#My toddler turned off my computer while I went to make a cup of tea

[thymeonmyhands]

I ran across a post earlier that had a huge list of CC for elders so that they would have realistic wrinkles, but I can’t seem to find it now :( 

[hockeylvr59]

Honest Love Part 6 || Cale Makar

Requested: [ ] yes [x] no

Authors Note:  I finally got through this chapter!!! Happy dance!!! This first segment is one of my favorite pieces of this whole story so I hope you love it as much as I do. The other two were a little harder so I hope you enjoy what I came up with to flush this chapter out. 

Recap: Part 4 was the pregnancy announcement to Cale, Part 5 was Cale’s birthday. 

Warnings: cavities? This chapter is a little sweet. Mentions of drinking/tipsiness on Cale’s part. 

Word Count: 3,336

~~~~~

The fact that Cale’s birthday butted up against Halloween was always something you’d enjoyed growing up. It was almost like a perfect 2 for 1 deal - cake and ice cream one day, boatloads of candy the next. It was the innocent things you liked most about Halloween: the cute kids costumes, candy in excess, pumpkin carving, and corn mazes. Which was why today’s plans were perfect. Cale had gone for a quick practice and then around lunchtime the team was meeting at a farm that had a huge corn maze, hay rides, and lots of family friendly activities for the whole team and their families to enjoy. 

Then, after a break for trick or treating and dinner and naps, the adults were all having an adult costume party at Gabe and Mel’s full of drinking and just laid back fun. Of course, Cale was going to be the only one doing any drinking tonight, but you were going to play that off as just being the designated driver since it was kind of a birthday celebration for him in a way as well. Hopefully that would keep the team off of your scent as you and Cale weren’t ready to share the news of your pregnancy just yet, especially since neither set of parents had been looped in. 

Knowing it was going to be a late night, you were lounging on the couch trying to rest and catch up on some work you were behind on when Cale came sauntering through the door, a bright smile bringing those dimples alive. A short but sweet kiss on your lips made you smile and as you carded your fingers through his hair you felt him slide your computer out of the way, his fingers brushing against your shirt. Assuming he was just saying a silent hello to the baby you didn’t think anything of it until you felt him press something onto your skin before pulling away. 

Looking down, your face crinkled with confusion when you spotted a tiny pumpkin sticker attached to your flat stomach. 

“Why?” You asked softly, beyond confused by what was running through your boyfriend’s head right now. Cale’s cheeks flushed but his smile never wavered as he moved into the kitchen to grab a sports drink. 

“The guys were all talking about their kids costumes.” He mumbled softly between sips. “And they all sounded so cute. I thought about what we’re going to dress our baby up as next year but then I thought why wait. I know it’s a little bit big, but baby will grow into it. I’ve got skeleton stickers too but I figured that was a little too close to reality right now and therefore not really a costume.” He explained, shrugging. 

Immediately tears filled your eyes because that might just be the cutest damn thing Cale has ever said. He really went out and got stickers just so your unborn baby could have a ‘costume’ for Halloween. Wiping at your eyes you just looked up at him in awe. 

“You went out and bought stickers so our unborn baby could have a Halloween costume?” You repeated in confirmation. Cale’s cheeks flushed deeper and he mumbles that maybe it was a stupid idea. Shaking your head, you moved to stand and pull him into a hug and kiss, your shirt still pushed up to your rib cage. 

“It’s not stupid.” You assured him. “It’s endearing and probably one of the cutest things you’ve ever done.” Tipping up to kiss him you tried to reassure him. “Take a picture of our little pumpkin?” You questioned. “We have to capture baby’s first Halloween after all.” You urged. There wasn’t a bump or any physical sign that there was a baby growing inside of you but that didn’t mean that you couldn’t take a picture. Even if no one else ever saw it, you wanted to be able to look back at this memory because it would be your baby’s first picture and a reminder of how in love Cale had been with your son or daughter right from the very start. 

Though he seemed a bit reluctant, Cale nodded and moved to take a few pictures of your stickered stomach before putting his phone away. Tucking your shirt down over the sticker, leaving it intact, you moved to kiss Cale again asking if he was about ready to head out to the farm for the team family event.  With a few more reassuring kisses, Cale settled again and finally murmured that he just needed to change. You were ready yourself having gotten dressed earlier before you tried to talk yourself out of it by making excuses. You wanted to go spend the day with the team and with Cale and you certainly didn’t want to miss out on the inside jokes that were bound to crop up throughout. 

_____

Almost an hour later, Cale finally pulled the car into the farm where the team was meeting, and the feeling of the vehicle stopping for good pulled you from the little cat nap you’d been taking in the passenger seat. Cale looked over, familiar concern visible on his face, but you quickly assured him that you were good and you just needed a moment to fix your mussed hair before you could go join everyone. Cale cupped your cheek, kissing you softly before he moved to climb out of the car to stretch while you fixed a few stray hairs and flattened out your top, finally exiting the vehicle yourself. 

Though you’d just seen everyone last night, enthusiastic greetings were still exchanged and you hugged everyone before returning to your spot at Cale’s side, his hand resting along the curve of your spine. After some bickering from the boys about what they wanted to do, it was agreed that you’d start with hayrides before coming back down for the corn maze and everything else. You’d forgotten just how raucous team events could be, but it was definitely a good time, especially watching the kids run around laughing and having fun. For just a moment, you let your mind slip into daydreams about how that would be your little one laughing and exploring next year, hopefully with cheeks pink from the chill in the air. 

After the hayride which had you fighting back just a little bit of nausea, the Calvert boys pulled you and Cale into the smaller corn maze designed for kids making it a race to see how quickly they could get through it. Gabe, Mel, and Linnea joined in and you smiled watching Linnea toddle along through the corn amazed at how tall it was but fearless so long as her daddy was right behind her. Being that it was a kids’ maze it didn’t take long to complete but it was fun all the same as Gabe helped Linnea and Cale helped the Calvert kids get all their stamps to get their prize of a candy or small toy at the end. And thankfully being back on solid ground had quelled the nausea you’d felt, leaving you feeling good once more. 

As you finished the maze with the kids, Josty, JT, and Burky were racing over to pull Cale into their group to do the big corn maze as bets had been made that they could beat some of the other guys and their better halves. Assuring Cale that he should go, you murmured that you would hang out and maybe do some shopping of the farm fresh produce and that he should leave you keys. Looking over you saw Gabe and Matt being pulled to join other groups and you smiled to yourself as Mel and Courtney moved over to you with Mel holding Linnea but no sign of the Calvert boys who had insisted that they were now corn maze pros and had to go with their dad. 

“So how was Cale’s birthday?” Courtney asked, a teasing expression on her face. 

“It was good.” You replied. “He seemed to enjoy his dinner and presents so I’m happy.” Mel just sent you a teasing look like I’m sure he did enjoy his presents before speaking softly to Linnea who was babbling away. Ignoring the look you mentioned doing some produce shopping while you were here and when they both agreed, you headed over to the market portion of the farm to get some things for your respective households. Getting some fresh squash, apples, and of course some kale as well as pumpkin chai tea mix, apple butter, and some seasoned pumpkin seeds you loaded up the car before moving to meet back up with the girls. Courtney had three containers of ice cream in her hands while Mel held a tray of steaming disposable mugs in her off hand and they motioned for you to join them at a table. 

“Apple pie ice cream.” Courtney stated, answering your non-verbal question. “And then some chai lattes made with fresh farm honey to ward off the chill.” Mel added getting herself situated with Linnea. Both treats were incredibly good and you thanked them as you tried the ice cream nearly moaning at how good it was. Mel couldn’t help but laugh at the look on your face and she murmured that they sell it by the quart too if you wanted to pick some up on your way home to put in the freezer. 

“Yeah. I might have to do that.” You mumbled between bites because it was so good. 

Chatting with the girls about various things while you enjoyed your treats and waited for the guys to find their way out of the corn maze, you couldn’t help but think that this was a pretty great found family to bring a baby into. It wasn’t long before Linnea squirmed her way out of her mommy’s arms before toddling around the table to you asking you to pick her up. Snuggling the toddler happily, you teased your fingers through her hair murmuring that the only way Cale’s group wasn’t the last one out was if your boyfriend single handedly got them through it. 

Turns out that was definitely not the case and they were one of the last groups out following significantly behind Gabe and Matt’s group. You couldn’t help but laugh to yourself at that, still snuggling the baby girl who refused to move from your lap even when her daddy returned. You joked with Gabe that you were stealing her and he joked back that he was sure that his young defenseman probably wouldn’t have any complaints about that. Evidently it wasn’t just the better halves that were under the impression that Cale was thinking about kids. It made keeping the little secret growing inside you that much harder but also that much more worth it. 

You were chatting with Linnea about her current favorite Disney movie when your boyfriend appeared, dropping a kiss to your head as he flopped onto the picnic table bench beside you. The little girl’s face lit up at his presence and she smiled at him just watching him, everything that she had been babbling about forgotten. 

“Did you have fun?” You asked him, giggling softly when his response was primarily a groan. Reaching out to pick a piece of corn husk out of his hair you brushed a thumb over his red cheek murmuring that next time you’d have to go with to rein the boys in. Of course, next time you’d have a tiny baby with you so that may or may not happen but Cale got the point you were trying to convey. 

After mingling with the team for a little while longer, groups started to disburse and Cale asked if you were ready to head home for a bit. Nodding, you passed a sleepy Linnea back to her daddy murmuring that she was going to nap well on the way home. Then, taking Cale’s hand you pulled yourself up from the table and sighed softly as his hands grazed your hips because they were just a bit sore from the hard bench. 

“We need to get a quart of ice cream before we go.” You murmured, pouting softly when he commented on how it would melt during the drive. “Even melted it would be good.” You insisted, pleading softly until he gave in and got a quart of ice cream packed into an empty plastic flower pot with some ice. 

“Lucky I love you.” He murmured softly, pressing a soft kiss to your lips. 

“Once you taste it you’ll agree it’s worth it.” You assured him, stealing one more kiss before heading back out to the car. 

You fell asleep on the drive home, only waking when Cale unbuckled you and was moving to lift you out of the car. Though you murmured you could walk, he insisted that he had you and with your arms wrapped around his neck, it wasn’t long before you were settled onto your comfortable mattress while Cale pulled your shoes off your feet whispering for you to nap while he brought everything else upstairs. 

And nap you did. 

_____

The sun had set by the time you woke up to Cale’s lips kissing your temple and his fingers sliding along your side. 

“I made dinner.” He stated softly as you nodded and worked your way into a seated position. 

“Dinner sounds good.” You agreed, blinking at him tiredly. Cale offered a hand out to help you up and you took it, sliding onto your feet to follow him out into the kitchen. It wasn’t anything complex but it smelled good and that was really all that mattered to you. “Thanks for dinner.” 

Cale brushed your thanks off, directing you to dig in. After a moment he questioned whether you still wanted to go tonight or whether you wanted to stay home. You knew the choice was honestly up to you but at the same time you couldn’t not show because that would raise way too many questions you didn’t want to answer yet. 

“You know we have to go.” You replied softly between bites. “I promise I’m okay.” You added. “I’m just still waking up but that was a good nap. Let me get this food and a shower in me and I’ll be just fine.” The ever present look of concern was on your boyfriend’s face and you reached a hand across the table to squeeze his. “Promise. I’m good.” You repeated. “We’re going to go and you’re going to have a good time drinking with the guys so I can be the designated driver without any questions.” Cale hesitated before nodding and you knew that you were going to need to assure him again later that you were really okay. 

You asked him to tell you about his afternoon and you talked about shopping for produce and spending time with the girls and Linnea. 

“You’re really cute with her, you know that right?” He asked, taking a sip of his water. “Makes me excited to see you as a mom to our baby. She adores you.” 

“You mean like the Calvert boys adore you?” You grin. “Little pumpkin already has the best daddy.” The ways Cale’s cheeks flushed made you smile and you nudged your legs against his under the table before focusing on your plate once more. 

After dinner you moved to shower and then start to get ready for the Halloween party. Standing at the foot of your bed, you slid stockings up your legs before putting on a red skirt. Cale came into the room when you were pulling on the tight blue shirt with a maroon and gold ‘s’ emblazoned on the front. He had a similar shirt laying on the bed, but his costume certainly wasn’t as elaborate as yours. Once you had both the top and bottom halves of your costume situated, you wrapped the gold belt around your waist and grabbed the cape from the closet, leaving it on the bed while you did just a normal face of makeup with some darker lipstick. 

By the time you came out of the bathroom, Cale was dressed in black slacks and a white button up and he was slipping a partially undone tie around his neck. Stepping closer to him you reached up to undo the top few buttons of his dress shirt revealing the blue t-shirt underneath. 

“Pretty sure you have to have the buttons undone hun, otherwise this isn’t a costume at all.” You teased, reaching around him to grab the maroon heels tucked into the closet since you didn’t have the proper knee high boots. Sitting on the bed to slide them on you reached over to grab his glasses from the bedside table. “You’re also going to need these. C’mon, pretend you’re having a little fun. This costume was your idea.” You prodded, standing back up and sliding your palms down his abs. Cale was definitely a pretty sexy Clark Kent to match the superwoman - supergirl - that he always claimed you were anyway. 

Cale just looked at you making you laugh. “I know this is your least favorite part of Halloween.” You stated. “Because you’re boring like that but c’mon. We look hot.” You pressed, finally getting a small smile. 

“You certainly look hot.” Cale agreed. “Are you sure you’re up to this?” He asked, causing you to roll your eyes and nod. “Yes...now let’s go before we’re really late.” 

You were so going to pass him off to Josty and Burky and Mikko when you got there to make sure that they could get a few drinks into him and help him relax. He deserved that for sure, you just had to make sure he didn’t get so drunk that he started to get a loose tongue and spill your secret. 

____

Needless to say, your boyfriend was clingy and affectionate when tipsy, something you’d known all the way back from that time in the bar before you’d even kissed. It was crazy to think that was only seven months ago. 

Deciding that it was time to go, you left the party around 1am, dragging Cale back to the car and urging him into the passenger seat with the promise of a kiss. He’d lost his tie at some point over the course of the evening and you made a mental note to text Mel about it, sure that she would find it somewhere in her house. 

By the time you parked in the apartment garage Cale was half asleep from two days of excitement and you moved around the car after releasing his seatbelt. 

“Come on hun.” You urged, offering him a hand. “I may be dressed like Supergirl but there is no way I have her strength so you’re going to have to help me out here so we can get you to bed.” Cale looked up at you with a hazy alcohol fueled look before taking your hand, leaning into you as you guided him upstairs. 

“You’re so pretty.” He murmurs repeatedly, his word choice changing slightly with every repetition from pretty to beautiful to sexy and then finally gorgeous. Unlocking your front door you guided him in and kicked it shut behind you, locking it before dropping your keys and stepping out of your heels. 

“Time for bed.” You remind him, gently corralling him to the bedroom. He was asleep the moment his head hit the pillows and you carefully helped him strip down to the t-shirt and his boxers before moving to get yourself ready. It wasn’t often that you saw Cale as relaxed as he was tonight and you were grateful to the guys for giving him a good day and letting him forget about all those worrying thoughts you knew sometimes plagued him. 

A lot was changing in your lives but with the support system you have and the love you share, it was all going to work out just fine. 

[amethystpath-writes]

Hello!! Once you absolutely crush all of your college assignments, would you like to write this?

So the protag is a healer who works for the big superhero agency(bc capitalism) but protag is very under-appreciated there since protag isn’t a flashy superhero who saves the day. So then villain tries to convince protag to switch sides through emotional manipulation and “I’ll treat you much better than they are” promises

This was kinda confusing to read oops sorry

Anyway I hope you have a wonderful day!!

About that college thing. I’m assuming this was from when I was having problems with my sociology class, and that didn’t get resolved because my professor is...kindly put...not my favorite human on Earth. But thank you for the vote of confidence, hun! Enjoy!

******

Sarah’s chair slammed against the table as she jolted back. “How did you-” Her hand scrambled for a pen or- or something to defend herself with. “But the team went after you. How did you get in here?”

Colter shrugged, hands casually in his pockets as he stood in Sarah’s doorway, which he’d just knocked on to get the healer’s attention. “You know your so-called ‘team’ doesn’t even lock this place up when they leave? They leave you completely exposed.”

Finally, Sarah’s hand found an uncapped pen. She wielded it like a sword and watched as Colter raised a brow. He was right to, she knew. A pen would do nothing against him. A pen didn’t protect against flames. And healing Colter wouldn’t stop his wall of flames, but- but this pen was the only thing she had. She was helpless, except for her pen. “So, they forgot this time. How would they have known you would try to sneak in?”

“I didn’t try- I succeeded. And I didn’t sneak- I walked through the front door. If that doesn’t tell you anything, let me add on; I have been doing this every day, for three weeks.” Colter pushed himself off the door frame and took a step towards the supposed teammate in a group of heroes. He didn’t stop because he was afraid of the plastic ink pen. He stopped because Sarah was obviously scared out of her mind’s wits.

She shook her head. “What do you mean? I’d have known if you were-”

“I stood in your doorway just as I did thirty seconds ago. Only difference is I revealed myself to you this time. Go ahead, check your feed if you don’t believe me.”

Sarah swallowed. “I’m not turning my back to you. I’ve seen what you are capable of. I’m not stupid.”

“Never said you were, but I do think you’ve been blinded by your teammates. How many times have they asked how you are doing? Have they ever brought you a glass or bottle of water because they noticed you weren’t doing so well? They’ve asked about how much sleep you’re getting, right? I’m sure they have. They are your team, yeah? They-”

“Stop! Stop, stop, stop. You’re manipulating me.”

Colter gave a soft huff. “If I were lying, then maybe, but I’m not. I’m caring for you, Sarah.”

“Don’t use my name. Get out. Get out, please.” She noticed her hand was shaking and quickly hid it behind her back hopefully before Colter could notice. “Unless you are here to kidnap me or- or hold me hostage or something- I don’t know. Just, just go.”

Sitting on the floor- yes, the floor- Colter sighed. He saw Sarah shaking before she tried hiding it. This wasn’t working the way he planned, not at all. “Check your feed- because you still don’t believe I have been here the whole time.”

She didn’t respond, only stared at him without saying a word.

“Do you want me to go stand in that corner so you can watch me?”

This time she nodded, but she didn’t move otherwise until Colter stood and walked to the corner on her right like a toddler in time out. It’s what he got for being a villain, he supposed. Though, he thought he was making a good argument. Apparently, it wasn’t good enough, for he was standing in a corner while Sarah hesitantly took a seat in front of her computer.

“It’s sad, isn’t it? That they make you stay here and guard the files? You’re worth more out there, on the field. You guys might even win a fight if you were out there to help as they got hurt instead of after. A shame they keep you hidden because you don’t shoot sparks, or ice, or fly.”

Sarah tried ignoring him while she logged onto her computer, but it was difficult, especially since he was saying all the things she’d been thinking recently. All the late nights she couldn’t sleep, she thought about these things- about how she’s left behind, about how she isn’t helpful enough on the site, about how she was nothing but a pick-me-up when someone was near death, about how she only got a quick ‘Thanks’ when she poured every bit of her abilities into saving one of her teammates, about it all. Maybe she wasn’t useless, but she wasn’t-

“I would appreciate you,” Colter said. “I would make sure you didn’t over-exert yourself. I would let you fight for me. But you know what I wouldn’t do? I wouldn’t leave you at my base with every point of access open to anyone who thought of stepping in, especially when there was a villain on the prowl.”

“You’re the only villain here.”

“Maybe, but consider this for me.” Colter took a breath. “If you know what I’m capable of, and your team knows what I’m capable of, why did they leave you so vulnerable?” He took a step away from his corner without Sarah noticing. Then another, and another, until he was right beside her chair. He said softly, “I wouldn’t do that, okay? Sarah?”

She looked at him, not breathing. When- how had he gotten so close to her?

His head dipped down, gesturing to his hand, which Sarah just now realized was held out. “You think I am going to hurt you, but I’m not. Take my hand, and if it starts to burn, you can take it back.”

Sarah swallowed. “I don’t- you’re not…Why are you even here? What do you want? What is your motive?”

“My motive?” Colter kept his hand held out to Sarah, encouraging her. “I’ve seen the way you’re treated- rather discarded- and I’m offering you my hand. I can give you much more than they ever have, and I could also use a partner.” Seeing the odd look on Sarah’s face, he said, “I’m not asking for your hand in marriage. I’m asking you if you’d like to be my friend, since your team clearly hasn’t been one to you.”

Staring at his hand, Sarah considered his words, and considered her own feelings. She knew she wasn’t appreciated that much. It never felt like it, and like Colter pointed out, they never asked her how she was doing- if she ever needed caretaking- whether that was a good nap, a cup of warm tea, or anything, just anything. They returned from missions she wasn’t allowed to go on, and they asked for her help. There was never any return. Sarah might as well slip away; they wouldn’t notice until one of them was bleeding out and had to go to a hospital. She was their medic of convenience. Convenience. Not a friend. Not a teammate. Just a person who lived with them who could make a stopped heart beat again, which meant no extra bills to pay.

Her hand landed on Colter’s and she swallowed for what felt like the twentieth time since he knocked on her doorframe. Now, her hand was touching his and- “You’re cold.” Her other hand touched the opposite side of his.

“Your team turned the heat off, so it didn’t run up the bill. I guess you’re more used to it than I am.”

They turned the heat off every time they left? She didn’t know that. “That- um- explains why my feet are always so cold.” She was talking to Colter, talking to him like he was a friend, not- not the enemy. This wasn’t right, but it felt nice.

“I could warm your hands up if you wanted. I know you’re capable of doing it yourself, but I am the one with, well, heaty hands. Plus, you deserve to have someone help you. Promise I won’t catch them on fire.”

Sarah took her hands back. “N-no.” She still didn’t trust him, but…what was she supposed to do? No one ever talked to her like this, like they actually cared about her or her well-being. No one came to her room to tell her she deserved to be appreciated and recognized and acknowledged. It were these thoughts that made her say, “Not unless I know you can control it.”

He smiled at her. “Put your hands back and pull away when it becomes too hot.”

She shook her head. “I want to see you make a flame and gradually put it out again.”

“Okay. I can do that.” He was running out of time. The team would be back any minute. With that thought in mind, he created a small flame that he commanded to dance around his palm like a figure skater. He shaped it into a dolphin, let in dive into and jump out of his fingers and fingertips. The flame gathered again, hovering above the centre of his hand before slowly falling and fading away. “Go on, touch. Real fast if you’re scared to.”

And Sarah did touch quickly, as if she were testing to see if a burner on a stove was still hot. But Colter’s palm wasn’t. It was chilled just as before. She placed her hand in his once again, and as he began to warm up again, she felt herself slightly panicked, pulling away bit by bit.

As her fingertips nearly fell away entirely, Colter asked, “Lower?”

She nodded. He told her to touch for a final time.

“There,” she said, “that’s warm. That’s perfect.”

“Have your teammates offered you a cup of hot cocoa with vanilla and cinnamon?”

Sarah squinted. “No.” Of course they hadn’t. They never offered her anything.

“May I?”

This was it. This was the decision that would change Sarah’s alliance, change her life, probably. Could she side with the villain? They called him one for a reason…didn’t they? But if that was true, why was he here? Why was he being kind, offering warmth to her when Sarah’s team couldn’t even leave the heat on for her while they were out on a mission, one they’d come back bruised and battered from- while they were out on a mission, one they’d lose because Sarah wasn’t there to help them on site?

Colter asked her, not only to become his teammate, or partner, but to become his friend. He shared an intimacy with her, and still was, as her hands were still being warmed. Was it so bad that she felt comforted by him now?

“I’ll take you up on your offer.”

And so it became- Colter and Sarah, partners in crime and comfort.

( @whatwhumpcomments )

[luminescencefics]

the light inside

Natasha Reynolds is trying to figure her life out. She’s newly single, behind her deadline for her newest book release, and currently stuck in her best friend’s house while her home office is being renovated.

Harry Styles is just trying to complete this project. He’s in the midst of his own home renovation, but when he steps foot into Natasha’s townhouse, he finds that there’s more to life than just trying to rebuild.

A oneshot about starting over, learning how to cope, blonde haired toddlers, and finding the light that shines inside of you.

written for @majorharry​‘s 20k fic celebration

prompt #27: “your hands are soft,” prompt #29: “stop looking at me like that,” prompt #33: :”I--I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

harry/ofc, 8k

Natasha Reynolds is losing it.

She’s currently sitting in the half-finished nursery of her best friend’s unborn child. It's the only room in Ellory’s home that has some semblance of quiet, and that is exactly what Natasha needs considering she’s about three weeks behind her workload. Her inbox chimes with a notification of a new email, and Natasha sighs, ignoring it as the red number on her laptop screen grows from forty-six to forty-seven. No doubt they’re all from her editor. And, no doubt that if she doesn’t respond in the next hour, her phone will start to ring incessantly.

Natasha’s life never falls out of order. She has always been a woman with a plan, ever since uni, and that mindset has paved a road of success for her that she never thought she would achieve at this early an age.

Right after uni, she drafted about twenty query letters and sent them out to various publishing agencies throughout the Greater London area. She had been penning her mystery novel series her entire last year of university, and with a stroke of luck her first book was being edited and published before Natasha could turn twenty-five.

The first book was a success. It became an even bigger hit overseas, and not long after was her agent proclaiming that she must develop a second book. Three more books and three and a half years later, the Midnight series was finished. It allowed her to travel the world, meet fans of the book, and earn enough money to own property in Mayfair.

But now that her series was complete, her editor and agent were begging for Natasha to release a new book. Natasha wanted to branch away from the mystery genre and come up with a brand new book, one that would not be developed into a four-part series.

And, considering her newly single status, it made sense to venture into romance.

As of lately, Natasha feels like she has bitten off more than she can chew. Sure, she loves writing. And sure, her relationship imploding definitely gave her the push she needed to start writing again. But she’s suddenly at a standstill—battling a difficult case of writer’s block.

On top of all of that, she’s been sequestered at her best friend’s townhouse because her home office was currently under construction. Natasha usually plans for these things, and she definitely would not have decided for her writing space to be completely transformed while she’s trying to reach her deadlines. But her ex-fiancé ended things abruptly and that office was the only space in her home that he had called his, so it only made sense to completely tear it down and start fresh.

If only the timing was appropriate.

Just as Natasha began writing the eighteenth chapter of her unnamed novel, she starts to hear high-pitched giggles get louder and louder down the hallway. She can hear the gentle thud of feet, and not long after is the door to the nursery thrown open.

“Tasha! Come play!” Maude calls from the doorway of the room.

Her hair is in wild curls and her cheeks have a gentle flush to them, no doubt from running away from Ellory and trying to find Natasha’s hiding spot. Yesterday, Natasha was hiding in the guest bathroom to get work done and it only took a few hours before Maude heard the toilet flush and suddenly found her.

Today, it only took an hour and a half.

“Hi Maude,” Natasha says with a small smile.

“Why are you in sissy’s room?” Maude asks, hobbling towards Natasha’s spot on the enormous bean bag chair in the corner of the room.

“Trying to get some work done. Where’s mummy? I thought you guys were supposed to be baking shortbread?” Natasha asks, tearing her eyes away from her computer screen and looking at Maude who has now become eye level due to the bean bag’s relativity to the carpeted floor.

“We did! Come see!” Maude’s sticky hands reach out towards the screen of Natasha’s laptop, and before her fingers can make a mess of it, Natasha slams it down with a gentle click. Maude starts giggling, reaching for Natasha until her forearms are sticky from flour and egg.

Sighing, Natasha follows after the three year old. There’s no way she’ll be getting any more work finished today.

Ellory looks up from the oven when she sees her daughter dragging her best friend into the kitchen. She gives Natasha a look, laced with an apology and a bit of pity. Ellory knows that Natasha is struggling. Her personal life has been shit the entire year, her workload is only increasing, and now her home is in a state of disarray.

“Maude, love, what did I tell you about bothering Auntie Tasha?” Ellory asks, her ivory hands resting on her cocked hip. She’s giving her daughter a pointed glare, but Natasha knows that it’s no use. Maude always finds a way of getting out of trouble.

“Sorry mummy. I just wanted to show Tasha what we made!” Maude says, holding her arms up so she can be placed on her chair by the kitchen island. Natasha just shakes her head a little, wordlessly telling Ellory that it’s okay. She wasn’t really being productive anyways, to be fair. Baking with her best friend and her daughter sounded better anyways.

“Any progress on the book?” Maude asks, pouring Natasha a cup of tea from the still-hot kettle on the stovetop.

Natasha just shrugs before slumping down on the chair next to Maude. “I’m still stuck on chapter eighteen. Diane’s going to ring my neck.”

Natasha’s editor Diane was nothing but a terrifying presence in her professional life. Granted, she was phenomenal at her job, and without her guidance the Midnight series would probably never have become the success it had, but Diane struggled with understanding how Natasha worked.

She knew about the break up. She knew that her life was in shambles. But Diane pushed through all of that. She was a career-woman first, and didn’t believe in distractions. Therefore, she continuously pushed Natasha to write.

Sometimes, Natasha just needed to breathe.

“You’ll get there, Nat. You just need to find some inspiration,” Ellory offered kindly, resting her hand on her baby bump.

Ellory was always ten steps ahead of Natasha. Starting in secondary school back in Hammersmith, Ellory was already thinking about where she wanted to apply for uni. Although they went to different schools, they still kept in touch. And while Natasha was struggling to finish her final exams and finish writing book one of her series, Ellory was falling in love with Isaac and already planning her wedding.

That happened four months after graduation. Isaac was in finance and came from a wealthy family, and not even a year later, Maude was born. Natasha was still living in her tiny flat in the center of the city, far too cramped for her liking. She was in the middle of writing book two, so her royalties from the first installment hadn’t come in yet. Ellory was already planning Maude’s first birthday when she encouraged Natasha to stop being a reclusive author and start dating, and that’s when she met Will.

Will was smart and posh and worked at the same office as Isaac. He was a career-focused, well-mannered, completely tailored gentleman, and for some reason he took a liking to Natasha’s abnormal life. They were the same age but he felt eons ahead of her. His flat was in a luxury building with a doorman, he owned more suits than he did casual clothes, he drank bourbon like her father did, and he never tried to understand why Natasha wanted to become an author.

He never pushed it though, and he never really tried to understand Natasha either. After she meets his family and they announce that their cousins are to be married, things began to change. Will’s family was very traditional, and when they found out that Natasha and Will had been together for two years and were still living in their own separate flats, Will hired a realtor and they started looking at homes in Knightsbridge and Belgravia, and they all felt too regal for Natasha’s taste. One afternoon when she’s visiting Ellory and newborn Maude at their home in Mayfair, Natasha comes across a dated townhouse that was for sale. It had crown molding and exposed brick, a dated fireplace and exposed beams that showed the true character of the place. With book three finished and her bank account expanding, Natasha puts a deposit down and they move in a week later.

Not even a year later, Will proposed. At the time, Natasha thought it was everything. She finally felt ready, and she thought that her and Will would be happy together. But then after that he started getting colder, and their relationship started feeling more rushed than ever before. She couldn’t even remember what she loved about him in the first place, and whenever she would ask him why he wanted to marry her, his response was always, “Because that’s what we’re supposed to do.”

Natasha was unhappy. And when they sat down a week after they had already mailed their wedding invitations to their guests, she told him that they shouldn’t get married. She expected Will to put up a fight and beg her to reconsider, but instead he gave out a deep sigh of relief.

A week later he moved out.

And three months after that he was engaged to another woman.

The ringing of the timer rips Natasha out of her thoughts and she laughs quietly when Maude starts jumping up and down in her chair, clapping her sticky hands when Ellory announces that the shortbread is finished.

“Tasha! Will you help us decorate?” Maude asks, grinning up at her mum’s best friend with wide shiny eyes.

“Of course,” Natasha responds, placing her arms under Maude’s armpits and lifting her off the chair and sits her on the granite countertop near the shortbread that’s resting on the cooling rack. Ellory lays out different colored icing, yellows and pinks and blues, and Maude greedily sticks a finger in the pink bowl and brings it up to her mouth when Ellory isn’t looking.

Maude starts to giggle when Natasha raises her eyebrows comically, before copying the three year old and digging a pointer finger into the blue bowl. Maude’s giggles grow louder when Ellory grows suspicious, but Natasha stays quiet, smiling at Maude as if they were sharing a secret.

