#CAUSE HE WAS SQUEAKY CLEAN WHEN YOU SEE HIM AFTER HE WAKES UP

[rookanisstuff]

“What did you do to him!”

I loved the cutscene for Blood Bath but I feel it was lacking some….. blood……. Also my Rook Mercar definitely clocked that “amatus” from Zara to Illario. She wouldn’t have let him touch Lucanis, even if he’d wanted to.

[buckysbunnie]

"Staying Quiet" (Bucky Barnes x FTM Reader)

Summary: Bucky is trying his best to stay quiet while the Reader is taking a nap after their top surgery.

Warnings: transmasc reader, mentions of top surgery (i had to do some research on after surgery care),

Do NOT rewrite, translate, copy, or post my work on other platforms. I do not allow my writing to be fed to AI software/chatbots.

It's been about a week since you finally had your top surgery. You couldn't be happier with the choice you made and Bucky loved seeing you happy. However, the surgery had been a bit tiring and you ached quite a bit afterwards. It was a Sunday and you decided to take a nap. Unfortunately, your body thought the couch would be the best place to sleep.

Bucky didn't mind if you slept on the couch, but he was worried it would be uncomfortable for you. He grabbed all the pillows from your bedroom and made sure you were properly elevated and comfy. He watched as you dozed off with a smile on his face. With you being asleep, he would be the one doing 90% of the house chores for the day.

However, the challenge would be getting all of it done without waking you. He knew you were exhausted from the surgery and the after effect and he wanted you to get as much rest as possible. Bucky looked around and saw what needed to be done. The dishes needed to be washed, Alpine's cat toys needed to be cleaned up, and the floors needed to be swept. Simple tasks.

Bucky stepped into the kitchen and got started on the dishes. There weren't that many this time around. Just a pot, a few bowels and glass cups. The ex assassin made sure to wash everything efficiently, leaving no residue of food or soap behind. However, a slight miscalculation of how slippery one of the cups became caused it to crash to the floor. He froze, waiting to see if you would react. He noticed you shift a bit in your sleep but saw no sign of walking up. He exhaled in relief, it was a miracle that the glass didn't shatter.

After the dishes were done, Bucky was ready to move on to picking up all of Alpine's stuff that had been scattered about during the day. He sighed, wishing his cat wasn't so spoiled. Correction, he really wished you wouldn't spoil Alpine so much. She had become such a princess since you moved in with him. You always managed to bring home a new cat toy or clothes for her, always keeping everything in a box.

As Bucky was picking some things up, the kitty of the hour herself came waltzing into the room, meowing for attention. He shushed her and whispered, "Keep it down, Alpine. He's asleep, see?" He motioned to you, still sleeping, but Alpine wasn't having it. She meowed once again so Bucky had no choice but to pick her up and let her be on his shoulder. "You are so spoiled." He scolded her, earning a purr with her nuzzling his cheek.

If it wasn't for Alpine's adorableness, Bucky would've noticed the squeaky mouse toy before he stepped on it. The high pitched squeal rung out, causing the man to stand perfectly still. Once again, he glanced at you, gauging your reaction but nothing this time. Not even a twitch. He slowly lifted his foot and picked up the mouse toy, tossing it into the box of all of Alpine's other toys.

Alright, that was two tasks down, only one more to go. As long as nothing else happened, he could call it a success that he didn't wake you during his time with the chores. He grabbed the broom from the closet as well as the dust pan. Sweeping, the quietest task he could've done today. There was nothing that could be loud about this. That is unless you had miss stepped and fell flat on your back with a thud behind the couch.

Bucky let out a low groan, trying to regain his breathing as the fall knocked the wind out of him. Since when did he get so clumsy? First the glass, then Alpine's toys, and now tripping over his own feet? Was it because he was trying to be quiet? Was he trying too hard? Normally this wouldn't happen. he's stealthier than this. Or was it because it was common house chores? Whatever it was, he would figure it out later. He stood up and peered over the couch. Thank God you were still asleep.

Once the sweeping was done, Bucky sat in front of the couch, sighing as he had finally finished all the chores. That way you could enjoy the rest of your day whenever you woke up. He looked over at you and smiled, the small little trip ups somehow didn't disturb your slumber which was a win in his book. Bucky moved a piece of hair from your face and kissed your forehead gently. At that moment you started to stir, slowly opening your eyes. "Oh, come on. Really? That woke you up?" Your boyfriend threw his hand up in defeat.

You looked very confused considering you had just woken up. What was he talking about? "Did something happen? How long was I out?" You asked, wondering what had him so upset. Did he not get the chores done before you woke up? Did he break something? What happened?

"You were asleep for about an hour. I dropped a glass in the kitchen, stepped on one of the cat toys, and busted my ass while trying to sleep and you didn't even flinch. But I go to kiss your forehead and that's when you want to wake up?" He stood up, making his way to the back of the couch, folding over it. "How does that make sense?"

"Bucky, I'm used to loud noises when I sleep. You could've made all the noise you wanted and I would sleep like a rock. I've never been kissed in my sleep so it woke me up." You chuckled, still trying to shake the sleepiness off. "I've slept through one of your movies before, remember?"

Bucky stood there in disbelief. He was speechless at what you just told him. "You mean to tell me I didn't have to be quiet and could've just done the chores normally?" You nodded your head with a smile. "If you weren't recovering from surgery, I would tickle you until you begged for mercy." He placed a kiss on your nose, "Go back to sleep. I'm gonna head out for a walk." You nodded once again and got back into your comfy spot, slowly dozing off again, only this time Alpine curled up in your lap.

Divider by @/strangergraphics

[notjustjavierpena]

House

Series Masterpost | Main Masterpost | Support a disabled creator

A/N: A few ideas poured into one. Thank you for all of the attention Hubby Javier is getting lately, makes me all teary-eyed.

Summary: Baby kicks and house-shopping, is there anything else to say?

Pairing: Javier Peña x f!reader (no y/n)

Tags: +15, Pregnancy, domestic married, idiots in love, making out

Word count: 1.7k

Link to this work on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51723856

House

There’s a low hum coming from the radio in the kitchen. You’re on your back underneath white soft sheets that have warmed up to feel like a hug, drifting in and out of sleep to the soft pop song and a noise of mugs clinking.

It’s early morning and you have yet to get out of bed. Javier is doing his morning ritual, and it causes even the annoying ding of the toaster and the drip of the coffee maker to make you smile. The very sound of his existence outside of your own little bubble is proof that he isn’t just a figment of your imagination, that things are actually as good as they see, and the fact makes your eyes shut and your sleep more undisturbed than it’s ever been.

He wakes you half an hour later, gentle as ever.

“I’m heading to work, baby, Lord knows what messes I have to clean up today,” Javier says and bends down to kiss your forehead. He runs a hand over your hair which you say is way too greasy for him to do. He smiles, tuts, and heads towards the door. 

“Don’t forget we have that thing later,” you call after him as he exits the bedroom. You look after him despite him already being out of sight, awaiting his answer that will probably consist of him profusely apologizing for forgetting but you interrupt yourself by gasping out loud. You call for him a little louder.

“You okay?” Javier stands in the doorway not a second later. He has furrowed his brow. 

“Come here,” you hold out your hand with a grin. When Javier takes it, you guide his palm down to your just-starting-to-show pregnant belly.

“Is he kicking?” He asks with a voice that is a little more squeaky than normal. He doesn’t move his hand, doesn’t seem to dare in case he’ll miss it, and doesn’t get to say hello for the first time. 

“I swear if he gets your sleeping schedule and starts waking up around this time from now on,” you groan but Javier seems too transfixed to laugh at your joke. He kneels down on the floor, watching and waiting expectantly. 

“Talk to him,” you instruct, arching your back slightly to push your belly further into your husband’s hand, “He’ll react to your voice. I promise.”

Javier checks his watch on his other hand but he doesn’t show signs of being in a hurry. He rubs your stomach a little, kisses your skin, “Come on, bebito. Your dad needs to go fight villanos for the state.”

You giggle at the way he speaks so softly, switching to the same pitch that one would address a puppy with. He looks at you with red cheeks and you just want to kiss him, “Stop laughing.”

“Sorry, I just love you,” you continue your tiny giggles, not trying to stop them from bubbling up in your throat, “I’ll stay still. Just don’t give up.”

It takes a few more minutes before you feel Lucas move again. Your stomach jumps underneath Javier’s hand and the move surprises him to the point where he nearly falls on his ass, another laugh erupting from your chest. 

“Was that him?” He gapes at you and you nod. He quickly regains his composure to feel for more kicks. His eyes have lightened up and the smile he is sporting is pure joy mixed with disbelief, “That’s so badass…”

A few moments pass. Javier gets excited again, thoughts of work forgotten, “There! Again!”

“He loves you, baby,” you say, “He’s saying hello.”

“I can’t wait until he’s here,” he admits and whispers hello back to his son, resting his cheek against your belly whilst looking up at your face. He smiles as you run a hand over his hair, “I love you two too. Should I just stay here all day?”

“As nice as that sounds, we have that thing later,” you say, “The house tour.”

“Shit,” he says as predicted.

“You better be there, Peña. Your son needs that backyard,” you try to sound stern but Lucas kicks once more. You chuckle happily instead, and in the next moment, you don’t know if you are referring to Lucas or his father because Javier’s eyes practically sparkle, “Well someone’s excited.”

Javier had brought up the idea of a house the second you arrived home from your honeymoon along with a confession of having looked at possible sellers in the area since you got engaged. However, the idea had faded, had been put on hold due to everyday life getting in the way until now. Fulfilling the fantasy has become a reality since you found out that you are pregnant.

Now it has also been put into motion.

It’s the first house that you are seeing together. You went last week, fell in love with the place, and now, you want Javier’s opinion (and approval). Even though the house doesn’t have the same charm as your shared apartment, and despite the apartment space holding so many memories that you cherish, you know your current living situation won’t suit a growing family. 

“Right, I’ll be there,” he kisses your belly repeatedly, “I’ll see you later, mijo.”

“Go,” you usher him gently, “We’ll be here when you get back too.”

“Te amo, momma,” Javier says before he leaves your side, his voice so genuine you might slide underneath the covers because you can barely contain your happiness without giggling like a schoolgirl. 

“Te amo también,” you say back and then lay back to hear the sound of the front door closing. 

You use the rest of the morning to snooze and have a one-sided conversation with your unborn child, only getting out of bed when you cannot procrastinate anymore or you’ll be late. You wash your greasy hair twice in the shower and snack instead of eating a proper meal, scared that you will experience a fit of nausea during the house tour. Despite having a fair reason, you don’t think that vomiting in the bathroom of the house you are considering buying will go well with the seller. Javier would probably make a joke about marking your territory whilst stroking your back to make you stop crying.

Though later that day when you enter the house that you have already seen and daydreamed about, you immediately notice the crinkle of Javier’s nose at the mention of the rooms. Kitchen, bathroom, dining area. Smile. Three bedrooms. Nose crinkle. 

The realtor seems to notice it too, and she gives you a sympathetic look and touches your shoulder gently. You don’t flinch because she seems genuine and nice, “Why don’t I give you two some privacy? You’ll be able to look around without me hovering over your shoulder and without me making you hold back any negative comments.”

Javier hums, already wandering around and seeming lost in his own thoughts.

“That’d be great, thanks,” you smile and chase your husband down as she leaves. You find him running his knuckles over the kitchen counter, knocking once as if he has a clue about the material. It’s almost sweet the way that he is practicing his dad-mannerisms already. 

“You don’t like it,” you say matter-of-factly.

Javier whips around at hearing your voice, “What? No, I like it. It’s just—“

“Just what?” You join him by the counter, leaning against it. 

“There are only three bedrooms,” he notes as if it’s the most logical explanation in the world. 

You raise a brow and lay a hand on your protruding belly, “You do know there’s only one baby in here, right? It’s not like I’m about to give you a barbershop quartet.”

Javier laughs genuinely at the mental image. He moves to stand in front of you, reaching to hold your pregnant belly and rubbing its sides gently. He can see the disappointment in your eyes which makes him tut and you pout. 

“I’m just thinking ahead here, mi vida,” he rests his forehead against yours, chuckling at the sight of you pushing out your bottom lip. He rubs a soothing circle into your stomach with his thumb, and brushes a strand of hair from your face with his other hand, “Don’t pout. You know I’m weak.”

“You don’t love it the way I do,” you squeak out, “And this is within our price range.”

“We’ll borrow money from my Pop, hell, he’ll pawn his whole house for us,” he reaches up to cup your face in both his hands, tilting back your head so he can repeatedly peck your lips, “And no, I don’t love it the way you do.”

You reach for one of his wrists, offended. 

“But,” he interrupts before you can protest, “If we’re having at least three kids then we’re already a bedroom short.”

“Three?!” You say in a horrified tone.

“Eventually,” he soothes.

“That’s almost a whole litter, Javi.”

“Well, you don’t have to drop them all at once,” he jokes, pauses, and then continues, “I’m just asking you to keep our options open with me.”

“But this kitchen,” you whine, gesturing to the farmhouse sink that you’ve fallen so deeply in love with, “I wanna do the dishes here and I hate doing the dishes.”

“I’ll build you your own kitchen, baby, with a rich-people-sink and a dishwasher,” he presses his thumbs into the underside of your jaw, “How’s that sound? Bién, no?”

You half-frown, half-smile. It does sound nice.

“There it is,” he says as you finally smile fully and allow a new daydream to manifest in your mind, “That’s my girl.” 

A few long seconds pass with kissing him in a house that won’t be yours after all, arms slung around his neck, and standing on your toes as you make out. God, you love the confidence that Javier radiates. Suddenly everything seems possible. 

“Besides,” Javier pulls back a little, mischievous, ”Did you see that backyard? A soccer team has 11 players, you know, and with the way Lucas is kicking…”

“You better stop that talk right now if you ever wanna get with me again, Mister,” you answer but then you kiss him again.

“I’ll tell the realtor that we want something bigger,” he takes a step back but you grab his arm. He allows you to pull him back in.

“I need a hug. Just five more minutes,” you beg.

And so he does, holding you tightly in an embrace that is pouring with love.

“Okay, five more minutes.”

.

.

If you would like to follow my writing then go follow @notjustjavierpena-fics and turn on notifications 💖❤️

[tlbodine]

Overthinking: Monster Blood III

Monster Blood III is the first third installment we've encountered. The Monster Blood series is the longest-running sub-series, with four installments. (The Dummy series only has three). Special, huh?

I remember this one's cover, and the premise is familiar, but I don't think I read this one as a kid. I was not a big Monster Blood fan back then. I've appreciated them quite a bit more as an adult returning to the series, perhaps for the same reasons why Stine reportedly enjoyed writing them so much.

First, the Plot:

The good news is everyone knows Evan wasn't lying about the Monster Blood now. The bad news is he's still kind of a nerd who gets bullied -- by his mean-spirited neighbor Conan, but even by his own 8-year-old nephew, Kermit. He's also still having PTSD from his previous run-ins with the substance, although nobody wants to acknowledge that.

Kermit is a genius, constantly brewing up potions in his basement chemistry lab, some with really dramatic effects (like shrinking Conan's clothes right off his body!) but he's also kind of a dick. He's a little kid who's too smart for his own good, he's sensitive, and he really enjoys getting Evan in trouble by tattling on him, starting fights that Evan has to finish for him, playing mean pranks, and so forth.

Andy is of no help, really. At first she's on Kermit's side, even cozying up to him to get him to do her math homework for her. But when Kermit fills in the answers wrong on purpose, causing her to fail, she wants to get revenge by using the can of monster blood her parents found in Europe. Evan at first insists they can't, but later changes his mind after Kermit drags them into a fight with Conan and Evan gets pummeled.

They concoct a scheme to ruin one of Kermit's experiments by putting monster blood in it, but it backfires, and soon Evan is growing...and growing...and growing. As a giant, he gets to torment Conan for a while, which is nice. But he also stomps a car flat and gets the police called on him, and has to go on the run to evade them.

He begs Kermit to use his shrinking potion on him. It doesn't work at first, backfiring in various different ways, until at last they're able to shrink him down just as the authorities arrive.

Unfortunately, when he wakes up, he realizes that he's still shrinking. Trigger picks him up like a squeaky toy and carries him into his parent's room, where he admits he might be having a little problem.

Overthinking It:

True to its roots, Monster Blood III is ultimately a story about the weight of grown-up responsibility. We've seen Evan struggle to be a care-taker for his dog and a hamster. Now we see him struggling to take care of his cousin. A great deal of the conflict in the book arises from his inability to make Kermit mind. There's one great sequence where Kermit is mixing up a batch of "hiccup cure" for his dog, Dogface, and every step of the way Evan is protesting and insisting that he's the boss and Kermit has to do what he says.

Then Kermit does it anyway, totally ignoring him, and moments later there's a big mess to clean up that Evan is stuck with.

Once again, too, we see that Andy is a dangerous influence. Evan clearly hangs out with her because she's extremely cool and confident -- things he wishes he could be -- but she is really not good for him. She is constantly dragging him into trouble because as much as he wants to be responsible, she's always there whispering in his ear to give in and do something he shouldn't. She acts as his barely-repressed Id, the wild child that refuses to bow down to those adult responsibilities.

When Evan grows huge, he is living out the conflict we all experience: you grow up and gain more power, but also more complexity. Other kids like him more now that he's big...at first. But he's easy to be scared of, and attention paints a big ol' target on his back.

I am intrigued to see how this all resolves in MBIV, although by all accounts that one (the very last book in the series) is kind of garbage. But hey, I've found things to enjoy in several other Goosebumps books that people don't like, so I'm holding out hope! Until next time...

If You Liked This, THESE Will Really Give You Goosebumps:

Whenever I think of giant people, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman comes immediately to mind.

Indeed, there was a whole run of "giant people" moves in the 1950s, although the whole trope has largely fallen out of fashion today.

If the "innocent little kid is actually a scheming bastard" element of the story appeals to you, try The Orphan.

For a very different take on "growing too fast," see Old. (lol)

Come on, I'm three Monster Blood movies deep over here and starting to come up dry. Anybody got anything for me?

[girlpanthera]

You mentioned Ringo would try to get them to take meds after George lost it too, so I was wondering if he would ever get to a point where he would make them food just to slip them pills?

Sleeping pills, anti-psychotics, etc etc.

Do you think they'd catch on eventually? Like maybe one night he slips them sleeping pills and they end up getting a full night of sleep (which is uncommon cause of the cats with trumpets). Do you think they'd catch on eventually? How would they react to this??

also... I can't wait till we see more of John, mainly cause I'm curious of his reactions to how George & Paul are acting.

I feel like ringo wpukd get to that point, yeah. even to the point of crushing up pills and mixing them into drinks till they dissolve. at first he attempted to just give it to them flat out with the idea it can stop the Cats Of Every Color, which George almost agreed to. Because unlike paul, George isn't a fan of the hallucinations until much later on, and he only seems to favor the wild women as they give him comfort. I'd imagine it like this:

TW: SA MENTIONS, ED, SH

ringo began getting worried about the delusions. originally he played Paul's stories off as just ptsd and overall head trauma from the affects of the hard drugs they took. At first he didn't care much, because he viewed paul as "johns" work. but now that paul was back and john remained at war, and the delusions "spread" to George, he realized he had to do something. Originally he just started with sleeping medications and some light antipsychotics he could get his hands on. he was tired of George and Paul running around the house at night and George waking him up to sleep next to him because "the little blue, red, and yellow kittens found their way into the kitchen and were toasting all of the bread they owned to make honey sandwiches with the crusts cut off"

George willingly took these medications the first few times, despite having bad nightmares and always waking up to Paul being erratic and angry he could sleep, there was no problems. It was when ringo offered the pills to paul that things got bad. Paul realized George had been medicating himself, which made him angry. as soon as he was offered the pills he lashed out, hitting ringo and screaming at him, trying to force ringo to take all of the pills to "just get rid of him" with the logic that "if he wanted to live in a false reality that's only brought on by pills he can, and he can stay there forever, cause he and Geo weren't going to do that"

it ended with Paul self harming and dragging the restless and sleep deprived George away to go to the fields, leaving ringo battered and bleeding. This is when ringo began writing letters to John, informing him of this all.

After the incident with Paul finding out george was medicated, Paul got more obsessive of him than before. originally, george had personal space from time to time, but now Paul clung to his hip. he woukd lay on him and force kisses and other sexual things on george as a form of trying to "see if he could trust him again"

this distressed george, cause not only was he too sleep deprived to properly fight back or even differentiate this from reality, but it was just shock and fear he was going through, so he let it happen and simulated affection for Paul despite being scared shitless.

The wild women eventually come into play here, as one night after being discarded by paul, George was just laying in the field in shock. He heard the agitationg noise of the small squeaky trumpets before the kittens of every color poked up around him and pointed to him. george frantically looked around to see why exactly the kittens pointed at him and that's when he became acquainted with a few wild women who came to comfort him. He thought they were very beautiful, as he had seen them before but they only offered comfort to Paul. The wild women let him lay on them and they cleaned him up and brushed his hair, guarding him while he slept. This was comforting ti george ans made him love the wild women, but the fact that they had never interacted with him before until now meant that there was a line that was crossed.

George would agree with ringo to take some medications through food so paul couldn't tell, but when he realized that also lessened the visits of the wild women he ended up refusing food. This caused him to starve himself in refusal alongside paul, who seemed quite cheeky and entertained by this. George depended on the wild women to give him food and care for him, and he began enthusiastically allowing paul to cut him or be rough with him just so the kittens of every color would see him battered and bring the wild women to him. the wild women never said anything to him, they only cared for him. paul would eat some of the food, getting medicated every so often, so he began getting his own food and even threatening to drug ringo back. this was around the time when John wrote to ringo, informing him of his injury and that he would be back. this was also the time paul tried to get ringo to join him and george, but ringo strictly refused. Though he didn't say specifically why, ringo had seen paul do some stuff to george that horrified him...and he felt a guilt for not helping george as he and George had history, and George was his special person before he had got sick..

SORRY THIS WAS LONG AND RANTY BUT YES HERES NEW STUFF WOO

[angelofrainfrogs]

Spend the Night: Ch. 16

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: The familiar melody of Grandfather’s Clock chimes through the echoing halls of the Pizzaplex…

Charlie wakes up in her Puppet’s vessel yet again with one goal in mind: to stop William Afton’s reign of terror for good. She enlists the help of Glamrock Freddy, the emphatic leader of the newest iteration of the Fazbear Band. But there seems to be more to this bear than meets the eye—and the same goes for the mysteriously familiar kid the duo find tinkering with animatronics down in Parts & Service.

With some help from friends new and old, Charlie’s journey into the bowels of the Pizzaplex will unravel mysteries none of them ever expected. 

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

I’m gonna bleed, I’m gonna stay

I’ll never leave ‘til night becomes day

Whatever happened to the others that came?

~Total Insecurity by Rockit Music~

Today was the day that Gregory learned he had zero impulse control when left with pizza and soda. Charlie had to stop him from sucking down the last can of pop and encourage him to drink at least one bottle of water instead. Half the pizza was gone in two hours, leaving Gregory in quite the state. He laid against the cool floor, on his back and holding his stomach. Charlie, feeling bad for the kid, would periodically rake her fingers soothingly through his hair.

“I told you. I said this exact thing was going to happen if you did it,” she remarked grimly.

“Thank you, captain foresight.” Gregory groaned. He was starting to think he was lactose intolerant after the umpteenth time this same scenario has happened to him. Yet Charlie would disagree, saying it's the volume and speed at which he decided to eat.

“Michael—we're going to have to put the kid out of his misery,” Charlie teased, holding out one of her hands as Gregory laughed and rolled from her lap to get away. “Hand me a pillow, I'll make it quick—”

“She’s right, Gregory—we can’t stand to see you suffer like this,” Michael said with a dramatic sigh as he picked up a bowtie-shaped throw pillow. Then without warning he threw this at Charlie, not hard enough to cause damage but with enough force to knock the Puppet backwards with a surprised yelp.

What ensued next was the quietest “pillow” fight known to man, wherein the animatronics tossed any soft, stuffed object they could find at each other in an attempt to push someone off-balance. Gregory joined in once he’d recovered enough, and despite their excitement the group did their best to keep the volume down to crazed whispers. Only the occasional, muffled shriek got through when a plushie collided unexpectedly with someone’s face.

Minutes after a truce was called, the door to Freddy’s room began to slide open. Michael instantly jumped to his feet, ready to run to the back as he saw Charlie snatch Gregory up out of the corner of his eye. To his relief, it was the bear himself that slipped inside the room, now fresh and squeaky clean with his normal paws intact.

“Oh no… what happened?” Michael groaned softly as it seemed like part of their efforts last night were for nothing.

“I could ask you all the same question,” Freddy replied, looking around in disbelief. The half-empty pizza box was left open on the table, and the remnants of soda cans and snack wrappers were littered around it. Additionally, every soft object was scattered throughout the room—he even saw his prized throw pillow hooked on top of the star light that protruded from the ceiling.

Gregory had long gone limp in Charlie's hold, his arms in the way of completely sliding from her grip as she took the reins in explaining the state of things.

“Impromptu pillow fight. Gregory ate too much and he needed to work some of it off. Right, buddy?” the Puppet asked, bouncing him in her arms.

“—Don't shake me,” he groaned in response. “I'm gonna freaking pop.”

The bloat was still getting to the kid and Charlie let him down to move of his own accord, where he started to clean up the scattered garbage. She hoped that they hadn't gone routing around too much for answers in Freddy's coding. Although she knew better than to think the bear would rat them out at this point, there was still the paranoia that the human staff possibly knew more than was necessary.

“Well, I am sorry I missed the activity,” Freddy said with a small laugh, unable to be frustrated at the situation. They’d clearly been having fun and bonding, which is exactly what the bear hoped would happen when they got rare a moment alone together.

As Gregory busied himself with cleaning up, Freddy explained his trip to Parts & Service. He told them about the sad state of the other animatronics and the fact that Monty’s torso couldn’t be found. He relayed how he’d been cleaned and “reset,” though still kept in Safe Mode—and how he’d seen Vanessa sporting a sling and tired eyes, but otherwise back to herself again. Freddy finished up his speech by regaling the others of how Monty’s claws were replaced with his usual limbs and the suspicion now upon him.

“I believe everyone thinks that I decommissioned Monty,” the bear concluded, then blinked and tilted his head slightly. “…Which I suppose I did, but they think it was done maliciously so I could steal his claws. We must be wary of any other parts we upgrade, because if staff sees them I will be sent right back to Parts & Service.”

Michael groaned again, raking his a paw through his mane. “Great… just great. So much for that plan…”

Gregory seemed particularly frustrated at the situation. Not only did they have heat from administration on them now, but the upgrades he’d stolen for Freddy were taken, undoing his hard work. This anger was apparent in the way he cleaned, now just a little more aggressively than before.

“At least they won't fix Monty right away if they can't find him. That's one less crazy robot to deal with,” he grumbled, tossing a pillow up for Charlie to catch.

“Hey—” She snagged the pillow, only to gently lob it to the back of Michael's head. “—let's look at the bright side! We learned a lot from our first night here. Tonight, we'll be better equipped for dealing with everyone.” Charlie spoke with a more optimistic attitude attached, watching with satisfaction as the cushion met the back of her friend’s metallic skull.

Michael let out an offended noise as the pillow made contact, turning to glare at Charlie. There was no venom in the expression though; he knew she was just trying to cheer him up.

“No fair striking when someone’s guard is down!” the fox exclaimed, then pointed to the cushion high out of reach. “Help me get that, will you? I’ll lift you up.”

“Tonight will be much better than the last,” Freddy reassured, trying to manifest this into truth by saying it aloud. They could not have a repeat of all the terrifying things that went down the previous evening, for all their sakes.

As Gregory threw the final bit of trash away and crossed Freddy's path, the bear ran a hand through the boy’s hair. That was one good thing about Monty’s claws being replaced, at least—there was no chance of Freddy accidentally scratching anyone or anything with sharp appendages he wasn’t familiar with.

“We should make a plan for tonight,” Michael suggested, letting Charlie’s comparatively light body rest on his shoulders. “Or at least figure out what we need to do besides just ‘get rid of my psychotic father...’”

“I have an idea, but… I'm not sure you guys are gonna like it,” Charlie murmured cryptically. Just a little farther up, she had to really work to grasp the pillow from the edge of the light. When she couldn't get a hold, Charlie would bat it down and let it bonk against Freddy's head. “Oops—my bad, Freddy.” 

“What's your plan, Charlie?” Gregory asked with morbid curiosity, laughing as the pillow squeaked when it impacted with Freddy's little top hat.

There was a dark light in Puppet’s pinprick eyes. “Lure everyone but old man Afton outside at 6 and burn the place to the ground."

This place could rot for all she cared... Though, retrospectively, this didn’t solve the issue with Freddy's charging pod situation. He'd still be forced to shut down after sometime, as would all the others.

There was a beat of silence after this declaration. Michael was the one to break it as he slowly set Charlie back on solid ground.

“A few years ago, I’d tell you that was a fantastic plan,” he said, giving her an amiable pat on the back. “Unfortunately… I’ve been semi or wholly responsible for at least two fires that burned down an entire Fazbear building with my father inside, and look how that’s turned out. Somehow, the bastard ‘always comes back.’”

Michael said this last bit in an obnoxious, mocking tone to imitate the line he’d heard his father repeat at nauseam. Frankly, the whole situation was starting to get as old as his crusty dad.

“Additionally, as I stated last night I will not be able to stay active outside of the Pizzaplex for long.” Freddy had to point out the obvious, choosing to ignore Michael’s curse and arguably more concerning admission of committing arson on multiple occasions. “This goes for all other animatronics as well—even if we wrest them from William’s control, they will not survive long without the Pizzaplex’s charging capabilities.”

Once Charlie was set back down, she immediately felt herself tense as she caught Gregory's expression. Apparently, they’d completely forgotten to clue him in on the charging pod situation. With wide eyes, he looked between Freddy and Michael, fear and apprehension in his gaze.

“Freddy—” Charlie nodding her head sharply in Gregory's direction while the kid's gaze was momentarily diverted. She gave him a nudge with her elbow, watching as Gregory's face relaxed into one of defeated sadness.

There went Gregory's plans of stealing the Fazbear Entertainment's animatronics to be his new family... With his arms crossed, he glanced up to the bear, clearly trying not to wear his sudden disappointment on his sleeves yet unable to shake the pout on his face. “So all we can do is try to find this guy and kill him for good, right? More kids will just go missing if we don't...”

It seemed to be their only chance. The real question was how?

“Oh dear… I am sorry, superstar,” Freddy apologized, crouching down to pull Gregory into a hug. Despite the boy trying to be strong and act like the situation didn’t bother him, he folded into Freddy’s embrace rather quickly. “I did not mean to distress you. We are trying to think of a solution for how we can stay together, do not worry—I promised I would look after you no matter what, and I do not break my promises.”

That look of utter defeat on Gregory’s face had been short-lived but poignant. Michael knew it well—the dawning realization that your father might not be able to take care of you like he promised he could. He and Gregory had completely different circumstances to prompt this, but the sinking, hole in the chest feeling was the same.

“Charlie came up with a crazy idea that we might just be able to pull off with my amazing mechanical skills…” Michael grinned, making a show of pushing up a billowy sleeve to show off his nonexistent muscles. “And we’d also need your coding abilities—”

“That is not our top priority,” Freddy reminded gently before Michael could start spouting off about new robotic bodies. He didn’t want to get the boy’s hopes up for a scenario they’d barely worked out basic logistics for. “Gregory is right—we must focus on stopping William Afton first and foremost before he can hurt anymore innocents.”

While this was true, the prospect of solving the issue still intrigued Gregory. Even if it was false hope, he’d cling to it. Charlie watched his frown lift into a more neutral and relaxed expression, calmed as Freddy held onto him.

“I hope I could code well enough to help,” Gregory remarked, blunt but eager. “I promise I'll do whatever you guys need after we kick your Dad's ass—butt. Sorry, I-I meant butt.”

Gregory corrected himself, much to Charlie's hidden amusement. The kid was hanging around Michael too much, and it showed. Mike’s rebellious behavior was infectious. It probably even took root within Freddy in ways they didn't understand now. She supposed that’s what it meant to be such close friends with people.

“Well, your heart's in the right place, kiddo,” Charlie began, deciding to take a seat back on the couch, legs crossed as she gathered her thoughts. “I think the real issue is—will this be the last time we get rid of him? It's annoying to agree with anything he’s said, but he does always come back...”

“Oh, it's going to be.” Michael's reply was quick and left no room for argument. There was a hardness in his eyes that only came from decades of exhaustion from his father's constant resurgence. He gave a short, wry laugh, his gaze shifting to Charlie's. “Isn't the definition of insanity repeating the same thing over and over again and hoping to get different results? Well, William's clearly insane for multiple reasons, but I'm not going to fall into the same category as him by trying to get rid of him only for him to return for the hundredth time. This is going to be the end.”

Michael's impassioned speech left the room quiet for a moment. Freddy released Gregory and stood with a nod.

“I agree wholeheartedly. Regardless of whether we are able to leave the Pizzaplex, I cannot in good conscience do away with William without assuring that he is truly gone.”

Michael snorted at this, and to Freddy's questioning look he replied: “Sorry, sorry—I appreciate the enthusiasm. It's just... sometimes easy to forget you're a robot, Freddy—especially when you talk about having a conscience. It's weird, but not in a bad way.”

Michael would never get over the morality programmed into these machines. He really hoped he'd get to see the others in a non-infected state, although he had to admit that after what they'd already been through he wouldn't be too cut up about it if he never got to check out their inner workings.

“Yeah,” Charlie agreed, looking from Michael back towards the face of Fazbear Entertainment. “You're so aware.”

She was still slightly shaken from the strongly put musings Michael spouted forth, and silently went to work on figuring out a way to remove William from the picture. Leaning on a thin hand, Charlie watched as Gregory meandered towards the arcade machine... And then it hit her like a pile of bricks.

Why didn't she think of this before?

“Cassidy!” she shouted, abrupt and loud.

How could she forget her? The one who'd originally trapped William away in the first place would certainly have another idea of how to put him to rest for good.

“Cassidy?” Freddy questioned with a tilt of his head. “That name does not hold significance in my memory banks.”

“Of course it wouldn't—she was one of the original kids to go missing, way back when William started this whole thing. You're not going to have that kind of information in your database,” Mike explained, mirroring Freddy's head tilt as he looked at Charlie curiously. “Do you think she's still here, too?”

“If she's not here, I wonder if there's a way to find her,” Charlie mused. Though she never saw the girl upon waking up in the Pizzaplex, that didn’t mean she wasn’t hiding around in some dark corner. After all, she and Michael hadn’t remembered exactly how they got up top; after so much time wallowing in limbo, memories started to get a bit fuzzy. “I'm sure if she finds out the guy that stuffed her into an empty suit was wandering around, she'd gladly help us...”

“There's more ghosts?” Gregory asked, surprised at the amount of pissed-off dead kids that Michael's dad seemed to accumulate grudges with. He held back from cursing again, reeling from the fact that he might be meeting a fourth ghost not twenty-four hours after learning that they were just as real as everyone else.

“I am just as surprised as you are, superstar,” Freddy murmured, going to stand by the arcade cabinet and watch as Gregory refocused on his attempt at beating the high score. The bear's eyes might be on the lit up screen, but his ears were still tuned into Charlie and Michael's conversation.

How many children had William sacrificed for his twisted ideals? Freddy heard rumors of children going missing in the Pizzaplex, of course. One or two might be pushed under the rug, but nine was too much to keep out of even the animatronics' knowledge. All they were told was to keep an eye out for these specific kids registered in the guest book, but the how and why of their disappearances remained under wraps.

Freddy clenched his fists as he thought about this. Even now, the company still tried their best to appear like nothing was wrong.

“Don't you have some... I don't know, ghostly connection powers or something? Could you reach out and see where she is?” Michael asked Charlie, plopping down on the floor to face her. He shrugged with a soft laugh. “Sorry, I'm still comparatively new to this vengeful spirit thing.”

“I... have no idea, actually,” Charlie remarked. “I’ve never tried a remote connection before, but it's worth a shot! I wonder if this’ll work without a vessel to touch, though…”

Gregory had tuned in again, momentarily distracted to say: “If you guys are summoning ghosts, I'm staying turned around! I almost had a heart attack when I saw Michael.” Gregory huffed lightly when he overstepped on the side-scrolling platformer, losing a life and growing one step closer to failure.

“Alright, Gregory—if you really think little girls with overalls and pigtails are scary, you should definitely stay turned around,” Charlie teased, watching in amusement as his face darkened in a blush.

“Horrifying,” was all he could muster as he begun Level 3 all over again.

“Hey, I wasn't that ugly!” Michael exclaimed, scoffing in mock offense.

His looks were certainly a point of contention within his own self-confidence, especially at the time they were “frozen” in his ghostly form. He didn't have to use a mirror to know that his face matched far too closely with his father's for comfort. It was the whole reason so many animatronics had gone after him in the first place after all, and a huge factor in why he'd gotten scooped...

But Gregory didn't need to know that. If he learned that Mike had the true face of that psychotic rabbit with the hypodermic needle forever etched into Gregory's nightmares, Michael feared the boy would have a heart attack.

Charlie busted out laughing. Of course she didn't think he was ugly—it’d just been unfortunate that he inherited his murderous father’s face to a tee. Though Charlie liked to think that William simply copied his son, rather than it unintentionally being the other way around.

Curling around the fox once more, Charlie placed a gentle hand to Mike’s cheek, only to abruptly turn it away.

“Hush—your face is scary, Mike,” Charlie remarked in a deadpan, seeing Gregory's shoulders bounce with a silent laugh in the corner of her vision.

“No—” Gregory snorted, jumping past an obstacle in his game. “—just his head passing through solid freaking metal was creepy!”

