's like a fog clears in his head. "I'm so lucky to have you. You're everything that I have been wishing for and more."

"You're my dream come true," he murmurs. You were too stunned to say anything in response to his surprise confession. It's not like he hasn't openly declared his love for you before, but when he has outbursts like this, you were always bound to be speechless. Laughing awkwardly, you ask about what brought this on.

"I don't know," he sighs. "I just got too attached with the little girl earlier and I thought about how her parents might be feeling when she got separated from them. I realized I don't ever want to lose you." He stares at your eyes, hopeful as he says, "Or our future kid."

You blinked at his statement, mouth agape in shock as you thought about what he was implying. The gears were running in your head and when they finally clicked, that's when you found the courage to speak. "Are you saying-?

He lifts your hand and kisses it, "I know it’s too soon. We just got married seven months ago. But, I already want to start a family with you."

And as if on cue, you started tearing up uncontrollably. Probably out of happiness. Or maybe it was the raging hormones that you felt as you thought back to a morning two weeks ago, when you were sitting in the toilet and waiting for the results of your pregnancy test - two lines. Positive.

And here you were now, you couldn't think of a better time to share the good news with Oikawa. You were smiling through your tears as you looked at Oikawa, bringing his face close to yours as you whispered, "Looks like your wish came true earlier than expected."

His initial reaction was confusion, replaced by shock, then happiness as he unraveled the meaning of your words. He tackles you in an embrace, lifting and twirling you around as the snowflakes danced in the air. He already can't wait for next Christmas where there will be the three of you celebrating.

FIN. taglist - @aii-channn​ @peteunderoos​ @jungtoast​ @nekoclysm​ @our-tall-slytherin-queen​ @isabella5 @slippinglasses​ @yhyucklee @rowley-with-ackerman​ @lilacnoodles @ineedsomefoodpls​ (can’t tag those in italics!)

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu imagines #oikawa x reader #haikyuu fluff #haikyuucreations #haikyuu fics #haikyuu x you #haikyuu one shot #oikawa tooru x reader #oikawa fluff #haikyuu oikawa #hq x reader #hq x you #haikyuu!!

[aaronhotchnersquarterzip]

Meeting You Flipped the World Upside Down - Or Maybe Just Mine

This is it guys, I’m really proud in general of myself for finishing this and I hope you all enjoyed it as well. When I started this fic I honestly planned for a major character death or something dramatic like that. Never in my wildest dreams did I see this ending. I’m not mad though, I’ve had a rough time lately and this really summed up a lot of my feelings. There are people who will never truly leave your life and that's okay. You just shouldn’t let the thought of them hold you back. This has been my favorite thing to write ever and I want to thank everyone who has supported this and made me feel so good about my writing. I did leave this open ended if I ever did want to continue it but I think I want to write something a bit lighter next. I really hope you all enjoyed this as much as I have and remember to stay safe and drink some water today - Mya

Summary: Reader has been a rut, stuck in a never ending cycle of college worries and job interviews. Never did she think that SSA Aaron Hotchner, or Agent as she likes to call him, would walk into her favorite late night diner and flip her world upside down. And he for sure didn’t expect to fall in love so quickly with the soon to be college grad. They navigate finding love and working together to rediscover what that means for each of them.

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner X Female Reader

Word Count: 1.4k

Epilogue

Aaron Hotchner did flip your world upside down. Maybe just not in the way you expected. But in the way you needed. You watched your children chase their father around the backyard. It was nearly below freezing but they were going strong. You made hot chocolate for their impending arrival inside. In the meantime you curled up on the couch with a warm blanket and watched the fire burn. The Christmas tree was lit nicely in the corner of the living room, an abundance of presents spilling out. 

You pulled out your phone and scrolled through some old pictures. Baby pictures of your three children. Your wedding, it was a fall wedding. More than you could have ever dreamed of. You also looked at your college graduation pictures. Emily, JJ, and Penelope had surprised you and showed up to commencement. Screaming when you walked across the stage. You should call them soon. Finally, you found the picture you were looking for, you and Aaron at one of Dave’s dinners. It was a candid that Morgan took when you weren’t paying attention. Aaron has his arm around you while you’re talking to JJ about god knows what. It’s your favorite picture, beyond a shadow of a doubt. He looked at you like you were the only person in the room, you chose to remember nights that those. He changed you for the better, it was only fair you acknowledged that. 

