#I have a baby shower next week and if I don’t buy the diapers today I will forget

[iguessitsjustme]

Unrelated to anything I ever post about but today I gotta go to the store and buy diapers and toilet paper. I need a third thing to really make the cashiers think

[erin-bo-berin]

Growing Family

MASTERLIST

Woo I’m finally back to writing some! It feels like it’s been a lot longer than it actually has since I’ve posted a new fic. I hate to disappoint, but this is just fluffy daddy Spencer today, but I am working on a few new smuts that should be coming up next so stay tuned for those! Also shout out to @velventeenaries for coming up with some of the lines Rossi said when we were having a convo on this situation. Thus, the inspiration for this fic was born. Happy reading!

Spencer Reid/Reader

Rating: G (fluff)

Word Count: 2,557

“Penny G at your service, how may I help you?”

You smiled at the familiar female voice that came through the speakers of your car.

“Hey Penelope,” you said.

“Y/N! My favorite non-BAU chica! What can I do for you, today?”

You chuckled knowing good and well the chipper, eccentric and kind hearted blonde was most likely swinging in her chair, twirling a feathery pen in her hands as you spoke.

“I was just curious if the rest of the team was back yet? If so, I wanted to swing by before heading home. I just got out of my doctor’s appointment.”

“Please tell me you have ultrasound pics!” Penelope’s voice grew in excitement.

“That I do,” you grinned.

“Okay, good. Yes, they’re here and you better be here in 5 minutes or less or I will hunt you down for those pictures. PG out.”

You shook your head, exasperated by the usual antics of Penelope Garcia. She was basically the fairy godmother tech analyst of the Behavioral Analysis Unit—the department of the FBI where your husband Spencer worked.

Just recently in the last few months, you and Spencer had found out you were pregnant. Being that it was yours and his first baby, the excitement was unreal but it wasn’t just limited to the two of you. The rest of the BAU were just as excited too.

Garcia was maybe on another level of excitement though. She was already planning on things to buy for the newest BAU baby. It had been almost four years since a new little bundle of joy had arrived within the extended BAU family. Rose Mary Simmons, the fifth and final child of team member Matt Simmons and his wife Kristy, was no longer a baby. She was speeding towards four and would be starting kindergarten in only a year and a half.

“You know I love all my godsons and goddaughters,” Penelope had told you, not long after you and Spencer had announced your happy event, “But I need more baby love in my life and thank God you’re having a baby. I will happily babysit any time you want.”

“Oh, Garcia,” you snickered to yourself, thinking back on the memory as you maneuvered your car through the busy D.C. traffic.

As you’d told Garcia, you’d just gone to your latest doctor’s appointment. You were about 15 weeks along and already showing more than you expected to, which peaked your curiosity. If you were to guess, you could easily pass for 5 almost 6 months pregnant, not barely 4.

You had planned to ask the doctor at today’s appointment if she was sure it wasn’t twins. You had a strong feeling it was. Being only 15 weeks though, you’d only had one prior ultrasound around 7 weeks—not long after you’d discovered your pregnancy and even then, the ultrasound had revealed only one heartbeat. Typically, an expectant mother didn’t have another ultrasound until around 20 weeks, obviously to determine the sex, but your doctor thought it best to check. If anything, it was possible that you were just carrying further forward than usual. According to Spencer—and the many times he’d told you this—it was extremely possible it was just the way your body carried pregnancy. You knew well enough that bump sizes varied greatly.

You’d hoped Spencer could join you for today’s appointment—one that had been scheduled last month—but unfortunately, he’d been away on a case with the team and was on the way home.

You told him you could easily reschedule, but he heard nothing of it.

“You’re going today. Just to make sure little one is okay. You can show me the pictures when we’re back,” he’d said to you, earlier that morning, over the phone.

You’d reluctantly agreed.

But now, you couldn’t help but smile at the little secret you had.

•

“There she is!” Garcia squealed, running towards you practically the moment you stepped foot out of the elevator.

“Hey, Penelope,” you smiled, embracing your friend.

“How are we feeling?” she grinned, pulling away to rub your bump, “Is it twins like you thought?”

You chuckled, knowing Garcia wasted no time in getting to the point.

“Well, about that…” you took her arm, walking with her into the doors of the BAU.

-

You’d filled Garcia in on the way towards the briefing room where most of the team had settled for the time being, just trying to relax after the trip home. If her huge smile was any indicator, Spencer would know before you could even get the words out.

“Whoa! If it isn’t baby mama Reid,” Luke grinned, coming to give you a brotherly side hug, “Wow, you’re enormous.”

Garcia’s eyes widened, swinging an arm out to hit Luke’s chest—hard.

“Ow! Uh enormously beautiful I mean. You’re glowing,” he tried to cover.

“Nice save,” you laughed, heading over to your husband, who was anxiously awaiting to wrap his arms around you.

“You idiot,” you heard Penelope mumble to Luke, “You never tell a pregnant woman how big they are.”

You bit back a laugh and melted into Spencer’s embrace. He’d been gone for almost a week and you’d missed him, a lot.

“Hi, baby,” he grinned, picking you up as he hugged you.

You bent your legs slightly as you were lifted a few inches off the ground and hugged his neck, tightly.

“Soon you won’t be able to do this,” you laughed, then waved to the rest of the team in the room, “Hi guys.”

You patted Spencer’s shoulder lightly.

“Spence, set me down long enough so I can say hi to everyone and not be rude,” you laughed.

He obliged with a grin, giving a quick pat to your bump and you went to hug Tara, JJ and Matt.

“What’d you find out?” JJ asked, “Spence mentioned you had a doctor’s appointment today.”

“Well…” you trailed off, nervously.

“Is the baby okay?!” Spencer asked, his face morphing into panicked concern, his brows furrowed.

“Everything’s fine,” you reassured quickly, “But it’s not just a baby,” you said hesitantly.

His eyebrows rose, looking shocked.

“It’s twins?”

“Not exactly,” you laughed hesitantly, “We’re having triplets.”

Spencer looked as shocked as you felt when the technician had told you the same news. To know you weren’t growing one baby but three.

He stood for a second, blinking at you in surprise. You were about to say something when you suddenly realized how pale he was. He swayed on his feet before falling backwards.

“Spence!”

“Spencer!”

“Reid!”

Everyone shouted at once, your shriek of his name probably the loudest. They all moved into action at once as you stood horrified, afraid something was terribly wrong.

Luckily, Matt had been quick enough to catch Spencer before he hit the ground. With he and Luke on either side, they managed to sit him in one of the chairs, his head lolling back.

“Is he okay? What’s wrong?” you asked, quickly at his side, not knowing exactly what to do.

“He’s fine, he just passed out, that’s all,” Tara reassured you.

You nodded in relief, taking a seat in a chair next to him, taking his hand. 

There was a commotion at the door and you looked over, seeing David Rossi running in—unit chief Emily Prentiss on his heels.

“What’s all the noise about?” Rossi asked, eyeing Spencer, “What happened?”

“Spencer fainted and Y/N’s having triplets!” Garcia exclaimed.

Rossi’s eyes flickered to Spencer once again.

“Nah, kid’s just sleeping. Making up for the next 18 years of it he’s gonna lose.”

“Dave,” Emily sighed, exasperated, coming over to bend down and hug you.

“Congrats,” she grinned, “Not only are you having triplets, but you’re the only person that’s made Spencer faint.”

You laughed a bit.

“Definitely wasn’t my intention.”

“He’ll be fine,” Rossi waved a hand.

Just as he said that, a groaning came from your right and you looked over, to see Spencer stirring.

“What did I tell you?” Rossi said, coming over to give his congratulations with a big smile.

“Bouna fortuna,” he grinned, giving you a kiss on each cheek.

“What happened?” Spencer groaned, his hand slipping from your grip to rub at his eyes.

“You just got the shock of your life, kid,” Rossi snickered.

“The last thing I remember is you saying triplets and everything went black,” Spencer said.

“Yeah, you fainted,” you tried to hold back your grin and failed.

“Are we really having triplets?” Spencer asked, eyes wide once again.

“I’m afraid we are,” you grinned.

His look of surprise quickly turned into one of excitement. He grabbed your face, kissing you hard, not caring about kissing you in front of the others. The rest of the team whistled, clapped and laughed, their joy just as huge as your own.

Rossi’s following remark made Spencer pull away from your lips and laugh. Your mouth curved upwards and joined him.

“Don’t forget! David is a great name for a boy!”

•

Everyone was gathered at your baby shower. You had been speechless when you first saw the amount of stacked diapers and wipes—along with at least 5 diaper cakes from different team members. You were sure that those would last maybe a week or two with three babies to change.

“Kid, come on! We’re a family! I’ll be grandpa Dave! We can get matching shirts that say Big Dave and Little Dave!”

You laughed, overhearing Rossi’s exclamations to Spencer, all the way from the food table.

Months had passed and your belly had grown exponentially. You could hardly believe that your body was capable of carrying three precious little babies.

Even though your belly was covered in stretch marks, your back hurt and your feet were swollen, you couldn’t be happier. You and Spencer would soon start a new chapter in your lives—a scary one, albeit exciting one too.

Only a few weeks after your reveal of the babies to Spencer and the BAU team, the two of you had discovered you were welcoming two girls and one boy. Ever since then, Rossi had been hounding you about naming the baby after him.

Unbeknownst to him, you and Spencer had already picked out names and were going to surprise Rossi after they were born. But due to his current banter with Spencer, you knew you wouldn’t be able to hold the secret for any longer.

“Rossi,” you grinned, very much waddling over to the two men, “You're incorrigible.”

“I know. It’s the Italian in me,” he replied, nonchalantly.

“Well, much to Spencer’s dismay I’m sure, you’ll be happy to know you’re getting your wish,” you said.

Rossi looked stunned for a moment. You were positive this was the only time in the years you’d known him that he’d ever been stunned speechless like this.

“We decided to name our son David Gabriel Reid,” Spencer beamed, “We didn’t want to cause any confusion on names, so we’re going to call him Gabriel, but he can still be your little Dave if you want.”

It finally looked like it had sunk in when Rossi pulled both you and Spencer into a big hug, smiling bigger than you’d ever thought possible.

“That’s perfectly fine by me,” he grinned, kissing the tops of yours and Spencer’s heads, “I’m gonna teach him to play ball and how to cook spaghetti carbonara.”

“Don’t forget, you’ll have two little girls to deal with too,” Spencer laughed.

“Oh don’t you worry. They’ll learn how to cook and drop kick anyone who even looks at them the wrong way,” Rossi smirked.

“That, I don’t doubt,” you snickered.

“Speaking of,” Tara asked, popping up in the conversation, “When are you going to tell us what you’re naming your three little geniuses?”

“Yeah, I wanna know too,” Luke piped in, also walking up to the now small gathering.

JJ, Matt, Emily and Penelope followed behind him.

“Well if you didn’t catch it before, Baby A—the boy—is going to be David Gabriel,” Spencer beamed, “After the best father figure, mentor, co-worker, friend and member of this crazy BAU family. I couldn’t think of a better name to give my son.”

There were cheers all around as everyone lifted their glasses of champagne—apple juice for you—and clinked them together in celebration. You couldn’t help the huge grin that spread across your face to see how happy it made the well known, lovable, David Rossi.

“What about the girls’ names though?” Emily asked once the noise had settled down.

“Well there’s a bit of a backstory to that before we tell you the names,” Spencer began.

“We chose Gabriel’s name together because we already knew we wanted to actually make part of his name after Rossi, but we each picked a name, separately. One for each girl. Spencer decided on a name for baby B and I, baby C.”

“It’s also kinda funny what we both came up with,” Spencer interjected.

“Before the babies are born, kid!” Rossi said, “What are the names?”

“Baby B is Abrielle Jade—a name Y/N said she wanted to name a little girl on our very first date.”

Luke whistled.

“I’d be surprised that you remembered that but then again, you’re you.”

“Believe me, I’d forgotten I’d told him that, myself,” you chuckled.”

“And the other little girl is?” JJ prompted.

“Spensa Rae,” you said, looking at Spencer, a twinkle in your eye, “I wanted to name her after her daddy in some way, but it’s unique enough to be her own name as well. Rae is after my grandmother, too.”

“Those are the cutest names!” Garcia squealed, “Perfect timing time to give you my present for little Gabriel, Abrielle and Spensa then.”

She hobbled off in a partial run—not able to move too fast because of the grass in the backyard and her high heels—and grabbed three gift bags. She came back, handing them to you.

“Open it, open it!” she beamed.

You laughed at her excitement, pretty excited yourself. You handed one bag to Spencer as you reached into one bag, then the second, pulling out two matching onesies.

You looked over to see Spencer pulling out a third matching onesie from the gift bag you’d given him.

“Read the front,” Penelope beamed.

Opening one, you saw it read Rossi’s Sous Chef #2.

You laughed, opening the other which had the exact same thing printed on the front, but instead of the number 2, there was a number 3. 

You peered at the one in Spencer’s hands, finding number one. 

“Penelope, these are great!” you laughed, showing Rossi the outfits.

“These babies are going to be so loved,” Spencer smiled demurely, his eyes shining bright with tears.

“They will have plenty of people to love them,” Tara said with a bright smile.

“Lots of arms to hold them and cuddle them,” Luke added.

“Hands to help change diapers,” JJ piped in.

“Lots of kisses and bedtime stories,” Rossi said.

“Plenty of kids to play with them,” Matt chuckled.

“And a godmother to spoil them!” Garcia beamed.

“It’s not just your little family growing,” Emily smiled, coming to stand in between you and Spencer, wrapping an arm around each of you.

She looked around at the team that filled the backyard on this wonderful, summer evening, all gathered to celebrate the miracle of life.

“It’s our BAU family growing, too.”

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[glassbxttless]

So thank you to @maybe-your-left for GEEKING over ideas for the AU with me.

Matt Solo x Reader

Part Two

Word Count: 1,209

Warnings: pregnancy, birth, swearing

Two weeks into your eighth month, you feel your water gush down your thighs while Matt’s at work. And you just sigh deeply, you just cleaned the fucking floors. You take a deep breath and move to grab a towel from your clean laundry basket and drop it onto the puddle of water. Your shorts are absolutely soiled and you leave the towel to soak up the wetness as you waddle back to your bedroom.

You grab a fresh pair of panties, joggers, and the Grateful Dead t-shirt you’d officially overtaken from Matt and you head for the shower. You sit on the edge of the tub and take your mirror to shave the best you can, watching and feeling to make sure you get all that you can, and then you just dry off and get dressed, resorting to lying on the couch and timing each of the contractions.

Your belly is so tight. You can feel each of the twins moving around, stretching you so impossibly far it’s almost painful. But you don’t want Matt to worry. The closer you get to your due date, the more his absolute lunatic side comes out. Did you buy enough diapers? Did you pack everything? What if there isn’t enough time to get to the hospital?

And you smile as you rub the bottom of your aching tummy. Everything feels like it’s about to bust, but your contractions aren’t even close yet. And you’re not going to the hospital to just be sent home again, so you decide not to tell Matt, just yet.

And when he comes home at lunch that day, he sees the towel on the floor and frowns a bit. He picks it up and tosses it with your dirty clothes. “Sunny? You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.” You say from your spot on the couch. You can hardly move with how stretched out your middle feels from time to time. When one of the twins gets particularly cramped. “Just have a bit of pain today. No big deal.”

“You had enough water?” He asks as he grabs a bottle from the fridge and passes it over to where you’re seated. “Why was there a towel on the floor?”

“Had to dry up some water.” You say as you open the bottle and take a drink from it. And Matt nods a little bit, making your plate of banana and hazelnut peanut butter before he grabs a granola bar and gives you a gentle kiss. And then he kisses your belly twice.

“I gotta get back to work. Call me if you need anything. Okay? I love you.”

“Okay.” You smile and thank him for your snack and he leaves the apartment, leaving you and the twins to hash out their escape plan for at least the next three hours.

And by the time Matt gets home, you feel like you want to cry. Each contraction was so strong and you're doubled over with one when Matt walks in— immediately running to you. “Hey? What’s going on?” He frowns and places a hand at your back and under your belly for support.

“Just a contraction.” You whisper to him once the worst of it is over.

“How close are they?” He asks softly, knowing you’ve been having them off and on sporadically for the last week.

“Ten minutes.” And those two words kick Matt’s ass in gear. He strips from his jumpsuit and pulls on sweatpants and a t-shirt, grabs the bags and takes them out to the car. He’s done this test run a billion times before. And when he comes back up, he fills Delilah’s automatic feeder, sets the timer and helps you down to the car.

He calls Ben and Randy on the way and even Leia, making her promise she’ll come alone.

And Felix is out first, and you’re happy to have the thirteen minute break between the two of them. You’re tired, sweating, and with the force you’re gritting your teeth with— you think you’ll break one. And Matt’s standing there, holding your hand and trying not to cry. He’s a bit softer now. His first son is here. And when Douglas is out, his dam breaks and the water is flowing down his cheeks.

You’ve got both twins on your chest, completely spent. You just want to close your eyes and sleep. “Sunny, you did so well.” He says softly and kisses your head, looking down at the boys there against your skin.

And when you start getting visitors a few hours after, Ben is the first one to walk in. Randy’s trailing right behind him. Ben opens the bag over his shoulder, and pulls out a couple of tall boys and Matt just chokes on his water. “Nine months are over kid, fucking bottoms up!” He laughs handing the beer over to you.

You just giggle as Matt snatches it from his hand. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” He asks, he’s whisper-yelling. Not wanting to wake the twins who were sleeping peacefully in their in-room bassinets. Randy is the first to take a peak, smiling.

“They’re beautiful, you two.” He says softly. “What are their names?”

You smile tiredly, “Felix Benjamin and Douglas Randall.”

Randy and Ben look at you both, switching between you and Matt. Ben offers a smile, “that’s nice, Matt.”

Leia watches from the doorway, happy to watch as Matt hands off the twins to each of his brothers. He looked like a natural born father— which surprised everyone in the family. Her grandchildren, her own children, the daughter she had gained through you all in the same room. The same room is full of love. Until Matt looks over and catches sight of Han.

“No no no.” He starts panicking a bit. “I told you you could come, by yourself— mom, I…”

“Matty.” You start to say as you see the flowers and two teddy bears in Han’s arms. “They’re trying to be nice. Calm down.” You reach for his hand and he walks over to your bed, heart still racing. His boundaries were being pushed in every way he thought possible. “Just let them meet the boys.”

