#Mack and Alli

[makaylahoffmann]

Who: @alliannahvaughn and Mack

Where: Kismet Harbor Market

When: October 2024

Mack was making the rounds of telling everyone that she and Ethan were expecting. Next up on her list was her youngest niece, and she knew exactly how she wanted to tell her. With Alli's jewelery making, Mack wanted her to make something special for the new baby. "so I was thinking, with your jewelry business that you could make me a little something." She said as they walked through the market, their arms linked, "of course if you're up to it and of course I'll pay for it." She said with a smile and a gentle squeeze of Alli's arm.

[makaylahoffmann]

Mack sat quietly as she watched and listened to her niece. She would of course give any advice and help, but she also wanted Alli to be able to come up with some things on her own. "Mhm, I see," she said with a quick nod, "I'm sure there has to be some sort of service or app you can use to offer up repairs. Or to sell your crafts." She suggested before adding, "what about apprenticing some place? Or shadowing somewhere to see how you like it?" She didn't want Alli to get discouraged, though sometimes it happened. "And I won't lie to you, it might happen. Doing something and then hating it. But if you give yourself grace and commit yourself to doing something, I promise you, you'll figure it out." Mack knew it probably wasn't the greatest piece of advice, but she also didn't want to sugarcoat anything. @alliannahvaughn

"I know I do, but, I don't know.." Alli shrugged, looking at her aunt as she shrugged. "I like crafting. You know I've been making jewelry and stuff. I'm into fashion but mostly just repairing right now." she shrugged. "I guess I could try to make a career out of that but honestly I'm not sure." she shrugged again, looking at her aunt. "I think I'm just scared of that. What you said at the end. That I'm going to try one thing and then the very next minute I'm going to be convinced that I hate it and then want to do something else." @makaylahoffmann

[kevinvoncrastenburg]

The Ladies Of Urbzville. ✨

[agentoffangirling]

Every AoS character is some flavor of queer, no one in that team is straight

[movietonight]

Even more vintage button mash!

Bonus for the wonderful @onekisstotakewithme

[blue-ravens]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 🤍 -ypq

hi! unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) i'm no fic writer but i have had the great honour of beta reading fics for some very talented writers who also happen to be great big awesome friends of mine. so i'm going to rec five (ok more than five) fics of theirs that i've had a small little teeny tiny part in creating.

decrescendo / roll over beethoven by @movietonight (salvabon on AO3) - so this came from an insane idea mack had a while back, what if charles and mulcahy had swapped fates in gf&a? well, this is the work-in-progress behemoth that it inspired. i'm having great fun swapping ideas and such with mack, and i'm so excited for what happens next.

i never used to look at highway lines as treasure maps by stregatrek on AO3 - one of my top tier favourite fics, written by my good best friend gene, and watching this unfold in real time over chat was just magical. go read this, it's utterly exquisite (also? also? please read from lowest place when virtuous things proceed, also by my bestie because it actually never fails to make me cry. one of the very first 'charles goes to maine' fics, i might add. also also!! wish that you were here is one theeeee superior donna/charles fic series i've ever had the great fortune of being involved with so read that as well, you'll thank me later)

the home series by @onekisstotakewithme - i had a somewhat small role in this epic fic series but i think you should just read this anyway because this is a true master at work here. i just provided a few commas : )

a winter night by @vanillatumbleweedscoffee/@patsdrabbles (summertimepoet on AO3) - this originally came from a prompt for a fic i gave to the very lovely and talented pat on here a while back, and ohhh this melted me into a puddle of goo. also. because pat is just that that good, there's also art!! love you pat <3

shizukana yoi ni, hikario tomoshi (in the quiet of the night, let our candle always burn) - my baby my bestie my beloved, the modern au fic that started it ALL. it's got all you could want. fake dating. mutual pining. angst. whump. a killer queen soundtrack. i cannot tell you how much fun i had with this one, and honestly we had so much fun with this little project, and it shows. ally has the great honour of christening the charles/donna ship tag on AO3 and when she can filling it with such quality, it's safe to say it's pretty much her tag now. we are not worthy.

so you heard it here first, if you want the best and the most impeccable charles/hawkeye, charles/donna, or heck, charles/hawkeye/donna vibes going, these are the authors whose archives you should be rummaging around in like a feral raccoon in a supermarket dumpster. GO NOW and read them all and leave comments and kudos, and then come back and yell with me about them. you're welcome.