Your thoughts were interrupted when your husband and kids ran inside from the cold. 

“There’s hot chocolate on the stove waiting for you monsters!” You yelled to them as they rushed to change into warmer clothes. 

When they had all settled and had their mugs of hot chocolate, your husband joined you on the couch. Soon followed by your children, two girls and one boy. They quickly turned on a pixar movie and snuggled up to you underneath several blankets. There was nothing you would change about your life. This was exactly where you were meant to be. 

By the time the credits rolled to Monsters University all three of them had fallen asleep. You carefully tucked in your youngest daughter, Greer. She was about to turn 2 in the spring. Your surprise baby. You couldn’t have been happier when you found out. Sure the stress of raising three kids got to you sometimes but they reminded you of all the good in the world. 

Next was Cheyenne, named after where you met your husband, Noah. You were travelling around the west and made a pit stop in Cheyenne and met the man you were meant to spend forever with. You couldn’t think of a better name for your first daughter, Noah couldn’t have agreed more. She embodied everything good about your husband, his compassion for sure. She was smarter than you by a long shot at just 8 years old. 

Finally you came to your oldests room. He had been a welcome surprise just a few months after your wedding. Your not so little boy mirrored you in a way you never thought possible. It scared you at first, everything about being a parent is scary sure, but nobody prepares you for raising your twin. He had your hair and eyes, Noah’s nose, but everything about him was you. His ambition never failed to wow you, he pushed himself to lengths you truly couldn’t believe sometimes. He however, did inherit some of your bad genes though. Sometimes he didn’t know when to stop, when to slow down and enjoy the present. You got better at that with age, you want him to achieve everything he puts his mind to but you need him to see when it’s happening. Not when it’s happened. 

You reached down and pushed some of his hair from his face so you could kiss his forehead. 

“Goodnight my sweet boy,” you whispered and he snuggled further into his blankets. You smiled softly and walked out quietly. He was already 12, sometimes you couldn't believe that you made it this far. You grew as you moved farther away, you knew that your life belonged out here. Sometimes it’s hard to trust fate but how could you justify meeting Noah and creating your dream life in your new favorite spot in America without believing at least a little bit in fate. 

You softly closed your little boy's door and ran your hand over the nameplate crested in the center of the door, Aaron, written in hues of blue. 

As you cuddled with your husband while he slowly fell asleep, you reached for your phone and scrolled through an album made just for you and Aaron. Noah may be your future, but Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner was the love of your life and you forever had a part of him. 

You pulled up his contact for the first time in 18 years and sent him the photo from that dinner at Dave’s a lifetime ago. You wrote a short message, 

I forgive you Agent - Y/N

The last thing you expected was a response, especially so quickly. It was a picture that you had posted on social media a few weeks prior, celebrating your 13th wedding anniversary. 

I’m happy you found better. What are their names? - Agent

My youngest is Greer, then Cheyenne. - Y/N

You wait a few minutes to respond, you know he read the message prior.

He’s named after the love of my life Aaron - Y/N

He called you then. You moved quickly and quietly from your bed and down into your living room. Answering before the line went dead. 

“You were the love of my life too Y/N. I just didn’t know it.”

There you sat, where just hours ago you were wrapped in blankets with your family, you were now transported to your life with Aaron. Staring into the fire with tears in your eyes. 

“It wouldn’t have mattered, Aaron, sometimes finding the love of your life doesn't mean spending the rest of your life with them. It means loving them for the rest of your life, even if that means watching them love someone else.” 

You could hear him sigh on the other end of the line, “I never stopped loving you. I won’t ever stop loving you Y/N.” 

“I will always love you too Aaron. I think I’m happier now than I ever was with you though. JJ told me you got remarried Agent. Congratulations. I’m sure she's perfect for you.”

“Yeah, pretty much. Her name is Beth, Jack loves her too.”

“I miss him. I’m happy he has someone again. You deserve to be happy Aaron. I forgave you days after. Hell hours even. But I knew that we both needed someone who understood us better. We both deserved that.” 

Just then you heard a door creak and the sound of feet pattering towards you, “mama,” Aaron’s voice squeaked out. 