Michael rolled his eyes, grinning as he gently shoved  Puppet's face away just as she'd done to him. He then shook his head with a dramatic sigh. “Consider yourselves lucky you don't have to get a load of Charlie here... now that's terrifying.”

This pulled a chuckle from everyone, even Charlie herself. Once the moment died down, Freddy quietly cleared his throat.

“As much as I would like to make progress immediately, we should wait for night shift,” he said. “Though the animatronics are docile for now, there are too many staff members walking around—I do not want to risk anyone seeing Gregory, or potentially another ghost.”

More time to rest and recharge before the inevitable harrowing night again?

Yeah—no one had an issue with that plan whatsoever.

***

The group stayed in Freddy's room for the remainder of dayshift, talking quietly about anything and everything while avoiding harsh topics when they could. They were enjoying the calm before the storm, needing to get in as much pleasant time with each other before the clock hit 12 am and their world devolved into frantic chaos yet again.

Too soon, that time arrived. An alert blinking across Freddy's vision signaled the official start of night shift. Cautiously, the bear peeked out of the curtains to find Rockstar Row empty yet again. He assumed the other animatronics were currently in their rooms, though surely they wouldn't stay there for long. Hearing no updates on Monty, Freddy could only presume the gator was still missing.

With a slight frown, Freddy turned back to the rest of the group. “Alright, the coast is clear. Charlie, you may go ahead and try whatever you would like.”

This was going to be interesting.

Gregory had long since made himself comfortable on the couch, arms crossed as he sunk far into the soft cushions and watched as Freddy made sure that no one decided to crash their séance. It would quite literally be the last thing they needed that night. Hopefully, they'd have the time to summon whoever Cassidy was. Though as Gregory turned his attention Charlie, he had a feeling she was already on the right track.

Becoming comfortable and sitting cross-legged on the ground, the Puppet appeared frozen. Quiet as she looked ahead, Charlie's sudden stillness caused the warmth to be sucked from the room. Tiny, silver pinprick eyes formed in the center of the mask’s empty sockets.

Charlie hadn't even spent that long concentrating on bringing Cassidy back, when suddenly two hands emerged to grasp Puppet’s shoulders from behind.

As a head of light, strawberry-blonde hair peaked out of the darkness, Gregory jumped slightly at the sight. The girl couldn't have been much older than him—when she died, that is. With an annoyed look on her face, she shook Charlie vehemently.

“It's about time!” Cassidy snipped, tongue catching against a pair of colorful braces as she spoke. The ghost glanced around the room with subdued interest, unimpressed and merely observing her surroundings. “This place is weird. Charlie, what took you so long?”

Charlie's eyes had returned to normal, surprised at how fast it was to summon the feisty spirit. “Uh—sorry, Cas! I didn’t realize you were waiting on me.”

“Oh my goodness...,” Freddy murmured from next to Gregory, instinctively placing a comforting hand on the boy's head.

The little ghost wasn't scary—far from it, in fact. The sight of her made Freddy's mechanical heart squeeze in a wave of sadness he hadn't thought possible. All of these children were so young...

“Holy shit,” Michael breathed, effectively pulling Freddy out of his reverie to glare at the fox.

Michael paid him absolutely no mind, completely focused on Cassidy's ghost. He was sitting on the couch too, although he was leaning so far forward it was a wonder the whole thing didn't tip over due to his weight. At the sight of Gregory's corner lifting slightly off the ground, Freddy clamped a hand down onto the back of the couch, using his counteracting strength to keep it in place.

“Whoops—sorry.” Michael flashed an apologetic smile, bright eyes still locked onto the tiny ghost near Puppet. He recognized her from the missing posters plastered all around town upon her disappearance, as well as the few times he'd seen her in the Pizzaplex. Ironically, most of their interactions happened after her death, the memories of which caused Michael to let out a stilted:

“Uh, heh... Hey, Cassidy. Long time no see? Ah, it's... Michael.” He pointed awkwardly to the fox face. “In here, I mean.”

Cassidy gave Mike a screwed-up frown, glancing him up and down before her eyes widened in realization. Pointing at the Glamrock fox, she stepped out from behind Charlie.

“It's the limey guy's son!” Cassidy exclaimed. The strangely aggressive reaction, on top of Michael's strong response to her made Gregory try unsuccessfully to hold in a few giggles.

“I didn't recognize you there—what with you wearing Foxy's skin and all,” Cassidy continued, hands placed firmly on her hips. She seemed not to hold any ill-will towards Mike. Scanning the room further, her eyes soon locked on Gregory, who seemed to be watching her with intrigue.

Her mouth dropped, and for a moment all the little ghost could do was stare. How this very alive, flesh-and-blood kid could bear such a striking resemblance to Cassidy’s old suitmate, she had absolutely no idea. The shock didn’t last long though, and soon her lip curled in a defensive scowl.

“What are you lookin' at?” Cassidy snarled with all the ire she could muster.

“N-Nothing! I mean no one! I mean—” Gregory was choking socially. Unable to make eye contact with the apparition, he settled for staring at her shoes instead of her face. Talking to other kids was hard regardless if they were dead or not, especially speaking to such a confident one. At least his dad was here...

“—I'm Gregory,” he managed to force out, causing Cassidy to roll her eyes.

“Uh huh,” she replied facetiously, unbothered and unaware—or uncaring—of Gregory's own inner meltdown.

“'Limey guy's son...'” Michael grumbled upon Cassidy's recognition, eyes narrowed in mild annoyance as he tracked her movements around the room. Her personality was a force to be reckoned with. There was a reason she'd been the angriest one besides Charlie; the one who led the charge against any night guard that dared try and intrude on their tormented afterlives.

Speaking of that—Mike realized too late that they hadn't thought to prepare Freddy nor Cassidy for their meeting. They should’ve split them up, brought Cassidy up to speed on the situation, and then introduced the bear. Freddy might be completely innocent regarding her past, but surely the girl wouldn't react well to any sort of Fazbear model, no matter how sleek.

It’d taken Michael a long time to figure out whose ghost was in which animatronic. Admittedly, he still struggled with some of William's later victims, if only because he hadn't had nearly as much interaction with them as he did with the original five. Cassidy inhabited Golden Freddy—Michael remembered that clear as day. She was the first victim he'd connected the dots with, although unintentionally. He realized that, to his complete horror, his brother's soul was also inside the animatronic that took his life... But there was another, stronger personality that far overshadowed Evan's soft-spoken demeanor.

Michael couldn't even count the number of times he'd cautiously tried to interact with Evan, only to be snapped at—literally and figuratively—by Cassidy instead.

Now, Mike could only watch as the strangely sentient Glamrock Freddy crouched down to be at eye level with the little ghost, holding out a paw for her to shake. His smile was open and sweet, eyes sparkling with genuine interest and compassion as he greeted her:

“Hello, Cassidy. I am sure you already know this, but I am Freddy. It is nice to meet you.”

The bear. The damned bear.

Cassidy had tried hard not to associate the image of Freddy Fazbear with hell or imprisonment. While she hadn't been in this bright, ursine-themed room for long, she assumed that because Charlie was calm around this uninhabited Freddy robot he’d been friendly enough. That didn’t stop Cassidy from giving the bear a scathing once-over, visually patting him down.

“Hi Freddy. I would shake your hand, but I'll be honest—the last time I touched one of you I got trapped in it for, like, 35 years,” she said with a rather polite nod of her head as she walked the floor, circling the Glamrock like a tiny shark.

“I think you guys found something that belongs to me,” Cassidy remarked in a somewhat calculated way. She glanced across the room, eyes flicking to Gregory as he decided to try to speak up again.

“Uh, what do you mean, exactly?” he asked, confused. He hadn't remembered finding anything that looked pre-owned or thrifted. Though Cassidy gave Gregory a sideways smirk, he didn't feel like she was exactly being friendly. Or maybe that was because the girl just intimidated him too much.

“Not a what—” She corrected herself as she trounced over and took a seat next to Gregory, propping her feet up on the star-shaped table. “—a who. I'd like William Afton's soul back. The asshole slipped out of hell while I was distracted, and me and the others aren't very happy, as you can imagine!”

“Join the club,” Michael commented, riding a wave of relief that Cassidy hadn't tried to dismantle Freddy on the spot. He peered around Gregory to look at the ghost. “That's exactly why we called you here—we need your help. William is at large in this place and we're trying to stop him. We figured, if you were around, you'd be more than willing to assist.”

Freddy decided to observe for the time being, slowly standing up and trying not to let his growing horror show outwardly. He knew the children had been bonded to animatronics, but the information hadn't quite sunk in until now. Not until the way Cassidy looked at him with fire in her eyes, as if she wanted nothing more than to rip him limb from limb and burn the pieces. Thankfully she'd resisted the urge, but her following words shocked Freddy into silence.

35 YEARS.

The bear couldn't imagine such a fate, being trapped inside a body that wasn't your own for so long. Not for the first time, he was thankful Michael hadn't unintentionally gotten stuck inside his head—for both of their sakes.

Gregory scooted away closer to the end of the couch. Fear wasn't quite the right word to describe the feeling when talking to Cassidy, but it was certainly irrational. She didn't seem to have an interest in hurting them—though she came across as if it was entirely possible for her to do it, in the way she walked and talked. How she directed her gaze and carried herself spoke of a confidence some people chased their whole lives.

“Can't have that turd floating around...,” she replied crassly to Michael, lazily turning her head to face him. Her voice dripped with attitude. “I've already got a plan. I'll need you guys to help, and I'll need you try and not mess it up.”

“We're all ears,” Michael replied, listening intently. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Freddy place a hand on Gregory's back, reminding the boy of his presence and silently reassuring that things would be okay. Charlie by now had come to sit between Cas and Gregory, seeing that the boy obviously needed a buffer.

Mike was curious to know this plan the vengeful ghost had already cooked up, and he also had a very important question for her once they'd settled on the details.

She'd mentioned “the others,” and Michael needed to know who these souls belonged to. His hope that all the children were freed after the last fire had been dashed upon Cassidy's appearance in the room, and though he was grateful for her help, he still felt a gnawing sense of guilt about the whole thing. The deaths of William's victims weren't Michael's fault in the slightest, he knew that, but... it still felt like this whole thing was started by his actions way back in '83.

“I don't know how, but he left the game I made for him.” Cassidy sighed, looking up towards the ceiling as she gave context for her plan. “I thought it was so clever. Create a mind-bendy version of one of those stupid security offices, take William's wandering soul and shove it in there… Kill him over, and over, and over again.”

Cas recounted the ways they'd done it. Strangulation. Exsanguination. Bludgeoning. She was positive that she and Evan—mostly her—had personally springlocked William thousands of times before his escape. The methods didn't matter; what mattered was when someone found that rotted old golden Bonnie suit in the bowels of the burned-out fake diner. When they stole pieces from it, taking William’s soul away from Cassidy’s homebrewed prison.

At first, the spirits had been overjoyed to see him go—they thought it meant they could finally rest. Turns out, like everything else William was involved in, the whole thing was a big fat lie.

“I'll need him distracted. Weakened. Lure him into the basement and I'll have a surprise waiting just for him.”

How she already had something set up for William was unbelievable. It made Gregory skeptical, and he'd finally grown the confidence to speak his mind. “That's cool and all, but why should we trust you again?” 

Cassidy's hard glare relaxed some as she reached over and calmly socked Gregory in the arm. It caused him to yelp and rub the assaulted area, honestly shocked she could even touch him.  

“Look, Evan clone, you might not be totally aware of the shit that guy put me through. I would never help him. If you wanna live to still feel anything tomorrow, you better listen!” the ghost warned.

Gregory felt the need to suck up the pain dolled out to him. It was a reminder that he was still alive—and to Cassidy, that was a gift.

“Weakened and brought to the basement—we can do that,” Michael confirmed, choosing to ignore Cassidy’s physical assault on Gregory and get her to focus on someone else instead. Gregory was clearly uncomfortable being the center of Cas's attention, though Michael knew he’d be fine since his robotic dad was already fretting over the new blossoming bruise on his arm.

If anyone were to ask Freddy in that exact moment what was on his mind, he’d simply respond: “Too much.” Listening to this child describe so many ways to torture a soul and getting pleasure out of every one of them was not something Freddy expected to ever hear. He wouldn’t deny that William deserved it—even if he didn’t have the full picture of everything that man had done, he knew enough to agree the ghosts’ revenge was fully justified.

“Sorry for the billionth time that you got roped into this, Freddy,” Michael apologized, knowing the bear’s circuits must be on overload. Chancing his luck, he decided to pose another question to Cassidy. “So do we get to know what this ‘surprise’ is, or…?”

He wouldn’t be shocked if she wanted to keep this under wraps from them too, but he had to at least try.

Hopefully, by getting rid William Vanessa would eventually go back to normal. The news of Will having been loose in the world for that long made Charlie’s blood boil. She curled her hands in anger, distracted only when Cassidy bounced from her seat and threw her hands up.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise then, dummy! Buuut, I’ll give you a hint though—your families are gonna help me out,” she replied in a sing-song tone. “And I'll tell you one person that’s down there for sure. Henry finally decided to come out of his little saferoom when he realized Charlie was gone—”

Cassidy was interrupted, lifted quickly off the ground as Charlie picked her up and shook her before the ghost girl could react.

“My dad’s been here the whole time?!”

Without thinking, Charlie practically dropped Cassidy and made a mad dash for the door leading to the back storage rooms. The girl was desperate to find her own father now that she knew he’d lingered behind with the rest. The fact he was waiting for them made her soul ache just thinking about it.

“Charlie, wait!” Moving fast, Michael managed to grasp one spindly hand just as Charlie reached for the door. He tightened his grip as she fought against him, holding fast. “Wait. I want to see him too, but we can’t just run out there. There’s too many things that are trying to get us.”

Michael couldn’t believe he was actually being the voice of reason—usually he was the impulsive one, ready to sprint towards danger without regard for his own well-being. He wanted to see his family, too, if they'd decided to linger as well—wanted to scoop his siblings into his arms and apologize for everything that’s happened to them, for all they’ve suffered, all the years trapped and scared and alone… It hurt to imagine them so close yet so out of reach.

But they couldn’t go to them; not yet.

“We can’t leave Freddy and Gregory alone,” Michael pointed out softly, gesturing to them with his hook as he slowly pulled Charlie away from the door. “They need us, too, remember?”

Charlie was trembling, skinny endoskeleton rattling inside her soft, cotton-stuffed casing. It was clear that she wanted to throw responsibility to the wind for once in her afterlife, but her friend’s dutiful reminder—and physical hold—had anchored her.

She allowed Mike to slide her away from the door. The empathetic words he spoke helped the impulse leave her as she grasped onto his hand.

“I got carried away…,” she admitted. The rare lapse in decision-making left her sheepish and uneasy.

Gregory hadn’t ever seen Charlie so crazed before. She usually kept a calm face about everything. Maybe it was the way Cassidy had gotten everyone riled up, it had Charlie acting like… Well, a kid.

Technically she still was, in a way—an old kid. A dead kid.

Gregory felt uncomfortable while lost in that thought train, and even more so when he found Cassidy staring at him. To avoid her gaze, Gregory decided to stand and hide behind Freddy now. He didn’t care if Cassidy thought he was weird or too reliant on the robot. She hadn’t seemed that interested after all, her stare fixated at one point like she was really just lost in thought.

“I wouldn’t let each other out of your sights,” she warned, lazily walking about the room. “He already knows you’re here. Probably making plans to dismantle you all, make you dust for his immortality soup…”

“He wants Gregory,” Michael revealed bluntly, finally releasing Charlie’s hand once assured she’d calmed down enough not to bolt for the door again. There was no point hiding this from Cassidy—hell, maybe knowing his intentions would somehow aid her in capturing William faster once they got him to the basement. Mike glanced at Gregory, looking so small and fragile hiding behind Freddy’s leg.

“He’s convinced that Gregory is Evan reincarnated,” he went on bitterly, acid spewing from every word as his anger towards his father grew. “He tried to… to inject him with some glowing shit—I don’t know what it was, but he was ranting about it ‘strengthening Evan’s body’ or something. I just—”

Suddenly, orange eyes snapped to Cassidy, widening with realization.

“Oh… oh my god… The Remnant. That’s what his research said, something about…” Michael wracked his brain for every tiny detail, trying to piece things together. “He… gathered something called Remnant from the lost souls, and it… kept people from getting hurt. No, not hurt, but… killed.”

He felt sick to his stomach, vaguely wondering if he was about to throw up some random wires and internal parts—it wouldn’t be the first time in his life that happened. In a low voice, he concluded: “He’s trying to make Gregory immortal like him… like he wants to do with all his family.”

Cassidy waited patiently as Michael finally worked out all the morbid details for them. Things like that had stopped fazing Cas a while ago. The lengths William went to trying to unlock the key to his family’s tragic deaths, as if the lives of unfamiliar children were mere tokens one could exchange for a prize… He traded souls until he’d gotten his wish.

“That sparkly junk in the jars...?” Cassidy made sure they were talking about the same thing, scratching her scalp nearest her left pigtail. “Yeah—I’ve seen him use it on himself. It’s why he didn’t die when he locked himself in the rabbit.”

She rolled her eyes, letting them settle back to her suitmate’s lookalike. The news that Gregory was being mistaken for Evan had hatched another idea in her brain.

“Him?” she asked, now taking the time to gingerly approach Gregory. “Eh… The worst that Remnant stuff will do is make sure he doesn’t die. Pretty sure it’s made out of the culmination of our beings, plus our crushed hopes and dreams.”

Even just talking about that creepy junk had Gregory scared. He lashed out, hiding his fear with anger. “Shut up—that’s not really what it is! It’s probably just, like, poisonous or something!”

“Keep telling yourself that, clone-Evan,” Cassidy remarked, knowing the boy’s fear kept him from telling her to shut up a second time. “Don’t know why you wouldn’t want to believe me. I’m one of the only things in here that doesn’t want you to die…”

There was a heavy pause, before Cassidy flashed a wicked smile.

“Maybe you should just let that old creep stick him with the Remnant,” Cassidy suggested, turning to Michael as she jutted a thumb in the direction of their newest friend. “He’d survive longer, at least.”

“Stop this.”

The sound of Freddy’s sudden, commanding voice caused everyone to freeze in their tracks. The bear had been silent for so long listening in to their conversations, it was mildly shocking to hear him finally speak again. However, that was nothing compared to the look on his face—one of hard-set determination, underlain with a hint of… yes, there was definitely some fear deep in those electric-blue eyes.

It wasn’t fear for himself, though—it was fear for his new family and what might lie in store for them should William have his way.

“Gregory is not going to be injected with this so-called ‘Remnant’, he is not the reincarnation of Evan Afton, and he is not going to die!” Freddy ranted, pulling the boy in close to rest against his leg, one arm wrapped protectively around his shoulders. The bear looked around the room with narrowed eyes, as if daring anyone to challenge his conviction. He’d been trying to contain his mounting frustration at the situation, and the direct suggestion of letting his son fall victim to the man who destroyed so many lives was the final straw. “We are going to find William Afton and get rid of him and this virus he created for good—then all the souls like Cassidy can finally rest. Do I make myself clear?”

Despite the delivery, it was an uplifting claim. Freddy’s unquestionable tone caused Michael to nod in agreement.

“Loud and clear, Freddy. We’ve got this.” The fox’s flashed Gregory a grin that hid his anxiety as he thought how hard they’d need to work to make this next claim true. “Nothing’s going to happen to you, Gregory, alright? You’re safe with us.”

Gregory was quick to hold fast to Freddy's arms. The words of strong-willed encouragement felt real enough to him. The determination set in Freddy’s voice brought a smile to his face after Cassidy speaking on his impending doom had begun to get him down again. It was like she had a grudge on him for simply being alive still.

“Yeah; I'm still here,” he said, trying to feel confident in himself and control of the situation at hand. “What's one more night?”

Their plan was simple enough. Whatever trap Cassidy had in waiting in the basement was cryptic though… and Gregory still wasn't entirely certain she could be trusted. But it didn't matter, as they’d run out of options besides relying on a snippy ghost girl.

Cassidy had gone quiet at Freddy's outburst. She was still a child at heart—and the sound of an adult's voice yelling still gave her flashbacks to her own father's laid-back temper, though the image of his face had been blurred with time. She crossed her arms and listened to Freddy rant, feeling a little bad for having poked the bear too much. He clearly deeply cared not only for Gregory, but all the lost children.

“...Okay. Give us a little time to prep, and then you bring the bastard down to the old diner. Michael? You know where it is. I'll see you guys then...” Cassidy spoke calmly, evenly. Then, she drifted downwards, passing through the floorboards and calling out to her comrades: “Smell ya's later...”

Gregory shuddered. How could one sad, little dead girl be so creepy?

Maybe all of them were like that. Gregory looked to Charlie for proof, though she was more lost in thought than the rest of the group.

Michael sat heavily on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees as he hung his head. He’d learned a lot of information in the past half hour, the most pressing fact to him being that Evan and Lizzie were in all likelihood still here.

Cassidy and Charlie staying to make sure William was put in his place? That was expected. Even Henry lingering around wasn’t completely surprising after the last stunt he tried to pull to get rid of his once dear friend.

But Michael’s siblings didn’t have a reason to stay—not one that he could think of, at least.

He wanted to see them, of course; the urge was so sharp and painful he was still shocked he’d managed to reign Charlie in instead of following her right out the door. But surely they were tired after all this time… There’s no way they’d stay just to have another conversation with their big brother. So caught up in decades of self-hatred, Michael refused to believe that.

“…Are you both alright?” Freddy asked softly, his voice now back to normal.

He felt bad for snapping earlier, though at least it hadn’t seemed to distress Cassidy too much. The last thing Freddy wanted was William and the vengeful ghosts coming after them… Letting Gregory cling to him, the bear looked between Charlie and Michael. He couldn’t even begin to fathom what emotional turmoil they must be going through right now.

Charlie quietly nodded, her demeanor far away and dreamy. Her dad had been here the entire time—she wasn't even aware that his spirit was still tethered to this place. Did he stay for her? For Sammy?

No. It was likely for William, she thought. Their strange cat and mouse obsession with one another was less fascinating and more something that deeply disturbed her.

“We'll see—let’s focus on dismantling William and making this place safe for children again,” Charlie said, dismissing her own feelings in lieu of how strong they were. Cassidy would've left far into the underground of the Pizzaplex by now, telling her friends both new and old, that she’d enlisted the help of a few certain ghosts.

The tides of this strenuous battle would shift. With hope, the ghosts would have retribution.

“Right… I have a suggestion,” Michael started hesitantly, sitting up straight as he met Freddy’s questioning gaze. “You’re not going to like it, Freddy, but it'll help us in the long run.” He took a deep unneeded breath before letting out the next words in a rush. “I think we should decommission the other animatronics. Roxy and Chica definitely, maybe Moon if he comes after us again… but the Glamrocks pose the biggest threat.”

There was a moment of tense silence before Freddy shook his head. “No, I… I cannot do that. Roxy and Chica do not deserve it… they are under William’s control—”

“So was Monty, and you told me that you watched him almost rip Gregory apart before your eyes.” Michael grimaced at the wide-eyed fear on Gregory’s face at the stark reminder of one of his near-deaths. Honestly, this kid must be part cat or something—he certainly seemed to have nine lives. Although with the way things were going, those were running out quickly.

“I’m sorry, Freddy, but… we have to do this,” Michael pushed on, looking at the bear imploringly. “I hate to say it, but William is smart. We’ve got to be even smarter to take him down—and eliminating as many other threats as possible before we confront him is a good start.”

Gregory found himself subconsciously clinging to Freddy just a little harder. He’d been riding on luck and the skills of his friends the entire night. If he wanted to survive, Gregory was going to have to get more resourceful and be smarter than an old, crazed scientist. Whether Gregory believed in himself was out of the question; he learned quickly that having confidence in what you did could only get you so far. Just as Michael felt their luck slipping, so too did Gregory.

“I'm sorry Freddy... I don't want to hurt them. But they'll hurt me if I'm not careful...,” he pointed out bluntly. Honestly, taking down the Glamrocks may even be the easiest part of tonight. Avoiding William until it was the right time to strike and bring him down to the basement was another task entirely.

Freddy glanced down at his adoptive son, so small and fragile compared to everyone else. He understood Michael’s point, but hearing Gregory spell it out while looking up at him with those big, brown eyes solidified his decision. This boy trusted Freddy to keep him safe, and if that meant temporarily taking down his robotic bandmates in favor of preserving a human life, so be it.

After all, isn’t that what this iteration of Freddy had been designed for—to keep children happy and safe? A swell of protectiveness from deep in the bear’s core said yes.

“…Alright,” Freddy agreed, squeezing Gregory gently. He offered a smile to show he was on board with the plan and harbored no ill-will towards those who’d suggested it. “I agree that this is the best path forward.”

He paused, not believing he was about to offer advice on decommissioning his friends. Eventually, he continued in a softer tone: “Chica will be easier to take down than Roxy—she does not have hunting instincts like the wolf.” 

“Right! She's just a chicken. We might not even have to hurt her!” Gregory agreed. Considering how ditzy the virus had made her act, it’d be a certain win on their part.

(Once again, Gregory took to underestimating his enemies. While Chica was a soft, sweet person by day, the destruction of Monty created turmoil inside her AI. William would use that to his advantage now.

No, chickens did not hunt like wolves. But once they tasted blood, the old instincts of a raptor came forth...)

Charlie nodded her head in agreement at the plan.

“We'll go for Chica first, then,” she said decidedly. “Might be best to lure her as well. We could use some of that pizza Gregory didn't finish yet!”

Charlie tried to sound uplifting, though it was becoming harder and harder as the creative burnout with her ideas turned into something tangible. She lifted up the pizza box, shaking it to make sure there were still a few slices left. Upon seeing Gregory pout, Charlie rolled her pinprick eyes. “That’s why you should’ve rationed them. Along with your snacks. After we get rid of Chica for the night, we'll make you a new pizza.”

“Good plan!” Michael agreed, quickly getting to his feet. Now that they had a way forward, he wanted to move. The faster they could get this over with, the better.

“If pizza does not work in luring her, there is an alternative,” Freddy chimed in, still in that quiet tone of numb detachment at betraying one of his closest friends. “The company recently created a slushee flavor called Monty’s Mystery Mix. For whatever reason, Chica cannot resist eating it when it is placed in her vicinity. Staff had to temporarily ban it until a solution is discovered… I believe they hid the excess in the food storage pantry of the bowling alley.”

“Huh… if the mystery mix is that powerful, maybe we should just use that instead?” Michael suggested. He flashed Gregory a grin, gesturing his hook towards the pizza box in Charlie’s hands. “Plus, then Gregory can eat his last slice—if you can stomach it after everything you ate earlier, that is.”

The heavenly slices of grease coated cheese that was a Fazbear pizza would always have room in Gregory's stomach. Without saying so much as a word, Gregory snatched the box from Charlie's hands and devoured the last slice.

“Gregory!” Charlie shouted before it devolved into laughter at the boy’s antics. “No, little man, you're going to get a tummy ache!” She warned him again, though it was ignored by Gregory needing elaboration on this particular slushee flavor.

“Is the mystery mix pizza-flavored, by any chance?” Gregory wondered out loud. The possibilities were endless. As he lapped the bright orange oil and crumbs from his lips, Gregory held Freddy's hand again. He was ready to go in search of this particular, highly sought-after slushee.

“It is—good guess, superstar!” Freddy replied, unable to stop himself from chuckling a bit as well. Thank goodness they could still find enjoyment in the little things…

Freddy spared a side-eyed glance at Michael, his smile softening. The man really was quite good with children. Freddy didn’t know the details of Mike’s relationship with his own siblings, but if his interactions with Gregory were any indication, Evan and Elizabeth were lucky to have such an attentive older brother.

“Who thought of a pizza-flavored slushee?!” Michael asked incredulously, then made an exaggerated gagging noise. “Those two things should never be combined…” He paused, then added in a quieter mutter: “…Not that wouldn’t try it if I could.”

Charlie looked to Mike and laughed openly at this. “I was going to say—I figured you'd try it at least once!”

She thought of Michael's thoughtful nature as a hard-won battle. There was a period of time where this kind personality slipped in the worst sort of way and led to disastrous consequences. But as he matured, Charlie had grown proud of her friend. He could’ve so easily turned out for the worst. In fact, it was one of her many fears after both Evan's and her own death.

Michael also just happened to be full of surprises. His determination to be better made him more attentive as a caretaker, it seemed.

“Okay, so—we'll each have a sip and the rest will be for Chica,” Gregory said as Charlie became lost in her thoughts, though he certainly hoped that there would be more of this Mystery Flavor slushee to go around. Y’know, on the off-chance this was the pinnacle of all slushees. He wanted to make sure they wouldn't starve the rest of the night.

No one had the heart to remind Gregory that he was the only one who could take partake without the sweet instantly damaging his internal systems… Well, not as much as the animatronics’, at least. The question of what was actually in those slushees to make them so addictive was questionable enough that it probably should warrant a doctor’s note before a kid could consume one.

It would be safe to assume that after this long week, Gregory's gastro tract would be forever ruined by all the sugar, greasy food, and soft drinks... Or at least ruined for a while. He was still young, after all. Nothing like a few months of vegetables wouldn't fix.

“Let us not waste any more time,” Freddy prompted, giving Gregory’s hand a squeeze as he started for the door. “Everyone keep your guard up—if you see anything suspicious, let the group know. We will still try to keep out of the others’ sight as much as possible.”

Michael simply nodded as he settled into place behind Freddy and Gregory, alert and ready for the night ahead. He shook out his arms and legs to get out whatever metallic stiffness had sunk in after a day of lounging around, then looked to Charlie with a set expression. “Ready for another go at this?”

“I've been ready since the 80's,” she said with finality. She didn't seem touchy, exactly. Perhaps sensitive, as the encounter with Cassidy had given her much to reflect on.

“Don't worry, Freddy. If we need it, Michael's still got the Faz-glock,” Gregory remarked, cheerful and nonchalant. The bear's eyes snapped accusingly to Mike.

“What in the world is a ‘Faz-glock?!’”

***

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Or check out the entire Wires that Bind Us Series on ao3!

[dance-in-moonlight]

Suptober Day 13: Morning After

The first thing Dean noticed after waking up was that he wasn’t at home. It took a few more seconds for his brain to follow, but then he remembered the date. Dinner, a walk, hours of talking. He’d had a good time with Cas, so he had followed his invitation and went home with him. They’d discussed their favourite musicians over some wine, and of course one thing had lead to another and ended up with Dean waking up in another man’s bed.

Usually he wasn’t the type to have sex on the first date. Not when it was a proper date, at least. There was the occasional hookup, but he’d been trying dating seriously for a little bit. That involved opening up and allowing feelings, two things Dean was still working on.

He’d clicked with Cas from the first second on, there was just something about that guy that made the whole thing easy. Dean hadn’t been tense all night, their conversation had come naturally and been actually interesting. He liked Cas, and he wanted to do this again. But now that he found himself in this bed, his date still fast asleep, he worried that it had been a mistake. What if he’d only been nice to get what he wanted and would now be a completely different person? Dean had never really worried about that when he was younger, but ever since he’d been trying dating instead of just hooking up, he’d gotten a taste of his own medicine. (But he’d matured a lot since those days, okay?)

Maybe he should just leave? But surely that would look as if he didn’t have any more interest, which wasn’t true. He wanted to see Cas again, repeat this.

“Dammit, Cas”, Dean mumbled to himself and reached up to rub his own face frustratedly.

“What’d I do?”, a sleepy voice asked on his right. Dean felt his heartbeat pick up, how long had Cas been awake? Maybe he’d pretended to be asleep to give Dean the chance to leave?

“I, uh, nothin’“, Dean stuttered and carefully turned his head to look at his date. Cas looked adorable with bedhead and his face squished in the pillow. His expression changed to a frown when he caught sight of Dean’s face, however. Propping himself up on an elbow, he tilted his head in question.

“Is everything alright?”, he asked, his voice still a little raspy.

Dean couldn’t find words. He stared at Cas’, searching for a hint of his thoughts, anything to help ease his nervousness.

“Do you have any regrets?”, Cas asked unbearingly softly, causing a violent jerk of Dean’s head.

“What? No! I just...I’m...”

Cas waited for him to finish. When that didn’t happen, he sat up. “You’re looking at me like a deer in headlights, Dean. I promise I don’t bite. I tell you what, I’m going to make coffee, and if you like, you can take a shower in the meantime and join me after. You remember where the restroom is?”

Dean nodded silently, then watched as Cas peeled himself out of bed and walked over to his wardobe for a pair of boxers and sweatpants, then left the room with another little smile in Dean’s direction.

As soon as he was gone, Dean pressed a pillow into his face to muffle his groan. “Great fucking job, Winchester. Can’t even speak.” Dean lay there for a while longer, being angry with himself. When that didn’t magically solve his problem, he got up and picked yesterday’s clothes from the floor before he paced down the hallway to the restroom.

The shower helped calming his mind. The confusing knot of loud thoughts unravelled, and Dean felt his anxiety run down the drain with the hot water. He could do this. He was a grown man.

Once Dean was warmed up, calm and squeaky clean, he slipped into this clothes and took a deep breath before leaving the bathroom.

He found Cas in the kitchen, peeling a clementine. Dean looked to the side to find breakfast on the kitchen table: eggs, croissants, fruit and two steaming hot cups of coffee.

"How long was I in the shower?", Dean joked. Cas turned at that, visibly taking in the sight of Dean with wet hair and flushed cheeks.

"Are you better?", he asked softly.

Dean suddenly felt like a dick. "Yeah", he responded, scratching his head. "I'm sorry, I was freaking out. Kinda. I like you, Cas, a lot. And I was kinda scared that you'd, uh..."

He left the sentence open, unable to find the words. Luckily Cas seemed to follow.

"You were scared I'd turn into an asshole over night." It wasn't a question. Cas put the clementine down and walked over to Dean, a smile on his face.

"I really like you too, Dean. Don't worry. Now, breakfast?"

Now it was Dean’s turn to smile. “Yeah, I’m starving.”

Cas kissed his cheek, unleashing a hundred butterflies in Dean’s stomach before he lead him over to the breakfast table.

[safetycar-restart]

Can we talk about Toto potentially being able to carry mick around!! Mick would absolutely love it and feel so safe and secure! When he’s tired or sad, when he’s fucked out after a scene, when he’s LITTLE… the possibilities are endless!

YES YES OF COURSE WE CAN!!!!

So this gets discovered after the first time Toto fucks Mick, because Toto is huge and poor Mick can’t even walk afterwards. He’s cuddled against your chest, letting out breathy little whines as he tries to come down from cumming so much and so hard and toto is just wanting you two fondly. He’d love to join the cuddles, spoon Mick from behind and stretch his arm out to rest it on you.

But he’s not quite sure what his role is here and he doesn’t want to overstep. You have a whole system in place for Mick’s aftercare already, he doesn’t want to mess something up.

After a few more minutes of cuddles, Mick has calmed enough to start feeling all sticky and sweaty. He looks up to you then, letting you know he’s ready to be cleaned.

(Sidenote: Mick HATES the aftermath of sex. Good sex involves so many bodily fluids and Mick is not a fan of that at all. He’ll swallow them no problem, but when there’s sweat and cum and spit drying all over his body? No. Nope. Get him in the shower stat. He’ll have more cuddles once he’s squeaky clean.)

Usually you just hold Mick’s hand and walk him to the bathroom, but this time his legs nearly give out? He kinda just whines and leans all his body weight on you, his thighs shaking.

Toto is there instantly, scooping Mick up like he weighs nothing.

It takes Mick’s post sex brain a few seconds to work out what’s happened, and then he realises his head is against Toto’s chest, that Toto is holding him bridal style.

“I’ll carry you,” Toto tells him, smiling when you thank him.

Mick wraps his arms around Toto’s neck, nuzzling his cheek against Toto’s chest. He’s so comfy! This is the best thing ever.

It becomes a lot more common after that, and Mick adores it so much. He feels so so safe? Cause Toto is big and strong and he’s getting carried!! He’s so happy. The happiest of happy subs.

Of course the absolute best is when you walk with them, when he can look down and see his other Dom from Toto’s arms.

And of course Toto carries Mick when he’s sad!! To be honest, Mick doesn’t even have to ask for that. Toto will just see that his sub is sad and the Dom in him will go “carry him.”

And sleepy?? Sleepy Mick??

I think Mick gets very sleepy very easily? And it’s always so adorable and sweet because he’ll be very sleepy but still insistent on not being away from you and Toto?

He’ll wake up in the morning between you and Toto, feeling so nice and safe and very sleepy still. When you and Toto wake, you guys go to make breakfast. Except that is unacceptable because Mick is still too sleepy to walk but you and Toto can’t leave! You must be in his eyesight!

By this point you and Toto have both gotten out of bed already and Mick has wrapped himself in the blankets on the bed.

So Toto just… picks up the Mick burrito and carries him downstairs where he deposits the Mick burrito on the couch within eyesight of the kitchen.

[hoetani]

| CHESTNUT TARTS |

Warnings: fluff (17+ Blog)

Relationship: Ran Haitani x fem!Reader

A/n: Nah cause imagine if this acc happened🥴

The sun is at it’s peak as the lunch-time rush at the grocery store begins. It’s the ultimate shopping time for people who don’t like to wake up early – people like you. Browsing the aisles, you hum quietly as you push the squeaky cart.

Cleaning products. Frozen foods. Dairy Products…

Ahah! The bakery section. The warm smell of freshly baked breads and pastries tempts you closer. You gladly oblige, not one to fight such a delicious invitation. Stopping by the tarts, your eyes fall on the last box of chestnut tarts, your hand reaching out to grab it. Another pale hand sneaks in and suddenly you and a stranger are both holding the box.