And Matt did. He hands each of his parents a twin, even if he does so reluctantly. And he listens to his mother’s baby talk and then Han looks at him and says, “I’m proud of you.”

You watch Matt’s reaction, how he clenched and unclenched his hands. And you reach up to rub his lower back. “Thank you.” He says, gritting.

“Don’t blink through this, kiddo. Next thing you know they’re gonna be twenty-nine and having babies of their own.” Han looks at him over again. He wishes he could’ve been the dad Matt needed. The dad any of the boys needed. And hopefully he’ll have the chance to fix it.

But right now as the room starts to clear out, Matt sits in the glider in the corner and rocks with Douglas as Felix feeds at your breast quietly. You didn’t think you could love Matt anymore than you already did. But seeing him be a dad absolutely solidified it. You fell deeper and harder— and you couldn’t wait to be Mrs. Matthew Solo.

*

*

@sacklerscumrag @mrs-zimmerman @miraclesabound @fizzywoohoo @roanniom @thepriceofstars @2000andwhat @loganluckylover @themuseic @clydesfavoritegirl @caillea @maybe-your-left

[your-highnessmarvel]

Warm and Welcoming

Requested by Anonymous: Oooh random idea, Chris and homeless reader. She is well put together and no one would know. But Chris can read between the lines and he gets to know reader and realizes she’s living in her car until it gets repossessed. She’s frantic and then Chris offers her a place and so they get closer and one night sparks hit the roof and booom! Best night ever lol so ideas are just flying I’m the same anon that sent a request earlier today about shy reader and Chris thinking she’s “easy”. Ooh my ideas lol

AN: god i love chris. i always forget to give him a blowjob what the hell. poor chris. oh well. 

Warnings: smut, language

*gif not mine

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MASTERLIST

The door shut with such ferocity that the whole car rattled, and you had to stop to make sure nothing would come off. Like a mirror. That happened once. Or a wiper. Yep, on the highway mid snow storm. 

The phone in your pocket buzzed and you fished it out. Chris, the contact read. You sighed. How you managed to be best friends with an A-list celebrity and still be living in your 2007 Toyota Yaris was beyond you. 

You looked at yourself in the reflection before you answered. Hair was kind of a mess, but when was it not. Your shirt was fairly new, but your jeans were ripped at the knees, and not in that L.A fashion way. In a way where you slipped off your mother’s front porch in a haste to get away and scratched out the knees of your jeans. And these were your good jeans too!

“Hey!” you answered, turning towards the coffee shop. “I’m walking from my car!”

“I took the liberty to ordered your favorite!” he answered.

Your heart fell. Yes, Chris was fucking rich. Filthy rich. But you didn’t need him to buy you coffee. Yes, you were living in your car, but also yes, you’d manage to scrape up two dollars for a medium two creams. 

“Thank you,” you sighed into the phone. “Next time, it’s on me.”

“Whatever, Y/L/N.”

You hung up as you walked up the stars to the coffee shop. You spotted your friend, trying but failing to hide his identity with a baseball cap. Two men were beside his table, phones out. You waited patiently for them to finished taking pictures with him, and when you saw your friend getting up, you frowned at him.

“Too many,” he mumbled as he got to you and handed you your drink. “Let’s get out of here.” He guided you out the way you came with a gentle hand on your lower back. 

You went right back into the streets, Chris sighing out, “Where are you parked?”

You were going to answer some bullshit about being parked far because you didn’t want Chris to see all your belongings in your backseat, but he pointed beyond your head. 

“Is that the Toyota Yaris 2007?” he gushed. He began walking to it, much to your discomfort, to your need to run because, fuck, he was going to see your dirty laundry and your memories and some old socks on your dash out to dry. “So many memories in that baby.”

Yeah, you’d had that car for a while now. 

“Never get rid of it,” he chuckled, turning on his heels momentarily as you followed him reluctantly.

Yeah, that’s not about to happen soon. 

“Did you ever get that speaker fixed, you know, the one that just fucking bellowed out music while the other was quiet?”

You smiled, remembering that time when Chris busted it while the two of you were driving to Maine. “Accident” was not how you’d describe it. 

“Sure did,” you lied, because you loved to be reminded of that weekend spent in Maine with your friends, and how Chris had made your car the star of the sojourn. How he’d made you feel special in front of all his rich, glamour friends. 

He got to your car and put the tips of his fingers on the hood. Then he leaned in, examined the backseat. Your heart fell and hurt and burned, shame coursing through you like poison. 

“Y/N.” His voice was serious. Your face was taunt, eyes to the ground, letting your hair cover your face. “Are you... are you living in here?”

You shook your head, bad acting kicking in as you made a grimace. “No, of course not,” you answered. “I’m just moving my stuff.”

But he didn’t believe you. He’d known you for years, decades, and he knew the look you wore on your face when you lied. “Those are socks laid out to dry,” he pointed out. “That’s a pillow. A sleeping bag. And that’s a box full of dry food. Don’t fucking lie to me.”

You wanted to leave. Runaway in shame. Forget that your actor best friend had found out you were fucking living in your car. 

“It’s temporary,” you mumbled.

“Fuck off,” he grumbled. “There’s enough shit in there that say otherwise.”

Your eyes filled with tears. “I - I didn’t have anywhere else.” Your lower lip trembled. 

“Your mother?” he asked slowly. “She did this?”

“I lost my job,” you admitted, the sour taste of failure coating your tongue. “I couldn’t pay my rent so I asked her to spare a room for me until I get back on my feet. She gave me a month. And that wasn’t enough, so... here I am.”

He shook his head, sighed, hands clutching his coffee. You hung your head, trying not to seem pitiful, trying not to be the weak fucking woman your mother always made you out to be. The drama queen. The attention seeker. 

But then Chris put his arms around your shoulders and your forehead was against his chest and he was warm and welcoming. God knew how much you needed warm and welcoming. Your mother never was any of that. 

“I’ve got a room - “ he began.

“No, Chris,” you backed away, shaking your head, wiping your tears. “I’ve got interviews.”

“My best fucking friend is not living in her car a second more,” he said, grabbing your shoulders. Where had his coffee gone? Oh right, there it was, on the ground, after he threw it against the wall of the bank. Felon. 

You looked up at him. Blue eyes. Half ginger beard. Freckles. Crooked smile. He was your best friend. He was warm and welcoming. 

“I won’t be a nuisance,” you sniffled. “And I won’t be long.”

He draped an arm over your shoulder. “Take all the time you need.”

Yeah, living with Chris was a fucking far cry from your Yaris. He had, well, a huge house, big enough for the both of you to live almost separately. He insisted on shared dinners when the both of you were home. You had a shower big enough to fit fourteen people in. A bed wide enough to have, oh I don’t know, six threesomes in? Your walk-in closet was 98% empty because your clothes consisted mostly of folded jeans and baggy shirts. You had one pair of shoes. 

You had a whole section of the house to yourself, and Chris even lent you a spare laptop for your job search. And that was going well! You’d nailed an interview at the bank Chris threw his coffee on and guess what? Bank manager position was open to you and you started next week. 

Things were looking bright. 

When you told Chris, he was so happy he almost fell off the banister. 

And talking about Chris, living with him had its perks like a fourteen people wide shower, but also its well, down sides. This was his house and you were in no position to tell him what he couldn’t do. Like walking around shirtless after a shower. Or sitting so close to you that you could smell his cologne on every inch of yourself after. Or cooking dinner and serving it at candle light. Or sleeping with his door open so that when you woke up much earlier than him and went to pick up Dodger, you could see Chris sleeping. Or showering with the door unlocked. Yes, you’d tested that theory, so what?

You were far from uncomfortable, and maybe, maybe you were starting to feel some sexual tension. I mean, you were both grown adults, a man and a woman, living under the same roof. Single. With needs. It was normal that your hormones were telling you to get absolutely wrecked by this man. 

You shook that idea from your head as you got out of bed. Chris had texted you that he was out for the day, so you grabbed a quick breakfast, changed into your bathing suit, and headed to the pool. You needed a nice relaxing day before you started your job tomorrow. 

The sun was hot. The pool was a dazzling blue and warm as you glided in. You did a few laps, then settled onto your towel to soak in the sun. 

The back door opened and your heart raced, thinking someone had broken in. But Chris stood there with sunglasses, a wide grin on his face, waving at you. “I cut up some watermelons!” 

“Nice!”

“Come have some?”

You got up, wrapped the towel around yourself, and walked up the small path. You stood out the threshold, and Chris handed you a fresh slice. It was good. Juicy. A reddish drop stuck to the corner of your lips, but before you could get it, Chris was slowly swiping it with his thumb. 

You looked up, surprised. Chris had never touched you that way. You’d seen him on training wheels and he’d seen you in diapers. You were friends. He’d dated Jessica fucking Biel and Minka Kelly and you’d dated Brad from ninth grade English and Tyler from the college football team. 

“Is this... inappropriate?” he asked timidly. He took of his glasses, setting them onto the top of his head. His eyes reflected the sun and they were gorgeous. 

“No.”

“This?” he asked, bending forward to kiss the corner of your mouth, where his thumb had been.

“No.”

“How about this?” he asked, voice deep, before placing a chaste kiss on your lips.

You were acutely aware of how much you weren’t wearing. That your skin and hair was wet. That he was very close to taking that towel off and seeing it all for himself. 

“Y/N?” he asked when you didn’t answer.

Your eyes were closed. “This is fine.” And you reached up on your toes, cradling his face from outside the door, and deepened the kiss. You’d imagined a few times growing up what it would be like to kiss him. Especially when you were playing spin the bottle at a middle school party. Or when he started gaining fans and having all these different girls on his arm. Or when, at the end of high school, he asked you to prom when you were only a sophomore and some of his friends made fun of him for it, but he took you anyway. 

He kissed deeply, sweetly, slowly. Savoring you. Molding his mouth to yours like he knew how to kiss you since forever. And maybe he did. Had he been imagining it too, just like you had? At those parties. At his prom. When it was just the two of you and you were drunk? 

He grabbed onto your waist and hauled you in, closing the door behind you and knocking your back against it. 

“Stop me if you want,” he breathed against your mouth. “If you don’t want this, pull my hair, scratch me, I don’t care, just tell me.”

“Shut up.”

You grabbed onto the back of his hair, savoring the soft locks you’d so longed to touch. You never realized how much you needed him. How much you’d craved him for so long. 

He hauled you up and you wrapped your legs around his waist, yelping into the kiss as he wrenched you from the door and began walking. Walking? He dropped your lips to make sure he wasn’t bumping into things - and God, Dodger - and you examined him from your vantage point. It was the same Chris you knew; freckles and crooked smile and dark rim of lashes, but he was different. Rosy cheeks and parted lips and a look in his eyes, feral, that you’d never seen before. 

You realize he was going to your end of the house. To your room. 

Once there, he put you on your feet and closed the door, getting back to you with a swift kiss. Forehead against yours, he asked, “You’ve done this before?”

“Yeah.” How did you know what he was asking?

“It should have been me,” he mumbled before kissing you. He swiftly ripped the towel from your body, and pulled on the laces of your bikini top. It fell to the flop with a wet sound, and Chris backed away to see. “Wow. You’re... you’re beautiful.”

You rolled your eyes. He came back at you with a deep kiss, warm hands cupping your breasts smoothly. He wasn’t rough, or fast. He was soft and slow, as if savoring every inch. 

He pushed you gentle backwards until the edge of your bed was at the backs of your knees. His breath was on your collarbone, kissing, nipping, your hands in his hair. “You smell so good,” he hummed. 

You braced your hands at the bottom of his shirt and pulled, wrenching the garment off his shoulders and onto the floor. His chest, that you’d seen, but under this different light, different circumstance, the color of his skin and the way his veins snaked down his forearms made a new heat build between your legs.

Okay, this man was gorgeous. 

And now, you were eager. You grasped onto his belt and pulled him to you, undoing him with lightning speed. His jeans hit the floor with a deafened thud, and you could see him straining against his black boxers. 

He was searing to the touch, thick and hard behind the fabric. Your fingers inched into the band of his boxers and pulled him out, mouth almost falling to the ground at the sight of him. He was beautiful as much as he was powerful. You caught a bead of precum on your thumb and swiped it over the head, getting a low groan from Chris. 

He pushed you backwards by the shoulders until you got the message and sat on the edge of the bed. He stepped out of his underwear, throwing the glasses on his head across the room. 

“Up,” he ordered, gesturing his chin towards the head of the bed. You obeyed, watching his eyes fill with lust as they raked over your half naked body. 

He climbed in over you, spreading your knees and hooking his indexes into the wet band of your bikini bottom. He saw the goosebumps rising on your flesh and kissed your thigh. “Are you cold?”

Far from that. “No.”

He smirked against your skin, pulling your bottom down your thighs and off your ankles. He kissed your belly. Your pubic bone. And a little gasp escaped you when his nose brushed your clit. 

“Sensitive?” he teased. He didn’t wait for an answer, brushing his thumb against your bud, eliciting a quiet moan from you as you relaxed into the pillow. He could probably feel how wet you were, and not from the pool, as he dragged his thumb from your clit to your core, dipping his index enough to drag your arousal back to your clit. He made a sound with his mouth, like a low whistle, when your hips began slowly rocking against his hand. “I don’t want any other man in your bed,” he said.

“Uh-huh.” He was slowly increasing, slowly entering his middle finger into you with such ease it was almost embarrassing. 

“I don’t want any other man touching you,” he whispered, dropping to kiss your clit, causing a sharp gasp to leave your lips. “Any other man kissing you.” He darted his tongue out, giving you a bold lick as he rubbed his finger on the spot inside of you that made you see stars. “Any other man drawing these sounds from you.”

“Yes, Chris,” you breathed, grabbing onto his hair when he ducked back down to continue suckling on your clit. 

“Good,” he mumbled. 

He continued drawing out those sounds from you he loved so much until the pressure in your belly built and you were whining, gripping his hair. He encouraged you with his tongue, sucking on your clit, fucking you with his finger, and when you came all over his hand, he kissed his way up your thigh, belly, chest, until he was kissing your mouth. 

He was heavy over you. Your head spun from your orgasm, skin buzzing, eyes glittering behind closed lids. He parted your thigh with his palm, and you felt him aligning. Your grabbed onto his shoulders for support. You hadn’t done this in, well, a while, and you were sure that you’d need a moment. Especially with how big he was. 

He kissed your nose, your cheeks, until you opened your eyes. He smiled down at you, kissing you softly. Forehead against yours, he inched in, hands in fists each side of your head. He let out a grunt simultaneous to your wince, and his left hand smoothed against your cheek, lips kissing yours tenderly. 

“You feel so good, baby,” he breathed into your ear, inching in deeper, stretching you. The burn was there, but it was pleasurable because it was him. Because he was the one claiming you. He slid against your tight walls, seating himself completely to the hilt, before pulling back and sliding slowly back in. “Yeah?” he asked in a strangled moan.

You nodded, biting his shoulder, adjusting rather slowly. But it felt good. It was so strange. That mix of pain and pleasure, the coil in your belly tightening with each slow stroke from Chris. 

With a bravery you didn’t know you hand, you pushed him sideways until you could swiftly change positions. His eyes widened in surprise, hands skimming your hips as you straddled him. You could take him better this way, deeper, easier. His pelvic bone pressed against your clit, and as you ground front to back, you saw his eyes flutter shut. 

You used your knees to slide up and down, rocking like the motion of the ocean, hands on his chest. He was hitting all the right spots, rubbing against your clit, clutching your hips like he was holding on for dear life. 

He let his hands wander. Smoothing up your stomach, between your breasts, grasping them softly. He sat up quickly, popping a nipple in his mouth, and the new position made the pressure on your clit increase, and the moan that left your lips was almost pornographic.

“Fuck, that’s good,” he breathed against your collarbone. “Just like that.”

He continued nipping and suckling your clit, holding you by one arm around the waist. You were close, clenching around him the more you rocked on top of him. Your nails bit into the skin of his shoulders. Teeth scratching his neck. His lips were everywhere; breasts, chests, neck, lips. You were so lost in him that you didn’t know where you began, where you ended. It was just Chris, and the edge coming closer and closer and finally, the pressure built until you were moaning his name, clenching him, cumming on him like you’d never done before. 

He held you up with one arm, thrusting up into your tight walls sloppily, chasing his end. His mouth was open, gasping, grunting, all kinds of obscenities falling from his lips as he fucked himself right into you. You were still rocking slowly back, but you were weak from your high, pleasure making you tremble. 

Chris gave one last harsh thrust before spilling himself into you, holding you down on him as if you were his anchor. 

With a sigh, he let himself fall back onto the bed, bringing you with him. His chest was warm, sweaty, heart beating erratically. Your breathing was labored, but you managed to smile when he laced his fingers with yours, bringing them to his mouth to kiss them. 

It was a few moments of quiet breathing before you realized. “Did you cut up one piece of watermelon to get me to sleep with you?”

He laughed. “I’ve been trying to catch your attention for years, Y/N,” he admitted, the sound of his laughter reverberating in his chest. “And now that I finally have it, I’m not letting you go.”

He kissed the top of your head and you hummed. Content. Warm. Welcomed. You’d finally found a home in someone. 

[ashdeancas]

Heaven on Earth

This was written as part of the ProfoundBond fic exchange for @internetintroverts . I really do hope you like it!

Dean was standing near the trees outside the bunker enjoying the gentle early morning sun. The rising sun cast a rosy hue across the morning sky. He could hear the birds singing and flying around, relishing the perfect spring morning. 

I should probably head inside and make some breakfast. Dean thought, Cas will be up soon.

As he was making breakfast he was thinking if he should surprise Cas with a breakfast in bed. Some bacon, toast and eggs to go with a hot cup of coffee.

He set the breakfast on the tray and took it to their room. Cas was still sleeping, Dean could feel his heart swell with love seeing him so peaceful and content. 

“Hey, Angel. Rise and shine.”, Dean said softly, caressing his cheek.  

“Nooooo. I want to sleep. Few more minutes”, Cas grumbled. 

“Come on, wake up. I made you breakfast.” 

Dean moved the breakfast tray closer to Cas’s nose to try to wake him up. Cas slowly opened his eyes and peeked at the breakfast. 

“Mmmmmm. Smells so good. Thank you, Dean“ 

“No problem, Cas. Now, come on, get up and eat.”

“No, not yet. Not until I get my morning kiss.” 

Dean laughed as he leaned in to offer a kiss that’s just like everything else this morning - soft, gentle, and perfect.