“Right here, baby. What's wrong?”

“I heard you talking and wanted to talk with you too.” You laughed a little before putting your phone on speaker and introducing your son to Aaron. 

“Well alright, but I think you might need to know his name before you talk to him.” Aaron caught your drift, introducing himself through the phone. 

“Hi Aaron, I’ve heard all about you. My name is Aaron too and there is nothing I want more than to talk to you.”

Your little boy perked up at the idea that this man had the same name as him, Aaron was a good sport and talked to him for about 20 minutes before your boy was yawning between every word. 

“Say goodnight to Aaron buddy,” he murmured out a small goodnight and was helped back into bed. 

“He reminds me of you, I’m sure you know that already.”

“Everyone calls him my clone. Maybe it’s wishful thinking but sometimes I look into his eyes and swear I see you looking back at me Aaron. He’s how I imagined our children would turn out. Perfect in every single way.”

“Your husband is very lucky to have you Y/N. I’ll envy him until the end of time.”

You sensed this was the end of the conversation, you subconsciously wanted to never stop talking to him. That part of you that would always yearn for his comfort when you were breaking down in the bathroom or when you were so over the moon about something at work. You wanted to share those moments with him first. I guess some part of you always would. 

“I love you Aaron.”

“I love you too Y/N, goodnight”

“Goodnight Agent.”

#epilouge #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner fanfic #aaron hotchner fanfiction #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotch x reader #hotch #hotch fanfiction #hotch x reader

[gifted-burnout-archive]

Driving Home For Christmas

Word Count: 3.8K+

Author’s Note: we’re back bitches, and with new stories every day until the 25th!! and we had to start with our favourite star herself, julie molina, because of course! i loved writing this, we love brother alex, we love having last names for the fucking characters!!!

Pairings: julie x reader - brother!alex mercer x reader - willie x alex

Warnings: fluffiness!!

--

The Mercer children hated spending their Christmas holidays in Aspen. In fact, there wasn’t anything the siblings hated more.

The luxurious ski resort cabin certainly had charms: the hot tub on the porch, the on demand hot chocolate, the fast passes to get on the slopes ahead of the general public, and that was all before you got to the world renowned chef, Portia, that was on-call twenty four hours of the day, seven days a week, able to make whatever their hearts desired. Anyone else might have thought the resort, covered in snow and holiday decorations, like a scene from one of those Hallmark Christmas movies that are always just on in December, was the perfect winter wonderland, and the sort of place anyone would die to spend the end of their year.

But Alex and Y/N Mercer didn’t hate Aspen; they hated their passively-homophobic parents and extended family that always showed up to ruin the festive cheer. Whether it was by berating the heir to the family fortune about his boyfriend back home in California; or their consistent pestering of Alex’s younger sister Y/N about when the girl would find herself a decent, upstanding boyfriend, like she hadn’t spent her entire childhood until the last year stuck in an array of all girls’ boarding schools across the great United States.

With the pros of the cabin weighed out by the con of their family, it came to be that on Christmas Eve the brother and sister sat amongst the slow-moving traffic on some interstate between the Colorado ski lodge and home, in sunny California, already ten hours into their drive.

“I still can’t believe… Dad is going to kill us, you know?” Alex said, swaying along to the song playing softly from the beaten up car’s stereo, his knees pulls up to his chest thanks to the bags that sat in the footwell. The car was overflowing, a mixture of luggage and gifts for those waiting on the other side of the sunshine state’s border.

Whatever snow adorned the old red car roof had been melted away the closer they got to the coast, the driver more and more grateful with every slow passing mile that she had saved up to buy her own mode of transportation. She hadn’t followed in her older brother’s footsteps of taking dad up on the offer of a car: the high-tech monstrosity Alex drove around Los Angeles was the sort of car that would be shut down remotely if stolen: Y/N’s car could barely get a radio signal.

“Dad will kill me; he needs you to complete some masterplan. Wanna theorise about what private institution he’ll send me to next?” Y/N asked with a smile to her older brother, the pair sharing a laugh in the glow of red brake lights.

Their relationship had always been easy: Alex was his little sister’s best friend, and he hers. Whether that was because money led to lonely children, or because they genuinely enjoyed each other’s company beyond their sibling obligations, the pair didn’t bother to find out. They were close, and that was what mattered to them.