Looking up, you’re stunned to lay eyes on such a beautiful man, so stunned that you let go. The goods fall into his grasp as his lilac eyes crinkle in amusement, his short purple hair is neatly messed up, and his casual black trousers look more expensive than your little apartment. Suddenly, you feel very small in your worn out joggers, but his smile somehow manages to blow your insecurities away.

“So,” he drawls, “It appears you have good taste.”

Even his voice is perfect. It’s melodious and pours through your ears like melting honey.

“Who doesn’t like chestnut tarts?”

His face contorts into mock disappointment as he sighs sadly, “Unfortunately my brother’s palette hasn’t matured yet.”

“It’s probably just a phase,” you assure him light-heartedly, “he’ll grow out of it.”

Your eyes drop back to the box and then away just as quick – you don’t want to seem desperate, but he seems to have caught on.

“What if we split it,” he suggests. That would be a fair since you both reached for it at the same time and there were two tarts in one box.

“I’d like that.”

“Meet me outside when you’re done then.”

With one last devilish smile and a small shake of the box, he saunters off, leaving you dumbfounded and slightly excited to see the handsome man again.

After you tuck the shopping bags into the back of your car, your gaze drifts to the bench overlooking the seaside and then to the figure lounging on it. As if feeling your gaze, the man turns and raises a hand, beckoning you over. You go to him, stomach rumbling and heart racing for the future that awaits.

reblogs & comments appreciated!!

[shorkbrian]

yandere Aizawa x male reader, reader has a wet dream and doesn't know what it is so he asks Aizawa {overstimulation dry humping}

(What to expect - Incest (please I am begging you, if that’s not your cup of tea, scroll past), NSFW, Dubcon, dry humping, groping, Aizawa in teacher mode.)

Aizawa wakes up as you trundle past his room, all of your blankets and sheets wrapped up in your arms, some of them dragging against the floor.

The man’s curiosity is piqued, and of course he wants to make sure his son is okay, so he leaves his bed, follows the noises of someone awake until he finds you in the laundry room.

You’re in nothing but your boxers, back bare as you’re facing away from him, legs spread for balance as you stuff your bedding into the washing machine, struggling with it.

“Everything alright?”

You freeze, a little gasp falling past your lips as you hear your dad behind you, voice rough and scratchy with sleep. “Uhm, yeah! I’m fine.”

But that doesn’t explain why you’re up in the middle of the night, washing your sheets.

Aizawa steps closer, peers at you curiously. “What happened?” His gaze is focused on your rear, how it looks as you shift in place, unscrewing the laundry soap and adding it to the load.

“I.... Well....uhm-” Reluctant, you avoid the question.

“Are you okay?” Dad asks, stepping ever closer, and you nod your head, cheeks burning with shame.

“IthinkIwetthebed.”

“What?”

You bend, rest your head against the washing machine as you groan in shame, forced to repeat yourself. You know how much dad hates mumbling. But it’s so embarrassing! “I... I wet the bed.... I think...”

Aizawa’s mind churns. You’re too old for that, haven’t wet the bed since you were a child. There’s moonlight coming through the laundry room window, and Aizawa can see the way your thighs rub together, the slight flush on your skin, can hear the breathy tremble in your voice.

“Mm, I don’t think that’s it.” He steps closer, and now he’s almost pressed to your back, heat radiating from his bare chest. “Were you dreaming?”

A hot blush rises to your cheeks as you straighten suddenly, press closer to the washing machine to avoid the press of your father’s body. “U-uhm, yeah-yeah.”

“About what?” Aizawa touches your shoulder, soft, warm. His other hand grazes against your hip.

“Just-just stuff, y’know.” You try, but you can almost hear dad’s frown.

“What were you dreaming about?” His hands slide against your back, tease at your shoulder blades, ease up and over until they’re eating against your clavicle.

“Izuku.” You rush out, tears rising in your eyes. This is embarrassing, wetting the sheets and getting interrogated after. 

“I see.” Dad slides his hands down further, down your chest, skims over your nipples. “What was he doing?”

You always try to be truthful, shy away from lies of half-truths, but right now, you really wish you could find a way to stop the truth from tumbling out of your mouth. “He... was touching me.” 

Aizawa leans closer, until he’s pressed against your back. Your whispered reply has him humming as his hands play with your chest, smooth over the skin, squeeze at the barely-there fat. “Was he touching you here? Or-”

One hand drops to your crotch, easily finds your half-hard dick, gropes it through your boxers and you squirm, gasping out a plea. “-Here?”

“There, there.” You confirm, both aching to back away from the touch and buck up into it. Dad’s hands are so big, and he knows how to touch just right, squeezing gently at your shaft.

Aizawa smiles a bit, rocks his hips against yours, and you feel his length press against your rear at the same time that his hips press you more firmly against his hand. “You like Midoriya? He’s a handsome man.”

“I.......uh.....” You can’t think anymore, not with dad plucking at your nipples with one. hand, teasing and stroking you over your boxers with the others. He’s so hot against your ass, and you can feel his length, bigger than your own, trying to slide between your cheeks.

“You didn’t wet the bed, you had a wet dream. There’s a difference.” Aizawa explains, slowly finding a comfortable rhythm of humping against your ass, which drives you forward against his hand where he rubs at your cock.

“A wet dream is when you ejaculate during your sleep. It’s more common during puberty, but not unheard of in adulthood.” He’s in teaching mode, but you’re barely listening, instead gasping and bucking your hips forward, rocking your ass back. You can’t decide which feels better. 

“Sometimes the dream contains erotic material, sometimes not. It seems you had some particularly pleasant imagery of Midoriya, and that caused you to ejaculate. There’s no shame in that. It means you’re a healthy young man.”

You nod your head, trying to convey that you’re trying your best to listen, but there’s a pleasant feeling building up in your stomach, and you know you’re about to cum.

Then dad leans even closer, grabs your bulge, uses his hold there to drag you back against his body where he rubs his clothed erection against your ass. “Do you ever dream of daddy?”

You don’t know what to say, can only manage a squeaky “Uhm-” before Aizawa cuts you off

“Daddy dreams of you.”

The thought has you spurting in your boxers, wetting dad’s hand, messing your clean boxers. The man keeps massaging you through it, and it feels so good, you can’t stop rocking your hips again and again and again.

You collapse against the washing machine, exhausted, cheek resting against the cool metal as you heave out breaths. Your crotch is sticky, and dad moves his hand away, to your thighs to rub the skin there soothingly.

“Dad-wha-what?”

Then you’re being pinned against the machine, Aizawa curling over your body as his hips never stop, working smoothly against your ass. It grinds your softened cock against the edge of the machine, and you can’t catch a breath, can’t formulate thoughts. You just came, you need a minute, you need-you need-

“I have dreams where I’m fucking you. You’d look so good all spread out, letting me fuck you nice and slow. I’d keep going, even after you cum. You’re young, your refractory period is much shorter than mine. You can probably get it up again in a few minutes.”

Your hands are scrabbling against the machine, back against your dad’s body. It’s too much, this is all too much, you can’t-

“”Dad please! ah-ahh! ‘M sens-sensitive!” You whimper, and only then does Aizawa chuckle, pull away from your body.

“You can sleep in my room tonight, yeah? We’ll get your bedding in the morning.”

You’re dazed, pliant and sleepy after your second orgasm of the night. You barely protest as dad leads you to his bedroom.

You’re going to have a lot more material for wet dreams now.

[littlebird-99]

Dreams into Reality

Thorin x Tay

Warnings: Cute moment, thats about it

Summary: Finally relaxing and feeling up to par after getting shot by the arrow, Tay feels comfortable with the dwarves during their Rivendell stay. Dancing, singing, and a moment between Thorin and Tay.

Masterlist

"Lass, that is a mighty fine dress on you, the color suits you perfectly!" Gloin compliments as I nod softly to him as a thank you, "Aye lass! Why don't you give us a spin so we can see it in full?" Bofur's voice can be heard, I turn and look at him, shaking my head softly.

"I'm going to have to decline that dear Bofur," I spoke with a soft voice, "I don't spin, nor do I dance, so don't ask about that either."

"Aw come on lass! What if I sang a song? We just want one spin," he countered, I gave the hat wearing dwarf a small, almost unnoticeable nod to which he noticed and quickly climbed up onto the table, and starts to sing.

"There's an Inn, there's an inn there's a merry old inn

beneath the old grey hill and there they brew a beer so brow

the man on the moon himself came down one night to drink his fill

Ooh, the ostler has a tipsy cat 

that plays a five-stringed fiddle

and up and down he saws him bow

Now squeaky high

now purring low

now sawing in the middle"

I start spinning around, dancing along with his singing, and the other dwarves clapping, letting out my own laughs just as Fili jumps up and pulls me to dance along with him, I let out another laugh before I start singing along with him, along with the others

"So, the cat on his fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle

A jig that would wake the dead

He squeaked and sawed and he quicked the tune

While the landlord shook by the Man in the Moon

'It's after three!' he said"

Everyone all laughed throwing food at Bofur and cheering him on, I pull away from Fili with a smile, bowing gently before standing up straight, "aye, I agree with Gloin, that color does suit you perfectly," Fili grins, I shake my head rolling my eyes softly, "you dwarves need your eyes checked, I'm going to see if my clothes are cleaned... I need out of this dress."

I move away from the dining hall and move towards the gardens, not quite heading to change because I knew my clothes wouldn't be finished yet, I just needed an escape and what better way than the gardens of Rivendell.

"You like to be alone, don't you?" A voice speaks up from behind me, causing me to jump slightly, turning around to see Thorin, I turn back around shaking my head gently, "It's not the I like to be alone, I just love the stars and you can see them better from the garden," I quip back looking back up to the stars above me.  I feel his presence next to me as he sits down next to me. "You don't have to lie to me," his voice hinted that he had a smile on his face and I rolled my eyes lightly.

"My dear king Thorin, thinking I would lie to you?" My voice questions as I face him, shaking my head gently, "the stars... they're the one thing besides mountains that I loved back in my world, they brought me hope," I whisper, "helped me believe that despite my battles, I'm still burning bright as ever."

I could see his smile from the moon that lit above us, and I couldn't help but grow my own before turning back and facing the sky, I let out a content sigh before I move to lay in the grass, giggling softly, "oh this is the softest grass I've felt in ages," I wasn't expecting the head-strong king to fall beside me on the grass, "I have to agree with you, this grass is very soft." His voice was rough, yet I could sense a soft side that only came out when it was just us.

"Tay.." he started softly as he looked at the sky, I turned my head to the side so I could see him better as he spoke, just to see that he was already looking at me, "you're the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," that cause my heart to quicken, "especially in those colors, mahal I don't..." his voice trails off and he looks away from me.

I jump slightly when I hear the others start to sing and dance again, I chew at my cheek, trying to think about what he had said until I see him stand up, holding his hand out to me.

"Dance with me." I could tell that it wasn't really a question, so gingerly I take the dwarfs hand, feeling a small spark of something causing my eyes to quickly find his, before he pulls me up, i let out a small gasp as he pulls me into him, before moving his other hand to my hip, after he rested mine on his shoulder.

I feel his feet start to glide us slowly into a sway, causing my heart to flutter and a feeling in my stomach erupt.

'Butterflies? Is the king of the Blue Mountains giving me butterflies?!' 

As we sway along with the music, nothing else matters in that moment, the music started to fade, and all I felt was thorin near me, the smell of Pine, rain and mud surrounding him, as if he hadn't taken a bath, but part of me was comforted by it, the smell of him was comforting.

"I want you to know... Lady Tay, I'll always be here for you. Whatever you need, whenever you need it. Just don't be scared to come to me," his voice whispered next to my ear as he bent down slightly, his hot breathe scattered against my neck as he spoke.

With those words, his touch disappeared as he did as well, he bowed slightly before he walked into the night, my eyes following him as he did, the smile on my face not fading as it does.

"Careful," a voice whispered slightly.

Quickly turning to the voice I spot Dwalin and Balin standing at the edge of the garden, "what do you mean?"

"Your smile, you look like you're about to fall in love," Balin smiled as he walked away causing my eyes to quickly look back to see if I could spot Thorin.

I couldn't possibly be falling for the king this hard? At first I thought it was maybe my crush on him from my reality, but was is causing me to feel that way here, or was something else happening to me?

I shake my head softly, before moving towards the room the elven maiden had shown me to before taking me to the feast.

"get a grip Tay, he's a king for Mahal's sake!" I growl kicking a support beam rather roughly causing my ankle to feel the pain behind it, "oh you idiot... you hopeless romantic idiot.. the king doesn't love you, you're the only woman on the quest, it's just a matter of who's where during when." Talking to myself as I work my way to my room, not really listening to what's going on around me as the rest of the dwarves are making fires out of the elven chairs, smoking, and drinking fresh Elven ale. 

"Bombur catch!" Bofur calls to his brother and I hear a big crash I quickly run to my room, wishing to not be a part of that when the elves find them.

Tags: @tschrist1

[babysizedfics]

Pink Crayons and Pinky Promises - Part 2

Summary: Being a super cool big brother is hard work sometimes. Especially when you don’t feel as big as usual, Vee doesn’t feel as little as usual, you parents are asleep, your baby sister’s pullup needs changing, you both need breakfast, you don’t know where crayons come from, and you miss your Mommy. But Mommy always calls Roman a clever little boy, so he’s gonna try to deal with all that stuff anyway! That can’t be too hard, right?

Word count: 7.2k

Take me back to part 1!

Also on AO3!

oOo

As much as Roman tried to enjoy colouring again, it was suddenly really hard. His head felt stuffy and his chest felt full—and not in the nice bubbly way. In the yucky balloon way. The yucky balloon always meant he was bored, and Roman hated being bored!

He threw the crayon to the carpet and pouted around his toothbrush. Not even chewing the crunchy bristles could stop the yucky balloon that was swelling in his chest. He rubbed his feet on the carpet again, but that didn’t help either. And now his fingers were feeling tingly! It was the worst feeling in the whole entire world forever and ever!

He groaned and flopped back to lie on the floor with his arms spread out. Bobbles of the carpet caught under his fingernails as he scratched it over and over again. Everything sucked!

Vee squeaked.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Roman asked, feeling a little bit… not little anymore. It wasn’t that he wanted to be big—he really, really didn’t—but it was always tricky staying so little without a grownup there to encourage it.

There was no response from Vee except some little babyish hums. Then some silence. Then an even louder sound: a chirp!

Roman raised his head from the floor just enough to see Vee’s back. Fae was wiggling around on faer butt with faer hand still held to faer mouth. Sucking sounds told Roman that fae was still eating the melon. And every couple of seconds, fae would make more squeaks and hums and chirps!

The yucky balloon in Roman’s chest deflated. “Is it yummy, Titch?” he giggled, sitting back up.

Vee always made funny sounds when she ate. Daddy called them yummy sounds, and Mommy said that was stimming too. It didn’t look much like stimming to Roman, but Mommy was super duper smart so Roman believed him. He liked this version of Vee’s stimming a lot because the noises were fun to listen to!

More chirping met Roman’s ears. Then he saw Vee’s legs kick out gently against the floor. Kick, kick, kick, quick but soft. That meant Vee really liked what she was eating.

Vee being happy made Roman feel a whole lot happier, so he picked his crayon back up to keep colouring!

The only sounds in the room were the crayon scribbles, the toothbrush bristles, Vee’s yummy sounds, and Roman’s little giggles when Vee made a particularly funny noise. He was smiling so hard and for so long that his cheeks even ached!

Then one of Vee’s squeaks got cut short by a whine. Roman looked over at his sister just in time to see faer pick a big black seed from faer mouth and drop it onto the carpet.

“You don’t like the seeds?” he asked, taking his toothbrush out of his mouth. There were a few seeds all over the carpet where Vee had apparently dropped them already.

Vee shaked faer head. “Wucky!” fae squeaked, and even stuck faer tongue out to show just how yucky fae thought they were. “Not s’posed to eat them ‘cause then Daddy can’t gwow them!”

That gave Roman a really creative and clever and funny idea! He tried to look casual, inspecting his toothbrush as if it was far more interesting than what he was about to say.

“Well they can still grow,” Roman started with a sly smile. “They would just grow in your tummy instead of the ground.”

He waited a moment—just long enough to seem cool but not dismissive—then checked Vee’s reaction.

She was frowning suspiciously, the tip of her tongue stuck out in thought. (Though she might have just been licking some melon juice from her lips. There was definitely enough dripping all over her cheeks.)

“They don’t do that…” Vee’s fingernail went back up to her sticky lips and she went quiet again. Then she whispered: “Do they?”

“Sure they do!” Roman nodded. He acted surprised and asked, “You’ve really never had a little fruit tree grow in your tummy before?”

It was pretty funny watching Vee’s eyes get slowly wider. Fae shook faer head. “No, I—Well I don’t think so.”

Roman’s lips betrayed him by pulling into a smirk, but he quickly shoved his toothbrush back in his mouth to hide it. “I fink you woulda noticed if you did. You woulda felt it for sure.”

It was less funny watching Vee’s eyes get quickly shinier. “B-because it hurts?!” Faer breathing got faster and faer eyes darted down to the seeds on the floor. Then fae pulled faer legs up into another tight hug. “I don’t wan’ a fwuit twee hurtin’ m-my tummy!” fae whimpered.

Uh oh.

“No, no, no, Vee! I didn’t—It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt!” Roman scooched on his butt to be right next to Vee and wrapped his arm around her.

“How d’you know?” Vee’s voice was really quiet. She was still scared.

Roman had to think something up real fast. And fast ideas weren’t always the bestest ones.

“I had a melon tree in my tummy once.”

It could’ve gone a whole lot worse than it did, but luckily Vee didn’t look upset by Roman’s answer. She just looked really freaked out.

“In your tummy?!” Vee squealed.

Her voice was so loud and squeaky that Roman even dropped his toothbrush on his empty plate to cover his ear! “Hey, we don’t wanna wake Mommy or Daddy!”

“In your tummy?” Vee repeated in a whisper.

A giggle bubbled up Roman’s chest and out of his mouth. His feet went brush, brush, brush. “Yeah, Titch! That’s how I know it doesn’t hurt.”

All of Vee’s attention was now on Roman. Her mouth was dropped open and she was staring at him and leaning forward. “Was it when we had the melon when it was waining?”

Roman shook his head and sat up straight with a proud smile. “Nu uh, that was only a month ago. This was way before that. Like before you lived with us.”

“Wow…” Vee gasped. “Did Daddy help you get it out?”

Roman’s eyes went wide and he hurriedly added, “No, Daddy didn’t know about it! A-and neither did Mommy, so don’t ask them ‘cause they won’t remember.” That was a close one! He didn’t wanna be in trouble for thinking of cool answers that were maybe not that true.

Vee nodded in understanding, then looked down at her fluffy socks, frowning. It looked like she was thinking hard.

After a few moments, fae hummed and nodded to faerself. “Okay, but even if they’re weally small and it doesn’t hurt, I still don’t want any twees in my tummy.” As if to prove faer point, Vee picked a seed out from one of her melon cubes and dropped it on the side of faer plate.

“Suit yourself,” Roman shrugged. Then—just to prove to his baby sister that he was a brave big boy—he picked the seed up and popped it in his mouth.

“Wo-Wo!” Vee screeched and launched herself on top of him. Her feet kicked out behind her and flung the melon and crayons all over the floor. “Don’t, it’ll gwow in your tummy again!”

Roman laughed even as Vee was crawling into his lap and getting really close up in his face. Then he stuck his tongue out to show her the seed. “I mot swawowed it yep!”

A big gasp came from Vee and her hand quickly lifted, ready to reach into his mouth! But Roman was super fast and grabbed her wrist before she could. Vee kept pushing her hand forward though, and Roman jolted back to get away from it.

With Vee’s weight in Roman’s lap, they both tumbled back onto the carpet, Vee still trying to put her sticky fingers in Roman’s mouth and Roman pushing her hands away as fast as he could.

“Eww, what are you doing?!”

“I’m gonna take it out!”

“No, don’t touch me!”

“Gimme da seed!”

“Your fingers are all sticky and—”

“We not s’posed to hab twees in our—”

“Get your icky baby hands out of my mouf!”

Suddenly, a low chuckle came from the hallway that made both of the littles freeze. They looked over at the living room door just in time to see it push open…

To reveal Nana Janus!

“You two certainly have a lot of energy this morning,” Nana said, smiling as he stepped into the room.

“Nana!” both littles squealed in unison.

“W-we didn’t know you were here!” Roman scrambled to sit up and pushed Vee off his lap. She didn’t cry or anything, she just wriggled onto her butt and held her arms up to Nana, whining. What a baby!

“Good morning to you too, little ones.” Nana looked around the floor and his smile went a bit different—like the smaller, tighter, wobblier one he had whenever Vee was throwing her toys everywhere or Roman was running around in his underwear. The tired kinda one.

“I see you’ve been busy…” he said slowly, kneeling down to where Vee was making grabby hands at him. “Looks like Nana has his cleaning work cut out for him, don’t you agree?”

Roman twisted his head round to look over the floor. There was lots of icky melon and seeds and cereal and crayons all over the carpet. He bit his lip and looked back at Nana with a giggle. “Oopsy daisy!”

That made Nana’s bigger smile come back. “Oopsy daisy indeed.” He pulled Vee into his lap and it made her stop whining. “But don’t get yourself in a fret, little prince, we can tidy up a bit later.”

What silly words! Roman giggled and brushed his feet all over again.

“M-m-m-m—”

The baby was trying to talk! Roman and Nana both looked at faer and Vee blushed under their attention. Fae wiggled and pulled at faer pyjama shirt again. “M-m-me and Wo-Wo are habin’ fun!” Faer voice went real squeaky and happy.

“You’re having fun? Without me?!” Nana gasped dramatically and held Vee’s shoulders, jiggling them a little. 

Big giggles spilled from Vee, and then Roman joined in. They looked at each other with excited smiles. Nana was funny!

When they had gotten over their giggle fit, Nana spoke again. “I was listening to your conversation for a while. Roman, I never knew you were so knowledgeable on crayons and melon seeds.”

Electric excitement coursed through Roman’s veins and he bounced on his butt and brushed, brushed, brushed his feet and scribbled his fingers on the carpet! “Yeah, I-I-I teached Vee lots!”

“Yes, I know,” Nana said with a different smile. The sneaky kind of smile. He pointed at his eyepatch. “I could tell.”

Heat flooded Roman’s cheeks. Nana only ever wore his eyepatch when he was seeing lots and lots of yellow. And Nana only ever saw lots and lots of yellow when someone was doing lots and lots of lying.

“Um, Nana?” Vee whispered, tugging Nana’s waistcoat and making him look down at her instead.

Phew! Saved by the baby.

“Yes, little hatchling? Did you want to play with my watch chain?”

Vee shook her head and looked at Roman. Then she tugged Nana’s waistcoat again and leaned near his ear. Like she was tryna keep Roman from hearing it! But her whisper was too loud for Roman not to hear:

“Did you come down the chimney?”

It took a lot of effort for Roman to not roll his eyes. Ever since Christmas, Vee kept asking Daddy if anyone was gonna break into their chimney. And now it was summer! Roman thought it was a very silly thing to be worried about. Of course no one could come down their chimney; only Santa Claus could do that ‘cause he was magic!

And while Nana did know lots of magic tricks, it was a different sort of magic, Roman was sure. Although, Nana always bringed them lots of presents. And Roman saw him eating gingerbread cookies with milk one night when he was babysitting them… Maybe Roman would have to investigate if Nana had any links with the North Pole!

“No, darling,” Nana assured, tucking Vee’s bangs behind her ear. They were getting real long. “I didn’t come down the chimney.”

Vee sighed in relief.

“Did you, um, crawl through the dog door?” Roman laughed, knowing he was being silly. It was fun to be silly with Nana because he made cool jokes!

“Well yes, but that was last week,” Nana said, then winked at Roman.

That was his special way of telling Roman he was joking, because Roman was clever and he knew what sarcasm was! It made him feel super big and cool to be in on the grownup joke while Vee looked at Nana in shock, so he wiggled happily.

“I just didn’t go home last night,” Nana explained.

“Did you sleep in da apple twee?” Vee asked.

Nana laughed loudly and cuddled Vee closer to him. Roman hugged himself. He wished Mommy was here…

“That was the original plan, but then your Daddy said I could sleep in his bed. So I thought I might as well accept the offer.”

Roman gasped and got ready to speak—but Nana gave him the warning look and beat him to it.

“No, Roman,” Nana said sternly and raised his eyebrow—the one with the shiny piercing that Roman wasn’t allowed to poke anymore. “Before you accuse me of anything, your Daddy was not in there with me.”

Roman squinted at Nana suspiciously. You could hardly blame him for wanting to make sure his Mommy and Daddy weren’t cuddling anyone else!

Then Nana pulled a pack of baby wipes from his sleeve making both of the littles gasp—that’s the kinda magic tricks he did! “Now, why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to this morning while I clean Vee up a bit, hmm?”

The warning voice was back to a soothing voice, and Roman felt all wiggly again!

“Um, um, um!” Roman started, taking a big, stuttering breath. His chest was tight with just how much energy he had to get out, and his mind was racing with all the stuff he wanted to tell Nana! 

Like about how he stopped Vee from crying and how he offered to play without his cars so his little sister could join in. Or maybe about how he was so clever in thinking of how to get downstairs and make breakfast all without breaking any rules! Ooh, or about how brave he was for not crying when his hands got yucky and how he helped his baby sister read the crayon label! Oh but he wanted to show Nana his drawing too!

“Um, um, um, uh, um, um—” Roman babbled, his tongue struggling to keep up with his brain.

“Let’s start with what you did once you were downstairs, little prince,” Nana interrupted softly. “Can you do that for Nana?”

It was weird how Nana didn’t need to raise his voice over Roman to get the thoughts to stop zooming so fast in Roman’s brain, but it worked! Roman took a deep breath to calm down. It was really hard to talk right when he was so excited.

“Um, we-we-we—I made breakfast!” he said louder than he really meant to. He was just super happy because he knew Nana would praise him!

“Oh goodness, all on your own?” Nana’s jaw dropped in surprise as he passed Roman a fresh baby wipe.

Roman giggled with a nod and took the baby wipe to clean his hands. Then he accidentally made a weird happy, throaty sound. Kinda like Vee’s yummy sounds. He bit his lip to hold any more back and wiggled his knees as he wiped his fingers clean.

Then Nana gushed, “What a smart little boy you are, Roman!”

“Eep!” Roman couldn’t hold that sound back. “Y-yeah, yeah, yeah, I am!” He felt almost dizzy with excitement! He quickly finished cleaning his hands then screwed up the wipe and dropped it into Nana’s lap. “I was so clever and-and-and big!”

“Very big indeed,” Nana agreed while he ran his own baby wipe over Vee’s hands. He swirled his finger on Vee’s palm and she squealed and kicked her feet and twisted her head to rest it on Nana’s shoulder.

Then Nana tutted and picked off a piece of cereal that had been stuck to her cheek with melon juice.

“Eww!” Roman giggled. “Vee, you got food everywhere!”

Vee just giggled back and buried her head in Nana’s neck. It looked like she was getting even more little now that they had a grownup with them. Roman was too! He just wasn’t a baby.

“Come on, sweetie, up, up.” Nana stroked Vee’s hair as fae lifted faer head back up and looked at him with a pout. “Say ahh, baby. Ahh, ahh,” Nana demonstrated, holding his mouth open and his chin up.

“A-a-ah!” Vee opened her mouth in a little circle, and Nana quickly wiped all over her sticky cheeks.

“There we are,” Nana whispered, screwing up the wipe and dropping it into Roman’s lap. (Roman squawked and flicked it off straight away!) “Well, I certainly hope at least some of the food ended up in your little tummies.” Nana’s finger swirled on Vee’s tummy this time and fae squeaked and quickly hugged faer tummy.

“Yeah, look!” Roman blurted, remembering yet another thing he needed praise for. He hurriedly grabbed his Spongebob divider plate and held it up proudly. “Look, Nana, look!”

“Yes, darling, I’m looking. And do you know what I can see?”

Roman nodded quickly, eyes tight shut with a smug smile. He was such a good boy and he knew it! “Mhm, my empty plate! Be-because I was a good boy and eated all my breakfast!”

“Oh, it’s not quite empty.”

There was no way that was true! Roman remembered, he eated all of his food! He opened his eyes, knowing there was nothing left on his plate except his—Uh oh.

His chewed up toothbrush…

“Roman, look at Nana.”

The warning voice was back and Roman bit his lip and lowered the plate back to the floor. Keeping his mouth firmly shut, he looked up at Nana with the most innocent smile he could muster.

Suddenly, Nana’s hand darted forward, his fingertips landing on the sole of Roman’s foot and scribbling over his sock.

“Aah, Nana!” Roman squealed, immediately falling into a stream of laughter. 

He hurriedly pulled his feet under his butt so Nana couldn’t tickle them anymore. (It was really fun when Nana or Daddy tickled his feet, but not as fun as when Mommy did it. Mommy was Roman’s favourite tickle monster!)

But then Nana’s fingers held Roman’s chin up and gently pulled his lip down. Oh no! Nana had tricked him!

“Nanaaa,” Roman whined, scrunching his face up and squinting his eyes shut. His gums kinda hurt from his mouth being open… 

Thankfully, Nana dropped his chin quickly. But it was too late. Roman opened his eyes and saw Nana giving him the you’ve-been-naughty look.

“Your gums are positively raw, Roman!” Nana tutted. Then he sighed and shaked his head. “Would you care to tell me why you’ve been chewing your toothbrush when your Mommy and Daddy and Nana have all said that that’s not allowed?”

“Uh ohhh…” Vee whispered, and Roman glared at faer. Fae hid faer face on Nana’s shoulder again.

“I not been chewing it!” Roman defended with a pout. “I was just, um, lookin’ at it!”

That was never gonna work. All Nana had to do was tap his eyepatch for Roman to scramble over an excuse.

“Um, w-well I might of chewed it a little, but only ‘cause… Um, be-because—”

Vee’s head quickly poked up from Nana’s shoulder and she squeaked, “He was chewin’ on it all mornin’, Nana.”

“Little prince!” Nana scolded. “You know you’re not allowed to do that. I’m going to have to tell your parents.”

“Vee-Vee, we had a deal!” Roman whined and kicked his feet on the carpet. What a little tattletale!

Vee didn’t look sorry at all! She even had an evil little baby smile and fidgeted with her pyjamas while she giggled. “You said don’t tell Mummy or Daddy! And Nana is allowed to tell them!”

“What a cheeky little monkey,” Nana chuckled and tickled under Vee’s ear, making her squeal. “That was very clever, baby.”

Hot, heavy stuff filled Roman’s ears and head and he clenched his jaw so tight his gums hurt all over again. Two could play at that game! He crossed his arms and argued, “Well then I’m telling Nana you didn’t change your bedtime pullup!”

That stopped Vee’s giggling. Roman even felt kinda proud at how much her face dropped and how loud she gasped.

“Oh, sweetheart…”

Nana’s voice was so soft it kinda surprised Roman. His own mischievous smile dropped off his face and he looked up at Nana.

Nana was looking down at Vee’s face with a worried kinda look, and he stroked her bangs again even though they were already tucked back. “Is that true, darling?” he whispered.

Fae tugged at her pyjama top again and nodded silently. She looked like she’d done something naughty and felt really bad about it

“Can you tell Nana if it was wet when you woke up?” Nana asked gently.

It made Roman’s heart and tummy drop when he saw Vee’s eyes go wet again.

Now he probably looked like he’d done something naughty and felt really bad about it…

“Nana?” Roman mumbled, hunching his shoulders a little when Nana looked at him again. “Um… her pullup was wet but she said she didn’t wanna change it.”

Vee whined loudly. Faer body went really stiff on Nana’s lap and fae looked up at him really scared—like fae was getting ready to be told off.

“Shh, it’s alright, Vee.” Nana’s hand cupped Vee’s cheek. “You’re not in trouble.”

Even Roman sighed in relief. He never wanted to get his baby sister in trouble.

Nana continued, “But your pullups aren’t like your nappies, sweetie; we really need to change them once they’re wet. We don’t want any leaks, do we?”

All of a sudden, Vee’s wet eyes got even wetter. Fae sniffled and tugged faer pyjama shirt down. Kinda like if fae was trying to hide faer—

Oh… Roman’s tummy sinked even more.

It looked like Nana thought of the same thing, because he had a sad kinda smile now. “Can Nana please check, little one?” he asked really quiet.

Nana nudged Vee’s hands off her pyjama top and out of her lap. Then they could see a small wet patch on her pants.

Vee started whimpering and wriggling straight away.

“Oh, sweetie,” Nana cood and cuddled Vee back on his chest again, swaying her gently side to side.

She made a sad squeaky sound and choked, “Didn’t kn-know.”

“I know, Vee. Shh, it’s not your fault, darling.”

Roman’s eyes went wide. Did that mean Nana thought it was his fault?

“It’s not my fault either!” Roman quickly yelled. “She wouldn’t let me help! A-a-and she pinky promised that she wouldn’t have a accident!”

“Didn’t m-m-mean to!” Vee cried back, but it was all muffled because her face was on Nana’s shoulder again.

“Hey, hey, both of you stop for a moment.”

Both littles went quiet. Even Vee’s sniffling stopped.

Nana nodded at Roman and squeezed his arms tighter around Vee. “Very good. Now we’re all going to take a deep breath, all together. On three, ready?”

Roman’s lips twitched up at the corner and he scrunched his fingernails in the carpet again. He liked taking a deep breath with Nana, it always helped. So he nodded.

“Alright,” Nana said very quiet and soft. “One… Two… Three.” He squeezed Vee’s shoulder to let her know it was time to breathe, then they all took a big breath in.

Roman’s chest filled up, up, up with air, like a big balloon. He watched Nana and when Nana nodded with his chest puffed out really far, they all breathed out again slowly.

Once it was done, Roman’s tummy felt a lot better.

“Now—” Nana’s voice was still soft “—it wasn’t anyone’s fault that Vee had a little accident. Vee, sweetie, do you remember what we say about accidents?”

Vee’s pink cheeks puffed up like they did when she was thinking real hard sometimes. Then she looked up at Nana with her fingertip between her lips. “Um… jus’ habben.”

“They just happen,” Nana repeated with a smile. “They’re not bad or yucky or naughty. They just happen, and that’s okay.”

Once Vee nodded (and smiled when Nana kissed her cheek), Nana looked over at Roman.

“And it’s not your fault either, little prince. I know you were just trying to help your sister feel comfortable. And the most important thing is you didn’t make her do something she didn’t want to do.”

Roman’s heart felt a bit lighter hearing that. But not completely… “Fae still got wet pants, though,” Roman whispered. “I wanted to help faer stay dry!”

Nana shook his head and patted Roman’s knee. It made Roman wiggle his toes. “That’s not your job, sweetheart. And wet pants are very easy to fix, aren’t they, little one?”

For a moment Roman’s tummy flipped in excitement. Nana didn’t call him little one very much, but Roman always loved it when he did!

But then he realised Nana was looking at Vee, not him. Vee was the little one, not Roman… It made his chest feel spiky and whooshy.

“Now let’s get you in a fresh pullup and dry clothes, little love,” Nana told Vee while he reached over to pick up her pacifier from where she dropped it on her colouring. “Those ones can’t be very comfy, can they?”

“Gaga pwup?” Vee babbled with her whole thumb stuck in her mouth. She was obviously more of a baby now. Which meant she couldn’t play with Roman anymore!

“Yes, little hatchling, Nana will help you change your pullup.” He held up the pacifier and Vee gasped. “Do you want your dummy, baby?”

Vee did the grunt that meant yes please, and Nana pulled her thumb out from her mouth and put in the paci instead.

“There we are!” Nana smiled. Then he moved onto his knees like he was about to lift Vee and get up.

But Roman hurriedly grabbed Nana’s wrist to stop him from standing. “We weren’t finished colouring yet!”

Both Vee and Nana were looking at Roman surprised. He let go of Nana’s wrist and pouted grumpily to hopefully distract them from his blush.

“Little prince, I know you and your sister were having a lot of fun on your own.”

Roman nodded enthusiastically.

“But it’s time to fix a couple of things now,” Nana said slow and gentle, like he was being careful not to make Roman cry. But Roman wasn’t a baby, Nana didn’t need to be careful! “I need to help Vee change and then we’re going to tidy up.”

“No, I don’t want to! I want Vee to stay and colour and I want you to go away!”

The last bit wasn’t completely true… But if Nana was going to make Vee not play with him and make him do boring chores then Roman didn’t want Nana there!

“Listen to Nana, little prince,” Nana sighed and sat back down on the carpet, pulling Vee closer on his lap again. “I know you like to be a big boy, but today I think you’re too little to be on your own. That much is clear from the mess you’ve both made. Neither of you are in trouble,” Nana quickly added when Roman’s shoulders went tense. “I know you couldn’t help yourselves, and that’s okay. But now I think we need to give you some grownup supervision before anything else goes awry.”

“W-we’re gonna wake up Mommy?!” Roman squealed, bouncing a little on his butt. “I’m gonna show him my colouring and my plate and the cereal pieces and—”

“Not so fast, darling,” Nana chuckled. “Your mummy still needs his rest, so Nana is going to be your caregiver this morning, alright?”

It made the inside of Roman’s chest swishy and crackly and hot. Like lava! Like angry, sputtering lava!

“Now while I help your baby sister, why don’t you start by collecting all of the crayons and—”

“No!” Roman yelled.

Nana went silent while Vee whimpered. Roman knew it was bad of him to yell around the baby, and it was kinda scary to be a bad boy because he really didn’t want to be bad… But he didn’t want to clean up either! He wanted to play!

“Okay then,” Nana started, slow and gentle again. (Roman wasn’t a baby!) “Perhaps you can start by picking up the pieces of food from—”

“No!” There was no way Roman was gonna touch icky floor food! He crossed his arms tightly.

