#Christmas gifts for dad

[morganbritton132]

Thinking a bit more about this Steve Has Older Siblings AU I’ve got going on (here, here, and here). Specifically about Richard Harrington’s first wife, and two things:

1. She’s a saint. Theresa Kline (former Harrington) stood by her husband through multiple extramarital affairs but a not-quite-yet nineteen year old mistress with a baby was her breaking point. She bowed out gracefully.

Richard married his mistress and Theresa moved on. She never said a bad word about him to her kids or to anyone. She never spat an insult at the child that ruined her marriage or about her baby boy.

Though, she didn’t have to.

Her kids said enough bad things about Steve and his mom on her behalf to fill a book. They never miss an opportunity to remind Steve that while both their parents were from two of Hawkins’ more influential and wealthy families, his mother was a high school dropout homewrecker and a whore that didn’t love him.

Even after his siblings tried fixing their relationship with him, they all still take shots at his mom. Jason’s favorite analogy seems to be that him and his siblings are ‘purebred’ and Steve is a ‘mutt.’

Or, well. It was until Robin heard it and said, “Pure? Like the Nazi’s ideology?? Yikes.”

2. I realize that this AU does not really contradict anything important in the Officer Noodles (and also here) universe. You’d just have to make Angela Harrington Callahan’s little sister.

[smartbuyer]

https://smartbuyer.wpdevcloud.com/the-perfect-gift-idea-10-unique-christmas-gifts-everyone-will-love/

Best Christmas gift ideas such as this Plushies and many more...

[causeimanartist]

The sillies

[around-your-throat]

literally the best christmas gift I will ever ask for

[cumulo-stratus]

Flashback

Pairing: dad!Spencer Reid x gn!Reader

Summary: spencer discusses his thoughts around having kids with his spouse after putting their daughter Diana to bed.

Warnings: mentions of drug abuse/addiction, mentions of cannon typical violence, discussions of having kids(obviously), poor insecure Spencer 🥺🥺

A/N : this was written for the @cmgiftexchange!! I wrote this for @omgbigfluffwriting, I hope you enjoy it and that I did your prompt well!! Merry Christmas <33

wc: 1.7k

The sound of giggling filled the Reid household as you chased the mini-Reid through the kitchen and into the living area. When you finally caught Diana you slipped your hands under her arms and swung her up onto your hip with a cheer. When you both finally caught your breaths you made eye contact with your husband who had a scolding look on his face, but there was still a smile twitching at lips at the scene he had just witnessed. “You know she has to be in bed in- 15 minutes!” Spencer paused and looked down at his watch to emphasize his point about how close it was to Diana's bed time. You just sighed dramatically and addressed your daughter “Well, I think your dads right- we gotta get you to bed- it's a school night!”.

After much kid wrangling and only one bedtime story bribe, Diana was sound asleep and safe- leaving you and your husband for some alone time together. After so many years of being together, you and Spencer dont find there's a need to fill the silence you're often draped in. 

But that night the silence got Spencer thinking. Thinking about you, thinking about Diana, thinking about the life he's built for himself. If he was being honest with himself he never thought he would be here. A spouse and a child, a house. It was more than 23 years old Dr. Spencer Reid, new BAU agent could have possibly imagined. A spouse, let alone a child. 

Those thoughts were even more discouraged when he was kidnapped by Tobias Hankle. Spencer considered that one of his lowest points, he had been tortured and drugged- how could it not be. That's not even to mention the addiction that followed. He was in pieces, mentally and physically. Even after he got clean, Spencer often told himself that he wasn't worthy of children. That he would be worse than his own dad. And without you there to reassure him as you often did after you met, these beliefs solidified in his mind. 

“Y/n?” You looked over at Spencer from where you were lying across from him on the couch. Your questioning look was enough of an answer for Spencer so he continued, “did you always want kids? I used to think I didn't deserve kids”. You gave Spencer a look of pity, you hated when he had thoughts at his own expense. And he knew that. But Spencer couldn't help himself. 

“First of all, Diana loves you and you're the best father for her- full stop. Second of all, I always wanted kids, I think you did too”. Spencer nodded, he had always wanted kids- it was his mind that told him not to. 

“I didn't really start believing that kids were a possibility when I met you”. Spencer smiled warmly when he spoke, his eidetic memory not failing to remember any details from when you first met.