[homeschooled-hermit]

List of shows I like:

Girl Meets World

Lab Rats

Lab Rats: Elite Force

Mighty Med

Power Rangers

Grey's Anatomy (not after S14)

Andi Mack

Legend of Korra

The Last Airbender

My Hero Academia

Bob's Burgers

Gravity Falls

Liv and Maddie

Austin & Ally

Every Witch Way

The Lodge

iCarly

Kickin' it

The Thundermans

Big Time Rush

Rick and Morty

Ever After High

Victorious

Wednesday

H2O: Just Add Water

Zoey 101

Criminal Minds (haven't the last season or Evolution)

Hawaii Five-0

Demon Slayer

The Promised Neverland

911

911: Lone Star

Movies I like:

The Kissing Booth (only the first one, have not seen the sequels)

The Boy Who Cried Werewolf

The Perfection

Zombies

Zombies 3

Descendants

Descendants 3

High School Musical (all three movies, but the last one is my favorite)

Starstruck

Cloud 9

Girl vs. Monster

Rags

Now You See it

Another Cinderella Story

Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure

Lemonade Mouth

Avalon High

Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam

He's All That

A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish

Books I like:

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Lockwood and Co

Other things I like:

Sabrina Carpenter

Ariana Grande

Tinashe

Little Mix

Dance

Musicals

Romantic Dramas

Romantic Comedies

[lovevalley45]

i'm not gonna say this is just when i realized how much i missed nora but it definitely is a big 'oh man i miss her' moment

[severelightpainterangel]

Did a Disney sitcom tier list on my channel today and I will have a Nickelodeon one up tomorrow so check it out!!!

[artzychic27]

Harley: Ladybug🐞

Andi Mack: Black Cat 🐈‍⬛

Teddy: Mouse 🐭

Leo Davenport: 🐢

Jack Brewer: Dragon🐉

Liv: Fox🦊

Maddie: Bee🐝

Kirby Buckets: Goat🐐

Zuri Ross: Horse🐴

K.C.: Tiger🐯

Cyd: Snake🐍

Shelby: Rabbit🐰

Avery Jennings: Dog🐶

Paige: Monkey🐵

Frankie: Pig🐷

Austin Moon: Rooster🐔

Alex: Peacock🦚

Zack: Ox🐂

Cody: Butterfly 🦋

Miley: Prodigious?

This is not exactly a prompt, but, more of an idea... do you guys know @artzychic27 's @so-were-heroes 's AU where all musical characters are around the same age, go to the same class and get a miraculous?

Imagine something like that... but with Original Disney Channel series protagonists! Like, Teddy from Good Luck Charlie, Liv and Maddie, K.C. Cooper, Harley Diaz (Stuck in the Middle), Cyd and Shelby (Best friends whenever), Paige and Frankie (Bizaardvark), Maya and Riley (Girl Meets World, although, maybe this one isn't a good idea).

And the ones from the older generation (Miley Stuart, Alex Russo and Zack and Cody) could be teachers.

If there isn't enough cast, maybe, thrown even some Nicklodeons shows there too: Drake and Josh, Icarly, Victorious, Every Witch Way, the Thudermans, Haunted Hatwhays, 100 things to do, and so on... (although, maybe this one deserve it's own AU).

I don't know, I just think it would be neat.

[makaylahoffmann]

Who: @alliannahvaughn and Makayla

Where: Pizzageddon

When: Monday night, February 26,dinner time

One thing that Mack had no qualms about was bribing her kids with pizza to behave. She knew some moms and mom groups would probably shame her, but when you're a working mom of three whose husband was on a night shift, you had to do what you had to do. So with Darren, Quinn, and Ashton in tow, Mack decided they'd all go out for pizza for dinner. Thankfully on a Monday night it wasn't too crowded, only a short wait for a place to sit. After settling into a booth not far from the entrance and ordered a plain pie for the table, she looked up and saw none other than Alliannah walk in. Getting up as the kids were too busy eating, Mack couldn't help from saying hi to her cousin. "Hey you," she said reaching in for a hug.

[gee0man]

Rogue Albatross Mackenzie "Mack" Titania Vermilion is the 21st pilot of Garland Vermilion, ancestral frame of House Vermilion, known as the Divine Engine Ancestor.

House Vermilion has dedicated itself to a generation spanning goal; the absolute destruction of the Karrakin Baronies.

Fly True - Motto of House Vermilion

This has been a historical source of friction between the Albatross and House Vermilion, nominally allied against the Baronies. Vermilion has produced some of the greatest Albatross to ever live, as well as some of its most conflicted.

Every scion of Vermilion that becomes an Albatross bears the same burden. Balancing the imperfect reality of the Albatross' ideals, Vermilion's ancient grudge, and the expectations of stewarding the Divine Engine Ancestor. With Mackenzie, its latest champion, that delicate balance has finally broken.

[harmonyrae]

Power Couple

CHAPTER 13 - Hello Oni

“Go over it again.”

You turn over to lay on your back on your office couch. You stare at the ceiling for a moment before draping your arm over your eyes. You’re desperate to find a comfortable position. Your body feels as if it is on fire. 

“I’ve gone over it 5 times already.” Dorian sighs as he gets off the couch across from you to get another beer from the minibar.

“And this will be number 6.” Your voice is strained. You’ve been trying to avoid crying all morning and it’s getting harder to suppress the tears. 