Midway through icing the shortbread cakes, Natasha’s mobile begins to ring from the island. She groans, knowing that it’s probably Diane asking for an update, but when she gets closer she notices that the number isn’t one she has saved into her contacts, so she brings the phone up to her ear and offers up a quick hello.

“Hi, is this Ms. Reynolds?” a deep voice asks. It’s low and guttural and Natasha instantly recognizes it as the voice of the contractor currently redoing her home office a few streets away.

“Yes, this is she,” she says professionally.

“Right, this is Harry, we’ve spoken a few times before about your renovation. I just thought I’d keep you updated. The desk was delivered later than expected so we’re running a bit behind schedule,” Harry says.

Natasha groans because of course things were running behind schedule. It seemed to be the theme of her life these days.

“Sorry?” the voice asks, and Natasha slaps a hand to her mouth, realizing that her groan came out much louder than expected.

“Nothing. That’s fine, you can stay as late as you can in order to have everything back on schedule. I really would hate to push the completion date any further,” Natasha explains, ignoring the look Ellory gives her from the other side of the kitchen.

“No problem Ms. Reynolds,” Harry responds kindly.

“Thanks for the update,” Natasha says, saying a quick goodbye before ending the call and placing her mobile face down on the countertop.

Things really weren’t going her way.

***

Normally, Natasha leaves Ellory’s house by four o’clock the latest, and by four oh five, her house is void of contractors and construction workers and painters. Ellory offers for Natasha to stay for dinner, but after Maude throws a temper tantrum and Ellory grows increasingly tired from her pregnancy, Natasha decides to just head home. She could avoid the noise of the downstairs office by hiding away in her bedroom on the floor above, and she probably should respond to the growing number of emails in her inbox.

When Natasha arrives at her townhouse, she can already hear the erratic hum of the numerous power tools from inside the office. A large white van with Styles & Co. is parked right outside her front door, with a black pick up truck parked behind her parking spot across the street. Natasha unlocks her front door and is immediately hit with the smell of sawdust.

She closes the door a bit softer than usual so her presence would stay undetected. But while she slips off her flats and discards her jacket in the foyer, she hears the heavy sound of boots come closer and her head snaps up.

In front of her is a tall man with broad shoulders. His brown hair curls over the tips of his ear and stands taller in different areas around his head, most likely from pulling on the strands out of frustration. He has a thin layer of stubble surrounding his mouth and chin, and his green eyes are wide, searching her face the same way she was searching his.

“Ms. Reynolds?” he asks, and his voice has the same timbre as the one she was speaking to on the phone a few hours prior. She cocks her head to the side in surprise, taking in his long jean-clad legs, brown toolbelt, and white henley rolled up at the sleeves, revealing black ink etched onto his tan skin.

“Uh, yeah,” she responds, her mind growing a bit foggy.

He smiles in front of her, revealing a straight set of white teeth. “Hi, I’m Harry,” he says, wiping his hands on the tops of his thighs and extending a long toned forearm.

Natasha is a bit dumbfounded for once, because she figured the Harry she was speaking to on the phone for the past week and a half was someone much older. His deep voice reminded her of her father’s, and she had never come across a contractor so handsome in her entire life.

“Hi,” she responds after she realizes his hand has been extended a bit longer than normal. His eyes stay on hers as they shake once, twice, before her hands retreat back to her sides.

“Your hands are soft,” he says offhandedly, and she’s not entirely sure if he meant to say it outloud. His calloused hands are rough from his work, and when she looks into his eyes with a smile, she can’t see any ounce of regret or embarrassment.

“Thanks,” she says, shouldering her tote bag a little higher on her body.

“We’re almost done for the day, Ms. Reynolds,” Harry explains.

“Natasha’s just fine,” she responds, and she feels even warmer when she hears his Northern accent echo her first name to her.

She likes the way it sounds coming out of his mouth.

“D’ya want to see the progress so far?” Harry offers, hoping she’ll say yes.

Against her plans of retreating in her room to stare blankly at the whiteness of her screen, Natasha nods and follows Harry out of the foyer. The hallway splits in two and he takes a left, bypassing the staircase and entering the back part of the house where Will’s office used to be.

The room is much brighter due to the lighting fixture only having light bulbs without the lampshades. Natasha explained to Harry on the phone that she wanted the room to not be as cold and uninviting, and when he recommended painting the chandelier, she agreed instantly. White tarps were placed over the original hardwood flooring with paint buckets and rollers placed haphazardly around the room. Two other burly men were on the far side of the room near the big bay window, sanding down the large wooden desk and attaching different pieces to the furniture to make it the focal point of the room.

“Wow,” Natasha announces breathlessly, stopping in the middle of the room and looking around with wide eyes. It was such a contrast from what the room was before, and she could feel the weight on her shoulders growing lighter and lighter.

“It’s not nearly finished,” Harry says from behind her. Natasha just shakes her head, realizing that he probably doesn’t understand how much this room transformation actually means to her.

“Oi! ‘Arry! Where’s the cabinet?” One of the voices calls out. He’s older than Harry and has a few wrinkles surrounding his face, but he has kind eyes. His accent makes Natasha smile, and when he looks up he gives her a grin in return.

“Got distracted by the pretty lady, I reckon?” He repeats, and the man to his left cackles. Natasha looks over her shoulder just in time to see the flush creep up Harry’s neck, and she giggles a bit to herself.

“Enough of that, you two. Finish up and I’ll go grab it from the garden,” Harry says, his voice thinning as he retreats towards the back entrance of Natasha’s home where most of the furniture and supplies were situated.

“It looks great, guys. Thank you for your hard work,” Natasha says to the two men, watching as they stop their previous tasks and give her matching grins.

“No problem, lass. Reckon you’ll write another bestseller in this room, aye?” The darker haired man says. His accent is much deeper than the previous man and Harry combined, and Natasha laughs a bit when he mentions her writing.

Before she could respond, Harry is back heaving a large cabinet in front of his chest. Natasha jumps to the side, shocked at how strong he actually is. His long arms were wrapped completely around the piece of furniture, with his large hands fanned out over the doors in order to keep them from opening. He grunts as he places it on the floor in front of the two other men, standing up and wiping his brow with sweat.

Natasha really needed to stop staring.

She coughs to herself, averting her eyes even though she can feel the two other men’s gazes from across the room. She’s sure if she looked over they would have amused looks covering their faces.

“Right. Anybody need water or anything? Tea?” Natasha asks kindly, praying deep down that nobody actually needed anything and she could make herself a brew and hide away in her bedroom for the rest of the evening.

“We’re good lass, thank you,” the older men say, before grabbing a power drill and getting back to work.

“I’m all set, thanks though, Natasha,” Harry says, standing right in front of her. She really wished she didn’t love the way her name sounded leaving his mouth.

“No problem. I’ll leave you boys to it,” she announces, nodding her head before turning on her heel.

Before she enters the kitchen, she chances one last look over her shoulder, and she’s met with bright green eyes and a boyish grin.

She skips making her tea and runs straight upstairs, closing her bedroom door with a loud thud.

***

The next morning, Natasha wakes up much later than expected. After Harry and his crew had left, she went downstairs and made herself a late dinner. After an explosive phone call with Diane, Natasha managed to write two chapters that definitely were not up to her standards. It took her much longer than usual to write, and after a cup of black coffee that she only saves for emergencies only, she couldn’t fall asleep.

She wakes up to the sound of power drills and the smell of paint.

Ellory has called her twice already and texted her enough times to earn an eye roll from Natasha. She knew she was expected over there two hours earlier, but she needed rest. She responds as she’s traipsing down the stairwell in boy shorts, a tank top, and an old flannel button down. Her hair is in a bun and she hasn’t bothered putting her contacts in, and it’s only once she reaches the bottom of the stairs when she realizes that she isn’t wearing a bra.

Harry’s standing before her, green eyes blown wide. Natasha isn’t sure if it’s from her thin tank top and lack of appropriate undergarments, or if he’s just shocked to see her in general.

“Natasha—uh, hi.” He sounds breathless and she just gives him a tired grin, noticing the same two guys from yesterday hauling in different materials from the back garden. The door is open and the chill November air settles into the ground floor, and Natasha crosses her arms over her chest subconsciously.

She hopes Harry doesn’t notice, but she watches his pupils dart down for a millisecond before shooting back up, and her cheeks start to flush.

“Morning Harry,” she replies. “Want some tea? Coffee?”

She starts walking towards the kitchen without waiting for a response. Natasha can hear the heavy clunking of his boots, so she can only assume that he’s taken her up on her offer. He only responds once she’s filled up the kettle and turned the burner on.

“Uh, coffee, black. If you have it,” he asks cautiously. He’s leaning on the doorframe of her open kitchen, unsure if he should step further into the room. Natasha just nods before turning the coffeemaker on, adding grounds to the appropriate compartment and waiting for it to heat up.

She turns around then, resting her tailbone on the lower cabinets of the kitchen. Harry saunters forward, before sitting down on the barstool across from her, resting his arms on the countertop. She waits for him to say something.

“Figured you’d be at work or something,” Harry says after a beat.

“Slept in, I suppose.” Natasha shrugs, pivoting on her heel and grabbing two porcelain mugs from above and placing them on the granite.

“Sorry if we woke you,” Harry says, watching as she pours his coffee before grabbing her tea bag and pouring the hot water from the steaming kettle into her matching mug. He thanks her quietly when she places his mug in front of him.

“Nonsense. I should have been up hours ago,” Natasha responds as she’s steeping her tea.

She watches him idly as he wraps his long fingers around the mug. Without thinking, her eyes drift down to his left hand, second spot in from his pinky finger. It’s bare, and she squints under her glasses to try and see a tan line in the place where a wedding band should be. Maybe he doesn’t wear it while he’s working, she thinks to herself.

Harry of course is watching her, and he doesn’t need to mimic her inquiries in order to make an educated guess that she is in fact single. The foyer is filled with women’s jackets and high heeled boots, and in the two weeks he’s been working on her office, there’s been no trace of a man coming and going.

He doesn’t say anything, though. Just continues to let her stare.

“Will you be here all day?” He asks finally, watching as her brown eyes dart up to his face. She doesn’t seem embarrassed that she’s been caught.

“Probably. The glory of my profession—I can permanently work from home,” she offers with a hint of amusement, and Harry laughs softly to fill the space.

“Well, I’ll make sure we stay out of your hair,” he says, taking a large gulp of his coffee and standing up from the chair.

Natasha just smiles. “Don’t worry about me.”

Harry smiles back. “Cheers for the coffee,” he says, grasping the white mug in his hands and exiting the kitchen before taking a right and following the hallway down into the office.

Natasha goes back upstairs and writes three more chapters. When she checks the time and realizes that it’s a little past noon, she goes downstairs and hears silence. She enters her kitchen and prepares a small salad, and when she finishes to clean her plate, she notices the white mug resting on the drying rack.

She smiles for what feels like the fifteenth time that day.

***

Natasha and Harry have fallen into the habit of having tea and coffee together each morning. She starts staying home to finish her book, ignoring Ellory’s questions on what suddenly has changed for her.

“Inspiration,” Natasha would respond, offering nothing else.

They don’t really talk about much, her and Harry. She tells him about her book and he tells her about his house that he’s almost finished renovating in Chiswick. He tells her that he grew up in Cheshire and she tells him that her family home is about a thirty minute drive away. They don’t talk about the reason why she’s remodeling the office or why Harry is the only thirty-two year old Natasha knows who isn’t engaged or married.

Harry estimates that the remodel should be finished in about a week’s time, and Natasha somehow feels a bit sad about that. At one point she schemes of a way to delay the remodel, to ensure that Harry will be around for a bit longer than seven days. But she knows she’s ridiculous. She knows he probably has way better things to do than hang around her house in Mayfair.

One afternoon after she’s finished writing chapter twenty-nine, she hears a loud bang from the room below her. Immediately she flies down the stairs, takes a sharp right, and enters the office with wide eyes. In front of her, the coffee table that was supposed to be where the seating area would be is in shambles. The glass covering has cracked, and she checks the white tarp for spots of blood.

Rory and Gareth, Harry’s workers, are swearing at each other. They obviously figured that the glass would stay intact from the shipment center they ordered it from, but when they opened the box, they found that it was in twelve different pieces. She notices Harry in the corner, frustratedly pulling at his hair.

“Everyone okay?” Natasha asks, mainly directing the question at Harry. She can sense his annoyance from the other side of the room.

“We’re alrigh’, Natasha. The fuckin’ idiots who packaged the table clearly did a terrible job at it! It’s fuckin’ fallin’ apart!” Rory says loudly, his voice getting louder with each curse that passes his lips.

“It’s fine, I’ll reorder another one. Just please be careful when removing the glass from the house, I don’t want anybody to get hurt,” Natasha orders, watching as Rory and Gareth reach into their back pockets to retrieve gloves. They start picking up the glass shards slowly, before placing them into the cardboard box.

Harry just watches her, feeling the frustradness leaving his body. She’s very gentle, and watches the guys like a hawk, ensuring that they don’t get injured. Before they’ve finished, Harry announces that they can go and take their lunch break. Rory and Gareth thank him repeatedly, announcing that they need a smoke after the table debacle.

“I made too much stir fry, if you’re hungry,” Natasha says once the boys have driven off to eat their lunch in the park.

“Starved,” Harry replies with a grin. He follows her down the hallway and into the kitchen, admiring her long legs under her leggings. The jumper she’s wearing is big and warm, and his eyes latch onto her right shoulder, watching as the fabric hangs revealing smooth white skin.

Natasha fills up two bowls and they sit at the breakfast nook on the far side of the kitchen near four windows. He watches as she slides her glasses up her forehead, resting them like a headband in her dark hair. He thinks she’s the prettiest girl he’s seen in a long time.

“How’s the book coming along?” He asks after a few bites.

“Surprisingly, not as terrible as I thought. I’m actually right on target to finish it on the deadline,” Natasha replies. And it’s true—she’s gotten more writing done in her busy townhouse than she ever did in Ellory’s home, hiding away from Maude in closets and unused bedrooms.

“That’s great. You didn’t want to wait until your office was finished?” Harry asks, and Natasha can almost feel the follow up question coming.

“Didn’t want to fall behind schedule,” she replies quietly, waiting for him to just say it.

“Why did you decide to do a full renovation right before your deadline, then?”

And there it is.

It’s not like she still cares for Will. Because those feelings for him have been left in the past. Although it took her a little while to fix her messy heart, the sudden news of his brand new proposal practically catapulted Natasha into officially feeling nothing for him. But, whenever she tells the story to somebody, she’s always hit with a pitiful look. Everyone always tells her the same things: I’m so sorry, and, I couldn’t imagine how I’d feel, and, you’ll find someone much better than him.

She didn’t want Harry to look at her that way. She didn’t want to hear her name fall from his lips at the end of one of those sentences.

“You’re asking a lot of questions,” Natasha says, deflecting.

Harry pauses, knowing.

“Didn’t mean to overstep,” Harry says, holding up his hands in surrender.

Natasha just shakes her head, takes another bite, and racks her brain for anything else to say to take the attention away from herself and her failing relationship.

“So, what about you? Where are you hiding the ring?” She asks, noticing the way Harry practically chokes on his chicken and rice.

“Sorry?” He’s completely confused.

“Your wedding ring. I assumed you didn’t work with it, which is smart, because it’ll practically get ruined with all the hammering and sawing you do. Plus, you’re always on the phone in hushed conversations, and Rory and Gareth are always talking about the pretty girl you never shut up about, so I assumed…” Natasha’s voice trails off as she notices the pained look fall across Harry’s face.

For the first time in a long time, she’s said too much.

“Why do you assume I’m married?” Is what Harry chooses to ask her.

She’s grown quiet, unsure of how to respond. “Well, you’re in your thirties. And you’ve recently renovated a home in Chiswick. Most people who live in Chiswick plan on having children to fill those rooms up.” Natasha suddenly starts wondering if her logic is flawed.

The pained expression on his face grows bigger, and she watches as he gently places his fork against the glass bowl, seemingly finished with his lunch.

“I was in a relationship. We were together for awhile, and I was planning on surprising her with the house in Chiswick because I was ready for the next step. She wasn’t. She left and I spent a year renovating a house that had three bedrooms next to a school by myself.” He stands up, walking halfway towards the door before turning around and looking at Natasha.

“Is that what you wanted to hear?” He says, anger radiating off of him.

Natasha isn’t sure how to respond.

“I—I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Harry says sadly, shaking his head and looking down at the tiled flooring. “You never bothered to ask.”

And with that, he walks out the front door and she can hear the tires of his car skid away.

Natasha spends the rest of the night holed up in her room, typing and retyping chapter thirty. It stays unfinished.

***

Three days goes by and Natasha feels absolutely horrible. She tries to avoid going downstairs as much as she can, because she knows the second she sees Harry’s face she’ll start feeling even worse. She sneaks out the front door when she knows they’re working in the back part of her house. Instead of going to Ellory’s, she walks and walks around London. She ignores her emails, ignores her book, and starts analyzing why she’s so messed up.

It was horrible of her to assume that Harry was married. He’s spent the past few weeks drinking coffee and chatting with her, and he was the closest thing she had to a friend in a long time. All of her other friends were Will’s friends, sans Ellory, so when they broke up and he left, they stopped inviting her around.

Harry was the first person who actually tried to get to know her. And Natasha kept continuously keeping him at arm’s length. She didn’t want him to ask the questions that everybody else asks, but thinking about it all now, she knows that Harry would never look at her the same way the rest of them did.

She was forced into a world she didn’t fit into. She was simply Natasha, a girl who loves to write, can sometimes forget to make her bed, and always puts too much sugar in her tea. She ignores her scary editor and she can only make stir fry and scrambled eggs, and she spent the last few years of her life feeling vastly insignificant compared to Will and his elitist friends. She shouldn’t have made assumptions about Harry, because that’s what people have been doing about her for the better part of her twenties.

There’s a reason why her writing increased tenfold when things were going well with Harry. He was kind and beautiful and inspired her, and now that things are shit, her writing has been horrible. She’s having trouble connecting words into sentences and she knows that’s because she needs to set things straight with Harry.

When she gets to her front door, she doesn’t even stop to pull it shut completely. She’s on a mission, her legs dragging her down the hallway before she can even peel her trainers off her feet. She enters the room without saying hello to Rory and Gareth—instead she eyes the curly headed boy in the corner, leveling shelves before she calls out his name.

She watches his body turn rigid. Rory and Gareth look between the two of them as if they know too much. They try and get back to work, but Natasha can feel their eyes on her. Harry lowers the leveler and looks at her with a blank look on his face.

“Can I talk to you, please?” She asks, and she’s pretty sure he only agrees because he can hear the desperation in her voice.

He follows her out into the back garden, past the tools and materials and into the verandah. Most of the time she sits here with a book and a warm mug of tea and forgets about the world for awhile. But now, she’s hyper aware of Harry’s eyes on her frame, and suddenly she feels much smaller than usual.

“I’m sorry,” she mutters, brown eyes meeting green.

“Natasha—”

“No let me finish.” Harry’s lips shut tight and he nods slowly, watching Natasha take a deep breath in and out.

“I was wrong. I shouldn’t have assumed anything about you. The reason I asked you to renovate my office was because it used to be my fiancé’s. It didn’t work out, it was all too much, and then a few months later he was engaged to someone else.” She pauses, waiting for the look of pity, the awkward apology, the acknowledgement of her sadness.

Instead, his eyes are focused on hers. And she continues.

“I wasted too much time with him. He made me out to be this person I wasn’t, and whenever I was with him, I felt inferior. It felt like I had to dim my shine so he could glow the brightest for the both of us. I was so stupid, ya know?”

Harry doesn’t answer, and she doesn’t expect him to.

“I chose this house. Our agreement was that he got the office. But when he left, it took me a while to figure myself out. And then when I heard he was getting married, I changed everything back to the way I wanted. I got new linens. I bought new mugs. The last thing was the office.” Her eyes are downcast, staring at her Nike’s. She knows that Harry probably wasn’t expecting her to unload all of this on her, but she needed to do it.

Suddenly, she sees the toes of his leather work boots touching her black trainers. Her eyes shoot up and Harry is standing right in front of her, closer than ever before, and he’s looking at her so intensely and she feels warm all over.

“Thank you for telling me that,” he says so softly that Natasha has to lean in to hear him.

“I, uh—you’re welcome. I should’ve told you that a few days ago, to be fair,” Natasha replies, her cheeks feeling flushed.

Before he can say another word, or possibly step a few inches closer so their lips are touching, Gareth calls out Harry’s name and she can almost hear the whine lodged in his throat. He looks as if he doesn’t want to leave, as if he’s anchored down to the flooring of the verandah, but Gareth calls out again and Natasha just tells him that he should go, and their warm bubble is suddenly popped.

That night, Natasha writes three more chapters and has the best sleep of her life.

***

Before Natasha can even comprehend, it’s the last day of the remodel. When she wakes up, Harry is waiting for her by the foyer like usual. She makes him his black coffee and she drinks her tea, and just before they part ways until the afternoon for lunch, Harry asks her if she could step out for the day until they were completely finished.

“Are you hiding something from me?” Natasha asks, cocking her head to the side and trying to persuade Harry into telling her. She hates surprises, and was never fond of them growing up. So whatever Harry had up his sleeve, she wanted to know.

He just gives her that grin of hers she’s grown to love. “No more questions. I’ll see you at five.” And with that, he places his hand on her lower back and shoves her gently towards the stairs.

“You’re infuriating,” Natasha says, lying through her teeth.

“And no peeking on your way out!” Harry shouts from the back of her house.

Natasha begrudgingly obliges, deciding to spend the rest of her day at Ellory’s house with Maude. For the first time in a while, she goes over without her laptop. Instead, she brings a children’s book for Maude, and the three of them spend the afternoon playing games and running around. When Maude goes down for a nap and it’s just Ellory and Natasha lounging on the sofa, Ellory finally acknowledges her good mood.

“What’s got your spirits so high? Or should I dare say, who?” Natasha just laughs, shaking her head to try and distract from the growing redness creeping up her neck and settling on her cheeks.

“It’s nothing, El. For once, I’m just letting things happen without planning beforehand,” Natasha explains, this time actually believing herself.

“Well, I for one am excited,” Ellory says, grabbing her best friend’s hand and giving it a tight squeeze. No matter what happens in Natasha’s life, she’s always been grateful for Ellory’s love and support. And sometimes, that’s all you can ask for.

With four creeping up, Natasha starts getting anxious. Maude overheard Ellory and Natasha talking about the renovation, and she can sense her mother’s excitement in the air. She starts begging Natasha to let them come see it with her.

“Of course, Maude. You’re always welcome at my house.” Maude grins and wraps her arms around Natasha’s neck, and just like that, she feels her anxiousness settle.

Ellory wraps Maude up in a trench coat, and the three of them tread over towards Natasha’s townhouse. Natasha keeps clicking the lock screen on to check the time every thirty seconds, and Ellory just stays quiet, eyeing her best friend suspiciously. Maude is positioned between the two, her small hands grasping one of Ellory’s and Natasha’s.

When they reach the front door, Rory and Gareth are settling into the white Styles & Co. van on the street. Natasha walks up to the window, knocks gently, and waits for Rory to push the button to lower it.

“Miss Natasha,” Rory says with a smile. Natasha grins back, and there’s no denying that she’s grown fond of these two men the past two weeks.

“I guess this is it, boys,” she says sadly, watching as Gareth gives her a knowing look.

“I’m sure you’ll see us around, lass.” Natasha just rolls her eyes, because of course they know that she’s grown extra fond of their boss. They have been watching them for weeks now, laughing to themselves and saying more with just looks between the two of them than words ever could.

“Thanks again for everything,” Natasha says sincerely.

Rory just grins, reaching out and giving her forearm a squeeze. Words aren’t needed.

“Auntie Tasha, come on! Let’s go see!” Maude calls out impatiently from the front steps. Ellory is still holding onto her hand, but her eyes are on Natasha with an amused look.

Natasha walks by them and reaches for the door, feeling Maude wrap her tiny arms around her left leg. She grins down at the toddler before grabbing her hand and dragging her into the foyer, discarding her coat and boots at the door.

“Five on the dot,” Natasha hears from down the hallway. She starts to smile immediately, hearing Maude ask Ellory in the background who that voice was. Ellory looks just as confused as her daughter, and suddenly, Harry is in front of them.

He’s wearing dark jeans and a light patterned button down shirt, opened enough so that Natasha can see his thin white tank top underneath. For the first time since knowing him, he’s wearing Chelsea boots instead of his work boots. He looks even more handsome dressed up, and Natasha can’t help but blush when looking at him.

“Who’s this?” Ellory asks, although she can already tell that this is the boy who’s made her best friend unequivocally happy these past few weeks. Harry extends a hand in greeting, and Ellory looks at Natasha with a smirk on her face.

Maude is hiding behind Natasha’s leg, hand still wrapped around her kneecap.

“Maude, do you want to say hello to my friend?” Natasha whispers, watching as Maude’s big blue eyes look up at her, then over to Harry, then back to her.

She nods before walking in front of Natasha. Harry crouches down so he’s eye level with Maude, and Natasha can’t help but feel the swell in her heart.

“Hi there, I’m Harry,” he says, gently sticking his hand out to shake.

Maude wraps two of her hands around one of his, shaking it up and down a few times until she giggles quietly. “Hi Hawwy. I’m Maude.”

“That’s a pretty name. How old are you?” he asks, grinning when her personality starts to shine through in front of him.

“Fwee! Auntie Tasha says I’m the best fwee year old she’s met,” Maude announces, and Natasha grins down as Harry’s green eyes meet hers.

“I’m sure your Auntie Tasha is right.”

Maude begins to babble and Ellory reaches out to grab her hand, shushing her so that Harry can show them the office. He leads the way, and Natasha starts feeling butterflies flutter in the pits of her stomach. She’s not sure if it’s from Harry or the office or both, but she can practically hear her heartbeat in her ears.

Just before the office comes into view, Harry stops short and Natasha almost runs right into his back.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Harry starts, “but I found some boxes in the storage room and I figured an author should have a library so, I sort of took the liberty of making you your own bookshelf.” He looked bashful, but curiosity was eating her alive, because she knows exactly what boxes Harry’s talking about.

They were the culmination of her favorite books since she was a child. Collecting books was what made her want to write her own, and her tiny flat in the middle of London was filled to the brim with them. But when she moved into the Mayfair house with Will, he only offered her the bookshelf near the kitchen nook that only held about fifteen novels. She had kept the rest stowed away in the storage room, allowing them to fill with dust, unused.

When Natasha steps around Harry and the office comes into light, she’s floored. Her hand shoots up to her mouth in awe, and she can practically hear her heart beating out of her chest.

The original brick flooring that Will had covered up in favor of a more traditional hardwood look was finally given the light of day. Surrounding the wooden door on each side was an archway of bookshelves, curving around the door. It had seven shelves on each side with an eighth over top in the middle, each filled to the brim with all of Natasha’s books.

“Harry…” Natasha is not one for stunned silence, so this is a first for her.

Harry looks sheepish as Maude ogles at the sheer amount of books. “Mummy, is this every book in the world?”

“In Natasha’s world, my love,” Ellory responds quietly, watching her best friend in awe.

Natasha walks through the door and the room is lighter than anywhere else in the house. It reminds her of the verandah in the back garden that she’s grown to love, filled with white wood and green plants. The coffee table has new glass, the love seat and matching chairs are tan and pale yellow respectively. Her actual office desk is white and vast and exceptional. Her laptop and desktop are placed up top, with her best selling books framed on the side. A giant blush pink office chair sits on wheels with her favorite bay window behind her.

She’s absolutely floored. Maude being the toddler that she is runs straight into the room, gasping at everything in awe. She tries to climb on the desk chair and Natasha can see Ellory begin to scold her daughter, but all she can think about is Harry.

Harry.

She turns around and he’s right where she’s left him. His bashfulness has grown to sheepish, and with one enormous grin, she runs towards him and engulfs him in the biggest hug she could muster.

He leans back, surprised at the gesture, but then his strong arms snake around her back and settle on her tailbone. Her arms are locked around his neck, and she can feel him bend down and breathe into the crook of her neck.

“I don’t know what to say other than thank you,” she whispers, her lips falling over the swallows tattooed under his collarbone due to their height difference.

“You’re welcome, Natasha.” There’s her name again, falling beautifully past his lips. She removes her hands from his neck and leans back so she can look into his deep green eyes. They’re standing close to each other again, just like they were in the verandah, but this time they both have no desire to let go.

“The bookshelf—I just. It means so much to me. I don’t know how to repay you,” Natasha says breathlessly.

Harry just smiles softly. “You deserve it, Natasha. You don’t have to repay me. I wanted to do this for you.”

Before she could react, Maude suddenly appears below them, her tiny fist tugging at the bottom of Harry’s jeans.

“Do you think you could make me a bookshelf, Hawwy?” Maude asks shyly.

Natasha looks at Ellory, and for the first time in five years she actually feels something. She feels excited, she feels hopeful, she feels as if everything is starting to make sense to her. And Ellory knows this, and she looks at her best friend with the warmest smile she could muster.

Harry is crouched down in front of Maude. “Of course I can. Whatever you want.”

Harry looks up and Natasha is giving her a look that he hasn’t seen before. He can feel Maude giggle excitedly in front of him, her little hands leaning on his thighs, but all he can think about is Natasha and her brown eyes.

“Stop looking at me like that,” he jokes, standing up and wrapping his arms around her body again.

“I can’t help it, I’m just really happy,” Natasha replies, feeling the light inside of her burn brighter than ever before.

And for the first time in a long time, Harry can feel it too, and together they shine brighter than the sun.

[calpalirwin]

Package Deal

Summary: Ashton starts dating a single mom

A/N: Originally this was a request I made to @talkfastromance4​, but after her full blessing, I’m writing it now. Thank you so much Hailey! I hope we can collab Luke & Lily with Ash & Mase sometime!

Word Count: 5.2k

And away, and away we go!

__

Finn and Vanessa had been excited to become parents. It wasn’t how they expected to start their lives together straight out of college, but they were excited nonetheless. They had spent their four years of dating talking about this exact moment, and now here they were, welcoming their son, Mason Nicholas, into the world.

While Finn reveled in all the things he would be able to teach his son, Vanessa became almost obsessive, worrying herself over every development milestone.

“He’s not babbling, Finn. Mase should be babbling…” she would stress.

“Maybe he just doesn’t have much to say,” Finn would reassure her. “Huh? Just not the talkative type, ain’t ya bud?” he’d coo at Mason. And when Mason would smile back, Finn would turn to her in triumph, “See? He’s fine, Nessa. You’re worrying too much.”

“Finn, I’m scared,” she told him in a broken whisper months later when Mason still seemed to show no interest in babbling no matter how many books they read to him, or how often she sang.

“Me too,” he had confessed, holding her close. “We’ll see what his doctor says, okay?”

It was a long, grueling year, filled with more tests than they could count, and a lot more could-be’s than actual answers.

While Vanessa threw herself into any research she could get her hands on, Finn retreated into himself. The overly affectionate couple from their past transformed into a mom fighting for her son, and a dad with an ache in his heart that grew bigger and bigger as Mason grew older and still didn’t say a single word.

“Get dressed,” Finn announced one evening shortly after Mason’s second birthday.

“Why? What’s going on?” Vanessa asked, looking up from where she sat, children’s books scattered about the living room floor, Mason’s eyes glued to the cartoon playing on the television.

“When’s the last time we went on a date?” Finn asked, already headed to the bedroom to change out of his work clothes.

“A date?” she asked, and was immediately ashamed of the hope in her voice. 

“Yes, a date. My mom offered to watch Mase overnight at her place. Just one night, Nessa. Please?”

Clothes were changed, and a bag was quickly packed for Mason to spend the night at his grandma’s.

“This is actually really nice. Thank you,” Vanessa told Finn, smiling softly at him from across the table.

He returned the soft smile, reaching out to squeeze her hand. Then, he swallowed thickly and sniffed back the tear about to slide down his cheek. “Ness, I-”

Her heart cracked in her chest at the defeated look in his eyes. She nodded slowly. “I know,” she whispered, nodding again. “In taking care of Mase, we lost each other.”

“I didn’t mean for it to happen… Nessa, I’m so sorry. But, this is just really hard. I can either be a dad to Mase, or I can be a partner to you. And…”

“And Mase needs you more than I do,” she finished for him, her voice choked.

“Nessa, I’m so sorry…” he repeated, not bothering to brush away the tears on his face this time. “I love you. Please know that.”

She squeezed his fingers. “I know. I love you, too. But it’s like you said, Mase needs us more than we need each other right now. You can have Mase whatever days you want, and we can all move out of the apartment so nobody has to feel like they left.”

“No,” Finn cut her off. “We can’t give up the apartment. There’s one for rent down the hall from us. I’ll get it and we can just switch off living with Mase. It’s gonna be hard enough on him with us switching back and forth, we don’t need to make it harder by putting him in an entirely new environment.”

“You’re right,” she sniffled. Then, “Finn?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we still pretend we’re in love with each other? At least until tomorrow?”