“He’s running out of them now, you know. How many was it before you convinced him Los Felix was the answer to all your problems?” Alex asked with a raised eyebrow and smirk, leaning an elbow on the central divider of the tiny car, avoiding the sharp edge of a ski blade to tease his sister with a knowing look. “Was it seventeen or-”

“Twenty-four… I made a point to average it out to one every four months or so. Keeps mom and dad on their toes, makes the disappointment even more apparent when I show up on the doorstep again.” Y/N cut in, correcting her brother, the blonde boy taking her free hand and squeezing it.

“At least we keep disappointing them together…” He offered as words of solace, their hands breaking apart upon the movement of traffic, red lights dimming as the cars began rolling forward at a steady pace. “Thank you, Smalls… For this whole thing.” The nickname he used so often rang in Y/N’s ears and made her smile.

Her brother meant the words, she knew it: he had pleaded with their parents before they left to stay in California, with Reggie or Julie or Luke, but the mention of his bandmates had ended the conversation and turned it into their dad reprimanding Alex for his ‘fanciful’ mindset. The drummer never stood a chance against the united front that was their parents: they knew he wanted to stay for Willie, of course he did: the two had been planning their Christmas vacation together since Halloween, dates to the ice rink at Santa Monica Mall, to the university for lectures, to the movies to catch old Christmas movies on the silver screen. Half the reason their parents had forced Aspen onto the kids once again was because Alex had found his person, and Willie found Alex, and Mr and Mrs Mercer would do a fair amount to convince the general public, themselves, and Alex that he wasn’t gay.

The other half was because Y/N was pretty sure she had found her person too.

“Don’t sweat it, Alex.” She shrugged, moving up a gear as the traffic finally began to move towards an expected speed for the freeway. “Hearing mom and dad shout at us once they sober up enough to realise we’re gone? Priceless.” She let a regular smirk rest on her lips, indicating to take the upcoming turnoff, hopeful she might hit easy driving instead of the stop and start. The sun was setting before them, the sky painted shades of yellow and orange and pink and purple into the deep blue of the encroaching night, despite the time on her car dashboard only reading 16:42. It would be gone within the next few minutes, and the driver switched on her headlights in response.

“Alexander Washington Mercer! How dare you defy me in such a way: you know better than to follow your little sister so blindly!” Alex yelled into the cramped space, impersonating their father with the gruff voice the man in question used, like he constantly had a cough in his throat he couldn’t dislodge.

“Y/N Y/M/N Mercer! I expected better from a young lady of your fine standing! How are we meant to find you a good husband if you run off with your brother like you haven’t a care in the world?” IT was Y/N’s turn to impersonate a parent: the shrill shriek of their mother, Y/N raising a hand a messing with the locket around her neck the same way their mother fiddled with her pearls when she was distressed. The two shared a look through their chuckles.

“It’s just a phase!” They said in chorus, the line their parents most often used in arguments against either of the pair. The laughter died away with the words, both letting out a soft, melancholic sighs, and falling into a comfortable silence. They were just skirting the outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, with at least another six hours of driving left by the state of the road, Y/N joining the back of another queue of cars all headed somewhere.

“Driving home for Christmas. Oh, I can't wait to see those faces, I'm driving home for Christmas, yea. Well I'm moving down that line. And it's been so long, but I will be there. I sing this song to pass the time away. Driving in my car, driving home for Christmas…” Alex turned the volume dial, letting the song play out, beginning to sway along to the radio once again, humming a harmony line over Chris Rea’s raspy lyrics.

Y/N always like that: that her big brother was so musical. She had spent so long away form him, at every other boarding school in the country, she forgot how talented Alex was sometimes. IT was only getting to see him and his band perform the year before that she really clicked to her brother’s undeniable star power, and that ability was shared amongst his friends. But it wasn’t just his talent that made Y/N happy, but that fact that she never saw her brother happier than when he was performing with his ‘other’ family.

In truth, they were hers too… One of them was why she was racing home so eagerly, why she had masterminded the entire escape for her and Alex. Neither of them would have been able to survive another minute with the monsters they unfortunately call relatives.