“I love you, Cas.”

“I love you, too, Dean. I wish you had told me this before it was too late.” said Cas with a sad smile. 

Dean heard a loud wailing sound and he jerked awake, clutching his heart. He looked around trying to get his bearings. It was a dream. It was just a dream. Yet it felt so real.

The wailing was getting louder. Dean groaned as he got up from his bed and made his way to Jack’s room. 

Sam was already there trying to get Jack to stop crying. 

“It’s okay, Jack. Everything is okay, I am here. You want some milk, huh? Come on, let’s go to the kitchen.” said Sam as he picked Jack up from his crib. 

He noticed Dean standing at the door and said “You look like hell. Please tell me you weren’t drinking again.”

Dean shrugged and turned to head to the bathroom to take some aspirin for his throbbing headache. 

“Come on, Dean. It’s been three months since Cas died. I miss him, too. But you can’t keep drinking yourself to death. Please, talk to me.”

“Just leave me alone, Sam.”

He could see the worry on Sam’s face but he couldn’t face it, talk about it. 

Dean went inside the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He looked at himself in the mirror, face red and tears slipping down his cheeks.

I am sorry, Cas. I wish I had told you sooner. Confessed my feelings instead of cowering behind a wall, being an emotional mess. Now it’s too late. Too fucking late. And I can’t do anything about it. 

Dean closed his eyes, trying to remember his dream, Cas smiling at him, telling Dean that he loves him. But all he could think about was that night he lost everything. The night he lost Cas. The night Lucifer stabbed him before Dean and Sam could seal him inside the Apocalypse world forever. 

Dean kneeled at the spot where Lucifer stabbed Cas. He did not know how long he was kneeling next to Cas, was it seconds? Minutes? Hours?

He remembered Sam talking to him, trying to get him to come inside the cabin, saying something about Jack and Kelly dying giving birth to Jack. But he could not bring himself to think about all that. All he could do was stay with Cas.

Castiel, Angel of the Lord. Cas, my Angel, my best friend, my person, my everything. How many times he longed for Cas when he was off doing his Heaven work. How many times he longed to tell Cas how he really felt. How he loved him with everything he got. How scared he was to admit his feelings towards Cas.

But now it's too late. Cas is dead. Everytime he closed his eyes he could see the blinding flash of light, Cas's grace leaving his vessel. 

Dean kept staring at Cas’s burnt wings etched on the ground. Oh, how many times he wondered what Cas’s wings would look like. How many times he wondered if Cas would show him his wings, to touch it, to feel it. 

But this was not how he imagined seeing his wings. Not dead. Not burnt to the ground. 

Cas, please come back to me. I need you. 

Dean showered, took some Aspirin and went to the kitchen to make some breakfast. Sam was sitting on the dining table with Jack on his lap, feeding him a bottle of milk. 

He was making some bacon when all of a sudden he remembered his dream. He was making Cas bacon and eggs too. He felt the spatula leave his hand and drop to the floor. Dean’s throat closed up and tears were threatening to spill from his eyes. No, no, no. Stop thinking about it.

“Dean, are you okay?” asked Sam with a tinge of worry in his voice. 

Dean cleared his throat and said “Yeah, Sam. I am awesome.”

Sam sighed and said “Do you want to hold Jack for a while?” 

Dean looked at the small bundle in Sam’s lap, tiny fingers wrapped around his feeding bottle. But all Dean could see iis that he is Lucifer’s son.

“No, Sammy. I don’t want to hold him” said Dean roughly. 

“Dean, he is just a baby. Just, look at him. He’s so adorable.” 

“No, Sam. I can hardly look at the kid. He is Lucifer’s child. He’s the reason Cas is dead. He promised him paradise on earth and Cas bought it and you know what that got him? It got him dead. Now, you might be able to forget about that, but I can’t.” shouted Dean, all his feelings and regrets turning into such anger. 

Jack started to cry again. Sam gave him an annoyed look and left the kitchen with Jack. 

Dean was trying to calm himself down by taking deep breaths. He shouldn’t have shouted at Sam. Deep down he knows it’s not Jack’s fault. I mean, he is just a baby, an infant. Damn it. He should apologize to Sam later. Maybe buy him a salad or something. But not now. Right now, all Dean wanted to do was drink and pass out so that he doesn’t have to deal with all his feelings towards Cas, all those unsaid words. 

Dean went on a couple of solo hunts to take his mind off things. A vampire nest in Omaha. A djinn case in Wilmington. And a bunch of bars along the way. Sam called him every now and then to give him some updates about the case, told him about Jack and how adorable and lovely he is and asked Dean how he is doing. Dean always cut the call when he was asked that question and headed to the bar to drown in his sorrows instead. 

Dean was heading back to the bunker after three weeks. He got there around midnight. Sam and Jack were already asleep. He showered, went to bed and tried to get some sleep. 

Next morning, he woke up and went to the kitchen to make some breakfast for them. Sam and Jack came in after a few minutes. Jack was cooing in Sam’s arms, trying to catch his ridiculously long hair. 

“Morning, Sammy. How is he doing?” asked Dean nodding at Jack.

Sam was looking at Jack with a soft smile and said “He is doing great, Dean. He is a really quiet kid, not troublesome at all.”

“Hmmm.”

They were having their breakfast, Jack was drinking his milk making tiny sounds every now and then. Sam kept looking at Dean as if he wanted to ask something.

Finally, after a long silence, “Dean. Can you look after him today? I have been cooped up inside, doing baby stuff for weeks. I feel like I need a day or two out in the sun, get some fresh air, maybe go watch a movie at the theater next town. There is a new French documentary I want to watch.”

Dean looked at Sam. He really looked like he needed some rest from the baby duties. He looked at Jack. Dean sighed. 

“Fine, Sam. I can take care of him for a day or two.”

“Cool, thanks, Dean. All of Jack’s stuff is there in his room. His diaper bag, his clothes, his toys.” said Sam as he handed Jack to Dean. 

After a few minutes, he heard the bunker door close. Dean looked at Jack. He had finished his bottle and looked like he was about to take a nap. 

“Let’s get you into bed, now, shall we?” said Dean as he left the kitchen to Jack’s room.  

Jack was quiet for the most part. Dean spent some time watching western movies and hanging out with Jack. Sam was right, Jack was an easy kid. 

He found it slightly better to look at Jack now, to take care of him. All his anger seemed to vanish when Jack gave him a smile. 

He had put Jack to sleep and went to his own room. Dean was struggling to go to sleep. He was still thinking about Cas and imagining “What if” scenarios. He also prayed to Chuck, again, begging him to bring Cas back. But nothing happened.

He heard some noises coming from Jack’s room. Dean went to check in on him and found that Jack was wide awake. 

He picked him up from his crib and sat on the rocking chair near the window. 

“Hey, kiddo. Can’t sleep? Me too.”

Jack looked at him with those big blue eyes. Eyes just like Cas’s. 

“You know, Castiel, he was an Angel. You have his eyes. He has these blue eyes, eyes like the sky. Every time I look at your eyes, you remind me so much of him. Hell, you even look like him. I don’t know how much you know about Cas, how much your Mom told you, but he loved you before you were even born. He believed in you. He believed that you will be good for this Earth. You will rid this Earth of suffering. But he is gone now, and I don’t know where he is, heaven or somewhere else, so even if you do all that, he wouldn’t be here to see it all.” 

Jack was looking at Dean without taking his eyes off, as if he was absorbing Dean’s every word. 

“He saved me, you know. So many freaking times. He even gave up Heaven and his army for us, for me. I don’t think I deserved it, all the faith he had in me. I couldn’t even save him when he was taken from me. I failed him. 

Tears were rolling down Dean’s face, but Dean continued.

“I miss him, Jack. I miss him so much. I … I love him. I love him so much it hurts. I don’t think I will be able survive without him. I regret not telling him how I felt, how I feel. I wish I could get him back, I wish I could say all this to him. But, it’s too late now.” 

Dean rubbed the tears off his face and looked at Jack. Jack was still staring at Dean with such intensity and for a minute he thought Jack’s eyes turned golden and it glowed. 

He rubbed his eyes and looked at Jack again, but it was back to blue. Did he imagine that? Did he hallucinate the golden eyes? 

They both were quiet for a while and slowly Jack drifted off to sleep. Dean kissed Jack’s forehead and put him in his crib. 

“Good night, Jack. Sleep well.” said Dean and went back to his room.

A few minutes later Dean got a call on his phone. Sam was probably at the movies or sleeping in a motel, who would be calling at this hour? 

Dean’s heart raced as he looked at the caller ID. It was Cas. How was that possible? 

“Cas?”

“Dean, it’s me. I am outside. Can you let me in?” 

It definitely sounded like Cas. He raced off to the bunker entrance and opened the door. 

“Cas?” 

“Hello, Dean”

He rushed to hug him, and held on to Cas for far too long. Cas hugged him back and he didn’t want to let go of him either. 

“Never do that again, Cas. Please don’t die on me.”

“Okay, Dean.” Cas said as he tightened his grip on Dean. 

Dean finally let go of Cas, but he was still close enough to feel Cas’s warmth next to him, still holding his hands. Dean closed the bunker door and led Cas to the war room. Dean seemed to be a loss for words. 

“How long was I gone?” enquired Cas. 

His lips started to quiver and he was starting to tear up. “Too damn long, Cas. I thought I lost you.”

“What happened? How are you here?” asked Dean. 

“I was in the Empty, it was dark and well, nothing. It’s this void where angels and demons go after they die. They sleep for eternity dreaming about all the regrets and failures. It was awful.”

“I am sorry, Cas. But hey, you are back now, I am so glad you are back, pal.” said Dean, and before he could lose the courage, Dean added, “and I missed you, so much”.  

“How are you, Dean? What happened after I was gone? Where is Sam and Jack?” 

“Sam is taking a couple days off to get some fresh air. As for Jack, come on, let me take you to him” said Dean as he took Cas’s hand and led him to Jack’s room. It felt good to hold his hand, comfortable. Cas did not seem to mind, either. 

“Cas, meet Jack.” 

Cas looked at Jack with a face full of love and adoration. Dean’s heart swelled with love looking at Cas with such a soft expression on his face. 

“He looks so much like you. He has your eyes, you know” said Dean softly. 

“He’s beautiful”, whispered Cas. 

They both stood near the crib for a few more moments, staring at Jack, staring at each other. 

Dean could not keep it in any longer. 

“Cas, I need to tell you something.” said Dean as he left Jack’s room. 

Cas looked at Dean with questioning eyes, “Sleep well, Jack” and he followed Dean to his room. 

Dean was pacing in his room, trying to control his heart beat. He needed to say it now. Cas is back, he is here. He has to tell Cas how he feels. Otherwise he would crumble to dust. All those times he wished that he had told Cas the truth, he could not wait any longer. He should not wait any longer. He waited long enough. 

“Dean. What’s wrong?” asked Cas as he came inside Dean’s room. 

“Cas, I, uh, I need to tell you something.” 

Cas was looking at him with a worried look in his eyes. Dean cursed himself for panicking and making Cas worry. 

“Cas, I know that I have said some hurtful stuff to you in the past. You are my best friend and I sometimes did not treat you like that. I don’t know why I get so angry, it’s just always been there. When things go bad, it comes out and I can’t stop it. No matter how bad I want to, I just can’t stop it.” 

Dean could feel his eyes burn as he feels the tears running down his face. Cas was looking at him with a pained expression, his eyes starting to tear up as well. 

“I, uh, I, uh, I love you, Cas. I have been in love with you for a while now.” whispered Dean as he took a step closer to Cas. 

Dean could see a flicker of shock in Cas’s eyes now. 

Cas stared at him with tears in his eyes. “Dean …” said Cas softly.

“I regret the fact that it’s taken me so long to say it. I wish I had the courage to say something before, but I was a coward.” 

The air was thick with emotion. Cas was still quietly staring at Dean, his expression soft.  Dean was starting to panic, what if he doesn’t love me like that, what if I ruined our friendship by saying things out loud. 

“Cas, say something” pleaded Dean. 

“Dean” breathed Cas, quiet but raw with emotion, eyes wide in shock. The constant longing he had sensed from Dean growing over the years made so much sense now. 

“Cas”

“Dean, everything you have ever done, the good and the bad, you have done for love. You raised your little brother for love. You fought for this whole world for love. That is who you are. You’re the most caring man on Earth. You are the most selfless, loving human being I will ever know.” said Cas softly with tears running down his face as well.

“I love you, too, Dean” 

Dean closed the distance between them. He let his eyes wander between Cas’s eyes and lips. Dean bites his lips. He leaned in slowly, giving Cas some time to back off if he wanted to.

“Cas, Can I kiss you?”

Cas gently wiped the tears off Dean’s face and he gave Dean an adorable smile and nodded. 

Dean looked into Cas’s eyes and gently cupped his face before closing his eyes and placing a tender kiss as delicately as he could on Cas’s lips. 

As the kiss became more intense, Cas snaked his fingers into Dean’s hair and his other hand was wrapped firmly around his lower back. Dean pressed his lips more firmly into Cas’s and slipped his cautiously into his lips. Soon they were gasping for air, well at least Dean was. Cas, being an angel, he could go on all night long. 

“Wow, that was awesome” said Dean breathlessly. That was when he noticed something else embracing him, something soft. He turned and saw Cas’s wings was also wrapped around him. 

His wings. It was magnificent, divine. It was black with hints of green. 

“Cas, they are beautiful. You are beautiful” gasped Dean. 

“Thank you, Dean.” blushed Cas.

“Can I touch them?” Dean whispered in awe.

Cas nodded. Dean slowly raised his hands to touch Cas’s feathers. The wings twitched a little as Dean trailed his hands over them. It was so soft. 

“Awesome” 

They kissed for quite some time and then they finally went to bed. 

Next morning, they woke up to find Sam playing with Jack sitting at the kitchen table. 

“Hello, Sam” said Cas.

Sam looked up with a shocked and happy face. “Cas?”

He looked at Dean looking for some kind of explanation. Dean went to take Jack off Sam's hands. Sam rushed to give Cas a hug. 

“I am so glad you are back, Cas.”

“Me, too, Sam” said Cas. 

They all sat around the kitchen table, exchanging stories. Jack instantly liked Cas, he jumped to Cas from Dean’s arms. Dean was looking at them with so much love. Dean took Cas’s hand and placed a kiss on his knuckles. Sam caught his expression and Dean blushed, shrugging and getting up to make some breakfast.

Dean has never been this happy. This peaceful. This content. He has everything he needs right here. He has his Angel, his kid and his baby brother. 

All was well. This is heaven on earth. 

[wthzoe]

chapter 2 - you can’t win at everything

 “you can't win at everything but you can try.”

series masterlist - here

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a/n: i may or may not have aged up akaashi for this fic ^^. also this fic has me searching for toddler beds, toddler meal plans and how long should babies wear diapers. i got tired from eating so much last night so i only got to write this chapter now lol. enjoy!

-

The irritating beeps of your alarm clock accompanied by your phone’s constant vibrating pulled you right out of dreamland, stopping you from ever getting to the good part of your dream. You turned off both then closed your eyes in hopes of continuing that wonderful dream of yours but you knew it was futile because you just had to forget it the moment you opened your eyes. Sigh. Instead of forcing yourself to remember you opted with getting ready instead. It was your first day of university, after all, and you didn’t want to be late.

You sit up then checked the baby monitor on the box next to you, your bedside table yet to be delivered. Picking up the monitor, you walk out of your room and into the kitchen. Soft clangs of the pan against the stove were heard throughout the room mixed with the sound of food sizzling then… ding! The bread you have stuffed into the toaster jumped up just as you finished frying up the last omelet. You plate each dish you prepared before packing up the triplets’ lunch and snacks.

Scrolling through your social media accounts, you eat your breakfast. After approximately ten minutes you were done, you bring your plate and mug to the sink, careful not to make any loud noises. Then, you proceeded with the routine you had going with since the boys were born. You eating breakfast, showering and dressing up before the boys wake up then it’s their turn to eat, bathe and get dressed. Thankfully, university classes start just around the same time  as your high school did so there was very little tweaking to the routine. The said changes were that you have to prepare breakfast and packed lunches instead of having your grandmother do it for you. Not that you wanted her to back then, it’s just that she always made sure to wake up earlier than you just so she could do it.

The triplets sure were taking their time to wake up so you decided to head to their room and wake them up yourself. Just as you were approaching the door, you heard a soft ‘Mama’ through the monitor. Judging from the way he didn’t cry upon waking up, you knew it was Masao, your peaceful little angel.

“Good morning, angel.” He turns to you as you enter the room and switch the lights on. Almost immediately, he reached up for you. “Let’s wake your brothers up first, okay?”

“Okay.” He mumbled in his cute, sleepy voice. Almost immediately, he got off his bed and waddled over to Takeo’s. Meanwhile, you crouch next to Kazuo’s bed and start peppering his face with kisses.

The three were up in no time, chowing down on their breakfast in their respective high chairs. You took this opportunity to fix their backpacks, yours having been prepared last night. They had been going to the daycare for the past few weeks so most of the things they need were already in their bags, they only needed to be rearranged in order to give space for their lunch packs for the day.

“Mama, finished!” They exclaimed in chorus. This was your cue to bathe them then dress them up.

“Listen up, okay? Mama has school today, so we have to be quick and please don’t get me wet. If you behave well today Mama will buy you ice cream before we go home. Deal?” You raised your pinky in front of them then they hooked their own to yours one by one. “Okay, let’s go.”

Thanks to the power of ice cream, the bathing process went on smoothly. Same goes for dressing up, all that’s left now is the commute which consists of at least a six-minute walk to the station, a less than twenty-minute train ride to the daycare then lastly, a ten-minute walk to university.

When you arrived at the daycare, the triplets’ teacher had greeted you as usual before helping the boys with their coats then assisting you with the stroller. You were about to leave after waving goodbye when small hands grabbed your coat.

“You didn’t kiss goodbye.” Takeo pouted, the other two following suit.

“Oh no, how could I forget! Sorry, come here.” You crouched down to their height and each gave them a kiss on the lips. “Mama’s going now, bye-bye! I’ll see you later.”

With that, you left. Soon, you found yourself walking down the halls of the university, desperately trying to look calm and collected despite the fact that you know you’re lost. Coolly glancing down at the piece of paper in your hand then up at the signs on the rooms, you pretended like you knew exactly what you were doing. When you took a turn, however, you bumped into a… wall? You glance up and confirmed that it was not a wall, after all, but a person. A tall person, with a sturdy body. No wait, a hot, tall person with a sturdy body and… bed hair?