~~~

The one bedroom apartment was lonely, and even though Vanessa knew she could go down the hall to her normal home and be with Mason like she wanted, it hurt too much to know that her time with him was now split evenly with Finn. Finn had been right though. Without the stress of trying to maintain their own relationship, they were both able to give much more to their non-verbal son. It was actually shocking how the toddler- who shrieked bloody murder every time there was the slightest change to his sense of normal- adjusted to his parents flip-flopping every week to be with him. Maybe it was true what they said about children feeding off the stress of their parents.

While her job kept Vanessa busy enough during the weekdays Mason was in Finn’s care, it was the weekends that dragged on endlessly. She knew in time it would hurt less. She also knew that they were doing right by their son with their decision to break up, because the pain in Vanessa's chest was from being away from Mason, not Finn.

It was only the beginning of her second week in the quiet apartment. After a night she was sure she spent more time staring up at the ceiling than actually sleeping, she rolled over on her side and checked the time on her phone. It was a little after seven in the morning. Last week at this time she had been making Mason pancakes, chatting up a storm with the little boy, and hoping like always to get a response. All she had gotten was him pointing at the bag of chocolate chips on the counter before holding out his hand expectantly.

She smiled warmly at the memory as she got up out of bed, fueled by a desire to do something, anything. And that’s how a half hour later, she found herself at a small coffee shop a few blocks down the road.

The barista called out her order and as she got up from her seat to go get it, she collided with a body. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Vanessa rushed the apology as she stumbled back a step.

“Whoa,” the person said, wrapping a hand around her arm to keep her steady. “You alright?”

She looked up at the stranger with his slicked back hair and eyes like green tea and honey. “Sorry,” she apologized again, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. “I should’ve watched where I was going. I didn’t spill your drink, did I?”

The man looked over at the drink in his hand that wasn’t still holding onto her arm. The coffee inside swirled slowly before settling, and there was a darker spot on his black shirt from the cup pressing into him. “Nah, we’re all good. I’m Ashton, by the way.”

“Vanessa,” she told him.

“Vanessa,” he repeated, and she felt something flutter within her at the way her name sounded on his lips. “I think your drink’s ready.”

“Yeah,” she stammered, stepping to the side to go around him. “Yeah, I’m just gonna, thank you,” she told the barista as she grabbed her cup. “Again. So sorry,” she told Ashton as she stepped back past him on her way to her seat.

Ashton chuckled, watching as the woman sat down and took a hearty sip of her coffee. “Mind if I sit with you? Everywhere else is full.” He gestured about the basically empty cafe.

Her cheeks flushed more at his lie, both flattered that he wanted to share a table with her and also conflicted by his affection. It felt wrong somehow to be viewed as a potentially romantic interest, if that was how Ashton was viewing her anyway. Because it was possible that her assumption was wrong; that Ashton could just be the friendly sort. But, she was short on both romantic interests and friends at the moment. And she had knocked his coffee into his chest. It’d be impolite if she told him no. “Sure, go right ahead,” she told him, moving her laptop to the side.

“Working on the weekend, huh? Catching up, or getting ahead?” he asked as he turned the chair around so he was straddled around the seat, his arms crossing over the back of the chair.

“Oh, no. Not really.” Vanessa closed her computer. “Just personal research.”

“Mmm,” he nodded. “Mysterious girl doing mysterious research. Should I be worried?” The flecks of green and gold danced playfully in his eyes. 

Vanessa laughed. “No? Because I’m not mysterious, nor is my research.”

“Said the mysterious girl hiding with mysterious research.”

“What makes you think I’m so mysterious?”

“The fact that I come to this coffee shop damn near every morning at this time, and I’ve never seen you here once.”

“That doesn’t make me mysterious, it just means I don’t have the luxury you seem to have.”

“Well, you seem to have the luxury today.”

“Lucky me,” she sighed into her cup.

“Aw, don’t sound so down about it, Vanessa.” He frowned momentarily as she thought she’d never seen something more tragic on such a beautiful face. “You had the sense to start a good day nice and early. Make the most of it.” The frown was replaced by a content smile that showed off dimples in his cheeks.

“Gonna certainly try,” she told him, offering forth a tight-lipped smile. As much as she appreciated Ashton’s kindness towards her, and the way it evoked a feeling in her she hadn’t felt in longer than she realized, her heart still ached for the way she would much rather be spending her day.

“Alright,” he conceded, holding up his hands. “You don’t have to bare your soul to me. Fair enough. We can just be two strangers sharing a table while they enjoy a good cup of coffee.”

Despite the softness in his eyes and smile as he wrapped his lips around his straw, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d offended him by being so “mysterious” as Ashton had put it. “Sorry, I’m being rude, I know. I just… don’t do this, I guess?”

“Get coffee, or flirt with cute strangers?”

“Oh, we’re flirting?” She wasn’t sure which surprised her more. That he willingly admitted that they were flirting and she hadn’t misread the conversation, or that he had called her cute in the process.

He chuckled, giggled really, and he rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. “Was trying to anyway…”

“Sorry,” she apologized for what felt like the millionth time. “Like I said, I don’t do this.”

“Boyfriend?” Ashton guessed. “In which case, it’s me who should be apologizing. I’ll, uh…” His fingers tapped against the seat as he moved to stand up.

“No,” she shook her head. “No boyfriend. It’s, uh… a bit more complicated than that.”

He sat back down in the chair. “More complicated than not having a boyfriend?” His eyebrows quirked in question, his lips quivering with held back amusement. What could complicate him possibly standing a chance with this woman? “Girlfriend?” he tried again.

She laughed, a small nervous sound, and Ashton felt his heart jump at the sound. “Nope. Definitely single. Complicatedly so.” Her eyes darted around them. “I’m not keeping you, am I?”

He shook his head, a shock of his red hair falling into his eyes. She fought the urge to reach out and slick it back into place for him. “Nah. So, what’s this complication? If you don’t mind me asking.”

She pushed a hand through her hair, deciding to just cut straight to the point. Ashton seemed like a nice enough guy to be choosing to spend his morning with her when they didn’t know a thing about each other. And it was better to let him make his choice with all the facts at hand, rather than risk potentially spending more time together and getting more invested than just a schoolgirl stomach flutter. “I have a son. He’s two.”

“Oh… and the dad? Is he…?”

“Finn’s in the picture, yeah. But we just broke up about a month ago.”

“Shit, I’m sorry to hear that. That’s gotta be rough. Is that what the research is? Tips on how to co-parent after a breakup?”

“A little bit yeah. But it’s mostly new studies about nonverbal communication. Mason, my son, doesn’t talk.”

“Oh, shit…”

“Yeah… so that’s the mystery girl with her mysterious research for ya.” She took a last sip of her coffee before grabbing her laptop and placing it in her bag. “Well, thank you. For listening I guess. That’s very kind of you,” she started to say goodbye.

“Off so soon?” Ashton asked, standing up when she did.

Vanessa fiddled with the strap of her bag, not meeting his eyes. “I- Look, you seem really nice. And it really was sweet of you to sit down and have a conversation with me. It’s been awhile since I’ve had time to be Vanessa, not Mason’s mom. But, that’s my reality. I am Mason’s mom. And right now, that person is trying to adjust to living down the hall from him every other week, so he doesn’t have to adjust to having a second home on top of his parents splitting up. And yeah, sure, one of these days I’ll figure it out. I’ll learn how to balance being a mom to a kid with special needs while also being a woman with needs of her own. But today’s not that day. And I certainly don’t expect anything from you based on a single twenty-minute conversation, no matter how handsome I do find you to be.”

“Wow… rejected before I can even ask…”

“I’m not rejecting you, Ashton. I’m saving you from the mess of the woman that I am.”

“Maybe I don’t want to be saved. Maybe I like messes. Did you think about that while you decided our entire future in 30 seconds?”

“I-” she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and taking a slow, steady breath.

“Look. I’m here every morning for the most part at about this time. I’m not saying we have to go out on a date. I’m not saying you have to introduce me to your son. I’m just saying that what you’re going through doesn’t make me want to get to know you any less.”

For the rest of the week, before heading into work, she made a pit stop at the little cafe three blocks for her apartment complex. And every time, Ashton was already waiting for her.

On Saturday, he even had her drink waiting with him. “You didn’t have to do that,” she smiled, greeting him with a hug.

“Yeah, but it was worth it to see that smile of yours,” he replied as they took their seats. “So, you get to see Mason today, right?”

She smiled bigger as she nodded. “Yeah, Finn and I switch off on Saturdays after we all go out to eat.”

“Oh, you guys all have a family dinner? That’s nice.”

“Yeah. It’s a way for us to touch base with each other about what the week was like. We do daily check ins too, but that’s mostly just a quick text that things are going okay.”

“That’s really good. I mean, I’m not a parent, so I don’t know what that dynamic must be like. But it seems like you guys got a healthy system.”

“Yeah. I mean, we’re not perfect by any means. We lose our temper with each other, and with Mase. But ultimately we’re both just trying our best for our son, and that’s all I could ever ask from Finn. I don’t need to have a romantic relationship with him, I need one that works. And right now, this is what works.”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever actually said it, or just thought it a lot. But you, Nessa, blow me away with the strength you possess. I may not actually know Finn or Mason, and I know I still have a lot to learn about you too. But I also know that they are lucky to have you.”

She blushed at the compliment, muttering a small, “Thanks.” Then, “I know I was skeptical at first, but I’ve really come to enjoy having coffee with you. I’m actually gonna miss it this coming week.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll still be around in a week. I’m not going anywhere for awhile.”

“Right,” she teased. “The famous drummer who decided to use his break between tours to slum it with the single mom. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”

He laughed. “1.) I’m hardly famous. 2.) I’m not slumming it with a single mom, I’m trying to date a woman I’m interested in trying to date.”

“Well, 1.) you show up Google and have paparazzi follow you around, so definitely famous. And 2.) I still think you’re crazy for trying.”

“But…” he pressed. 

“But, I’m glad you’re trying. And I’m hoping that a week apart doesn’t make you come to your senses, because I really have enjoyed spending time with you.”

“Well, here,” he said, pulling out his phone and unlocking it. “Put your number in.” He slid it across the table to her. She quickly did so before placing it back in his hand. The keys made the clacking sound before making the little whoosh of him hitting send on whatever he had typed. Then, her phone pinged in her purse. “There,” he grinned. “Now we can Facetime our coffee mornings instead.”

~~~

“So, how was everything?” Vanessa asked as she slid into the booth across from Finn and Mason. 

“His new color is yellow,” Finn answered with a wry smile. “Went through all the macaroni.”

“There were like 10 boxes…”

“I know… I bought more when we went to the store this morning.”

“Yeah?” she asked, looking at Mason with pizza sauce smeared on his cheeks. “Did you go to the store with Daddy, Mase? How’d that go?”

“Not too bad. I told him all week that on Saturday we were gonna go shopping, then we’d go to the park before seeing Momma.”

“No fits?”

“Besides him screaming about not being put in the seat of the shopping cart, no. Pretty quiet. How was your week?”

“Pretty quiet.”

“Yeah,” Finn agreed sadly. “It’s an adjustment. But we’re doing the right thing for him, right?”

“Of course,” Vanessa replied. “Finn?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you miss me?”

He thought about it for a beat before shaking his head. “No,” he confessed. “God, that’s so fucked… After 4 years and a kid, you think I would, right? That I’d miss you. That this should hurt. But I don’t, and it doesn’t. Do you miss me?”

She chuckled a sad, defeated half laugh. “No. The only part of this that hurts is being away from Mase.”

“Yeah…”

Later that night, after putting Mason to bed, Vanessa rummaged around in the cupboard under the bathroom sink for a new roll of toilet paper, knocking over a box of tampons in the process. Her movements stilled as her eyes went wide. How long had it been since she had last reached for that box? Too long. “Shit…” she cursed under her breath. She straightened up and reached for her phone, opening her period tracker app. “Fuck…” she swore again as the little blood droplet happily reminded her to input the start of her period because she was two weeks late.

~~~

It was a slow week of trying to figure out to break the news to Finn that she was pregnant again. A dilemma heightened with every Facetime session with Ashton in the morning for coffee, because Vanessa knew that she would have to tell him too. She hadn’t even told Finn that she was seeing Ashton, because it was all so new and she didn’t want to jinx anything.

If Ashton picked up on how she seemed to be more in her head than normal, he made no comment, instead distracting her with funny stories from the latest studio session he had with his bandmates. Like how Luke, their lead singer, had ended up having dinner with his girlfriend’s daughter’s dad and someone had mistaken him and Cory for a gay couple. 

She laughed at the story, but it didn’t have the fullness to it he remembered. “You okay?” Ashton asked her. 

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m good,” she smiled into the camera, and again he took notice of the ways her eyes didn’t crinkle in the corners.

“So what’s on the agenda today before you meet up with Finn?”

“Grocery shopping, and then the park. Mase?” She flickered her eyes over to the toddler sitting in his chair at the table with his plate of scrambled eggs that had thankfully ended up mostly in his mouth than on the table and floor. “Finished?” she asked, pretending to dust her off her hands.

Mason pushed his plate away and copied her hand movements. All done.

“Okay. Shoes,” she said, pointing at her feet first and then his.

He lifted his feet to show her he had on socks.

“To put on over your socks. Can’t go shopping in socks, Mase.”

No.

“Yes. No shopping in socks. Need shoes. Can you please go find some?”

No! The movement was followed by a throaty whine. 

“Mason Nicholas,” she warned. “If we can’t go shopping, then we can’t go to the park.”

“You know the drummer in Pink Floyd was named Nick Mason. Was that intentional, or just random happenstance?” Ashton’s voice asked from the phone. 

“Intentional. Good catch.” The throaty whine in Mason’s throat grew in volume. “I know, Mase, but you need shoes to go outside. I’ll help you, okay? Do you want me to help?”

The little boy folded his arms over his chest, and titled his head back, screeching loudly in anger.

Vanessa winced at the sound. “Duty calls. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Ashton giggled. “Yep. I’ll be here. Bye, Mase!”

Vanessa smiled gratefully at Ashton’s face before hitting the button to end the call. “Okay, you,” she said, turning to Mason. “Do you want to go to the park?”

Mason’s wail cut off at the word “park,” and he pointed tearfully out their kitchen window. Outside?

“Yes. We’ll go to the park after we go shopping. But you need shoes. Can you show me where your shoes are?”

The boy climbed down from his seat before toddling over to the shoe rack beside the front door. He reached for his pair of navy rain boots decorated with green and yellow dinosaurs, and jumped like he was pretending to splash in a puddle. 

“You can wear those,” she told him. “But look,” she pointed out the living room window. “No rain. No puddles.”

He pouted and jumped again.

“Yes, we can still jump.”

He pointed at her own pair of rain boots and then at her feet.

“Okay. Momma will wear her rain boots, too.”

He jumped for a third time.

~~~

“Rain boots, huh?” Finn asked with an amused look as he looked at Mason and Vanessa’s feet as she helped Mason out of the car.

“Yes, because he wants to jump, and these are his jumping shoes.”

“Is that so?” he smiled down at Mason, pulling his hand back right before he went to ruffle at the boy’s hair. “Mase? Hi-five?” Finn laid his hand out palm up.

Mason jumped and then pointed at his dad. Your turn. 

Finn bounced up on the balls of his feet.

Mason pointed again, this time at his dad’s sneakers, then at his and Vanessa’s boots. He grumbled.

“Tomorrow,” Finn promised his son. “Jumping shoes tomorrow. C’mon, let’s go eat. Hungry?” He brought his hand to his lips, signing “eat.”

The two year old nodding, repeating the action. Eat. Yes.

“So, beyond jumping now, anything new I should know about?” Finn asked Vanessa as they walked into the pizza parlor. 

“Not with Mase. Still on his only eating yellow foods streak. Only apparently bananas don’t count because it’s not the same yellow that is on the inside like it is on the outside.”

Finn laughed. “Yep. Had that fight too. Wait… is something new with you?”

“Yeah… um, last week when you had Mase, I started to go to this coffee shop on the corner of Fifth. And there was a guy there, Ashton. And we’re sort of seeing each other.”

“Oh. That’s… that’s great, Nessa. Why didn’t you tell me last week?”

“It’s still really new. Like we’re just talking. He knows about Mase and us, so we’re just seeing where things go. We’re not like official or anything. We haven’t even been on like a real date.”

“But that’s still good. Just because it didn’t work with us, doesn’t mean I don’t want you to try, and be happy with someone else. Do you like him?”

“Yeah. I really do. He’s really sweet. I think you and him would get along. But, I don’t think it’s gonna work out.”

“Why? It sounds like things are going pretty good? Why wouldn’t it work out?”

“I’m pregnant…”

“Oh, shit… have you guys…?”

She gave a fast shake of her head. “No. We haven’t even kissed.”

“So, it’s mine?” Finn gulped. 

Vanessa nodded, her bottom lip quivering. She blinked rapidly to keep the tears in.

“Fuck…” Finn sat back against the booth, looking over at Mason. “I’m barely getting this right, and now there’s gonna be another one?” He wiped a hand down his face. “Oh, fuck…”

“Uh-huh,” she nodded, biting down to stop her lip from quivering. “I’m scared, Finn. I know we used to talk about having kids in the plural sense, but… this wasn’t how I pictured it happening. Like, not even close. And what am I gonna do about Ashton? Being okay with starting a relationship with a single mom is one thing. But a single mom who’s pregnant with her ex’s kid? Like there’s a line of acceptability, and we are so far over that line!”

“Whoa…” Finn’s hands grabbed at hers as she spiraled. “Look, you have me, okay? You’re not gonna do this alone. I’m here every step of the way. I’m still gonna keep being the best dad I can be to both our kids. And if this is all too much for Ashton, then he’s an idiot because he’d be walking away from a goddamn super hero of a woman.”

“Thanks, Finn,” she told him with a watery smile.

~~~

Vanessa awoke early the next morning, a churning in her stomach. It was a different churning than the one she had the last time she woke up in the empty apartment two weeks ago. This wasn’t a not- knowing-what-to-do-with- herself churning. It was a not-knowing-how-Ashton-would-react churning.

But she got ready anyway, and went over to the coffee shop. And despite the churning, she still felt a flutter when she found Ashton already sitting at their table with 2 coffees. “Hey!” he greeted, giving her a warm hug hello. “Gotta say, as much as I liked our Facetimes, I missed seeing you in person.”

“Yeah, me too.” She smiled softly as she stepped out of his embrace and sat down. “You know, if you keep buying my coffee, I’m gonna change my schedule so I beat you here.”

Ashton laughed. “Well, I’ll just get here even earlier then. See, I’m trying not to push my luck by asking you out on a real date, so this is the next best thing I got.”

“What makes you so sure I’d say no to a real date?”

“The fact that you can’t let me buy you a simple coffee. How the hell am I gonna get you to let me take you out for a full meal?”

“Asking me would be a good start.”

Ashton laughed again. “Alright. How’s Friday sound?”

She swallowed, watching the way he leaned on the table towards her, a shock of his slicked back hair threatening to fall forward in his gorgeous eyes. “I don’t know if we’ll make it to Friday…” she whispered.

Ashton’s eyebrows furrowed together in concerned confusion. “Why won’t we make it to Friday? We could go tonight if that’s better for you.”

“No, Friday’s fine. It’s just um… okay, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just gonna say it.”

Ashton pursed his lips together and sat back. “You’d rather we just be friends. Okay… that’s fine. No harm, no foul, right? We can dial it back and be friends.”

“No, it’s not that. I really do like you. It’s just… I’m pregnant.”

“Whoa… that was… not what I was expecting. I’m assuming it’s Finn’s?”

“Yeah. So, if you want to take back your date offer, I won’t blame you. Hell if you left right now, I’d get it.”

“Why would I take back my offer?”

“Because I’m pregnant with my ex’s child, and we’ve only been seeing each other two weeks. I like you. I like seeing you. But this isn’t your life, Ashton. You don’t have to keep seeing me if this is all too much for you.”

“Are you getting back with Finn?”

“No… I mean, he’s going to be involved, but no, we’re not getting back together.”

“Well, I’d hope he’d be involved. So, how’s 7 sound?”

“How does 7 sound for what?”

“For our date on Friday.”

“You still want to go out? I- I don’t understand.”

“What don’t you understand? Did you think this would be a deal breaker for me?”

“I mean…” she stammered. 

He leaned forward again, “I get that your life is crazy. My life’s crazy, too. Crazy doesn’t scare me. I like crazy. I like you, Nessa. I’m not sure how much clearer I can make that.”

“I like you too,” she confessed, leaning in to meet him halfway. Her eyes fluttered shut as he pressed his lips against hers. Flutters erupted inside both of them and he was about to deepen the kiss when her phone rang, making them jump apart. “Oh, my God, I’m so sorry.” She blushed as she dug around her purse for her phone. “Finn?” she asked in confusion as she answered. “Is everything alright?”

“MASON CALLED ME ‘DADDY’!” Finn whooped in glee. 

She held her hand out away from her ear as Finn broke into happy laughter. “He actually said it?!” she asked, matching his enthusiasm. “Like he actually said the word?”

“YEAH! Oh, my God, Nessa! Our boy talked! C’mon, Mase! Tell Momma what you said.! Who am I?!”

“Daddy,” she heard Mason say slowly.

“OH, MY GOD! I’m coming home. I’ll be right there.”

“Yeah, we’ll see you in a bit! That’s my boy, Mase!”

She hung up, throwing her phone in her bag and rushing to her feet.

“Is everything okay?” Ashton asked, a thumb reaching out to brush away the tears on her face. 

“Mason called Finn ‘daddy.’ He talked, Ash! Mase talked! I- I gotta go!”

Ashton laughed, wrapping her tightly in a hug. “Oh, that’s great! Go. Go be with Mase.”

She smashed a bruising kiss on his lips. “I’ll call you,” she promised.

“Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.” He watched Vanessa take off running out of the shop, chuckling softly to himself. She made it very hard to not be totally smitten.

__

Tag List

@frontmanash​​ @goeatsomelife​​ @flameraine​​ @creator-appreciator​​ @cxddlyash​​ @1-irwin-94​​ @sparkling-calm​​ @tea4sykes​​ @youngblood199456​​ @5-seconds-of-obsession​​ @gosh-im-short​​ @aquarius-hood1996​​ @talkfastromance4​​ @itjustkindahappenedreally​​ @philthepegacorn​​ @boomerash​​ @teenwolfss24​​

[ooohyou]

Submitted to r/nosleep by u/NemesisLuce

Please support the original author.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. Cute little bookstore in a quaint little town. I love helping customers find the right book for their mood. I love showing cute children’s books to curious kids. I love talking with sales reps and figuring out exactly which new releases to order from them.

I also fucking hate my job.

It was ten minutes past closing time, and I had my brightest, fakest smile on while trying to get the last customer out of my store. No sir, I cannot look up a book on the computer if all you know is the cover was red when you saw a poster for it 5 years ago. No sir, “I think it was about the cold war and a detective who drank too much but maybe it was something else” does not help me at all. Look sir, all my historical thrillers are on this shelf. Does anything ring a bell? No? Was it made into a movie? You don’t know? Oooookaaaay then, I’m sorry to inform you that we are already past closing time, here’s the store number, if you remember the title give us a call and we’ll order it for you if it’s still available. Thank you, good evening to you too sir, goodbye. Yes you have your umbrella, it’s right here in your hand sir. Okay bye bye.

I sighed and gave my cashier the biggest eyeroll I could manage before locking the door and turning over the sign that previously said ‘come in, we’re open!’. I heard the coins clanking in the coin counting machine (do these have a name? I don’t know. Coin counting machine is pretty self-explanatory and I’ve never bothered to check if they were actually called that), signifying that Alice had started to sort her cash drawer. I would only need to take out the profits of the day, make sure she had enough cash for tomorrow, and send her home. I went through the motions mechanically, only thinking about the nap I was about to have in the breakroom. It was going to be glorious. I really needed it if I wanted to be alert for the night shift.

Oh, yeah. We’ve got a night shift here. It’s my store’s most… peculiar aspect. We close at 6pm, but we open again at 11, up until 5am. Then we open again at 10am. So when I said ‘nap’ earlier, I actually meant the first half of my night, since I am working both shifts. Yes, I live in my store. Please buy books instead of reading stuff on the Internet, I would really love to be able to afford another employee.

So there I was, counting money fully on autopilot, daydreaming about drinking a nice cup of herbal tea and hugging my pillow, when Alice said something that ruined my plans.

“I forgot to tell you, something weird happened when you were on break.”

I snapped out of my daydream instantly and shot her a questioning glare.

“Yeah, this old lady came in, looking for something about fairy tales. I showed her the section but she didn’t want to have a look there apparently, and she asked me about something from the back. And I was like ‘do you think we’re hiding books from our customers or something’ so I just told her everything we had was on display in the store but we could order any book we didn’t have if she wanted. And she just shook her head and mumbled something and then she handed me this pamphlet and I was like ‘okay feel free to look around’ and didn’t even look at the pamphlet before shoving it in my pocket because a kid entered the store holding an open juice box and that was a disaster waiting to happen so yeah but that was weird right?”

She had actually run out of breath by the end of her sentence, and I wasn’t surprised. I was pissed though.

“Alice for FUCKS sake. Give me the pamphlet, don’t look at it. I’ll write that you were fired because of the store’s financial situation and give you a glowing recommendation.”

All color drained from the young girl’s face. I wasn’t mad at her, but I was still mad. She was supposed to know the rules. Hell, I even had her train the temps we hired to help around Christmas time. In retrospect, it was a miracle nothing bad had happened.

Okay, I was slightly mad at her. But I really didn’t want to be.

I saw in her eyes that it had finally clicked. She understood the gravity of what she had done, and handed me a crumpled pamphlet from her pocket, making sure to avert her gaze. God damn it. She had one momentary lapse, and it cost me a good cashier. Fucking hell.

“I’m sorry…” she started.

“It’s okay Alice, you didn’t mean to. You were alone on the floor, she was an old bat, it could’ve happened to anyone. You’ll be missed around here, but please don’t visit.”

She nodded. She finally remembered the rules, and she understood that there was no other way.

I put the cash drawer in the safe while she gathered the stuff she had left in the break room. I opened the back door to light a cigarette. She had tears in her eyes as she exited the store. I gave her a smile and clasped her hands in mine.

“You were a good employee, Alice. You’ll do great in a regular bookstore. Don’t doubt yourself and avoid this street for a few weeks. Call me if you run into any trouble, okay?”

“Thank you for the opportunity, boss. I really loved working here.”