“Roman.” Nana used his strong voice. “We are not doing this today.”

The strong voice meant he wasn’t happy with Roman, and sometimes it even meant Nana would tell on him to Mommy and Daddy later. The idea of Mommy being disappointed in him made the backs of Roman’s eyes burn and his lips pull down, but he quickly scrunched his face up angrily so no-one noticed.

Nana’s voice was a bit softer when he said, “I’m sure you don’t want to clean up the mess, but I’m afraid it has to be done. If we do it together—”

“No!” Roman yelled again, his voice cracking a little.

It made Vee whine and look up at Nana, who took a deep breath.

Roman knew he was being really naughty now, and it made him feel scared and embarrassed and sad. But he was nearly gonna cry and he really didn’t want to in front of Nana, and Nana wanted to take Vee away from him, and Nana wasn’t letting Roman see Mommy! Nana was mean and Roman didn’t want to do what he said! He grabbed his toothbrush to hold it tight. It made him feel better to hold his favourite things.

“Would you like Nana to help you clean the—”

“No!” This time he even raised his foot from the carpet and stamped it back down! (It was hard because he was still on his butt, but Roman had a lot of practice stamping his feet in all kinds of situations.)

Nana ignored the foot stamp. “Well then would you like to be left alone?”

Roman’s eyes widened and he clenched his toothbrush so tight it hurt. Being left alone sounded really scary and made Roman’s throat clog, but he couldn’t let Nana know that! So he gritted his teeth and put all his strength into making his voice steady: “No, no, no!”

The look on Nana’s face wasn’t happy at all. It was tired and annoyed. “Then you’re clearly too little to make a decision for yourself. Nana is going to help you whether you like it or not.”

“No!” Roman shouted. “I don’t want Nana, I want—”

Roman gasped and closed his mouth really tight. Hot tears made his eyes wet.

Even though it was blurry from his tears, Roman could still see Nana’s face soften. Then Nana asked in a low voice, “What do you want, sweetheart?”

And that was exactly how Mommy always sounded when he was cuddling Roman and helping him to stop crying.

Without any warning, Roman suddenly felt his face crumple and his mouth made a squeaky sad sound. He quickly buried his face in his arm to try to squeeze the tears away like before, but it was too late. His sleeve was already getting wet from him crying.

“I-I—” Roman squeaked, trying to think of another clever idea. But it was too hard. He couldn’t think about anything except…

“I want my mommy!” he wailed into his arm. His tummy sinked all the way down now, and he hugged it with his free arm to try to make it feel better.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Nana cood softly.

It made Roman’s tummy swoosh so he hugged it even tighter. Then he heard some quick shuffling and suddenly a warm arm wrapped around him. Nana’s hand laid flat on his back and rubbed up and down, nice and slow. It helped Roman take a deep breath, but it was shaky and got caught in his chest. A sob broke free and he bit his lip.

“Shh, shh. It’s okay, little prince.” 

“I w-want Mommy,” Roman whimpered, spluttering on his tears.

“I know you do, Roman,” Nana whispered and Roman slowly leaned against him. It was warm to lean against Nana and it felt safer. “Oh, you poor thing.”

Another little squeak met Roman’s ear, and for a moment he thought it came from him. But then he felt small fingers wrap around his hand and knew it was Vee. Roman whimpered and squeezed his sister's hand gently. He hoped fae knew it meant thank you.

Fae squeezed his hand back.

Nana’s hand went circle, circle, circle on Roman’s back. Nice and slow. “You miss your mummy, don’t you, little one?”

Roman waited a moment to find out if Nana meant him or Vee. But then Nana squeezed his shoulder softly and repeated the question. Roman was the little one.

With a wet sniffle, he dropped his arm from his face. There was no point hiding anymore, Nana and Vee definitely both knew he was crying. He still didn’t wanna look up from his lap though.

“I just—” Roman cut himself off because his voice was all croaky and thick and wobbly. He whimpered and squinted his eyes shut and squeezed his toothbrush as hard as he could. This is why he hated crying, it made him sound like a baby! 

“Deep breath, little prince.”

Just like Nana said. Breathe in, deep… Breathe out, slow… 

That was better. Plus, Nana’s hand was still rubbing Roman’s back and Vee’s fingers were still squeezing Roman’s hand. It all felt very safe.

Roman quickly wiped his sleeve over his eyes then looked up at Nana.

It was easier to whisper when he cried, so Roman tried that instead. “I just want Mommy to see h-how clever I been.”

Nana had a sad smile. “And he will, darling. Just as soon as he wakes up.” 

Roman didn’t like that. It made his tummy sink all over again just thinking of waiting even longer to cuddle Mommy.

Then Nana’s fingers gently wrapped around Roman’s other hand and lowered it. Roman had started raising his toothbrush to his mouth without even realising! He pouted as Nana tugged his toothbrush down. Chewing his toothbrush would help him feel better right now, but he wasn’t allowed.

“Don’t you think it’ll be so much more fun to tell Mummy all about—” Nana’s eyes swept over the messy room quickly before landing back on Roman “—your endeavours after we’ve tidied up a bit? Then you can brag—uh, tell him all about how you helped to clean up, too.”

“But I want Mommy now!” Roman whined, stamping his foot again. It wasn't as hard this time though, only a soft kick. “I waited all morning a-an-and I always wake up Mommy and he’s never ever mad about it!” His lip wobbled even though he was sure he was done crying now.

The hand rubbed circles on his back again, nice and slow. It reminded him to breath in, deep, then breathe out, slow.

“I don’t doubt it for a single second, Roman,” Nana said in a bouncy voice. It was the babysitting voice and it made Roman’s tummy feel lots calmer. Even Vee perked up at the sound and wiggled happily on Nana’s lap. “But your mummy wasn’t feeling very well last night. Do you remember?”

Roman’s lips twisted in thought. Last night Mommy felt sicky and he was sad and his bedtime was really early, even earlier than Vee’s. After a moment of thought, Roman nodded his head. “Mommy was feeling yucky.”

“Wucky!” Vee squeaked and bounced in Nana’s lap with a squeal.

Roman giggled at faer excitement. Fae was just a baby, so fae didn’t really know what they were talking about… Fae probably just liked that word! It was kind of funny when the baby was excited when something not very exciting was happening!

“That’s right,” Nana said, wiggling his finger on Vee’s side. She smiled and wiggled just like the finger. “And when we’re feeling yucky, we need lots and lots of sleep to feel better.”

“But… b-but if Mommy was awake and he saw what a good boy I been then he would be happy,” Roman whined. Then he added, “And maybe I can make Mommy feel better.”

Nana’s lips pulled up in a smile and he gave Roman a squeeze. “That’s very sweet, Roman, but it’s not little ones jobs to look after their parents. That’s a big grownup job…” The hand on Roman’s back lifted away, but before Roman could pout, Nana poked his nose! “And I think we might have a very little prince this morning, hm?”

It made Roman blush and fidget. “Mhm…” he agreed quietly, then felt his toothbrush stroke across his lip before Nana tugged his hand down again.

“No, darling,” Nana scolded gently, tapping Roman’s wrist. “No chewing. Unless you want me to tell your Daddy.”

Nana was beginning to sound like Vee. Apparently being a tattletale ran in the family… With a massive sigh that he hoped would make Nana feel really guilty, Roman dropped his toothbrush back to his plate. Then he stuck his tongue out, just in case Nana didn’t realise Roman wasn’t happy about it. It made Nana laugh!

Maybe Roman wasn’t that annoyed. It actually felt really nice and soft and warm and bubbly and safe that Nana was trying to help him stop chewing the toothbrush, even if Roman really wanted to. His gums were super sore now anyway. And no matter how clever Roman was, he was still only a little boy! He knew that grownups usually knew more than he did. That was okay though! It meant Roman could just play and have fun and leave the big responsible stuff to the grownups.

“Gaga?” Vee whispered.

When Roman looked down at Vee, it was obvious she was pouting behind her paci. And she was tugging at her wet pants.

Nana’s cold fingers unwrapped from Roman’s wrist so Nana could cradle Vee’s head. “Sorry, sweetie. Let’s get right on that.” His thumb stroked over Vee’s cheek and she hummed and closed her eyes. She looked kinda sleepy.

Then Nana paused and looked back at Roman softly. “I know you’re worried about your mummy, little one, but I was with him for an hour or so last night. I promise you that he’s okay.”

Normally Roman believed Nana (unless Nana winked at him, which meant it was a big kid joke!) but this was very important. So Roman needed Nana to make a very important promise.

“Pinky promise?” Roman asked, holding his little finger up.

Nana’s pinky wrapped around his without hesitation. “Absolutely. Pinky promise,” he said very clearly, and Roman believed him. Then Nana’s hand dropped and his smile was back—the happy, soft one! “And I bet once he’s all rested up, your mummy would love to play with you later.”

Obviously! Mommy always loved playing with Roman because he was such a clever and creative little boy! Roman’s legs vibrated just thinking of all the fun he would have with his mommy. “Maybe-maybe-maybe playing lots!”

“Lots and lots!” Nana gasped, then he shuffled Vee around in his lap to start getting her ready to stand up. (She whined, but she always whined when she had to use her legs.)

Roman giggled, “A-and maybe he will play cars with me!” 

“Oh, I’m certain he will.”

“And Nana you’re allowed to watch us play cars!”

A big chuckle came from Nana as he stood from the floor and helped Vee stop from tumbling over. “Thank you for your generosity, little prince. I would adore being a spectator for the hundredth time.” Once Vee was standing upright, Nana unwrapped his arm from her shoulders to hold her hand

“W-well, now you get to be a vip spectre!” Roman assured Nana, bouncing up onto his own feet. He jumped up so fast his head went all spinny and he had to hold Nana’s arm to help stay balanced.

“A V.I.P. spectator, sweetheart,” Nana corrected. (But Roman didn’t like saying each letter on its own. It took too long.) “As I said, I would love to do that later. But for now—” Nana held his empty hand out to Roman “—will you please come with me and your sister upstairs?”

Roman pouted at Nana’s hand. It was nice to hold hands, but it felt like Nana thought he was a baby who couldn’t walk on his own. Like Vee.

“Um…” he muttered, wringing his hands to avoid holding Nana’s. “But I’m a big boy. I can stay here on my own and clean the mess.”

Roman didn’t want to be on his own or clean the mess, but he did want to sound like a good big boy.

“That’s very true,” Nana nodded slowly, lowering his hand. “But you see the thing is, I seem to have forgotten all of the rules to your special car game. So I need you to explain it to me all over again, otherwise I’ll be completely lost when I watch you play with your mummy.”

“Awober again,” Vee whispered.

“Nana,” Roman giggled. How silly of Nana! “You always forget the car game rules!”

“I know, it’s funny how that happens. Now could you be a good big brother and hold Vee’s other hand for Nana?”

Yay! Now Roman got to hold someone’s hand and still feel like a big boy! Roman quickly bounced to Vee’s free side and took her empty hand, very happy that it wasn’t sticky anymore.

“Wo-Wo!” Vee cheered, smiling up at him past her paci and hugging his hand to her chest.

“I’m gonna help you walk, Vee-Vee!”

“Good boy,” Nana praised from Vee’s other side. “Now, are we all ready to head upstairs?”

Roman and Vee both nodded at Nana. It was fun when they were on their own, but it felt better to have a grownup to help them with grownup stuff. At least Roman thought so.

“Alright, here we go, little ones,” Nana announced, and they all started walking toward the hallway hand in hand. As they stepped carefully to make sure Vee didn’t trip up, Nana asked, “So will you be so kind as to tell me about your cars again, sweetheart?”

Roman’s cheeks bunched in a big smile. It was good Nana kept forgetting the car game, because it was Roman’s favourite thing to talk about!

“Okay! For the billionth time!” Roman laughed, his chest bursting with excitement for the day ahead.

“For the billionth time. I think I remember a little though. It’s the blue car who always wins the race, right?”

“Nana, it’s the red one!”

“Oh, of course. How silly of me.”

“Siwy!”

“Yeah, Vee, Nana is silly!”

“I suppose I am. What else can you tell me about the red car, little prince?”

oOo

I really hope you enjoyed the latest fic for this ongoing series! If you did, please consider reblogging, leaving a comment, or sending me an ask or message! They really keep me motivated to write more!

Thank you for reading! ヾ(ᴖ๑ᴖ)ﾉﾞ

Take me back to part 1!

Also on AO3!

[merakiaes]

Familia - Oscar “Spooky” Diaz

Pairing: Oscar “Spooky” Diaz x reader

Requested: Yes. 

Prompts: None. 

Warnings/notes: Warning for slight OOC-Spooky and a change of the series’ original plot and storyline. There’s soe Spanish in here so you might have to look some phrases and words up. This took me nearly four days to complete so please leave a comment and let me know what you think. This is definitely too long to be proofread so I apologize in advance for any possible mistakes. I hope you like it xx

Wordcount: 30,766 (Yup, you read that right)

Summary: You and Oscar have been together since you were seventeen, with a four-year-old daughter and another child on the way. When Ray returns after being absent from his sons’ lives for twelve entire years, tension is awakened between everyone and you’re determined not to let your family fall apart. 

Quick, Spanish words blended together with the bubbling sounds of the coffee maker on this early morning in the Diaz residence, filling the otherwise silent air.

You could make out the faint sound of the clock on the kitchen wall and through the open window right where you were standing, you could hear the early birds chirping and the leaves of the trees rustling with a light breeze.

The smell of coffee was invading your senses and the fresh air coming in through the window pulled at your hair where you stood by the sink, washing the plate Oscar had eaten his breakfast from only minutes before, but the warmth from the sunrays hitting your face and bare arms made up for the chilly morning breeze.

The man in question was sitting at the kitchen table with his phone pressed to his ear, speaking to Sad Eyes and waiting for the coffee you had promised to bring him when he had to answer the call.

He had, of course, protested, saying that you shouldn’t be doing as much work around the house as you did when you were heavily pregnant, but when hearing what his second in command had to say he had sat down pretty quickly.

The sound of his voice and the feeling of genuine peace this morning was enough to make you smile as you cut off the water and gave the plate a good shake before grabbing a towel and drying it off.

Once the surface was squeaky clean, or well, as clean as it could be with the deep, grey fork scratches from the frequent use, you put it back into its cabinet and brought down Oscar’s black coffee mug.

The bubbling of the coffee maker had quietened down by now, indicating that the coffee was done and ready to be consumed, and you wasted no time in filling the cup up to near the brim, only saving a little bit of space.

The cup was now releasing a cloud of steam that went all the way up to your face, causing your skin to grow damp.

But you paid it no mind, simply walking over to the refrigerator where you brought the open carton of milk out, briefly putting the mug down on the counter in order to be able to open it and pour some in.

Once you were done, you put the milk back into the fridge and grabbed the mug again, not letting your eyes leave it even once as you carefully waddled over to the table where Oscar was sitting, not wanting to spill the coffee on the floor.

You might have filled it a little too generously and it wasn’t the easiest of tasks so balance it when you could barely balance yourself on your feet with the weight of your round belly, but you managed, reaching Oscar within the next few seconds.

He looked up at you the second he saw you approaching. Once you reached him, the hand that wasn’t holding the phone reached out for your belly, pressing against it protectively before taking the steaming hot cup of coffee from your hand.

You smiled softly, wiping your hands on the front of your jeans to rid them of the little coffee you had spilled while waddling over from the kitchen.

“You heard anything from Cesar yet?” You asked, keeping your voice down to not disturb his call.

You watched as he took a gulp of the coffee before shaking his head, mouthing ‘no’ as he listened to Sad Eyes speak on the other side of the line, all while holding eye-contact with you.

When you had gone to wake Cesar up, you had found his bed empty like you had so many other mornings before. Him sneaking out when you were sleeping to go sneak into Monse’s house wasn’t a rare occurrence.

Still, especially now when you were pretty much constantly controlled by your hormones, the motherly worry came naturally whenever he wasn’t safe at your side. But you were sure he was fine. If he wasn’t, Oscar would have known. He could always sense when his mano was in danger.

Dropping the subject, guessing he would show up before going to school, you wordlessly leaned down to kiss Oscar’s cheek before leaving him to his call and coffee again, instead heading towards your shared bedroom.

Reaching the door, you grabbed the handle and carefully pushed it open, peeking your head inside.

The room was dark, the blinds still down, but just enough light managed to escape in through the cracks of said blinds to allow you to see your daughter where she laid in yours and Oscar’s bed.

She was laying facing the door, her long, black locks spread out in a mess over the white pillow, her chest rising and falling with soft snores leaving her nose and her thumb sucked into her mouth.

The sight of her never failed to make your heart skip a beat in your chest, just when it did when you saw Oscar. Neither of you had lived very happy lives but she was the greatest gift God ever could have given you.

You had met Oscar when you were both no older than seventeen, and Cesar ten. You had both been in a really bad place, with Oscar struggling to carry an entire gang on his back while simultaneously having to raise his brother and with you jumping between your friends in a desperate attempt to flee the system you had been forced into at an early age.

To a start, your relationship had only been about a warm body to hold when things got too heavy and you couldn’t go through it alone.

Oscar wasn’t too fond of feelings and lovey-dovey shit and always had to show himself as hard and emotionally unavailable, and you… well, you just didn’t trust very easily.

But when you started staying over after your nightly fun and he saw you with Cesar in the mornings, he couldn’t help but fall head over heels in love with you, and when he started inviting you over for activities that didn’t include rolling around in the sheets, your feelings started developing for him too.

You never officially moved in with them, but you never really left either. You started making sure that three meals a day was on the table for them and started taking initiative to walk Cesar to and home from school when Oscar got caught up with disobeying the law.

A year later, you were playing house and happy family pretty much on a routine with little to no effort at all, everything coming naturally.

The Santos accepted you into the family, Cesar looked up to you like you were his mother despite the fact that you were only seven years older and Oscar was already planning on spending the rest of his life with you.

On your eighteenth birthday, he gifted you a promise ring and kept an identical one for himself. He wasn’t one to get all cute and mushy and this time was no different, but you knew it was a big step for him to take so the way he handled it didn’t really matter.  

It had been one of the best days of your life. Not only were you now claimed by Spooky, but you were also free from the system and free to be your own individual, and on the same night you found out that you were pregnant and expecting your first child together.

But of course with your luck, the happiness was short-lived.

The next night, Oscar was arrested and sentenced to four years in prison, leaving you and Cesar alone. Of course, you still had the Santos to provide for you. Oscar being gone didn’t change the fact that you were a part of the family.

But you didn’t like having them around the house when Oscar wasn’t there so the only one you really hung out with was Sad Eyes, who came by a few times a week to check up on you and leave you a roll of cash for rent, food and other necessities.

How exactly they got the money you didn’t know, neither Oscar nor Sad Eyes liking to involve you into the gang-business, but you didn’t ask questions.

You went to visit Oscar in prison every Tuesday, Sad Eyes and Mario taking turns driving you while Cesar stayed at the Martinez residence until you got home when he was still too young to be left home alone.

Cesar never went to visit him in person, though. Oscar didn’t want him to have to see him stuck behind that thick glass in that awful jumpsuit, so he only ever talked to him over the phone once or twice a week.

During your pregnancy, Mario was there for you every day and you managed to become really good friends which you knew Oscar was forever grateful for.

There weren’t many people the infamous Spooky respected and trusted, but Mario was one of them and he was happy that you were able to hang around someone on the right side of the law.

After first hearing about your blooming friendship when Mario had driven you to visitation day the first time, Oscar more or less forced the slightly younger guy to go with you to all of your ultrasounds from then on, wanting him to witness everything that he was missing so that he could re-tell it to him during visitation.

Mario was too scared to turn him down so he made sure he was free to accompany you to all of your check-ups and by the time you were approaching the end of your pregnancy, you had lost count of the amount of time Mario had been mistaken for the dad.

Much to his horror, he had been forced to be present at the time of birth, as well. Geny Martinez was there too at your request and she was able to keep her calm, having gone through the procedure of childbirth before, but the seventeen-year-old Mario had never been as terrified as he was then.

Still, he forced himself to sit through it in order to be able to tell Oscar about it at the next visitation, during which you brought him pictures of your baby girl and decided on a name.

It took a while to get on the same page, but after a good half hour of bickering back and forth, you finally managed to decide on the name Lucía with a helpful input from Mario who had been sitting by and listening to your fighting in silence up until then.

You had been planning to talk to Oscar about making Mario Lucía’s godfather after that, something you hadn’t told Mario yet.

But before you could even mention it, Oscar, much to yours and Mario’s surprise, was the one to bring the topic up, telling him it was only right after how much he had been there for his baby mama when he couldn’t.

And of course, Mario gladly accepted, basically jumping with happiness when you left that afternoon.

Him and his family continued to be there for you now that you didn’t only have Cesar to care for, but a newborn baby, as well.

It was all overwhelming to you, all of the sudden having so many people jumping at the chance to help you when you had grown up all on your own.

You continued to visit Oscar on your own, bringing him new pictures and stories every time, but you never brought Lucía to see him.

You wanted him to meet his daughter and you knew that he wanted nothing more in the entire world than to do so, but he didn’t want her first memory of him to be of him in prison, much like he hadn’t wanted Cesar to see him like that.

So you had no other choice but to respect his wishes, instead showing your daughter pictures of her father every day as she grew bigger, to put a face to the man she would be calling daddy when he got out.

And his sign-out day was soon upon you, four entire years later. Both you and Oscar were twenty-two at the time, Cesar fifteen and Lucía had just turned three.

Four entire years he had gone without touching you or seeing his mano face to face, but that was nothing in comparison to the three years he had been forced to endure knowing he had a daughter waiting for him on the outside, a daughter he had never gotten to meet.

He didn’t show it, but he was so nervous that he almost threw up on the spot when he came out of the building inside which he had been locked up for the past four years, to see you standing in front of his red Impala with Lucía balanced on your hip.

She had smiled upon seeing his familiar face, recognizing it from the pictures you had shown her every day, and stretched her arms out for him with a gleeful laugh.

That was the first time since meeting him that you had seen him cry, tears welling up in his eyes as he took his daughter into his arms, felt her skin against his for the first time ever.

You had stayed there, in the middle of the parking lot, for a good ten minutes. He had been holding her so carefully, not moving an inch, almost as if he was scared that he would break her if he did.

Once he finally broke free from his trance and managed to relax, he had taken you to the beach where you spent your first ever hour together, eating ice cream and watching the waves.

It had been perfect, but also very comical.

Oscar obviously knew how to be a father. He had raised his brother on his own throughout his entire teenage years, and all he really had to do was the exact opposite of what his dad had.

But he had absolutely no idea how to handle a baby, so to say it had been hilarious to see him chasing after Lucía as she, in turn, chased after a couple of seagulls, was the biggest understatement of the century.

He had been so careful with her, so wary and pretty much walking around on eggshells the entire time you spent together. And when she fell and started crying, he was at an absolute loss of what to do.

But then he picked her up, held her against his chest, and she stopped crying immediately, nuzzling her face into his neck and wrapping her short arms around him, and he was absolutely gone in the sudden burst of love he felt.

Ever since then, he barely left her alone, and you knew it was only going to get worse as she grew older. You didn’t even want to think about how protective he would get when she started getting interested in boys.

You loved her to bits but Oscar… the love he held for her was on an entirely different level. He would throw himself into the line of fire to take a bullet for you, but for her, for her he would burn down entire cities if he had to.

He was in love with you and had been since the moment you first met, but it was in her that he had found his true happiness and that, in turn, only made you even more happy.

The sound of a car door slamming shut somewhere out on the street suddenly cut through the air and you jumped in fright, a hand automatically flying to clutch your chest in an attempt to calm your racing heart.

You had gotten so lost in your train of thought that you had no idea how long you had been standing there for.

You shook yourself back to reality and sent a final glance to your sleeping daughter before you carefully closed the door again, allowing her to sleep in. You left a small crack open in the door so that you would be able to hear her if she woke up and cried for you, and headed back into the living room area of the house.

Oscar was still sitting where you left him, his back turned to you where he sat at the table.

His eyes met yours as you re-entered the room and he started saying goodbye to Sad Eyes on the phone, only a second later removing the phone from his ear to end the call on the screen.

As he did so, you approached him from behind, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and leaning your head down to press a kiss to the side of his neck, breathing in the intoxicating smell of his skin and kneading his shoulders with your hands gently.

“Everything okay?” You questioned and he hummed, raising the now almost empty cup of coffee to his lips to take a gulp while putting his phone down on the table.

Just then, the front door slammed open, causing both of you to jump with surprise and look over to where Cesar had now barged into the house, his eyes wide with worry.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Cesar yelled out, head looking around in search for his brother for a second before finding you at the table, then walking up to you while pointing his thumb behind him. “There’s a dude posted up outside!”

You tensed at the sound of his words, your hand instantly going to your belly, and Oscar wasted no time in standing up from his seat.

“Baby?” You questioned, and he turned to you, pressed a chaste kiss to your forehead, hand on top of your own where it rested on your stomach.

“Wait inside, mamas.” He instructed before turning around and grabbing his gun from on top of the cupboard standing in the corner and marching outside, cocking the gun as he walked through the doorway and out into the sunshine.

You exchanged a look with Cesar and as usual, before you could even think to stop him, he did the exact opposite of what he was told and rushed after his brother.

“Get back inside!” You could hear Oscar yell at him almost immediately and he did as told, backing into the doorway again and looking back at you.

Curiosity got the best of you when you still hadn’t heard any threats or gunshots from outside and you waddled up to your future brother-in-law, holding on to his arm while you attempted to peek outside.

His hand came up to grab yours and together, you slowly moved a few steps further out on the porch.

Your eyes instantly found Oscar where he was standing on the lawn, body tensed up. And then your eyes flickered over to where he was looking, finding a man standing around on the other side of the street by a tree.

He was wearing a white tank top and blue jeans with a belt, had black, slicked-back hair, a big tattoo running across his chest with a few smaller ones on his arms. He was smoking a cigarette, leaning against the tree as him and Oscar stared each other down, and he had a bag waiting at the ground beside him.

It didn’t take longer than a few seconds for you to connect the dots and recognize the man from Oscar’s stories, figuring his identity out almost immediately.

But Cesar was clueless, taking another step forward and losing his grip on you in the process, looking between his brother and the stranger with confused, brown eyes.

“Oscar?” He called out, taking another step closer to him. “Who is that?”

The man’s eyes moved from Oscar to Cesar as he made himself known, and even though you couldn’t see Oscar’s face right then, you knew him good enough to know that he was glaring.

“Our father.” He answered without missing a beat, confirming your suspicions.

Cesar froze in his spot, his eyes turning slightly wider, while Oscar turned his head to the side and tucked the gun into the hem of his shorts, turning around to come back inside.

He shoved past Cesar who was still standing rooted to his spot, and you reached your hand out to grab his arm once he reached you in the doorway.

“Baby.” You mumbled, pulling him to you, and he made no move to stop you, his hand simply coming to rest on your belly and his forehead pressing against yours as you backed into the house together.

“I thought I told you to stay inside.” He muttered, annoyed, but his touch was as soft as ever, not threatening in the slightest.

“I know, I’m sorry…” You apologized quietly, looking up at him hesitantly. “Should I put on some more coffee?”

His soft eyes turned stern. “No. He’s not staying.” He told you surely, shutting the subject down.

You nodded silently and sat down with him in the sofa, Cesar coming in and sitting down beside you with his father in tow a few seconds later.

While you and Oscar sat close to each other in the furthest corner of the couch, his arm wrapped around your shoulders, Cesar sat at the opposite corner, his elbows leaning on his thighs and his legs manspreading just like his older brother’s were beside you.

Ray’s eyes instantly found you where you were sitting, flickering between Oscar’s face to yours, and along to Oscar’s hand that was still resting protectively on your belly, thumb absentmindedly rubbing soothing circles through the fabric of your shirt and sporting a thick, golden wedding band identical to the one on your ring finger.

A look of shock momentarily crossed over his face, but he quickly covered it up, dropping his bag to the floor and starting to look around, now smoking a fresh cigarette by the looks of it.

The air remained thick with silence for a good minute and you almost felt like you were about to suffocate from the tension.

Oscar was tense beside you, his leg bouncing up and down in an attempt to keep himself calm and so far, he was doing an alright job.

You had expected him to react a lot harsher when the time came that his dad would be returning home and you were proud of him for being able to stay calm, even if you knew he was only doing it for you and Lucía and not for himself.

But then Ray walked over to the kitchen table and tapped the excess ashes of his cigarette into the mug that Oscar had been drinking coffee from only a few minutes ago, and he instantly reacted beside you.

“Can you not smoke in the house?” He spat out at his father, his face pulled into a murderous glare. “It’s not good for the baby.”

“Oscar.” You spoke before you could stop yourself, your face turning to meet his glare with a pointed look. He only stared at you for a second, before turning back to his dad, his glare now even fiercer.

You turned to look at the older man too, forcing yourself to smile. “It’s fine.” You told him and he nodded at you, but Oscar was quick again.

“It’s not fine.” He snapped, and you closed your eyes, breathing out deeply through your nose.

It wasn’t that you were angry with Oscar for being rude. He had every right to be and quite frankly, you hadn’t even expected him to let his father into the house.

But still, you always got anxious when he was in a bad mood, no matter what the cause behind it was, and the stress wasn’t good for the baby so you had to do everything in your power to stay calm, the tension making you so uncomfortable you would have rather melted through the floor than stay there right now.

Luckily, however, Ray stayed polite even with his son’s anger directed toward him and nodded his head, looking directly at you as he put the cigarette out in an ashtray standing on the table. “Sorry.”

You forced another smile through the tension and nodded, silently telling him thank you.

“So when did you get out?” Cesar finally joined the conversation after having sat quiet up until then, obviously nervous judging by the way he was twisting his hands around.

“Yesterday.”

Ray looked around some more as he answered, and Cesar smiled. “How was the trip down?” He asked, but Ray barely even spared him a glance.

“Long.”

The tone in his voice was bored and for a moment, you were overwhelmed by the urge to slap him upside the head and tell him to sound more interested. But of course you didn’t, keeping quiet as you watched him walk around the room.

“Looks the same, even smells the same.” He muttered but stopped himself as he came over a photograph on the wall. It was of you, Oscar, Cesar and Lucía on his first morning home from prison.

You looked like absolute crap, just having woken up at the time, but Oscar had insisted that you hang it up and who were you to say no?

Ray hummed at the sight of the picture, his fingers touching the frame lightly. “Almost the same, at least.” He said, before turning around.

You glanced at Oscar as Ray walked over to where you were sitting, finding his face pulled into an expression of pure and utter hatred as he watched his dad sink down on the stool across from you.  

The feeling of unease only intensified inside of you now that the only thing between him and Oscar was a coffee table, feeling hopeless that you couldn’t do anything to ease the tension, and Cesar was feeling equally as awkward about the entire situation.

Ray looked at his youngest son, raising his head in a questioning manner. “You in school?” He asked, and Cesar opened his lips to reply.

Before he got the chance to get as much as a sound out, however, Oscar beat him to it. “Of course he is.”

Their father’s eyes flickered over to him and he nodded. “How about you?” He asked, Spanish accent thick. “Going to college?”

His question drew a scoff from Oscar’s lips. “Seriously?” He questioned.

You could feel him getting angrier for every second passing and out of pure instinct, grabbed a hold of the hand he had resting on your belly, a move that didn’t go unnoticed by Ray.

The man in question quickly looked away from your now intertwined fingers and back to his oldest son, changing the subject. “You’re about to be a father.” He pointed out, and the words instantly caused your lips to tug up into a smile.

“I am a father.” He corrected his own dad, the hidden pride in his voice causing a flurry of butterflies to go through your stomach.

If Ray hadn’t been shocked enough to see you pregnant when he first entered, he was almost at loss for words now. “You have another one?” He asked and Oscar answered without missing a beat.

“Lucía. She’s four.” The corner of his lip twitched upward for the shortest second, but he quickly realized his mistake and hardened his face again as the next question was delivered.

“How long have you been together?” Ray asked.  

“Almost seven.” Oscar answered flatly, again without missing a beat.

The silence was really deafening, thick to the point where it was almost painful to be there. More than anything you would have rather just slipped away and gone back to bed where Lucía was still sleeping.

But you didn’t want to be rude and you knew that Oscar preferred to have you by his side when things were uncomfortable for him, so you stayed, no matter how much you didn’t want to.

“It- It’s nice to see you.” Cesar spoke then, breaking the silence again. You smiled at him, adoring him for how he was obviously trying to ease the tension, but Ray only nodded, not answering and not looking away from Oscar, which caused your smile to fall slightly.

Cesar didn’t give up, trying again. “Do you have any plans?”

This time, Ray turned his head to look at him, shaking his head. “No. Just wanted to see you guys before heading up to Bakersfield. Got a job lined up.” He informed him, and before he got the chance to answer, Oscar took the wheel again.

“Cesar, you need to get to school.” He spoke sternly, his eyes not leaving Ray, who had now looked back to him again.  

Cesar threw his arms out in exasperation, looking to his older brother and looking ready to protest, but one stern look was more than enough to make him rethink that decision.

Instead, he sighed, turning to look at his dad again. “I’ll see you later.” He said, voice discouraged as he grabbed his bag from the floor beside him and begrudgingly standing up.

You watched as he headed for the door, reaching out to grab the handle, but before he opened the door he stopped himself and turned back around.

“Hey, do you maybe, uh, I don’t know, wanna hang? After school?” He asked unsurely and Ray tore his eyes away from Oscar’s for a moment to look up at him.

“Sure.” He answered.

Cesar’s discouraged attitude was exchanged by a happy one almost instantly and he nodded. “Cool.” He said and without another word to any of you, opened the door and left.

“So where are you staying?” Oscar asked the second his mano was out the door, causing Ray to turn back to him.

“Here.” He answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and you automatically braced yourself, thinking that Oscar was going to object.

But instead, he only sniffed, pulling a hand over his mouth and chin and standing up, clearing his throat and walking out the front door, leaving you alone with his dad.

You knew he didn’t really want you, Lucía and his unborn baby around his dad, but you knew that he also knew that you would have to talk to him sooner or later, which you guessed was why he hadn’t forced you to come outside with him.

You hadn’t expected Ray to actually speak to you so when he did, you were surprised.

“He really hates me, huh?” He asked, looking down at his hands where he was fiddling with his fingers.

“No.” The word slipped out before you could help yourself, causing him to look up at you. “He loves you. A bit too much, if you ask me.”

You hadn’t meant for the words to come out as harsh as they did, but in retrospect, he deserved nothing better, something he seemed to know.

“I deserve that.” He agreed with your thoughts, giving you a somber look.

“You do. He’s really hurt and has every right to be. But you know…” You trailed off, swallowing and shrugging your shoulders gently. “It’s not too late. If you stay, he might forgive you someday in the future. It’s going to take a long time and you’ll really have to work for it, but I wouldn’t rule it out.”

He listened to you intently. You could really see how concentrated he was on your words and you appreciated the fact that he was actually partaking in the conversation you were having.

He nodded his head slowly, spacing out for a moment, but then pulled himself back to reality and waved a hand at your stomach.

“How far along are you?” He asked, and automatically, your face instantly lit up in a wide smile.

“I’m due in a month.”

His lips stretched into a smile of his own, although much smaller. “Congrats.” He congratulated and you nodded in thanks as he kept talking. “What about the other one? Lucy? Where is she?”

“Lucía.” You corrected, motioning with a hand down the hall. “She’s still asleep so you’ll meet her later.”

A hesitant expression crossed over his face. “You think Oscar would be okay with that?”

You understood his worries because you knew for a fact that Oscar wouldn’t be happy about it, but you still offered him a comforting smile. “If you’re staying here, I don’t really think he’s got much of a choice. She’s curious so she wouldn’t stay away from you even if we told her to.”

He hummed, nodding his head toward you again, this time looking at the ring at your finger. “You married?”

Without even noticing it, you began twisting the golden ring around your finger. “No. Not yet.” You replied. “We’ve been engaged for five years but it’s not the right time for a wedding, you know, with the Santos and everything going on. But I hope, someday.”

“But the timing was right for a kid?” He asked and his face pulled into one of regret almost instantly. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

But you took no offense to it, simply shaking your head. “It wasn’t planned and we would have rather waited until we had a more secure life going, but…” You paused, smiling gently as you remember how happy Oscar had gotten when you gave him the news. “When I got pregnant there wasn’t much else to do but go through with it because getting an abortion wasn’t an option for neither of us.”

“Do you know what gender it is?” Ray motioned for your stomach once more and again, you shook your head.

“No, Oscar wants it to be a surprise.” You told him.

He nodded, eyes flickering between your stomach and your face. “What are you hoping for?”

You snorted, rubbing your hands over your stomach gently. “I would like a boy for a change but Oscar is hoping for another girl.” You told him, rolling your eyes. “He thinks the risk of him fucking them up, the risk of them walking in his footsteps down the wrong road, is smaller if they’re girls.”

A part of you thought the logic behind his reasoning was nothing but ridiculous, but another part understood the pressure of giving them a better life than he was given.

“I didn’t have a good dad and I ended up the way I did because of him.” Ray told you then. “I never thought I’d be a good dad and I wasn’t, and it’s because of that Oscar ended up the way he did. But it’s not too late for him, to turn things around.”

He was unsure of himself as he spoke and the closer you looked at him, the easier it became to identify the shame behind his eyes. You knew he didn’t deserve your sympathy, but you couldn’t help it.

You tried your hardest to push the feeling of secondhand sorrow to the back of your head, almost feeling like you were betraying Oscar just by feeling it.

“I know.” You agreed with a small smile and he nodded.

“Do you think he knows?”

“He does.” You confirmed, shrugging your shoulders with a sad smile. “He just has to deal with it in his own time.”