“Okay.” Dorian sits back down on the couch and uses a key to pop the bottle cap. He downs half the beer before he begins again.

“Divers found the phone. Mack bypassed the security protocols and recovered the texts. He triangulated the locations of the phones. Oni’s cell pinged off a tower close to the Onychinus base. But before I made any assumptions, I called in a favor and got a list of serial numbers for all the burner phones sold in the zone before the fire. Benefits of our allies creating a burner bottleneck. Mack cross referenced the serial numbers with the phone and determined a cluster of serials that most likely connect to Oni. Re-ran the triangulation and pinpointed Oni’s phone. The records show Oni bought 3 other burners at the same time. And one of them is your burner. The one that Sylus gave you.”

You bring your arm down from over your eyes and stare at the ceiling. You take a deep breath, swallowing hard to avoid throwing up. He was playing you the whole time. And you’ve spent the past 5 days getting fucked by this man. How could you have been so stupid? 

“What do I do?” 

Your voice is small. Dorian stands and walks over to the couch you’re lying on. He swats at your feet and you finally sit up. He sits next to you.

“It’s your turn to play him.” 

You know what you could do, but you’re not sure you can handle it. You clear your throat before speaking again. You stand and gather your things.

“Do you still have the extra strength tranq?” Dorian raises his brow at your question. 

“I do, but are you sure you-” You cut him off. 

“I’m sure. Get it for me?” Dorian nods and leaves you with your thoughts. 

Ding

Your burner phone. Fuck. You hold your breath when you check the message.

(Sylus) On my way, dinner in tow.

You need to get back to the house before Sylus gets there. When Dorian returns with a small bag, you finish gathering your things and give him a quick hug before rushing to your car. You need more time. You pull out your burner and send Sylus a quick message.

(You) Could you pick up some whiskey on your way?  (You) Think a change from wine might be nice tonight.

It doesn’t take long for Sylus to reply.

(Sylus) Of course sweetie. Be there soon.

The drive to the house was completely silent. Your mind racing, trying to determine how you’re going to deal with this. You wish you could go back in time and refuse Sylus’ deal. The war would have been easier to deal with than this. You’d rather take a bullet. When you get to the house, you’re relieved to see Sylus hasn’t arrived yet.

You rush to get everything set up in the kitchen before going to the bedroom to get changed. You were used to playing these games. Cat and mouse. Hunter and prey. But when Sylus kissed you, it felt like there had never been a game. Now you were having to put on your game face again. 

As you slip on your lingerie you hear Dorian’s voice in your head. You had looked at the evidence yourself and he had reviewed it 5, no 6, times. This was real. Sylus was Oni. He fucked with one of your clients, in your territory, after he made the deal to stop. You tied the silk bathrobe around your waist as you heard the front door open. Game on.

You saunter out of the bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen. Sylus is unpacking a bag of food, containers line the counter. You plaster a smile on your face and walk up behind him, your hand gently passing across his back. He looks back at you and smiles.

“I got an Irish Whiskey, Keiran said it goes down the smoothest. Or maybe he said it tastes the best. I can’t remember, honestly.” You wrap your arms around him from behind and start to rub his stomach slowly, letting your hand drift down to his belt. You start to undo the belt, but he places his hands over yours and leans his head back.

“What are you doing, kitten?” He’s obviously amused by your choice to feel him up.

You tug on his shirt and he turns to face you, leaning against the counter. You reach up and start unbuttoning his shirt slowly, keeping your eyes locked on his. He doesn’t stop you, but his brow is raised. You pause to answer him with one simple action. 

You slowly untie the belt of the robe and let it slowly drift down your shoulders before falling to the floor. The lingerie you selected was fully black lace, leaving nothing to the imagination. The lace of the thong barely covers you, sitting low on your hips. The bralette is thin, your hardened nipples pressing into the fabric. Sylus’ eyes widen as he lets his gaze fall down your body. You return to unbuttoning his shirt, his eyes still taking in your form.

After removing his shirt, you take his hands and press them to your hips. You guide them across your stomach, up over your breasts and to your face. He leans down and captures your lips with his own. His breathing is shaky, you can feel the heat radiating off of him. You pull back and he whines softly, you smirk and grab his hands once more. 

“Put me on the counter.” You command, your voice calm. 

Sylus doesn’t hesitate. He tucks his hands under your thighs and lifts you to set your ass on the counter. He quickly moves the food away and reaches to hold your face in his hands. You lean back just as he’s about to touch you. He squints at you.

“Are you trying to make me miserable?” You let out a soft chuckle in response. If only he knew.

You sit up straight and reach your arms behind your back. Sylus places his hands on the counter on either side of your thighs. Your hands reach the clasp of your bra and you gently undo the hooks. Sylus watches you with rapt attention, almost as if he is under your spell. You pull the straps down off your shoulders and smile as Sylus’ gaze focuses on your chest. You drop your bra on the floor beside him, you lean back, your palms on the counter. 