“I know you did. Now hurry home. Don’t answer to anyone knocking on your door. Be safe.”

She nodded and scurried away, her backpack bouncing with her steps. I crammed my half-finished cigarette into the already-full-but-I-keep-forgetting-to-empty-it ashtray and went back inside.

The pamphlet was sitting on top of the safe, and as I grabbed it I felt the urge to read it. Nope. In the bin you go. I was accustomed to those old tricks. First rule of working with my clientele is to know when you can’t trust your instincts because something’s fucking with them. Second rule is to trust your instincts. Confusing? Welcome to my life.

So I ended up sitting at my desk typing furiously on my computer instead of napping. I still had a few hours until night shift, but I absolutely had to start interviewing prospective employees in the next couple days – in the meantime I just had to hope one of my part-time employees would like to work a few extra hours. I just have too much work to spend all my time manning the register and keeping the tables neat. While the store isn’t that big, it still is a lot for one person.

I obviously had to update the employee rulebook as well. Just emphasize that you can’t take chances with crazy old people. You never know if they’re truly crazy or something else.

“Never accept anything a customer hands you directly if it’s not (real) money. If they’re promoting something, make them leave any cards, pamphlets, posters at the register. If you end up accepting whatever they gave you, don’t look at it, and come to me immediately.”

Yes, it’s weird. I know it’s weird. Look, I pay my employees a fair enough wage that they make sure to follow the rules. I don’t care if they think I’m crazy. I probably am. It doesn’t matter.

I pressed enter and added:

“If a customer asks if they can see what we have in the back, politely decline and offer them to order whatever book they need. If they persist, come get me.”

God damn it, Alice actually handled this part well. But she grabbed the pamphlet, and I had to protect her.

I don’t write the rules to make my employees better workers. I write them to make sure they survive. The main reason any infraction is cause for termination is that, well, it could be the cause for the actual termination of their existence on Earth. Getting fired from a job is a way better alternative.

Alice accepted the old lady’s pamphlet. It could’ve been anything else. A tissue, a cigarette, a glass of water. She unknowingly made a bargain with whatever the woman was. ‘I gave you something, now I’m free to take something’. Entities like the old lady abide by archaic rules. In a store, this is what applies. I lost a regular day customer that way. The poor lady was watching over her kid, who was merrily making a mess looking through the 3-5 years old section, when a young girl came up to her. “Look miss, look I made a drawing”, she said. My customer grabbed the piece of paper and the girl ran off. A couple days later, posters popped up everywhere in town for a missing toddler.

I was obviously pissed. I’d been waiting to see that little girl again and tell her that business rules applied only between merchant and customers and she had no right to force an innocent, unaware person into a contract. My night clientele is well aware of that, and treasure having a place to find literature enough to not risk jeopardizing the fragile balance between both worlds. Nonhumans can be facetious little shits though, and I’ve never seen that girl again. Some entities enjoy chaos just for the sake of it. This one just danced around the rules, grabbed what she wanted, and ruined two lives. My customer sank into a deep depression and ended up gouging her eyes out during a manic episode. Her toddler was never found, but I don’t think he will grow up to be a respectable, human adult.

I checked the time and decided I could get 2 hours of sleep before having to get the store ready for night shift. So obviously I went to check out who – or what – was knocking on the glass window near the entrance because who needs sleep anyway.

It was an old lady, her wrinkled bloated nose pressed against the glass, her skeletal fingers tapping against it in a rhythmical fashion that was getting on my nerves. She had piercing, blood-injected eyes that were fixed on me and a grin so large it couldn’t possibly be natural.

I didn’t have time to be scared, but I still felt the fear creeping up on my stomach, slowly making its way through my body. No matter how hard I tried to reject it, I couldn’t. Stupid human nature. I adorned my best customer service smile and walked up to the old lady.

“My apologies, you seem to be a bit early. We will be open for business at eleven.”

I didn’t need to yell. I knew she could hear me clearly in spite of the glass separating us.

One… two… three taps on the window. Her already impossibly wide grin grew even wider, revealing rotten teeth sticking out of black, putrid gums. Thick, yellowish saliva was dripping down in strands from her non-existent lips. By the time the corners of her mouth reached her temples, I was sure I would lose my fake confidence and run in the opposite direction. No matter how many times you deal with unnatural entities, being mere centimeters away from a nightmarish mouth full of rot and decay will shake you to your core. I tried to breathe calmly, being secretly thankful for the glass that separated me from what was probably the foulest smell I’d ever submitted my nose to, hoping the old lady would see me standing my ground and respect the rules of business. I could deal with her inside my bookstore, where she would be a customer. I just needed to stay brave and meet her transfixed, unwavering gaze. Her eyes were more blood vessels than pupils, and I found myself focusing on those instead of whatever was moving in her mouth. I did not want to see her tongue, not after seeing the state of her teeth. And I sure as hell did not want to see whatever I clearly caught moving around her mouth if it wasn’t her tongue. No, her eyes were scary but I could deal with them, no matter how unsettling it was to see them bulge in and out of her head in a slow motion, almost as if they were breathing. The glass became foggier and foggier on her side due to her heavy, animalistic panting, but I kept my gaze straight, only catching glimpses of fog and movement in my peripheral visions. If I were to treat her like an animal, I needed to assert myself as the alpha. I don’t yield to rude, entitled customers, and I wouldn’t yield to rude, entitled nonhumans breaching the unspoken contract that allowed them to enjoy my store.

After what felt like forever, she stopped tapping on the window. Her grin reverted back to a normal, almost friendly smile. She blinked, soggy wrinkled eyelids covering those eyes I had stared at for far too long.

“I guess I’ll see you when you’re open, then”. In spite of the glass panel separating us, I felt her putrid breath against my ear as she whispered her parting words.

Just like that, she turned and left.

Understandably, I was not looking forward to seeing her during the night shift. My regular customers were unsettling enough, I did not want to add the batshit-insane-nightmarish-grandma to the list.

I’m a business owner. The customer may not be always right, but they are always my priority. I will have to open tonight, because while some may not consider books to be a necessity, I guarantee you that it is vital not only for my business, but for some of my night customers that I open every night. I complain about my life a lot, but some of them face issues they can’t simply look up on the internet nor ask a friend or even a therapist. They may urgently need something from the night inventory, and I will do my best to provide it for them. I’ve always loved being a bookseller, but helping nonhumans find whatever fits their very specific needs has given me a sense of purpose I’m not ready to give up just yet.

I will open tonight. And I will protect my business and its rules, to ensure that I can open tomorrow night.

(Note: edited some words to fit in with the location LOL)

[bensakindofmagic]

Chapter Eighteen

A/N: look at how fucking soft he is in this pic, i'm weeping, imagine opening facetime and seeing that face

Warnings: none, just fluff

w/c: 3.1k+

Chapter Eighteen 

Filming was tough. The light was sparse in Scotland at that time of year, so everything had to be ready to go the second the sun came up in order to maximise productivity. It was cold and windy, and often raining, and if it weren’t for a delightful cast and crew you would have been thoroughly miserable. You weren’t nearly so close with them as the Borhap boys, but they kept you in decent spirits. The real hardship, however, was being away from Ben. For as long as you’d known each other you hadn’t spent more than two days apart — even when you were barely on speaking terms you still saw him everyday. Your colleagues noticed how often you were on your phone during breaks (and you were sure there were some people who resented what they perceived to be anti-social behaviour), but it was because every time you looked Ben had sent you a dozen messages: pictures of Frankie, a link to a video that he thought you’d find funny, news articles that he thought would interest you, pictures he found on the internet, but more often than not just a message to say he missed you. You guessed that the separation was probably harder for Ben, given that he was the remaining party. You left for a new environment that he had never been in, and while you ached for him often, work kept you busy and there were plenty of people round to distract you. Ben was left with a hole where you used to be, an empty place on the sofa or at the table, and a sudden lack of company (though you noticed on social media that he was suddenly spending a lot more time meeting up with old friends, which made you happy). But at certain moments, like when you were standing in the pouring rain and shivering as the sunlight began to dwindle, you were desperate for him to wrap his strong arms around you and carry you to bed, where he would proceed to hold you tightly until all the chill had been chased from your bones. You felt a buzz in your pocket, somewhere in the great depths of your coat. It was a message from Ben asking when you were due to wrap for the day. 

Y/N: about 5.30pm. can’t wait to have a shower i’m freezing my bollocks off

Ben: You don’t have any bollocks 

Y/N: well not anymore obviously!! 

Ben: Facetime at 6?

Y/N: better make it 6.30, it’s going to take a while to warm me up

Ben: Wish I was there to help ;)

You were relieved when the director declared that there wasn’t enough light and you’d have to wrap it up for the day. Performing your duties as swiftly and efficiently as possible, you raced back to your hotel room and peeled off layers of clothing that had seemingly frozen onto your skin and jumped in the shower. You stood under the water for a long while, letting it hit your head and trickle down your body, warming you up little by little. You thought back to times when Ben would be in that shower with you, and your whole body would feel as thought it was on fire, though it had nothing to do with the scalding water. But the smile that adorned your face at the memory was melancholic, and soon you longed to be out of the shower and on your laptop to talk to him. You made a cup of tea, put on your fluffiest pyjamas, and sat down on the bed to call Ben just in time. His name popped up on your screen with a now familiar ringtone. 

“Hey, Benny!” you delighted as you saw his face on your screen, as close as he could feel in the present circumstances. 

“Hi gorgeous!” he smiled brightly and held Frankie up to the screen to wave hello with her little paw, “I’ve missed you.” 

“What, since we facetimed last night and texted two hours ago?”

“Yes. I’ve missed your cuddles.” 

You sighed, you’d missed his too. The long distance would have been okay if it weren’t for how much you ached to hold each other. Day-to-day, Ben expressed most of his affection through touch and you could see more and more how tough he was finding being denied that. 

“I was thinking about you in the shower today,” you mused. 

He smirked, “Is that so? What were you doing while you were thinking about me?”

You rolled your eyes and laughed, “That’s not really what I meant,” — though the question was certainly warranted, Ben didn’t need to know the answer just yet — “I was thinking about how much I miss you holding me. Not to get too soppy or anything.”

“Well you know how soppy I am, love,” he assured. That made you smile. 

“I just miss touching you — not in a sexy way! Although that too — it’s the feel of you, you know?” 

He nodded, reassuring you that he knew exactly what you meant. It hadn’t even been a month and you were both struggling more than you cared to admit. You’d missed your first Valentine’s Day together, and even though Ben had sent you flowers and you’d had a long and eventful video chat, part of you felt like you were missing out. You’d spent much of the early part of your relationship hiding it from those around you, and though you had those three precious weeks to be unashamedly in love, you now felt bitterly as though you would miss the best part of the honeymoon phase. 

“So tell me about your day, love.” 

You related all the gossip that the day had brought, jokes shared with your colleagues, how someone had to go running off through the highlands chasing a false beard that had been torn off by the wind. He laughed in all the right places and asked all the right questions. He, in turn, told you that he’d gone to the gym (which he’d been doing more often since you’d been gone), and met with a director for lunch to talk over a possible job. He was excited about it: you could see how much he wanted it, despite trying to convince you (as much as himself) that it was early days and he wasn’t getting his hopes up. He remarked how’d he’d sneezed five times in a row which he was sure was some kind of record — you laughed but noticed how he looked a little paler than usual and how he kept sniffing, and predicted that he was about to get a cold.

You accepted the call to receive an image of Ben wrapped in a duvet cocoon with a steaming mug in hand and tissues strewn about the place. 

“How’re you doing, darling?” you cooed. 

“I’m sick.” His nose, red and sore, was clearly blocked. He was pale and clammy, and his hair, damp with sweat, hung limply over his forehead. 

“Mm, I can see that.”

“See? I told you I couldn’t cope without you!” he whined. 

“It’s just a cold, Benny, you’ll live. Just drink lots of fluids and get plenty of sleep, okay?”

He frowned, looking remarkably like a toddler who’d just been denied an ice cream, “I was looking for sympathy, not instructions.”

You laughed and soothed him as best you could. As much as you opted for the ‘tough love’ approach, you wished you could be there to make him cups of hot water with honey and lemon, and bring him a new box of tissues when he finished the last one, and cuddle on the sofa with him watching old Disney movies. You wanted to stroke his hair and tuck him into bed. 

Apparently he wanted the same because after chatting for a little while, when his eyelids started to droop and his head got heavy, he quietly asked, “Will you sing for me?”

“Sing? What do you want me to sing for?” 

He shrugged, an embarrassed smile lacing his lips, “I’ve missed it. You sing all the time when you’re here, the place feels empty without it. I’ve been playing music a lot but it’s not the same.”

You chuckled, and went quiet. You allowed the silence to seep into your soul, to expand inside you and push all the noise for your mind. In its place a melody began softly and it danced off your lips.

‘Looking out on the morning rain, I used to feel uninspired, 

And when I knew I’d have to face another day, Lord it made me feel so tired.

Before the day I met you, life was so unkind.

Your love was the key to my peace of mind.’

The tiredness abated from Ben’s face, instantly soothed. Frown lines evaporated and his skin was left velvety smooth. His eyes fluttered closed, calmed. Even in the slightly pixellated image of him on your computer screen you could see how he ached for you, and how your voice helped to soothe that pain.

‘When my soul was in the lost-and-found, you came along to claim it.

I didn't know just what was wrong with me till your kiss helped me name it.

Now I'm no longer doubtful of what I'm living for, 

’Cause if I make you happy I don't need to do more.’

It seemed the more Ben was dulcified, the more your own agony grew. The softness of him was intoxicating, and it exposed how much he needed you. Guilt flared in you at not being there to look after him, and your own selfish desire to be near him added a sharp longing to your cocktail of grief.

‘Oh, baby, what you've done to me,

You make me feel so good inside.

And I just want to be close to you,

You make me feel so alive.’

His head got heavy, his shoulders relaxed as he leaned back on the sofa, and slowly you saw sleep settling weightily over his features. You indulged yourself by watching him for a few moments, chest rising and falling steadily as he began to snore, but soon the pang in your chest became too intense to bear. You whispered, “I love you,” into the boundless space between you before ending the call and quickly opening a new window on your laptop. 

———

Ben had been feeling particularly sorry for himself. He never coped very well when he was ill (being a frequent sufferer of man flu), but this was worse than usual. For starters, he didn’t get sick very often anymore so when he did it felt all the worse, and he hadn’t been this unwell in a while, and to top it all off, Y/N wasn’t there to look after him. Every morning he’d wake up in an empty bed, hardly able to breathe and feeling like his whole face had been plugged up. He’d drag himself to the kitchen, cocooned in his duvet, get himself some hot water and a piece of toast because that was all he could bring himself to make, before collapsing on the sofa, drifting in and out of sleep, some crappy movie on in the background, and ordering food when he couldn’t be bothered to get it himself. He was pretty sure that you would have been horrified had you seen the state of him — he didn’t like to look in the mirror because it frightened him how much he looked like a ghost of himself — but really he just wanted you there to look after him. He kept finding himself daydreaming about you, whispering soothing words to him as he slept, holding him close against your body. Sometimes he got so lost in his imagination that he could almost feel the touch of you, and for a moment convinced himself that you were there, that you would sit down next to him any second with two cups of tea and some sassy remark. To be honest, he had been like that most of the time you’d been away; he had felt the void of you more acutely than he had anticipated. But this constant state of semi-waking delirium had amplified it. So when he heard a knock at the door, thinking that he must have ordered take-away and forgotten but opened it to find you there with an armful of groceries and a grin, he assumed he was dreaming. 

He sighed melancholically, “Y/N.” 

“Oh Benny, are you okay?” 

Your tone didn’t seem right. You never sounded worried in his imagination, only gentle and calm. His heart started to beat faster. 

In a voice that sounded far away, like he was underwater, he heard you say, “Darling, let’s get you into bed. You don’t look good.”

“Wait, you’re really here?”

“Of course I’m here,” you said, ushering yourself inside and laying your things down before placing your palm against his forehead. He closed his eyes, falling gratefully into your touch. Your hand felt cool against his burning skin, and he almost collapsed with relief to have you beside him again. He could see you were worried, your movements suddenly infected with a slightly frenetic urgency, but all he felt was elation. He let you shepherd him into bed without resistance, and drank eagerly from the glass of chilled water you placed in his hands. 

You tucked him under the covers, and knelt beside the bed, stroking your fingers with the most delicate touch over his cheek. It made him shiver. His eyelids slipped closed and he felt the heaviness of the past few days evaporate into weightlessness. In those few hazy moments before sleep overtook him, still sceptical of the veracity of his own senses, he mumbled, “Will you still be here when I wake up?”

You smiled tenderly, “Of course I will, love. I’m going to look after you,”

You knew Ben was pretty unwell but hadn’t anticipated quite the extent of it. He seemed to be delirious, and the glassy look in his eyes made you wonder if he ever knew you were there. He was burning up when you tested his temperature, so you got him some water and sent him to bed. It broke your heart a little to shut him off in the bedroom as soon as you had reunited with him after missing him so deeply, but it broke your heart more to see him so sick, reduced to a shadow of himself. You kept yourself busy while he slept, walking Frankie, cleaning the apartment which had unsurprisingly fallen into a state of neglect, and getting a stew on to be ready by the time he woke. Your mind wandered back to him often, the thought of him curled up under the covers like a child. It took all your strength not to climb in next to him and cuddle him until he felt better. But you knew that would do nothing for his fever. 

He woke up a few hours later and trudged back into the kitchen where you were sat quietly entertaining yourself on your phone. He’d thrown a hoodie on, pulled up over his head with his hands stuffed in his pockets. 

“Hi gorgeous,” you beamed, standing to meet him. He looked better already; his eyes were less puffy and some of the colour was returning to his face. 

“Hey,” he said hoarsely, “I wasn’t sure you’d be here when I woke up. I thought I’d dreamt you.” 

You opened your arms and he shuffled gratefully into them, letting his head fall against your shoulder. He exhaled, relaxed, while your fingertips trailed gently across the back of his neck. 

“I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere until you’re better.” 

He pulled back to meet your eyes, searching them for the truth, “Really? Won’t you have to go back soon?”

“They’ll just have to cope without me, because clearly you can’t.”

He shook his head before burying it in your neck again. 

“Come on, I’ve made dinner.” 

Ben ate hungrily, glad of a proper, hearty meal. You sat at the table for hours, surreptitiously filling up Ben’s glass to make sure he was drinking plenty of water, revelling in being in each other’s company again. It was bittersweet. Despite your assurance that you’d stay as long as he needed, you both knew that come Monday — Tuesday at the latest — you’d have to head back to Scotland. But for the moment you talked and laughed, and nursed Ben back to health. You decided to go back to your own apartment overnight to make sure Ben got a good night’s rest, as well as reduce the risk of you getting his cold. He made you promise him that you’d come back first thing in the morning, which of course you readily did. And when you did return, already making breakfast by the time Ben surfaced, he was looking healthier still. 

“‘Morning cherub,” you cooed. “How’re you feeling today?” 

“All the better for seeing you,” he smiled and hugged you from behind. You kissed his cheek and he detached himself, allowing you to hand him a hot mug of honey and lemon. 

By the end of the weekend Ben was almost completely better. He had even managed to go out for a walk with you and Frankie. He could speak properly again, without his ‘m’s turning into ‘b’s, and his spirits where infinitely raised — until he saw your packed bag, ready to go again, as you sat side-by-side on the sofa.

“When’s your flight?” he sighed, disconsolate. 

“First thing in the morning, taxi’s picking me up at 6.” 

His shoulders slumped. “You can’t go yet, I’m still sick,” and he coughed lamely, pouting like a toddler. 

“Considering you’re a professional actor, that was thoroughly unconvincing,” you deadpanned and swiped your thumb over his cheek. “I’ll come visit again soon.” 

“I don’t want you to come visit,” he lamented, leaning into your hand, “I want you to come home.” 

“What do you mean, love?” you faltered, frowning. 

He sidled closer to you, resting a hand on your knee. He was quiet, eyes fixed on your lap, but when he looked up he was absolutely focused, intent. 

“Move in with me.” It wasn’t a question. 

You were overwhelmed with green. All you could see was his eyes and the determination in them, their confidence in you. The love and the warmth and the longing made them sparkle. 

Your voice was hushed but firm as you replied, “Okay.” 

The next thing you knew he was kissing you and your world was revolving. Everything you felt and heard and tasted was him and that was all you wanted for the rest of your life. 

taglist: @anikatcmh @queen-turtle-boiii @orchideax @rogerspoison @my5secondsofneverland @mrsmazzello @ixchel-9275 @radiob-l-a-hblah @devin-marie @rogmeddows @mercurycrowley @spaghetittiesbcimgay @valeriecarolinaw @saint-hardy @caborhapch @stephanie-everlasting @coldmuffinpartycloud​ @drowse13 @shhhs3cret @blind-melon-taylor @ohsososophisticatedd​ @malfoybaby​ @littlepanda-love @leezie @shesakillerquueennn​ @borhapgrande​ @stfxlou​ @vangogh-groupie @dep-thx​ @hardzzellos​ @imjustboredso​ (just ask if you want to be added to the tag list! sorry if tumblr won’t let me tag you)

[audreyannerp]

Pen Pals

(A roleplay between @askaudreyanne / @audreyannerp and @red-rad-and-rod .) It had been about a week since Audrey met J.C. and his siblings. It was kind of hard to miss them, given Lola seemingly bee-lined towards them during their stay at the park. She was grateful for her pooch’s detour, however, as the three proved to be good company (as did their father, who they had lunch with.) She wasn’t sure how long she should wait before emailing J.C., but figured a week was a long enough wait to not seem overly eager. She did originally intend to only send pictures of the dogs to show his sisters, but now she wanted to talk to him too. She decided to start slow, with a simple email. This is J.C., right? It’s Audrey, from Michigan. Here are some pictures of Lola in some flowers. She wasn’t supposed to be in them, but I just had to snap a few pictures before I got her out! Let me know how you three like them! She hoped asking for a response would lead the way to them talking about more than dogs.

- Ping! Oh, thank goodness, something to actually respond to! Surfing through a seemingly never ending list of ads for things he didn’t need was starting to get tiresome. A few clicks later, J.C. found himself searching through his e-mail. Hmm…junk. Junk. E-mail from Audrey- wait. E-mail from Audrey? … Ah, right! That was who he met over in Michigan when he and the family were over in Michigan! Man…even though they had only hung out for a little bit, he missed her. Her beautiful smile, her cute giggle…sigh~ Snapping out of his little lovestruck trance, he went ahead and read through the message, snickering a bit as he got a glimpse of Lola being a goofball. A short while later (mainly after Syd and Kat stopped squealing over the little pup), he sent back a reply: Yyyyup, it is! At least, that’s what people have been calling me for 23 years… Ahaha, I kid, I kid. 😋 What a little goofball! She’s such a sweetie. Syd and Kat seem to think so too, given the fact that they’ve been fawning over her for the past fifteen minutes or so. And reignited the whole “Mum, Dad, let’s get a dog!” debate, but that’s to be expected. How have things been over by you? - Audrey wasn’t the type to live on her phone or computer, so it was a good thing she had written a note to herself to check her email later. Upon coming home that evening and checking her notebook of reminders, she brought up her email and took a look. She chuckled at J.C.’s response and promptly began typing a reply, pleased he wanted to chat. (Or was at least acting like he wanted to, in order to be polite.) Ohhh deeaarrr XD I hadn’t intended to start a debate. Could you please tell them I’m sorry? Anyway, things have been pretty ordinary over here. Weather is still pretty nice, so I’ve been taking Lola on longer walks. She got a little over excited today though and ran into someone’s garden, as you saw. I was sure to tell her no… after I stopped laughing and taking pictures! XD So, how have things been on your end? - After hitting send, J.C. had to think…did it sound like he seem interested? Did he sound bored? Should he have added more emojis? …Nah, maybe that would’ve been a bit excessive. Maybe a little immature…who knows, maybe Audrey would have thought that Syd or Kat took hold of his computer. Now came the waiting game. He would’ve done a bit more internet browsing, if he hadn’t have been dragged outside by Syd for a game of football. That was probably a more productive way to spend his time, anyway. No real need to worry. (…) Later on, now relaxing with a cup of tea, he went back on and found a reply. Haha, I will! They’ve been getting that for years, but I’m sure they’d appreciate the regards. Glad to see the weather’s manageable. Kind of makes me wish I was back there; right now, we’ve had a couple of gales come through. Nothing too bad, but having to be stuck inside for most of the day. Plus side, it’s supposed to clear up soon. Oooooh, Lola, what’s your mum going to do with you? 😂 Kind of reminds me of this time when Syd was a toddler…she’d done the same thing with our next-door neighbour’s back garden. I’ll have to send the picture in my next e-mail, but the end result was her being held (gently, of course) by her overall straps by our neighbour’s sheepdog! - Audrey discovered his reply the following morning. While she sent her reply early, it was likely the afternoon over where J.C. was. Wish you were here for the weather? Are you sure you don’t just want to see me? HA! I kid. I kid. We barely know each other. Aaaanywaaaaay… A sheepdog holding a toddler? That sounds both hilarious and adorable! You have GOT to send me that picture! Let’s just hope karma doesn’t come back to bite me. Mom and Dad recorded EVERYTHING when I was a kid. They have soooo many VHS tapes in the basement. Photo albums too. For a non-photogenic child, they sure loved taking pictures of me. - Why did time zones have to be a thing? He could respond at ten in the morning, and it’d only be five A.M. over by her…ah well. Upon reading Audrey’s response, he couldn’t help but blush a little. Okay, yeah, part of it was the weather, but part of it was because he wanted to see her. Weeeeell, that would be a major plus, if I’m being honest. …Does that sound creepy? Jeez, I hope it doesn’t; virtual communication’s tricky that way. 😓. If it did sound that way, I do apologize! Guess, ah…guess I should get on with the rest of this reply. Heheh… Don’t worry, little me wasn’t exactly the poster child for being photogenic, either. Guess it must be a parent thing…mine were the same way. I’ve made sure to bury one of the albums that has the MOST embarrassing ones as deeply as I can in storage, but somehow they keep finding it. Speaking of ‘embarrassing’ photos… Ask and ye shall receive~ Not going to lie, her face still cracks me up; sort of like she’s saying “Curses! Foiled again!”

- Audrey was pleasantly surprised to see that J.C. seemed to enjoy her company as well. Aw, really? You’re sweet~ <3 Don’t worry; no creepiness detected! Well, you know parents and their magic able-to-find-stuff powers. You could search for something for hours and they’ll point to it right in front of your face! That photo is somehow more adorable and hilarious than I thought it would be! She really was a scamp from the very beginning, wasn’t she? Anyway, if you’re interested, maybe I could tell you a bit about myself and vice-versa? Make sure I’m someone you want to see again? - Oh, good! This was off to a great start~ Phew! Good, good. Just want to make sure, y’know? True, true. Heck, you could try to send something that you don’t want seen to…I don’t know, Antarctica…and they’d still manage to find it. Haha, yeeeeah; once she started crawling, it was all downhill from there! Sure, why not? I think it’s better one-on-one as opposed to doing it in front of a group, like on the first day of school. That whole “what’s your name, what’s your major, one fun fact about yourself” spiel. How should we do this? Do you want to go first or should I? - Well, I suggested it, so I guess I’ll go first. Now let’s see… My full name is Audrey Anne Davis. I’m currently 24 years old and my birthday is March 27th. I’m a college graduate and I work as a personal trainer at a local gym. My hobbies include working out, cooking, listening to music, and dancing. Not sure what else to put so, uh, your turn! (P.S. Feel free to ask me anything!) - My turn it is, then. Soooo, let’s see…mine is Jean-Claude Henri Malone (née Bellerose), currently 23, aaaand my birthday’s August 23rd. Right now, I’m working on my bachelor’s (almost done, though!)…started in gen. studies, decided to do something with humanities. I do a bit of work at the student bookstore, aaaand my hobbies include listening to music, playing videogames, reading…aaaand I would say I enjoy a bit of footy every now and again. Aha, dancing, eh? Any specific training (e.g. ballet, hip hop, anything of that sort) or is it more like “put on some tunes and see where the music takes you”? (P.S. Likewise!) - I have to admit, I had to Google née and footy. XD Anyway, I learned to dance from my dad. He took some classes when he was a kid, but is mostly self taught. (He’s REALLY good!) I pretty much just go with the music. I know some specific dance moves, but I don’t really know how to do those fancy dances you’d do at a ball. What kind of books do you like to read? I’m not much of a reader myself, but I do listen to audio books on occasion. I’m not exactly the brightest bulb, so I try to stick to books that don’t have seven layers of meanings you have to analyze in order to understand and enjoy them. - Ah, yes, the “English to English” thing. If I find one of those sorts of dictionary, I’ll be sure to send it your way. XD Interesting! That’s how I tend to dance as well…I’ve been meaning to take one of those “ballroom dancing” classes, just for the heck of it, buuuut…dunno, haven’t had the time as of late. (Or a partner for that matter, but that was a different story.) Just kind of want it as some random skill to have under my belt. I’m not super picky- if something looks interesting, I’ll pick it up, read the first couple of chapters, see where it goes. Though I will say, audio books are a godsend…always good for plane or car rides, if you’re not the one driving. I totally feel you on that whole “analysis” thing; that used to throw me in secondary school so much. “The blue door is supposed to represent the main character’s feelings of sadness”…mmmmaaaaybe the author just really likes the colour blue? 🤔 Personally, I always like to recommend “Le Petit Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (don’t worry, there is an English translation…and about 298 others, haha). There’s some analysis like that that could come with it, but not a ton. It’s one of those stories that doubles as a “children’s” story and one for adults, as well. - You never know when you’ll have to break into a waltz! I jotted down that title in my handy dandy notebook, so I should remember to look into it. (The act of writing things down helps me to remember. You should see how many notebooks I go through in a year! LOL) Speaking of children’s stories, have you ever read any Goosebumps books? I only read one as a kid and it really scared me, so I never read any more. I wonder if I could handle them now. The problem is my fight or flight response is just a fight response. If I get nervous, I might hit things out of reflex. I once accidentally broke my dad’s nose as a kid because he snuck up on me. I felt SO BAD. My mom couldn’t stop laughing though. She was actually recording when it happened, so that infamous family moment is on tape. - True, very true! 🤣 I have, actually! Read a few when I was a bit younger- my favourite had to be the ‘Night of the Living Dummy’ stories. They were pretty creepy, I have to admit…although I stumbled upon another series around the same time that, I argue, is quite creepier. I’m not sure if a series known as “Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids” made its way over to the states, but hoooo boy. It was made into a TV series as well…not much better in terms of toning down the creepiness. I used to say it makes Goosebumps look like Mother Goose! 😮 (Granted, I don’t think Goosebumps is supposed to be a series that scares you into good behaviour whereas G.T.F.G.K. sort of is, buuuut…still kind of has you going “WHAT did I just read?!”) Okay, just reading that made me cringe, ouch! Remind me to never spook you…or if there’s ever a time we’re over in the states for Halloween, remind me to not take you to a haunted house/scary movie. If it’s any consolation, there’s quite a bit of embarrassing footage of small me as well, haha. “Cowboy J.C.”, “Super J.C.”, tiny siblings/cousins spitting up on me, you name it. 😅 - It doesn’t sound familiar to me, but I was never on the lookout for such things. Scaring kids into behaving? Ick. I’m of the belief that you should influence a child with positivity. I don’t mean in a spoiling kind of way. I just think finding the cause of a problem is more important than punishing the child. And when it does come to punishments, never do something that can damage them in the long run. Don’t be too lenient though. It is important to learn that actions have consequences. There has to be a balance. Sorry for the ramble there. It’s just that the way children are treated is important to me and I do not censor myself with such things. I’ll be sure to remind you. I’m not a fan of scary things. Unless they’re a fun type of scary, like paper bats or those fuzzy spider decorations. We’ve only ever had really silly looking spider decorations at our house during Halloween because my mom’s arachnophobic. If they’re too realistic, she gets the heebie-jeebies. Speaking of embarrassing, I feel it only fair to you and Syd that I share a photo of my own.