“…ry, I didn’t see you there.” You were staring. You knew you were staring, but why the fuck can’t you look away? This is embarrassing. “Um? Are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh… yeah, I’m fine.” Finally, your voice cooperated with you. He smiled in what seems like relief before holding a hand out to you.

“That’s great, then. I’m Kuroo, Kuroo Tetsurou. And you?”

“Oh, um, I’m (Y/N). Nice to meet you.” You shook his hand and marveled at how manly they were. “I-I was actually heading to this class. Do you happen to know where it is?”

He held the hand you were using to hold the paper before leaning down to read it. Your heart went ba-dump like those sound effects in mangas you see your high school friends read.

“You’re totally going the wrong way.” He chuckled then grabbed you by the shoulders to face you to the right way. “Come, I’m going there, too. Seems like we’re classmates, (Y/N).”

The two of you walk to your class in silence. But what confused you was why he still had his hands on your shoulders. You didn’t really mind, it’s just that it’s weird and everyone you passed either stared or did a double take. You looked like when your boys pretended to be a choo-choo train.

“We’re here.” Kuroo announced as you arrived in front of the door. “Well then, I’m sitting with my bros over there. You can approach us if you need anything.”

“Okay. Thanks.” With that, he walked off to his ‘bros’, which consisted of a half black-half white haired male and a messy-haired one.

You didn’t think you made a special connection with Mr. Bed Head over there so you didn’t bother him at all that day. And the following days, actually weeks. Excluding the times where he’s the one to approach you, but you didn’t think much of it.

He couldn’t understand where he was going wrong. Kuroo was sure he’s making it obvious that he was flirting with you, but you were so indifferent about it. He even went as far as occasionally bringing you snacks but you were just not having it. He can’t even invite you out to eat after classes were over because the moment they were, you were gone.

“Dude, stop staring at her desk, she’s not gonna suddenly reappear.” Kuroo stopped staring down at your desk in frustration upon hearing Bokuto’s voice. He was planning to invite you out that day but like always, you disappeared before he could even look at your direction.

“I don’t get it, where does she even go?”

“Maybe she has a boyfriend to meet up with after class.” Akaashi bluntly suggested.

“Nah, I asked her if she was single and she said yes.” It was at the time he invited you to eat lunch with him at the cafeteria. You were sitting across him, munching on your food when he suddenly asked if you were single. You straightforwardly said yes then went back to eating.

“You asked her that and she’s still not taking a hint? Damn.” Bokuto states as he pulls his backpack to his shoulder. He then approached Kuroo to place a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t mind.”

“Asshole.” Bokuto laughed and walked out of the room, Kuroo and Akaashi following suit.

“Well, you can’t win everything. But hold on, maybe there’s still a chance.” Akaashi advises. “Bokuto and I are going to our usual ramen place, do you want to come with?”

“Sure.”

[dopescotlandwarrior]

Unforgettable-Chapter Four

Previous chapters on AO3    A special thanks to @statell​ for all your help

Chapter Four

Claire pulled her mascara wand out and it was dry. Damn she thought, I don’t suppose there’s anywhere to buy makeup around here. She threw it in the waste container and dabbed on some lip gloss. The laptop was set up on her small table and she dialed the number with shaking fingers. She sent Jamie a text early in the week asking to Skype on Friday night. She wondered how he would get away from what’s-her-name, but he agreed so she didn’t care.

Her laptop flickered a couple of times and then he was there, smiling at her like she was right in front of him.

“God made eyes that color for one person only Sassenach.”

“Who?”

“Ye of course. How is it going over there? Is the hospital in a safe zone?”

“Sometimes. The second night I was here we had casualties from a raid nearby. Quite an initiation.”

“What kind of work are ye doin there, do ye like it?”

They stared at each other and their mouths moved but the action was happening in the heart. Jamie felt himself slipping back under her spell and Claire wanted to tell him about all the feelings, wars, doubt, and capitulation she was going through. They kept the conversation light.

“How can you be so far from the laptop and I can still see you clearly?

“I use my smart TV, and you are life-size as I watch ye.”

“Wow, that is awesome. Tell me about Edinburgh.”

And so it went, the benign conversation of two people in love that were not willing to expose themselves to the other. They would both feel the immediate vacuum sucking them out of the happy zone the minute Skype was closed.

They talked every week on Friday, afternoon for Claire, evening for Jamie. A package arrived for Claire and she ran to her room to open the box, so thrilled because it could only be Jamie who sent it. She pulled out a state-of-the-art laptop with a seventeen-inch screen and an exceptional camera. It was loaded with trending software and numerous picture files of his football team, Lallybroch, his camping trips, the fish he caught and the amazing sunsets from the top of the world. The card was handwritten; For the Sassenach, to remind ye of civilization and Scotland. I hope it makes ye happy. Claire hugged the card to her chest and rolled her eyes when someone knocked on her door.

“Claire! Let us in!”

Joe grew impatient and Claire finally opened the door to both of them. Kevin’s eyes lit up when he saw the new technology and he rushed to the laptop to investigate.

“It’s just lovely, I think Jamie is more than a friend all of a sudden.”

“No, it’s a friend present, nothing more. He is getting married, remember.”

“What, so he’s gonna Skype with you all the way to the alter?”

“Something like that.”

“Hey, he set up a gmail for you and sent a message.”

“Really? Claire rushed to the laptop to read it.”

Sassenach, I dinna ken yer email and I dinna like to wait. Send me a picture of the jungle! JF

Someone was knocking on the door but this time she could hear the urgency and pulled the door open.

“Report to OR on the double, Doctor Anderson is waiting.”

Cutter had already completed ten hours of surgery today, and so had she. She closed the door behind her and ran to the surgical wing. For the next two hours, she, Cutter, and another nurse worked hard to save a young man who came in with a meat hook stuck in his abdomen. Claire was clamping blood vessels as she found them, her arms deep in the abdomen, hands, and forearms covered in blood as they raced to stem the bleeding from multiple ruptured vessels. She and Cutter on opposite sides of the table, both suturing tissue as fast as they could.

Claire was the last to leave the OR and she was exhausted as she pushed into the scrub room and pulled her gown and gloves off. She held onto the scrub sink like she could collapse any moment and closed her eyes with the water running in front of her. The room was dimly lit, and she washed quickly so she could collapse in her Lazy Boy.

Joe’s phone had a high megapixel camera and he was quite good at using it. The close-ups he took of Claire, her eyes tired and grim, as she leaned over the washbasin on her forearms. Asleep in the Lazy Boy with her hand on Luna, surrounded by villagers, all needing something, were telling the story of Claire’s existence in this place.

Kevin joined the cause and had a folder full of Claire in action. Cutter was recruited to catch Claire with her two favorite men, Joe and Kevin, goofing off and teasing each other.

Joe recognized the signs of a man in love and sent Jamie the photos from Claire’s new laptop while she was working.

Claire pulled her new laptop closer and dialed Jamie. His face looked different, contemplative, and Claire’s heart rate shot up making her feel weak. He’s going to tell me he’s getting married she thought. Her instincts were shouting for her to disconnect. When you don’t want to hear something, don’t listen. She stared at him with wide eyes and he stared back.

“What is it Jamie, you look different.”

“Sassenach, I dinna have words to describe what your pictures showed me.”

“What?”

“Ye are the bravest lass I’ve ever known and the strongest. I had no idea what life was really like there. I am in awe of ye lass.”

“So far, you have not made a lick of sense Jamie. I didn’t send pictures to you. What are you talking about?”

“Well, someone did it for ye. They were in my email yesterday.”

Claire grabbed her phone and checked the sent emails, there were numerous emails to Jamie with picture attachments. Claire opened them and flipped through the pics with mounting concern.

“Jesus Christ, I wasn’t aware these were being taken, or sent. I’m sorry Jamie. My friend Joe had a very bad idea. I was not aware.”

Jamie leaned closer to the camera, “this is the real you as ye go through the day. I have an accurate account of the struggles ye face. Your work in the OR, yer haunted eyes when yer about to collapse and those two guys who hang on each other and make ye laugh. It’s incredible what I’ve learned about ye with these pictures. Yer amazing Sassenach.”

Jamie’s comments broke through her fantasy of killing all who conspired in this clandestine photo shoot. She heard compassion, pride, and love in Jamie’s voice. She looked up at the camera again and suddenly felt overwhelmed with love for the guys and appreciation for Jamie’s reaction.

“Ye dinna ken how special ye are, or how much ye deserve the best life. I…I will be happy to know ye finally get it, Claire. I feel emotionally invested somehow, please agree to be my video friend or pen pal for life. I’ll always wonder if ye don’t.”

Claire was surprised at Jamie’s reaction and she tried to rally her friend-face, control her expressions, and maintain composure in front of the camera. She looked into his eyes and wanted to shout at him that she was more than a friend. Jamie’s words were hitting her like bullets because he was now an observer trying to help her somehow, not harboring his own crush. At that moment she subconsciously jettisoned away from him, to the place she had been since the video calls started. In a box of his acquaintances he would remember from time to time.

Jamie continued to sing her praises and Claire did her best to cover the disappointment and hurt from misunderstanding his interest. She tried to rally but finally begged off with an excuse to feed the baby.

“Until next week Sassenach, take care of yourself.”

Claire slammed the lid on the laptop, “like you’re my psychiatrist or something? No thanks, I’ll be my own support thank you. If this is your entertainment to share with miss perfect, you will have to find something on television from now on. I am out.”

When Jamie saw the blood drain from Claire’s face, he knew she was completely in the dark about the pictures. That made it even more real for him and he silently thanked Joe for letting him into their world. No wonder she couldn’t settle in Edinburgh, it would be like putting a gorgeous butterfly in a jar, to slowly die from the lack of flight. He was deeply troubled that he had touched a dream girl, his dream girl, and the world had no equal.

The door opened and he looked at Geneva, here for a night of cat and mouse, and he was the mouse. He took a deep breath and suddenly wanted to be in a meadow, full of fish, where he could spend time with his memory of Claire and say his truth.

Jamie rose from the couch and kissed Geneva, promising a five-minute shower before they left. But the whole time, he was missing the girl who danced with a fish in his kitchen.

Claire looked at Joe with a laser sight on his fertile brain and fantasies of torture danced in her head. Joe retreated and disappeared before she got to him. She would have followed him, but she was pulled away by an unexpected visit from Luna’s mother.

Claire felt her tears drop onto her shoulders making her scrubs wet. She was always afraid this day would come, her miracle baby leaving with her biological mother. She pulled the baby to her and kissed her cheeks, repeatedly. She assembled multiple bags packed with food, diapers, blankets, and supplements that would sustain her. She would send her away and never know what happened to her and that was breaking her heart. Cutter pushed into the nursery and looked at Claire with compassion.

“Let me take her Claire. Kiss her one more time, then give her to me, he said quietly.”

Luna held Claire’s hair and yanked it trying to get her mother’s attention, the only mother her infant life knew. In her limited world, one face had always been there to give love and smiles and food. Claire broke down and Cutter pulled the sweet baby from her, pulled the bags of supplies onto his shoulder, and then left.

Claire sank into the Lazy Boy arms wrapped around her stomach and cried like she was mortally wounded. She bent over and her tears puddled on the linoleum floor. Her heart was breaking and there was no comfort to be had, just misery, her miracle baby was gone forever.

Claire laid curled up in the Lazy Boy and wondered how much grief one person could take in a day. “UNCLE”, she whispered, “no more for today.” The room grew darker as the sun set, and Claire remained until the door opened and a hand pulled her into the lighted hallway making her squint painfully. The hand pulled her forward and outside where it was easier to open her eyes.

Claire looked at the picnic table with a lantern on it and looked up at Cutter.

“What’s this?”

“A request from Joe, to get you talking and forgiving before you end his life for the pictures.”

He pushed her onto a bench and sat across from her with his hands folded on the table.

“Shall we begin, I rather like Joe, so let’s figure this out together.”

Cutter smiled and waited patiently.

“What? Um, I was mad at him for sending the pictures to Jamie. It was a sweet gesture, but it brought out Jamie’s true feelings for me and I was mad about that. I have the right to punish Joe because he’s my best friend.”

“What true feelings did Jamie reveal?”

“He wants to be pen pals, or video pals, so he will know when I find happiness. He doesn’t want to wonder about me for the rest of his life.”

“Jesus Claire, you had to let go of Luna right after that?”

“She wanted and needed my attention as I got her ready, but I couldn’t stop crying. I miss her so much already and I will never know what happened to her. I can’t take not knowing, Cutter.”

She stopped abruptly and looked up at her friend. The comparison of the two statements sinking into her brain. Her eyes got wide as she compared Jamie’s statement to her own. She loved Luna with her heart and soul, and it broke her heart realizing she will never know how she was. Could Jamie feel the same about her? She stared straight ahead and climbed out of the picnic table. She patted Cutter on the shoulder but missed and patted his face as she left.

“What about Joe? Can he come out of hiding now?”

“Mission accomplished soldier, he’s safe.”

Claire had a strange look on her face, but it wasn’t sorrow that Cutter saw, it was more like she just figured out the double-helix of DNA. Something wondrous.

Claire laid on her bed for the first time in four months and sighed deeply. Whatever Jamie felt for her, was big, that she was certain of. She will keep Skyping on Friday nights and maybe send an email occasionally if there was something exceptional or interesting that happened.

Jamie climbed in a thickly wooded area with a punishing pitch, feeling strong and healthy, as long as he didn’t start thinking. The woods were healing him of the past months of partying, drinking to excess, dealing with Geneva the shape-shifter, and his little Claire showing her heart and comfort to him. Breathing deeply in the crisp mountain air he felt capable of anything. Later in the afternoon, he laid back in the sun to rest. Winter was well on its way and pushing through his comfort limits, so this would be his last trip for a while. He would miss his time out here in nature. He paid dearly for it with Geneva but he didn’t care, it was bringing him back to who he really was.

Claire sat down next to Joe and across from Cutter at dinner. They had been in this medical camp for nine months, she could hardly believe it. The guys were displaying an air of excitement and fist-bumping Joe, well, Kevin was giving cheek kisses and Cutter did the bumping.

“Wow, I’ll bite, what is all the excitement about?”

“Jamie entered one of my pictures of you in a competition, and I won!” Joe was laughing. “Something Apple was doing to promote the camera in the new iPhone. Pretty cool, ha, and I get ten grand for first place!!”

“Jamie did that for you? Interesting. Whatever would make him even think of such a thing?”

Claire stared at Joe, letting him know she would not look away until he explained himself. She was making him antsy and nervous so this would not take long.

Joe sighed and told Claire about the photo lab tech who blew the picture up for Jamie asking all kinds of questions about the camera.

“He called me, told the lab tech it was an iPhone camera, tech said put the picture in the contest, he did, I won, and that’s about it.”

Claire picked up her tray and stood up, “Imagine that.”

The three men gaped at her as she walked away. They didn’t know what to expect from her, but it wasn’t that.

Claire smiled inside wondering how Jamie and Joe became telephone buddies. She was the common denominator and that’s all that mattered to her. She wiped the sweat off her face about to say goodnight to the guys when she thought of some cool relief.

“Cutter, remember that swimming pool I jumped in and you morphed into the incredible hulk?” What was that place?”

“Cutter looked around the room thinking about honesty versus a good night’s sleep for her. “It was my overreacting is all. I thought it was something different.”

“I do believe that is first time you have lied to me Cutter. I’ll ask again, what was that place, and…be honest.”

“It’s a rebel stronghold Claire. The attack on the villagers when you first got here, was perpetrated by that group.”

Claire’s eyes went wide, and her voice panicked, “they’re right here in our backyard? Jesus Christ, it’s no more than a few miles from here! If I had been caught in that pool they would have killed me, wouldn’t they?”

“Drop it pea,” he growled. “That’s enough on the subject.”

Cutter left the table cursing himself for telling her, thankful he left out the torturous death of women prisoners. They would have made it last before she drew her last breath and he would be dead trying to protect her.

Claire stared straight ahead, trying to wrap her head around their proximity to the enemy. She shivered with a full understanding of Cutter’s reaction that day.

“Jesus Christ,” she whispered.

Joe had heard things, from the villagers, delivery drivers, and the news when they could get it. He had already put in a request to get them out of there. It was first come first serve and everyone was bugging out of Honduras. He intended to talk to Claire and Kevin tonight about leaving their post before replacements came. It was feeling creepy around here and his instincts were screaming it was time to go.

[renee-writer]

Learning To Love Chapter 151 Waiting

Two days is a long time when that time involves waiting to see if you will have to fight for your child. Willy spends most of that time at work. Amy wishes she had rhat distraction.

She and John Mark accompany Grace to her prenatal appointment the first day. Ainsely is shocked to hear that Grace is already expecting.

"I know. We didn't intend to jump the gun. It was just after the bombing. We weren't really thinking about birth control."

"Grace, I completely understand. That was scary stuff. I am just thankful that you are all okay."

"Amen." Grace, Daniel, and Amy say together.

"And amen." Ainsely adds. "Okay. Let's see how you are doing Grace. Hop up on the table." She takes her vitals, checks her urine, draws blood, and then prepares to do a pelvic. "Okay. Definitely pregnant. I can see the changes in your cervix."

"Everything look like it is supposed to." An anxious Grace asks.

"Yes. All is tight and saeled. You are measuring four weeks. Nice to catch high risk pregnancies at the beginning."

"I am high risk?" Daniel and Amy look on with concern.

"Yes. We don't know what caused Patrick's early death. Because of this, we will be more carefully monitoring this pregnancy."

"Okay but you see nothing that concerns you now?" Grace seeks reassurance.

"Not a thing. Everything is as it should be."

"Thank You God!" Daniel prays.

"Yes praise God." Grace agrees.

"Okay you know what to look for. Call me if anything seems off at all. Even if you just have a feeling."

"Can I work?"

"You can as long as you have no disturbing symptoms. But only part time. No heavy lifting. Rest as much as you can."

"I will make sure she follows those orders." Daniel says.

"So will I when Daniel is at work." Amy adds

"Very good. It is going to be okay Grace."

"From your mouth to God's ears." Grace whispers.

"Amen." Amy adds.

They leave with a prescription for prenatal vitamins, a diet chart, and the reassurance that everything that can be done to keep the baby safe, was being done.