“Touch.” 

Your one word command was all Sylus needed to hear, before his hands were gliding up your body to cup your breasts in his hands, thumbs rubbing your nipples aggressively. You lean your head back letting your hair fall down your back giving him more access to your chest. His lips find one of your hardened peaks, his tongue traces circles around it before clamping down gently with his teeth and pulling, earning him a moan from you. He works his way over to your other breast giving it the same treatment. You wrap your legs around his waist and pull him closer. As he places kisses up your chest and towards your neck, you place a hand on the top of his head.

“Stay.”

Sylus growls against your skin and he moves back down your chest. His fingers twisting your nipple harshly while he sucks the other. Your breathing is erratic, but your mind is clear. One of your hands reaches further and further back on the counter, slowly so Sylus wouldn’t notice - not that he could focus on anything other than playing with your chest at the moment. You feel the syringe tucked under the edge of the counter. You carefully pull the syringe free from the tape and position it in your hand. 

“Good boy.” 

He can’t even get out a moan before you jab the needle into his neck, releasing the contents immediately. Sylus pulls back to look at you, a hand reaching up to feel the needle in his neck. He stumbles backwards and you hop off the counter, grabbing onto his arms to lead him backwards to the sofa. He collapses against the cushions, eyes wide, still fixed on you. You see the black and red mist swirl around your wrists trying to pull you towards him, but it dissipates after a few seconds. He tries to keep his eyes open, but the tranquilizer is working quickly.

You straddle him on the couch, your hands press against his chest. You can’t stop the tears now, they flow down your cheeks. You watch Sylus slowly lose consciousness. Your voice is strangled as you choke down a sob.

“Hello Oni.” 

Tag List (comment if you wanna be added!): @trishiepo0 @not-so-quite-human @kitsunetori

It's going to get painful soon. This is a warning. I'm SORRY.

[ponett]

hey i noticed it says "ATTEMPTS to kiss" whenever melody and allison mack out, is there actually a chance of failure? if not, you should add one in the next update and have failure cause them both to explode and die.

that's mostly a quirk of how i set up the skills in rpg maker using event scripting, since by default a skill can't be set up to only target one specific ally. melody and allison's kisses are technically two skills each - one that initiates the kiss event with no specific target, and then the actual kiss skill, which is automated by the game to be used on the correct target. however, it CAN also fail if the recipient of the kiss is knocked out

i will take exploding and dying into consideration, though

[movietonight]

I'm a little tipsy and too lazy to change channels so I let some random movie play after the romcom I watched and bam! Blorbo from my shows

[ladylooch]

Love & Fairness -[Nico Hischier]

A/N: OPE! I LIED!!!! We do have a full fic for Sunday! The Nico and Lexi angst I've been hinting at for months from that original lil blurb. Hope you all enjoy a little roller coaster for our perfect parents.

Word Count: 4.3k

Timeline wise: Nico and Lexi are married. Lucie is between 1-2. Mack and Sophie are not born.

The night is coated with cozy nostalgia in a dimly lit Hoboken restaurant. Lexi sits with her former nursing coworkers, discussing the most ridiculous patient and staff stories from the hospital since the last time they all connected. Lexi is embarrassed to admit that she hasn’t been able to attend one of these meet ups since Lucie was 3 months old. Her daughter is over a year old now. But life has been hectic with her and Nico’s new addition, plus the long stretches of hockey the Devils have been playing. 

It’s all worth the sacrifice to watch Nico hoist the cup above his head. Soon, Lexi thinks. Soon he will reach his dream and then maybe the pressure can ease a bit. 

With two fingers, she twirls the stem of her now empty martini glass as Gretchen whines about the limited available to take time off with how short staffed the hospital is. 

“We need more people. They can’t even find nurses through the program Lexi came here on.”

“Really?” Lexi’s eye raise in surprise. “It was so competitive when I started there.”

“The pandemic has thinned the desire. Plus working conditions are awful.” Lexi nods. The circumstances weren’t great when she left either.

“Honestly, even if we could find part time people it would help alleviate the pressure.” Ashley mutters, throwing her curly red hair back over her shoulder. The table pauses. Then collectively, they all glance Lexi’s way, including Shawna, who had been relatively quiet.

“What? Me?”

“You were just talking about how boring and mundane your life has been. Maybe… coming back part time would help fulfill your sense of purpose.” Ashley shrugs. 

“Lex, things haven’t been the same since you left. We could really use your sunshine right now.” Gretchen adds on. 

“I am raising my daughter. That is my priority.” Lexi hears herself say the same thing her and Nico have talked about since Lexi became pregnant. But inside her body, a bubble of hope and excitement fills her chest. It starts as a tiny, translucent circle and begins to grow the more the two women encourage her to reconsider. 