Guess who. - Hey, that’s fair! And makes sense, too. My thing is just…kind of let them do their thing (to an extent) and experience the world, just guide them along the way, you know? If they’re being a little butt (or rather, standard kid who’s still learning) about something, tell them why they shouldn’t be in a way that they understand; cause and effect. Like yes, you may want to eat six ice lollies in a row, but if you do, you’ll get a stomachache. Kiddo knows from experience that stomachaches suck, so a compromise of one or two ice lollies is made. As you said, balance is key. Aaaah, arachnophobia. Guess I’ll have to tell Syd that if she wants to show your mum a cool spider she found to…well, not to. XD; Awww-ha-ha-ha-haaaw, caught red-handed! I guess since I’ve put Syd and you through it, I figure one of mine wouldn’t hurt, either:

Apparently, small me did not like the idea of a fork, haha. - I’m glad we have similar views on children. I think we’re going to get along juuuuuust fiiiiiiiine. (Don’t get me wrong. I won’t hold it against anyone if they aren’t good with kids. Just don’t be mean to them.) Awww, you’re adorable~ Hmm… This email is a little short. I’ll just add some random stuff about me here. I love plush animals and have a LOT of them. My favorite fruit is either strawberries or raspberries. I hate pickles, but I like cucumbers. I can do the splits. … I’m out of stuff to say. - Right? I mean, they’re people, too. Just…y’know, tiny. XD As long as you try, then that’s what counts. Eheheheh, I mean…kiiinda? 😅 This was one of the ones I could find that wasn’t completely embarrassing. I think Dad’s in possession of one of the ones that would made me melt into a puddle of shame. Hm, so’s this one. Guess I’ll follow suit? My favoruite fruits are probably apples and watermelon. I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue. I like those indoor trampoline parks, buuuut the last place you’ll catch me is in the foam block pit (of course, guess who loves to go in those). If I had to pick my top three favourite animals, I’d have to say either cats (big or small), dogs (same), ooooor elephants. - I can’t really think of much to say this time around, but I’ll leave you with this. Given your favorite animals, I’d say I can always rely on you to address the elephant in the room! - LOL! 🤣🤣🤣 Haha, that’s alright. Guess that means we’ll have more to talk about the next time around. I think?I hope? XD; - It was a few days later that Audrey took the time to really sit down and think of something to write. Sorry for the wait on this one. I wanted to actually have something to say this time. Before I forget though, did you guys remember to try Blue Moon ice cream while you were here? Anyway, I find it so odd to think about how, if it wasn’t for Lola, we might have never met. Well, maybe not never, given our dads work for the same company. We might not have met until much later, if not for Lola. How neat and silly is it that my dog found me a pen pal? Also, I was able to think up some more questions for you! What are some of your favorite animated movies? What about songs? Desserts? Oh! By the way, here’s a video of Daisy my mom took the other day. It’s amazing how high that little dog can jump when treats are involved. - Now, logically, J.C. knew that taking a few days to respond was no real issue. Perhaps Audrey had gotten preoccupied with other tasks. That was typical for a twenty-something nowadays (he should know, he was one). A small part of him, though, couldn’t help but feel as though she had lost interest in him. If he had, he wasn’t the kind of person to be bitter about it…maybe a bit upset, but…Audrey was her own person, she had the right to make her own decisions. When he got a reply a few days later, that fear had melted away…then again, a video of a little dog getting some serious air in the name of treats always helps. Hey, no worries! We did, actually. Interesting flavour! Kind of like cotton candy, but also kind of not. If “blue” itself can qualify as a flavour, I guess, that’s what I’d call it. Kind of bites that wer don’t have it over here. Guess that gives me a reason to go back to the States, LOL. Ooo, okay, let’s see…I’d have to say one of the more recent ones is Ernest & Celestine. When I was little, apparently, I used to watch My Neighbor Totoro at least once or twice a week. I don’t remember, though, if I had watched it in English or in Japanese with the subtitles on. Might have been the latter, I only know the song in Japanese (and that’s….probably the extent of my Japanese XD. I can’t translate it, but I can sing it, so there’s that!). Songs, I’m all over the place, so I can’t exactly list a specific one. Mum and Dad like the Beatles, and they grew on me, sooo I guess there’s them? Will have to get back to you on that one, haha. Dessert-wise…can’t go wrong with creme brulee, that’s for sure~ Hot fudge sundaes are a close second. To be honest, I’ll take any offerings when it comes to sweets. 😋 Ha! Man, she’s got some power there…imagine her trying to make slam dunks! …Granted…that’s….kind of hard to do without thumbs, but…you get what I mean. I think? I know, right? I’m not entirely sure what dogs think about, but can you imagine if she was actively/knowingly playing matchmaker? ‘yes, hello there other human, meet mine’. 🤣 Guess that makes it my turn for questions? Mine are kind of weird, but: What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to? What was the last song you sung along to? What’s your favorite type of day? (weather, temp, etc.) - Blue really is the best way to describe that flavor! Hard to imagine that ice cream as any other color. Then again, it might work in another color as long as it’s pastel. I think it’s pastel flavor. LOL Ernest & Celestine looks adorable! As for the other one… Honestly, it would probably have scared me as a kid. I think it’s the art style. Something about how big their mouths get, maybe. I don’t know… Nothing against the movie though! Just not my preference in style, you know?I’d say a few of my favorite animated movies are The Lion King, Lilo and Stitch, and the Emperor’s New Groove. I like to think New Groove is safe for any audience because no one dies; not even the villain.I like the Beatles as well! My music taste is varied. If something sounds good, I like it. Genre doesn’t really matter. Creme brulee? I’ve never had that. I do like custard though, so I imagine I would like it. And who doesn’t like hot fudge sundaes?! I love sweets as well! Yeah, I get it! Maybe we could get her a little basketball and hoop? She could carry the ball in her mouth! Her dribbling will be drool! XD I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what dogs are thinking. As for your questions, rock climbing might be fun? I’ve climbed indoor rock walls, but never the real thing. I honestly can’t remember the last song I sung along to. I kind of sing bits and pieces or hum when I listen to music, as opposed to full on singing along. Maybe I can go with the most recent song on my iPod? It was Fortune Teller by Maroon 5. I tend to find good things in any type of day, really. If I had to choose though, I’d say a sunny mid-spring day. The temperature would be right in the middle, not too hot, not too cold. Maybe the occasional cool breeze to help you feel alive, but enough sun that you don’t need a light jacket, but can wear one without burning up. Woof! That was a lot of typing! Maybe we could do an audio chat or something, one of these days? She hoped she wasn’t being too forward, but, seeing as they’ve spoken in person, she reasoned it wasn’t a big deal. - 😂😂😂 Eh, blue, pastel…close enough. Still tasty, regardless! 😋 Totally understandable! To each their own, right? Ooo, I might have to recommend New Groove to Kat. I’ve seen it a couple of times, but she hasn’t. I think anytime we’ve tried to settle down and watch it, something comes up (i.e., she’s going to a friend’s house, I had plans with a few of my friends, etc.). Lilo and Stitch is a pretty good one (def. one of Syd’s faves), and who DOESN’T like The Lion King? Can’t help but sing along with it, haha. Remind me to send you a recipe for some. It can be a little tricky, but it’s not like you have to have four or five things going at once. J.C. stopped typing for a couple minutes, trying to move his wrists around and get some of the building carpal tunnel aches to calm down a bit. Maybe Audrey had the right idea, switching over to audio calls… As for audio chat, I’m perfectly fine with that! Just want to let you know that I am about four to five hours ahead of your time zone (I believe that’s what it is? Daylight Savings is a weird concept…I guess for part of the year, it’s four and then the other part is five.). Whenever you’re feeling up to it. :) - Oh, right. Forgot about the time difference. Oops. LOL I tend to wake up at six in the morning and head to bed around ten at night. My work schedule isn’t a typical nine to five deal, being a personal trainer and all. I generally work when the client isn’t; so it’s usually in the mornings and evenings. I suppose the best time to catch me is early in the morning and midday, my time. Or on my days off, of course. Do you have an account on Discord? I figured we could do our chatting there. - Time-zones, mon amie; Une vraie douleur dans le cul…😩 Early morning, midday, and days off…duly noted! So that’d be afternoon to early evening here, I believe. Works out, though- my available times tend to be later in the day my time. I do- Name on there is OuiOuiJC#0714. If you see a profile picture that has a ferret in a beret, and they’re holding a baguette and glass of wine, that’s me. - Audrey couldn’t help but giggle at his username and profile picture. Rather than email him again, Audrey sent him a friend request from her Discord; AudreySugarSpice#1734. Her profile picture was a pink teddy bear. Guess who~ - Pink bear? Hm, unless one of his sisters had secretly made a Discord account (”Not until you’re older”, as per Mum and Dad’s rules), theeeeen this had to be Audrey. Looking at the username, that definitely confirmed it. Friend request accepted~ Guess who, eh? Hmmm….the Queen of England? 🤣 - Feeling a bit bold, Audrey initiated an audio call with him, planning to greet him with, “How’d you know?” followed by giggles. - …Well, she did say that she wanted to try out audio calls, so why not? Picking up, he answered with a comically dramatic gasp. “Your majesty~! I am not worthy!”   - Audrey giggled more. “I’d have followed up by pretending to be a queen, but, I don’t know how one acts and I can’t do an English accent to save my life,” she laughed. “Anyway, how are you doing? Can you hear me alright?” - “Incredibly proper, supposedly.” he chuckled. “Doin’ alright! Can hear you juuust fine. How about on your end? Hearing me and how things are going, I mean.” - “Same here! Glad I caught ya at a good time… I did catch you at a good time, right? It should be evening over there. Oh, I hope I didn’t pull you away from anything…” - “Haha, naaah, you’re fine! Been with the family for most of the day, so I’ve secluded myself in my room for a bit of ‘me’ time. It’s all good.” - “So I guess your me time is us time now,” she chuckled. “You live with your parents still or are you just visiting? It’s fine either way!” she added in a hurry. “The only reason I have my own place is because of Spike. He’s a workout friend of mine who works in construction and knows a few people in real estate.” - “Guess so; not that I’m complaining.” he responded. “ I spend most of my time here during the summer holiday…and, well, regular holidays.. During school, I live a bit closer to the campus. Soooo…I guess you could say both? Once I get my degree, I’m moving into my own. Haven’t settled on a location yet, really. Depends on if I want to be adventurous or not.” - “Ahhh. I see,” she nodded to herself. “What are some locations you’re thinking of moving to? Just curious.” - “Back to France is always an option…but knowing my family, either they’d be coming here at least once every couple of weeks or vice versa. Aaaaand that back and forth travel can be kind of pricey. I could always head up to and stay in Blackpool- where my university is. Or just take a total leap of faith and try somewhere else. The few times we’ve been over to the U.S. have been kind of nice- maybe I could live there. Might consider multiple citizenship, who knows. Eleven months there, one month here…” - “That does sound pricey… Though I’m sure you know that, if you’re considering the United States, I have to recommend Michigan. I’m biased, yes, but I have at least visited other states, so I’m not blindly swearing allegiance or anything. Fun fact, Michigan is one of the leading fruit growers in the States~ Cherries, especially,” she chirped. - J.C. laughed, “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea; being surrounded by fruit. I also wouldn’t mind living somewhere that gets actual snow in the winter. I mean, sometimes we’ll spend the holidays up in Northern Scotland, but not having to travel to see and play in the snow would be nice.” - “Oh, snow is definitely something we get up here,” she laughed. “Multiple feet of it, in fact. You should see Daisy during the winter; it’s hilarious! You just toss her outside and fwump; she disappears into the snow!“ - “Pffff! You might just have to tie a balloon to her collar or something and just track her that way. Or do you think she would float away?” - “Ha! Enough balloons probably would make her fly away! She’s so tiny! Truthfully, we just look for where the snow is moving. It also helps that she wears little sweaters when it’s cold out. Mom’s tried putting booties on her, but she just kicks them off.” - “Awwwhawhawhaw~ I’d hope she’d have at least a little something to wear. If I’m not mistaken, Michigan and a lot of those northern states can get pretty cold…like ‘stuck inside for days’ or ‘wearing five layers of clothing just to get the shopping done’ cold.” He thought for a minute. “Of…course, that’s all from word of mouth as opposed to personal experience, but…” - “I can confirm that it can get that cold. Ever see A Christmas Story where the little brother has so many layers of clothing he can’t put his arms down? It’s kind of like that.” - J.C. laughed, picturing the scene. “Oh, mon dieu. If we’re ever visiting during that time of the year, remind me to keep Syd away from metal poles!” - “Oh goodness… Yeah, that’s really a thing that happens here. Why do so many people think that’s a myth? Have they never gotten their tongue stuck to a popsicle before?” - “Apparently not. But hey, doing stupid stuff’s a part of life,I suppose. Maybe gain some status or fame in your friend group or among your class/workmates.” Sounded as if he was speaking from experience. - “Why do you sound like you’re speaking from experience?” she teased. - There was a brief moment of silence. “…Beeeee….caaaaaause I mmmmmmaaaaaay have done a few things that…could be qualified as such.” he responded, chuckling sheepishly. “N-nothing major, though.” - “Ooooooo~” she said, trying to sound like a studio audience. “What’d you do?” - The sheepish laughter intensified. “Aaaah…hm. You know those really, really hot peppers that are on the market?  Short and skinny of it is ‘Guys Night In’ and a game of ‘Truth or Dare’. It wasn’t a…Reaper? I think that’s what one of those are called? Only reason I know that is because I probably would’ve ended up in hospital, haha. I think it was aaaa….habenaro? One was, the other’s called  ‘Naga Jolokia’. Ate the habenaro with little issue, didn’t even get a full two bites into the other one before I was gulping down water like no tomorrow.” - “Oh noooo,” she laughed. “Oh nooo-ho-ho! That’s- That’s a ghost pepper, isn’t it?! Ah-ha-ha-ha!” She broke into a laughing fit. - His laughter became less sheepish and a bit more joyful. “Eeeeeeeyup, it is. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time, but hey. I will say, it did go better than when we played that one game with the Jelly Beans. …What’s it called? ‘Bean-Boozled’?” - “Yeah, it’s Bean-Boozled. Basically Bertie-Bott’s Every Flavor Beans but Jelly Belly brand. Dare I ask what could have happened when playing Bean-Boozled?” - “Weeeeell, plus side, I wasn’t the one who ended up with their face in a wastebasket.” he snickered. “The last few times we’d played, I kept getting the really gross flavours, and there was this joke that I was cursed. With our most recent game, the ‘curse’, I suppose, had reversed and the person who got all the good flavours last time got all the bad ones. He was fine up until…ugh, dead fish.” - “Ew-hew-hew!” she laughed. “Though, technically, all fish we eat is dead. It’d be pretty messy if we ate them alive… and gross… Say, that reminds me, you like scary movies, right? I have a question about zombies.” - “I doooooo. What’s your question?” - “How fast does a zombie need to eat before its victim becomes a zombie too and they don’t want to eat it? Like, zombies don’t eat other zombies, right? If you’re killed by a zombie, you become a zombie, right? How does that work?” - J.C. blinked, initially unsure how to answer. “That’s….actually a really good question. I like to think that it depends on the initial method of zombification. If it’s done via a curse, you’ve got a bit more time, whereas if it’s because of a virus, that time shortens, since you’ve got all this zombie saliva coming into contact with your blood. Blood takes about one minute to circulate through your entire body, so…you’d probably have to go all ‘pie-eating contest’ speed if your zombification is viral.” He stopped and thought for a minute. “Granted, you get bit regardless of the initial turning mechanism and still come into contact with their saliva…maybe one method is more virulent and fast-acting than the other? Kind of like how it can take something like food poisoning to show up in as little as half an hour to as long as four weeks, depending on what’s responsible for causing it.” - There was a long pause before Audrey replied with, “Huh… I don’t know what to do with this information… I’d write a story or something, but I don’t have the creativity for that. Hm… Maybe I should mention this to Adelyn… She’s good with this sort of thing.” - “Nor am I.” he chuckled, “Ah, Adelyn, eh? Friend of yours or a relative?” - “Relative,” she informed. “She’s my youngest cousin. She’s on the autism spectrum and is, like, really smart and creative.” - “Ah! Maybe she can tell me if the logic on my answer to your question seems sound.” All of a sudden, he heard a small sneeze outside the door, along with a small ‘THUD!’ and a young-sounding ‘Dangit!”. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “Hold on just a sec…” Getting up and walking towards his door, J.C. spoke to who he suspected was on the other side. “I know that’s you, petit singe. Are you eavesdropping?” “Noooooooo…a person can’t just chill against the wall in their own home?” “The wall that has their brother’s room on the other side?” “…All the other walls were taken?” - Though the voice was a bit faint, Audrey figured the little eavesdropper was Syd. “Tell her I said hi,” she called loudly, hoping J.C. could hear her from however far away from the computer he was. - “Can do!” he called back, before turning his voice back towards Syd. “Audrey says ‘hi’, by the way.” Syd gasped, “You’re talkin’ to her?!” She took a deep breath and shouted: “HI AAAAAAAUUUUDREEEEEEEY!!!” J.C., having been up against the door cringed and rubbed his ear a bit. Probably should have seen that coming… - “Oh wow, she’s got a set of lungs on her, huh?” she laughed. - “Tell me about it.” the older brother groaned slightly. “ ‘Kay! Soooo I’m gonna let yooooou twooooo get back to your conversation! Maybe we can do a chat later on; I don’t want to interrupt you two lovebirds~” the ten year old responded, laughing as she skipped away. Once she was gone, J.C. sat back down on his bed, rubbing his temple a bit. “Eheh…sorry about that. Siblings…” - “Never a dull moment, huh?” she chuckled. - “Never.” he laughed. - “Sooo… What were we talking about? … Oh, right; zombies. That reminds me; I punched a zombie once… Well, someone in a zombie costume… Did I tell you about that?” - “Pffffff! I don’t think you have…how’d that come about, anyway?” - “There was this haunted house a few years back. It was pretty intense, so children were required to have an adult with them. Well, these kids really wanted to go and every other adult they asked were either busy or flat out said no… So I wound up being that adult… Well, the haunted house did its job. I was on edge the whole time and, when one of the actors put his hand on my shoulder, I whirled around and punched out of reflex. I felt so bad! I kept apologizing and I even gave him a twenty dollar bill! I know they aren’t paid to be hit, but I had to do something!” - J.C. wheezed before collapsing into a fit of giggles. “Oooooh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho my lord!  That’s aw-haw-haw-haw-haw-haw-ful! Hilarious, as well, but still! But hey, at least you apologized.” - “The kids thought it was funny too,” she chuckled a bit. “Shame I got us kicked out.” - “Aw, that bites,”  the giggles started dying down a bit. “If it’s any consolation, I can be the designated adult if you and I are ever dragged to a place like that. I may let out a high pitch screech if I’m spooked, but I don’t think I’ll karate chop someone. At least, I haven’t yet…” - Audrey chuckled. “I’d appreciate that. I’m afraid my fight or flight response is just a fight response. Not a good scaring subject.” - J.C. snickered, “On the plus side, you at least know that. Better than running into a situation blindly and all confident, then end up running away.” - “As opposed to walking in scared and beating someone up? Not sure if I agree with that… If the person is innocent, anyway… I do wonder how I’d do, should I face a genuine threat… A non human threat, I mean. I know I can take humans.” - “Oh yeah, no; punching innocent people’s never a good idea. I’d imagine if you can pack that much of an unintentional punch on someone, intentionally punching can provide quite a…pack.” He chuckled sheepishly, “I was going somewhere with that. Sounded better in my head.” - Audrey snickered. “I think I get what you’re trying to say. I do imagine I’d do more damage from an intentional hit than I would a startled reflex.” - “D-D-D-D-D-Double comboooooo!” J.C. joked, mimicking a videogame announcer, “Nice hit!” - She laughed at that, having supervised enough sleepovers to recognize a video game reference when she heard one. “Which fighting game is that?” - “Aha, I’m not entirely sure if it is one? I was trying to go something ‘Mortal Kombat’ or ‘Punch-Out!!’-esque, but other than that…” - “Mortal Kombat’s the one with the ‘Finish him!’ line and the catchy theme song, right?” - “Indeed it is. I know there are a few newer versions out, but I prefer the older, less…aaah, gory ones.” - “You mean to tell me they get even gorier?! I saw some as a teenager and they were pretty dang gory.” - “I meeean….maybe more so in the way of being more realistic with the blood and guts and everything, but if you would qualify that as ‘gorier’, then yes.” - “Ahhh, I get it. I suppose that is gorier. It doesn’t matter how much red you add to a stick figure, I’m not really going to be affected by it.” - “To each their own. I suppose.” - “Hm? What do you mean? I thought we were agreeing,” she asked, confused. - “O-oh! I’m pretty sure we still are? I-I meant that in a…different context than what the original meaning of the phrase is? You’d said something about adding as much red as you can to a stick figure and it won’t affect you. I, ah, imagine it can be different for some? That…something like that would? “ J.C. chuckled sheepishly. “I was going somewhere with that, guess my train of thought got derailed…” - “…I think I was in the train when it got derailed because I have no idea where we are,” she laughed. - J.C. snickered before breaking into a short, impromptu song, “We’re goin’ off the rails with our trains of thooooooought…~!” - Audrey’s laughter increased with the song. “Oh my gosh! You are so silly!” - Her laughter had him laughing as well…aaaaand perhaps blushing just a bit. Good to see his dorkiness came in handy outside of cheering up a grumpy sibling or a bummed out friend. “I try, my dear, I try. Just how I am, I guess!” - She giggled softly at being called ‘dear,’ finding it both silly and charming. “Well, you succeed!” she chuckled. “What were we talking about? Fighting games? Something about fighting?” - “Something like that, yeah…come to think of it, how did we even get on that topic, anyway? What were we even talking about before that?” - “I have no idea. I don’t even really play video games. See, this is why I write things down; can’t remember a thing otherwise… Well, aside from the fact that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. That’s about all that stuck with me from school.” - “I wouldn’t call myself a gamer, really. Kind of in the ‘I know just enough to keep myself from getting my butt completely kicked whenever one of the munchkins wants me to do a Pokemon battle with them’ camp. Maybe the occasional party game like those dancing ones, but otherwise…” J.C. chuckled, “What about ‘Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally’ for maths, or ‘Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492?’. Granted, that’s probably going back a looooong time, but hey.” - “I can play a bit of those Mario Party games, but that’s about it. I mostly button mash everything else. It’s amazing how often I win doing that…” she trailed off. “I know those too! It’s just the cotton gin thing stuck with me, for some reason. When will I ever need that information? Elementary school Jeopardy?” - “Haha, Iiiii’d imagine so. I remember when I was still in primary school, we had this ‘Bring-Your-Parent-To-School Day’ thing, and we did have something like that at one point. Kids vs. the parents. Sort of like…what’s the name of that one show? ‘Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?’. Pretty sure that show wasn’t around when I was that young, so your description’s probably more accurate.” - “I suppose you have a point there. I guess I can use it in a competition with my future kids,” she laughed. “Assuming I one day marry and have them or adopt them or what have you.” - “Same, honestly. I like to think I’ve gotten enough practice with ‘Thing 1′ and ‘Thing 2′, and having a kid of my own would be nice. It’s….different from having siblings, you actually have something that you had a hand in creating, and it’s like a little you.” He paused. “I mean…they’re obviously they’re own person, but half of their DNA is yours.” Cue a small sigh, “I dunno, having a tiny person thinking you’re the coolest thing ever for a time is a nice feeling. Kind of want to experience it on a different level than ‘older sibling-younger sibling’.” Cue another pause, then a somewhat sheepish chuckle, “That…aaaah, I didn’t mean to dump all that on you at once. Had an idea and ran with it. I hope that made at least some sense.” - Audrey giggled, pleased with his ramble. She liked the way this man thought. “Oh, no worries. I like listening to people talk about things that make them happy, especially when it’s about kids. And I know what you mean. I can’t help but wonder what a biological child of mine might look like. What traits of mine might they inherit? That sort of thing.” - “Basically a game of ‘roll the genetic dice and see what happens’, I guess. Sometimes it can be a little scary if you’ve got some potentially harmful stuff in your history, but otherwise it’s kind of cool.” A thought occurred to J.C., evidenced by the sudden change in expression on his face. “…I wonder if anyone’s ever had a child that’s exactly half of one parent and half of the other. Like one side of their head has curly hair and the other side is straight? I guess that could happen with multiples, but I don’t know about a singular child…” - “I don’t think that’s possible,” she scratched her head as she thought. “I know eyes can be two different colors, but I don’t think you can have two types of hair on the same head… Not naturally, anyway. I mean, my hair is kind of in-between Mom’s waves and Dad’s curls… Probably closer to Dad in that respect. Can’t style it very well… It’s not both though.” - “Mm.” He nodded as he listened to Audrey’s thought process. “Guess it all depends on what exactly the DNA wants to do when, for lack of a better term, building someone from scratch happens. ‘You get your mom’s eyes, your dad’s hair, the dimples of some relative a few generations back…’. Genetics are weird.” - “Tell me about it. Dad has no freckles, Mom has a few, I have a ton. Apparently, there’s some hidden super freckle gene somewhere in my family.” - J.C. chuckled, “Guess so. I don’t know a whole lot about what ran in mine, other than brown hair from my mother and…” he paused, “I know there was something on my father’s side, though what it is is escaping me at the moment…” - Audrey figured he must be having difficulty remembering as it’s been so long since his biological family was alive. Deciding it better to change the subject before he delves too deep into such a topic, Audrey thought up a distraction. “Do you remember that thing in school where you draw a square consisting of four smaller squares to figure out possible gene combinations or whatever? I forget what it’s called…” - J.C. thought for a minute; that sounded really familiar… “The thing where you put, like…uppercase ‘B’ for brown eyes and lowercase ‘b’ for blue eyes? I believe it’s a Punnett Square?” - “Yeah! That’s it! You’d think figuring out the odds of certain traits would be more complicated than drawing a few squares, but, there it is.” - He chuckled, “I know, right? Apparently, you can use them in…I believe it’s algebra, as well, but it’s a little more complicated there. ‘Square this number, multiply these two’…” - “Oh, gosh; not algebra!” she yelped in faux terror before chuckling. The two went on talking for a good while after that, but ultimately had to end the call. Finding such a thing quite enjoyable, Audrey made sure to call J.C. again… and again… and again. They’d even gotten to the point where they did video calls. It practically became a routine, but there were still interesting moments to be had. “Check it out! I got a wireless headphone microphone thingy!” Audrey chirped excitedly, waving her hand around her head to show there were no wires. “Now I can still talk to you, even if I step away from the computer a little!” - J.C. let out a playful, dramatic gasp at the reveal. “Ah, fantastique! You’re not confined to having to be close to the computer like I am.” he joked, pulling at his headphone cord a bit, “I have one of those microphones that are built into the computer, but I’m definitely planning on upgrading to a more ‘external’ one soon…seven to ten business days to be exact, should the delivery go without a hitch. Merci, online shopping~” - “Tell me about it! Present shopping has never been so convenient~ Also,” Audrey clapped, summoning Lola to jump onto the couch with her. “No more nearly knocking down the computer whenever Lola wants attention!” - J.C. chuckled at the little pup, “Ah, bonjour, Lola!” “Did you say Lola!?” came a voice from outside his door. “Can I see ‘er? Please, please, please, pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaase?” The older brother playfully rolled his eyes, “Oh lord, sounds like I said the magic word. You don’t mind Kat popping in for a bit, do you?” - Audrey chuckled and shook her head. “Not at all~ Let me just turn the speakers on so Lola can hear her. You like the attention, don’t you, girl~?” she cooed as she pet her head. - J.C. gave the two a small smile before turning towards his door. “Entrez!” With a small creak, in came Kat, bounding towards her brother’s bed. Thankfully, he didn’t have to worry about as much damage being done once she flopped onto it, as Kat was a good deal smaller than Syd. No real worries about his laptop flying off of the bed and onto the floor or the screen getting kicked in. Once she was on the bed, Kat crawled towards the webcam and made herself comfortable, smiling widely and cooing at the dog. “Hiiiiya, Lola! Hiya, Audrey!” - “Hiya, Kat!” Audrey returned the greeting as Lola stood up and wagged her tail at the excited voice. “Who’s that?” she asked playfully, getting a bark from her dog. “Yes! It’s Kat! Such a good girl~” she gave Lola a generous petting - The eight year old giggled at the dog’s response. “Kinda bites that you guys are so far away, an’ that I can’t reach through the screen an’ give her some pets…but seeing you two’s okay enough! How’ve you been?” - “I’m giving her plenty of pets for you,” she giggled, petting the dog. “Work’s been a little overwhelming here and there, but Lola and your brother have been doing a good job of helping me wind down. What about you? School treating you okay?” - “Uh-huh!”, the little girl nodded,  “Right now we’re doing our sevens times tables in maths and we’re reading Sideways Stories from Wayside School. We’re supposed to be starting this really cool science experiment next week, but I dunno what exactly it is, ‘cos our teacher’s keeping it a secret.” “Maybe you’re doing the ‘butterfly life cycle observation’ thing.” J.C. commented, “I remember doing that a few times in primary school.” - “Oooo, that sounds fun~ Glad that you’re enjoying yourself. School takes up a lot of time, so, best enjoy it, if you can. Maybe you can give Syd some pointers on that.” Syd struck her as someone who didn’t enjoy school much. - “I meeeean, I dunno what exactly it is they do in Year 6, but I can try? She likes when they do more ‘science-y’ stuff and reading more action-packed stories, than having to learn history or maths….buuuut I can try!”   J.C. smirked at his sister’s confidence. “Well, you know the saying: ‘Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it’.” - “Well… there’s a lot of action in history?” she shrugged. “Though that’s rarely a good thing in real life… And you need to know math in order to properly do science. Lots of equations and all that.” - “Yeeeeah, true. But I guess you gotta explain stuff in a way that’ll make it sound interesting with ‘er. Not totally sure how you could make maths interesting.” The older brother snickered, “Maybe if the question’s something like…’If there are 96 pieces of chewing gum in a candy machine and there are 8 friends, how many pieces does each friend get?’. Something that she can kind of relate to. Or at the very least, reword the question, but keep the same numbers.” - “I’d imagine she’d say something along the lines of, ‘Depends on who has to figure it out. They’ll get more than the rest.’ Gotta be careful with how you word these things,” she wagged a finger. - J.C. laughed, “She would. Or ‘Why would they be sharing, that’s 96 whole pieces of gum right there!’.” “I do know she likes when her class gets to do creative assignments, too.” Kat piped up, “Like when they have a spelling list, but get to write a story that uses the words in it. Or when they make a scene from something or a model in a shoe box.” “…A diorama?” “Yeah, that! She tends to make a big mess when she’s making it, but the end product’s pretty good…and she has fun doin’ it too.” - “That’s good! See, you’ve gotta focus on the good with these things. Focus on the bad and you’ll make yourself miserable. I mean, there are difficult aspects to my job, but I try to focus on the fact I’m helping people get healthy and/or stay healthy. Just remind her something good will come soon enough, you know?” - Kat gave Audrey a salute, “Can do!” “It takes a bit of patience, too.” J.C. added, “I know she wants to do some of the experiments that I did in secondary school and uni, but…well, you need to learn to crawl before you can walk, and know how to walk before you can run.” “It’s hard, though, when you’re little.” Kat piped up. “Trust me, I know. And I’m pretty sure Audrey knows too; we were both your age once.” - “Exactly,” Audrey nodded. “I used to get frustrated with what I wasn’t allowed to do, but, looking back, I wasn’t ready. I couldn’t go baking a cake without learning to crack an egg first.” - “…Ssssoooo she can’t exactly go sledding down the stairs without knowing how to steer the sled first?” J.C. snickered, “I mean, in theory, yeah, but you shouldn’t be doing that anyway because you could get seriously hurt. And that’s regardless of how many pillows you’ve tied to yourself, how many you’ve put at the bottom of the stairs, and with wearing knee and elbow pads and a helmet.” - “Even if you somehow managed not to get hurt, I can’t imagine it would be much fun. I mean, it’d probably be a really bumpy ride. I’d much rather sled in the snow.” - “But then we’d have to go waaaaaaay up north if we wanted snow. It almost never comes this far south.” Kat pouted. “If you want some deep snow, yes, but I think if we a tad bit as opposed to- as you put it- ‘waaaaaaaay’, it’d be fine. Maybe even go a bit west, as well.” J.C. looked to Audrey, “How much snow would you say you get over by you?” - “How much snow?” Audrey proceeded to cackle for a good long time before holding up a finger, asking for a moment to compose herself. “Sorry,” she cleared her throat. “We just get so much snow! I mean it. A lot. A little snow for us would be two feet deep. There’s a reason we have snowplows over here.” - Kat gasped excitedly. “We gotta go to Michigan for sledding!!” J.C. sputtered, laughing a little, “So you’d be willing to take a half-a-day flight just to go sledding? Not one that’d be maybe an hour, hour and a half at most?” “Yeah! ‘Sides, you’d be able to go an’ see Audrey! Us too, obviously, but still!” - “Oh, come now, it wouldn’t just be sledding… There’s making snowmen too,” she giggled. “Not to mention the feeling of coming inside from the cold and warming up with some hot chocolate.” - “And snow angels and snowball fights!” the little girl bounced excitedly. - Audrey chuckled. “Now, now, don’t get too excited. We don’t even know if this winter visit will happen.” - “Can it, thooooough?” Kat asked, giving the two the “puppy dog pout/puppy dog eyes” combo. As much as the older brother would love that, doing so was dependent on a lot of factors.  “Iiiiiit’s a bit too early to say yes or no, sooooo…I guess we can chalk it up as a ‘we’ll see’?” - “It’s not up to me, kiddo,” she gave the child a shrug. “I’d certainly welcome you, but I can’t exactly fly you over here.” - “Awww…” “Hey, it’s not a ‘no’.” J.C. pointed out, trying to make the situation a bit more positive. - “There’s still plenty of time to figure it out,” Audrey offered. “I mean, school only started a few weeks ago over here. It’s still pretty warm out.” - “Yeah. You’re telling me you want to skip out on your birthday and Halloween and just go straight to winter?” J.C joked. Kat let out a small gasp and shook her head ‘no’. “Theeeeeeeeen you have to wait, kiddo.” - Audrey chuckled. "I’m looking forward to pumpkin spice season, myself.” - “I love fall.” J.C. sighed, thoroughly content. “Part of it being the pumpkin spice, part of it the cooler weather…” “Part of it being that you can toss me into leaf piles.” Kat added, grinning. The brother snorted, “That’s something that you love, goofball…buuuuut I do get a good laugh out of it. Next time we get a deep enough pile, you’re getting launched.” Kat responded with her arms joyously shooting upwards, and a happy “Yay!” - Audrey let out a small giggled, one of joy more than humor. She really liked seeing this man get along so well with children. This man was destined to be a father, she thought to herself as she smiled dreamily. - “Maybe if you and Syd team up, you can launch me.” he joked. Kat scoffed before laughing, “Yeeeeah, maybe not? Now, Audrey probably could! Either with us or by herself!” - The laughter snapped her out of her dreamy state and she laughed too. “I can’t guarantee a soft landing if I do.” - “He’s had worse!” Kat snickered, imagine Audrey doing just as she stated. J.C. smiled and rolled his eyes at the blonde and ruffled her hair a bit, “Alright, alriiiight…hey, did you finish your homework yet?” Kat shook her head no. “I was takin’ a break. Guess I should get back to it?” J.C. nodded, “Then when you’re done, we’ll go over it….maybe practice some of your multiplication flash cards?” “ ‘Kay….but you promised we would have a tea party after that and dinner, remember?” “Of course I do. You, me, and Mr. Bunnysworth are going over the details of the deed to your dollhouse.” The way he said it sounded so matter-of-fact. Kat giggled at her goofball brother before turning to Audrey and Lola, “Sounds like I gotta get goin’. I’ll talk you guys later!” - Audrey giggled again. These two were adorable! “Talk to you later,” she smiled and waved goodbye. Once Kat was gone, Audrey turned the sound back to her headphones. “Tea party, huh? Since you’re in England, do you have actual tea at those?” - J.C. smiled and blew a bit of air out of his nose, “Occasionally, yeah. Kind of a toss up between that or some juice. In the winter, she’ll use hot cocoa.” - Audrey chuckled. “That’s basically what we do over here. That or we just sip on air. It’s usually air, unless we’re using real cups. Those play tea cups are so tiny.” - “I know, right? You have to take teeeeeeny tiny sips if you want it to last the whole party. Like a little mouse or something.” - “Imagine if you were trying to actually hydrate with one of those,” she snickered. - “Oh jeez. If you drink out of them like a normal human being, it’s almost like doing shots.” He paused for a second. “…Oooor at least, how I imagine one would do them. Never done them myself. The occasional glass of wine on special occasions or on vacation, but otherwise…” - Audrey snorted. “I just imagined someone doing shots of tea, but instead of getting drunk, they just get more and more English!” - “Ha! I could start out sounding like this.…” He mimicked downing a few cups of tea before speaking again in a “fancier” accent: “…to something like this. And as the day goes on, it just….waters itself down.” - Audrey couldn’t help but cackle at the demonstration. Once she calmed down, she glanced at the clock and spoke again. “Oh goodness; is that the time? I need to let Lola out before she messes on the floor. Be right back!” She darted off camera to let Lola outside. While outside, her headphones were out of range of her computer, so neither of them could hear each other. With the silence, Audrey managed to forget she was wearing the headphones at all. Making her way back inside (and back in range of her computer), she sang softly to herself as she went about getting Lola a treat. - “Can’t be having that now! You two go do your thing, I’ll be over here.” As the two went off, J.C. took the time to readjust a few things with his computer, answer an e-mail, comment on a friend’s photo. His ears perked up a bit when he picked up the sound of Audrey’s voice again. Was she…? She was. He’d heard her sing once already (he had joined in, after all~), but regardless of that, she sounded lovely. Cue a bit of pink coloring his cheeks. - As she made her way back to the computer, she stopped singing and went about taking the headphones from around her neck and putting them back over her ears. “Sorry about that,” she sat back down with a smile, oblivious to the fact he’d heard her. - “Huh? Oh! Oh, it’s no big deal.” He chuckled sheepishly, “When you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.” Cue the blush getting a bit more noticeable. Seemed to be that she was unaware that he could hear her… - Audrey raised her brow at this and cocked her head slightly to the side. “You feeling alright?” - Ah, crud, he’d been caught. “You, ah….” he gestured to where her headset had been. “You had forgotten to take your headset off, and I caught a bit of you singing when you came back in. N-not that that’s a bad thing! I thought i-i-i-i-it sounded lovely…” - “Oh? Oh!” she brought her fingertips to her mouth for a moment, then brought them back down with an embarrassed smile. “Ah-ha… Oops… Thank you?” - “Eheh…heh…aaaah, no problem…” Well, this was awkward. - “What were we talking about?” she twirled some hair around her fingers as she tried to distract from what had just happened. - “Tea parties and fancy accents, I believe?” J.C. answered, going back to said “fancy” accent as a joke. - Audrey tittered and the two went back to talking. As time went by, the leaves turned color, the temperature got colder, and their online chats became more frequent. “Since Halloween is right around the corner, I have an idea I want to toss out there, if you’re interested.” - J.C., currently in a rather “spooky” sweater, looked up from his hot cocoa, curious. “Shoot. What’cha got rattlin’ around in that brain of yours?” - “You know how I don’t watch horror movies because I don’t want to hurt someone on accident or watch it alone? Well, I can’t really hurt anyone if they aren’t physically in the room with me,” she grinned a bit slyly. “Could be something a bit different, you know?” - “Oooo-hoo-hoo, I like~ So! How should we start out with this? Something super tame like….well, I mean Hotel Transylvania isn’t a horror movie, but it has monsters in it…or do we go for the big guns like The Grudge?” - “I was thinking an actual horror movie. My cousin Chloe got me a nice mountain of horror movie files to choose from. She may have been a bit over zealous though,” she chuckled. “I doubt I’ll ever watch them all. Anyway, I can send the files your way and we can watch it on that Let’s Gaze website we tested out before.” - J.C. laughed as well, “Fine by me! Anything in said mountain that’s catching your eye? I’m not super picky with what we watch.” - “Chloe did mention that some of them can have a bit of humor or ridiculousness to them. What were some of them? Child’s Play… Scream… The Cabin in the Woods… Any of those sound good?” - Taking a sip of his drink as Audrey listed off a few titles, he perked up at the last one. “Oooo, Cabin in the Woods, let’s go with that.” - “I take it you like that one?” she smiled as she went about sending him a link to download the file. - “It’s actually one I haven’t seen,” he clarified, “Child’s Play and Scream, I have seen, albeit a few years ago. Figured I’d start with something ‘new’ before going towards more familiar, y’know?” - “Sounds good. When do you think you’ll have time to sit and watch a whole movie with me?” - “Mmmmm, probably sometime a little later this week? Have a few ‘autumnal’ things that are going on with the family, so I might not be able to find some free time before then. I can keep you posted, though!” - “Is it apple picking?” Audrey asked enthusiastically. “Or throwing your sisters into leaf piles? Pumpkin picking?” - “All 3~” he smiled, “Maybe some preliminary costume searching as well.” - “Ooooooo~ Sounds like you’ve got some busy days ahead of you! My mom, dad, aunts, uncles, and cousins are all going apple picking with me next week! We’re all gonna get some fresh air, pick some apples, make some apple treats… that sort of thing~” - “Ooo, sounds fun! Maybe I can suggest that to Mum and Dad; apple-flavoured stuff- rather, stuff made from apples- sounds really good right now. Plus, it can give Syd a chance to put some of her energy towards climbing some trees.” - “I can send you some recipes, if you need any,” she offered. - “Ooo, that’d be lovely, actually. Spice things up a bit in terms of autumnal snacks, you know?” - Audrey’s eyes seemed to sparkle at the concept of sharing recipes. “Oh! Oh! I have lots of recipes! What do you think you might want; pies, crisps, cobblers, muffins, cakes, cider, applesauce, fritters, breads?!” - Dang, she really DID have a lot of recipes! And they all sounded really nummy~ “Man, you weren’t kidding!” he laughed, “Hm, where do I even start? Maybe we can start with fritters and muffins and go from there.” - “Good choice~ I’ll be sure to send those your way.” She reached for her notebook off camera and jotted down a reminder. “Maybe I could add a nice apple drink recipe in there. Gotta wash those treats down with something~” - “Oo, even better. Kind of like a little bonus treat.“ - Audrey giggled at that. “A treat for your treats~” - J.C. let out a giggle as well…with an unintentional snort. Upon realizing that he had done so, his face went a bit pink. He was still smiling, though, so that was a good sign. - She didn’t comment on the snort. She didn’t want to embarrass him, especially when she did the same thing. “It’s a shame you live so far away. It’d be fun to bake together, I bet!” - He stopped for a second, a thought occurring to him. If they could talk to each other while being in two different parts of the world, what was to stop them from baking? “Unless…we do the baking, but like how we’re doing now. Find some sort of set up to where we can place our computers or phones or whatever out of the ingredient ‘splash zone’, and check on each other’s progress along the way. Baking together, but not physically together, if that makes any sense.” - “We should totally do that,” she exclaimed. “I wonder what we should make. I’d suggest an apple dish, but I don’t go apple picking until next week. Heh. Maybe we should try something simple, just to test it out?” She put a finger to her mouth in thought. “Perhaps a no-bake pumpkin pie? Still autumn themed. Do you guys have boxes of instant pudding over in England? Maybe we should make something with more common ingredients. Hmm… Oh! Pumpkin bread!” - “Oh definitely; do a test run, see how that goes, and then go from there!” J.C. agreed. “Do we have instant pu…I actually might have to check the next time I go out for groceries. Pumpkin bread might be a better option to start with, at least. I know for a fact that we have the stuff to make it here.” - “I’ll have to Google this sort of thing later,” she mused aloud. “I know you guys don’t have graham crackers over there. I’m guessing you’d use shortbread crust for pies in place of graham cracker ones…” - “Usually, yeah, or we use digestive biscuits in place of them. They may have them in the ‘’American’‘ section of a grocery store, but it depends on the store.” - Audrey nodded. “It really is wild how similar, yet different, our foods can be. I’ll try to look through my recipes for ones that are more basic. Here in the states, we tend to use shortcuts that you may not have; like instant pudding.” - “Right? And it can mean something completely different too. The kind that you’re talking about is usually called ‘custard’. If you look up ‘Yorkshire pudding’, that’s usually what we mean. Haggis is technically considered one. …English is weird.” - “Haggis?!” she asked with a weird face. “You’re right. English is weird.” She scrunched her nose. “I’m not going to lie here; if I asked for chocolate pudding and got haggis, I would be very disappointed.” - J.C. laughed, “Same, honestly. I mean, the food itself actually isn’t all that bad; it’s just the way it’s made that makes it sound gross…and…maybe some of what’s in it. To each their own, I suppose.” He shrugged, “I’ve only had it a few times that I can remember; usually when we’ve gone to visit one of my aunts up in Scotland.” - “I’ve never had it myself, but I know it doesn’t taste like chocolate pudding. Hence why I would be disappointed. I’m generally down to try anything at least once.” She thought a moment. “Scotland, huh? Is it as pretty as the pictures?” - “Always a plus.” he smiled. “I’d say so, yeah. One of my favourite places that we sometimes stop over in is Edinburgh, it’s kind of got a fairy tale-esque feel to it. Where my aunt lives is a bit further south, over in Dumfries; more of a riverside kind of town. If you go north enough in the winter, you’re able to see the northern lights, apparently. Haven’t had a chance to myself, unfortunately. I mean, we’ve been pretty far north there that time of year, but never at a point where we can catch ‘em.” - “Oh, that sounds lovely,” she smiled. “Maybe you could ask your relatives to send you pictures, since you haven’t been able to catch them yourself. Oh! Another name for the northern lights is the aurora borealis, right? Sounds all scientific that way,” she chuckled. - He laughed, “Indeed it does. …Y’know, that actually sounds like a good idea. Knowing my luck, if you and I got together just for that, there’d be a wicked snowstorm that moves in on the night we’d be seeing them.” Of course, the alternative of being all snuggled up indoors by a fireplace with some hot cocoa with her wasn’t bad. - She cocked her head slightly, a bit curious, but kept her smile all the same. How exactly did he feel about her if one of his first thoughts about the northern lights would be seeing them with her? “Well, I’m sure we’d find other things to do. Maybe hot cocoa and a crackling fire? I love those~” Seemed she had a similar mindset. - “Maybe in some comfy pyjamas, under one of those weighted blankets.” he added, goofy grin starting to sprawl across his face“…Ooooor a lightweight but super fluffy one. Either or.” - “Oooo~ Both are good! Might depend on how warm the fire makes everything.” She chuckled. “Here we go; talking about a fictional snowstorm. Our conversations sure are something, aren’t they? I was supposed to remember something…” Audrey opened her notebook. “Oh, yeah! I’m supposed to get you some recipes and find one we can both cook together!” Looking off screen, she spotted Lola. “Looks like Lola wants O-U-T and I need to look for some recipes, so I’ll talk to you later, okay?” - “Right, right! That should be fun; here’s hoping that when we do do that, the internet says running smoothly the entire time. Nothing worse that trying to get an exact amount of something from someone, and the connection starts to glitch.” At the mention of Lola, J.C. blew a bit of air out of his nose, smiling. “Haha, silly pup. You go on ahead; I’ll catch up with you later!” -End-