By the time they had passed Las Vegas and were closing in on the California border, the dashboard read 19.53. The countless games of ‘eye-spy’ and ‘would you rather’ grew old quickly, replaced for an hour by Alex reading out the pages of the closest book they could scavenge amongst the piles of presents and luggage, one of Y/N’s art textbooks. That then turned onto Alex recovering his drumsticks, tapping and singing along with the radio as Christmas song after Christmas song played.

“Smalls, what if we don’t make it?” Alex posed the question for the first time that night, and Y/N was honestly shocked it took her big brother so long to reach his usual state of worry. “What if we drove all this way and we don’t make it in time?”

“Relax, Alex, honestly… Look, we’ll get there when we get there. No-one even knows we’re coming, it’ll be fun, a surprise!” Y/N suggested, stopping herself for continuing to press down on her car horn, honking in anger at the dude who just cut in front of them. “Fucking asshole.” She muttered, looking back to her brother to be met with a face of surprise.

“How is it that I am always labelled the emotional one?” The question made Y/N smile, reaching over and patting on the blonde locks atop her brother’s head.

“Because rage isn’t emotion, it’s power.” Y/N quoted their dad again, putting on the gruff voice Alex had portrayed hours before, letting her neck roll and crack out air pockets once the words hung in the air. “With your little bandmates, it may not be true, but in this car? It most certainly is.” She reminded turning her eyes back to the road and putting the car back in gear to drive, following the car in front as the traffic began to move again.

--

“You know, I never thought church would be that fun! Is it always like that, or do they just ram up the wow factor for the holidays?” Reggie asked as he followed close on the footsteps of the Molina family, Luke to his right as he received glances from those surrounding him. “What?! I’m not exactly the person you’d expect to head on over to midnight mass every year, dude.” Reggie defended, Ray unlocking the front door of the house before turning around and placing a hand on the bassist’s shoulder.

“Well, we were glad to have you along with us, Reggie. Glad to have you for the holiday too, both of you, in fact.” Ray opened the statement to Luke, whose eyes darted up and were followed by a bright grin.

“Glad to be here, Mr Molina.” The guitarist responded with a dashing smile before rushing inside, his destination quite certainly the fridge, where Carlos was already searching for snacks before bed.

The Molina family had kept the tradition of midnight mass ever since Julie was little, a chance for some spiritual connection to the holiday season as well as familial. That year, with the Peters and Pattersons off on a Bahama cruise, Ray had welcomed Julie’s best friends and bandmates with open arms. The only thing that would have made it better was the Mercer kids.

It seemed to be why, while the boys all gravitated to chocolate chip cookies and warm milk before bed, Julie had idled over to the window, her eyes drifting out into the front yard, searching for someone who wasn’t going to show up.

“Mija…” Ray said softly, watching his daughter from across the room, a soft smile tracing his lips as she let out a yawn. “Mija, you should be going to sleep. Papá Noel won’t deliver his gifts if you stay awake all night staring out a window.”

“But dad…”

“I know it sucks, honey, but we’ll see them at New Years, right? And tomorrow we’ll have Flynn’s family and tía and Willie all over for food.” Ray reminded, and Julie let out a sigh, finally diverting her eyes from the window and up to her dad, his hand outstretched for her to take. She took it, and Ray lifted his daughter to her feet and into a hug. “I love you sweetie, now go get ready for bed. I have to round up your friends before they eat all the food in the house.”

With that, Julie gave up on the sliver of hop she had held for that night, shuffling up the stairs somewhat defeated. She knew it wouldn’t happen, in the back of her head she knew it wouldn’t happen, but she had really hoped Alex and Y/N would just show up, out of the blue, and surprise them all by spending Christmas back home, with them, with her. Of course, Mr and Mrs Mercer were far from nice people, far from unwealthy people: the idea of their kids spending Christmas at the Molinas was probably something they flat out refused to even think about.

It didn’t take long for Julie to get into her Christmas-themed pyjamas and brush her teeth, tying her hair into braids and tidying them back with a cap for the night: her night time routine was one she knew well, and was efficient in doing. Her makeup washed its way down the bathroom sink, her glasses perched themselves onto the slight dents the pads had carved into the sides of her nose, her blue monster slippers kept her feet warm as she shuffled back to her room and into her bed. She tried to focus on the better parts of the day: of making gingerbread houses and rehearsing Christmas songs with the guys, of putting up the final decorations on the tree in the living room while trying to avoid her father’s cries of anguish over another badly wrapped present from the other room.