Amy and Grace spend the next day organizing John Mark's new clothes. It makes Amy sad to remember what isn't there and terrifies her to think the next time his clothes are gone through it may be Shelby doing it.

"It will be okay." Grace softly comments. She had seen the look on her friend's face.

"I pray so. He is my son. I know I didn't give him birth but he is mine. I am the one that gets up to feed him. I am the one who comforts him, that rocks him to sleep, that protected him. Shelby hasn't done any of that."

I know and if Shelby makes y'all go to court, that is the stuff that the judge will hear."

"Yes, I just pray it doesn't come to that."

"Me too. How long does she have?"

"Until 1700 today." They both look at the clock on the nursery wall.

"1200. She has five hours. Will you know if she does or doesn't?"

"Yes. Willy has a lawyer monitoring it."

"Good."

After they finish with the clothes, they go out for lunch. They then head out shopping. John Mark needs diapers and formula. Amy tries to talk Grace into buying something for her baby.

"No Amy. Not until the fifth month."

"I get it Grace. But having something for the baby won't cause.."

"I know that in my head. I just feel in my heart it is to soon to buy anything yet. You can take me out shopping and throw a baby shower after the fifth month."

"Deal."

They shop slowly. To kill time and to give Grace plenty of rest. When they get home, Grace invites Amy to her house to wait out the remaining hours. They keep themselves busy baking cookies. Grace crazes cookies.

"Something smells delicious." Daniel comments when he and Willy walk in right at 1700.

"Amy and I made tons of cookies." Grace tells him as he sweeps her into his arms.

"Any news?" Amy anziously asks. She stands with John Mark in her arms. Willy breaks into a huge smile.

"She missed the deadline. John Mark is safe."

Amy squeals causes John Mark to break into sobs. Willy wraps his arms around both of them. "It is really over?"

"It really is. He is 90 days old today. Her parental rights are terminated."

"Thank God!" Grace calls out.

"Amen!" Daniel stands in agreement with his wife. They order pizza and throw a party to celebrate. The rest of the Team and their families are invited. It is a wonderful, chaotic, joyous time Grace tells them her and Daniel's news.

"We know how scary this is. We will be here." Carla assures her.

"Yes. Day or night." Tonya echoes.

"Thanks guys."

It is wonderful for them to have things to celebrate after the horror of the last month.

[mustangshelby04]

Boston Boy - Chapter 16

A/N All right guys, there’s only one more chapter after this! But don’t worry your beautiful heads off, I’ll be doing some one shots to continue the story. Let me know what you want to see. I would love to get your ideas for the future of this beautiful couple!

Kate sat in the nursery with Gally curled up next to her and Dodger sitting with his head on her leg.  She looked around the room and admired hers and Chris’ handiwork.  They had gone with a Winnie the Pooh theme, using the original drawings of the characters since the colors were softer.  Chris had bought a beautiful and very plush, white and gray glider with a gliding foot rest for the nursery and it was Kate’s favorite place in the penthouse now.  She would spend hours rocking in the chair and dreaming up what her child’s life would be.

The glider was the only piece of furniture in the room beyond a bookshelf that was already starting to collect books.  The travel system from Ellen was sitting in one corner of the room with a large box full of the rest of the amazing gifts from her.  The rest of the furniture hadn’t been bought yet.  She and Chris were ordered not to buy anything beyond the glider.

Kate was now four weeks away from her due date and was beyond ready for it to be over with.  The world tour she’d joined Chris for had taken a lot out of her.  While she had had a ton of fun, her body just hadn’t been up to the task of that much fun and growing a small human at the same time. She had taken another week off and then gone back to work.  Unfortunately, the doctor was worried about her blood pressure and her showing some early warning signs of preeclampsia, so he had asked her to stop working as much as she had been.

Danielle had been amazing about everything.  She had two kids of her own and understood what Kate needed better than Kate herself did.  She had promised that Kate’s job was secure when she was ready to come back full time. Until then, she would only work part time if she felt up to it.

Chris walked into the nursery and chuckled. “You know, you can’t hide forever.”

“Who says I can’t try?” Kate retorted.

He just held his hands out to help her stand up. “Everyone is downstairs waiting.”

She took his hands and let him lift her to her feet. “I hate baby showers. And bridal showers for future reference.”

“Noted.  Not like I can do anything about it.  You’ve met my mother.  And my sisters and my brother.  You’re welcome to fight that.”

“Chicken shit.”  

“But hey, the cake is really pretty.”

“You weren’t supposed to go downstairs.”

“I needed something to drink.  They kicked me out pretty quickly.”

Lisa, Carly, Shanna, Scott, and Helena had all decided that they were going to decorate and Kate and Chris weren’t allowed to see any of it.  They didn’t even know who was on the guestlist. The whole thing had been kept hush-hush from the parents-to-be.

“I can’t wait to get our place to ourselves again.”

“It is feeling a bit crowded this week.  Careful!” Since the doctor had mentioned the preeclampsia (and Chris had done research on it), he had been hyperactively protective of her.  He freaked out if she tried to walk up and down stairs by herself.  She just rolled her eyes at him.

“Happy baby shower!” Everyone yelled and Chris and Kate came down the stairs.

There were so many people there!  Helena, Bill and Jan, and Lisa, Carly, Shanna, and Scott were obviously there; Chris’ dad, Bob and his wife; Kate’s aunt Charlotte had come up from Virginia and her uncle Ron and aunt Debbie had come in from Chicago; Scarlett Johansson had come; Downey and his wife were there; Chris’ best friend, Tara, had made it down; April was there; Danielle had come with her husband, Charles; Amy had driven up for the occasion; Sebastian Stan had shown up; and Megan was there, too.  The place was decorated with pink and blue streamers and balloons that said, “It’s a Boy” and “It’s A Girl” on them.  There were a few that said, “Boy or Girl?”  There was a massive pile of presents in the living room.  The cake and food had been set up in a beautiful display on the kitchen island and a drink station with a blue punch and a pink punch was set up on the kitchen counter.  There were little woodland creature decorations everywhere, too.

Carly and Scott walked over to Kate and Chris.  Carly draped a “Mommy-To-Be” sash over Kate while Scott pinned a “Daddy-To-Be” button to Chris’ shirt.  Lisa and Helena were both wearing pins that said “Grandma-To-Be.”  Someone had made a diaper cake and set it next to the actual cake, which was two tiers of cutesy woodland creatures running amok.  There was a photobooth area with different props for the pictures that Danielle had kindly set up and offered to run.

“Happy baby shower!” Carly squealed, kissing Kate’s cheek.

“That is a fuckton of presents.” Kate said.

“We’ll get to those.  Right now, we want pictures!”

Chris and Kate were stood at the photobooth and the guests that wanted pictures were allowed to pick the props.  It took a good half hour before they were allowed to get food.  Chris fixed her a plate so she could go sit down.  The love seat had been decorated with blue and pink streamers and someone had created the backs of thrones out of cardboard. One said Daddy and was painted blue and the other said Mommy and was painted pink.  There were even fake pink and blue jewels glued to both of them to make them even more throne-like.

Carly made Chris and Kate sit in their respective seats while people ate and Shanna hosted the three games they had planned.  April won the game where the guests had to use string to guess how big around Kate’s stomach was.  She received a gift bag filled with home spa items.  The second game was where the guests had to guess what candy bar was melted in the different diapers.  Tara had won that game and was given a gift bag filled with candles, an engraved picture frame, and various candies.  The third and final game was called “My Water Broke” where everyone had been given an ice cube with a plastic baby in it.  The first person who’s baby was free of the ice had to yell that their water broke. Sebastian had been overenthusiastic when yelling it, startling everyone in the room.  He had walked away with a $50 VISA gift card.

While everyone started throwing their plates away, Helena had Chris and Kate cut the cake.  She stayed to serve the pieces to everyone while the parents-to-be took their love seat thrones again.  Carly, Shanna, and Scott had begun moving presents closer to the love seat to be passed over to Chris and Kate.  While they waited for everyone to get their slices of cake and eat them, Scarlett came over and sat down next to Kate on Chris’ side of the loveseat.  Chris had gotten up and was across the room talking with his father and Bill.  Probably getting some dad advice.

“You’re not having any fun, are you?” Scarlett said conspiratorially to Kate.

“Not in the slightest.” Kate said. “I hate showers.  And I feel like a bloated whale.”

“I hate these things, too.  Just give me the presents and don’t make a fuss.”

“Exactly!”  

“And for the record, you don’t look like a bloated whale.” She held her hand out to Kate. “Your fiancé sucks at introductions.  I’m Scarlett.” “Kate.”

“I’m sorry we’re just now meeting.  I wanted to come along on the Civil War tour, but I had some prior engagements.”

“It’s ok.”

“Chris has talked almost non-stop about you and the baby.  I’m so happy for you guys.”

“I’ve actually been kind of nervous to meet you.”

“Yeah?  Why’s that?”

“Chris talks so highly of you.  You’re one of his closest friends.”

“Oh, I’m not that scary.”

“I didn’t think you would be, and hey, I survived meeting Tara.”

“She’s a cool chick.”

“Yeah.”

“If I’m being honest, I’ve been kind of nervous to meet you, too.”

Kate laughed. “Me?  Oh god, why?”

“Well, I’ve met a few of Chris’ girlfriends.  None of them, in my opinion, have measured up to what I think my friend deserves.  I can be a little protective of him.  I was a little nervous that you wouldn’t measure up, too.”

“That scares me.” “Don’t worry.  From what I can tell, you exceed expectations.  Chris looks genuinely happier than I’ve ever seen him. Downey, Mackie, Lizzie, and Hemmy all sing your praises.”

“They’re sweet.”

“So how are you feeling?”

“Um…. Done.  I’m feeling done.  If Jelly Bean wants to vacate the premises, I won’t stop him or her.”

“I remember those days.  They pretty much sucked.”

“Yes.  Yes, they do.”

“You’re in the home stretch now.”

“Thankfully!”

“Any contractions yet?”

“Lots of Braxton Hicks.  They’ve been happening a lot on and off today.”

“It’s all the excitement.”

“That’s what I figured.”

“Oh god, have you started nesting yet?”

“Yes!  It’s insane! It’s been driving me batty not to have the furniture we need to finish the nursery.  We were told to hold off on the big stuff.”

“I would love to see it.”

“Yeah?” Kate started the struggle to get up and Scarlett helped her to her feet. The two women headed around into the kitchen and started up the stairs.

“Whoa, hey.” Chris came rushing over. “Where are you going?”

“To show Scarlett the nursery.”

“I’ll come with.”

“Chris, baby, I can walk up the stairs without help.”

“But….”

“Go back to the party, Evans.” Scarlett joked. “You’re being a helicopter mom right now.”

Chris looked at them with wide, puppy dog eyes. “I’m immune to those things now.” Kate said. “Put them away before you strain your eyes.  I’ll be fine.”

Scarlett laughed and followed Kate upstairs, turning briefly to mouth to Chris, “I really like her.”

Ten minutes later, the two walked back downstairs arm in arm and laughing. It made Chris happy to see that they had hit it off and seemed as thick as thieves already.  Lisa walked over and apologized to Scarlett before taking Kate away. She and Chris spent the next hour and a half opening all of the presents that their guests had brought and ones that had been sent from friends that couldn’t make it to the shower.  Carly was writing down what they got and who sent it so Chris and Kate could send out thank you cards later.

When the shower finally wound down and people began leaving, they were given cute little gift bags with travel-sized hand sanitizers from Bath and Body Works, mini-jar candles from Yankee Candle, some butter mints in a little baby bottle, and little engraved frames holding a picture from Chris’ and Kate’s maternity shoot that Danielle had insisted on doing.  The only ones left at the end of the night were Amy, Lisa, and Scott.  Helena and Bill had declined the offer to stay at the penthouse and had gotten a hotel nearby.  Lisa and Amy were staying at the penthouse in the two guest rooms while Scott was taking the couch from Kate’s garage apartment that Chris had put in the downstairs guest room that they had turned into an office for him and Kate.  Carly and Shanna had driven back to Sudbury so Carly could get back to her kids and Shanna could get to work in the morning.

“We’ll start working on putting this all together tomorrow.” Lisa said.

“I can’t believe we got all of this stuff!” Chris said. “Everyone is so sweet for doing this.” Kate let out a heavy breath and rubbed her stomach. “What’s wrong?” Chris was on instant high alert.

“Braxton-Hicks.” Kate said. “They’ve been happening on and off all day.”

“Are you sure?  Should we call the doctor?”

“I have an appointment tomorrow.  I’ll be fine.”

“Do you need anything?” Lisa asked.

“Actually, I’ve got a headache and I’m feeling kind of tired.  I want to go upstairs and lay down.”

Chris stood up and helped her to her feet. “I’ll be back down in a little bit.”

“Go on up and stay with her.” Lisa said. “We’ll clean up down here.”

“Thanks, ma.”

Kate sighed as Chris helped her change into her usual oversized T-shirt she slept in, take her contacts out, and lay down on their bed. “Thanks.”

“Are you ok?”

“Could you grab some Tylenol for me?”

“Of course.” Chris rushed into the bathroom and came out with Tylenol and a glass of water.  He set to work massaging her feet, but stopped when he noticed how swollen they were. “Babe, are you sure you’re ok?”

“I’m a little dizzy, but I think that’s cause of the headache and all the fun today.”

“Kat, your feet and legs are really swollen.  That’s a sign of preeclampsia.  So are headaches and dizziness.”

“The doctor did say I was at risk.  We’re going tomorrow, so we can ask then.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to call now?”

“Chris, it’s late.”

“It’s nine at night.”

“Well, that’s late enough.” Kate curled up on her side. “I’m going to sleep.”

“I’m going to brush my teeth and take my contacts out, then I’ll join you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to.” He leaned over and kissed her.

 *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Chris woke up to the sounds of his name being called between gagging coming from the bathroom.  The clock said it was around three in the morning.  He quickly jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom.  Kate was clinging to the toilet, shaking and crying. “Hey….” He moved to her side and let out a curse when he saw the blood in the toilet. “Kate!”

“Chris, I don’t feel good.” Kate sobbed.

“We’re going to the hospital.” He jumped up and ran out of the room. “MA!” Chris burst through the guest bedroom door, startling his mother awake. “Ma, it’s Kate!  Help!”

Lisa was up like a shot.  She followed Chris into the bedroom and then pushed past him when she heard Kate. “Oh no! Sweetheart…. Chris, get her some clothes.”

“What’s going on?” Amy asked from the doorway to the bedroom.

“I’m taking Kate to the hospital.” Chris said, grabbing a pair of yoga pants out of one of Kate’s drawers while dialing the number to a car service on his cell phone. “Can you go wake up Scott?”

“Yeah!” Amy turned and ran downstairs.

Lisa was running a washrag over Kate’s face, whispering comforting words to her. “Come on, Katie.  Let’s get your clothes on.” Chris came over and gave his mother the yoga pants as he dialed the emergency number to Kate’s doctor.

Scott ran in, throwing a shirt on. “What’s going on?”

“Scott, come help me.” Scott rushed over and helped his mother get Kate into her pants and shoes. “Amy, honey, do you have Helena’s phone number?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Amy said. “I’ll call her.  Where are you going?  I mean, what hospital?”

“New York Presbyterian.” Chris said. “It’s not far.”

“Ok. I’ll call her.”

“Here,” Chris grabbed the pen and notepad out of Kate’s nightstand drawer. He quickly wrote down a number for the car service and another number underneath it. “Call this number and give them this account number.  Send a car for her family, they’re at the Millennium Hilton, and then get one for yourself.  I’ve already got one on the way.” He turned and swept Kate up into his arms.  Scott and Lisa helped steady them as they walked down the stairs.

 *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Kate looked around the private birthing suite and sighed.  She had been poked with needles and had an IV in her arm, ready to administer drugs if needed.  They had brought in an ultrasound and had hooked her up to a fetal monitor after taking her for a CT scan.  Chris sat on the bed next to her, holding her hand.  He was the only one allowed in with her right now.

“I just want to go home.” Kate said, laying her head down on Chris’ shoulder.

He kissed the top of her head. “I know, baby.”

Doctor Beauchamp walked into the room and looked at the waiting couple. “Well, the blood in your vomit is from a small tear in the lining of your esophagus. Sometimes this happens with the nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.  It’s manageable if we can control the nausea and get you to eat soft foods for seven to ten days.  What concerns me is the protein in your urine, Kate, and how high your blood pressure is.  We talked about you being preeclamptic and you’re showing enough of the signs right now.”

“So, what’s the plan, Doc?” Chris asked.

“I want you, Kate, to try and make it to 39 weeks.  Right now, you’re still within reason to give birth naturally like you want, so what I’m going to do is keep you here for the next two weeks so we can monitor you, but you’re on strict bedrest.”

“You’re not going to induce?” Kate asked.

“I could and I might even be able to do it more naturally than giving you Pitocin since you’re dilated to one, but I don’t want to and I know you want to avoid the Pitocin at all costs.”

“Yes!”  

“I want Jelly Bean to bake for a little longer, so two weeks here on bedrest. You’re only allowed out of that bed to go to the bathroom and to take very quick showers.  Chris, you may want to go home and pack some of Kate’s stuff. Comfortable, loose fitting clothes, please.”

“You got it.” Chris said. “Anything.”

“Ok. I’m going to go discuss with the nurses everything they need to know and I’ll be back later with a list of some super fun bedrest rules.” Doctor Beauchamp walked out and Kate burst into tears.

“Hey,” Chris pulled Kate to him tightly. “Shh, it’s ok.  It’s only two weeks and then we’ll meet our little Jelly Bean.”

“But there’s so much to get done before then!”

“Ma isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and neither is Scott.  I’m pretty sure your mom isn’t leaving now.  I can call in whoever else we need to get the stuff put together before the baby arrives.”

“But I won’t get to help.”

“I can bring some stuff here for you to work on.”

“I just want to go home.”

“You will.  And when you do, you’ll be holding Jelly Bean.” Chris kissed her sweetly. “I’m going to go let everyone know what’s going on and see if we can have anyone back here besides us.”

 *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Over the next week, Kate didn’t show much change.  Which wasn’t a bad thing.  She had started to dilate some more, so the doctor was happy that she might even give birth without any help.  Bill and Jan had gone home, but Helena had decided to stay to be there with her daughter.  She and Lisa were staying at the penthouse with Scott.  They Facetimed with Chris and Kate so the couple could help finish decorating the nursery with the furniture they had gotten.  