“Raising Lucie is incredibly important.” Shawn agrees. “This wouldn’t detract from that, especially on a part time basis. Think of your immediate impact! You haven’t been out of the industry that long. All your certifications are still relevant. You could easily slide in a few days a week, for 3-4 hours at a time. They’re even allowing part-timers to build their own schedule from week to week. It would be the perfect fit for you!”

“And they have daycare in the hospital now! You could bring Lucie there. Socialization is so important for babies. You could have it all right there rather than scheduling a million mommy and me play dates.”

Lexi stares at her three friends in front of her, a slight smile on her face. The gears turn in her head, consider, contemplating, feeling excited at the prospect of returning to a profession she spent so many hours of her life working in. But the though of Brady looms over her head. Losing him took Lexi a long time to get through. She still wakes up at night sometimes, hearing the flat line of his monitor.

“I don’t think I could go back to pediatric. Not with Lucie.” Lexi shakes her head, sighing.

“You wouldn’t have to. They are fully staffed.” Gretchen assures. She begins to dig around in her purse. “Look, just call Aly. She would be excited to hear from you. The rest could easily get worked out.” Lexi takes Ally Schneider’s card, her former boss. Ally had been the one who held Lexi after she lost Brady. She was the one who sent Lexi home and she was the one who accepted her resignation a week later, with full grace and understanding. She would be compassionate and supportive of Lexi being a mother. Maybe this could work. 

In a quiet room, in the back of her mind, a part of her pauses at the thought of bringing this up to Nico. He is so proud of Lexi being a stay at home mom and wife. He shouts it to anyone who will listen about Lexi’s important role in their household. She does worthwhile work for them. He puts he on a pedestal because of it.

Lexi decides that she will talk to Ally first, before she approaches it with Nico. After all, her friends have a clear agenda here. Maybe it wouldn’t be as simple and flexible as they are portraying. 

So Lexi decides, before she talks to Nico, she will talk to Ally. 

- - -

Later that week, Lexi steps out of her evening shower, onto the white, memory foam mat. Nico waits outside the glass enclosure, holding up a fluffy towel for her to step into. He wraps it around her back, then lazily stuffs one corner over the other into her breasts. Lexi grips the towel closed, knowing it won’t stay up like that. That may have been her husband’s agenda.

“Thank you.” She sighs, getting on her tip toes to kiss him. He crushes her into his chest, using his tongue to trace along her lip, then dash into her mouth. Lexi melts into his sexy warmth. Nico grips the towel at her hips, pulling her flush with him. 

“You’re welcome. Luc is sleeping.”

“Finally.” Lexi sighs. 

They had a hard night with Lucie. She was fighting sleep from the moment dinner ended, rubbing her eyes, and saying no to bed time, even to daddy. They both took turns rocking her, putting her in her crib, but nothing was giving. Finally, Nico took her to the couch with a warmed up blanket from the dryer. Lexi disappeared upstairs at Nico’s request. Between now and then, their little girl finally succumbed. Nights like this are becoming more prevalent for Lucie. Lexi is not surprised as their little girl is more toddler than baby these days. Both her and Nico need to buckle up for the upcoming roller coaster of their daughter growing up. She smiles at the thought. There is no one else Lexi would rather do this with. 

How will you going back to work effect her? An inner voice whispers like a siren.

Lexi raises her green eyes to the mirror, staring at her expression. She looks worried. And she is. Because she has a job offer expiring tomorrow that she still hasn’t talked to her husband about. She never expected to walk out of her meeting with Ally three days ago with an offer of employment. She had told Ally she needed time to talk to Nico, but then the Devils lost two back to back games and Nico’s mood has been less than desirable for the conversation. 

Beside her, Nico grabs his tooth brush then dots toothpaste on the bristles. Lexi assesses his mood, seeing him relaxed although a bit tired.

“Can we talk about something?” She begins while dabbing a finger into her moisturizer. She presses three generous dots in a triangle, then begins to smooth them into her face.

“Mhm.” He says around the tooth brush oscillating against his back molars.

“I think…” Lexi starts, then swallows loudly as she stop herself. Nico continues to brush his teeth, looking at her in the mirror. She pretends to smooth out more of her moisturizer on her neck. Her heart flutters heavily against her throat. When she doesn’t continue, Nico turns fully to look at her.

“What?” He mumbles around the white foam in his mouth. Her tongue caresses the side of her mouth anxiously.

Why is this so hard to spit out?

Nico spits out his toothpaste, then wipes his mouth.

“I think I want to go back to work.” She finally sputters out. Nothing about her voice sounds confident. Nico whips his head in surprise at her. He opens his mouth and then closes it, pursing his lips. Lexi immediately sense his annoyance.

“Okay? But, we have talked about how important it is for you to stay home with Luc? You’ve always agreed to that.”