——

Spencer was sat his car that he rarely drove, going to the supermarket, which he rarely did. But it wasn't often that he spiraled into a depressive episode after seeing his girlfriend murdered in front of him, so he thought a change of pace might do him some good. Or more like penelope garcia thought it would do him some goo

That’s how he ended up strolling through the public park on a Tuesday afternoon in april. It was sunny and warm, a stark contrast to the sunken purple bags under Spencer's eyes and the wrinkly shirt that probably should’ve been washed before leaving the house. 

But you- in spencers eyes you were a beauty unto yourself, regardless of what you were wearing. That was one thing that hadn’t changed since he met you, and he swore never would.

To be honest, it was by luck that Spencer had run into you; you were with your nephew as babysitter for the day when he started bothering spencer. Needless to say you were very apologetic.

“Tom, no! leave that man alone! i'm so sorry sir, he doesn't mean it”

You were extremely apologetic, ushering your nephew away from the stranger. Spencer was flustered but understanding, red evident on his cheeks.

Skip to a few hours later and Spencer had spent the entire time with you. It was the best Spencer had felt in weeks, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. 

That night he couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened; walking around with you, talking with you, meeting your nephew and sister. Spending time with your nephew, it got him thinking. Spencer had tucked away the idea of having kids far into a little nook into his mind, and spending time with Tom dredged it up from the depths of his brain. 

Despite still reeling with the death of his girlfriend, Spencer still couldn't get the thought of having kids and being a dad out of his head. It nagged at him all the time, and the thoughts got loud when he was with you. Picturing you as a parent during your coffee dates. 

Although Spencer Reid has an IQ of 187, and an eidetic memory, it still took him weeks to realize why he couldn’t get the thought of children out of his head; because he wanted to be a dad. He wanted to care for someone, knowing that they rely on him. 

——

“Spencer? Spence?” 

Spencer is pulled from his thoughts of when the couple first met by your soft voice. You had a small look of concern on your face at your husband's lack of awareness of the current reality. Spencer hummed in response to ease your worries. “What's got you with that Spencer Reid Far Off Look ™ in your eyes huh?” you asked. Spencer chuckles, and responds, “Just thinking about when we first met… after Maeve died- it's what got me thinking about having kids you know-”. it's your turn to chuckle now, remembering the embarrassment of having to usher away your nephew. Though your eyes held a sympathetic look at the mention of maeve, it would always be a bit of a sensitive subject. 

“Ya, we have tom to thank for that. But I didn't know that's when you started thinking of kids- I thought it was later, when you first talked to me about it”.

——

It was 1:03 am, and Spencer was still awake, to be fair he had just gotten back from a bad case. It was always bad when it involved kids, Spencer couldn't get the face of the little girl they couldn't save in time out of his head. Thoughts raced through his head, but he would never tell you about them- after all you had only been together for a couple months. Spencer couldn't risk being that vulnerable with you.

So here he was, tossing and turning at one am over a case he couldn't get out of his head- trying not to wake up the sleeping figure beside him. He couldn't stop thinking about if that little girl had been his little girl. What would he do then? Spencer didn’t know if he could handle having another human rely on him so heavily- what if he let them down. What if he became like his own father, something he swore he would never do. 

In all of Spencer's spiraling thoughts he hadn’t noticed that you had woken up from the constant shifting of the bed, which was caused by his  incessant tossing and turning in bed. You noticed the look in Spencer's eyes was one you knew well, it was a look that said the gears were turning a little too fast in that big beautiful brain of his. 

But before you could say anything, Spencer got to it first. “Would I- would I be a good dad?” You were caught off guard by Spencer's question, not expecting him to bring that up. But you could tell Spencer had been thinking about it for a while, if the worry crease between his eyebrows was anything to go by.

“I think you’d be a great dad spence- your kind, your caring, you have an amazing compacité to be there for other people, i think especially if it was your kid..”

You speak in a quiet, comforting tone in order to release at least some of the anxiety your boyfriend is harboring. In an effort to punctuate your point you give Spencer a small squeeze on the arm, hoping it would provide at least a little bit of comfort.

Spencer offered a nod in response not quite knowing what to say to his partner's kindness. Instead of speaking Spencer just rolled from the other side of the bed into your warm embrace, which contrasted the cool breeze from the open window.

——

Spencer comes back from his thoughts by the sound of small feet pitter pattering on the hardwood floors. you don't comment on your husband's spacey-ness that evening, instead opting to sit up and find the source of the sound. 

Which you find out to be the small feet of Diana Reid, who had woken up from a bad dream and sought out the comfort of her parents. Her small frame struggled to climb onto the large bed, so Spencer lifted her up by her armpits and placed her between him and you.