On her twelfth day there, July 8th, Dr. Beauchamp had decided they didn’t need to wait any longer.  She decided to try the more natural induction of labor by going in and stripping the membranes.  It was extremely painful, and Chris had no idea how that much of the doctor’s arm fit up inside his fiancée, but it was effective.  Kate’s contractions had set in and she went into active labor.  Chris was by her side for every single minute with Lisa and Helena taking turns on Kate’s free side.  Kate labored for fourteen hours before it was finally time to push. Dr. Beauchamp allowed Kate to move around and try to find more comfortable positions to deliver the baby in, but nothing was working.

“Kate, the baby is stuck and going into distress.” Dr. Beauchamp announced. “We need to get this baby out now.  I’m going to have to do a c-section.”

“No.” Kate growled, trying to push again.

“Kate, you need to stop pushing.  This baby isn’t going to come out naturally and you’re only going to hurt yourself and the baby if you keep trying.”

Kate let out a scream as another contraction bore down on her. “I need to push!”

“Kate, your blood pressure is through the roof.  You need to calm down.”

Chris tried soothing Kate, but nothing helped.  Doctor Beauchamp called for the anesthesiologist to meet them in the OR with a spinal tap while she administered an anti-anxiety medicine. Kate was so scared and so worked up that the medicine didn’t have much of an effect.  Chris was made to stay in the room while they got Kate prepped for surgery.  He paced the floor, waiting for them to come get him.  They had told him it wouldn’t take more than ten minutes.  It had now been thirty minutes.  He was about to start kicking doors in when a nurse came to get him.

Kate was strapped down to the OR table with a sheet pinned up as a screen. She was still panicking and gripped his hand tightly.  He whispered comforting words and tried to keep her focus on him.  She kept complaining about how bad her upper back was hurting and she couldn’t get comfortable.  The doctor and nurses begged her to stop writhing, but she was in too much pain. They gave her a booster on her spinal tap and that seemed to do the trick some.  The doctor took advantage to quickly perform the c-section.  Chris stood up to peer over the curtain to see the baby come slithering out of the open wound.  The baby’s cry echoed in the room and Kate closed her eyes in relief.

“It’s a girl!” Doctor Beauchamp announced.

Chris turned to Kate and started to say something, but the words died on his lips as the sound of the alarm on the heart monitor went off.  The nurses came up and told him to leave, but he refused.  He began yelling at them to help Kate and security was brought in to physically remove him from the room.  They took him back to the birthing suite where his mother and Helena were waiting.  They jumped up and he started to sob.

“I don’t know what’s happening!” Chris cried. “They won’t tell me anything. She was in pain and they gave her more drugs and just after the baby was born, her heart rate dropped.”

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Babie Crue (2/?)

Pairings: The Dirt!Motley Crue X OC!Reader. Eventual MGK!Tommy Lee X OC, Possible Douglas Booth!Nikki Sixx X OC, Dad!Motley Crue

Warnings: Cussing, drug use, drinking

Description: Cam eventually finds solace with Tommy’s family, who pity her after she reveals why she’s homeless with a newborn baby. Two months of peace later, Cam has a steady job as a waitress and Motley Crue is officially formed. Tommy starts to invite Cam out to their shows at Whisky A Go Go, and she eventually decides that a break is much needed. Of course, she shows up the night Doc enters the picture and Elektra starts pressuring for the band to go on tour. 

~~~~~~~

Tommy, Mick, and Nikki found Cam about half an hour after she left the apartment. With some heavy convincing, Cam finally agreed the best choice was to live with Tommy at his parent’s house. When the Lee’s heard Cam’s story, recounted quickly and embellished with a lot of ‘fucks’ by none other than Tommy himself, they thankfully welcomed her into their home with open arms. Tommy scrounged up whatever he could money wise to help buy the basics for Grace, and was all too ready to give up his room and bunk on the couch. The band and Tommy’s parents helped find Cam a job within her first week of living in her new space. 

In the time it took to get Cam set up comfortably, the band had found their front man, Vince Neil, and started performing at a club on the Sunset Strip called Whisky A Go Go. It was definitely a rocky start based on what was heard from Tommy when he called Cam at work after the shows, but she knew that if anyone deserved to be famous, it was Tommy. 

“Cam, you should totally come to a show! Athena and my parents could watch Gracie and you can see your knight in shining armor in action!” Tommy yelled through the phone, helping Cam hear him over the loud thumping of the music in the background. Cam chuckled and ducked under a tray that a co worker was carrying. 

“Tommy, you know I’d love to, but I feel like the second I leave Gracie, she’s going to get taken away from me. I can’t lose the only piece of me I have left because I was out partying with my best friend and his band.” A sigh escaped Cam’s lips as she ran her fingers through her dark brown hair. Cam was grateful of her boss for allowing long phone calls, but they were only to happen over her twenty minute break. 

“Hey, Cam. Don’t think like that. You and I both know my family and I will fight tooth and fucking nail to protect you and that adorable fucking baby. I understand your fear, but I really want you to be around before we go fucking through the roof!” Tommy’s excitement made Cam smile sadly. She noticed a stern look coming from her manager, which led her to glance at her watch. 

“Tommy, I have to go. My break is almost up. I’ll consider coming to one of your shows, alright?” 

“Yeah, babe! Have a good night, alright? I’ll see you later, sweets!” Cam muttered a quick goodbye and hung up the phone, stumbling through the crowded kitchen and heading out to the dining room. 

“Hello. My name is Cameo, and I’ll be your server this evening. Could I get you guys started with something to drink?” She muttered her spiel, quickly scribbling down the family’s drink orders. Checking on her other patrons, Cam threw crumpled bills into the cash register, returning change and receipts to departing groups, bidding them a farewell as they headed towards the door. 

By the time she was able to leave, Cam had accumulated a decent amount of tips. She was good at her job, despite customers swearing at her for wrong orders that she accidentally swapped with another table. As she made her way home in the dark, discreetly brandishing a knife Nikki had gifted her, Cam thought about Tommy’s offer. 

‘Maybe a show would be nice. I mean it’s just one show, and we’ve been safe for two months. I deserve a break.’ Cam’s thoughts were swimming so fervently around her head that she almost didn’t hear the shuffling behind her. 

Hailing a taxi, Cam gave the driver Tommy’s address, only glancing at the person who followed her once a barrier was placed between them. Looking vaguely familiar, the car sped off before Cam could distinguish who had followed her. Throwing a twenty at the driver, grumbling at the instant decrease of food and diaper funds, Cam quickly ran inside her safe haven, involuntarily slamming the door behind her.  

“Cameo? Is that you, dear?” Tommy’s mother, Voula, called from her place in the living room. 

“Yeah, Voula, it’s me. Was Gracie any trouble?” Cam asked as she made her way to the older woman, getting comfortable on the couch after hanging up her coat and bag. 

“She’s an angel, Cam. You should be proud to be her mother.” A warm smile spread across Voula’s face. 

“Believe me, I am. I have a favor to ask you though: do you think you could watch Gracie longer than usual this weekend? I really want to watch Tommy’s band play, especially because he seems so excited about it.”

“Of course, dear. You deserve a break.” Thanking her, Cam hugged the woman who took her in and bid her a goodnight as they both turned in to sleep. Stripping her uniform, Cam silently changed into her sleepwear and looked at her daughter sleeping peacefully in the bassinet Athena had dug up from the depths of the garage. 

Humming to herself, Cam flicked on a flashlight, opening up a book that she had loved since high school: The Secret Garden. Unfortunately, Cam’s mind wandered back to the man who was following her. Eventually she snapped out of it when she realized her eyes were drooping intensely. Cam made herself comfortable in the bed, breathing in the scent that was caked into the sheets covering Tommy’s bed. Cam soon found herself asleep, dreaming of nothing but a high school aged Tommy and Gracie. 

~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Cam awoke to Grace’s soft cries. Hopping out of bed, she scooped her baby out of the bassinet. A knock on the door caused the mother to jump slightly, chuckling silently as she rocked Grace gently. 

“Come on in,” Cam called to the door, hearing it open with a slight creak. 

“Hey, sweets. I heard Gracie and figured I’d help you a little today.” Tommy entered and handed Cam a bottle filled with the exact amount of formula Grace had started eating as she rounded six months. 

“Tommy, you didn’t have to do that! Thank you though,” Cam muttered. The trio sat together on the bed as Cam began feeding Grace. The baby girl babbled as she suckled against the bottle happily, grasping the sides with her knuckles.

“How did you manage to get the greatest thing out of the shittiest relationship?” Tommy whispered, brushing his long fingers over her tiny feet, causing the baby to giggle at his touch. 

“I honestly have no idea, Tommy. Hey guess what?” Cam responded, turning her attention to the man next to her. Tommy hummed, signalling for Cam to continue. “I’m coming to your show tonight!”

“Really?! Jesus, Cam that’s great! What made you change your mind?” Tommy asked, his brown eyes shining brightly with excitement. 

“I was on my way home from work and I figured I deserved a break. It’s okay that I’m coming, right?” Cam suddenly found herself questioning if this was really a good idea. 

“Of course it is, Cam. Why else would I have invited you to every show?” They sat in silence after that, the only sounds filling the air being Grace’s grunts of happiness as she chowed down. Tommy stared at the two girls, utterly in love with the beautiful figures sitting beside him. He had dreamed countless times in school of the very moment he was witnessing, of course baby not included, but she was an amazing bonus. As Grace finished her bottle, Tommy gestured for Cam to hand over the infant, silently telling the mother to get ready for the day. 

“I have to go to work. I convinced my manager to give me tonight off if I switched my closing shift with Anna’s lunch, but I promise I’ll be there. It starts at seven, right?” The frantic mother gathered her uniform, turning to Tommy and melting at the sight of the drummer cradling her baby so delicately. 

“Huh? Oh yeah, seven. What are you gonna wear?” Cam froze in her tracks, completely forgetting about the scene aspect revolving around rock bands. 

“Oh shit, Tommy! What am I gonna wear?!” Tommy chuckled as he stood from the bed, gently placing Grace in her bassinet and walking to his closet. Thrusting open the door, he shuffled through his clothes, tossing a black Pink Floyd shirt behind him. He gestured for Cam to follow him to Athena’s room, tossing a pair of distressed blue jeans into her arms. 

“Wear that. You can keep the shirt by the way, it’s too small for me.”

“Thank you, Tommy. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a shower to take and a shift to get to.” Cam nudged Tommy out of her way and crossed the hall, entering the bathroom and locking the door behind her. 

~~~~~~~~

When Cam’s shift ended at 3, she was anxious to get home. As she sprinted through town, barreling through the house, she casually mentioned to Athena that her jeans were being borrowed, a simple ‘no problem’ thrown back in response. Tommy was feeding Grace her lunch, chuckling at Cam who floated back and forth from the bedroom to the bathroom, mumbling to herself about everything she forgot. 

Around the tenth time she stormed in the room still in her uniform and bare faced, Tommy stood and placed a hand on Cam’s shoulder. 

“Hey, calm down, sweets. Take a breath and gather everything you need right now, then lock yourself in that fucking bathroom and don’t come out until you’re unrecognizable and absolutely fucking sexy.” Cam’s face flushed at Tommy’s comment. She looked down at the floor and nodded, gathering everything she needed to finalize her look. Ducking past Tommy, Cam made her way to the bathroom, following Tommy’s order diligently. She quickly exchanged her uniform for the outfit he picked out. Cam teased her hair until her arms were sore, then opted to do her makeup. She lined her hazel eyes with thick black liner and smacked a blood red lipstick on her full lips. Tommy’s words were true: when she was finished, Cam was fucking sexy. 

Entering Tommy’s bedroom for the final time before leaving, Cam topped her outfit with a leather choker and combat boots. Kissing her daughter goodnight, Cam walked into the living room, everyone freezing where they stood. 

“Wow, Cam. You look amazing! Your ass looks perfect in my jeans,” Athena commented, earning a light smack on the shoulder from Voula. 

“Cameo, you really do look lovely. Tommy had to leave, but there is a cab waiting for you outside,” Tommy’s dad explained, a soft smile on his lips. 

“Thank you. Okay well, Gracie is asleep and she should be down for the night. If not, a bottle should fix it. I borrowed a record from Tommy; Elton John. If she doesn’t seem to relax after the bottle, play ‘Your Song’ and she’ll be off to sleep in no time-” 