Ray hummed, averting his eyes from you and looking around the room. “He’s lucky to have you to guide him. You seem to love him and Cesar a lot.”

“I do. More than anything.” You said and he turned back to look at you with an awkward glance.

“That’s good.” He said. “They both need someone like you in their lives, to keep them away from the bad stuff.”

“Well, Oscar was already mixed up with it when I met him but I’m doing my best to prevent him from getting stuck in it too deep. And as for Cesar, you’d catch me dead before I let him get caught up in any of it.”

You thought back to when Cuchillos had wanted Cesar jumped out of the Santos when he had failed his task to kill Latrell.

Because of a lot of yelling from your side, Oscar had agreed not to push him away, but you weren’t sure he would have done the same if you hadn’t been there.

Either way, going against Cuchillos put a lot of heat on all of you, especially Oscar. They were forced to make up their debt by setting the Prophets up with the money the Santos had robbed from a bank the week before and get them all arrested.

So that was one gang gone from the streets, and it had been pretty quiet since, but now you heard rumors about the kids from 19th Street going around to all of the business on their block, threatening people into paying them rent, which was a new problem in itself.

But you were sure Oscar had it under control. They may have been violent, but they were just kids, most of them no older than fifteen.

If there was anything you had learned from analyzing the other kids in the system while you had still been there, it was that the cause of anger most of the times found its source in them wanting one thing and one thing only; security, which could be used to bargain with them.

It would have been harder if they had been older. Then, they most likely wouldn’t have been after anything in particular, just power, like the Prophets had been.

Getting them off the streets had cleared Oscar and Cesar’s debt with Cuchillos but she was still hanging on his ass, more than she had been before. She was doubting the extents he would go to in order to make sure she was happy, a problem she hadn’t been having before he met you and had a child.

It was constantly unsafe for you and Lucía to go outside and if Oscar got to choose, you wouldn’t have been going outside at all. But you refused to be caged inside like some animal and he knew that both Lucía and you needed the fresh air and human interaction, so he had no other choice but to allow it.

He felt a bit safer with the Santos keeping a watchful eye over you whenever you went anywhere.

You had all heard rumors about the previous generation of Santos turning their back on one of their own some years ago but luckily, this generation of Santos were more loyal to each other than to Cuchillos.

They loved you like you were family and would do anything to keep you safe.

“He’s a good kid. Cesar.” Ray nodded his head, pulling you out of your thoughts and back to the conversation you had almost forgetting you were still in the middle of.

You nodded your head, returning your gaze to him. “He is.” You confirmed. “He’s got a lot of potential. Both of them do, even if Oscar thinks his is long gone.”

His lips twitched every so lightly at your words, his heart unbeknownst to you swelling with pride. But before either of you could say anything else, the sound of a light cry broke through the air.

Both yours and Ray’s heads instantly turned toward the hallway leading to yours and Oscar’s bedroom, and you wasted no time in moving to stand up at the sound of your daughter’s intensifying cries.

She could get extremely confused and disoriented when she woke up alone so you wanted to get to her as quickly as you possibly could.

But getting out of the low couch was easier said than done when you were heavily pregnant. Luckily, twelve years in prison didn’t seem to have stolen all of Ray’s manners, the older man wasting no time in wordlessly standing up and offering you his hands.

You took them gratefully, thanking him softly under your breath and allowing him to pull you to your feet.

“I’ll be right back.” You told him, offering him a last smile before waddling past him and in the direction of your bedroom.

You held on to the wall for support as you walked, reaching your destination in no time despite the slow pace you were forced to walk at. Pushing the door open, Lucía’s cries instantly quietened down as she found your form in the doorway.

She was still lying in the exact same position that you had left her in; turned towards the door with her thumb in her mouth, only now her eyes were wide open and glassy, staring back at you.

“Good morning, baby.” You greeted her as you walked inside, and she wasted no time in shuffling up in the bed.

You walked past her and directly to the windows, pulling the blinds up to let the sunshine into the dark room. Turning back around, you found her shielding her eyes with her arms, sitting on the edge of the low bed, if that’s even what you could call it.

It was just a thick mattress on the floor, without an actual bedframe. Oscar had taken the frame down and gotten rid of it the second he got home from prison, claiming it was too dangerous for Lucía to be sleeping that high up without any kind of fence at the sides.

You didn’t enjoy sleeping so far down to the floor, especially not now when you were pregnant and could barely stand up by yourself, but you hadn’t stopped him, allowing him to be a father for the first time in three years.

Lucía let out a small whimper, rubbing her eyes and getting off the bed, walking over to you. She held her arms out, her blue comfort blanket hanging from one of her hands, and you gave her a sad look.

“You know mommy can’t carry you, baby.” You told her, putting a hand on top of her head. “My stomach is in the way.”

You pulled a hand through her messy, black curls, breathing out in relief when she simply sniffed and lowered her arms again rather than throwing a fit.

It would seem you had caught her on a good day, much to your luck as you knew her meeting with Ray would have been chaotic to say the least if she would have been in a bad mood.

Taking her hand, you wordlessly led her out of the room, taking it slow so that her short legs could keep up with you. When you walked back into the living room, Ray was still standing in the middle of the room, now facing you and appearing to have been waiting for your return.

Once he caught sight of Lucía, a flurry of emotions instantly flickered through his eyes and face, but the second she caught sight of him, she stopped right in her step, cowering behind your leg.

Still holding her hand, you were forced to stop with her, and you looked down at her. “You want to say hello?” You questioned, watching as she shook her head and hid even further behind your legs.

But Ray didn’t seem to take it personally, staying in his spot to not frighten her and smiling softly to himself.

“Shy.” He pointed out, and as that word would be the last one you would use to describe your daughter, you laughed.

“She won’t be when she wakes up properly so I’d brace myself already if I were you.” You warned him, looking down as Lucía stepped out from behind your legs, tugging at your hand and cautious eyes never leaving Ray’s form.

Despite your back and every muscle in your body screaming at you not to, you bent down and picked her up, grateful that she wasn’t very heavy. Once she was secured on your hip, she wrapped her arms around your neck and carefully dared to peak through her curls at Ray, who was now walking closer.

“Es bella.” He complimented his granddaughter, smiling as he pointed a finger at his eyes. “Has Oscar’s eyes. And his curls, too.”

“Yeah, she does.” You chuckled, looking at her. “She didn’t get much from me.”

Ray watched you as you brought a hand up to her face and pulled a curl away from her face, the strand of hair wet with the tears still fresh on her cheeks.

“Is he a good dad?” He asked, causing you to look up at him as he shrugged. “Better than me, I mean.”

“The best. He would do anything for her.” You smiled. “She loves him to pieces, almost never leaves him alone.”

Lucía sucked on her thumb, looking up at you with big eyes. “Quiero a papa.” She mumbled out, her light voice muffled.

At her words, you raised an eyebrow at Ray, who was now smiling in amusement. “You see?” You questioned, before turning your attention back to her. “Let’s go tell daddy you’re awake, yeah?”

She buried her face in the crook of your shoulder in agreement and you turned your attention back to Ray. After him asking you to use the shower and you pointing him in the right direction of the towel cabinet, you bid him goodbye for now and headed outside with Lucía still in your arms.

You spotted Oscar at the driveway immediately, his body bent down and head hidden beneath the hood of his car, hands working away on something inside.

A smile grazed your lips at the sweet sight of his tan arms under the sunlight and Lucía looked up the second the familiar sound of a wrench being twisted reached her ears.

“Papá!” She squealed out, instantly drawing the attention of Oscar. His lips turned up and he dropped the wrench, wiping his hands off on a red rag before kneeling down and opening his arms.

Lucía immediately started twisting her body in your arms, wanting to be put down, and you gladly granted her wish and put her down on her feet, having to stop on the porch for a moment to stretch your aching back.

While you did so, you watched with a smile as Lucía ran into Oscar’s arms, who in turn wasted no time in picking her up against his chest. “¿Dormiste bien?” He asked her, and you waddled your way down the steps of the porch to approach them.

Lucía nodded to answer his question, not very talkative when she had just woken up, and Oscar brought his hand up to the back of her head, pressing a kiss to her forehead and mumbling fondly against her skin. “Mi princesita.”

His eyes drifted over to you when he saw you approaching then, your hand covering your face from the bright sun.

“Did you talk to him?” He nodded at you, wasting no time in cutting to the chase.

You hummed in response, standing up on your tippy-toes in order to press a kiss to his cheek. “Yeah.” You answered honestly, feeling his eyes on the side of your face as you switched your attention to Lucía where she was resting her head against Oscar’s shoulder.

“What did he say?” Oscar asked, and you answered simply.

“Stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?” He questioned again and this time you turned to look at him.

“Just stuff.” You smiled, bringing your hand up to his cheek. “Don’t worry about it.” You pulled him down to be able to press your lips to his in a sweet kiss, but the second you pulled apart again, he went right back to interrogating you.

“Did Luci talk to him?” He asked, his face now turned into a glare.

You shook your head, dropping your hand from his face with a sigh when you realized you wouldn’t be able to cure his foul mood right then, not that you blamed him for being angry in the first place. “No. She’s still drowsy from waking up so she was a bit shy. She didn’t cry though so that’s a good sign.”

He hummed, turning his attention to Lucía. When he looked at her, she brought her head up from his chest and stared right back, her nose scrunching up when he brought his hand up to her face to move a strand of hair that had stuck to her cheek, just like you had done minutes before.

After making sure her face was free from hair, he turned back to you, looking you up and down and nodding his head slightly when he reached your feet. “Your shoelace is up.”

You looked down at his words, finding that the shoelace of your left Nike shoe was, in fact, undone. But before you could even think about trying to tie it yourself, not that you would have been able to,  he had put Lucía down on her feet and gone down on one knee, lifting your foot up to his thigh.  

“I got it.” He told you simply, tying your laces up in no time. When he dropped your foot back down and stood up, an uncomfortable pain suddenly went through your stomach, forcing a gasp out of your lips.

Oscar was alerted immediately, watching as your hands automatically went to your stomach. “What’s wrong?” He asked, his entire attitude turning serious and his hands coming to rest on top of yours,

“Nothing.” You quickly answered, smiling as you got used to the uncomfortable feeling. “He’s just kicking. Here, give me your hand.”

Without waiting for a reply, you moved your hands from underneath his and grabbed his wrist, moving it to the place where your baby was kicking the hardest.

“She’s kicking.” He corrected you with a small glare while you moved his hand around, causing you to roll your eyes and drop his wrist.

“You always have to ruin the moment, don’t you?”

“No, espera.” He said as you began moving away from his touch, moving right after you in order to keep his hands on your stomach.

You smirked at him, shaking your head. “Too late now, papi. She stopped kicking.” You turned to Lucía, holding your hand out. “Come on, mija. Let’s go.”

Oscar watched as she took your outstretched hand and stood at your side, narrowing his eyes slightly. “Where are you going?” He questioned, and even though there would never be a day when you weren’t thankful for his protection, you rolled your eyes at the defensive tone in his voice.

“We’re taking a walk to the store.” You told him. “The fridge is nearly empty and we need to stock up on food now that we’ve got another mouth to feed.”

“He can pay for his own damn food.” Oscar quickly spat, eyes turning hard. “You’re not his sirvienta.”

“Oscar.” You warned with a glare of your own. “Don’t lose your temper in front of her.” You instinctively pushed your daughter further behind your leg to shield her from Oscar’s murderous face.

He turned his head to the side the second your words reached his ears, taking a deep breath through his nose and calming himself down before turning back around. His face was still cold and guarded, but not nearly as furious as it had been a few seconds ago.

“Be careful.” He ordered you softly, one of his hands finding its way to the top of Lucía’s head while the other rested on your belly. He leaned his head down and pressed a kiss to your forehead. “I love you, amores míos.”

“We love you, too.” You smiled, squeezing his hand with yours.

He pulled away from you after another two quick kisses and turned to Lucía, raising a playful eyebrow at her. “Sé bueno para tu madre, ¿de acuerdo?” He held his pinky finger out and she hooked her much smaller one with his, taking her thumb out of her mouth.

“Prometo.” She answered with a toothy grin.

“Good girl.” He ruffled her hair, chuckling in amusement as her face pulled into a glare, her small hands trying to swat his hand away.

Turning back to you, he gave you a chaste kiss to the lips. “I’ll see you soon.” He said, giving your stomach one last caress before turning back to the car, allowing you and Lucía to walk away and head for the store.

Being pregnant was always one huge dilemma. Your ankles were constantly swollen and your back felt like it was about to snap in two pretty much all of the time. But in order for your ankles not to get even more swollen and for your back not to get even more stiff, you had to walk around pretty much all day, which was never free of pain.

Luckily, you lived pretty close to the store you usually shopped at and the store in question was still on Santos territory which you knew was the only reason that Oscar let you and Lucía walk there alone.

His boys all lived spread out through the same neighborhood as you did and when they weren’t out patrolling or participating in illegal activities, they were always sitting out on their lawns or porches, watching over the street and by doing so, also watching over you.

The walk that would have taken no longer than five minutes for anyone else took about fifteen for you.

Not only could you not walk very quickly with the extra weight you were carrying around and with Lucía’s short legs, but now that she had fully woken up, her usual overly social personality had come back to the surface, pretty much forcing her to stop and greet every neighbor who happened to be outside. And let’s not even talk about the many times she spotted an animal.

It was safe to say that it took a while for you to reach your destination and you were sure that if Oscar hadn’t known how his daughter functioned when she was out in the world, he would have come after you, worried out of his mind, a long time ago.

But he was very well aware of how she functioned. After all, he had gotten used to it before she was even born, her absentmindedness and tendency to get easily distracted being pretty much the only thing she had inherited from you.

Everything else about her; her looks, her temper, the energy that never seemed to run out and her charm, came from him. It was truly like looking at a mini Spooky.

Nearly an entire hour had passed before you were turning back onto your street, Lucía’s hand clasped in yours and your other hand holding two plastic bags full of groceries.

Rather than her thumb being in her mouth, she was now happily sucking away on a blue lollipop, her mouth sticky with a mixture of the sugary goodness and ketchup from the hot dog you had bought her for a late breakfast on your way home.

You had tried to wipe it away but she had pretty much refused to let you touch her, too eager to chase after a squirrel, so you let it go, deciding you would just give her a shower when returning home instead.

It was an as good time as ever as she was still dressed in yesterday’s clothes, having fallen asleep in them the night before and both you and Oscar having been too tired to even notice it.

While eating her lollipop, Lucía was looking around the street with a wide smile on her face, waving to every person she laid eyes on, while you were keeping your gaze forward.

You could see Oscar still working on the car in the driveway of your house in the distance, but now Ray was standing beside him, motioning to the car while Oscar kept his focus on the engine.

As you got closer, you could hear Ray laughing as he said something.

You could make out the exact words but whatever he said made Oscar snap because the next thing you knew, he slammed the hood shut and got up in Ray’s face, who was now looking down into the ground.

When seeing the all but peaceful behavior, you pulled at the back of Lucía´s shirt gently, urging her to stop.

“Hold on, baby. Let’s wait this out, yeah?” You smiled down at her, and although she hadn’t noticed her dad and Ray fighting yet and had no idea what you were talking about, she happily nodded and sat down on the sidewalk, patting the asphalt beside her in a way that made your heart melt in your chest.

She was so used to you having to take small breaks every so often by now that she never even questioned it anymore.

You couldn’t deny it felt nice for your feet to sit down for a moment, but your heart was still heavy in your chest as you listened to the conversation taking place in the distance while Lucía cluelessly played with your bracelets beside you, caught up in her own world.

“Let’s get something straight. You can come back here and pretend to be a father. But I know what’s up.” You listened intently as Oscar spoke to his dad, watching out of the corner of your eye as he raised a hand to motion to the house. “Cesar. He’s been through a lot of shit lately. So I’ll let him live under this delusion. For now. And let’s not even talk about my girls. If it were up to me you wouldn’t even be allowed to be in the same room as them, but (Y/N) wants to give you a chance because you’re their Abuelo, so you better not fuck this up.”

Oscar glared at Ray and took a step back, wiping his hands on the red rag as he walked around the car toward the fence.

“Does Cesar hate me?”

Oscar stopped at the sound of his dad’s question, looking back at him and scoffing. “He’s never even talked about you.” He answered with pure hatred, before turning back around and disappearing behind the red fence to the backyard.

Only then did you and Lucía stand up and keep walking, not wanting her to witness any conflict. Ray turned around at the sound of your footsteps, his eyes catching sight of you, and when his gaze flickered down to Lucía by your side, he hurried to drop the cigarette he was smoking and waved the smoke away with his hands.

No matter how bad he had treated Oscar and Cesar in the past, you could admit that it was decent of him to care for Oscar’s wishes about not smoking around her and actually seem to care about her wellbeing.

He started walking toward you to meet you halfway and wasted no time in reaching for the bags of groceries in your hand. ”Let me help you.”

“Thank you.” You thanked him, using your now free hand to support your belly as you walked up in front of the house.

Once entering, Lucía ran past the two of you toward the kitchen island where she climbed up on the barstool she had claimed as her own a long time ago, watching you as you followed.

Ray put the bag down on the island in front of her and her eyes were instantly on him.

“What’s your name?” Her small voice came before either of you could even think about saying anything else, followed by the sound of the hard lollipop hitting against her teeth.

A shocked expression took over Ray’s face for a moment, not having expected her to talk to him so soon. But you had warned him.

“Ray.” He answered after taking a moment to collect himself, watching the small girl with a fond expression.

Lucía stared right back at him with curious eyes, squinting them and tilting her head to the side slightly, just like Oscar would do.

You put a hand on top of her head as you passed her, smiling. “Él es tu Abuelo.” You told her and she instantly held her pinky out.

“Mucho gusto.”

Ray raised his eyebrows, glancing at you as if asking you what to do. You held up your own pinky behind her at that, silently showing him to hook his with hers, and he did just that, turning his attention back to her.

“Nice to meet you, too.” He said politely, watching as she then turned her attention to a magazine that was laying on the countertop. In turn, he moved his attention to you, pointing out. “You’re teaching her Spanish.”

You nodded, beginning to busy yourself with unpacking one of the bags. “Yeah. Or, well, Oscar is.” You chuckled. “Almost seven years together and I still don’t know much. I can understand it, though.”

“Better than nothing.” Ray praised you awkwardly and moved to unpack the second bag, to which you offered him a grateful smile.

“Do you like ice cream?” Lucía then spoke again, causing you both to turn back to her while continuing to unload the groceries onto the counter.

“I love ice cream.” Ray answered, causing her to smile.

“Me too.” She said happily, her body moving where she sat as she kicked her legs under the counter.

Ray nodded while you went around his back to start putting things into the fridge. “What’s your favourite flavor?” He asked, passing you objects over his shoulder in a fluid pace without breaking eye-contact with the smaller girl.

Her smile widened at the question and she took the lollipop out of her mouth in order to flash him a charming grin. “Chocolate chip cookie!” She exclaimed proudly and as you rounded Ray to keep taking things out of the bag, you noticed his eyebrows shooting up.

“Mine too.” He admitted and Lucía gasped.

“Twins!”

You bit the inside of your cheek to keep yourself from laughing out loud. Her bubbly personality in comparison to his pretty much opposite one was so comical to you for some reason. But Ray didn’t hold it in, chuckling at her as he continued to help you with the groceries.

Before any of you could spark up another conversation, the sound of the front door opening reached your ears. Expecting to see Oscar, you were surprised to instead see the younger Diaz brother walking inside, bag slung over his shoulder.

Your eyes instantly shot up, but he only greeted you with a smile, grinning even wider when his eyes caught sight of Ray standing beside you.

“What are you doing home already?” You wasted no time in asking, crunching the now empty bag together into a ball with your hands.

Cesar dropped his bag on the counter once he reached you and leaned in to kiss your cheek like he always did when greeting you.

“Our teacher got sick last minute and they couldn’t find a sub.” He informed you and you hummed, watching as he turned to Lucía.

“Hug, tío.” She held her arms out and he bent down to give her a hug without protest, attacking her cheek with kisses.

She giggled, holding on to him tighter, and you instantly moved in to pull them apart when seeing her lollipop dangerously close to his hair. “Watch your uncle’s hair, Lucía.” You told her as you carefully moved her hand away.

Cesar pulled a hand over the back of his head to check for any stickiness as he stood back up to his full height but didn’t seem very bothered as he locked his pinky with hers, grinning widely at her before turning to Ray.

He suddenly turned shy, shifting on his feet. “Are you free right now? I was thinking we could go over to Dwayne’s Joint and grab some lunch. My friend’s dad is the owner and I work there sometimes so I eat for free. The food there is amazing.”

Ray glanced at you, almost as if to ask permission, and when you gave him an encouraging nod and smile, he turned to his youngest and smiled awkwardly. “Sure, I could eat.” He agreed and Cesar instantly lit up.

“Great. Let’s go.”

“Have fun.” You told them as Ray began rounding you.

Cesar reached over and gave you a quick side-hug, followed by an even quicker kiss to the cheek, obviously excited beyond words to finally get to spend some time with his dad. “I’ll be home to help with dinner later.” He promised.

You only smiled, accepting the brief affection with a smile on your face. “Don’t worry about it, it’s still early. You’ve got time.”

The teenage boy flashed you a final grin, showing off his pearly whites, before the two of them bid you and Lucía goodbye and left, leaving you and your daughter alone.

Looking to her, you noticed she had now finished the lollipop, the stick laying on the magazine beside her, and that she was now looking up at you with big, questioning eyes.

“Can I go draw?” She asked, and you smiled, nodding.

“Of course.” You replied, picking the lollipop stick up from the magazine and heading over to the trash bin. You could hear her getting down from the chair behind you and you turned around, pointing a finger at her. “But go wash your mouth first.”

She only looked at you, giggling before running away. You stood still, listening intently until you heard the tap turn on in the bathroom, only then moving again.

“You best friends with my dad now?”

You jumped at the sound of the sudden voice speaking up from behind you, one hand going for your heart and the other going directly to your stomach. Turning around, you found Oscar now leaning against the edge of the kitchen island. You hadn’t even heard him come inside.

“Shit, Oscar.” You swore, leaning back against the sink as you attempted to calm your beating heart, glaring at him. “You know you can’t scare me like that.”

He nodded slowly, uncrossing his arms from over his chest and pushing himself off the island, approaching you. “Sorry.” He apologized lowly, placing a hand on your stomach. “¿Estás bien?”

You released a breath through your nose, looking up at him. “Yeah, but you near gave me a heart attack.” You told him, eyes pointed. “You know the doctor said scaring me isn’t good for the baby.”

Taking you into his arms, he nuzzled his face into your neck, pressing his lips against the skin in the crook where your neck met your shoulders. “I didn’t mean to.” He mumbled, voice coming out muffled as he placed another kiss on the spot.

“I know you didn’t.” You hummed, wrapping your arms around his neck and dragging your fingers over the back of his head. “It’s fine.”

He pressed a third kiss to your skin before bringing his head back up, looking at you with absolutely no emotion on his face. “I don’t want you being around him. I don’t want Lucía around him.” He stated flatly, and you knew exactly who he was talking about.

“He’s her grandfather.” You defended, your voice becoming hushed so that she wouldn’t hear you talking and a glare settling over your face.

He met your glare with one of his own. “I don’t want her to get attached.” He did nothing to hide the loathing behind his words, but despite being angry he kept rubbing soothing circles on your waist and stomach.

“You’re not the only one who gets to make decisions regarding our daughter. I’m her parent, too.” You pointed out. “I’m not his biggest fan either and you know it, but I’m not going to alienate her from him like he’s got the plague. We’re all going to be living under the same room and for her sake we have to make the best of the situation.”

Oscar’s eyes closed with annoyance and he breathed out harshly through his nose, his hands stilling their previous movements at your sides. He leaned his forehead against yours and pressed a long, hard kiss to your lips, before turning around without another word and heading for the bathroom.

He clearly didn’t agree with anything you had just said but he still knew your relationship was more important than being petty and never left you on a bad note, which was one of the many, many reasons that you loved him as much as you did.

You were left alone in the kitchen when he disappeared, but not even a minute later you could hear his voice yell out through the entire house.

“SHIT!”

Your pregnancy hormones had completely control over your body and worry instantly filled your body, causing you to imagine the worst and forcing your feet to carry you across the room toward the bathroom as quickly as they could.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” You yelled out as you waddled through the hallway, appearing in the bathroom doorway only a few seconds later.

You instantly allowed yourself to let go of the breath you hadn’t known that you were holding when seeing that Oscar wasn’t hurt, laughter quickly bubbling up in your throat and escaping your lips in soft chuckles.

Oscar turned to look at you with a glare. “You think this shit is funny?” He asked, hurrying to turn off the tap that was running on full capacity.

Bringing a hand to your mouth in a failed attempt to hide your laughter, you shook your head, taking in the way his feet were now soaked in the water that had collected on the floor.

In the sink laid a white towel, having prevented the water from going down the drain and given the water no other choice but to spill over the edges.  

You struggled to hold back the snickers at the sight of him walking around in the water, his socks hanging off at his toes with the added weight.

With the laughter still caught in your throat, you turned your head out to the hallway, yelling out. “Lucía! What have we told you about leaving the towel in the sink?”

“And turning off the fucking tap!” Oscar joined in, his voice shaking the walls.

You stepped over the threshold and walked into the bathroom, happy you weren’t wearing socks and slapped his chest while giving him a pointed glare. “Don’t curse at her.” You scolded, and he simply met your glare with one of his own as Lucía’s voice came from down the hall.

“Sorry!”

The sound of her voice instantly made Oscar’s glare fall, but he still pulled an annoyed and tired hand over his face, reaching out to grab a dry towel from a shelf.

“I’ll help you.” You wasted no time in trying to round him to get to the shelf, but he caught you by your upper arms, stopping you and letting out a sigh.

“No, I got it.” He insisted. “It’s not even noon and you’ve already moved around more than you did all day yesterday. You shouldn’t put too much pressure on yourself, mami.”

He was in a bad mood and had every right to considering the circumstances. Not only had his dad just returned, pretending as if he hadn’t been gone for twelve entire years but now he had to clean up after his irresponsible daughter, too.

You raised your hand to his face, pressing it against the line of his jaw and turning his head toward yours. Without saying anything, you pressed your lips to his, feeling him let out another breath through his nose, his body slowly but surely relaxing under your touch.

Breaking apart, you kept your hand on his cheek, searching his eyes.  

“I love you.” You told him sincerely, watching as his eyes closed and feeling his hands come to rest on your waist, the situation at hand and the mess around you momentarily forgotten as you held each other.

“I love you too, mamas.” He replied, leaning down to steal another kiss before pulling apart with a sigh, looking around at the mess he would be left with.

You caressed the corner of his lip as he looked around, bringing your other hand up to touch the cross hanging around his neck. “Can you give Lucía a bath once you’re done?” You asked and he nodded.

“Yeah.” He turned to look at you again. “Did she eat?”

You hummed in response to his question, confirming it. “She ate a hot dog on the way home from the store, hence the need for a shower.” You chuckled, looking around. “I doubt she actually got any of the ketchup off her face. Mostly looks like she made a mess in here.”

“A mess?” He raised an unimpressed eyebrow, letting go of your waist and taking a step back, the water splashing around his feet. “We have an indoor pool.”

“Yeaaah…” You drawled, laughter once again bubbling up in your throat. Your eyes flickered to the floor for a second before going back up to meet Oscar’s, your hand laying a light slap to his cheek. “Have fun cleaning this up, baby.”

You leaned in and placed a last kiss to his lips before turning around and heading back out toward the doorway, making sure to wipe your feet off on the threshold sill before stepping over it into the dry hallway.

“Puta…” You could hear Oscar muttering under his breath as you walked away and you grinned, yelling back over your shoulder.

“I heard that!”

“Good.” His voice came again, this time a lot closer to you, and before you had time to register what was happening, a sharp slap was delivered to your ass.

You squealed, almost jumping out of your own skin in surprise. “Oscar!” You scolded him, turning around to see him standing in the doorway with the towel twisted in his hand. How he had gotten there so fast without you hearing him stepping over the water you didn’t know, but you couldn’t keep the smile off your face.

He leaned his head out into the hallway and stole another kiss, giving you a smug smirk. “Go lay down, mami. I’ll deal with this shit.” He told you before closing himself into the bathroom, and you didn’t have to be told twice.

You shook your head, chuckling to yourself and rubbing your stinging butt while waddling back into the living room and heading directly for the couch.

Laying down, you let out a breath of relief as your back was stretched out and the pain slowly but surely started disappearing.

You grabbed a pillow and placed it over your face to block out the sunlight for the sake of your growing headache and just laid there, listening to your surroundings.

Outside the window right above you, you could hear doors of houses and cars opening and slamming shut. You could hear voices of kids yelling somewhere down the street and the wind that had been blowing through the window earlier that morning was still going strong judging by the sound of ruffling leaves.

A few minutes later of just lying there in silence, you could hear Oscar walking out of the bathroom and into Lucía’s room, talking to her in Spanish.

Another minute or two later, the sound of the bath filling and the bathroom door closing cut through the otherwise silent house and with a sigh, you decided that you were done resting.

No matter how nice it felt in your back to lay down, you hated doing nothing and didn’t want to waste any more time just lying around when there were plenty of things to be done around the house that you knew no one else would deal with.

So you stood up and wordlessly started moving around again, going around the house on a hunt for dirty dishes and bringing them with you to the kitchen where you dumped them in the sink for later.

You then began picking clothes and garbage off the floor, throwing the clothes in a hamper and the trash in a bag.

Going through the hallway with the hamper in one hand and the trash bag in the other, you checked through every room and cleaned up where it was needed.

Cesar’s room was the one at the end of the hallway and you braced yourself, also knowing that it was always the messiest.

You weren’t one to complain about what state in which he left his room; he had his space and you had yours, and as long as the door remained closed to that you didn’t have to look at his mess, you didn’t care.

But on the rare occasion, like now, where you had nothing better to do, you would head in and clean it as well as you possibly could without violating his privacy and going through his private things.

You had learned the hard way that he got extremely defensive about his things and his privacy so after that first time, you hadn’t made the mistake of snooping again, even though it had been by accident that you had found an open condom wrapper on his desk.

That was the first and only time he had ever yelled at you, something Oscar had given him shit for later, but you didn’t really take offense to it; you were only glad that you hadn’t found the condom.

While picking up dirty clothes and candy wrappers from Cesar’s floor, putting them in their respective bags, you looked around, taking in your surroundings.

The walls that had been white up until a few months ago were now spray-painted in blue and pink graffiti and on the wall right next to the doorway, a pinboard hung, holding drawings and a few pictures of Cesar with you, Oscar, Lucía and his friends, the one of him with Lucía being one of your favourite pictures.

Cesar’s arms were wrapped around her from behind, both of them smiling so widely it almost made your cheeks hurt by looking at. Lucía was holding an ice cream cone, her entire face covered in the treat, and she was wearing a yellow hat that had slid down over her eyes, hiding them from the camera.

You had taken it on one of the many days you had spent with them on the beach. It would have been perfect if Oscar had been there, but he had still been locked up at the time.

You smiled as you thought back to that day, remembering their laughter and how they had chased each other at the seashore, Lucía having been absolutely ecstatic when feeling the water at her feet.

With one last look at the photograph, you evened it out so that it wasn’t crooked before continuing to clean up on the floor.

Once all of the trash was in the bag and all of the dirty clothes were in the hamper, you folded the clothes you knew were clean and put them into his drawer, then moving on to make his bed and tidy his desk up a bit.

The carpet needed to be vacuumed and the surfaces in his room were in a pretty desperate need of a dusting and scrub, but you decided to put a pin in it, knowing it wouldn’t be very long until he got back home and probably wouldn’t want you in his room when he did.

Closing the door behind you when you left, you headed for the closed bathroom door and put the  trash bag on the floor to be able to open the door, still holding on to the now full hamper at your side.

As the door slid open, you were immediately graced by the sight of Oscar’s naked back where he was crouched down by the side of the bathtub, his arms holding his body upright on the edge.

The tiles on the floor were now dry and the washing machine was spinning like crazy, Oscar appearing to have started a load with the towels he had used to clean up Lucía’s mess, which instantly made a smile rise to your lips.

You approached him from the back, Lucía becoming visible over his shoulder as you got closer. She was playing with a blue rubber duck, making quacking noises and repeatedly moving the duck toward Oscar in an attempt to make him join in on the quacking.

He obviously didn’t and it was appearing to make her grow agitated, her quacking becoming more aggressive by every second passing.

You chuckled to yourself and decided to have some fun as Oscar had yet to notice your presence, the sound of your entrance being swallowed by the loud noise coming from the shaking washing machine.

You closed in on him sneakily, putting the hamper down to the side before slowly leaning down to his head.

You stayed there for a moment, just looking from over his shoulder as he rippled his hand through the water to create waves for Lucía’s duck, before blowing on his ear and whispering a quiet; “Quack.”

“Mierda!” He jumped to his feet instantly and you had to hurry to back away in order to not be smacked right across the face, laughter instantly spilling out from your lips.

Lucía, now having spotted you, wasted no time in joining in on the laughter even though she most likely didn’t even know what was so funny, while Oscar glared at you.

“¿Qué te pasa?” He asked, furious. “I could have hit you.” He motioned for your stomach, but you only laughed, not being able to take the situation seriously.

“For someone who’s been on the run from the law for most of his life, you’re not very attentive.” You pointed out and he pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath before taking one step forward and tugging you by your arm into his chest.

You rested your head on his chest, wrapping your arms around his torso. Above you, his eyes spotted the hamper filled to the top with dirty laundry.

At the sight of it, he moved his head away from on top of yours and raised an eyebrow at you. “I thought I told you to rest.” He said and you sheepishly smiled. “You never listen, do you?”

“Mommy never listens.” Lucía joined in from the bathtub, causing the two of you to turn around and look at her.

Oscar threw his head back as he laughed while you only narrowed your eyes at your daughter. “Are you ganging up on me now?” You questioned, and in response, she narrowed her eyes to imitate you, only causing Oscar to grow even smugger.

He reached his hand out toward her, pinky out, and Lucía moved to the edge of the tub, hooking her pinky with his.

You tutted at the sight playfully. “Like father, like daughter.” You teased, and walked back out of the bathroom, leaving them alone to their quality bath time again.

You grabbed the bag with trash from the floor outside and closed the door to the bathroom, heading over to the kitchen where you dumped the bag of trash in the bin before moving on to clean off the coffee table and make up the sofa with pillows and blankets for Ray to sleep with.

Just as you got done, Lucía and Oscar emerged from the bathroom, a cloud of steam flowing out behind them after the shower Oscar appeared to have taken by the look of his fresh clothes.

He was now wearing a black and grey checkered plaid and a pair of grey sweats that weren’t soaked in water at the ends and Lucía was dressed in her Winnie The Pooh bathrobe, the hood with ears on top pulled over her wet curls.

She wasted no time in getting up on a chair at the kitchen table, short legs starting to kick as soon as she had sat down.

While she got situated over there, Oscar walked over to the fridge by the couch where he kept the alcohol, bending down and opening the door. Before he got the chance to grab what he came for, however, Lucía called out from her spot.

“Bring me my crayons.”

It wasn’t particularly directed at him, but Oscar still closed the fridge again and stood back up to his full height, not saying a word as he left to her room to bid to her command.

While he did so, you grabbed the bottle-opener from the kitchen island and waddled over to the fridge, grabbing a cold bottle of Corona just as Oscar returned with Lucía’s crayons and coloring books.

When hearing him return, she stood up on her chair and Oscar put the things down in front of her before taking her in his arms and sitting down on the chair with her in his lap.

She wasted no time in digging into her crayons and you walked over to them, opening the bottle of beer on the way there.

At the sound of the cap releasing from the throat of the bottle, Oscar looked up, and reached out and grabbed it from your hands the second you got close enough, raising it to his lips and taking a sip immediately.

Once he brought it back down from his lips, you bent down and wrapped your arms around his shoulders from behind, pressing your lips to the tattoo on his neck.

“Gracias.” He thanked you for the beer, turning his head to the side to capture your lips with his in a kiss.

You weren’t sure when the time went from noon to afternoon, but soon enough, the sun was setting outside and Ray and Cesar were walking through the front door, talking loudly and laughing between themselves.

Oscar was still sitting with Lucía at the table, sipping on his beer slowly and watching over her as she colored in her books.

You had started on the cooking only a few minutes ago, standing over by the kitchen island chopping onions for the guacamole you were making, and you could almost feel the entire atmosphere turning hostile when ray stepped in through the door, Oscar’s anger radiating off of him and reaching you all the way where you stood in the kitchen.

But he ignored him, keeping his eyes on Lucía’s drawing and taking a large gulp of his beer while Cesar walked over to them and pinched Lucía’s cheek, causing her to let out a gleeful laugh.

The sound brought a smile to everyone’s lips, even Oscar’s, who raised his head to greet his brother with a fist-bump.

Cesar then walked right past you where you stood and headed for his room, while Ray cautiously sat down across from Oscar and Lucía at the table.  

“Pink, please.” Lucía spoke without looking up from her drawing, and Oscar did what he had been doing for the past hour and a half and handed her the crayon of her wishes, taking another gulp of his beer and completely ignoring Ray’s gaze.

She dragged the pink crayon over her drawing a few times before holding it up. “Blue, please.” She repeated herself, this time asking for another color, and Oscar wordlessly took the pink crayon and exchanged it for a blue, watching as she colored away in her book.  

You tried to give father and son some privacy by busying yourself with chopping the onions, but since you were so close to them, you couldn’t miss the way Ray was desperately trying to search out his oldest son’s eye, and failing miserably.

“You’re good with her.” He finally spoke up, nodding his head and motioning with his hand carefully.

“Mm.” Oscar’s eyes didn’t leave the drawing, his lips pulled into a tight line as he simply hummed in response.