[sindrafalcone]

Adventures in Babysitting pt.1

Fandom: BIGBANG/ Choi Seung Hyun x reader

Synopsis: A babysitting job turns into something unexpected...

Warnings: none

Author’s Note: To whoever requested this... thanks for your patience! It’s not exactly what you asked for, but it’s just where my brain went with the idea. I hope you still like what I managed to come up with. :) The other parts will follow as I finish them.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. This story contains fictional representations of real people. None of the events are true. This is from an American standpoint, so some of the situations may not happen the same way they might in Korea. I make no money from the writing of this fictional work.

Masterlist 

The fingers of one hand drummed out a dull rhythm on the table, while the fingers of the other used your mouse to scroll through what seemed like an endless abyss of job listings. Honestly you loved your day time job working in an art museum, but it just didn't pay enough to live comfortably in the big city. So you regularly took side jobs to pick up the slack, usually as a babysitter.

Since it was a Friday, the one-night sitter jobs were normally plentiful and paid fairly well. Lots of rich moms and dads were willing to pay out a good bit of money in order to have someone come and stay with their little ones so they could have a fancy night out. Or, at least, that was usually the case... tonight you were finding nothing that was worth the time or the effort.

You sighed, taking a break from looking at the screen to rub at your tired eyes and take a sip of your coffee. It was a little late to be consuming caffeine, but you knew that if you ever managed to find a sitting job that you'd need it after a long day at the museum conducting tours.

Glancing back at your computer, you saw a “NEW JOB” posting flashing on the screen. Hastily you set the cup down and leaned forward so you could scan through it. Hopefully it was something good and you could snag it before someone else did. The world of online babysitting services could be surprisingly cut throat.  

Needed: One time sitter, overnight at hotel, $2000...

“Two thousand!” you gasped out loud. Why on earth would they pay so much? Sure overnight jobs paid more, but that was way out of the ordinary. There had to be a catch... you kept on reading.

... must speak fluent Korean...

Ah, there it was. Must be an out of town businessman or diplomat, especially if they were willing to pay that much. Luckily for you, you'd had a friend in college who was obsessed with Kpop and talked you into enrolling in the Korean language courses along with her because she “needed someone to practice with”. It had come in handy only a few times in your life, but it had never paid off quite like this.

Quickly you pulled out your phone and dialed the number on the screen, not wanting to lose this opportunity to someone else.

The man smiled smugly as he swiped the screen on his phone, ending the call. “I think I just fixed our little problem.”

“Oh?” asked another masculine voice from the living room where he was sprawled out on the sofa, his socked feet propped high on the back of the furniture as he scrolled through Instagram. “How'd you manage that?”

“I found a babysitter!”

You fidgeted nervously as the elevator took you slowly, floor by floor, up to the Penthouse suite of the hotel. Ever since you'd arrived and explained to the front desk staff your reason for being there, you'd felt on edge. Judging  from the pay for this job, you knew that you'd be going to one of the upper floors... but you'd never expected to get off the elevator all the way at the top.

The doors finally slid open, snapping you out of your uneasy trance. You walked out into the hallway, smoothing your hands unconsciously down your outfit, trying to press out any wrinkles that might have been there. You weren't sure what to expect, so you'd chosen to dress in a dark pair of tailored jeans & a colorful, floral tank top with a gray cardigan over that. You'd topped it off with a pair of red patent leather ballet flats... comfortable, respectable looking, and still good enough to chase a toddler if you needed to.

To your surprise, there was a man standing out in the hall who looked as if he were guarding the door beside him. The only other door in the hallway had no one in front of it, you noticed. As you got closer, he finally greeted you.

“Babysitter?” he asked you in Korean, a wry smile on his lips.

You nodded in return. “That's me.” you tried your best to smile.

“Stay right here for a second, I'll let them know you've arrived.”

He opened the door to the room and disappeared, leaving you to shuffle from foot to foot anxiously. After about five minutes, the door popped open and he reappeared.

“They're ready for you.” he smiled as he held the door open for you.

“Um, thanks...” you said quietly, passing him and walking into one of the most opulent hotel rooms you'd ever seen in your life. (Which, honestly, wasn't very many.)

Sleek, modern looking furniture sat in a huge living room, all situated around floor to ceiling windows that offered a fantastic view of the city below. You noticed that there was a kitchen unit off to your left that was probably larger than your entire apartment. To the right of that, there was a dining area which held a table big enough to seat eight people. That was when you caught sight of the well dressed man heading toward you with his arm outstretched in a friendly greeting.

“Hello.” he smiled at you, his eyes crinkling slightly at the edges. As you shook hands he bowed slightly. “My name is Seungri, pleased to meet you.” his voice was like honey, perfectly pitched and smooth as he spoke in English.

“__________.” you told him timidly. “Nice to meet you as well.”

He gestured you toward the table where you saw there were refreshments already waiting. The table held a full tea service for three... three teapots, cups and saucers, as well as a four-tiered cake stand with an assortment of tiny sandwiches, desserts and fresh fruit.

After he'd seated you at the table properly, Seungri motioned to the other man already sitting across from you. “And this is Jiyong.” he said, while sitting down beside him.

“Hi.” Jiyong gave you a little wave as he smiled mischievously.

“Hi.” you smiled back, your heart skipping a beat. Seriously, what was with all these good looking men?

Seungri poured the tea & once that was finished, you began discussing business. As you ate and drank you learned that there would be a small room provided for you that was within the suite, originally a servants quarters. You'd be staying the night and would receive pay before you left the next morning. They seemed to be fairly certain that you wouldn't need to leave the suite at all.

“You can of course order room service for you both if either one of you gets hungry.” Jiyong told you. “Just charge it to the room.”

Your eyes must have given away your surprise, because he grinned.

“And you can call the concierge if you need anything else. He'll get it for you.” Seungri smiled as well. “Is there anything else you need clarification on before we leave for the night?”

You hadn't missed the way he said 'we' and inwardly sighed to yourself. Why did all the cute ones have to turn out to be gay?

“Um, where is he? I mean, it might be easier on him if he meets me before you guys leave. It'll be a bit of a shock if some random person turns up and you two are gone, don't you think?”

They both had the decency to look sheepish and guilty at the same time.

“That... that might be a problem.” Seungri said carefully while Jiyong just tried to contain his giggles.

“Why is that?”

“He's locked himself in his room and refuses to come out.” Jiyong managed to say, in between chuckles.

You just stared at them in disbelief. What kind of parents were they that they would let their kid lock themselves in their room?

“There was something he wanted to do earlier that we didn't get to.” Jiyong explained further. “And now... he's pouting because we're going out.”

“More than likely, he's asleep right now. He might venture out later, and he might stay in there all night.” Seungri told you, frowning at Jiyong. “You might just get to hang out in a fancy hotel suite and get paid for it... no actual babysitting required.”

You weren't sure what to say to that, so you kept your mouth shut because you really needed the money. After clearing up a few other things, they excused themselves from the room leaving you alone for the night. And not long after they left, someone from room service arrived to clear away the tea things.

You spent the next hour and a half all alone. For a while you just admired the view from the window as it really was breathtaking, even in the dark the twinkling lights of the city were nice. Then you'd explored the kitchen, curious to see what sort of things were in there. You weren't all that surprised when the only thing you found in the fridge were a few bottles of water. You were a little shocked, however, at the rather large selection of wine stocked both in a separate, smaller wine cooler and in a nearby rack.

“Someone really likes wine...” you mumbled to yourself as you slid a bottle out of it's place to look at the label. “Someone with very expensive tastes.” you squeaked in shock, carefully putting the bottle back where it came from.

Not wanting to snoop any further, you finally resigned yourself to watching television. You'd only gotten half way through the show you were semi-watching, when you heard a door pop open from somewhere down the hallway. You didn't think much of it until you heard footsteps headed your way & only looked up from your phone when they suddenly stopped.

Standing at the edge of the living room area stood a man, average in height but far from average in looks. If you had thought the first two guys were good looking, this one was immaculately elegant. He was dressed in pajamas with a robe thrown on over them but not tied, and he was wearing slippers on his feet as well. His dark black hair stuck out this way and that, he was obviously fresh from a shower, but that did nothing to detract from his appearance.

“Who are you?” he asked in tentative English, arms folding across his chest defensively.

“I... um,” you hesitated, caught off guard by both his sudden appearance and his unique handsomeness. “I'm the babysitter. Who are you?”

“Apparently...” his perfect lips thinned into a dangerous line. “I'm the baby.”

[micrathene-w]

My Second Sims 4 Household

Just going to say Right Up Front that if you're anti-LGBTQA, this family of Sims is not going to be your cup of tea, and you needn’t look under the cut.

For those of you remaining, this main fellas of this household are also fandom inspired. I'm not naming any names in this post; not sure if anyone who sees this will get who the inspiration was or not but... I ship it, okay? ;D

First of all, meet G. G has the Bodybuilder aspiration. He's a Bro, he's Cheerful, and he's a Goofball. I moved him into the Agave Abode in Oasis Springs, had him collect some of the more valuable fruits & flowers from there and Willow Creek to earn Simoleons gardening while he wasn't hanging out at the gym.

Then I moved B into the humble little Nookstone house I had just moved my first sim, Aislinn, out of. B's characterization is never very clear in his original canon, so I went with my headcanon-y version. He aspires to be a Renaissance Sim; he is Good, and a Geek, and a Genius. (He also started out looking very much like a little twink, didn't he?) He’s maxed out his Programming skill and earns royalties from video games and apps he’s created.

It took a frustratingly long time of me running around with one or the other of them, but eventually they met. They became friends. They stated, cautiously, to flirt a little. (Along the way, B stopped being *quite* so twink-looking because he spent half his time at the gym mooning after G.) 

Once they realized the attraction was mutual, the caution part? Kind of went out the window. Increasingly "steamy encounters" and ye olde "woohoo" followed pretty quick. B was the one to propose to G (so it's just as well he'd put on some muscle so he didn't drop the big guy when he swept him off his feet).

(...that moment when you realize your former-twink fiance can dip you now!)

They eloped and exchanged their vows immediately because the player was Not Yet Ready to tackle a wedding event lol. B moved into Agave Abode with his new spouse and left sad little Nookstone empty again. For a while. (But that's another story.)

Now somewhere during the course of all this, I was learning about Sims mods. Not just custom content to make my Sims look better (see B’s hair, above), but things that could make the game more realistic... and okay, in some ways less realistic, too. I downloaded MC Command Center and its companion mod, MC Woohoo. Among the many other things they allow you to customize in your Sims experience, the MC mods let you set a percentage chance that regular old woohoo might result in an “increasing” Sim, rather than just the deliberate choice to Try For Baby - that part was more relevant to my first sim.

What applied to these two, was the option to allow same-sex Sims to have their own children rather than adopt (or jump through hoops and maybe mess up their relationship to do a surrogacy, which had been my original plan). And also applicable, as it turned out, was the Autonomous Woohoo option.

Yup, MC Woohoo gives your Sims the chance to decide to toddle off to the bedroom even when you haven't made the choice to send them there. And these two, I swear, have used and abused that function more than any other Sim of mine. I would take my eyes off the screen for just a moment or two to answer a friend on Discord and their flirty banter would turn into a dash for the bedroom. I did not activate the "Autonomous Try For Baby" - but as it turned out, I didn't need to, for this pair.

It actually did catch me by surprise when G turned up in the background while I was playing my first Sim Aislinn... looking like this.

I changed households to them so fast I think it gave my computer whiplash and - yup. Baby on the way for the boys. I got over my nervousness about building and added both a second floor and a basement for G's exercise equipment to the Abode. G was a trooper about the whole thing, and in the usual 3 days' Sims-time off he went to the hospital and came home with their little son O. 

They both made much fuss over their baby and - when he aged up - their toddler.

Of course, once O got moved into his own room and would sleep through the night, the guys went back to their very flirty (and frequently autonomous) ways. I would mostly roll my eyes and figure out who had initiated what that time by which of them had the option to take a pregnancy test after. I didn't bother, because what were the odds of that happening again so soon? I think I had the risk factor set at all of 5%. And it came to nothing until just after O had maxed out his toddler stats and aged up into a child; the guys did what the guys do so often... but when I sent B to the bathroom after (he was, in the words of a popular Sims YouTuber, “desperate for a wee”) - in addition to the pregnancy test option, was a button for "Throw Up." 

Imagine me face-palming here.