“Cam, we’ve got this. We’ve done this a million times, and Gracie is not that difficult of a baby. Now, go have fun.” Cam’s purse was pushed into her arms as she was shoved out of the house by Voula. Cam waved as she entered the cab, giving the driver the address of the club, preparing for the amazing night ahead of her. 

~~~~~~~

The show was amazing. Tommy snuck Cam backstage after the set ended and finally introduced her to Vince. The blonde was instantly enamored by Cam, but the glare that both Tommy and Nikki gave him were enough to make him reconsider his intentions. 

The after party was in full swing and everyone was having fun. A beer was in Cam’s hand, but bad memories were laced with drinking, so she painfully nursed the alcohol over the course of two hours. As the party escalated, Motley Crue was high and drunk out of their minds. Someone just as fucked up wandered around, asking everyone and everything if he could bump a line of coke. He even asked Cam more than once and attempted to rudely feel her up when he was denied. Nikki pushed him off of her and told him to get out, a fight beginning to boil. As the stoner threw a right hook at Nikki’s face, a tiny man jumped in from his corner and took the attacker out with a single hit. 

“Looks like you boys are gonna need a manager.” The band laughed as the stoner was thrown out of Nikki’s apartment. 

“Hey, you okay? You look a little frazzled,” Mick asked across the table, noting Cam’s shaking hands. 

“Um, yeah. I’m great. There’s just a lot happening at the moment.” Tommy overheard and wrapped an arm around Cam’s shoulders, gently placing a kiss to her temple. 

“Do you wanna leave? I can call you a cab,” Tommy offered. Cam quickly shook her head, leaning into Tommy’s embrace a little more. At some point, Tommy tossed his leather jacket over her and she was still wearing it as their record deal and possible tour were discussed. Cam glanced around the table and smiled, happy that she was finally safe and surrounded by people who loved her. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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@kellysimagines

A/N: What did you guys think of this part? Feel free to give me some pointers or things you want in the story and I’ll try my best to improve as the series goes on. BTW I am taking requests, so if anything strikes your fancy, go ahead and shoot me a message! Love you guys!

[bohemianrhapsody86]

200 Things About Me (originally 200 Things You Can Put In My Ask)

I got this off of @rami-malek-trash - don’t know who the original poster was, sorry if it’s you. I’m bored and cramping and no one usually sends me asks anyway, so I’m just going to answer all of these myself 

200: My crush’s name is: Drew (Now boyfriend, but he was my middle school crush) 199: I was born in: 1986 198: I am really: cool 197: My cellphone company is: T-Mobile 196: My eye color is: green 195: My shoe size is: 9.5/10 194: My ring size is: 9/10 193: My height is: 5′6″ 192: I am allergic to: Nothing 191: My 1st car was: 2001 PT Cruiser 190: My 1st job was: Server at a local pizzeria 189: Last book you read: Startalk: Everything You Ever Need to Know About Space Travel, Sci-Fi, the Human Race, the Universe, and Beyond by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 188: My bed is: Not very comfortable. I need a new mattress, but I need a job first.  187: My pet: A siamese cat named Chico. 186: My best friend: Amanda  185: My favorite shampoo is: I like using Aussie 2-in-1, I also like using Shimmer Lights occasionally so I can keep my gray hairs nice and shiny.  184: Xbox or ps3: PS3 183: Piggy banks are: Cool. I have one that counts my change lol 182: In my pockets: Nothing because they hate putting usable pockets in women’s pants.  181: On my calendar: I marked where I started my period yesterday, and my boyfriends 32nd birthday is next Tuesday.  180: Marriage is: Something I want everyone to have the option for if they want it. 179: Spongebob can: use his imagination 178: My mom: is amazing! 177: The last three songs I bought were? Cool and Sucker by The Jonas Brothers, Don’t really buy many singles, just albums if I’m interested and their cheap.  176: Last YouTube video watched: Brooke Candy - Paper or Plastic 175: How many cousins do you have? Too many to remember 174: Do you have any siblings? Yes, an older brother and older half-sister. 173: Are your parents divorced? Yes, they divorced back in 1999 172: Are you taller than your mom? Yes. We used to be the same height, but gravity has taken a hold of her and squashed her down.  171: Do you play an instrument? I used to play the trombone in middle school, but that was 20 years ago. I’m sure if I ever got my hands on one again, I might remember a scale or two.  170: What did you do yesterday? Went around town job hunting and then bought a maxi dress at a local craft store.  [ I Believe In ] 169: Love at first sight:Yes 168: Luck: Yes 167: Fate: Yes 166: Yourself: Sometimes 165: Aliens: Yes 164: Heaven: Yes and No 163: Hell: We live there now. 162: God: No 161: Horoscopes: Yes 160: Soul mates: Yes 159: Ghosts: Yes 158: Gay Marriage: Yes 157: War: No 156: Orbs: Yes/No 155: Magic: Yes [ This or That ] 154: Hugs or Kisses: Kisses 153: Drunk or High: High  152: Phone or Online: Online 151: Red heads or Black haired: Black haired 150: Blondes or Brunettes: Brunette 149: Hot or cold: Cold 148: Summer or winter: Winter 147: Autumn or Spring: Autumn 146: Chocolate or vanilla:Chocolate 145: Night or Day: Night 144: Oranges or Apples: Apples 143: Curly or Straight hair: Curly 142: McDonalds or Burger King: McDonalds 141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: Milk Chocolate 140: Mac or PC: PC 139: Flip flops or high heals: Flip Flops 138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor: Sweet and Poor 137: Coke or Pepsi: Always been a Pepsi girl 136: Hillary or Obama: Obama 135: Burried or cremated: Cremated and turned into a tree or my ashes made into a vinyl 134: Singing or Dancing: Singing 133: Coach or Chanel: Neither 132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: Katherine McPhee 131: Small town or Big city: Small Town 130: Wal-Mart or Target: Target 129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: Ben Stiller 128: Manicure or Pedicure: Mani 127: East Coast or West Coast: East Coast - never been to the West Coast 126: Your Birthday or Christmas: Birthday because it sometimes falls on Thanksgiving.  125: Chocolate or Flowers: Chocolate 124: Disney or Six Flags: Disney 123: Yankees or Red Sox: Neither, Cubbies til the day I die.  [ Here’s What I Think About ] 122: War: Pointless 121: George Bush: Better than the asshat in office now. 120: Gay Marriage: If I can get married to my boyfriend, the my friend Jerry should be able to get married to his boyfriend, Josh.  119: The presidential election: I hate that orange buffoon.  118: Abortion: I’m pro-choice.  117: MySpace: Always had trouble figuring out my Top 8 and what background I wanted to use.  116: Reality TV: Only thing I really watch are cooking competitions. Those are the only ones that matter. Not a fan of the Kardashians or the Bachelor/ette bullcrap.  115: Parents: My mom is amazing, my ‘dad’ was never really there.  114: Back stabbers: Asshats 113: Ebay: Hardly use it.  112: Facebook: Good to stay in touch with people you want to/some of the groups on there are awesome.  111: Work: Don’t have a job as of yet. *keeps fingers crossed I hear back from someone soon* 110: My Neighbors: Loud AF and nasty. I live in an apartment and the neighbors upstairs have so many kids and animals up there it’s ridiculous. I wish they’d leave.  109: Gas Prices: Ridiculous, but not as bad as I’ve seen it before.  108: Designer Clothes: Meh, not my style unless I find something in my size at Goodwill.  107: College: Been there, done that. Not really for me. Never graduated.  106: Sports: I like watching them, mainly baseball and basketball. The NFL can go fuck themselves.  105: My family: Love my blood relatives and my chosen family.  104: The future: It’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.  [ Last time I ] 103: Hugged someone: last night when my boyfriend came over and brought me my phone charger.  102: Last time you ate: An hour ago. 101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile: At my bestie’s baby shower.  100: Cried in front of someone: Sometime last week 99: Went to a movie theater: When Endgame came out 98: Took a vacation: 2010 97: Swam in a pool: A few summers ago 96: Changed a diaper: 2007? 95: Got my nails done: 2007? 94: Went to a wedding: 1999 93: Broke a bone: Never *keeps fingers crossed* 92: Got a peircing: 2012? 91: Broke the law: I probably broke the speed limit yesterday at some point.  90: Texted: about 2am this morning.  [ MISC ] 89: Who makes you laugh the most: My bestie Amanda and boyfriend Drew 88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: my cat. 87: The last movie I saw: Ant-Man  86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most: getting a job 85: The thing im not looking forward to: Interviewing for a job 84: People call me: loyal 83: The most difficult thing to do is: finding a job 82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: Yep, 77 in a 55. 81: My zodiac sign is: Sun - Sagittarius, Moon - Leo

80: The first person i talked to today was: If you count texting my boyfriend at 2am, then him.  79: First time you had a crush: Sometime in Elemetary School.  78: The one person who i can’t hide things from: my mom 77: Last time someone said something you were thinking: yesterday 76: Right now I am talking to: myself 75: What are you going to do when you grow up: I have no clue 74: I have/will get a job: soon 73: Tomorrow: Never Comes 72: Today: Is the day 71: Next Summer: Not here 70: Next Weekend: I have no clue 69: I have these pets: 12 year old 17 lb cat named Striper.  68: The worst sound in the world: My cat hacking up a hairball.  67: The person that makes me cry the most is: myself 66: People that make you happy: my mom, brother, sister-in-law, boyfriend, best friend. 65: Last time I cried: sometime last week 64: My friends are: amazing 63: My computer is: pretty cool and loaded up with Sims stuff.  62: My School: I don’t go to school anymore.  61: My Car: gets me there.  60: I lose all respect for people who: disrespect me or my loved one.  59: The movie I cried at was: Endgame 58: Your hair color is: salt & pepper 57: TV shows you watch: Legends of Tomorrow, Worst Cooks in America, Any cooking show really.  56: Favorite web site: Tumblr 55: Your dream vacation: Somewhere away from my town 54: The worst pain I was ever in was: when I had that ovarian cyst. 53: How do you like your steak cooked: medium 52: My room is: messy 51: My favorite celebrity is: too many to list  50: Where would you like to be: in bed 49: Do you want children: nope 48: Ever been in love: yes 47: Who’s your best friend: Amanda 46: More guy friends or girl friends: About the same.  45: One thing that makes you feel great is: music 44: One person that you wish you could see right now: my grandma 43: Do you have a 5 year plan: I don’t even have a 5 minute plan 42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: Kinda, not really 41: Have you pre-named your children: Nope 40: Last person I got mad at: The Dump, but that’s a daily thing.  39: I would like to move to: out of the US 38: I wish I was a professional: crocheter/crafter [ My Favorites ] 37: Candy: Butterfinger Cups 36: Vehicle: Don’t really have one 35: President: Barack Obama 34: State visited: Pennsylvania 33: Cellphone provider: Always been with T-Mobile 32: Athlete: Anthony Rizzo 31: Actor: Tom Hanks 30: Actress: Sandra Bullock 29: Singer: Freddie Mercury 28: Band: Queen 27: Clothing store: Lane Bryant 26: Grocery store: Aldi 25: TV show: Don’t really have one 24: Movie: Too many to count 23: Website: This black hole of a site 22: Animal: Cat 21: Theme park: Don’t really have one. I did enjoy Six Flags over Georgia when I went back in 2002. Dollywood is always fun but it’s been even longer than that since I’ve been there.  20: Holiday: Halloween 19: Sport to watch: Baseball 18: Sport to play: Nothing.  17: Magazine: Entertainment Weekly 16: Book: Harry Potter 15: Day of the week: Thursday 14: Beach: Virginia Beach 13: Concert attended: Jonas Brothers in VA Beach 12: Thing to cook: bacon 11: Food: bacon 10: Restaurant: Hmmm....don’t know that one.  9: Radio station: Classic Hits 102.7...hardly any commercials and they tell you the artist and song title after every song. 70s, 80s, and 90s songs.  8: Yankee candle scent: Don’t have one 7: Perfume: The scented oils from a local curiosity shop have some of my fave scents.  6: Flower: Iris 5: Color: Blue 4: Talk show host: Jimmy Fallon 3: Comedian: I’ve got several 2: Dog breed: Corgi 1: Did you answer all these truthfully? Yes.    

[parentingtheoryandpractice]

3 weeks! Everyone except Will has a mild cold, including Maya :-(. She had symptoms before I did, so I was relieved when I got some too, since now I know I’m making antibodies. Other than that, things are basically pretty good.

Sleeping

Maya is a bit less sleepy, but pretty sleepy. Nights aren’t too hard. She pees and nurses, but then mostly she goes back to sleep. I’ve had a couple of times this week where she was up for a bit in the middle of the night, but so far nothing too brutal.

One cool thing is that when she goes to sleep at night, she’s having longer stretches where I can leave her on the bed without me. Since she’s so little I feel a little bad leaving her there alone with the monitor, but it’s very useful! I can usually do some nighttime stuff without a baby attached to me. She usually seems less stable on her own during the day, and I basically have her nap in the wrap on lying next to me in bed if someone else is taking care of the older kids.

Eating

Nursing is great! No plugged ducts or anything this week. Sometimes she spits up a little. Not much leaking either. It only happens when it’s been an unusually long time between nursing. I did actually buy some breast pads, which I’ve never used before, to see if they were the sort of thing that would work for me. But I haven’t used them much. They seem sort of fiddly, and if my breasts are unusually full, I think I’m a little more likely to get a plugged duct if I’m wearing a bra.

EC

EC is going okay. Basically this whole week Maya has been pooping 1-2x a day, so that’s consolidated quite a bit! And maybe we didn’t have any poop misses this week? She also hasn’t pooped at night, I think, which makes life a bit easier.

Pee is going a little better than it was, but I still have to get the timing just right. She does signal basically every time, usually by making a particular squawk, but often she does this when she is still asleep.

I think Maya pees fairly infrequently for a newborn.

Nights are pretty hit or miss. Often I just change her diaper when I notice it’s wet, which I think is usually pretty soon after she goes. Sometimes, I take her to the bathroom and she pees. Sometimes, I take her to the bathroom and she doesn’t pee. I got out the little potty, with the plan to use that at night, since then I don’t have to move so far. But it works better in the other room, because the bed is on the floor. I’ve been thinking I should move back in there soon in any case, but I haven’t done so yet.

Babywearing

Even more babywearing this week! One time I did a successful back carry that claimed her down more than being on my front, and then she slept there for a while. Mostly I do FWCC, but I’ve used kangaroo and FWCC TUB as well. I seem to have gotten mysteriously better at those carries, which is very welcome. I’ve been liking lots of my wraps, including some thick ones!

I wore her in the shower (unless that was last week??) and it went well! I didn’t do anything complicated like wash my hair, since I figure it could go south at any moment, but it was fine for a little while and then I got out because I didn’t want to push it. Motor Skills Very much less newborn-ish. More head control for longer, more pushing up when she’s on her stomach. When I put her on her back she often rolls all the way to one side, but doesn’t tuck her arm to then make it to her front.

Personality

Evening fussy time is still a thing. We had one hard night of it this week, where she was intermittently screaming and being soothed and drifting off and screaming for a while :-(. The usual things like nursing, walking, walking outside, etc. all help.

She’s also still very sleepy.

Her facial expressions are sometimes really similar to ones Lydia makes.

I get a distinct sense of what Maya is like that I find hard to put into words. More so than I did with either of the other two, I think because twice now I’ve seen what a baby personality becomes as the kid gets older.

Siblings

Lydia has gotten even more time to hold Maya this week, and she has really liked that. I’ve been bringing Maya in every morning to wake up the other kids, and it’s really sweet how they are happy to see her.

Zeke has been commenting on how she is lately.

Not much to say here, but so far so good.

Dogs

Argos still really wants to sniff and lick Maya quite a bit, and has a hard time leaving her alone. I’ve taken to carrying around my clicker and treat bag, and playing Look At That games with Argos to get him to be more relaxed around her. I do think that’s basically going well, but progress isn’t super fast.

I’ve also been keeping the dogs behind the baby gate in the kitchen or the baby gate at the top of the stairs more often lately, and they’re doing pretty well with that. Outside works too, but we’re still in the rainy season.

Krypto also sniffs Maya, but he doesn’t get focused on her in the same way.

I haven’t noticed her having a strong reaction to the dogs. I hope she ends up liking them :-).

Me

I feel pretty much physically recovered. I know my stitches aren’t fully healed yet, and presumably my cervix is still a little open, but I don’t feel like there’s anything I need to be tracking and being careful about.

I’ve mostly been getting enough sleep at night, but today I could have used a nap. I’m sure it doesn’t help that we have a cold.

I’m in a good headspace overall, though today was a more emotional day than most. Due to some scheduling confusion, we had less childcare than usual last week, which isn’t all bad, but does mean I get less time with Will.

[iamsoneurotic]

Enter, Levi: The Final Chapter Part II

8 Months later is better than never I guess.

I had intended to write a second post about Levi’s birth (as I did with both Milo and Noli), but as it turns out, free time isn’t really a thing when you have 3 kids. Go figure. Anyway, where did I leave off… The boy was born.

The C-section left Rachael bedridden for the duration of our stay at the hospital, which is pretty typical. From what I’ve been told, it’s not so bad - the doctors load you up with pain meds and you’re out the door in a couple of days, ready to take on the world with a baby in one hand and a bottle full of pills in the other. Well, due to an allergy to Ibuprofen, Rach was denied the good drugs and had to settle for a less effective Tylenol substitute which may have been less effective than somebody flicking her in the ear to distract her from the pain in her healing wound. To make matters even worse, she was fighting a horrible cough and every hack of the lung made her feel like she was being gutted like a fish.

As sort of an icing on the crap cake, her IV slipped out of her vein at some point during the first night and caused her arm to swell and rash. Her stay was divine to say the least.

Speaking of crap cakes, guess who was on diaper duty by default! Well that’s nothing new, I’m usually on diaper duty just because my lovely wife secretly loathes me (we have a dog now, by the way. Guess who gets the honor of cleaning up his little backyard nuggets). This particular series of diaper changes, however, stands out more than the others because Levi pooped a mountain’s worth over the next few weeks. Not exaggerating. He went through every phase on the newborn poo color wheel in a matter of hours. Something was clearly afoot, I’ve been around this whole breastfeeding business for a while now and I know for a fact he was exporting more than he was taking in. Pretty sure milk doesn’t have corn in it either.

There’s a video of his first changing… I can’t even post it. It’s just that awful. I don’t even know why we would have filmed something like that in the first place.

One last poo item to discuss - there was one nurse who was a complete POS. Her shift consisted of coldly telling Rachael to suck it up and walk so they could discharge us and berating her about everything she did ranging from how she breastfed Levi to, I don’t know, the way she wore her hair that day. She was a real piece of work. Not sure if there’s a polite way to wish Ebola on somebody, but I’m all ears.

There was a bright side to Rachael being confined to her bed, it meant I got more time to hold Levi. Given the stress of his birth, I had no desire to ever put him down - thank goodness he only weighed a little over 6lbs, our lightest one yet!

I noticed while holding him that he bore a striking resemblance to Don Rickles.

Leading up to the birth, I had “joked” that I was looking forward to the time away from the kids while we stayed at the hospital. I was wrong, I missed my babies. Before we had left, Noli was really upset that we were leaving him - that image of him sitting on the steps broken hearted was burned into my brain the whole visit. Milo didn’t seem to care much, he gets away with more when daddy’s not home (Noli was yet to figure this out). So after 2 days of not showering, Rachael approved of my release so I could go home, see the boys, scrub the thin layer of Italian grease off of my flesh, and let her mom see the baby for a while.

It was a nice little visit. The boys and I wrestled, built Legos, and I showed them pictures of the baby. Noli was needier than usual and didn’t like that I had to leave again to go back to the hospital, luckily my mom stopped by to take the boys to her place so I could catch a break for a few… For the record, however, I didn’t take a break for fear that Rachael would sense my relaxation and unleash the hordes of hell upon me.

Advice for any new dads out there: NEVER enjoy yourself while your wife is in pain or holding a child. Don’t close your eyes, don’t smile, don’t sit comfortably in a chair, and if you absolutely HAVE to eat, make sure the food gives you indigestion… But not diarrhea, because woman have figured out that bathrooms are a man’s place of peace. There can be no peace.

…

I’m literally not kidding.

Long story short - she thought I was gone too long and as penance, I bought her Pei Wei and she reluctantly showed mercy.

I screwed a number of things up with this birth. First was posting Levi’s picture to Facebook before Rachael had even seen him, second was having the audacity to take a shower at our house, and the third thing happened after being discharged from the hospital. When we got home, I rushed the baby into the house so he wouldn’t get cold. Inside the house my parents were waiting with cameras to film the boys’ reaction to the new addition. Well, in my haste, I failed to wait for Rachael (who was hobbling up the sidewalk in excruciating c-section pain) - depriving her of the opportunity to see the boys’ reaction live. I’m currently serving a life sentence in the doghouse for my foolish ways.

All screw-ups aside, the evening went well. Noli, who we were most nervous about adjusting to a newborn, held the baby in his lap (with heavy amounts of assistance). It was a giant relief. Milo loved the kid at first sight, 8 months later he’s still in love with the little guy… I’m a proud dad. My parents went home, Rach attempted sleep, and late that evening I wrote  “Enter, Levi: The Final Chapter Part I”. A masterpiece in biographical storytelling.

For the next few days Rachael was stuck sleeping on the couch until her incision healed more; getting out of bed was too painful. So we spent our evenings watching the Winter Olympics while Levi slept on our chests. In the mornings my mother-in-law would treat us to fresh grapefruit & oatmeal breakfasts and I would grab us Starbucks on the way back from dropping the boys off at school. It was a really nice couple of days… I even finally buckled down and got my Texas Driver’s License! Only took me 3 years to make the effort.

We nicknamed Levi “Popeye” because he would always wink his one eye and make scrunchy faces. In retrospect, I should have thought to tape a little pipe to his pacifier. Dangit! During this time, I discovered that the sound of a crying baby isn’t as horrific sounding as it had been in the past. Milo’s cries would send me into a panic, and Noli’s would just irritate me… I find Levi’s cries on the adorable end of the spectrum. It’s probably because this will be our last kid (assuming all goes according to plan). I’m taking in the infancy more, trying to make it last and enjoy every moment. Sure, I still get frustrated - that’s what babies do to you, but I’m enjoying the ride more… I know I’ll miss it. I still wish I could pull baby Milo out of the photos on my phone and hold him.