“Are you hoping for the baby to be a boy or a girl?” Ray tried again, and you watched out of the corner of your eye as Oscar brought the bottle of beer to his lips and down the rest of its content before slamming it down on the table, raising his hand at you over his shoulder, almost as if he knew that you were watching them.

“Girl.” He answered while you wiped your hands on the kitchen towel and rounded the kitchen island, heading for the fridge where you grabbed two beers this time.

You brought them over to the table they were sitting at and grabbed the opener where you had left it when bringing Oscar his first bottle, opening the two bottles and taking the sharp caps into your hand so that Lucía wouldn’t get to them.

“Why not a boy?” Ray questioned, glancing up at you briefly as you handed him one of the beers, nodding his head. “Thank you.”

You offered him a gentle smile before turning to Oscar, taking the empty bottle from beside him and handing him the new one.

He didn’t look up at you, but when you put a hand on his shoulder in passing, he put his hand on top of yours, squeezing it in thanks before you walked back to the kitchen.

Ray knew the answer to his question, of course, already having gotten it from you earlier that day. He just wanted to hear what he would answer himself, but he should have expected Oscar not to be willing to give much away.

“Less problems.” He answered flatly and this time, Ray didn’t question him any further, only nodding and leaning back in his seat, joining him in drinking while watching Lucía draw.

The house turned silent again, but Cesar chose the right time to come back right then, returning with a plastic bag in his hand.

You hadn’t seen it when he had first arrived, so you guessed he had carried it in his bag that he had now left in his room.

He held the bag up with a smile on his face, looking around at all of you. “We went by the store and got some ice cream on the way home.” He told you, and Lucía instantly perked up, turning in Oscar’s lap to look at Cesar.

Oscar turned too, narrowing his eyes. “Where’d you get money from?” He asked, and Cesar only shrugged.

“Dad paid.” He replied simply, walking over to the freezer where he brought the tub of ice cream out of the bag and put it inside.

You watched from your spot as Ray smiled at Lucía. “Chocolate chip cookie.” He told her, and she instantly squealed in excitement, turning to Oscar.

‘’Chocolate chip cookie!” She repeated happily, and he hummed.

“I heard.”

You glared at him from where you stood on the other side of the room and almost as if feeling your glare burning into the side of his head, he turned to glare right back at you.

You gave him a pointed look, silently scolding him for not being excited for your daughter’s sake, and when he turned his head back around, bringing his beer up to his lips again, you looked at Lucía who had now gone back to drawing.

“What do we say, Lucí?” You asked, and she looked up from her drawing to beam at Ray.

“Gracias!” She exclaimed, and Ray smiled, although it didn’t go unnoticed by you the way his eyes kept flickering to Oscar’s, his smile faltering ever so lightly when they did.

The subject was dropped after that. Oscar didn’t say another word but Lucía was as happy as ever that her Abuelo brought ice cream home for her.

While the two oldest Diaz men watched her draw, Cesar joined you in the kitchen, finally greeting you after having passed by you earlier.

He murmured a quick ‘hey’, leaning down to kiss your cheek in greeting before standing beside you, watching you chop the last of the onion.

“Did you clean my room?” He asked and you glanced at him with a soft smile, nodding your head.

“Yeah.” You answered, turning your attention back to the sharp knife in your hand. “But I didn’t snoop, I promise.”

He chuckled beside you. “It’s alright. Thank you.” He let out a breath and you glanced at him again to see his smile widening, his hands now moving to roll up his sleeves. “Can I help?”

You smiled, nodding your head. “Sure. You can start dicing the tomatoes. I’m just finishing up with the onions so I’m going to start on the avocados.”

He nodded his head and wasted no time in reaching for another knife, starting on the tomatoes beside you while you, as you had told him you would, put the onions in a bowl and started on the avocados.

You chatted between yourselves and after a few minutes, Ray joined you in the kitchen with a sullen look on his face, probably having come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t welcome where he had just come from.

An hour later, you were all sitting around the table, the coloring books and crayons now put aside and the table full of food.

The only sound that could be heard was silverware scraping over the plates and the occasional silly remark from Lucía about the food. The tension hanging in the air was so thick it could have been cut with a butter knife and made it near impossible for you to enjoy your dinner no matter how good the food was.

Oscar was the tensest out of all of you, not having looked up from his plate since you served it to him.

You were holding his hand under the table, rubbing your thumb soothingly over his knuckles that seemed to be constantly bruised, doing your best to at least take some of his anger away.

But it wasn’t doing much and Cesar seemed to have noticed as well, the two of you exchanging an uncomfortable glance before he plastered on a smile and finally broke the awkward silence.

“So… dad got a job at Dwayne’s Joint today.”

“Really? That’s great news!” You hurried to join in on Cesar’s brave attempt, maybe being a little too quick judging by the way Oscar’s head whipped up to glare at you.

He slammed his fist into the table angrily, turning to glare at his younger brother. “You got him a job?” He spat, the hurt and betrayal evident in his voice as he shook his head. “Big mistake.”

Ray cleared his throat from where he sat, putting his fork down and resting his clutched hands on the table.

“You’ve got a good thing going here, Oscar. You’ve got a kind mujer and a good kid, and another on the way.” He spoke, and you smiled. “I’m not here to mess that up for you. I’m done stirring shit up in your life. I’ll move out as soon as I have enough money, I just need some more time.”

“Pendejada.” Oscar quickly swore, turning his glare to his dad. “Do you really think you’re fooling me? You’re not planning to stay. You never do. You’re gonna leave and you’re gonna crush Cesar and Lucía just like you crushed me.”

Your heart broke at his words and the feeling of his hand getting clammy in yours, and you hurt even more when seeing the tears beginning to well up in his eyes.

He stood up from his chair, pulling his hand out of yours in the process and you attempted to reach for it again. “Oscar-“

“Cállate!” He yelled, whipping around to glare at you. The unexpected volume of his voice caused you all to jump and Lucía instantly started crying out of the scare.

Oscar’s face fell the second her cries reached his ears, guilt visibly filling his body. But you just glared, stood up from your seat and picked her up, holding the back of her head as she buried her face into your neck, carrying her out of the kitchen without another word.

You could feel Oscar’s presence not far behind you and you knew he was following you. Once you reached your bedroom door, you opened it up and put Lucía down on her feet, giving her a light push toward the bed.

“Go lay down, baby.” You told her. “Mommy will be right back.” She did as told, climbing up on the mattress, and you backed back out, closing the door and turning around only to become face to face with Oscar.  

His face was regretful to a start, but it turned hard when he saw your glare.

“What the hell is your problem?” You whisper-yelled, not wanting Lucía nor Cesar to hear you fight. “You never raise your voice around her!”

“You don’t get it.” He tried, speaking through gritted teeth and pulling a frustrated hand over his face in an attempt to not lose his cool again.

You only glared back, crossing your arms over your chest. “It doesn’t matter whether or not I get it.” You spat back, shaking your head.

“If you want to be angry when you’re by yourself, that’s fine, but we made an agreement when you came home that the anger stays outside the house. Your pent up anger isn’t just affecting you right now. It's affecting us. Me. Our children." You put a hand on your belly, giving him a pointed glare. “It needs to go. The anger needs to go.”

“Do you think it’s that easy?” He fired back, glowering down at you. “You think I should forgive him, is that it? You stand here defending him but you don’t know him. Not like I do. Not even close.”

“I’m saying you deserve it.” You whisper-yelled, uncrossing your arms and prodding a finger into his chest harshly.

You glared at him, letting your and drop back to your side and took a deep breath to calm yourself before continuing.

“You’re right.” You agreed, voice now quieter and your head shaking. “I don’t know him. I don’t even know whether or not he’s sorry for his actions, for leaving you behind like you were nothing to him. But either way you need to let that shit go. Not for him, not because he might apologize or acknowledge the pain he’s caused you but for you. Holding onto anger will only hurt you, make you do things you regret. Don’t make the same mistake he did, don’t hold on to the hurt, don’t go down that same road. You’ll end up right in his shoes in a few years if you do.”

A dark look crossed over his face, unlike anything you had ever seen before. Suddenly, you were backed into the wall behind you, his chest pressing against yours and his hand coming up to press against the wall beside your head as he glared, only millimeters away from your face. “Are you saying that I would leave my kids?”

You swallowed, your heart beating violently behind your chest at the new kind of proximity. Had you been in any other situation, you would have without a doubt gotten aroused by this side of him, but sadly, that was not the case.

“Of course I’m not.” You whispered, pressing the back of your head against the wall behind you, carefully reaching out and taking ahold of his other hand as a frown spread across your face. “I’m saying that if you don’t let that shit go, you’ll continue to be driven by hatred and anger and even if that won’t actively make you a bad father, it will come in the way of you being the best version of yourself, the version I know that you can be if only you let yourself.”

He listened to you intently, his eyes shutting tightly with anger and his nostrils flaring with anger.

But you continued, bringing his hand and placing it atop your belly, pressing your forehead against his. "I know you don’t want him around but if he wants to be there for them, I’m not going to rob them of that."

His head shook against yours and his hand balled into a fist at the side of your head. "He’s just gonna leave them like he left us. Like he left me."

"If so, we’ll take that if the time comes.” You continued trying to reason with him softly, but that had not been the right thing to say.

His eyes opened and in one hasty movement, he had removed his hand from your stomach and pushed himself away from you. "When that time comes, I’m not having that conversation with them. You are." He spat and you followed his example and pushed yourself away from the wall.

“Yeah. I’ll accept that.” You glared, swallowing. “But right now he’s making Lucía and Cesar happy and that’s all I care about.”

“What about my happiness, huh?” He questioned. “Doesn’t that mean shit to you anymore?”

“You’re not unhappy because he’s here.” You stated. “You’re unhappy because you’re holding on to the anger. You owe it to yourself and your family to let it go and move on. Not to him. You and us.”

“It’s not that simple.” He shook his head and you frowned.

“I know it’s not but it all begins and ends in your mind. What you give power to, has power over you. If you allow it.” You paused, looking around the hallway and letting out a deep breath. “I know you’re hurt but-“

“You don’t know anything about hurt!” He whisper-yelled at you, whipping around to face you again after having turned around.

Your heart fell in your chest and your jaw tensed as you met his eyes through the darkness. “Are you forgetting that I was left behind, too?” You whispered and only watched as he shook his head and turned away from you again.

“It’s not the same thing.”

This brought a surge of anger through your body, an anger you hadn’t felt in a very long time.

“No.” You scoffed. “Living your entire life in the middle of the system, being thrown between foster-people, all of whom were either toxic or abusive except one who died, like a fucking ragdoll with no human rights, is so much better.”

Your mind wandered back to Stanley who had taken you in when you were fifteen.

His wife had just passed away and as they had been living with infertility their entire lives, he didn’t have anyone left to keep him company. So in honor of his late wife’s memory, he decided to make one final difference in life and help a child in need.

Just like the system was portrayed in the movie ‘Instant Family’, no one ever wanted to adopt a teenager if it weren’t for the checks they got in the process, so you weren’t expecting anything. But much to yours and the social workers’ surprise, he took a liking to you.

Unfortunately, he passed on only six months later and as you were still a minor, you went right back into the system.

When you were seventeen you finally had enough of being mentally and physically abused by your foster parents all so that they would be able to get money from the state and left the center you were placed at.

You kept moving between your friends, living in their basements and attics one week at a time for almost six months until you met Oscar and slowly but surely started staying with him and Cesar.

You shook yourself free from the painful memories, forcing yourself to return to reality and noticing your eyes were now stinging with tears. But you weren’t discouraged, determined to let him hear what you had to say.

“I’ve been alone all my life. No family. Ever.” You sniffled, still glaring at him through your progressively blurring vision. “You’ve at least had Cesar and the Santos, somewhere to belong, which is more than I can say about myself. I’ve had no one but myself to count on and I finally have a family that loves me. I’m not going to lose that all because you can’t let go of the past. I hate him for leaving you, for hurting you, but he’s here now and there’s nothing neither of us can do about it but make the best of the situation for Cesar and Lucía’s sake.”

Hie eyes were burning holes into the floor and his body was tense and halfway twisted away from you, but you could still see from the side of his face that his gaze was concentrated.

No words left his mouth once you finished your little rant and for a moment, you thought that maybe you had managed to get your point across and gotten through to him, but then he wordlessly turned his back to you and began walking in the other direction.

Your heart instantly dropped in your chest and you called out for him. “Where are you going?”

“Out.” He answered coldly, not turning around and not stopping.

You rushed after him as fast as your feet could carry you and grabbed the back of his shirt, tugging him to a stop. “No, not like this, you’re not.” You protested. “We don’t leave each other upset. You know that.”

He reached around to his back and grabbed your hand, softly but firmly pulling it away from his shirt and turning around to look down at you. The glare that had previously been etched onto his face was gone now, but for some reason you found this new, emotionless expression worse.

“You’re standing here, defending him and taking his side over mine.” He spoke calmly, shaking his head. “I don’t have to stand here and listen to this shit. I’m not going to.”

“It’s not like that and you know it.” You tried sadly, attempting to intertwine your fingers with his with the hand that was still holding on to your wrist.

But he twisted his hand out of the way. “Lo que. I’m out.” He told you, dropping your wrist and turning back around. “Don’t wait up.”

He began walking away again and this time, you didn’t follow. “If you leave, you’re not sleeping here tonight.” You spoke after him, raising your voice slightly.

But he didn’t react, or at least he didn’t show it if he did. He just kept walking away from you, heading past the kitchen and straight for the front door, disappearing from your line of sight when he stepped outside.

The sound of the front door slamming shut behind him reached your ears a second later and caused you to flinch where you stood. The house was suddenly eerily quiet, the only sound being heard being the soft sobs coming from your bedroom.

Ray and Cesar were still sitting at the kitchen table and now that you had stepped out of the hallway to your room, you were on full display for them. But you didn’t say anything to them despite feeling their awkward but worried gazes at you.

Instead, you wordlessly turned around and headed back to your bedroom while sniffling against the back of your hand.

The second you were locked inside your bedroom, the tears started falling, and when seeing you cry, Lucía only cried harder.

You didn’t waste another second before heading over to the bed and getting in next to her, taking her in your lap as much as you could with your belly coming in the way. You stroked her hair, getting lost in thought.

You hated being as empathic as you were. In any other situation, you saw the personality trait as a blessing, but now… now it felt more like a curse.

Your heart bled for Oscar. You had experienced his hurt first-hand when your parents left you when you were little, along with every time the relatively nice foster parents had decided you weren’t the child they wanted and returned you to the foster care center.

You wanted to hate Ray for what he had done, for the hurt he had caused the man you loved, but no matter how much you tried, you just couldn’t, because you could see it so clearly in his face that he was trying to be better.

You sympathized with him, despite the fact that he was supposed to be- no, despite the fact that he was the bad guy in this scenario, and you hated it.

You hated that you couldn’t just snap your fingers and make it all alright, make everyone happy. Ray had only been back for a day and the hopelessness was already so overwhelming you could barely bear it.

Oscar drove to the beach that night. He sat there thinking about everything for hours, even when the final warmth had left the air and the harsh evening air started pulling at his clothes.

He had started off by thinking about his dad, about everything that had happened when he was young, but as soon as his anger melted off, Ray’s face was replaced by yours, and suddenly you were the only thing he could think about.

Not that it was a rare occurrence. Even though you had been together for so long, it happened far more often than he would like to admit.

You had always been there taking care of him and his mano in the midst of the gang wars, never losing your positivity despite the hardships you had endured throughout your life, and that’s what made him fall for you.

You were always smiling, always telling and showing people you believed in them, that their hopes and dreams were valid and reachable.

And there was your unwavering loyalty. He thought back to when you had only known each other for a year, how he had expected you to run the other way with your unborn baby when he got locked up. But you stayed, no matter how hard shit got for you on the outside.

You were twenty-three now and no matter how hard things got, you still stuck to his side through thick and thin, through things that would have had any other person fleeing for their lives a long time ago.

You had done nothing but stay positive about the little that you had through the sorrow of what could have been, and he knew he owed it to you now to do the same. Only, of course, he realized this far too late, like he always did.

By the time you heard the front door open and slam shut again, the clock on your bedside table were showing 2:42am and Lucía was sound asleep with her head in your lap.

You were stroking her long, black locks as you had for the past five hours; a trait she inherited from Oscar along with pretty much everything else.

She hadn’t gotten much from you, in truth, but you didn’t mind it. After all, Oscar was the love of your life, despite all the shit you had been through together.

Your cheeks were stiff and itchy with dried tears and you watched the clock turn from 2:42 to 2:43 just as the first knock was delivered to your bedroom door, followed by three more.

You heard a thud, most likely from his forehead hitting the door, and then came his voice, muffled through the thick piece of wood.

“Mi amor. Lo siento. Open the door, por favor.”

You carefully put Lucía’s head down on the pillow, grabbing more pillows and stuffing them under the mattress to stop her from falling down and tucked her in with a blanket before shuffling over to the door.

You twisted the lock and opened it, instantly coming face to face with a regretful Oscar. He tried to look inside and move past you, but you shoved him back, quietly closing the door behind you.

“She’s sleeping.” You whispered tiredly, your voice groggy.

“Tengo que verla.” He pleaded, but you shook your head, crossing your arms over your chest in an attempt to bring some warmth to your body to make up for the lack of body heat you had previously been receiving from your daughter.

“No, it took a long time to get her to fall asleep.” You protested again. “You’re not waking her up.”

You turned your gaze to the ground, leaning your back against the door and shivering slightly. You were tired, still shaken up and not really sure how to handle the situation seeing as you had never fought like this before.

Oscar, being able to read you like an open book, sensed your unsureness immediately and also took note of the fact that you were cold, carefully reaching his hands out to your upper arms.

Slowly, he pulled you toward him, testing the waters, and when he knew you wouldn’t blow up on him, he pulled you into his chest, wrapping his arms around you

Your eyes instantly fell shut at the feeling, a shock of warmth going through your body and your senses being invaded with his perfume and the smell of fresh air still lingering on his clothes.

“I shouldn’t have lost my temper around her.” He mumbled, leaning his chin on the top of your head.

You hummed tiredly, wrapping your arms around his torso and taking a step closer to him. “That’s right, you shouldn’t. But you can apologize to her in the morning. Not to me.” You replied, pressing your cheek into his chest. “I’m sorry if I made it seem like I was picking his side over yours. That’s not what I was trying to do at all, I just-“

“I know, mami. You were right.” He interrupted, moving his arms from around you to take your face in his hand, bringing his face down to yours. “I’m gonna try better. I want you, Lucía and Cesar to be able to live good, without all this negative energy and shit.”

You could sense that he still didn’t fully agree with you despite claiming that you had been right, but he said nothing more about it, changing the subject and asking; “Can I sleep with you? He’s got the couch, which you already know since you made it up for him.”

A sigh of annoyance left your nose at his moody remark, but you nodded, grabbing his hands. “Come on.”

You opened the door to your bedroom again and led him inside. His eyes instantly found Lucía’s form where she was snoring lightly in the bed, her face illuminated by the bright red light cast from the alarm clock beside the bed.

His eyes didn’t leave her once while he got out of his clothes and into bed and you followed his lead, getting in on the other side of your daughter. No more words were shared between you as you got comfortable, your hands just reaching over Lucía to intertwine, sleep coming quickly for both of you.

The next morning, you were all gathered in the kitchen slash living room, all of you getting ready for your respective days.

The atmosphere was still very much tense but after Oscar’s promise to you the night before, it was a lot less hostile.

After making sure Lucía had breakfast, you had left her with Oscar and Ray to go wake up Cesar and then you had left to go get dressed in proper clothing, not wanting to waltz around in Oscar’s oversized shirt all day.

You were just now returning to the kitchen, finding a very tired Cesar sitting beside Lucía with a sandwich and a glass of orange juice on the table in front of him, slowly eating his breakfast while looking through an old Garfield comic with his niece.

On the other side of the table, Oscar was watching them silently while drinking coffee from his usual black coffee mug and Ray was minding his own business over by the couch, getting ready for his first day at work.

As you rounded the corner and entered their field of view, Oscar’s face instantly pulled into a smirk. You stopped beside him and his hand found its way to your ass in no time, pinching it cheekily.

“You’re looking fine today, mami.” He said, smirking.

You raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. “Really? Because I feel like a whale on the verge of bursting.” You replied crankily, only causing him to laugh and pull you down onto his lap.

“No, stop, Oscar. I’m heavy.” You protested, immediately trying to stand up again and free him from your weight.

But his arms were wrapped securely around you, his hands already having found their way to your stomach where they were now rubbing soft circles over your shirt, his lips making contact with your arm from behind you. “No estás pesada para mi.”

“You look beautiful, (Y/N).” Cesar joined in, agreeing with his brother, and Lucía wasn’t far behind, speaking out through a mouthful of cereal.

“Yeah, mamá.”

You chuckled lightly, your face pulling into a wide smile at their words in combination with the feeling of Oscar continuously pressing kisses against your arm while rubbing your stomach.

“Thank you, my babies.” You replied, leaning out of Oscar’s grasp for the briefest of second to press a kiss each to their cheeks.

In response, their grins only widened, both of their mouths full of food and looking nearly identical with the way their eyes squinted when they smiled.

But Oscar wasn’t as impressed as you returned to his arms. “You giving out kisses to my mano but none for me? You’re gonna make me jealous.” He tutted behind you and you rolled your eyes.

Turning around, you were met with his smirk, the smug bastard you oh so loved already having been expecting you to turn around. Without saying another word, you brought your hands up to cradle his face and brought your lips down to his, his hands still rubbing your stomach affectionately.

Cesar and Lucía made mocking sounds of disgust from their spots, fooling around with each other and causing you both to chuckle against each other’s lips, but you kept kissing, only breaking apart when Ray cleared his throat from the sofa.

Your faces came apart and you turned to look at him, finding him now standing awkwardly by the front door dressed in a black t-shirt with ‘Dwayne’s Joint BBQ’ printed across the chest.

“I’m off to Dwayne’s. I’ll see you all later.” He spoke lowly and your eyes furrowed together.

“No breakfast?” You asked, and he looked at you, but before he could answer for himself, Oscar’s voice spoke up from behind you.

“He doesn’t like eating in the morning.”

Both you and Ray turned to look at him, but he avoided your eyes, his face now free of emotion again as he picked his coffee cup back up and wordlessly took a sip.

You smiled fondly at him, placing your hand on top of the one that was still resting on your stomach, before turning back forward to see Cesar standing up.

“I’ll walk with you!” He exclaimed excitedly while shoving the rest of the sandwich into his mouth, reaching out for his school bag on the chair next to his and without as much as a goodbye, he had walked out the door behind Ray, leaving the three of you alone.

“Alrighty, then.” You drawled, the last minute having gone by so quickly, and turned back to Oscar. “Any plans for today, baby?”

With Ray gone, the tension from his body melted right off.

He put the coffee mug back down on the table and wrapped his arms around you again. “Nah. Thought I’d just spend the day with my two favourite girls. Go for a drive, maybe take a walk on the beach.”

You hummed, leaning back into his chest while holding on to his hand on your belly. “That sounds nice.” You smiled, turning your attention to your daughter and stretching your foot out under the table, nudging one of her legs. “Do you want to go to the beach?”

Lucía nodded, but made no move to look up from her comic, simply shoving more cereal into her mouth and starting to kick her legs more violently underneath the table judging by the way said table was shaking.

You raised your eyebrows at her, turning back to Oscar to see him watching her with an identical expression before turning to meet your eyes.

“She gets that from you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” You rolled your eyes, a small smile playing at your lips. “Well, if we’re going outside you’re going to have to help me get my shoes on because I’m too fat to reach my feet.”

He chuckled but didn’t protest, urging you to stand up. You did as told and took his seat when he left to retrieve your shoes from over by the front door. Wordlessly, he helped you get them onto your feet and tied the laces into flawless knots before taking your hands in his.

“Come on, fatass.” He teased.

You raised an eyebrow, allowing him to pull you up. “Who you calling a fatass, fatass?”

“You called yourself a fatass a second ago, dumbass.” He fired back and to this, you raised your other eyebrow, as well.

“Oh, I’m a dumbass, too, now?”

He just smirked at you, pulling you into his chest in an embrace and bending down to kiss you as his hand pinched your butt.

“Dumbass is a bad word.” Lucía spoke up from the table and you laughed, cutting the kiss short, turning to look at her while nodding your head.

“You’re right, it is. Bad daddy.”

“Bad daddy.” She agreed, glaring at Oscar who playfully raised his eyebrows in return.

Lucía, now having finished her breakfast and apparently having had enough of Garfield for this morning, went and changed out of her pajamas into some regular clothes, and then the three of you locked up the house and headed out in the Impala.

You left the streets of Freeridge and drove around Los Angeles for a good hour before you headed back and found yourselves at the beach, and once there, you spent a good two hours thanks to Lucía refusing to leave.

You bought a bag of bread at the store before going there so that she could throw it to the seagulls, and once the annoying, screeching birds made an appearance, it was near impossible to get her back into the car.

But you managed in the end, even though she cried pretty much the entire ride home.

Once you were back home, you took her to bed for a much-needed nap while Oscar went out again to deal with some business, Sad Eyes having been waiting in front of the house when you got back.

When you had finally managed to get her to sleep, you had moved to get out of the bed and go tend to the chores that needed doing, but just as you were about to stand up, Oscar had come back in and laid down with you.

You lost track of how long you just laid there. You didn’t speak a word to each other, just drifting in and out of sleep while waiting for Lucía to wake up again.

His arms were wrapped around you from behind, instinctively moving around on your stomach and squeezing gently in hope to feel a kick.

When the times came where there actually was a kick, he always had his hands in the wrong place, which in turn forced you to constantly move them around with your own.

Lucía woke up some time later, but by then, you had both managed to fall asleep, and she had not-so-graciously woken you up by hitting you both in the head with a book that she wanted you to read for her.

Oscar had accepted the task. He wasn’t doing much reading, just flipping through the book and looking at the pictures, but she wasn’t complaining.

“Can we eat the ice cream Abuelo bought for me yesterday?” She spoke up then after a long while of silence and your eyes instantly switched to Oscar, awaiting his reaction, but he barely even reacted at all.

“Yeah.” He only replied calmly without looking away from the book, flipping the page.

While she reached out and touched the butterfly now presented before her, touching the purple glitter, he looked at her from the side. “I’m sorry I got angry and yelled last night, princesita. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She didn’t answer, just keeping her eyes on the butterfly and wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her cheek to his in a way that made her entire face scrunch up at the force.

He pressed a kiss to her temple, flipping the page again.

A few minutes later, you found yourself sitting around the table in the kitchen, each with a bowl of ice cream in front of you and conversing easily while you ate.

The front door opened then and all of your heads turned to see Cesar jogging inside with his school bag slung over his shoulder.

“Have a good day at school?” You asked with a smile, and he smiled back, nodding.

“Yeah, thanks.” He hurried out, rushing over to you and hastily kissing yours and Lucía’s cheeks, bumping his fist against Oscar’s in a quick greeting.

“You want some ice cream, mano?” Oscar asked before putting another spoonful of the ice cream into his mouth, giving his brother an amused smirk.

Cesar only shook his head, going over to the kitchen island where he dropped his bag at Lucía’s barstool. “No, I’m meeting up with dad at Dwayne’s. He gets off work in five minutes.” He answered quickly and barely even spared you another glance as he headed for the front door.

But he stopped himself suddenly and turned back around, and you raised an eyebrow at him as he jogged over to where you sat and took your spoon from your hand, scooping some of your ice cream into his mouth and giving you a goofy grin.

“Thanks, bye.” He gave your spoon back to you and rushed back for the door, this time not turning around.

You chuckled at his antics, going back to your ice cream, but beside you, Oscar had now put his spoon down and pushed his bowl away from him on the table.

Lucía noticed this in an instant and immediately claimed his bowl, pulling it over to her. You watched as she began eating from both of the bowl, all while Oscar stared into the table, obviously disappointed that Cesar hadn’t joined you.

You slowly reached your hand out over the table to take his in yours, giving it a comforting squeeze. He squeezed it back, pulling a hand over his face, before standing up and leaving the table to go outside for a smoke.

The fact that Cesar was suddenly looking up to his dad more than he hurt him, that much was clear in your eyes no matter how much he would try to hide it.

But he still didn’t want to hover and be an ass by forcing him to spend time with him, which was why come Saturday morning, you saw the perfect opportunity for them to spend some good old brotherly time together and pushed them to take it.

Oscar was, like every other morning, sitting at table in the kitchen slash living room. Seeing as it was Saturday, you had slept in today, the clock showing eleven by the time you had finished eating breakfast.

Ray had left for work when you had still been asleep and Cesar and Lucía were still sleeping, for the time being giving you the rest of the house to yourselves for the first time since he had returned.

You were on day six of him staying with you now and during that time, you had learned the hard way that he wasn’t the most organized or clean person, leaving clothes and food out all over the house.

The living room was smelling like a literal garbage dump, a mess of suspicious food occupying the coffee table over by the sofa.

You had attempted to clean said mess the second you had woken up, but Oscar hadn’t let you, saying that you weren’t his maid and that he could clean his mess up himself, so you tried your very best to ignore the awful smell while you had your breakfast.

Thankfully, it wasn’t a very big struggle once you got your mind on other things. It would have been worse, for sure, if you would have been at the beginning of your pregnancy. Had that been the case, you wouldn’t have been able to hold your food down.

Once you heard the bubbling of the coffee machine slow down in the kitchen, you stood up from your seat at the table and walked over. On your way, you cranked open the kitchen window, hoping that a bit of fresh air would help with the smell.

You then brought Oscar’s usual black coffee cup down from its cupboard and filled it up with coffee, leaving a little bit of space for the milk that you poured in when you passed the refrigerator, and then waddled back over to him where he was boredly flicking through Lucía’s Garfield comic.

“Here you go, papi.” You said as you reached him, putting down the coffee cup in front of him, careful not to spill any on the magazine because if you did, you knew hell would be unleased when its owner woke up.

Oscar looked up at you, closing the comic and pushing it to the side and pulling you into his lap by your arms. “Gracias, mamas.” He thanked you, raising his head in an indication for you to come closer.

And you did just that, leaning your head down to press a kiss to his lips. You smiled against his lips and he hummed, his hands contently rubbing along the sides of your thighs.

You didn’t get a lot of moments with just Oscar anymore so you took your sweet time with each other, slowly moving your lips together in synchronization.

Whenever you had some free time on your hands, he always had some illegal shit to take care of. When he had some time to spare, you always had some errands to run and when you both, against all odds, had some free time, Lucía was always there with you.

It was risky getting frisky in the open, you knew, as anyone could’ve walked right in on it, but in that moment you didn’t care.

Your hands slowly moved over his arms, shoulders and neck, coming up to grab his face to pull his face even closer to yours, and his hands moved to your butt, turning you more against him in his lap.

It wasn’t the most gracious embrace with your giant stomach coming in the middle, but it was comfortable anyhow, his touches sending small holts of electricity through your body

“Good morn-“ Cesar stopped himself in the doorway as he entered the living room just then.

You broke apart from the kiss, both out of breath, and looked over at him just in time to see his entire face scrunch up in disgust. But not because of what he had just walked in on. No, that he was used to, more so than he would like to admit.

Instead, he started sniffing the air, looking around and not even blinking an eye to the intimate moment he had just caught you in.

“Agh, dude. What is that smell?” He asked and Oscar wasted no time in pointing to the coffee table.

“Chicken.” He spoke out in an annoyed voice, shaking his head and getting defensive at the look his mano was suddenly giving him. “Don’t look at me.”

Cesar glared back at him. “Look, he’s been gone 12 years. I just want a chance to get to know him.” He said.

Oscar nodded, one of his hands leaving your butt to pick up his coffee mug. “Then you can clean up after him. I’ve got bigger things to worry about. Block’s been quiet.” He said, bringing the mug to his lips and taking a big gulp.

Cesar stared at him and it was only then you noticed the towel hanging from his hand, the realization that he was wearing swimming trunks hitting you shortly after.

He then went to move past you where you sat and Oscar put down the mug and stood up on his feet in no time, still holding on to your waist as you stood up with him and reaching his other hand out to catch Cesar’s shoulder.

“Hey, where you going?”

Cesar gave him an obvious look. “Duh. The pool. It’s open.” He answered rudely and Oscar raised his eyebrows at him.

“Not before you clean up that nasty ass chicken.”

“The chicken can wait a few more hours.” You heard yourself speak before you had even gotten the time to process the thought in your head, but when they turned to look at you, there was no going back, their looks urging to you to continue. “You’re taking Lucía and going with your mano to the pool.”

“Mamas-“

“No.” You interrupted Oscar, pushing at his chest. “Go wake her up and I’ll pack you a bag. Cesar can clean up when he comes home.”

You smiled at him and out of the corner of your eye, you could see Cesar’s face lighting up into a smile to his brother, too.

Said brother glared down at you and you could practically hear his thoughts; you were being too easy on Cesar.

But he didn’t say anything, only turning on his heel and heading to your bedroom to bid to your command.

Meanwhile, you packed his and Lucía’s swimming suits into a bag along with two towels and her Winnie The Pooh bathrobe, a bottle of sunscreen, some water and sandwiches for lunch and of course, the worn-out Garfield comic that she always had to “read” when she ate.

After a good five minutes of convincing Oscar that you would be alright on your own for a few hours, they left for the pool and the second they were out of the house, you laid down in your bed and fell asleep again.

By the time you woke up again the alarm clock by your side was showing 3:27pm, meaning you had been asleep for a good three and a half hours.

You had totally intended to let Cesar clean up the mess left behind by his dad by himself to a start, but after doing two loads of laundry and vacuuming and dusting his room like you had put a pin in a few days ago, you were left restless and bored while awaiting someone’s return and company.

So you brought out a plastic bag and began cleaning off the trash on the coffee table, having to scrub it down with gloves in order to get the juices of the old, rotten chicken out of the wood.

And of course, Oscar had chosen that time out of all the times to return home.

Lucía had run straight past you into her room, her hair still wet and her body dressed in her swimsuit and bathrobe.

While she disappeared down the hallway to your room, Cesar and Oscar stopped in the doorway of the front door at the sight of you scrubbing away at the table, meeting your eyes with different expressions on their faces.

Cesar’s was a mixture of gratefulness that you had relieved him of his work, and nervousness as he knew what was about to come.

Not wanting to be around when shit went down, he slipped off to his room after kissing you hello, leaving you alone with Oscar who was glaring coldly at you for doing the exact thing he had told you not to do.

But he hadn’t said a word, simply taking the trash bag standing by your side and taking it with him outside.

Dinner was tenser than usual that afternoon and when you had shut yourself into your room to put Lucía to sleep later that night, you listened as Oscar yelled his father out in Spanish, pointing out that you were heavily pregnant and still did more around the house than he did.

You couldn’t hear any of Ray’s replies as he was clearly talking with a normal indoors voice, Oscar being the only one yelling, but come next morning when you were cleaning away after Cesar’s breakfast, Ray got out of the sofa and told you to sit down and let him do it.

Surprised, you did as told, the two of you conversing while he cleaned and even fixed you breakfast.

He was obviously trying his hardest to earn his stay, he just hadn’t gotten the routine in yet. You knew Oscar was having a harder time accepting his presence, but you were grateful that he was even trying.

Oscar came out from shower a few minutes later to find his dad feeding Lucía yogurt, the two of them chatting away about Garfield while you sat eating the toast he had fixed you up before she had joined you at the table.

He obviously approved of the change in his dad’s behavior because he served himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table rather than leaving the room, but he still didn’t say anything.

For the next two weeks, they barely spoke a word to each other. Ray tried to spark up conversations every day to a start but he stopped when he realized he wasn’t making any progress, respecting Oscar’s unspoken wish to be left alone.

Whenever Ray would volunteer to look after Lucía, Oscar would just stare at him with distaste as you agreed, while you, for one, were just happy to see her having so much fun.

He was great with her, taking her out for ice cream, bringing her back small toys when he came home from work and spoiling her rotten to the extent he could with his small income.

On the afternoons Oscar were out handing gang-related things, Ray started walking with you and getting her from daycare so that you didn’t have to walk by yourself, which in turn resulted in Oscar making sure he was free around that time every day to minimize the time you and Lucía spent with him.

He did everything in his power to keep you away from him without actually speaking his concerns out loud, not wanting a repeat of the first night. But whatever he did, everyone but him just seemed to grow closer to Ray and it made him furious.

He was now on his third week staying with you, it was a Friday afternoon and you were just coming back from having picked Lucía up from daycare.

Oscar was walking behind you with her sleeping form held tightly against his chest, his arms wrapped around her back and her head resting on his shoulder, her thumb sucked into her mouth and her comfort blanket hanging from her hand.

You were walking ahead and stepped through the front door first, holding it open for him so that he could walk inside without bumping Lucía into the doorway.

While he disappeared straight down the hallway to put Lucía to bed, you spotted Cesar lying back-down on the couch, his face illuminated by the bright light streaming from his phone that was held over his face.

He barely even noticed your presence, concentrated on whatever it was he was doing on his phone and you raised an eyebrow at this, shrugging your jacket off and dumping it on the chair across from the couch.

Before you could say anything to him, though, Oscar walked back into the living room. “Where’s dad?” He wasted no time asking and only then did Cesar look away from his phone, surprised to see two pairs of eyes at him.

He shrugged his shoulders at the question. “I thought he went with (Y/N) to pick up Lucí.”

“No, I did.” Oscar answered immediately, narrowing his eyes slightly and taking a step forward.

Cesar gave him a look. “Yeah, I can see that.” He shrugged again, turning back to his phone, not seeming very bothered. “He’s probably still at work.”

Oscar snorted. “He got off at four. It’s almost seven.”