“Cant sleep?”

You ask though the dark, soothingly running your fingers through her curly hair.

“ya.. i had a bad dream and couldn’t fall back asleep”

Her voice is small, the six year old still a bit embarrassed at needing to sleep in her parents bedroom, but Spencer's calming hand running up and down her back helped ease some of the embarrassment and helped her sink into her loving parents arms.

“That’s okay, you can always sleep in here with us if you want”

Spencer says as he kisses Diana's head, and the little girl is already falling asleep in the couple's arms. Both Spencer and you look down at your daughter, now fast asleep in between you, and it puts a smile on your faces. And you can't help but lean over and place a haste kiss on spencers lips and say;

“You know I told you you’d be a good dad”

you had a bit of a sly smirk on your face as Spencer chuckled, and he responded “I guess you were right huh”. And that's how the Reid family fell asleep, contented in each other's arms.

The End

[cookinguptales]

just watched the dirty laundry ep where one of them talks about how he wrote a short story that worried his teacher and like

ohhh I had one of those when I was a kid. my parents still talk about it to this day.

when I was about 8yo, my teacher put a poster up on the blackboard and said, "I want you all to write me a story inspired by this scene." the scene was of a lush jungle that had animals hidden throughout.

"oh, okay," I said to myself. "I can do this."

see, what my teacher (and parents) didn't know was that my grandmother, knowing vaguely that I liked to read but knowing pretty much nothing else about children, had given me a stack of books that she got at a yard sale. these books were very nice quality and I was happy to get them. too bad that they were all alfred hitchcock presents!

for the uninitiated, AHP was a tv series and book series that collected short, scary stories. stories about murder, stories about ghosts, stories about monsters of all kind. you get stories like du maurier's the birds and blackwood's the wendigo and that fucked-up short story that roald dahl wrote about that guy who collected fingers or whatever.

all that is to say that I had been consuming wildly age-inappropriate atmospheric horror for months at this point and I was like, "yes, I know just what to write!"

I ended up turning in this story about an explorer who was lost in the jungle and he starts hearing this faraway howling sound, which he realizes is a howler monkey. and he keeps getting more and more lost and the howling keeps getting closer and closer and finally, as he is about ready to collapse with exhaustion, he hears the sound of howls all around him and the story ends with the implication that he got mauled to death by howler monkeys.

(I also, coincidentally enough, really enjoyed zoo books!)

lmao ~guess whose parents got a phone call~?

but it kind of backfired on my teacher, because my parents were fully delighted. they were like "WE DIDN'T KNOW SHE COULD WRITE LIKE THIS" and I did not get punished at all.

anyway, my parents still talk about "the howler" to this day when they want to embarrass me at dinner parties. :')

[i-am-dulaman]

You know that scene of Hal from Malcolm in the Middle where he keeps getting distracted by new problems/tasks?

I just snapped out of a bit of hyperfocus by the realization that i am him right now as i screw on the passenger side sun visor in my car at 2am when i was supposed to be watering my plants.

[peonypyxels]

mixed reactions in the sparks household over sylvie & miles taking their first baby free vacation

[kulapti]

Wild Coyote & Leaping Pronghorn, Dec 2023, ink.

List of north american prairie species shown here, roughly top to bottom: Northern Bobwhite, Engelmann's Milkweed, Augochlora sweat bees, Indiangrass, Pronghorn, Widow Skimmer dragonfly, Blue Darter dragonfly, Common (White) Yarrow, Bluet damselfy, Coyote, Giant Grassland Cicada, seeds of Prairie False Foxglove, American Basketflower seedheads, Firewheels, Prickly Pear cactus, Rainbow grasshoppers, Sideoats Grama.

[petsync]

Cats: the only creature that can ignore you, demand your attention, and knock over your stuff all in the span of five minutes.🥰🥰👈👈

[one-time-i-dreamt]

My cousin gave my dad and I each $100,000 LEGO gift cards for Christmas, but we only had until the 4th week of January to spend them.

[illustriousaestheticc]

[toghomevideo]

[renrenkaaa]

“*heavy British accent* Merry Christmas you c*nt.”

[teddybeartoji]

sighhh i was so excited abt the idea of getting a new tat but i think i have to postpone it and save money for a new laptop instead this one is fucking coookeddddddd

[scootersscooter]

blah blah blah... something something.... just... Scrags awkwardly trying (and failing) to be a nice decent adult figure in Gwen's kids lives because he knows what it's like to have an actor parent who doesn't actually like/care about you...