“Yeah….” She trails off, sticking her tongue into the pocket of her cheek so it juts out. “But I’ve been thinking about what I want lately, as me, and I really miss working with patients and having a place to go outside of here.” Nico’s eyes widen, and he looks away, sighing. 

“Okay.” He shakes his head. “I thought you were done with nursing after Brady.” Lexi doesn’t flinch at his name, but her heartbeat patters more heavily in her body.

“I thought so too, but it’s been calling to me the last few months. And I have an opportunity to go back.”

“I don’t see how that is going to work for our family.” Nico shrugs simply, already seeming done with the conversation.

“Well, can we talk about it? Because I talked with Ally-” 

“What does you talking with Ally have to do with our family? Because you and I have already discussed this, before we had Lucie. You said you would stay home because I’m gone so much. How…” Nico scoffs, looking above her head, trying to find his words. “So what, someone else is going to come here every day and watch her? Or we drop her off at some day care center where random people are raising her?”

“They have a daycare at the hospital. She could go-”

“No. Our daughter deserves better than that.” Nico shakes his head vigorously.

“So you just unilaterally decide this for me then?”

“So you unilaterally get to decide to go back to work?” He shoots back at her. Lexi stand up completely straight, rolling her shoulders back.

“You don’t own me.” She hisses out unexpectedly. Immediately, she wants to take the words back at the fire igniting in Nico’s eyes. His cheeks begin to turn red in frustration while he forces a hand through his long, brown locks.

“When did I say that?” Nico snaps. His tone and voice are reaching places Lexi has never heard from him. Her eyes narrow at him, then she turns to leave the bathroom. Nico is hot on her heels. “You’re putting me in a position to be the asshole, Lex. You and I agreed you would stay home with our kids.”

“Well I need something more!” She huffs at him. “Emma gets to go be-”

“That’s Emma and Timo. Not us.” She startles, feeling like a scolded child by their parent. Tears begin to fill her eyes at the shame of his disappointed scowl.

“I’m allowed to change my mind.” She whispers to him, hating the way her lip trembles.

“Yeah you are, but not when it ruins our kid’s life.”

“Nico, that is so unfair.” Her tone wobbles at her words. Nico’s jaw tightens at the two drops that escape her lids. He looks away, large eyebrows jumping as he tries to brush the effect of her emotions away.

“I don’t care, Lexi.” Nico shakes his head again. “The answer is no.” 

Lexi shakes her head in disgust before heading into their master closet to change. She cries as she pulls on her pajamas. When she returns with tears on her face, Nico doesn’t even care.

Instead, he climbs into bed and turns his back to her like a cold, distant monster.

- - -

Nico and Lexi don’t talk the whole next day. Not even about Lucie. They move around the house, avoiding each other. She goes to the store to grab groceries; he stays home with Lucie. They sit silently, watching TV during dinner. Lucie doesn’t seem to notice, snacking on her food and playing with her toys like everything is normal. 

This continues into the following morning when Nico has to head out on a five game road trip. He dotes all over their daughter as Lexi’s resentment for him breeds into an ugly, angry tyrant in her mind. She doesn’t even let him kiss her cheek when he is about to leave. She slides away from him, turning her back on him like he did to her two nights ago. His heavy sigh makes tears sting her eyes, like she is the one in the wrong here.

“Lex.”

“Nothing about this will be resolved before you leave in the next two minutes. Travel safe.” She responds without turning towards him.

He stands there for a few more moments, rubbing his hand along Lucie’s head as she munches on her oatmeal. Internally, Lexi wonders if he will try to find some middle ground regardless of her words. But then Nico leaves without apologizing, or saying I love you, or providing any comfort like he usually does. She feels herself hating him a little bit more.

She doesn’t watch the Devils games that week.

She is so angry with Nico. They do nightly FaceTime calls with Lucie, but Lexi don’t speak to her husband. Nico gets more and more frustrated with her. It begins to bleed out onto the ice against the St. Louis Blues. Nico gets two penalties in the game, including five minutes for fighting. Of course, Lexi doesn’t know this because she is watching. She knows because Emma Meier shows up at their door with a bottle of rose the next day.

“What is going on?” She asks when Lexi opens the door. Lio is on her hip, munching on an apple sauce pouch as she strolls in. Emma is in dark wash, tight designer jeans and a tan, long sleeved crop top. Her hair is straightened and perfect, not even a hint of frizz from the rainy humidity earlier in the morning. She puts the bottle of rose on the counter, then goes to put Lio next to Lucie. She’s pulling her skin tight jeans back up her waist as she looks expectantly at Lexi. “Nico wouldn’t share anything with me. Timo couldn’t get it out of him either.”

“Of course not.” Lexi snorts, then rolls her tense neck muscles out. Emma nods her head at Lexi to continue. She sighs, crossing her arms over her chest. “I want to go back to work and the dictator of this house said no.” Emma widens her eyes. 