As the brothers kept bickering back and forth about Ray’s whereabouts, a bad feeling settled in the pit of your stomach and before you could even register that your body was moving, your feet carried you over to the kitchen island where your wallet was laying on full display.

With a shaky hand, you opened it, and instantly got your suspicions confirmed.

“Shit.” You swore quietly under your breath, hanging your head down.

But no matter how lowly you had spoken, Oscar had heard you and walked over to you, asking. “What?”

You looked at him, guilt and pity building up in your chest. Could he really have been right about Ray all this time? Had you been naïve and misinterpreted his affection for Cesar and Lucía?

“My bus card isn’t in my wallet.” You answered finally, keeping your voice down so that Cesar wouldn’t hear you and get any ideas.

A glare instantly settled over his face, and he didn’t bother keeping his voice down as he shook his head. “What did I tell you? Huh?” He questioned, and Cesar, sensing the atmosphere taking a turn for the worse, walked over.

“What’s going on?” He looked between you with a questioning glance and Oscar let out a humorless laugh.

“You gonna tell him?” He asked and you closed your eyes, pinching the bridge of your nose and breathing out before looking back at Cesar.

“My bus card isn’t in my wallet and it was when we left an hour ago.”

Cesar’s face turned cold almost immediately, his eyes hardening as he understood what you were insinuating. “No.” He shook his head, taking a step back and clenching his fists at his sides. “No. He wouldn’t just leave. Not without saying goodbye.”

“Yeah, he would.” Oscar let out a scoff, followed closely by a dry laugh.

You sent him a glare at his insensitivity, but before you got the time to tell him off about it, Cesar whipped around to look at him and prodded a sharp finger into his chest

“Of course he would, with the way you’ve been treating him!” The youngest Diaz brother exclaimed angrily, tears already building up in his eyes as the panic settled in him. “I just got him back and now you’ve pushed him away, why do you always ruin everything good in my life?!”

Oscar looked at his brother with hard eyes and stood quietly, just taking on his rage, but the way his Adam’s apple bobbled in his throat indicated that he wasn’t feeling as unbothered about the situation as he put on.

Just the thought of how broken he would be if Ray actually left again caused your heart to tug in your chest, even more so when you realized you would be the one left behind to pick up the pieces not only from Oscar’s broken heart but Cesar’s too.

“Cesar, calm down.” You tried reasoning with him, putting a calming hand on his shoulder. “We don’t know what’s going on yet. We can’t just rush to conclusions, maybe he just-“

“There is no maybe!” Oscar exclaimed, turning to look at you and in turn causing you to look back to him. “He left, like I told you he would. This shit’s on you.”

“Don’t blame her.” Cesar instantly jumped to your defense, getting up in his brother’s face. “This is your fault. Not hers. She’s done nothing but try to make him feel welcome.”

They glared at each other, both clenching their fists at their sides and not moving a single muscle. You were left not knowing what to do, your heart beating violently in your ribcage, your pulse deafening in your ears.

But then the front door opened, and all of you turned your heads to the source of the disruption, holding your breaths as you watched Ray walk inside with several paper bags balanced in his arms.

He hadn’t noticed you yet, busying himself with kicking a pair of shoes out of the doorway in order to be able to get in without dropping the bags.

After stepping inside, he turned around and closed the door behind him softly, and then he turned around to face you, stopping in his tracks once he caught sight of you.

His eyes turned unsure as he became aware of the tense atmosphere and the threatening stance both of his sons were standing in.

He looked at them for a moment, silently wondering what was going on, and then turned his gaze to you.

When your eyes met his, you felt more relieved than you had ever done in your life before. Not just for Cesar’s sake, but also for Oscar’s, because no matter how much he would have tried to deny it, you knew that it would have absolutely broken him if he left again.

He had been forced to grow up early in life when having the responsibility of raising his brother on his own thrown on him, but inside of him there was still a small part of the little boy he had been back then and that small part craved his father’s attention and presence.

He tried so hard not to show it, to not show himself weak by covering his true feelings up with the hate and spite he had taught himself to feel for his dad, but deep down, he still loved him. You knew it, he knew it and you were pretty sure Ray knew it too, and that it was therefore that he always kept trying to talk to him.

“Everything okay here?” Ray was the one to finally break the silence and at the sound of his voice, both brothers seemed to relax, their shoulders slumping and their glares faltering.

While Oscar looked at him with a foreign expression, unreadable even for you, Cesar looked at him with pure relief.

Ray noticed this, giving his youngest a worries look when he caught sight of the tears built up in his eyes.  “You alright, mijo?”

Cesar offered him a watery smile before turning back to glare at Oscar. “I told you he wouldn’t leave.” He spat out shortly, not saying another word to any of you before walking off, the sound of his bedroom door slamming shut reaching your ears a few seconds later.

The three of you were left in silence again and Ray awkwardly looked between the two of you. He carefully balanced the bags with one of his arms, slowly reaching his other hand into his back pocket do grab something.

Once he got a hold of whatever object it was, he held it out for you and you realized quickly that it was your bus card.

"The fridge was empty so I borrowed your bus card to go to the store.” He informed you. “Wanted to save you the trouble of going on your own. I hope that's alright."

A smile pulled at your lips as you took the card back from him. "Of course. Thank you." You thanked him, but Oscar wasn’t as impressed.

His face pulled into a nasty glare, eyes narrowed to the point where they were just lines of eyelashes.

“Did you take her credit card too?” He attacked, his entire stance rigid.

He wouldn’t admit it but you could read him like an open book, see that he had gotten scared and was now trying to cover up the vulnerability with anger; the only way he knew how.

Ray turned to look at him with an offended look crossing over his features. “I know I’m not the best person but-“

“You’re not.” Oscar quickly interrupted. “You’re as bad as they come.”

Ray nodded, not even bothering to deny his son’s accusations because he knew it was true. “But I would never steal from family.” He finished the sentence he had been trying to get out before being interrupted.

Without waiting for another reply from Oscar, probably knowing that he was just going to keep fighting, he turned to you, now with a smile on his lips. “I got you something.”

Your eyes instantly flickered to Oscar who was now narrowing his eyes in suspicion, but while he kept glaring, you only perked up with curiosity, following Ray as he walked over to the kitchen island to put the bags down, watching as he began rummaging through one of them.

“It’s in here somewhere…” He mumbled to himself while unpacking the bag in order to get a better view of what was inside, and no longer than a few seconds later, you watched as he pulled out a small, white baby bodysuit.

He smiled as he unfolded the tiny piece of clothing and turned it around, and your eyes widened at the sight of the words printed across the front in shimmery, golden letters.

‘Mommy and Daddy’s Little Saint’.

The smile on Ray’s face was genuinely excited as he proudly presented his find. “For the baby. You know, Saint as in Santo.” He explained. “It’s white so it works for both a girl and a boy.”

Tears welled up in your eyes as you took it from him, feeling the soft fabric under your touch and tracing your fingers over the letters.

Before you could stop yourself, you had wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him as close as your stomach would allow.

His hands unsurely found their way to your back, patting you lightly.

“Thank you.” You mumbled into his shoulder, completely oblivious to the look Oscar was giving you.

Ray patted your hair and hugged you back, frowning slightly as he didn’t know why you were getting so emotional. “No problem, mija.” He answered, and that’s when the hormones got the best of you and everything just came crashing down.

You tore yourself out of his embrace and put the bodysuit down on the barstool by the kitchen island before wordlessly hurrying down the hallway, closing yourself into the bathroom.

You liked to convince yourself that you weren’t affected by your parents, or lack thereof, and you usually weren’t, but when you were pregnant you leaned pretty quickly that it was a subject to stay away from.

Just the mere thought of them could make everything, all the pain you had been forced to withstand through your life, come flooding back in one moment, and despite his past record of walking out on his family, Ray still had a natural fatherly feel to him.

When you hugged him and heard him use the nickname that so many parents used to show affection for their kids, something you had never gotten to experience before, all of it just got too overwhelming for you.

Ray was rooted to his spot, looking at you with shock written all over his face. He turned to Oscar, who was still watching him with squinted eyes, although now a lot less hostile.

“Did I do something wrong?” He asked, and Oscar just sniffed, walking over to him.

“No. She gets like that.” He said, picking the bodysuit up from the barstool when he got close enough to reach it, taking a look at it for himself and turning his lips down in a ‘not bad’-expression. “This is nice. She appreciates it.”

He ripped the tag off the hem and began folding it, ignoring the way Ray’s gaze was burning into the side of his face.

“And you?” Ray asked, and Oscar nodded, avoiding his gaze.

“Yeah.” He answered simply before walking over to the side of the front door where your hospital bag stood at the ready, picking it up and packing down the bodysuit.  

Ray watched him from where he stood, not really sure what to say. “Do you need to go check on her?” He asked finally after a few seconds of silence, and once again, Oscar barely spared him as much as a glance.

“No. She wants to be alone when she gets like that. Hormones and shit. She’ll be back soon.” He replied, putting the bag back down and heading for the fridge by the couch.

Ray nodded, his eyes following Oscar as he moved around. He watched as he brought a beer out from the fridge and walked over to the table with it in hand, and as he sat down and grabbed the bottle-opener, snapping the metal lid off and wasting no time in bringing the bottle to his lips, taking a large gulp.

Oscar let out an annoyed sigh, feeling the stare burning into the side of his face.

“What?” He asked without looking up from the table, and Ray’s face changed to one of confusion.

“What?” He asked back, and finally, Oscar looked up to meet his gaze.

“You’re looking at me like you got something to say so speak.”

Ray gave him a hesitant look. “I’ve been here three weeks and I haven’t heard anything about her parents. Got me wondering, is all.” He spoke slowly.

Oscar nodded, looking at him for a few more seconds before turning his attention back to the table, lifting the bottle of beer to his lips for another sip. “She has no parents.” He replied. “Cesar, Lucía and I are all she’s got.”

“Where are they?”

“Left her with her babysitter when she was five to go get dinner, never came back. She grew up in the system.”

“You sure nothing happened to them?” Ray questioned, his voice still careful, almost as if one wrong word would make Oscar blow up. And in truth, it probably would.

“No.” He took another gulp of his beer. “They left a note.”

Ray’s face fell, his hands gripping at the edge of the kitchen island behind him. “That’s rough.”

“Mhm.” Oscar hummed, moving a small piece of cereal around on the table in front of him, left behind from Cesar and Lucía’s breakfast earlier that morning.  

“For what it’s worth-“

Oscar’s head instantly whipped up, a hard glare crossing his features. “Whatever it is, it’s not worth shit.” He spat, causing Ray to flinch back slightly.

But no matter how discouraged he got, he continued. “I’m sorry I never called or wrote. If I could take it back and do it differently, I would.”

“But you can’t.” Oscar glared and Ray shook his head.

“No, I cant.” He agreed. “I already told Cesar this the other day but if I got the chance to choose my kids, I would choose the two of you every time. You’ve had it rough, been down the same path I’ve been stuck on all my life. But I’m proud of you, mijo. Of what you’ve got going on here. I know you don’t want me around but I’m not here to stir shit up for you. I’m here to make things right.”

Oscar looked up at his dad while he spoke, listening to him intently and not interrupting him once. The glare on his face was gone when he finished. However, the hard look in his eyes remained in his eyes as he answered.

“You can’t. It’s too late for that.”

But Ray only started back. “That doesn’t mean I should stop trying.”

Oscar nodded in response, the two of them holding their eye-contact as a comfortable silence fell over them. Half a minute later, Oscar finally broke the stare, turning his gaze to the side as he took another swig of his beer before putting it down on the table.

He stood up and headed over to the fridge again, wordlessly bringing out another bottle and heading back to the table where he snapped the cap off.

Grabbing his beer, he walked over to Ray where he was standing by the kitchen island and shoved the untouched beer into his chest, pushing past him and walking around the counter.

Ray took it and turned around, meeting Oscar’s eyes over the counter as he motioned for the bags that were still just standing around. “Make yourself useful.” He ordered, and without waiting for a response, he began unpacking the bags, Ray following his example after taking a sip of his beer.

Half an hour later, your hormones had calmed down, allowing you to stop crying about the bodysuit and exit the bathroom again after freshening yourself up by splashing some cold water into your face.

You slowly and quietly walked down the hallway, slowing down slightly as you reached the corner at the sound of Ray and Oscar’s voices.

“Do it like this instead.” You heard Ray instruct, and Oscar’s annoyed reply came only a second later.

“I know how to cut a jalapeño, anciano.”

“You’re getting the seeds everywhere. They’re supposed to stay on the core.”

“You do it if you’re so much better.”

You slowly rounded the corner, careful not to make a sound.

Your eyes found the two of them in the kitchen immediately, standing side by side. The kitchen lamp was shining down on them and on the stove, something was frying in a pan.

Oscar stood taller than his dad by at least five inches, yet he somehow still looked smaller beside him. Maybe it was the momentarily vulnerable look that crossed over his face when his dad reached out and  took the knife from his hand that caused the illusion.

“You cut the tip of first and then stand it up, hold the stem and cut down from the bottom. And then you can dice the slices.” Ray calmly showed him how he was supposed to cut it and even though Oscar’s eyes remained guarded, he watched. “No seeds, no mess. You try it.”

Oscar muttered some Spanish curse word under his breath, but still snatched the knife back from his dad’s hand and did as he had just been shown.

You took that as your cue to make yourself known, waddling into the kitchen with one hand on your stomach and the other at the small of your back for support.

Their head rose in sync when hearing you approaching, their hands stopping what they were doing. Oscar greeted you with a kiss and Ray greeted you with a smile, neither of them bringing up the way you had just ran off earlier of which you were grateful.

You took a seat on the barstool and only a minute later, a now calm Cesar appeared from his room and joined you in watching his dad and mano cook dinner together.

Things were still not all okay, far from it, but even a blind person could have seen that you were making huge progress, and in that moment, it was enough for everyone to be civil with each other, which was more than could be said about the past three weeks.

After dinner, Cesar had gone over to Monse’s house and you and Oscar moved into your bedroom where Lucía was still sleeping soundly in the bed while ray went to sleep in the couch.

You moved around the room, getting ready for bed quietly to not wake her up. While you were changing into your nightshirt over by the closed window, Oscar was sitting at the side of the bed, pulling his white tank top over his head.

Once you were properly dressed for bed, you wordlessly climbed onto the mattress, wrapping your arms around Oscar’s shoulder from behind and pressing a kiss to his bare shoulder.

He turned his head to look at you, but before he could say or do anything, his phone lit up on the nightside table, starting to vibrate as a call came through.

You released his shoulders and sat back, watching as he took the phone and stood up, answering the call.

“Sí?” He spoke into the phone. You could hear someone talking on the other side of the call, but you couldn’t identify the voice or the words spoken.

Oscar whipped around to face you then, causing you to jump. “When?” He asked the person, and you watched with growing worry as a dark look crossed over features and he pulled a hand over his face. “Yeah, I’ll take care of it. I’ll call you back. Cuídate.”

He hung up and quickly started pulling on his clothes again, causing you to rush out of the bed. “Who was it?” You asked, your heart beating rapidly in your chest.

“Mario.” He replied without looking at you, pulling his tank top over his head and going over to the drawer in the corner of the room, where you knew he kept his gun.

“Since when does Mario call you?” You asked, eyebrows furrowing together and arms crossing over your chest.

He unlocked the top drawer of the dresser and wasted no time in bringing the gun out. “Since Cesar, his brother and their friends got caught up with Cuchillos.”

“What?!” You exclaimed before you could stop yourself, and the two of you instantly turned around to look at Lucía who was now stirring in her sleep. But luckily, she didn’t wake up.

You turned back to Oscar, finding him already looking at you. “Her men kidnapped them a few weeks ago and offered them the Rollerworld money back if they finished a job for her. It’s taking them to long, she’s getting impatient. She broke into Monse’s house yesterday and Ruby’s house just now, threatened their families.”

“What? Kidnapped? Why the fuck am I only just hearing about this now?” You asked, eyes widening. “Is that why Cesar was in such a hurry to get to Monse’s? What kind of job could Cuchillos possibly want a group of teenagers for?”

Oscar looked away from you, loading the clip into the gun. “Tracking down Lil’ Ricky.”

“What?” You whisper-yelled, not really sure what you were supposed to think anymore. “Isn’t he dead?”

Oscar glanced at you. “No.”

Your eyebrows creased together. “How do you know?”

“Because I helped them dig up his grave.” He replied as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. But it wasn’t.

Your eyebrows shot up in disbelief, barely believing what you were hearing. “You did what now?”

Your head was spinning. You didn’t know what the hell was going on at this point, you were being given far too much information at once and you weren’t able to process it.

You had known about the Rollerworld money, of course, as they had been used in the whole plot to buy Cesar’s freedom back and get the Prophets off the streets, but the rest of it… it was all new to you, this being the first time you were hearing about it.

You’d had absolutely no idea that Cuchillos had roped in the kids, and it got you wondering how long it had gone on behind your back.

“I have to go take care of this.” Oscar turned to you then, tucking the gun into the waistband of his pants and pulling his tank top over it.

Your teeth started chewing at the inside of your cheek automatically, the worry only intensifying by every second passing. “What are you going to do?”

He took a step closer to you, grabbing your face in his hands. “Don’t worry your pretty head about it, mamas. I’ll be fine.” He promised.

You stared up at him, placing your hands on top of his. “Please tell me you’re not going after Cuchillos.” You pleaded, and the look on his face revealed that it was exactly what he was going to do.

In that moment, it really hit you how much information Oscar must have kept from you throughout your relationship and it didn’t sit well with you at all.

Not because he hadn’t told you, but because he could have been in life-threatening situations more times than you could count, and you wouldn’t even have known about it.

As if being able to read your thoughts, Oscar leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips, pulling away and moving one of his hands to stroke your belly. “I’ll be fine.” He promised again. “I’ll be here when you wake up and we’ll start fresh. Prometo.”

With that, he lowered his hand to hook his pinky with yours, and as he left, you took his word for it. But when you woke up the next morning, you were alone.

Or well, not entirely alone; Lucía was still there, of course. But Oscar wasn’t. He never got home like he told you he would and you were worried sick.

But despite the sickening worry you pushed through and went on with your day as you usually would with a lot of help from Ray, who had called in sick to work when you had told him about Oscar’s approximate whereabouts.

He didn’t want to leave you home alone with your due date being so close, and you were thankful to have him there because in all your worried-sick glory, you could barely bring yourself to take care of Lucía, constantly spacing out.

You had called Cesar to ask if he had heard from his mano but he hadn’t. He told you that him, Ruby, Monse and Jamal had locked themselves inside in the Martinez house, the four of them wanting to be together until they knew where they were at with Cuchillos.

You called Mario too, since he had been the one to call Oscar to tell him about Cuchillos threatening their family, but he hadn’t heard back from Oscar either, and the man in question, of course, wasn’t picking up his phone.

You had never been as worried as you were now, and things didn’t get easier for you when Lucía kept asking you about her dad’s whereabouts, a question to which you couldn’t give an answer.

But you were lucky to have Ray there to help you out. He had tended to all the chores around the house throughout the day, all while taking care of his granddaughter and making sure you were okay.

He and Lucía had even cooked dinner together, a process during which she had cracked an egg over his head, something you knew Oscar would have found absolutely hilarious.

After dinner, Lucía went to bed on her own accord, exhausted after a long day of excessive playing with her Abuelo, leaving you and Ray to clean up in the kitchen.

No words were exchanged between the two of you as you worked together with the dishes. Ray washed them under the tap, scrubbing them free of food, and then passed them on to you for you to dry and put them back in their cabinet.

Suddenly, you felt a sharp jab of pain go through your lower abdomen, and after that, everything happened so quickly.

The glass that you were currently drying slipped out of your grasp as you reached out to grab on to the counter for support out of instinct, the glass shattering around your feet as it hit the floor.

Ray’s head whipped around in your direction and he wasted no time in dropping the plate he was currently washing, turning off the tap in one swift movement before rushing over to you.

“Watch your feet.” He instructed you worriedly, stepping over the big shards of glass to help you back away to a clean part of the floor. Once he was sure that you were safe, he let go of your arms. “I’ll go get the broom.”

Without waiting for a response, he turned around, stepped back over the glass and disappeared down the hallway, leaving you to support yourself by the kitchen island as another sharp jab of pain spread through your stomach.

This time, the pain was much more intense, causing you to rush your hand to your belly, and before you knew it, a warm feeling spread through your lower parts, wetness soaking the leggings you were wearing.

“No, no, no, no, no, not now. Please, not now.” Your eyes widened, panic settling in your chest as the pain hit you again. “Ray!” You yelled out, holding on to the counter with all your might as the pain got worse.

He came running in no time, meeting your eyes with a worried glance.

“Call Oscar again.” You instructed him at once, trying your hardest to focus your breathing.

“What’s wrong?” He asked as he approached you, but as his eyes flickered from your face, scrunched up in pain, to the floor where you were now standing in a puddle of fluids, he got his answer.

“Shit.” He cursed, walking over the glass without a single care in the world and rushing over to your side. “Okay, let’s sit you down, mija.”

With the new-found support, you were able to waddle over to the kitchen table where he helped you sit down on a chair, all while calling Oscar on his phone.

“He’s still not answering.” He stated the obvious and you squeezed your eyes shut, the pain becoming more intense and your heart picking up in speed.

“Take my phone, my code is Oscar’s birthday.” You told him, holding on to the backrest of the chair next to yours and motioning with your other arm to the coffee table where you had left your phone.

He wasted no time, rushing over and grabbing your phone as you opened your eyes again, and in that moment you just wished Oscar could have been there to see his father type in the digits of his birthday without as much as a doubt in his mind.  

“Text Geny, tell her the baby’s coming. Then call 911.”

He didn’t protest even once, following your instructions while silently wondering how you could be so calm in such a stressful situation.

Not more than four minutes later, Geny and Cesar burst through the front door, right before the ambulance got there.

Geny went to look after Lucía and Cesar ran up to your side immediately while Ray kept trying to reach Oscar both through texts and calls, but to no avail.

The oldest Diaz was panicking, not at all sure what he was supposed to do, but Cesar was calm, giving you encouraging words and helping you control your breathing as you were helped into the ambulance.

This was, after all, not the first time he had supported you through this process.

While Geny stayed behind to look after Lucía, Cesar and Ray rode with you in the ambulance. Ray rode in the front with the driver while Cesar stayed in the back with you, holding your hand through the entire ride.

When you reached the hospital and you were pushed inside in a wheelchair, he still didn’t let go of your hand. Or maybe you were the one who wasn’t letting go, but either way, he didn’t complain once.

You were wheeled into an empty room and transferred onto a bed where two nurses helped you out of your clothes while Cesar and Ray waited outside.

Once you had received your epidural and were properly dressed and situated, with your legs in the holsters and holding a mask of laughing gas to your face, Cesar and Ray came inside and joined your side again.

They sat down in a chair each at either side of you, Cesar holding your free hand while Ray held on to the bag you had packed months earlier in preparation for this day.

The doctor stood by, scribbling down notes on a pad while awaiting you to be dilated enough to begin. He looked up at Ray over his glasses.

“What’s your relation to the patient, sir?” He asked him, his pen stilling on the notepad briefly.  

“They’re my brother- and father-in-law.” You replied through controlled breaths before they got the chance to say anything, squeezing your eyes shut and clutching down on Cesar’s hand as another contraction hit you.

“And the father?” He asked, taking notes.

This time, Ray spoke up. “I’ve been trying to get to him but he’s not picking up.”

You let out a dry laugh through the pain, pushing your head back into the pillow and removing the mask from your face to breathe some fresh air.

“Of course he chose this day out of all the days to get caught up with some bullshit.” You panted out, letting out a sound of pain and tensing your entire body as another, much bigger contraction went through your body.

Beside you, Cesar cursed under his breath from having his hand basically crushed, while the doctor put the notepad away and moved down to your legs, checking under the cover the nurses had put over your legs and humming.  

“We’ll have to start without him.” He looked up at you, pulling a chair toward him and sitting down, pulling on a fresh pair of gloves. “Do you want them to stay with you?”

You nodded furiously, putting the mask back over your face. “Yes.”

Cesar and Ray remained silent at your sides as the delivery was started. Cesar kept holding on to your hand and throughout the process, a nurse handed Ray a wet, cold rag to dab your sweaty forehead with.

The pain was excruciating but even though it had been four entire years since you gave birth to Lucía, the feeling was familiar, allowing you to handle it a lot better than you had back then in combination with the gas.

This time, the thing hindering you from being completely calm was the fact that Oscar couldn’t be reached and that you had no idea where he was, if he was okay, or if he was even alive.

For all you knew, he could be dead in a ditch somewhere and the mere thought of it brought tears to your eyes.

The doctor and nurse kept encouraging you, thinking that you were just crying from the pain, but Ray saw your sorrows for what they were, reaching out and holding your hand in his tightly once you abandoned the mask.

“He’ll be alright, mija.” He promised you, and you nodded your head while squeezing both his and Cesar’s hands as you gave another push.

And then, almost as if someone had heard your silent prayers for Oscar’s safe return, a nurse rushed inside, stopping in the doorway.

“A man just arrived, claiming he’s the father. He’s hurt, looking like he’s been beaten pretty bad, and acting aggressively so we need someone to come and identify him before we let him in.” She spoke in one breath, and Cesar was on his feet immediately, sending you a comforting smile.

“I’ll go.” He said, and the nurse nodded, leading him away.

But you had barely even registered her words, too caught up in your own head, giving all of the little concentration you had left after the drugs to the pushing.

It wasn’t until Oscar appeared in the doorway that you truly allowed yourself to relax, letting out a cry of relief.

“Oscar.” You cried, and he was at your side in no time, taking the seat Cesar had previously been occupying while the boy in question stayed in the doorway.

“I’m here, mi amor.” He told you, and you looked at him, letting out another cry when you caught sight of his bruised and bloody face. “You’re doing great, mami. Keep going.” He told you, gripping your hand with both of his.

As he kept giving you encouraging words, kissing your knuckles, Ray stood up and sneaked out of the room with Cesar, leaving the two of you alone.

The delivery lasted for another fifteen minutes, and then with one last push, a new cry broke through the air as your body fell limp on the bed.

Oscar left your side to cut the umbilical cord of your newborn baby, being the first one to hold it in his arms once the nurse had wrapped it in a blanket.

He looked down at the new life with a smile on his face, slowly walking over to your side again, sitting down and turning the bundle so that you got a clear view.

“It’s a girl.” He told you smugly, smirking at you, and you groaned playfully.

“Damn it.” You cursed, your head hitting the pillow behind you again, but you smiled and Oscar chuckled, leaning forward to press a kiss to your damp forehead.

With the help of one of his hands, you were able to scoot up into a sitting position on the bed, looking down at your newborn daughter’s pruny face from your seat.

When Lucía was born, she had been screaming the second she came out and not gone quiet for hours, but this baby was quiet, only whining slightly as she moved around in Oscar’s arms.

You smiled at the sight, silently holding your shaking arms out. You didn’t need to say anything, Oscar carefully handing the bundle over to you, and you instantly sniffled when you felt her in your arms, a fresh set of tears starting to prick your eyes.

He sat beside you, leaning his elbows on his knees and looking at you with a concentrated expression.

You were suddenly pulled back to reality, your eyes flickering away from your daughter’s perfect face and over to Oscar, your heart falling in your chest as you got your first proper look of his face.

Both of his eyes were purple and slightly swollen, small cuts littering his face and an even bigger cut on his neck. Worry filled your body as you noticed his drooping eyes and took note of the fact that the cut on his neck was still producing fresh blood.

“Oscar...” You whispered and his eyes instantly moved from the baby to you.

Before you got the chance to say anything else, however, there was a knock at the door.

Both of you turned your attention to the source of the sound, finding Ray standing there with the hospital bag slung over his shoulder, alongside the nurse who had come in and alerted you of Oscar’s arrival earlier.

“Sir, you’re bleeding.” She stated the obvious, taking the words right out of your mouth. “If you come with me, we’ll get you cleaned up.”

A glare instantly settled over his face, but when you reached your hand out to touch his hand, it melted right off. He turned to look at you and you nodded in encouragement. “We’ll be fine.”

Ray left the nurse’s side, walking into the room and coming over to Oscar, reaching out and squeezing his shoulder. “I’ll stay and look over them.” He promised.

Oscar sighed, turned back to you and gave you and the baby a kiss each, before silently walking after the nurse out of the room, leaving Ray to take his seat.

He dropped the bag next to the bed and sank into the chair. He looked at you questionably and before he could say anything, you smiled, answering. “It’s a girl.”

He smiled back lightly, peeking over the bundle of blankets.

“Do you want to hold her?” You asked, and he looked at you with a doubtful expression. But then he nodded, and carefully reached out to take her from your arms and into his own.

He looked down at her carefully, bouncing her in his arms lightly and pulling the blanket from out of her face, touching her nose.

When feeling his touch, she reached a small hand out and wrapped her even smaller fingers around one of his, causing him to smile up at you. “She likes me.”

You chuckled and nodded, leaning back on the bed in exhaustion. “Yeah.” You agreed, feeling your heart tug in your chest when he looked back at her and sniffled, bringing an arm up to wipe his eyes.

Oscar reappeared in the doorway then, the cut on his neck now covered by a thick bandage and the smaller ones on his face clean from dried blood.

Ray threw a look over his shoulder when hearing his approaching footsteps, turning back to you and carefully handing the baby back before standing up, meeting Oscar in the middle of the room.

Oscar threw a quick look at you, making sure you were both okay, and when getting a smile of confirmation, he turned back to his dad while you turned your attention to the baby, giving them as much privacy as you could considering the fact that you were still stuck in the same room.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” Ray was the one to break the silence between them. Oscar only nodded his head once, which urged Ray to continue. “I, uh… I found an apartment.”

Oscar scoffed, a glare crossing over his features. “You’re leaving again?”

“You’re leaving?” Came Cesar’s voice, now standing in the doorway with a small, white plastic bag clutched in his hand. His face was sad, eyes wide.

“No.” Ray looked over to him and quickly protested, shaking his head, and both Oscar and Cesar visibly relaxed. He turned back to Oscar. “It’s just down the street from you. Figured you won’t want me on the couch now that you’ve got a baby to take care of.”

He paused, eyes flickering down slightly, but then he made his move and put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a good squeeze. “You did good, mijo. I’m proud of you.”

Oscar’s face scrunched up with emotion, his eyes growing glassy, and before any of you could register it, they had wrapped their arms around each other in a tight embrace, Ray’s hands clapping his back in a fatherly manner while Oscar buried his face in his neck.

While they shared their moment, Cesar silently walked around them with a smile permanently splayed across his face, approaching you while raising the bag.

“I, uh, I wanted to bring you flowers but you know, the hospital cafeteria didn’t have much to offer so I bought candy bars instead.” He said nervously and your entire face lit up.

“You know I’d take chocolate over flowers any day.” You chuckled in relief at the thought of getting something to eat after the physically and mentally draining day, putting on a playful smirk and nodding to the baby. “I’ll trade you.”

Cesar’s nervous smile pulled into a much brighter one and he hurriedly took a seat at the edge of the bed, dumping the bag beside you and holding his arms out.

Handing him the baby, he looked down at her and then up at you again. “Do you have a name?” He asked and you parted your lips.

“Ariel.” Oscar spoke before you could answer, causing you to turn and glare at him as he joined your side again, Ray heading over for the chair at Cesar’s side.

“I thought we agreed on Isabel?” You asked, raising an eyebrow, and he gave you one of those annoyingly handsome smirks.

“No, you agreed. I didn’t.” He protested and you rolled your eyes.

“You could always mix them.” Cesar offered a solution, shrugging his shoulders while slowly rocking the sleeping baby in his arms.

You instantly shook your head, scrunching your nose up in disgust. “No, thank you.” You declined, begrudgingly. “I’d rather settle with Ariel.”

You sighed, laying back down and Oscar took your hand with a small chuckle. Five minutes later, Geny turned up with Lucía and her entire family, and not long after that, Monse and Jamal turned up with their parents, too.

That’s what you loved about the people in Freeridge. They knew when to give people space but they also knew exactly when you were supposed to be together.

You were like one giant family. It wasn’t perfect; rather, on the contrary, it was broken and pretty fucked up, but it was yours, and that was more than enough.

[writings-by-blondie]

The One That Got Away

Ghost x Reader (Chapter I)

You were in your parents home, getting unpacked and prepping your room for stay over holidays. Dusting around some of family pictures and smiling, remembering each and every moment they were taken at.

You didn't visit your old home town much since your work was important and you didn't get much free time, so this holiday season you decided to go back, spend some time with your parents and your siblings who were yet to arrive.

Snow was already falling slowly and lazily outside so the holiday spirit was at its peak.

As you were strolling over some of the old highschool books you noticed a dusty highschool yearbook, it was from your tenth grade.

You sat on your squeaky bed and opened it, gliding your eyes over some familiar and not so familiar faces.

Your eyes stopped at one particular name and your heart felt heavy, beating fast in your chest you bit your lip and blushed a bit, his name revoking some old memories. His picture was missing, but in  your mind you could see him clearly, every single line of his face..

"Simon Riley"

———————————————————————

It hot outside, even the breeze of September was warm. You wore your school uniform, having your trusty black school bag hanging on your shoulder, your honey blonde hair tied up in a bit messy ponytail with a little bow clip on the side of your head.

It was your first day of tenth grade and you already missed the summer and vacation remembering how well filled your free time was, every day being out with your friends, laughing, taking pictures and having pool parties.

You took a deep sigh and looked around the high school yard your eyes searching for your best friend, she was late as usual so you decided to sit on one of the free benches near the parking lot.

Slowly folding your skirt, not wanting it to get all messed up, you sat down, crossing your legs and placing your bag next to you, saving place for your friend when she eventually arrives.

Loud sound of some kind of engine caught your attention and your blue eyes darted towards the parking lot.

A guy in black leather jacket that had British flag on shoulder, and dark blue jeans that had a few cuts parked his black big bike. He had his helmet on, it was black aswell, with some stickers of skulls on the side.

He turned the engine off and got off the bike, putting the brake down as he did. The bike was one of them oldies, but it was shining on the sun, it looked dangerous.

He removed the hamlet now, and you could clearly see his face.

He was about your age, even though he was tall and kinda bulked up. He had brownish hair and soft face lines, but before you could see his eyes he reached out to his pocket and thew dark "Ray Ban" shades over them.

You realised that you were staring now at this point, and not wanting to be caught you quickly turned around, pulling out your cell and going into your gallery, pretending to be looking at something.

But, in a matter of mere seconds your bag was in your lap, and the guy was now sitting next to you not giving single care that you were obviously saving the seat for someone.

You darted your eyes towards him but he was unbothered, instead he reached for his pocket on the jacket, and pulled out pack of cigars and zippo lighter, taking one cig between his lips and lighting it up, inhaling the smoke deeply before he returned the lighter into his pocket.

You were now furious, it was obviously prohibited to smoke on school grounds.

"Excuse me, could you put that smoke out? You are killing me along with yourself"

You said with stern and annoyed voice, he looked at you and smirked, raising his eyebrow. He even chew a gum, to make him look more like an complete asshole.

Boy leaned in towards you, slowly, and you blushed leaning back away from him. Next thing you knew you were choking in the ciggarete smoke that he blew into your face, laughing at the face you made along with the coughing sounds.

"How rude! You really don't have any shame!" You screamed at him now, furiously , which only ignited louder laugher inside of the boy.

You furrowed your eyebrows and stood up, taking your school bag and throwing it over your shoulder

"You have no manners and you are such a simpleton!" You spat the words, turning around on your heels, and almost jogging into the school hoping to never see him again.

After few overly boring classes, it was lunch time and you were in canteen with your friend, waiting in queue with her so she can get her lunch, you already had your packed since school food was, well it was questionable at most and full of carbs you didn't need.

"I need to go to washroom, I'll be right back Susanna" you said to your friend before you pecked her cheek and turned around to head your way, but you were met with a loud crash and something cold ran down your white shirt.

"What the-" you said loudly before you looked up and saw the same guy who now had his shades off, his hazel eyes looking down at you and resting on your chest.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU-" you shouted and whole canteen looked at you. Your eyes filled with tears from embarrassment and your cheeks were red as an apple.

You pushed the guy away and ran towards the girls washroom that was just around the corner.

You looked into the mirror, your eyes full of tears, now red. Neatly ironed uniform that you wore was now covered with dark cola stains that rested over your chest.

Humiliated. Thats how you felt. Of course you didn't have reserve shirt, and of course you didn't know how the hell will you go back and face all of the people who saw that exchange few minutes ago.

A loud knock on the washroom door pulled you out of your panic state,

"Susanne do you have a shirt please? I can't go like this around the school, everyone will laugh!"

You yelled and the doors opened but your friend didn't say anything, instead you heard the doors closing.

"I don't have a shirt, but I might be able to help with your situation doll"

A man's voice could be heard and you panicked even more. "What the hell?" You thought

You turned towards the doors and saw him- that wretched human who just couldn't leave you alone this day it seemed.

"I think you've done enough, now please leave, this is a girls washroom or I'll scream and you'll get suspended or even better expelled."

You spat at him with low voice, turning away, but instead of answer, something hit you on the head, blocking your vision, it was warm and dark.

"Its the least I can do..and just so you know I am not a huge "share" guy, so you are welcome you stuck up.."

You grabbed the fabric that was over your head and pulled it down, having your vision back.

You held the jacket in your hands and glared at the guy.

"I wouldn't want to be found dead wearing this around! Its tasteless and it smells like cigarette factory! People will think that I am a loser or even worse that I am with someone like you!"

You threw the jacket back to him and he caught it with ease raising his dark eyebrow at you.

"Are you really that concerned about what will the poosh scum in this school say or think about you?"

You were now furious, you just wanted him gone, away from you, away from this room. You wished this whole day was just a nightmare and that you were still in bed, dreaming. Your mum will come upstairs to wake you up and see you off. But, the problem was that the whole morning and day were very real, and he was real and he wasn't leaving.