If I’m not writing a ton about Levi in this post, it’s because the kid was just so darn chill as a newborn. He didn’t give me much more material than “Awww, how cute”... And he was definitely cute (still is - all my babies are).

While both boys were great with Levi, Noli had gotten increasingly needy. I’m not going to lie, it was downright infuriating sometimes to deal with it. I took him out one day to give him some one on one time, the plan was to buy him a ‘gift from Levi’. I told him Levi gave me money to buy him a toy (kids are so gullible!)... I should have specified how much money Levi actually gave me because $60 later we had a brand new Lego Spiderman play set which took me an hour to build and only 10 seconds for Noli to destroy. 10 glorious seconds of him leaving me alone.

The nightmare was only beginning.

Rachael’s mom had stuck around for a few weeks to help out around the house while we got acclimated to all the changes. The hope was that anything that could have gone wrong would have gone wrong while she was here and we’d have the extra hands… But Murphy’s Law is real, kids. Thanks to the joys of school, Noli came down with the flu a day or two before my mother-in-law was leaving. Just the thing you want around a newborn! And there would be no extra hands. Before we even got home from the hospital, Rach began packing her bags to stay with my folks until our house was no longer contaminated with disgusting little boy germs (Milo was beginning to run a fever as well).

Rachael and Levi staying with my parents didn’t ease my worries, however. The boys are constantly sticking their grubby little fingers all over my face (why their fingers are always moist I’ll never understand). The fingers occasionally go in my mouth because kids are weird and have no boundaries. That mouth is incapable of not being on baby Levi’s face… Because those cheeks. All I could think was that I had given my newborn baby boy the flu and it was an awful feeling. I had shown no signs of having the flu, but it takes a few days before symptoms even start, so everything was up in the air… Just like the flu running rampant in my house. It was a waiting game and I hate waiting.

So it was me, the boys and my mother-in-law, and I only had her help for about two days before she had to go back home. Thank God for moms is all I have to say. She made sure we all took everything we needed, when we needed to take it, and I’m pretty sure she kept me flu-free, because (spoiler) I never caught it and luckily neither did Rach or Levi.

Those few days, however, were difficult for an entirely non-flu-related reason… Needy Noli. By this point he had already been driving me nuts with the constant need for attention, but the flu just made it worse. Today I was looking through the texts Rachael and I were sending each other and every other message was me going out of my mind while Noli stalked me around the house. It was like one of those dreams where you’re being chased by some unknown entity and it always finds you no matter where you hide. You’d think the flu would have destroyed his sense of smell, but somehow it was heightened. There was no escape.

All he wanted was to play legos… Legos which by now were CRAWLING with flu germs. Every click those blocks made when I connected them was like the empty click of a revolver in a deadly game of Russian Roulette. Sitting in that pool of Legos (we have a LOT of Legos) was like swimming in a pool of flu-juice. I swear some of them were wet.

Then my mother-in-law flew home… and it was just me and the flu-zombies.

Thank goodness for my Dad. He took one for the team and later that evening risked his good health to save me from the inevitable misery that awaited me with those kids. The man is fearless. My memory of that week is a little hazy, but I’m 80% sure he arrived via horse. When he got to the house, he told me to get out and enjoy myself for a few while he spent time with the little petri dishes. Even Noli let me leave the house! So I grabbed my iPad and booked it to Starbucks where I spent the next 2 hours sipping Lattes, drawing, and watching videos of Levi that Rach would send me.

The week was no doubt hard - dodging sneezes, dealing with neediness and the usual parenting frustrations… But the hardest part was being away from Levi. I spent 9 months waiting for the little stinker and barely got to know him before he left me for a week. There was a constant stream of videos and photos coming from Rach, but it only made it harder. There was one evening when Rach stopped by with some food and I snuck out to see her. She had Levi in the van and I had to just stare at him from the window (as I was still unsure if I was sick or not). It was torture.

Rach on the other hand was living the good life at Hotel De’Marianelli with my mom. Pampering, baby assistance, hot meals… and a Boxer who quickly became a therapy dog. When Rach arrived at the house that first night, she was a nervous wreck. She started crying when she came in the door and Roxy (the Boxer) ran up to her, put her head on Rachael’s chest and just stared at her. She’d lick the baby’s feet constantly and anytime Levi woke up from a nap crying, Roxy would book it into the room to check on him.

Dogs are the best. Not to speak ill of the dead, but our cat would have just pee’d on the crib.

Fast forwarding ahead, the boys started feeling better, I never got sick, and seeing as my dad’s work was finished, he went back home… I seem to remember him riding off on a chariot of fire. The details are hazy.

One last thing remained… The disinfecting of the Legos.

20% of them ended up down the drain. I hope they never return.

Finally my baby came home. I refused to let him go that night… Or the next night. If I could lactate, Rach would have never gotten him back.

I make good babies. ~ M.

[mrswhozeewhatsis]

Nesting Part 2

A/N: This is the third and final one shot I promised to write as part of my 2000 followers celebration so long ago that I honestly don’t remember. It’s been months, I think. So many months. Anyway, Be sure to read PART 1 HERE before you go reading this. I mean, you don’t have to, but it will help. Thanks to @manawhaat for telling me this doesn’t suck. If I’m ever bored, I have an idea for a smutty third part, but don’t hold your breath. It would be years. You’d definitely die.

Summary: Dean takes the Reader into his bedroom and the hormones cause tears and confessions.

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Warnings: Angst, older reader, Dean not caring about the Reader not using a 20% off BB&B coupon and being super sweet in general.

Word count: 1828 words

By the time Dean carried you to his room, doubts had already begun zipping through your mind. Sure, he wanted you when you had your clothes on and you rocked his world with angry sex. What’s to say he wouldn’t feel differently after he saw how your boobs totally didn’t do the bra thing without the bra, anymore? Things jiggled, now, and not in good ways.

Dean sat on his bed and laid you out with your head on his new pillows, hovering over you while his lips gently met yours. Thoughts fled your mind while Dean simply kissed you over and over again. It wasn’t hurried, it wasn’t angry, it wasn’t rough, it wasn’t just a prelude to something else; it was just gentle, undemanding, exploratory kissing. Another adjective sprung to mind, but you pushed it away before more than the first letter could be explicitly thought. The warmth that spread through your body from Dean’s, though… combined with the sweet way his tongue slid against yours with no set goal in mind other than to just feel… you felt tears begin to well up in your eyes as you clung to Dean, both hands spread across his back.

Dean stopped kissing you when he tasted the salt on your skin.

“Y/N?” He backed away, taking in the tears on your cheeks while he brushed a lock of hair from your face. “Did I do something wrong? Did you not want this?” His hands left your body fast as lightning as he put them up in surrender.

You shook your head and sniffled, grasping at his shirt so he wouldn’t back even further away, trying to swallow down all the emotions that were choking you. “It’s not that, Dean! I did want this. I—I do want this! This isn’t bad crying, it’s just… I’ve just got so much going on inside of me right now that I can’t seem to… I don’t know why I’m crying, Dean, but it’s not your fault, I swear!” You sat up and launched yourself back into his arms, burying your face in his shoulder.

Dean wrapped his arms around you, and as he gently rubbed your back, a thousand knots in your body slowly loosened, leaving you nearly boneless. Your tears dried up and all you could focus on was the feeling of being in the safest place on earth and the rhythm of your breaths as you took in the scent of Dean.

“Do you want to talk about what’s got you acting like a crazy person?” Dean asked, tempering his question with a tender kiss to your head.

You pulled in a deep breath of just Dean, letting it give you strength. “I, uh,” you stammered, not sure exactly where to start. Sitting back, you glanced at Dean’s face, which was screwed up in worry. “It’s nothing bad, really. It’s just, I’m not pregnant,” you rushed to reassure him, “but I haven’t had, you know, shark week in almost six months, so I went to the doctor.” Dean nodded, obviously trying not to jump to conclusions. “They took more blood than a starving vampire for tests, gave me a complete exam, and the doctor put me on a medicine to try and kickstart something. She doesn’t think it’s anything serious, just probably early menopause or something, but the medicine is making me twelve kinds of crazy, right now.” You tried to laugh but it got a bit choked off from the remains of the tears still lodged in your throat. “Today is Day 3 of ten days with these pills, and I’m climbing the walls, here!”

Dean looked so confused, his eyes wide and uncomprehending.

“One minute, I want to bake a pie and organize closets and I’m obsessed with thread counts, and the next I want to rip you and Sam apart for leaving the toilet seat up and the coffee on the counter, but before I can take a breath, you’re prancing around in those short shorts wearing just the one layer and all I can think about is riding you into next week!” Dean’s eyes got impossibly wider and he cleared his throat while his cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink and his mouth turned up in a cocky smirk. “And then, you brought me in here and just kissed me like I’m something special, like I’m something precious, and I just couldn’t… I—” Tears started welling up in your eyes again, so you shook your head to clear it of the excess emotion. “I’m just feeling about half a dozen more feelings than I’m used to all at one time, and that’s when I’m not thinking about the idea that I might be in menopause and what that means.”

Oh, menopause. You’d been looking forward to it since you were twelve years old. The end to the cramping, the bleeding, the bloating, the hormonal insanity, the laundry, the binge-eating, the always trying to find new places to hide pads and tampons, the many different forms of birth control (each one worse than the last in terms of side effects), the fear of getting abducted and held for days during shark week without supplies, not to mention the fear of being half a second too slow during a hunt because you were exhausted from bleeding and felt like someone was stabbing a hot poker into your vagina. You’d cheered on every grey hair and wrinkle because it meant you were that much closer to fucking FREEDOM.

And now that it might be here, now that you were facing the prospect of hot flashes and night sweats, but nearing the end of all that irritation and discomfort, all you could think about was what you couldn’t have. What if you did meet someone and they decided they didn’t want you because you were too old? You’d never wanted kids, but now that the prospect was almost definitely off the table, were you sure? And now, with Dean sitting in front of you, looking like the possibility of so many things, it felt like a door was closing behind you and all you could see in front of you was walkers and adult diapers.

Dean took your face in his hands, forcing you to look into his eyes. “I can’t even begin to imagine everything that’s going on in that gorgeous brain of yours, right now.” His thumbs wiped across your cheeks, clearing away tears you hadn’t realized were falling again. “All I can do is tell you that I’m here for you. Whatever you need, I’m here. You want to kick my ass? We’ll spar in the training room. You want to ride me into next week?” One eyebrow popped up and he gave you a cocky smirk. “You just say the word, gorgeous,” he said with a wink that made you smile. “You want to bake pies?” His smile suddenly outshone the sun. “Baby, you know, I can eat pies,” he said with a chuckle that made laughter bubble up from your chest. “You want to organize closets and buy sheets? I’ll get you new cards to shop with.” Dean took a breath and sighed, but his gaze never wavered from your eyes. “And if you want to be kissed like you’re something precious, that’s no problem, either.” He pulled you towards him and left a chaste kiss on your lips before wrapping you up in his embrace again, holding you close to his chest. “Because you are something precious, and you deserve to be kissed that way if that’s what you want.”

Your brain halted, then reversed, and replayed the last five seconds over again. Dean couldn’t possibly mean what he was implying, could he? You closed your eyes, unable to hear much of anything over the beating of your heart, and tried to sound nonchalant. “You don’t have to say that if you don’t really mean it, Dean. I’m not your usual flavor and I know it. I’m older than you, I’ve got grey hair and wrinkles, things sag, and… and there’s a lot I can’t give you, it turns out.” Although you were giving him an out, you couldn’t stop yourself from hoping he wouldn’t take it.

“I do mean it.” His chest shifted next to you as he took in a nervous breath. “Every word.”

Disbelief and wonder coursed through you while Dean’s hands continued rubbing your back in a soothing rhythm, the motion only disturbed by a slight tremor.

“I’m no spring chicken, either, you know,” Dean continued. “I mean, I’m older than I ever thought I’d get, and when I look at you, I just see the most impressive, most badass, most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.” Dean sighed, the whoosh of the air going through his chest sounding louder than before as his heartbeat became a drum in your ear. “You take no shit, which is why I never thought you’d ever have anything to do with me.”

Keeping your face buried in his chest, listening to the rapid beat beneath your ear, you replied, “You’re something pretty special to me, too, Dean.”

You felt more than heard Dean’s sigh of relief when he loosened his hold on you so he could cup your face and kiss you again. There was kiss after kiss after kiss, with only enough space between them for a breath or a happy noise. When he finally slowed down, there were words interspersed between his chaste kisses.

“I’m so—” kiss, “happy—” kiss, “to hear you—” kiss, “say that.”

Kissing became nearly impossible as you both started smiling too widely to pucker up, anymore. You gave up on proper kissing and just sat there for a minute or so, your foreheads pressed together as you both smiled like giddy schoolkids. Eventually, Dean shifted a little underneath you and then gave out a disgusted groan.

“As much as I’m enjoying this, I really need to clean up from what happened in the library. It’s getting grossly uncomfortable.” He helped you slide off his lap and stood up, shifting in his shorts with a grimace. “Yup. Need a shower.”

You stood up and wrapped your arms around his neck, giving him a nervous smile. “I should clean up after my attack on the library, too. Meet you back here in half an hour?”

Dean gave you a cocky smile while he ran his hands up and down your sides, feeling your curves. “Instead of showering next to each other, with a wall and a couple of shower curtains between us, how about we shower together and save water?” His eyebrows positively waggled with lascivious intent.

Laughter burst from your mouth so loudly it surprised you, your hand flying to your mouth to contain it. “Save water, huh?”

“Yeah,” he said with a sexy smile. “We can see how well those new shower curtains keep Sammy from hearing what we’re up to.”

Read PART 3 HERE!

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[fandom-smut-shots]

Natasha - Family of Three

Title

Family of Three

Pairing

Natasha x Fem!Reader

Fandom

Avengers

Summary

Request for Romanogers2015

"Hey, you know on your Natasha romanoff x reader, I was wondering if you would be able to do a chapter where they adopt a baby girl or something like that? It would be nice to see how Natasha would react with a baby around her :)"

Many people believed that Avengers shouldn't have children, for a variety of reasons. You'd heard them all, from reasonable points like "It's a dangerous lifestyle," to absurd accusations such as "The Avengers are bad people who don't deserve families." Despite all the good the team had done, there were still some skeptics in the world who thought that the band of super citizens brought more destruction than they prevented.

You knew some of the team believed the statement as well - that Avengers shouldn't have children. You understood their concerns. Bucky had the constant fear of hurting someone with his prosthetic arm. Steve worried that he wouldn't have time for a family. Clint feared that the enemy would use his family as leverage. Tony was concerned about his loved ones ending up in the middle of a battle.

But the one that broke your heart was the belief of your own girlfriend, Natasha. She didn't believe she deserved children. She thought that all of the torture and murder she'd committed, along with her other miscellaneous crimes committed out of justice and protection, deemed her unfit to be a parent. She simply believed that she wasn't good enough to have a family of her own, and you knew how desperately she wanted one.

You'd broached the subject a couple of times, but after the first attempt resulted in Natasha collapsing against your chest with the most crestfallen expression on her beautiful face, you didn't have the heart to bring it up very often. Only when Nat was in a good mood or you had a particularly heavy case of Baby Fever did you mention it, and it always ended the same.

Nat wanted a family, with you, but she didn't think she deserved one.

It had been six months since the last attack on New York; the last time the Avengers had been called together. Your optimistic nature thought that maybe things were looking up, but you knew cautious people like Natasha were just waiting for the next disaster.

You needed to give Natasha something happy in her life, something to look forward to besides you. Plus, you would have company while your girlfriend was out on missions.

You had a steady job that made more than enough money to support a family. You and the redhead had moved into an apartment of your own, and you had a car. Everything in your lives was stable and good.

It was time.

You picked Natasha up after a meeting with the team at the Tower, telling her that you had a surprise. She was skeptical, but the grin on her lips told you that she loved your surprises, even when she said she didn't. Matching her grin, you drove to your destination, not giving her a single hint.

Her brow furrowed in confusion as she read the name of the building. "New York Adoption Agency? (Y/n), what is this?"

You took in a breath. "For the past several months, I've been in contact with  worker here. I've filled out paperwork and told her about both of us. I told her what we've been looking for and today, she's found the perfect match. All we have to do is finish the papers and meet our child." (1)

"Our... child?"

You nodded, gesturing for her to exit the car. You followed, locking it as you headed into the building. Taking her hand, you flashed her a smile, walking up to the front desk. You gave the woman your name and told her who you had an appointment with. She smiled and led you to a room down the hall where your worker's office was. You thanked her before slipping inside and sitting down.

Your worker, Amanda, soon followed, smiling warmly at you. "(Y/n), always a pleasure. And you must be Natasha?"

The redhead nodded slowly, gripping your hand.

Amanda's smile widened. "I've found just the perfect match for you two."

Another worker entered the office with a pink bundle in her arms. You rose to stand before her, your heart melting at the tiny, rosy-cheeked face that peeked out from the folds.

"She's perfect," you breathed, taking her in your arms. You turned around, facing Natasha, who stood from her seat.

"What's her name?" she asked softly.

"She doesn't have one," Amanda replied. "She was given up at birth. You get to name her."

"What do you think?" you asked your girlfriend.

"(Girl/n)," Natasha exhaled. You beamed. It was Natasha's favorite name - she accepted what you had done.

You finished signing the paperwork and wrote your daughter's name on her birth certificate.

After thanking Amanda for all of her help, you carried (g/n) out to the car with Natasha in tow. You strapped her into the carseat you had already placed in the back seat, securing her safety before slipping into the driver's seat. You watched as Natasha turned around, gazing at your daughter while you drove home. A warm smile lit up your face. You were a family.

A week later, you finally agreed to let Tony throw you a baby shower. Well, more of a welcoming party. He had been begging since you first told him about the adoption, but you wanted to give yourself, Natasha, and the baby some time to adjust before introducing her to the team.

By the time the three of you arrived at the Tower, Tony had decked it out in what looked like the entire baby girl's section of a party store. Pink and white streamers were tacked to the ceiling, pink and silver balloons were tied to every chair, a large "It's a girl!" banner was stretched across the doorway, a large cake with pink and white frosting spelling out "Welcome Home baby (g/n)!" was waiting on the counter, and there was a table dedicated to a large pile of gifts. (2)

"Tony," you breathed. "This is incredible."

"Only the best for a baby Avenger!" the billionaire grinned. He held out his arms, and with a chuckle, you placed (g/n) in his hold. He cooed to her softly, and a giggle escaped your lips. You held Natasha's hand as the rest of the team gathered to greet your baby.

You sat down beside Nat on a couch as the guys passed you presents to open. Tony had gotten you the fanciest carseat you'd ever seen, and it was one of the new ones that you could adjust as your child grew, so you didn't have to buy another one. Clint had gotten you bottles and formula, which had been suggested by Laura. Bruce had found the cutest and softest stuffed animals and baby blankets and wrapped them all up in a gift basket. Steve supplied you with diapers and baby wipes. Pepper bought you about a dozen baby outfits. Thor, with Jane's help, gave you a basket of baby lotions, shampoos, and powders.

"You guys are amazing," you sighed as you looked at the collection of presents for your daughter.

"Anything for you two," Tony beamed. You wrapped your arm around Nat, who was cradling your sleeping daughter. Just the look of love and adoration in her eyes told you that you made the right choice. You were making her see that she deserved a family.

You leaned against her side as the cake was cut and passed out, and the three of you spent the day with he team, celebrating your new family.

(1) I know the adoption process takes forever but I don't know all the details so for the story's sake leave it alone and let it be simple.

(2) I know some people don't like traditional colors like pink for girls, so before you whine, I did say he cleared out the party store, and at the party store, girly decorations ae pink. Plus I like pink for girls.

[mcs4ssyp4nts]

My mom and sister surprised me with a small baby shower today! It just a couple family members and my friend but it was really nice. A couple more people were supposed to come but we’ve had snow all day so they couldn’t make it. 

My friend’s mom got me tons of food because she knew I haven’t really had enough money to buy groceries and won’t have much for next month either. 

I’ve got tons of diapers and wipes, a bunch of cute outfits for Gage, and my mom bought me a Rock and Play which I had given my sister money to order me one last week. 

My nephew’s grandma gave me $75 for a crib mattress which I was stressed about because A said he was going to get one and he’s just off the radar again so now I don’t have to worry about that! 

It was honestly a nice surprise! Everyone was so kind to show up even though the weather was poopy and it honestly just made me feel better. I have such a great family.