“Nico said no?” The words seemingly taste awful to her as she says them. 

“Yep. He told me if I go back to work I’m ruining our daughter’s life.”

“No.” Emma’s mouth opens in shock.

“Yes!” Lexi exclaims, reaching for the bottle of wine. She twists the top open, then takes two really big glugs. The acidity burns at her esophagus as she puts the bottle back down. Emma picks it up, taking a more delicate sip. She slowly blinks and shakes her head.

“Wow, I’m surprised.”

“Me too.” Lexi responds, sighing heavily. Tears prick at her eyes as she recounts the conversation from last week. She purses her lips, looking back at Emma.

“I don’t understand why he gets to make this decision for me?”

“He doesn’t.” Emma says simply. “This is your life. You have the right to do the things you want to do with it. Your partner needs to be supportive of that.”

“Nico doesn’t seem to see it that way.” Lexi looks out into the living room, watching as Lucie coos at Lio, holding up a large, red lego block. Lio takes it from her, then puts it next to a blue one.

“Oh we can’t do that one. Rangers colors.” Lio shakes his head. “Grab a green one, LuLu.” 

“I’ll talk to him.” Emma insists after pouring two glasses of rose. “He is being unreasonable.”

“Actually, I’d prefer if you didn’t.” Lexi sighs, tracing a circle onto the marble counter top, then looks up at her. “I think it would just make it worse.” Emma scans her sister-in-law, then nods in understanding.

This is one they’ll have to work through on their own.

- - -

The night Nico is due home, Lexi stares at the ceiling, replaying everything that has happened in the last two weeks. Life went from the mundane, same day over and over again, to this angsty, aching storyline of push and pull between a husband and wife. She went from having no job prospects, to receiving an offer, to turning it down. She hasn’t even told Nico. She doesn’t want to. Doesn’t feel like he deserves to know with the way he has been acting.

Her phone lights up the room as the garage camera catches Nico returning home from his late night flight from Colorado. Tears curve into the water line of Lexi’s eyes. Normally, after a road trip this long, she would gallop down the stairs excitedly to throw herself into his arms. He could catch her. They would make out like teenagers against the refrigerator, then he would carry her upstairs to make love. 

Not tonight.

Her brain traces his path through the house from memory, knowing when he stops at Lucie’s room. Five minutes later, she hears him rustling with his bag outside and closes her eyes, pretending to be asleep so she can avoid an interaction with him. Her lip trembles as she shakily swallows to wet her dry throat.

Nico comes into the bedroom almost completely silent. He drops his things in the closet and presumably changes. Lexi’s chest aches when he comes to the bed and grabs his pillow afterwards. His footsteps are so silent, when his voice speaks from next to her, her heart jumped into her throat. 

“Lex?” She startles at his touch. Nico grimaces. “I’m sorry… When I went in to kiss Luc, she was hot. She has a fever.” Lexi moves to get up. Lucie was fine when she checked her a few hours ago. “No, please. I’d like to take care of her myself.” 

“You can bring her in here.”

“No, you deserve to sleep.” He reaches out tentatively for her cheek, cupping it briefly. “Goodnight. I love you.” It’s the first time he’s said it to her directly in a week. He moves to pull away and she grips his wrist.

“I love you too.” She earnestly looks into his deep, brown eyes. “But I am also so mad at you.”

"I know. You have every right to be.” He maintains direct eye contact when he says it. Lexi’s eyebrows furrow. “We will talk tomorrow.” He leans down tentatively and Lexi goes the other 50% until their lips meet. The kiss is sad and achey. Their lips crave the taste of the other, but can’t go all in like they want to. Lexi pulls away first, stroking her nose along Nico’s. She can feel his lashes against her forehead. Then he pulls away to go lay on the floor of their daughter’s room.

The next morning, Lexi is up first. She pokes her head into the guest room, seeing Nico and Lucie have moved there together. Lucie’s bare feet are pressed into Nico’s chest, cheeks pink, hair wild like it had been sweaty and dried sometime during the night. Lexi creeps in, pressing a hand to her toddler’s forehead. No fever. With that comfort, she tiptoes from the room again. 

Downstairs, she makes herself a berry smoothie and settles into the couch with a book. She stays there for a bit, then begins to feel antsy waiting for her loves to wake up. She heads back upstairs, unpacking Nico’s bag completely and getting started on his laundry. She bring his three suits to the downstairs closet for dry cleaning to pick up tomorrow.

It’s almost lunch time when a sleepy Nico and Lucie come downstairs together. Lucie smiles at her mama around a pacifier in her mouth. Lexi arches a slender eyebrow at Nico. Lucie hasn’t had pacifiers for 6 months.

“I lost the battle.” He groggily mumbles. His long hair is flopping every which way. He hands their daughter over to Lexi, then kisses her head. “ ‘m gonna take a shower.”