"Do I care? Yes, I care. These people love me, they care about me, they think highly of me and they respect me. Why would I even need to explain that to you, newcomer who is trying so hard to be tough and macho, thinking that you can just roll in with your shiny bike and make new rules?! Well guess what, no one will ever like you or accept you here because of your shitty behaviour, your mum should've raised you better and I absolutely am disgusted by you.

Now leave. I wont tell you the third time."

You let your rage get better of you and you didn't even think about the words that you were saying, wether they hurt him or not, and deep inside you knew that but you couldn't stop your tongue for spitting venom into his direction.

He just stood there, looking at you softly, before turning around and nodding his head. He didn't seem to be hurt by the words.

You didn't want to look at him so you turned away, looking at the mirror and trying to clean your shirt with some cold water when you heard doors being opened but before you could relax you realised that the door never closed instead you heard his voice again.

"You know, they were laughing when you ran away.." guy sad and the doors were shut. You were alone in the washroom again, the soothing sound of the water from the sink pulling you into deep thoughts.

"What? There is no way..he is a liar. They all love me, they were all probably concerned about me when I left in panic.." your thoughts were everywhere and you shut your eyes close, splashing your face with cold water.

"They were..right?" You thought again and opened your eyes, looking towards the doors.

There on the hanger was a black leather jacket, hanging and you took a deep breath, he left it for you, and the sting of regret pinched you on your chest - you really said some fucked up things.

Girl sighed and walked towards the hanger, taking the black jacket and sliding her arms inside. It was still warm. She zipped it up so that it would cover the stain on her chest and to her surprise she grabbed the collar and smelled it which caused her to cough- yeah it did smell like cigars after all. She smiled to herself and the bell for the next period rang, it was time to face people, again.

The class what unusually quiet, your friend didn't say much about what happened after you left, but you knew her well enough to know that she loved you and didn't want to hurt your feelings probably.

"What the hell are you wearing? Dont tell me that you and that guy are a thing!" Susanne said with angry but hushed voice, she didn't want the jocks at the back to hear your conversation even though the entire time they were eying you and giving you dirty looks.

"What?! No! How could you think something like that, are you crazy? I ordered him to give me this and of course that he obeyed. I didn't have a spare shirt.. and I can't walk around looking like Carry when she forgot to adjust her pad.."

You were lying, of course you were, and you wanted to stop but you couldn't, you didn't want your friend to think less of you and your authority you had in the school.

Your image that you were building all this time couldn't be crumbled now, when you only had one year left in this place, now when you were one of the most popular girls in the school, at the peak of being main cheerleader, but you could hear the whispers and laughs that were present.

Jeff was showing something to the others at the back of the classroom, you could see his phone in his hand and everyone he offered the peek at the screen was looking at you with sly smile that lingered on their lips.

You buried your head in your hands, just praying that class will be over soon so you could go home and by tomorrow, something else will happen and everyone will forget about what happened, and your prayers were answered- the bell rang and you packed quickly, saying your goodbyes to Susanne as you darted towards the classroom doors- it will be over at last.. but things aren't always so simple are they?

"So (y/n), you and the new guy in a bathroom?" You heard stupid Jeff's voice and you stopped in your tracks, turning around to face him, your cheeks getting red a bit.

"Excuse me?" You said while furrowing your eyebrows, will this day ever end?

"Carry saw you two inside there, no wonder you have his jacket. First day of new year and you already hop on the new guy? Thought it will take more time to forget me.."

Oh yeah, you forgot to mention that Jeff was your ex who broke up with you over the text on the summer vacation while you were away with your friends. Yeah, Jeff is a persona non grata in your life, his stupid blue eyes and stupid blonde hair.

"What the hell are you talking about Jeff? I don't even know him, did you hit your head on football practice or something?" You said and whole class watched the exchange, all of the girls eying you with judging look in their eyes, you friend Susanne staying quiet.

Jeff took his phone from the pocket and unlocked it with sly grin on his face, his fingers tapping over screen before he pushed the screen in front of your face. It was a picture of you and the guy in the bathroom, took as it looks like through the slightly opened washroom door.

You now blushed uncontrollably, your eyes getting filled with tears, you were never in this situation before, they all loved you, they never judged you, they never picked on you. How is this happening to you, the belle of the school? Usually you would be the one to laugh at someone because of some stupid picture, how did all the world turn on you? Was this karma?

As first tears started rolling down your reddened cheek, you felt hand on your shoulder that pulled you against someone. You could feel his breathing on your back, it was not regular, as if the person that held you was angry .

"Yes, she is with me, what will you do about that you twat?" The familiar voice spoke and you couldn't help but smile on the inside, it was him, where the hell did he come from? "Is he a stalker? Please, no, anything but that.."

"The used goods suit your style Riley. Not that I am bragging but.." Jeff was now furious, trying to humiliate both of them, throwing around insults that he knew were not true. "Riley? Was that his name? How the hell does Jeff know him?"

"Yeah, well, I like fixing broken things mate, what can I say.." Riley said with a smile on his face and pulled you out of the classroom.

"Lets go doll, I have a huge problem, and only you can fix it" you looked up at him confused and a bit disoriented. What the hell was happening?

As he was basically almost carrying you out on the front doors you pouted and kicked at him

"What the hell was that? Me fixing your shit?! You were the one who put me in this position at the first place you arse! Let me go!"

You squiled as the guy that dragged you laughed "Or what? Will you run to the principal? What will you say? Oh ,sir ,this man just saved me from humiliation infront of the whole class and not just once but twice! Can you believe how good of a lad he is?" Riley now teased you, changing his voice into his best version of femine voice.

Your head was spinning, you just wanted to go home and sleep. You were angry, sad and happy at the same time. You reminisced on the day when Riley finally stopped dragging you around, when you looked around you were on the parking lot, next to his bike- right where all this madness started.

You were quiet, looking down, avoiding his gaze that was fixed on your face. You twirled your skirt in your hands before looking up at him finally.

"I wont go to principal..and yes you were right. Is that what you wanted me to say? That all this" you pointed at school building behind you and then at your ponytail that was now sad looking "is fake? Okay fine, I'll admit it. Its fake, all of it. They hate me and I hate them, I can't stand them. There, you win, Riley"

You were now fired up ,angry with yourself and  felt defeated. This hazel-eyed guy in front of you turned your whole world upside down in just one day and you didn't have any control over it, you didn't have any control over your choices and it scared you, you never felt that way.

"I don't want to win, I just want you to open your pretty eyes and see the world as it is. Now, are you gonna linger there and yell at me more or are we going?"

He smiled at you and wiggled his eyebrows, you took a deep breath and then furrowed your eyebrows at him once more.

"We? We are not going anywhere. I am going home and thats it."

You said, crossing your hands over your chest looking away from him.

Riley mounted his bike and chuckled at you

"Come on, I'll get ya home, I owe you that much for all of the crap that happened today.." he patted seat behind him and you pouted, weighing your options.

"Okay, but if you miss any of the directions I am about to give you I am jumping off and calling the coppers. Are we clear?"

Riley laughed at your statement and gave you the helmet and you mounted the bike.

You softly laid your hands on his back and he chucked as he started the bike.

"You'll have to grab better if you don't want to fly off on the first corner we take ,doll"

You blushed under the helmet and warped your hands around his waist, holding him tightly and resting your head on his back. You just now noticed how nice he actually smelled, it was some mixture of that "replay" perfume you really liked.

Riley pulled the bike break and you two drove off the dreadful parking lot.

After some yelling at him and wanting to push him off the motorcycle , you two were now two houses away from your own. You told him to stop and he did.

You almost fell off trying to get off the bike for some reason and you could hear his laughter, it was cheerful and it suited his calming and a bit raspy voice.

You hanged your bag over the shoulder and gave him back his helmet.

"I suppose I should thank you?" You blinked at him and even let a small smile linger on your lips. He was looking at your face, your eyes especially.

"No need... It was my pleasure doll.",

You could now see that he was staring at your face and you blushed.

"What are you looking at? Do I look that bad?",

you questioned and he averted his gaze, looking down at the pavement, still having huge smile over his face. You noticed that he had dimples on his cheeks when he smiled like that, and well.. He was cute.

"No, nothing like that. Its just..this is the first time I saw you smile since I met you this morning..", he said and ran his hand through his messy hair.

"Yeah, well... I didn't have much to smile at today did I?", you bit your lower lip and averted gaze away from him.

He said slowly nodded his head in approval to your words.

"Well.. Guess I'll see you tomorrow..", you said and waved at him, starting to walk away to your home before you remembered one important thing. You could hear that he started his bike already.

"WAIT! I mean.. Wait!"

You yelled, running back towards the bike, he raised his visor of the helmet he already put on and blinked at you.

"Whats your name?", you asked him and tugged hair that was in your face away behind the ears.

"Simon.. Simon Riley. And you?"

He said and you bit your lip smiling at him,

"Its (y/n)..", you said shyly now and he the gas of his bike looking at you.

"Well, see ya 'morrow, (y/n)."

He said and winked at you before lowering the visor and driving off, not even waiting for your response.

You stood on the pavement and smiled to yourself.

"Simon. A name to match that crazy personality of his and..", you thought to yourself before facepalming in the middle of the street.

You realised that you were still wearing his black jacket.

"That cheeky bastard plans everything in advance doesn't he..?"

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Chizuru Town (Part 1)

In the game you wake up on the beach in Chizuru with NO IDEA how you got there.

I have a little fun with it. Enjoy!

“MC!”

The children’s voices were happy and oddly squeaky. They draw you out of unconsciousness. Your body feels a bit cold, and you shiver. 

“MC!” They keep calling you. You’re lying face up but their hands are pressed against your back. They keep pushing you from below.

You take a breath and feel the cold shock of water up your nose. The choking sensation makes you want to bolt upright but something is holding you up on the surface of the water. You catch a glimpse of silver grey, rubbery skin. A thin slit in that skin opens and sprays a mist with a sharp whoosh. The children’s voices are replaced by the squealing and whistling of dolphins.

Dolphins! Their sharp pointed fins are cutting through the water. You can see their bright eyes turn to look up at you. The way their mouths curve in their snouts gives them a smile. But they were powerful, insistent creatures. The moment you tried to swim on your own, they pushed you out of the water again.

The salt water in your mouth, the frigid breeze against your sun warmed skin told you this wasn’t a dream. You’d heard stories of dolphins rescuing people before, but you’d never actually thought you’d get to experience being carried on these muscular bodies. 

There were more surrounding you. Their sparkling backs broke the surface, no doubt watching. One eventually peeled off and another replaced them and you realized they were taking turns carrying you along. The sun was about halfway across the sky now and you could see the sparkling white sand of a small beach. The beach was only a few yards wide before it hit the seawall. You could climb up the seawall by what looked like stairs that led to a main street.

You gather your arms about yourself. What little clothing had survived the ghost tooth dragon vipers was torn away by the water and water-born debris. You were completely naked. You already were in the country illegally. You couldn’t imagine what would happen if you just showed up completely exposed like this. But how would you get any clothing?

The dolphins didn’t care about this at all. They pressed forward. If they knew anything about humans, it was that humans belonged on land and, for whatever reason, they had made it their mission to get you to the land as soon as possible. They pushed you with their snouts so hard you thought you might bruise and swam so quickly, you formed a wake in the water. You were already weak from fatigue and dehydration. There was no way you could fight them.

So you are pushed like a buoy towards the shore. When the water got too shallow the dolphins were forced to turn back or risk beaching themselves. Still, they swam a close distance away. Your body was shaking at a steady constant rate and the warm sand was irresistible. You lay down and sigh.

After a bit of rest, you pick a shadier spot against the wall, out of the sun and hopefully out of the prying eyes of people walking by. The dolphins follow you, spy hopping and watching. This was all so surreal.

You were supposed to be dead.

Again.

When you were younger, you read a book about a world where there was almost no difference between heaven, hell, and the living world. People died and woke up again to a place they found familiar and only vaguely strange. The book was deliberately unsettling, meant to blur the line between reality and dreams. The protagonist wasn’t sure if he was still alive, in heaven, or in hell, and the reader was not to know either until the end.

You’re feeling this way now. You thought you had died in the Arctic ocean, only to be thrown into a chaotic dragonslaying academy. Now you thought you died, only to wake up to a school of dolphins after nearly getting eaten by a dragon.

How are you alive after all that has happened? Maybe you weren’t alive. Maybe this was hell and you were suffering multiple deaths. The dolphins chattered brightly ahead of you, but now their sounds seemed more like they were mocking you, naked, on the sand alone, alive again with no friends.

There was no sign of Lu Mingfei, Chu Zihang or Caesar Gattuso. Were they saved by dolphins too? Or left to drown and be eaten? Was God only with you and not with them? Your mind starts to form an idea. You can test out this theory. Worst case scenario was that you died for real and you’d long since gotten over that fear.

You stand up and brush the sand off your bare bottom. You would take your time to rest and hide out until night fell and then use the dark to your advantage. 

Fatigue made you sleep longer than you wanted. Darkness has truly fallen when you wake up, stiff and achy. A greyish mat of sand has stuck to your whole body. You look back towards the ocean, but the dolphins are gone. You waddle out on wobbly legs and wash the sand away. After so much time in the water, the feel of it on your skin was suddenly abhorrent and you would be happy if you never spent another day in the ocean as long as you lived.

The theory that you’re actually dead and none of this was real was again challenged by how hard it was to make it up the stairs. You were so exhausted, starving and dehydrated that you swayed. You’d give anything for a bowl of hot ramen, served up fresh with a bit of egg floating on top.

You heard a voice cry out. A young couple was out for a stroll and had spotted you. You must look like a monster, hair long and matted and no clothes at all. Sure enough, they back away moaning with trembling voices before turning to run off, screaming something you can’t understand. Further up towards the street, you see bright lights. The smell of vendors cooking street food makes your stomach rumble. You couldn’t be out in the open, but maybe if you got close enough, you could dumpster dive and find some clothes. You sneak behind the back of the nearest building, a stucco box with a small front yard. The young man of the couple returns with a few other people. He’s speaking breathlessly, pointing towards the ocean. Poor guy. No doubt he thought he’d seen some ghost girl come from the ocean. This is probably something that would traumatize him for life.

You hear a small noise next to you. A little black cat is pawing at you. You could barely see it in the shadows. It didn’t care that you weren’t wearing clothes. Its fur was soft and warm and its purrs were comforting. You run your hand over its head and ears and it crawls into your lap. You would have liked to own a cat someday. You always liked them. They were funny and cute and very affectionate like this one. When you raise your eyes, your heart leaps. There are clothes hanging on a clothesline from a house not too far away!

You scramble quickly towards it, careful not to step on anything that might make noise. You check every gap to make sure that no one can see you. Then as soon as you reach the clothing, you carefully yank it off the line. It was just one of the local school uniforms. The white button down top was a bit small, but the wine-colored skirt fits you just fine around the waist. You were only a bit older than Renata when she died so this was probably the outfit of a highschool student.

Your eyes fall on the back door of the house. That’s right, Japanese don’t wear shoes in the house. These shoes were laid out neatly on the rack. You glance around and carefully approach, snatching what you hope will fit you. They’re just the right size, much to your shock. This surprise is enough to send a jolt of happiness through you. Now clothed, you return to the cat and pick it up in your arms and walk out on the street. The first thing you saw was a sign that said, Chizuru.

Before arriving in Japan, Norma, the school AI had told you about a place called Chizuru being a safe haven and to find an Internet Cafe there if you ever got into trouble. The hairs rose on the back of your arms. How could this be possible that dolphins not only save your life, but take you directly to the place that you needed to be? You sang the song that said ‘God is with you’ but it was supposed to be a metaphor right? 

You approach a man on the street who looks at you with a stunned expression. “I… excuse…”

Before you can ask anything, he shakes his head again and again and flees from you. “Wait! I need…”

You try again, this time of one of the vendors, an old craggy-faced man who stares at you with a black expression until you give up.

Burned, you just decide to wander around until you see something that looks like an internet cafe. It wouldn’t be in a neighborhood. More likely closer to the city center, on a main street. You head that way, away from the beach and the houses. The city center seems much quieter than you would expect it to be. You stop.

A group of people are standing on the street, five men in black leather jackets displaying flaming Oni masks. One had a wild looking tall mohawk dyed red. His black jeans reached down to black leather boots studded with silver spikes. It was as if the black dragon that tried to eat you had turned human and walked on land.

He turned his head and spotted you. It was too late to hide. His eyes ran up and down the length of you and he grinned, and made a slow whistling noise. You may have been raised in an orphanage but you weren’t that naive to not know what that smile meant. You’d seen it before on some of the staff who liked to take advantage of the older girls there. 

So you didn’t need to know the vulgar words coming out of their mouth.  You set the kitten down on a nearby trash can and pat it on the head, quietly telling it to stay in Russian. The cat obliged, and started to clean its paws.

In the orphanage, you were taught hand to hand basics until you were strong enough to actually use it in a fight. The trainings were very light against each other and you weren’t allowed to cause injury, but there was no gender splitting. You were only hybrids. Whether you were male or female, it didn’t matter so long as you had dragonblood in your veins.

Because of your background, you didn’t show the same innocent fear that these men may have been accustomed to from someone your age, in that clothing. You stared them straight in the eyes, your arms at your side, not moving forward or back. This nonchalant attitude made them stand there in brief bewilderment. The one with the mohawk was clearly the bolder of the five and he shouted something at you that you don’t understand. You just shake your head.

“I need to find the Internet Café…” You make a gesture with your hands to pantomime typing at a computer. They started to laugh, elbowing each other and nodding. You sigh. You’re so tired and it showed on your face.

Your lack of Japanese and your weary expression was an invitation to attack and they approached you now.

In the orphanage, no one would approach you like this in such a joking manner. Especially not on the training grounds. The Mohawk’s hands were relaxed. He was confident. He wasn’t watching your hands ball into fists as tight as stones and he wasn’t watching the sudden shift in your feet as you moved into a sturdy stance. He reached out with his hand to your elbow. So he was unable to block or dodge your fist that struck him like lightning.

He didn’t just feel pain or stagger back. The man felt flat to his side, straight to the pavement, and he didn’t get up. The eyes of his four friends followed him down with a stunned feeling. You knew that feeling. Like they suddenly found themselves in a fantasy world where a high school girl in a school uniform could knock out a gangster with a single hit? 

Maybe this was a fantasy world and you were a fantasy high schooler. After all, you were carrying a cat!

They all turned to you in unison and you attacked the next one, levering back on one leg and slamming him with a kick to the solar plexus. He staggered back, wheezing, curling in on himself, once or twice.. 

The next one now had the wherewithal to produce a switchblade. He swung it wildly at where your heart should have been, but the blouse was a bit open where it was too tight and he caught a glimpse of the fact that you’re not wearing anything underneath. Your hand caught his wrist and you pulled hard, driving your knee directly into his crotch.

His grip on the knife released as he slowly sank to the ground and you swiped it easily. You give it a toss and catch it by the handle. Now the smile is on your face and there’s no pleasure in it as you stare down the final two gangsters.

One gives up and turns to run, arms pinwheeling comically as his oni mask jacket flapped in the breeze created by his own flight.

The last one was backing away, stumbling over his feet, crawling back upright. And when he does get up, you see something in his hand, shiny and black.

A gun. You hadn’t seen one in a while and you stopped. You couldn’t do anything about this. He just needed to pull the trigger and you were gone. But this was a world where you couldn’t die… right?

A man in a white shirt and black slacks leaped out from behind a car and a bright metal arc gave off sparks as it neatly cut the gun in half. Chu Zihang’s sword then rested its edge on the man’s throat

The man stared at his severed gun in silence a moment before he noticed the blade.

“Senpai!” You joyfully run forward and wrap your arms around Zihang.

Zihang looks bewildered, unsure of what to do. His free hand hovers over your shoulder… head… and then he settles on patting you on the back.

The man at his mercy is trembling in terror at the discovery that this warrior girl in a school uniform somehow has a ‘Senpai’ at all. His companions are already staggering away, one of them limping and bowlegged as he flees. 

Chu Zihang raised his hand and rubbed his thumb and fingers together in the universal sign for ‘money’. You stick his tongue out at him.

The man was quick to oblige, tossing him his wallet.  Chu Zihang lowered his sword. After examining the contents, he picked out a few bills and handed the man his wallet back but he was already running away.

“Were you just going to let him shoot you?” He asked.

You opened your mouth. “Yes… but!” You raise a finger to halt objections. “I knew something would happen to keep me from dying!”

Chu Zihang shook his head slowly. “Where’s Lu Mingfei and Caesar?”

Your expression sobers. “I don’t know. I was looking for the Internet Cafe…”

He walks over to a vending machine and puts in the money to buy you something to eat. You return to where the cat is resting on the trash can. “What a good kitty!” You whisper, ,gathering it up in your arms.

“You shouldn’t keep that.” The Machine is pouring out noodles with soup broth base. Your stomach rumbles and the cat meows.

“Is there something for Kitty?” You ask.

Chu Zihang sighs again. The man gave the whole wallet, after all. Chu Zihang orders some dried squid for the cat.

In a few moments both you and Kitty are sitting against the building. You’re so hungry that you scald your mouth on the soup, but you don't care. Chu Zihang is silent, still standing guard and watching. With your hunger sated, you look up at him. “You’re the team lead right?”

“Only if I find out Caesar is dead.”

“You think he’s alive? Do you want me to call you boss?”

“No.”

“Okay boss.”

You look up at him and he’s scowling at you, not in the mood for your jokes, or your kitten. “How did you survive?”

“You’re not going to believe this. A pod of dolphins brought me all the way here.”

Much to your surprise he believes you. “That’s true. The dolphins here are very friendly to the locals. In fact there was a story I read about that...”

There was a sudden cacophony of roaring engines. Chu Zihang grabs you and together you duck behind the parked cars. Motorcycles, dozens of them, are all roaring off in one direction, their lights streaming towards a single destination. Among them were vans filled with people with automatic weapons. Right after that, all the lights go out in Chizuru. From the tallest building, to the smallest house, even the lights illuminating the advertisements go dark. 

Chu Zihang sighed deep in his chest. “I have a bad feeling Caesar is that way.”

[moonflower-31]

I Won’t Forget You - Spencer Reid x Reader

Masterlist 

Part 2 

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader 

Warnings: Descriptions of dead bodies and cases. Usual CM stuff. 

Tags: @dra-reid, @eevee0722, @ceeellewrites 

~~~~~~~~~ 

Okay, so, maybe you'd admit that sitting next to Reid on a plane was making you nervous. 

After you had made it to the jet, you carried your go back to the back of the jet where they stored the luggage. Right as you did so however, your phone began to ring. You looked at your watch and sighed. You would have to answer the phone and get on the jet. Whoever it was was going to have to accept that it would be a short phone call. 

"Hello?" You answered, adjusting your bag as you made your way back to the boarding stairs of the jet. 

"So~? It's probably not your lunch break yet… but how did seeing mister teacher's pet go? Did he give you any hair care tips cause he looked good for having such messy hair." 

You fought the smile that formed on your face, staying put near the bathroom so your phone call could be semi-private. Though you knew that Gabriel wouldn't have cared otherwise. 

"Hello Gabriel. And for your information, I'm headed out on my first case. On an actual jet of all things. So don't expect me home tonight. I don't think these cases are usually as quick as a day." 

"Ah okay. So you’re avoiding the question now? Jesus, you're really into this guy." He teases. 

"Gabriel I swear-!" You growl. After a much needed sigh, you close your eyes and start your statement over again. "You tease me enough about my study habits. If you don't stop this you'll need to sleep with one eye open. Maybe start wearing a night-cap so I don't cut that hair of yours." You playfully threaten. Gabriel lets out an offended gasp. 

"You wouldn't!" 

"I totally would. Try me." 

"Grr… Fine. Get me lover boy's number and I'll call it even. I'll tell Iris we'll be alone for a few nights~" You could hear his tell-tale smirk in his voice, causing you to roll your eyes. 

"Don't you even dare. You know you'll wake up in the middle of nowhere in nothing but your rainbow underwear. She's capable of more than you realize." You laugh as you warn him of what you both knew Iris was capable of doing to him if he pissed her off. 

"Yeah yeah, sure don't want that to happen again. Anyway, have a good trip with that pretty boy of yours~" Gabriel teased. 

"What did I say?" You warned sternly. 

"What? You didn't get me the guy's number yet, so teasing is still on the table." 

"Leave it to you to find a damn loophole." You groan, rubbing the creases of your forehead out with your fingers. 

"Everyone please take your seats, we need to go over the case, see if we can start building a profile." Hotch announces behind you. 

"Sorry, I gotta go. We're about to take off. Don't die, please." You teasingly beg before you hang up and put your phone in the slot on your belt. 

"So… Gabriel, huh?" 

You gulp a bit and turn your head frantically until you find where Derek had sat on the jet. You roll your eyes and specifically choose the seat farthest away from him out of spite.

"Oh hush. He's my roommate. Not what you think." You insist as you grab your bag and place it in your lap, situating the case file in front of you. As soon as you get settled into your seat, you feel a presence suddenly sit next to you. 

"Sorry, I had to grab something real quick." 

You feel a slight blush grow on your face as you realize who the presence was. That was also accompanied by the sudden increase in the smell of mahogany wood and soft musk. It was pleasing. 

"Don't worry about it, Pretty boy. We were just talking about L/N's little 'roommate'. Weren't we?" Morgan teases. Instead of taunting back you feel like almost sinking into your seat. Why did he have to bring that up right now? Especially when Spencer was here to fucking hear?

"Living with roommates is actually more common than you think. There was a study done recently that showed a total of 18-34 percent of people have roommates. It's more logical as it helps people afford apartments with minimum wages." He explains. You sigh with relief. You were glad for Spencer’s statistic. It moved the conversation away from you. At least you hoped. 

"Whatever. Still. Who is this 'Gabriel'?" Morgan asked with a determined smirk, ignoring Spencer’s statistics. You sighed. You weren't going to get out of this as easily as you thought. 

Spencer swallowed a bundle of nerves as Morgan pushed aside his attempt at changing the subject. If he was truthful, he didn't want to speak about the possibility of you having someone special in your life already. Although he doubted he ever had a chance. Who was this Gabriel though? He wouldn't deny that he was curious, at least to his own conscience. 

"Fine," you sigh. "Gabriel is my best friend. Well… one of my best friends. He is gayer than a rainbow and is currently working as an FBI undercover agent. Happy?" 

Morgan raised his hands in defeat, chuckling. 

"I'm just asking baby girl, no hard feelings." He teases. 

Spencer let out an undetectable sigh of relief, his unknowingly clenched fist loosening against his leg. "He's an undercover agent? How did he get hired as one as a new graduate?" Spencer asks. "Of course there are some rare occasions where recently graduated agents have gone immediately to a semi-high position, but that in itself is exceedingly rare. Almost impossible." He rambled, finally finishing and turning towards you. 

"Oh, well I think it might've been because of his family ties. His father works in the CIA. Though I doubt that his father pulled any strings. He's kind of homophobic." You shrug. "But hey, it's not too impossible. It happened for you and me, right?" You asked, wiggling a teasing eyebrow. 

Spencer chuckled a bit and nodded, laughing gently. "I suppose it isn't as impossible as I make it sound. Although it still is rare. We just both happen to meet the requirements." He answers, flashing you a genuine smile. 

"For someone who's pretty private about her own personal life, you're pretty open about sharing your roommate's life." Morgan speaks up with curiosity. Spencer bites back a growl and glares at Morgan to knock it off. 

"Don't worry, Gabe's not that worried about his own life being leaked. He's got a squeaky clean record, and he says anything that someone finds out from someone other than him is always hearsay in court without proof." 

Morgan shrugged and pulled out the case file, getting the notion that the conversation was over. 

"We should get started. We'll be touching down in Illinois in a couple hours." Hotch announces, gathering everyone's collective attention. Garcia's face popped up on Derek's laptop he opened up as Hotch began to go over the case. "Any outstanding details yet, Garcia?" He began. 

"No sir, the only thing I could find was that each of your victims visited stores for newborns to toddlers. Babies R Us, Bottles and Babies, you name it. Each of them also had either a wife or serious romantic partner who had recently given birth." Garcia answered, looking up from her list. 

"What kind of job would you have to have to know this stuff about your victims? I don't think our unsub is stalking them." Rossi spoke up. 

"Maybe they work at one of the stores? Garcia I'm gonna need a list of employees at each of those locations." Derek started. 

"No wait, if they're all different stores then the idea of the unsub working at one doesn't fit… do each of these stores have the same supplier?" You speak up, looking over the case details before looking up at the rest of the team. 

"Uhh… yes, a company called Mommy and Me supplies all three of the stores these men visited." Garcia clarifies. 

"Good work, (L/N). Garcia, I'm going to need that list of names." Hotch informed. 

"I'll get that straight back to you sir as soon as I can. Garcia out." She says, disappearing from the screen. 

"So what are we thinking about behavior? Why would our unsub attack these men? And why now?" Emily spoke up. 

"The stressor in this situation is most likely to do with a partner. Or perhaps something to do with our unsub's physical appearance or self-esteem. Since each of the men are dark haired and left out for anyone to find." Spencer explained, laying the folder down onto the table in front of him. 

"Maybe something to do with a child? This unsub might just be a customer at each of these places. Maybe their partner recently left them and they're lashing out at surrogates for that partner." JJ suggests. 

"Are we looking for a female unsub?" Morgan asks. 

"I believe so." You spoke up. 

"Why is that, (L/N)?" Prentiss replied. 

"Well, in one of the crime scene descriptions, it was said that the newborn of one of the men was fed after their father had been murdered. I don't believe any man could do that. There weren't any leftover bottles either." You answered. 

"Actually, it is possible for a man to lactate. Although very rare, some men still produce the hormone prolactin even if they have a Y chromosome. This produces the process of lactation. But I doubt that is the case here, as most examples of this happening have been influenced by medical means." Spencer expressed, his eyes widening and sparkling with wonder at his fact. 

Derek groaned. "I really, really did not need to know that man." 

"But he's right. If there is no trace of a bottle having been used, or of one missing, we could be dealing with a woman." Hotch affirmed. "That paired with the obvious craving of power in the way the bodies are dumped and each victim is tortured." 

"What if our unsub recently had a baby also?" JJ spoke. 

"That would make sense, if our unsub is finding men at these different stores, then it could be plausible for her to have taken these men while alternating between stores." Rossi points out. 

"Good work everyone. When we land JJ and I will talk to the families. Morgan, Prentiss, Rossi, I want you three to investigate the last dump site, see if we can gather any more information on this unsub's methods and cause. And (L/N) and Reid, I need you two to take a look at the bodies. See id there are any patterns we missed. However we need to be quick, or Galesburg is going to have another body on their hands very soon." Hotch divides the jobs, closing the folder for the case. "Reid." 

Spencer looks up and turns towards Hotch. "Yeah?" 

"Show (L/N) the ropes for Prentiss. Try to teach her if you can. This is a learning opportunity for her as much as this is a case for us." Hotch orders. Spencer nods in understanding, feeling nervous butterflies building up again in his stomach. 

"Well, I guess you're stuck with me for a couple hours. I promise I don't bite too hard." You tease, nudging his shoulder. He smiles at your tease, letting out a soft laugh. 

"Oh I know that. The question is…" he pauses, raising a teasing eyebrow. "..if I do." 

You snort and laugh, shaking your head. "You wouldn't hurt a fly, Reid. No offense." 

"Wouldn't hurt-" Spencer playfully scoffs. "You hearing this, Morgan?" He says with a teasing smile on his face. 

"I've hurt a fly. I outsmarted its mother." Spencer insisted. Morgan snickered and looked towards Prentiss with a knowing look. She gave him one back, smiling smugly.

"Really? Outsmarted its mother? Reid, a human infant is capable of outsmarting a damn fly. But whatever you say, Fly Genius." You teased. Morgan let out a long 'Ooo' in response.

"You just got told." 

"Whatever Morgan." Spencer playfully rolled his eyes, smiling still under his attempt at trying to look annoyed.

"You're just mad I ended up getting you to prove your innocence." You insist. 

"You totally didn't." He retorts. 

"Spence, you've always been innocent." JJ interjects. 

"See? You can't deny that." You insist, a playful smile cemented on your face. 

"Who knew of all of us to bond with, you'd choose Pretty Ricky first." Morgan teased. 

"You're just jealous I got to talk to her first." Reid insists playfully. You roll your eyes. 

"Yeah, cause without seeing a map I assume your sense of direction is terrible." You tease. He looks at you mock offended and laughs a little. 

"Is not. Your eyes just met mine and you looked friendly." Spencer defended. 

"Alright children settle down before you give me an aneurysm." Rossi teases in a playful sigh. You giggle and shake your head. You didn't expect that amount of welcome feelings coming especially from Spencer. But everyone was already warming up to you. It felt nice. You just hoped you didn't let everyone down. 

○●♡●○ 

Walking off the jet, you immediately were greeted by the chief of the Galesburg PD. 

"Hi, you must be the BAU. I'm Chief Anthony Sherwood. Thanks for comin' down so fast." The chief thanks, shaking Hotch's hand. 

"Of course. I'm Agent Hotchner. This is Agent Morgan, Prentiss, Jareau, Rossi, Reid, and our trainee, Agent (L/N)." Hotch introduces.  The chief goes down the line, shaking almost everybody's hands. (Spencer gave him a peace sign instead) 

"So, a trainee huh? If we weren't so crunched for time to find this guy, I'd ask how you're liking the BAU. Come along now, we got everything you need set up at the station." Sherwood spoke to you before he gestured to everyone else and began to lead you all to the rental SUVs they had waiting for you all. 

You gulp softly and sigh, clenching and unclenching your fists a couple of times before you begin to follow. It was your first case. You were a big bundle of excitement mixed with nerves that wouldn't go away. 

Once inside the police station, you found a place for your things, setting them down in the main room that the Chief had set aside for you all to use. 

Once you had everything settled, you began to head out to the SUVs again without much of an introduction to everyone else. Hotch had said to get to the morgue as soon as you could to take a look at the bodies. You told yourself you were just following orders. 

You climbed into the driver's seat of the SUV that you had ridden to the station and immediately groaned, placing your now aching head against the steering wheel. With all the excitement of being on a case you hadn't been prepared to go on yet, you hadn't noticed you were having one of your head splitting migraines from your hyperthymesia. And lucky you, you had left the bottle of acetaminophen in your bag that you had left in the station. Great. 

"Rough day already?" 

You jumped with sudden fear, banging your head against the window of the car. You groan and rub the affected area, turning your attention to the owner of the voice who just spooked the shit out of you. 

"Reid…" you sighed, turning back to the wheel. Of course he had followed you. He was supposed to go with you. How dumb could you get? 

"Yeah… that's me." He says, a slight smile on his lips. "You okay?" He asks. 

"Yes… No… No not really. With my condition, I get occasional head-splitting migraines. They usually happen at least once a month. I hadn't gotten one yet, till today. And I left my prescription in my bag." You groaned, running a hand through your hair. 

"I see… but I don't think it's just the headaches." 

"Guess you caught me. I'm just nervous about this being my first case. Trainee or not. I've thought about this experience plenty of times. But you can't predict what the case is gonna entail." You conclude, squeezing the steering wheel. 

"That's understandable for any new agent, (L/N). Whether you're wide-eyed like Hotch and Rossi, or cautious, I think it's pretty normal. At least from my own experience." 

You can't fight the urge to smile as he finished his advice. He really didn't have to do this. You were new. But then again, he probably just saw a piece of himself in you. 

"Thanks Reid." 

"Of course, (L/N)." 

○●♡●○ 

"I've seen plenty of messed up injuries in my time, though I've never seen something as crude as this." The mortician said as she guided you and Spencer into the cold chamber room. 

"Most places like this don't usually see much serial killer action, so it's to be expected." Spencer says, trailing off as the mortician pulled out the most recent victim. 

"He looks pretty athletically built. Garcia texted me and told me they all were pretty active in the gym too. Not the same ones nor the same days though." You point out, pulling on a pair of gloves to take a look at the different injuries. "Each of these bruisings seem to be done by hand, no remnants of wood or anything else. So then how did our unsub subdue these men? They had to have been stronger than her." You questioned, looking over John McAllister's wounds near his neck.  

"He wasn't strangled around his neck either… she might've used some sort of drug to temporarily paralyze the body. We've seen it before in a few cases. Was there any traces in their systems?" Spencer asks the mortician. 

"Unfortunately, no. Nothing other than an increase in the production of glutamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and a few others." The mortician clarifies. 

"Hm…" you pondered, crossing your arms briefly. "Are there any needle marks at all?" 

Spencer considers what you say before he takes a gloved hand and tilts the head of the victim to the side. "Yes, behind his ear. Though the access to the blood supply would be harder to reach." 

"I doubt that mattered to her." You remind. 

"Can we see the others? Or have their bodies been claimed?" You ask. 

"The first one, yes. But the second one no." The mortician says, putting the latest victim back in the cold chamber before pulling out the second. 

"Is there a needle mark?" You ask, hoping this connection would help the case. 

"Yes, around the same area too…" Spencer trails. 

You turn your head to the second victim's file and narrow your eyes. "Hey… from this photo, our second victim is supposed to have long dark brown hair, our unsub is cutting the hair." 

"She's trying to make them look like a partner." Spencer realizes, pulling out his phone to alert Hotch. You nod to the mortician and help her put the second victim's body back into the freezer. 

Then you began to follow Spencer out of the morgue, your nerves finally having calmed down. Maybe this is what you had needed, as morbid as it was. Just to see the reality of the case instead of just your own worries and ideas of the case. You were going to be fine. You felt like a real profiler. 

Of course it helped that Spencer was there, but still. It felt good. And you knew this case needed the good.