As I told the friend on Discord, at least they took turns? 3 far more morning-sickness laden days later, second son R joined the family. Angel child O was not happy at first, but once his little brother aged up into a toddler Charmer instead of a tiny scream factory they got along much better.

Except G & B didn't even wait until R was ready to exit toddlerhood before G had a third one on the way. Baby sister C is going to be their last for now; I have switched the same-sex babies option off until further notice because these two... these two are as bad as rabbits. They would overrun Oasis Springs if I let them. My dudes, I love you dearly but this IS NOT the hundred-baby challenge okay?!

[lostinreality014]

Part I - Bad Dreams & Bed Time Stories

Author’s Notes: Hello, hello! Here is Part I of my Harry mini series. I tried writing a short prologue to introduce this series but it just wasn’t working. I’m still quite nervous about sharing this piece because it was much more difficult to write than my Niall pieces, but I’m happy with how this turned out. And I really hope you like it. 

Thank you @imagine-that-one-thing and @stylishmuser for being betas to this series and for your suggestions and words of encouragement. :)

All rights reserved. I do not give permission for this piece to be reposted on any platform.

Part I

It was just before midnight when I finished picking up around the house. While I was exhausted from a busy day hosting a couple of my daughter’s friends and their mum’s from our mummy and me playgroup for most of the afternoon, I wasn’t quite ready to go to sleep just yet. I had a sudden craving for a cup of mint tea and an apple with peanut butter. So I made the executive decision that a late night snack accompanied by Will & Grace re-runs was in order before heading to bed.

As soon as I’d tucked Mia into bed just after eight, I’d changed into a comfy pair of sleep shorts and one of Harry’s vintage band shirts he always left behind when he was away for work. I’d thrown my hair up into a messy bun, and what little bit of make-up I’d worn for the day was now gone. I’d wanted to be comfy while tidying up around the house and already dressed for bed so I could fall into bed face first when I was ready for sleep.

“Mumma?” I stood up from setting my tea and snack down on the coffee table to see my almost four year old daughter standing on the second to last step, knuckling her eyes sleepily.

“What are you doing up, munchkin?” I said glancing up at the clock and seeing it was was nearly quarter after midnight. Aside from the fact that she’d just been rubbing at her eyes, I noticed that they were a bit red. Her nightgown was a rumpled mess and her hair was all over the place.

“I has bad dream.” she mumbled, her chin wobbling a bit as I walked over to her, scooping her up in my arms. She immediately wrapped her tiny arms around me and buried her face in my neck.

“Was it the monster under your bed again?” I asked softly, running my hand soothingly up and down her back as I made my way over to the sofa.

“No. Daddy and Unca Niall ascared it away. Member?” she asked.

“That’s right. How could mumma forget?” I resisted the urge to laugh as the memory of Harry and Niall running through the house with various household items to act as protection floated across my memory. Mia had told her Uncle Niall about the monster the last time he’d been over before leaving for the second leg of his solo tour. As soon as she’d finished telling him what was wrong, he scooped her up and took off to find Harry so they could “vanquish the monster once and for all.” Those were Niall’s exact words. Not mine.

“What was your dream about then?” She pushed herself up so she could look at me, her eyes welling with tears.

“Daddy not sing no more.” A single tear slipped from the corner of her eye and my heart broke a little bit. Mia’s dreams were usually about the monsters and dragons she saw in her cartoons and princess movies. This was the first bad dream she’d had - at least to my knowledge - that didn’t involve make believe characters and creatures. While it was a bit surprising that she had a dream about Harry not being able to talk or sing, it also wasn’t surprising.

About three weeks before Harry left for the leg of his tour he just wrapped up, he’d come down with a severe case of laryngitis. He lost his voice completely and only got it back a few days before he flew out to Japan. The only way he’d been able to communicate with anyone was by text or writing down what he wanted to say.

Once he’d got his voice back, he was on strict orders to minimize talking for another two weeks so he had a chance to fully heal. It had been tough on him where Mia was concerned. They were always talking or singing together, and not being able to do so was torture for the both of them. And Mia often got frustrated because she didn’t understand why Harry couldn’t talk. The pained look in Harry’s eyes any time he couldn’t communicate with his baby girl broke my heart every time.

“Oh my little love.” I said softly, leaning forward, kissing her on her forehead and brushing her hair back from her face. “Daddy can still sing, munchkin. He sang on the stage two sleeps ago. Remember when Auntie Lou called us on the computer?” she nodded, still seemingly unconvinced that he was okay.

“I wants ta hear him sing.”

“I know you do, baby. But he’s not on stage right now. He’s probably all snuggled up in bed thinking about how much he wishes he could have a nice long cuddle with you.”

“He sing when I wakes up?”

“We can try calling him when you wake up in the morning, but no promises okay? He might be on the airplane coming home.” She nodded and sniffled. I knew for a fact he was on his way home. I just didn’t know where he was at the moment. He could be in the air or stopping for a re-fuel. Save for any delays, he was supposed to be home a couple hours after Mia left to spend the weekend with Gemma.

“Now lets get you back to bed so you’re well rested for your weekend with Auntie Gem. She’s very excited to spend time with you.” I said with a warm smile.

“Autine Gem come get me?”

“That’s right. And I think she said something about getting pancakes for breakfast.” Mia’s eyes went wide with excitement.

“I wuv pancakes!”

“I know you do.” I chuckled as I carefully stood up from the sofa, hoping that I’d be able to get her back to sleep fairly easy so I could return to my cup of tea and apple.

“You all comfy?” I asked a few minutes later once I’d got her all tucked in bed again with her Mumble penguin stuffie sitting by her pillow to keep away the monsters. Her teddy she always fell asleep with was tightly wrapped up in her little arms.

“Uh huh.”

“Warm enough? Want your fleece blanket?”

“I warm ‘nough.” she lisped. I smiled and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I miss daddy.”

“I know. I miss him too. But there’s just three more sleeps until you see him. So the sooner you go to sleep, the sooner he’ll be home, okay?” she nodded. “I love you, munchkin.”

“I wuv you, too.” She whispered as her eyes dropped shut. I dropped a kiss to the top of her head then made my way across her room. I stepped out of the door and was about to have a silent, mini celebration that’d I’d got her down so quickly when she sat up bolt right with a sudden burst of energy that toddlers always seemed to find at the most inopportune times.

“Mumma?”

“Daddy is fine, my love. There’s nothing to worry about.” I said, stepping back into her room and walking over to sit down on the edge of her bed.

“Can you tell me story?” she asked, looking up at me with big, pleading eyes. They weren’t quite the full blown puppy eyes she could give me, but they were close. She looked exactly like Harry did when he wanted something. It was a look that made me cave every single time no matter how hard I tried not to.

“Okay. But only one.” I said firmly, holding up one finger. She nodded excitedly.

“What story would you like to hear?”

“One abouts you and daddy.” I looked at her curiously for a moment. Her ideal bedtime stories were all about her favorite princes and princesses. Or stories that involved talking animals. This was the first time she’d asked me to tell her a story about me and Harry.

“What about me and daddy?” Mia put a finger to her chin, telling me she was deep in thought. I watched her, her eyes darting around her room before landing on one of her princess pictures hanging above her dresser.

“How did you and daddy falls in wuv?” She said with a dreamy grin. I was so shocked by her question I just stared at her for a moment.

“What did you just ask me?”

“How did you and daddy falls in wuv?” she repeated, a slight bit of exasperation apparent in her tone. “Cinderella falled in wuv wif da Prince when they danced at the ball.” She explained. “Did you and daddy dance at a ball?” her eyes were sparkling with interest now as she continued to look up at me, waiting for me to respond. I finally snapped out of my shock at her question and chuckled softly as the earliest memories I had of me and Harry raced through my head.

“Not exactly.”

“Whats do you mean?”

“Well, daddy and I met when were on the xFactor.”

“What’s dat?”

“The xFactor was a singing competition on telly.”

“Did you sing wif daddy?”

“No. I sang by myself. And your daddy sang with your uncles.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. The day I met daddy was the day I met your uncles too.”

“Will you tell me how you meets daddy instead?”

“Sure, munchkin.” I smiled as she settled back into her pillow.

***Flashback*** I was sat in a chair backstage, my knees curled into my chest and tears steadily running down my cheeks. I’d been so close. I’d made it all the way through boot camp without being eliminated, and to have it come down to me and one other contestant only to be the one eliminated… that hurt more than I could have ever imagined. It hurt almost as much as it had when I found out I hadn’t been cast in a show I had auditioned for not too long ago. That’s actually how I ended up auditioning for xFactor. Part of the “deal” I’d made with my mum and step-dad when I’d told them I wanted to take a gap year and audition for shows before considering university, was that I’d give xFactor a try if I wasn’t having luck with auditioning for shows.

What hurt just as much as being eliminated was the fact that I couldn’t call my mum or step-dad for comfort. I couldn’t because this part of the footage wouldn’t be aired until a later date and we were all under contract to not discuss anything show related until an episode had aired. The exception being the live shows if we made it that far.

After a good fifteen minutes or so had passed, I forced myself to pull it together and started gathering up my belongings. I reminded myself that this was just like any other show I’d auditioned for and not got the part. With this chapter coming to a close, I wasn’t too sure what I was going to do now. I at least had a place to stay for the next couple of weeks, which would allow me a bit more time to find auditions and get back into a dance studio. I loved dancing as much as I loved singing, but there had always been a part of me that was drawn to the dancing more. And I knew getting back into a studio would help me brush off this latest blow and help reset my frame of mind for whatever auditions I managed to find from here on out. Just as I slinging my bag over my shoulder, one of the stage managers walked up to me.

“Ms. McKinley?”

“Yes?” I asked, standing up straight, sniffling lightly.

“Don’t leave just yet.”

“I’m sorry?” I asked, confusion evident in my tone. “Don’t leave?”

“That’s right. I’ve just been asked to come find you. I know nothing more than you do I’m afraid. You can leave your things here. You’ll have time to come collect them later.” I nodded and set my stuff back down and hurried to catch up to him. He led me back to the same area I’d stood in while waiting for my turn to audition just a few weeks ago.

I was surprised to see that I wasn’t the only one still here. After a quick count, I noted that there were nine girls and ten boys all standing in a group, looking just as confused as I was. I recognized one of the the girls, Esther, from boot camp as I’d spent a decent amount of time with her over the last week. She reached out and took my hand as I walked up to the group.

“What’s going on?” I whispered to her.

“No idea.” she answered. The longer we waited for a stage manger or producer to return to tell us what was going on, the more the nervous tension in the air grew. I could practically feel it vibrating off of everyone and every object within three feet of us.

“If you’ll listen closely please!” Another stage manager that I’d recognized called out. “The judges would like to speak with a select few of you. If I call your name, please step forward and await further instruction.” We all nodded nervously. “Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Blake McKinley, Esther Campbell, Sophia Wardman, Jessica Batist, and Clarissa White.” We all nervously stepped forward, glancing back at those whose names had not been called.

“If your name was not called, I’m afraid your time on xFactor has come to an end.” We all turned to look at the few who hadn’t been called upon, all of us no doubt wanting to hug them and tell them it would be okay. When the stage manager spoke up again, we turned back to face him as those not called made their way back to the holding areas to gather their belongings.

“Blake, Niall, Harry, Liam, Louis, and Zayn, if you’ll please wait in the hall. I will come for you shortly.” Esther gave my hand a squeeze before releasing it and following the other three girls out on the stage. I followed the boys out into the hall, another stage hand shutting the door behind us so we wouldn’t be able to hear what was currently going on.

We were all quiet as we paced around in the hallway. Well, the boys paced, I slid down the wall and hugged my knees to my chest and stared at the floor. Not having any idea, and not being able to hear what was happening on stage was not helping ease the queasy feeling in my stomach. I felt eyes on me before I knew who they belonged to, and it took me a second to work up the nerve to see whose gaze was upon me.

When I did, my eyes met a pair of brilliant green ones, green eyes that I was certain I’d never forget, and I felt my heart stutter in my chest. He gave me a nervous, but warm smile. I returned the smile and felt myself relax a little bit. We all jumped when the stage door opened just then, and I held my breath while waiting to see who would be called back to the stage next.

“Blake, you’re up next, love.” I swallowed around the lump in my throat with some difficulty and nodded. But I couldn’t seem to get myself to move. Green Eyes stepped in front of me and held out his hands. I took them and he helped me up, giving my hands a reassuring squeeze and whispering a “good luck” before releasing them so I could make my way back to the stage.

The stage door closing loudly behind me caused me to jump as I made my way on shaking legs back to the stage. Taking a deep breath, I made myself focus on how calm I’d felt, if only briefly, when Green Eyes had taken my hands and given them a squeeze before walking through the door.

“Blake, it’s so wonderful to see you back on our stage again.” Simon said with a warm smile, quite the departure from his usual neutral, unreadable face that we always saw. Nicole and Cheryl were also smiling warmly and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Quite nervous if I’m honest.” I said, a tight smile stretching across my lips.

“We won’t keep you in suspense much longer.” Simon promised. I nodded, my eyes moving back and forth between the three of them, finally settling on Nicole when she spoke up.

“We spent quite a bit of time going back and forth between you and Treyc at the end of bootcamp. You’re both incredibly talented singers with two completely different styles. In the end, we had to make a decision.” Nicole explained. Her voice was gentle and reassuring. I nodded, willing the tears to stay at bay, still wondering what I was about to be told.

As Nicole had mentioned, Treyc was an extremely talented musician and singer. When I’d made it to boot camp and realized we were in the same group, I knew right away that she was going to be my toughest competition. And for some reason, I’d known deep in my gut it was going to come down to the two of us. Having that feeling and preparing myself for that possibility still hadn’t made it any easier when I’d been told I wasn’t moving on.

“We didn’t want to see you leave the competition because you have so much potential and talent. We originally called you back because we’d wanted to form a girl group with you as one of the members.” Nicole continued. That explained why Esther and the others had been called back. But now I was even more confused as I was standing on stage alone. And now I feared I was about to be rejected a second time.

“However, just before we called the girls out to let them know they would be continuing on as a group, we received word that one of our solo acts has had to withdraw from the competition due to personal matters.” Cheryl explained. My heart dropped to my stomach as my mind raced with the many different things I could potentially be told in the next handful of seconds. I couldn’t help but think that I was about to continue on in place of the contestant who had to withdraw. I couldn’t imagine they would be cruel enough to call me back only to reject me a second time. At least I’d hoped.

“With that contestant withdrawing, and it coming down to you and Treyc at the end of bootcamp, we’ve decided to put you through as a solo artist instead of putting you through in a group.” Simon spoke up. My jaw dropped as I stared at them. There was no way I’d heard him correctly. “You’ll be moving on to the next round.” he smiled again. I collapsed into a heap on my knees as tears of shock and relief slid down my cheeks. As thrilled as I was to learn that I was no moving on, there was a part of me that hoped who ever had had to drop out was okay.

“You’re serious?” I choked out as I stood back up.

“You’re through to the judge’s house round.” Nicole confirmed.

“Oh my god.” I breathed as I buried my face in my hands for a moment again. “I’m not dreaming am I? Because I feel like I’m dreaming.”

“Definitely not dreaming.” Cheryl said with a smile.

“If you’ll wait backstage,” Simon started, pointing in the direction I was to go in, “one of the producers will be by to give you further instruction about what will happen next.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“You deserve this. Having to choose between you and Treyc was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make as a judge. I think it was for all three of us.” Cheryl and Nicole nodded in agreement. “As hard as it is to see any contestant withdraw, I am very happy to see that you are moving forward. And I really hope to see you at the live shows.”

“God I hope so too.” I said with a soft laugh, the three of nodding and smiling in agreement. I thanked them again and turned to make my way off stage in the direction Simon had indicated a couple minutes earlier. My thoughts were now on the group of boys that had been asked to stay behind. I only hoped they would be receiving good news like I had.

When I stepped into the hall, it was completely deserted. For a moment, I contemplated going back to the holding area, but I had a feeling whenever a producer came looking for me to inform me of what would happen next, they would be looking for me here. So I decided to stay put just to be safe. I looked around for a few seconds trying to figure out what to do as I was still in shock that I was getting a chance to move on in the competition. So I did what I had earlier before being called back to the stage, I slid down the wall and allowed the tears of relief to truly fall.

It was a few minutes later when the door I’d walked out burst open, causing me to jump and snap my head up just in time to see the five boys come bounding out with smiles on their faces and talking animatedly. Clearly they’d received good news as well.

“Blake?” My heart fluttered in my chest again when I heard him call my name. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah. Just in shock. I just… I made it. I made it through to judge’s house.” I said with a smile, tears still falling. He held out his hands and helped me up again.

“That’s brilliant!” he exclaimed pulling me into a hug. “Congratulations!” The hug was unexpected, but very much welcome. It felt good to celebrate with someone even if they were a complete stranger at this point.

“Thank you. Harry, right?” I asked as we stepped back from each other. He nodded, his smile turning a little shy now.

“Looks like you all have made it through as well?”

“We did.” he confirmed, his face positively beaming now.

“They’ve put us together as a group.” The one with the Irish accent spoke up. He was so full of energy I could almost see him vibrating. It was contagious.

“That’s incredible. I’m so exited for you!”

“Did I hear that you made it through?” Liam spoke up. I had recognized Liam earlier when we’d found out that the judges wanted to see us again. And I remember him from my audition day. He’d auditioned about an hour before me and sang an incredible rendition of Cry Me a River that had Simon singing his praises.

“I did. I can’t believe it.”

“That’s amazing.” I laughed again, nodding in agreement and brushing away more tears. There was still no producer in sight to let us know what we needed to do next, so we introduced ourselves and started chatting, wondering what we would have to go through in the next round.

It was about twenty minutes after the boys had come off the stage that a producer finally came over to let us know what we were to do next. Once we were clear on what our next steps were, we made our way back to the holding area to collect our things, continuing our conversation about what we thought was to come now that we had a bit more detail. Upon making our way out of the building, we said our good-byes and giving each other hugs, Harry purposely waiting to be the last to hug me.

“Good luck in Spain.” I said with a shy smile as we stood near the door. We could see the other boys waiting for Harry just down the way.

“Good luck in Berkshire.” He returned my smile, his dimples popping and making me feel a bit weak at the knees. I’d never had a boyfriend, but I’d had a few crushes and a few incredibly awkward first dates. But not one of those boys made me feel the good kind of nervous that Harry made me feel. And unlike Harry, I’d never felt so calm and at ease after only knowing them for such a short amount of time.

“You’re gonna smash it. I’m sure of it. And we’ll see you back for the live shows.” he said. There was so much confidence in his voice that I couldn’t help but to believe him.

“I sure hope so.” I smiled.

“Would it be okay if we kept in touch?” he asked, a slight nervousness in his tone.

“I’d really like that.” I dug around in my tote for a scrap piece of paper and pen so I could jot down my number. “Text me any time. I’m always on my mobile texting with my parents since they’re Stateside at the moment.” I said as I handed him the piece of paper. “You’d better get going. The others are waiting for you. And thanks for checking on me earlier.”

“Don’t mention it. Go kick some arse at Cheryl’s.”

“Only if you and the boys do the same in Spain.”

“We’ll do our best.” He smiled, giving me one last hug before turning and hurrying off to catch up with the others. I watched them for a moment before turning and making my way toward the tube station so I could go home and pack for a hopefully long stay in Berkshire.

[tanyatakaishi]

Innocent Games rewrite. Chapter 9 teaser scene

Steam billowed from the shower curtains, pouring into the small bathroom. The sink was neatly crowded, clean and surrounded with products: cologne, styling gel, mousse… Tai picked up the canister and gave it a squirt and all thoughts of making fun of Matt for using mousse went out the window when he recognized the scent of flowers he’d caught in red hair. He put it down.

A worn notebook sat on the back of the toilet and Tai had giggled about it for awhile, imagining Matt writing songs while he sat on the john. After he finally got ahold of himself, he’d climbed into the shower and let the hot water thaw his frozen fingers.

When they had ventured into the city, they found Odaiba Soundstage adorned in red and green. Lights and garland decorated lamp posts and Christmas wreaths hung from storefronts. Advertisements were taped in the windows, words and products garbled into strange blobs that Ken explained away as “fallible pieces of  Sora’s memory.” They walked, coatless in the winter cold, two miles until they had reached the Ishida’s apartment.

Sora had remembered every detail of it.

Not that Tai could blame her. It was hard to forget the family picture, complete with a young Nancy and chubby toddler TK, stained and sticking to the side of the fridge. Or the stark darkness that always seemed to hang in the bachelor apartment, despite Matt’s best efforts to keep it tidy.

Tai wondered if that was why Matt always seemed to hint, in that vague brooding way of his, that he’d rather hang somewhere else. They almost always defaulted to the Kamiya apartment, even though Tai insisted his parents were weirdos. He guessed being weird together was better than being torn apart.

A sharp knock reminded Tai to finish washing his hair.

Matt’s voice came through the door. “I know you’re the dirtiest one here, but you could save some hot water for the rest of us.”

Tai gave Matt’s expensive conditioner an extra pump out of spite.

Matt was waiting outside the door when Tai was through. “Here,” he said, handing Tai a pile of clothes and moving into the bathroom. “The water better not be cold.”

“You’d think you’d like that, with all that ice in your veins.”

Matt rolled his eyes and Tai stopped mid-chuckle when he caught the scent of food.

“Did you cook?”

“Mmhm,” TK said from his spot on the couch, mouth full of noodles. He fanned his face. “It’s hot.”

“Thank God there’s more than sour milk,” Tai said. “I’m starving.”

Pink spread over Matt’s cheeks even though he was giving Tai the finger. He shut the bathroom door.

After swallowing,  TK said,  “He’s sensitive about that.”

“What isn’t he sensitive about?” Tai mumbled. He pulled Matt’s shirt over his head. It was all black sans the white print of a band name Tai didn’t listen to. The towel around his waist loosened and he gave it a tug just as Sora emerged from Matt’s bedroom.

Tai’s breath caught.

And then his stomach dropped because it was not okay to be thinking about how sexy Sora looked in Matt’s button up.

“Matt made food,” he said because food was the only other thing he could think about.

“Udon,” added TK.

Kari was sitting beside him, sniffing and blinking her eyes, and for a brief second Tai thought about having a talk with TK until she said, “It’s spicy.”

Ken nodded beside her, looking equally teary-eyed.

“Probably because I hate it hot,” Sora said, fidgeting with the buttons of Matt’s shirt.

Matt’s voice grumbled, “the mild’s in the kitchen,” through the door before they heard the water start.

This time Sora turned pink and she squeaked a thank you so ashamed and cute that Tai had to look away. He shuffled into the hall to pull on a pair of Matt’s sweatpants before following the smells of spices to the kitchen. Sora was there, fixing herself a cup of tea, a less colorful version of udon on her plate.

“Matt should be a chef,” Tai said, scooping himself a heapful of spicy noodles. “This smells amazing. Good thing you remembered this place with food.”

“Do they really run out a lot?”

Tai looked at Sora for a minute and wondered how in four years of dating and all the years knowing Matt, she’d never come by when the fridge was bare.

Hiroaki had put Matt in charge of the groceries and the credit card years ago, when he realized Matt had been resorting to dinners at the Kamiya’s once the cereal had run out.

Now that was desperate.

But between school, Digiworld and band practice, grocery shopping wasn’t always the highest thing on Matt's priority list. Except when he stress-cooked.

“He must go to the store when he knows you’re coming over,” Tai said.

Sora stared at her tea. “I wish he wouldn’t do that.”

Tai put his udon on the table and sat down. She followed. Noodles swirled around Tai’s chopsticks and he watched her, trying not to make a face when the heat of what felt like a thousand peppers hit his taste buds.

He coughed. “Is that why you guys broke up?”

Sora watched as his eyes watered, face flushed. She took a bite of her mild noodles instead of answering.

Tai rubbed his nose. “Not that it’s any of my business.”

Chewing, Sora pushed the noodles around her plate. “I remembered that Christmas,” she said quietly. “When we started going out.”

“I know.”

And there was another look, this time longer, and Tai felt like he needed to do something, so he shoveled more spicy udon in his mouth and almost choked.

“I remembered you too,” she added. “You looked different.”

Clearing his throat, he squeaked, “Really?”

She spun noodles around her chopstick. “Younger, I guess.” She was still staring. “You look weird in Matt’s clothes.”

“When does he wear sweats?” Tai tugged at his legs. Then realizing he didn’t really want an answer he added, “He needs to put on some weight - I mean, this shirt.” He lifted his arms and could feel the material strain against his chest. “I feel fat.”

Sora laughed, so light and free that Tai didn’t mind feeling like a hippopotamus in Matt’s emo band clothes.

“You know,” he said when it grew quiet again, “When we first got there, I thought the soundstage was my memory.”

Sora stopped the ascent of her noodles.

“I’d been thinking about it a lot lately,” Tai admitted. “Sorta thought I was having that ‘my life flashed in front of my eyes’ moment, you know? I’m serious about falling in the manhole, I thought I was dead. ‘Cause first I had a fun twisted memory of Skullgreymon. Super disturbing. Sooo glad we didn’t end up there again. I really wish I knew why Izzy wanted to make this thing…” his rambling trailed off when Sora’s noodles returned to her plate.

“Why?” she asked.

Tai blinked. “Why what?”

“Why have you been thinking about it?” Sora said. And when he didn’t answer, a million reasons that shouldn’t be shared flying through his mind, she spoke more slowly, “That Christmas. The concert?”

“I dunno.” Tai gave a small shrug. “Probably cause you broke up with Matt. I guess.”

“Tai.” She frowned and he felt his face go hot. “Why would you think it was yours?”

He took another bite of food and blamed the spice for the heat in his cheeks.

“Hey, Tai?”

He had never been happier to hear his sister’s voice. “Mm?”

“Ken’s been telling us more about Izzy’s program… we thought we should have a meeting.”

Tai gave a loud clap and stood, still chewing. “Lesdoit.” He picked up the plate of udon and made sure to put more in his mouth so he didn’t have to talk. Kari gave him a look, the kind that told him she knew too much and turned back toward the living room.

A noodle slid between his teeth when he asked Sora if she was coming.

“Yeah,” she said, picking up her cup of tea. She gave his cheek a pat. “You have something right there.”

Tai wiped the food from his face and followed her to the couch. She sat beside TK and Tai had no choice but to squeeze on the loveseat where Matt sat, cross legged, hair hanging wet and messy on his forehead. His blue eyes were narrowed, like he had somehow heard their whole conversation from the shower.

“You look fresh,” Tai told him.

“You smell like udon.”

“How much sriracha did you put in that, man? My mouth is on fire.”

Matt cracked his knuckles. “Can’t take the heat?”

“So Ken was just telling me that he thinks we should try to find a portal,” Kari said, breaking in before their banter could continue.

“A portal?” Tai asked.

Ken gave a nod. “We might be able to use it to get back to the digital world… maybe even home.”

“By digiport? That sounds too easy,” TK said.

“It is,” Ken admitted. “With our digivices malfunctioning, I’m not sure we could access them and the computers here are no better than props.”

“So how do we get a portal open?” Matt asked.

“We need a memory of one that opened on its own.”

“Like after Myotismon…” said Kari.

“Not until we find everyone,” Tai said. “We can’t just leave them here.”

TK folded forward, hands bouncing over his knees. “What if they never came?”

“It’s impossible to tell,” Ken said. “Cody, Joe and Mimi went somewhere, but the others…” he trailed off, fingers pressed into the pocket of his blazer.

“We at least have to look,” said Sora. “What about their apartments?”

“Wouldn’t hurt to try,” Ken agreed. “They might be looking for us in ours too. We can leave a note in each place we check, in case we miss each other. Can anyone think of a good meeting place?”

“Camp.” It seemed so obvious that Tai hadn’t had to think about it. “If we’re going to find a portal, it’ll be there.”

Matt gave a concurring nod.

“So…” Tai stood and gave a long stretch, rolling his shoulders when Matt’s shirt caught under his armpits. “Where to first?”

“Your place is closest,” Sora said.

“Home sweet home it is. Then I can get out of these awful clothes.”

Matt barely twitched.

[mymixofmuses]

Pen Pals

(A roleplay between my Audrey muse and @red-rad-and-rod .) It had been about a week since Audrey met J.C. and his siblings. It was kind of hard to miss them, given Lola seemingly bee-lined towards them during their stay at the park. She was grateful for her pooch’s detour, however, as the three proved to be good company (as did their father, who they had lunch with.) She wasn’t sure how long she should wait before emailing J.C., but figured a week was a long enough wait to not seem overly eager. She did originally intend to only send pictures of the dogs to show his sisters, but now she wanted to talk to him too. She decided to start slow, with a simple email. This is J.C., right? It’s Audrey, from Michigan. Here are some pictures of Lola in some flowers. She wasn’t supposed to be in them, but I just had to snap a few pictures before I got her out! Let me know how you three like them! She hoped asking for a response would lead the way to them talking about more than dogs.