But she couldn’t help but think about how much better it would have been had Alex been banging on his drumkit, how much happier he would have felt spending Christmas Eve with Y/N by her side…

The thought had Julie grabbing at her nearest pillow, squeezing it under crossed arms as she scrunched her eyes shut and willed sleep to come. At least if she slept, she wouldn’t be thinking about Alex and Y/N being trapped with their not-so-nice family in some snowed in cabin in some mid-west mountains, not consciously anyway.

tap.

A noise, one Julie excused as a creak of the house floorboards or a falling branch from the tree outside, seemed to echo in her near silent room, save the girl’s breathing.

tap.

This time, Julie’s eyes darted open, though she refused to move. Two was a coincidence, there were plenty of explanations for two almost identical sounding taps spaced apart almost perfectly.

“JULIE!” A loud whisper sounded from outside the girl’s window.

Now, that wasn’t coincidence.

The girl jumped out of bed, rushing over to her window in a blur of sequined candy cane pyjamas, muddling with the latch on her window before opening it up wide to the chill of LA winter air, her eyes darting across the grounds below to find the source of the noise. A part of her wondered if she might be dreaming, if it might have all been the saddest and happy dreams because she’d wake up any moment and the sight would be gone.

But there they stood, Alex and Y/N, in her driveway, the latter’s car parked behind them and looking like it most certainly drove for nineteen hours straight.

“Dad!” Julie called back into the house, the smile on her face brighter than any of the Christmas lights Y/N had seen on their drive through the residential district. “Dad, we have some extra guests.” She finished, her calls waking Carlos, Luke and Reggie in the process of alerting Ray, the windows of the house suddenly lighting up and the household woke for good news.

With a final grin out the window, Julie disappeared from Y/N’s sight, to no doubt meet her and Alex by the front door, and the pit in her stomach Y/N had tried to ignore for the entire car journey from Colorado seemed to only get bigger, louder, more persistent, now they had finally arrived back in California, in LA, at the Molinas. She had initially pinned the feeling to adrenaline from disoberying her parents, from packing up her car and driving almost a full day to arrive three states west of her original destination.

Looking at the house’s front porch, a muddle of Christmas gifts in both her and her brother’s hands, Y/N came to the conclusion that the pit wasn’t because of leaving Aspen: it was because of arriving in LA.

“I’m not going to ask how you made it or why you are here, but we are happy to see you all the same.” Ray’s kindly tone and words brought Y/N from her thoughts, blinking away the haze to find the door now open, Alex, Reggie and Luke in a tight embrace with presents scattered over the driveway, and Ray standing in front of her with Carlos by his side. “I would suggest one of you text your parents’ that you are safe though.” He added with a chuckle, opening his arms for Y/N to rush into, the pair embracing in a tight hug.

“Nice to be home, Mr Molina.” She replied with a smile as the pair broke apart, only for Alex to take the next slot of hugging Julie’s literal, and the four other teens’ figurative, dad.

“I made up the spare room just in case, you know. Julie’s request.” Ray added, gesturing with a thumb back to the front door, forcing Y/N’s eyes to follow.

She was so beautiful, every time Y/N saw Julie Molina her breath escaped her body, her limbs became heavy, her mind fogged: her heart began beating at a pace too fast for her body and her lips lost any real words.

“I thought you’d be in Aspen until the day after Boxing Day.” Julie said with a shy smile, the five guys in the front yard glancing amongst themselves before Carlos cleared his throat.

“I think we should put the presents under the tree!” The ten year old declared, scooping up some of Alex’s dropped gifts and marching inside, prompting Ray and Luke to do the same. Alex rans back to the car, retrieving the last straggler gifts from the car’s back seat while Reggie relieved Y/N of the stacks of presents in her own hands, save one. The two teens shared a smile, Reggie going the extra mile to pass on a wink of good luck to the younger Mercer before the bassist and drummer both disappeared into the house, leaving Julie and Y/N alone.