Nico disappears back upstairs while Lexi gives Lucie some of her leftover smoothie. She sucks it up happily, babbling for some banana when she is done. Lexi is cutting that up when Nico returns downstairs. His hair is slicked back from his shower. He is dressed in new lounge sweats while texting on his phone.

“Do you want a smoothie?” Lexi asks him.

“No, I’m going to make myself some eggs. Do you want any?”

“No, I already ate.”

“Okay.” He wraps an arm around her waist from behind. Lexi resists the urge to tense, trying to purposefully relax her upper body. Nico rests his chin on one of her shoulders, then turns his nose into her neck.

“I was completely out of line last week.” He murmurs while staying there. Lexi scoops up the banana pieces and puts them in a small bowl for Lucie, then slides it across the counter to where she is in her highchair. Lexi puts the knife down and turns so her and Nico are facing each other. He keeps her enclosed in his arms with a palm resting on the counter, on either side her.

“Do you only love me because I’m the mother of your child?” Lexi ponders.

“No, Lex. I love you. The person. So much.” He finishes with a whisper. His eyes trace her face earnestly. Lexi nods. 

“I turned them down.” She admits.

“I’m sorry.”

“And I’m sorry if I have a hard time believing that.” Lexi says pointedly. 

“Fair.” Nico nods then swallows hard. “But I am.” 

“Can I get an explanation?” Lexi asks. She reaches her hands out to rest on his hips, gripping the waistband of his joggers as an anchor.

“I’m having a hard time with how much I’m missing of Lucie growing up. And I put that fear into you last week. Like… I’ve been able to fall back on the idea that you’re here. And if you go back to work, what will I have to ease my failures as a father?” He touches his chest delicately. Lexi lowers her gaze to his beaded bracelets. She moves one of her hands up to hold his wrist. “If this is what you need to do… to be happy… to feel what I get to feel when I step onto the ice every day, then I am in full support of you.”

She stares at his chest, letting his words sink in. As he always is, Nico is patient. When her eyes meet his again, they stare at each other wordlessly for a moment. She is wary. He can sense it.

“I know I hurt you and I’m so sorry.” He whispers. She nods her head in recognition of his apology.

“Nico, you are an amazing dad. It makes me really sad you feel like you’re failing our daughter. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.” She shakes her head, blowing out a sigh. “And I wish you would have shared that with me before it turned into this.”

“I’m embarrassed.” He shrugs. “I’ve been good at everything my whole life. Working so hard to overcome any obstacles.. but there are things I can’t give to Lucie and it kills me, babe.” The way he says babe wrecks her. Lexi moves his hand to the side so she can slide against his chest. Her fingers clutch at his muscular back and dig into his scalp as she cradles their heads together.

“She is so lucky to have you, Neeks.” Lexi turns to kiss his stubbled cheek. He buries his nose deeper into her collar bone as she stroke along his spine. “I am too.” His large arms wrap around her waist, enclosing it completely.

“Tell me again?”

“Hmm?”

“Tell me you are thinking about going back to work.”

“I’m… thinking about going back to work?”

“Okay. Whatever you want to do is what works for our family. We will figure it out.” Nico murmurs. “That’s what I should have said to you. I’m sorry I didn’t.” Lexi smiles against his cheek. Nico turns, capturing her lips. 

“I accept your apology.” She murmurs. “But I really did already turn Ally down.”

“I’ll call Ally. Tell her your husband was a fucking idiot last week, but he’s done with that.” Lexi chuckles, top teeth dragging over her bottom lip. 

“I would like to try it. See if we can find a balance?” 

“Yes, 100% yes, baby.” 

Across the counter, Lucie squeals excitedly then throws her banana bowl onto the floor. 

“Oh! LuLu is in too!” Nico cheers. “Yay mommy!!!” He claps around her back. Lexi chuckles, a whole body rumbling one as her and Nico separate. Nico grabs Lexi’s phone, sliding it across the counter. “Call Ally.” 

Ally extends another offer to Lexi immediately on the phone. 

Within an hour, Lexi has signed an offer letter and has orientation scheduled for the following Monday. Nico brings her to her first day of work, packs her lunch, and spends the whole time Lexi is working with Lucie in the day care, spending time with the kids, signing autographs for staff members and patients alike. By the end of the Lexi’s four hour shift, he is exhausted.

“No wonder you need a break.” He mumbles, exhaustedly running a hand over his hand. “And she isn’t even tired.” He points out about a babbling Lucie in her carseat. 

“Welcome to my life.” Lexi smirks, then clicks her seatbelt in place. Nico wraps her hand in his, bringing it up to kiss along her knuckles. “So what’s for dinner stay at home dad?” Nico balks at her.

“McDonalds.” He chuckles, turning out of the parking lot.

With ease, the Hischiers settled into this adjusted life, until two pink lines show up a few months later on a test in their master bathroom.

Read more Nico and Lexi here.