“I uh, I made a decision… A decision to kidnap my brother and drive a day across country.” Y/N managed to get the words out without too much difficulty, trying to get over the cotton mouth she was experiencing. “Because I didn’t want to spend the holidays without the people I love most.” She added, finally reconnecting her leg movements to her brain and walking across the driveway to meet Julie at the foot of the porch steps.

“Without the people you love most?” Julie questioned, taking a step closer, the girls standing toe to toe, Julie looking up at Y/N with doe eyes that could melt diamonds.

“Without the girl I love most.” Y/N corrected herself, tucking the small gift box she held into her back pocket. The words were seemingly sufficient enough in hello, as Julie launched herself onto her girlfriend, their lips crashing together in sweet harmony for the first time in weeks, thanks to the Mercer parents.

Y/N’s hands cupped Julie’s face as they shared in the sweet, intimate moment, Julie’s hands pulling Y/N closer by her t-shirt. Their lips colliding was the action required to dissipate that pit in Y/N’s stomach completely, her senses in overdrive finally being close to her girlfriend again. The smell of Julie’s perfume, the minty taste of toothpaste still on her lips, her glasses brushing against Y/N’s cheek. For Julie, it was much the same experience: the kiss made her head spin, overcome by the smell of Y/N’s car air freshener and the taste of red vines on her lips.

The pair broke apart after a few moments, their foreheads pressing together as peaceful silence washed over them, the cool breeze counteracted by the red heat that had risen to both girls’ cheeks.

“I wouldn’t want to spend Christmas with anyone else.” Y/N breathed out softly, one hand taking Julie’s in hers, the other retrieving the gift from her back pocket. “Mostly because I missed you like crazy, partly because I wanted to give you this.” She explained, the girl before her grinning and taking the gift box offered with bubbling excitement.

“Can I open it now?” Julie asked, and Y/N glanced at the watch on her wrist.

“I mean, it’s technically Christmas so…” Y/N giggled when Julie let out a shout of joy, pulling off the ribbon holding the box shut and shimmy-ing the lid off, to reveal a small potion-looking bottle amongst tissue paper. Julie lifted it out of the box, a small key glinting in the porch light within the bottled, caught in mid-air by invisible strings withing the decorative gift.

“It’s so beautiful… What is it?” Julie asked, pure curiosity in her words as she looked at the bottle in wonder. In response, Y/N pulled her locket out from beneath her shirt, gesturing to a small keyhole on the front Julie had never noticed adorning one of the girl’s most essential items before.

“That, Miss Molina.” Y/N started, grinning from ear to ear, exuding a shaky confidence that seemed like it might falter at any second. “That is the key to my heart.”

“Y/N…”

“I love you Julie.” They had never said it so directly before, ever. They always skirted round the actual words, always knew what the other meant without need for clarification. But under the porch light of the Molina residence, unaware of Alex, the guys, Ray and Carlos watching from the living room window, after having driven through so much traffic just to try and get to her on time for Christmas, and with Julie standing there in her festive pyjamas and blue fuzzy slippers and looking at her like that, Y/N had never felt more sure of something in her life.

“I love you too, Y/N.” Julie promised, pulling her girlfriend close again, the kiss shared this time chaste, though no less sweet.

“Merry Christmas, Molina.”

“Merry Christmas, Mercer.”

 --

Tags (some people I think might like this festive nonsense): @reggiesleatherjacket @parkeret @calamitykaty @crybabyddl @delicatelukepatterson @lukespatterson @kcd15 @siennanoelle01 @eries45 @lolychu @lazydaisy19 @reggieandthereggies @writerinlearning @mjflower @uhmitstori @walkingonshunshine @kristencoontz @vicesvsvirtuesfanfic @ritz-hell-hotel @mishappend @dovegranger @dmcfarland1 @cherrymaybank @oswinsleaf​ @only-here-for-jatp​ @jatpfan99​ @n0wornever​ @bookdealer5​

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Twelve Days Of Christmas: 2/12 will be released in 24 hours! Who will our story focus on? Can you guess? I’ll give you a hint: we’ll be going back to 1990s...

#abby's twelve days of christmas #julie molina x reader #julie x reader #brother!alex x reader #julie and the phantoms #willex #jatp #alex mercer #reggie peters #luke patterson #jatp fanfic #fluff