- Ping! Oh, thank goodness, something to actually respond to! Surfing through a seemingly never ending list of ads for things he didn’t need was starting to get tiresome. A few clicks later, J.C. found himself searching through his e-mail. Hmm…junk. Junk. E-mail from Audrey- wait. E-mail from Audrey? … Ah, right! That was who he met over in Michigan when he and the family were over in Michigan! Man…even though they had only hung out for a little bit, he missed her. Her beautiful smile, her cute giggle…sigh~ Snapping out of his little lovestruck trance, he went ahead and read through the message, snickering a bit as he got a glimpse of Lola being a goofball. A short while later (mainly after Syd and Kat stopped squealing over the little pup), he sent back a reply: Yyyyup, it is! At least, that’s what people have been calling me for 23 years… Ahaha, I kid, I kid. 😋 What a little goofball! She’s such a sweetie. Syd and Kat seem to think so too, given the fact that they’ve been fawning over her for the past fifteen minutes or so. And reignited the whole “Mum, Dad, let’s get a dog!” debate, but that’s to be expected. How have things been over by you? - Audrey wasn’t the type to live on her phone or computer, so it was a good thing she had written a note to herself to check her email later. Upon coming home that evening and checking her notebook of reminders, she brought up her email and took a look. She chuckled at J.C.’s response and promptly began typing a reply, pleased he wanted to chat. (Or was at least acting like he wanted to, in order to be polite.) Ohhh deeaarrr XD I hadn’t intended to start a debate. Could you please tell them I’m sorry? Anyway, things have been pretty ordinary over here. Weather is still pretty nice, so I’ve been taking Lola on longer walks. She got a little over excited today though and ran into someone’s garden, as you saw. I was sure to tell her no… after I stopped laughing and taking pictures! XD So, how have things been on your end? - After hitting send, J.C. had to think…did it sound like he seem interested? Did he sound bored? Should he have added more emojis? …Nah, maybe that would’ve been a bit excessive. Maybe a little immature…who knows, maybe Audrey would have thought that Syd or Kat took hold of his computer. Now came the waiting game. He would’ve done a bit more internet browsing, if he hadn’t have been dragged outside by Syd for a game of football. That was probably a more productive way to spend his time, anyway. No real need to worry. (…) Later on, now relaxing with a cup of tea, he went back on and found a reply. Haha, I will! They’ve been getting that for years, but I’m sure they’d appreciate the regards. Glad to see the weather’s manageable. Kind of makes me wish I was back there; right now, we’ve had a couple of gales come through. Nothing too bad, but having to be stuck inside for most of the day. Plus side, it’s supposed to clear up soon. Oooooh, Lola, what’s your mum going to do with you? 😂 Kind of reminds me of this time when Syd was a toddler…she’d done the same thing with our next-door neighbour’s back garden. I’ll have to send the picture in my next e-mail, but the end result was her being held (gently, of course) by her overall straps by our neighbour’s sheepdog! - Audrey discovered his reply the following morning. While she sent her reply early, it was likely the afternoon over where J.C. was. Wish you were here for the weather? Are you sure you don’t just want to see me? HA! I kid. I kid. We barely know each other. Aaaanywaaaaay… A sheepdog holding a toddler? That sounds both hilarious and adorable! You have GOT to send me that picture! Let’s just hope karma doesn’t come back to bite me. Mom and Dad recorded EVERYTHING when I was a kid. They have soooo many VHS tapes in the basement. Photo albums too. For a non-photogenic child, they sure loved taking pictures of me. - Why did time zones have to be a thing? He could respond at ten in the morning, and it’d only be five A.M. over by her…ah well. Upon reading Audrey’s response, he couldn’t help but blush a little. Okay, yeah, part of it was the weather, but part of it was because he wanted to see her. Weeeeell, that would be a major plus, if I’m being honest. …Does that sound creepy? Jeez, I hope it doesn’t; virtual communication’s tricky that way. 😓. If it did sound that way, I do apologize! Guess, ah…guess I should get on with the rest of this reply. Heheh… Don’t worry, little me wasn’t exactly the poster child for being photogenic, either. Guess it must be a parent thing…mine were the same way. I’ve made sure to bury one of the albums that has the MOST embarrassing ones as deeply as I can in storage, but somehow they keep finding it. Speaking of ‘embarrassing’ photos… Ask and ye shall receive~ Not going to lie, her face still cracks me up; sort of like she’s saying “Curses! Foiled again!”

- Audrey was pleasantly surprised to see that J.C. seemed to enjoy her company as well. Aw, really? You’re sweet~ <3 Don’t worry; no creepiness detected! Well, you know parents and their magic able-to-find-stuff powers. You could search for something for hours and they’ll point to it right in front of your face! That photo is somehow more adorable and hilarious than I thought it would be! She really was a scamp from the very beginning, wasn’t she? Anyway, if you’re interested, maybe I could tell you a bit about myself and vice-versa? Make sure I’m someone you want to see again? - Oh, good! This was off to a great start~ Phew! Good, good. Just want to make sure, y’know? True, true. Heck, you could try to send something that you don’t want seen to…I don’t know, Antarctica…and they’d still manage to find it. Haha, yeeeeah; once she started crawling, it was all downhill from there! Sure, why not? I think it’s better one-on-one as opposed to doing it in front of a group, like on the first day of school. That whole “what’s your name, what’s your major, one fun fact about yourself” spiel. How should we do this? Do you want to go first or should I? - Well, I suggested it, so I guess I’ll go first. Now let’s see… My full name is Audrey Anne Davis. I’m currently 24 years old and my birthday is March 27th. I’m a college graduate and I work as a personal trainer at a local gym. My hobbies include working out, cooking, listening to music, and dancing. Not sure what else to put so, uh, your turn! (P.S. Feel free to ask me anything!) - My turn it is, then. Soooo, let’s see…mine is Jean-Claude Henri Malone (née Bellerose), currently 23, aaaand my birthday’s August 23rd. Right now, I’m working on my bachelor’s (almost done, though!)…started in gen. studies, decided to do something with humanities. I do a bit of work at the student bookstore, aaaand my hobbies include listening to music, playing videogames, reading…aaaand I would say I enjoy a bit of footy every now and again. Aha, dancing, eh? Any specific training (e.g. ballet, hip hop, anything of that sort) or is it more like “put on some tunes and see where the music takes you”? (P.S. Likewise!) - I have to admit, I had to Google née and footy. XD Anyway, I learned to dance from my dad. He took some classes when he was a kid, but is mostly self taught. (He’s REALLY good!) I pretty much just go with the music. I know some specific dance moves, but I don’t really know how to do those fancy dances you’d do at a ball. What kind of books do you like to read? I’m not much of a reader myself, but I do listen to audio books on occasion. I’m not exactly the brightest bulb, so I try to stick to books that don’t have seven layers of meanings you have to analyze in order to understand and enjoy them. - Ah, yes, the “English to English” thing. If I find one of those sorts of dictionary, I’ll be sure to send it your way. XD Interesting! That’s how I tend to dance as well…I’ve been meaning to take one of those “ballroom dancing” classes, just for the heck of it, buuuut…dunno, haven’t had the time as of late. (Or a partner for that matter, but that was a different story.) Just kind of want it as some random skill to have under my belt. I’m not super picky- if something looks interesting, I’ll pick it up, read the first couple of chapters, see where it goes. Though I will say, audio books are a godsend…always good for plane or car rides, if you’re not the one driving. I totally feel you on that whole “analysis” thing; that used to throw me in secondary school so much. “The blue door is supposed to represent the main character’s feelings of sadness”…mmmmaaaaybe the author just really likes the colour blue? 🤔 Personally, I always like to recommend “Le Petit Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (don’t worry, there is an English translation…and about 298 others, haha). There’s some analysis like that that could come with it, but not a ton. It’s one of those stories that doubles as a “children’s” story and one for adults, as well. - You never know when you’ll have to break into a waltz! I jotted down that title in my handy dandy notebook, so I should remember to look into it. (The act of writing things down helps me to remember. You should see how many notebooks I go through in a year! LOL) Speaking of children’s stories, have you ever read any Goosebumps books? I only read one as a kid and it really scared me, so I never read any more. I wonder if I could handle them now. The problem is my fight or flight response is just a fight response. If I get nervous, I might hit things out of reflex. I once accidentally broke my dad’s nose as a kid because he snuck up on me. I felt SO BAD. My mom couldn’t stop laughing though. She was actually recording when it happened, so that infamous family moment is on tape. - True, very true! 🤣 I have, actually! Read a few when I was a bit younger- my favourite had to be the ‘Night of the Living Dummy’ stories. They were pretty creepy, I have to admit…although I stumbled upon another series around the same time that, I argue, is quite creepier. I’m not sure if a series known as “Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids” made its way over to the states, but hoooo boy. It was made into a TV series as well…not much better in terms of toning down the creepiness. I used to say it makes Goosebumps look like Mother Goose! 😮 (Granted, I don’t think Goosebumps is supposed to be a series that scares you into good behaviour whereas G.T.F.G.K. sort of is, buuuut…still kind of has you going “WHAT did I just read?!”) Okay, just reading that made me cringe, ouch! Remind me to never spook you…or if there’s ever a time we’re over in the states for Halloween, remind me to not take you to a haunted house/scary movie. If it’s any consolation, there’s quite a bit of embarrassing footage of small me as well, haha. “Cowboy J.C.”, “Super J.C.”, tiny siblings/cousins spitting up on me, you name it. 😅 - It doesn’t sound familiar to me, but I was never on the lookout for such things. Scaring kids into behaving? Ick. I’m of the belief that you should influence a child with positivity. I don’t mean in a spoiling kind of way. I just think finding the cause of a problem is more important than punishing the child. And when it does come to punishments, never do something that can damage them in the long run. Don’t be too lenient though. It is important to learn that actions have consequences. There has to be a balance. Sorry for the ramble there. It’s just that the way children are treated is important to me and I do not censor myself with such things. I’ll be sure to remind you. I’m not a fan of scary things. Unless they’re a fun type of scary, like paper bats or those fuzzy spider decorations. We’ve only ever had really silly looking spider decorations at our house during Halloween because my mom’s arachnophobic. If they’re too realistic, she gets the heebie-jeebies. Speaking of embarrassing, I feel it only fair to you and Syd that I share a photo of my own.

Guess who. - Hey, that’s fair! And makes sense, too. My thing is just…kind of let them do their thing (to an extent) and experience the world, just guide them along the way, you know? If they’re being a little butt (or rather, standard kid who’s still learning) about something, tell them why they shouldn’t be in a way that they understand; cause and effect. Like yes, you may want to eat six ice lollies in a row, but if you do, you’ll get a stomachache. Kiddo knows from experience that stomachaches suck, so a compromise of one or two ice lollies is made. As you said, balance is key. Aaaah, arachnophobia. Guess I’ll have to tell Syd that if she wants to show your mum a cool spider she found to…well, not to. XD; Awww-ha-ha-ha-haaaw, caught red-handed! I guess since I’ve put Syd and you through it, I figure one of mine wouldn’t hurt, either:

Apparently, small me did not like the idea of a fork, haha. - I’m glad we have similar views on children. I think we’re going to get along juuuuuust fiiiiiiiine. (Don’t get me wrong. I won’t hold it against anyone if they aren’t good with kids. Just don’t be mean to them.) Awww, you’re adorable~ Hmm… This email is a little short. I’ll just add some random stuff about me here. I love plush animals and have a LOT of them. My favorite fruit is either strawberries or raspberries. I hate pickles, but I like cucumbers. I can do the splits. … I’m out of stuff to say. - Right? I mean, they’re people, too. Just…y’know, tiny. XD As long as you try, then that’s what counts. Eheheheh, I mean…kiiinda? 😅 This was one of the ones I could find that wasn’t completely embarrassing. I think Dad’s in possession of one of the ones that would made me melt into a puddle of shame. Hm, so’s this one. Guess I’ll follow suit? My favoruite fruits are probably apples and watermelon. I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue. I like those indoor trampoline parks, buuuut the last place you’ll catch me is in the foam block pit (of course, guess who loves to go in those). If I had to pick my top three favourite animals, I’d have to say either cats (big or small), dogs (same), ooooor elephants. - I can’t really think of much to say this time around, but I’ll leave you with this. Given your favorite animals, I’d say I can always rely on you to address the elephant in the room! - LOL! 🤣🤣🤣 Haha, that’s alright. Guess that means we’ll have more to talk about the next time around. I think?I hope? XD; - It was a few days later that Audrey took the time to really sit down and think of something to write. Sorry for the wait on this one. I wanted to actually have something to say this time. Before I forget though, did you guys remember to try Blue Moon ice cream while you were here? Anyway, I find it so odd to think about how, if it wasn’t for Lola, we might have never met. Well, maybe not never, given our dads work for the same company. We might not have met until much later, if not for Lola. How neat and silly is it that my dog found me a pen pal? Also, I was able to think up some more questions for you! What are some of your favorite animated movies? What about songs? Desserts? Oh! By the way, here’s a video of Daisy my mom took the other day. It’s amazing how high that little dog can jump when treats are involved. - Now, logically, J.C. knew that taking a few days to respond was no real issue. Perhaps Audrey had gotten preoccupied with other tasks. That was typical for a twenty-something nowadays (he should know, he was one). A small part of him, though, couldn’t help but feel as though she had lost interest in him. If he had, he wasn’t the kind of person to be bitter about it…maybe a bit upset, but…Audrey was her own person, she had the right to make her own decisions. When he got a reply a few days later, that fear had melted away…then again, a video of a little dog getting some serious air in the name of treats always helps. Hey, no worries! We did, actually. Interesting flavour! Kind of like cotton candy, but also kind of not. If “blue” itself can qualify as a flavour, I guess, that’s what I’d call it. Kind of bites that wer don’t have it over here. Guess that gives me a reason to go back to the States, LOL. Ooo, okay, let’s see…I’d have to say one of the more recent ones is Ernest & Celestine. When I was little, apparently, I used to watch My Neighbor Totoro at least once or twice a week. I don’t remember, though, if I had watched it in English or in Japanese with the subtitles on. Might have been the latter, I only know the song in Japanese (and that’s….probably the extent of my Japanese XD. I can’t translate it, but I can sing it, so there’s that!). Songs, I’m all over the place, so I can’t exactly list a specific one. Mum and Dad like the Beatles, and they grew on me, sooo I guess there’s them? Will have to get back to you on that one, haha. Dessert-wise…can’t go wrong with creme brulee, that’s for sure~ Hot fudge sundaes are a close second. To be honest, I’ll take any offerings when it comes to sweets. 😋 Ha! Man, she’s got some power there…imagine her trying to make slam dunks! …Granted…that’s….kind of hard to do without thumbs, but…you get what I mean. I think? I know, right? I’m not entirely sure what dogs think about, but can you imagine if she was actively/knowingly playing matchmaker? ‘yes, hello there other human, meet mine’. 🤣 Guess that makes it my turn for questions? Mine are kind of weird, but: What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to? What was the last song you sung along to? What’s your favorite type of day? (weather, temp, etc.) - Blue really is the best way to describe that flavor! Hard to imagine that ice cream as any other color. Then again, it might work in another color as long as it’s pastel. I think it’s pastel flavor. LOL Ernest & Celestine looks adorable! As for the other one… Honestly, it would probably have scared me as a kid. I think it’s the art style. Something about how big their mouths get, maybe. I don’t know… Nothing against the movie though! Just not my preference in style, you know?I’d say a few of my favorite animated movies are The Lion King, Lilo and Stitch, and the Emperor’s New Groove. I like to think New Groove is safe for any audience because no one dies; not even the villain.I like the Beatles as well! My music taste is varied. If something sounds good, I like it. Genre doesn’t really matter. Creme brulee? I’ve never had that. I do like custard though, so I imagine I would like it. And who doesn’t like hot fudge sundaes?! I love sweets as well! Yeah, I get it! Maybe we could get her a little basketball and hoop? She could carry the ball in her mouth! Her dribbling will be drool! XD I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what dogs are thinking. As for your questions, rock climbing might be fun? I’ve climbed indoor rock walls, but never the real thing. I honestly can’t remember the last song I sung along to. I kind of sing bits and pieces or hum when I listen to music, as opposed to full on singing along. Maybe I can go with the most recent song on my iPod? It was Fortune Teller by Maroon 5. I tend to find good things in any type of day, really. If I had to choose though, I’d say a sunny mid-spring day. The temperature would be right in the middle, not too hot, not too cold. Maybe the occasional cool breeze to help you feel alive, but enough sun that you don’t need a light jacket, but can wear one without burning up. Woof! That was a lot of typing! Maybe we could do an audio chat or something, one of these days? She hoped she wasn’t being too forward, but, seeing as they’ve spoken in person, she reasoned it wasn’t a big deal. - 😂😂😂 Eh, blue, pastel…close enough. Still tasty, regardless! 😋 Totally understandable! To each their own, right? Ooo, I might have to recommend New Groove to Kat. I’ve seen it a couple of times, but she hasn’t. I think anytime we’ve tried to settle down and watch it, something comes up (i.e., she’s going to a friend’s house, I had plans with a few of my friends, etc.). Lilo and Stitch is a pretty good one (def. one of Syd’s faves), and who DOESN’T like The Lion King? Can’t help but sing along with it, haha. Remind me to send you a recipe for some. It can be a little tricky, but it’s not like you have to have four or five things going at once. J.C. stopped typing for a couple minutes, trying to move his wrists around and get some of the building carpal tunnel aches to calm down a bit. Maybe Audrey had the right idea, switching over to audio calls… As for audio chat, I’m perfectly fine with that! Just want to let you know that I am about four to five hours ahead of your time zone (I believe that’s what it is? Daylight Savings is a weird concept…I guess for part of the year, it’s four and then the other part is five.). Whenever you’re feeling up to it. :) - Oh, right. Forgot about the time difference. Oops. LOL I tend to wake up at six in the morning and head to bed around ten at night. My work schedule isn’t a typical nine to five deal, being a personal trainer and all. I generally work when the client isn’t; so it’s usually in the mornings and evenings. I suppose the best time to catch me is early in the morning and midday, my time. Or on my days off, of course. Do you have an account on Discord? I figured we could do our chatting there. - Time-zones, mon amie; Une vraie douleur dans le cul…😩 Early morning, midday, and days off…duly noted! So that’d be afternoon to early evening here, I believe. Works out, though- my available times tend to be later in the day my time. I do- Name on there is OuiOuiJC#0714. If you see a profile picture that has a ferret in a beret, and they’re holding a baguette and glass of wine, that’s me. - Audrey couldn’t help but giggle at his username and profile picture. Rather than email him again, Audrey sent him a friend request from her Discord; AudreySugarSpice#1734. Her profile picture was a pink teddy bear. Guess who~ - Pink bear? Hm, unless one of his sisters had secretly made a Discord account (”Not until you’re older”, as per Mum and Dad’s rules), theeeeen this had to be Audrey. Looking at the username, that definitely confirmed it. Friend request accepted~ Guess who, eh? Hmmm….the Queen of England? 🤣 - Feeling a bit bold, Audrey initiated an audio call with him, planning to greet him with, “How’d you know?” followed by giggles. - …Well, she did say that she wanted to try out audio calls, so why not? Picking up, he answered with a comically dramatic gasp. “Your majesty~! I am not worthy!”   - Audrey giggled more. “I’d have followed up by pretending to be a queen, but, I don’t know how one acts and I can’t do an English accent to save my life,” she laughed. “Anyway, how are you doing? Can you hear me alright?” - “Incredibly proper, supposedly.” he chuckled. “Doin’ alright! Can hear you juuust fine. How about on your end? Hearing me and how things are going, I mean.” - “Same here! Glad I caught ya at a good time… I did catch you at a good time, right? It should be evening over there. Oh, I hope I didn’t pull you away from anything…” - “Haha, naaah, you’re fine! Been with the family for most of the day, so I’ve secluded myself in my room for a bit of ‘me’ time. It’s all good.” - “So I guess your me time is us time now,” she chuckled. “You live with your parents still or are you just visiting? It’s fine either way!” she added in a hurry. “The only reason I have my own place is because of Spike. He’s a workout friend of mine who works in construction and knows a few people in real estate.” - “Guess so; not that I’m complaining.” he responded. “ I spend most of my time here during the summer holiday…and, well, regular holidays.. During school, I live a bit closer to the campus. Soooo…I guess you could say both? Once I get my degree, I’m moving into my own. Haven’t settled on a location yet, really. Depends on if I want to be adventurous or not.” - “Ahhh. I see,” she nodded to herself. “What are some locations you’re thinking of moving to? Just curious.” - “Back to France is always an option…but knowing my family, either they’d be coming here at least once every couple of weeks or vice versa. Aaaaand that back and forth travel can be kind of pricey. I could always head up to and stay in Blackpool- where my university is. Or just take a total leap of faith and try somewhere else. The few times we’ve been over to the U.S. have been kind of nice- maybe I could live there. Might consider multiple citizenship, who knows. Eleven months there, one month here…” - “That does sound pricey… Though I’m sure you know that, if you’re considering the United States, I have to recommend Michigan. I’m biased, yes, but I have at least visited other states, so I’m not blindly swearing allegiance or anything. Fun fact, Michigan is one of the leading fruit growers in the States~ Cherries, especially,” she chirped. - J.C. laughed, “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea; being surrounded by fruit. I also wouldn’t mind living somewhere that gets actual snow in the winter. I mean, sometimes we’ll spend the holidays up in Northern Scotland, but not having to travel to see and play in the snow would be nice.” - “Oh, snow is definitely something we get up here,” she laughed. “Multiple feet of it, in fact. You should see Daisy during the winter; it’s hilarious! You just toss her outside and fwump; she disappears into the snow!“ - “Pffff! You might just have to tie a balloon to her collar or something and just track her that way. Or do you think she would float away?” - “Ha! Enough balloons probably would make her fly away! She’s so tiny! Truthfully, we just look for where the snow is moving. It also helps that she wears little sweaters when it’s cold out. Mom’s tried putting booties on her, but she just kicks them off.” - “Awwwhawhawhaw~ I’d hope she’d have at least a little something to wear. If I’m not mistaken, Michigan and a lot of those northern states can get pretty cold…like ‘stuck inside for days’ or ‘wearing five layers of clothing just to get the shopping done’ cold.” He thought for a minute. “Of…course, that’s all from word of mouth as opposed to personal experience, but…” - “I can confirm that it can get that cold. Ever see A Christmas Story where the little brother has so many layers of clothing he can’t put his arms down? It’s kind of like that.” - J.C. laughed, picturing the scene. “Oh, mon dieu. If we’re ever visiting during that time of the year, remind me to keep Syd away from metal poles!” - “Oh goodness… Yeah, that’s really a thing that happens here. Why do so many people think that’s a myth? Have they never gotten their tongue stuck to a popsicle before?” - “Apparently not. But hey, doing stupid stuff’s a part of life,I suppose. Maybe gain some status or fame in your friend group or among your class/workmates.” Sounded as if he was speaking from experience. - “Why do you sound like you’re speaking from experience?” she teased. - There was a brief moment of silence. “…Beeeee….caaaaaause I mmmmmmaaaaaay have done a few things that…could be qualified as such.” he responded, chuckling sheepishly. “N-nothing major, though.” - “Ooooooo~” she said, trying to sound like a studio audience. “What’d you do?” - The sheepish laughter intensified. “Aaaah…hm. You know those really, really hot peppers that are on the market?  Short and skinny of it is ‘Guys Night In’ and a game of ‘Truth or Dare’. It wasn’t a…Reaper? I think that’s what one of those are called? Only reason I know that is because I probably would’ve ended up in hospital, haha. I think it was aaaa….habenaro? One was, the other’s called  ‘Naga Jolokia’. Ate the habenaro with little issue, didn’t even get a full two bites into the other one before I was gulping down water like no tomorrow.” - “Oh noooo,” she laughed. “Oh nooo-ho-ho! That’s- That’s a ghost pepper, isn’t it?! Ah-ha-ha-ha!” She broke into a laughing fit. - His laughter became less sheepish and a bit more joyful. “Eeeeeeeyup, it is. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time, but hey. I will say, it did go better than when we played that one game with the Jelly Beans. …What’s it called? ‘Bean-Boozled’?” - “Yeah, it’s Bean-Boozled. Basically Bertie-Bott’s Every Flavor Beans but Jelly Belly brand. Dare I ask what could have happened when playing Bean-Boozled?” - “Weeeeell, plus side, I wasn’t the one who ended up with their face in a wastebasket.” he snickered. “The last few times we’d played, I kept getting the really gross flavours, and there was this joke that I was cursed. With our most recent game, the ‘curse’, I suppose, had reversed and the person who got all the good flavours last time got all the bad ones. He was fine up until…ugh, dead fish.” - “Ew-hew-hew!” she laughed. “Though, technically, all fish we eat is dead. It’d be pretty messy if we ate them alive… and gross… Say, that reminds me, you like scary movies, right? I have a question about zombies.” - “I doooooo. What’s your question?” - “How fast does a zombie need to eat before its victim becomes a zombie too and they don’t want to eat it? Like, zombies don’t eat other zombies, right? If you’re killed by a zombie, you become a zombie, right? How does that work?” - J.C. blinked, initially unsure how to answer. “That’s….actually a really good question. I like to think that it depends on the initial method of zombification. If it’s done via a curse, you’ve got a bit more time, whereas if it’s because of a virus, that time shortens, since you’ve got all this zombie saliva coming into contact with your blood. Blood takes about one minute to circulate through your entire body, so…you’d probably have to go all ‘pie-eating contest’ speed if your zombification is viral.” He stopped and thought for a minute. “Granted, you get bit regardless of the initial turning mechanism and still come into contact with their saliva…maybe one method is more virulent and fast-acting than the other? Kind of like how it can take something like food poisoning to show up in as little as half an hour to as long as four weeks, depending on what’s responsible for causing it.” - There was a long pause before Audrey replied with, “Huh… I don’t know what to do with this information… I’d write a story or something, but I don’t have the creativity for that. Hm… Maybe I should mention this to Adelyn… She’s good with this sort of thing.” - “Nor am I.” he chuckled, “Ah, Adelyn, eh? Friend of yours or a relative?” - “Relative,” she informed. “She’s my youngest cousin. She’s on the autism spectrum and is, like, really smart and creative.” - “Ah! Maybe she can tell me if the logic on my answer to your question seems sound.” All of a sudden, he heard a small sneeze outside the door, along with a small ‘THUD!’ and a young-sounding ‘Dangit!”. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “Hold on just a sec…” Getting up and walking towards his door, J.C. spoke to who he suspected was on the other side. “I know that’s you, petit singe. Are you eavesdropping?” “Noooooooo…a person can’t just chill against the wall in their own home?” “The wall that has their brother’s room on the other side?” “…All the other walls were taken?” - Though the voice was a bit faint, Audrey figured the little eavesdropper was Syd. “Tell her I said hi,” she called loudly, hoping J.C. could hear her from however far away from the computer he was. - “Can do!” he called back, before turning his voice back towards Syd. “Audrey says ‘hi’, by the way.” Syd gasped, “You’re talkin’ to her?!” She took a deep breath and shouted: “HI AAAAAAAUUUUDREEEEEEEY!!!” J.C., having been up against the door cringed and rubbed his ear a bit. Probably should have seen that coming… - “Oh wow, she’s got a set of lungs on her, huh?” she laughed. - “Tell me about it.” the older brother groaned slightly. “ ‘Kay! Soooo I’m gonna let yooooou twooooo get back to your conversation! Maybe we can do a chat later on; I don’t want to interrupt you two lovebirds~” the ten year old responded, laughing as she skipped away. Once she was gone, J.C. sat back down on his bed, rubbing his temple a bit. “Eheh…sorry about that. Siblings…” - “Never a dull moment, huh?” she chuckled. - “Never.” he laughed. - “Sooo… What were we talking about? … Oh, right; zombies. That reminds me; I punched a zombie once… Well, someone in a zombie costume… Did I tell you about that?” - “Pffffff! I don’t think you have…how’d that come about, anyway?” - “There was this haunted house a few years back. It was pretty intense, so children were required to have an adult with them. Well, these kids really wanted to go and every other adult they asked were either busy or flat out said no… So I wound up being that adult… Well, the haunted house did its job. I was on edge the whole time and, when one of the actors put his hand on my shoulder, I whirled around and punched out of reflex. I felt so bad! I kept apologizing and I even gave him a twenty dollar bill! I know they aren’t paid to be hit, but I had to do something!” - J.C. wheezed before collapsing into a fit of giggles. “Oooooh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho my lord!  That’s aw-haw-haw-haw-haw-haw-ful! Hilarious, as well, but still! But hey, at least you apologized.” - “The kids thought it was funny too,” she chuckled a bit. “Shame I got us kicked out.” - “Aw, that bites,”  the giggles started dying down a bit. “If it’s any consolation, I can be the designated adult if you and I are ever dragged to a place like that. I may let out a high pitch screech if I’m spooked, but I don’t think I’ll karate chop someone. At least, I haven’t yet…” - Audrey chuckled. “I’d appreciate that. I’m afraid my fight or flight response is just a fight response. Not a good scaring subject.” - J.C. snickered, “On the plus side, you at least know that. Better than running into a situation blindly and all confident, then end up running away.” - “As opposed to walking in scared and beating someone up? Not sure if I agree with that… If the person is innocent, anyway… I do wonder how I’d do, should I face a genuine threat… A non human threat, I mean. I know I can take humans.”   - “Oh yeah, no; punching innocent people’s never a good idea. I’d imagine if you can pack that much of an unintentional punch on someone, intentionally punching can provide quite a…pack.” He chuckled sheepishly, “I was going somewhere with that. Sounded better in my head.” - Audrey snickered. “I think I get what you’re trying to say. I do imagine I’d do more damage from an intentional hit than I would a startled reflex.” - “D-D-D-D-D-Double comboooooo!” J.C. joked, mimicking a videogame announcer, “Nice hit!” - She laughed at that, having supervised enough sleepovers to recognize a video game reference when she heard one. “Which fighting game is that?” - “Aha, I’m not entirely sure if it is one? I was trying to go something ‘Mortal Kombat’ or ‘Punch-Out!!’-esque, but other than that…” - “Mortal Kombat’s the one with the ‘Finish him!’ line and the catchy theme song, right?” - “Indeed it is. I know there are a few newer versions out, but I prefer the older, less…aaah, gory ones.” - “You mean to tell me they get even gorier?! I saw some as a teenager and they were pretty dang gory.” - “I meeean….maybe more so in the way of being more realistic with the blood and guts and everything, but if you would qualify that as ‘gorier’, then yes.” - “Ahhh, I get it. I suppose that is gorier. It doesn’t matter how much red you add to a stick figure, I’m not really going to be affected by it.” - “To each their own. I suppose.” - “Hm? What do you mean? I thought we were agreeing,” she asked, confused. - “O-oh! I’m pretty sure we still are? I-I meant that in a…different context than what the original meaning of the phrase is? You’d said something about adding as much red as you can to a stick figure and it won’t affect you. I, ah, imagine it can be different for some? That…something like that would? “ J.C. chuckled sheepishly. “I was going somewhere with that, guess my train of thought got derailed…” - “…I think I was in the train when it got derailed because I have no idea where we are,” she laughed. - J.C. snickered before breaking into a short, impromptu song, “We’re goin’ off the rails with our trains of thooooooought…~!” - Audrey’s laughter increased with the song. “Oh my gosh! You are so silly!” - Her laughter had him laughing as well…aaaaand perhaps blushing just a bit. Good to see his dorkiness came in handy outside of cheering up a grumpy sibling or a bummed out friend. “I try, my dear, I try. Just how I am, I guess!” - She giggled softly at being called ‘dear,’ finding it both silly and charming. “Well, you succeed!” she chuckled. “What were we talking about? Fighting games? Something about fighting?” - “Something like that, yeah…come to think of it, how did we even get on that topic, anyway? What were we even talking about before that?” - “I have no idea. I don’t even really play video games. See, this is why I write things down; can’t remember a thing otherwise… Well, aside from the fact that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. That’s about all that stuck with me from school.” - “I wouldn’t call myself a gamer, really. Kind of in the ‘I know just enough to keep myself from getting my butt completely kicked whenever one of the munchkins wants me to do a Pokemon battle with them’ camp. Maybe the occasional party game like those dancing ones, but otherwise…” J.C. chuckled, “What about ‘Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally’ for maths, or ‘Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492?’. Granted, that’s probably going back a looooong time, but hey.” - “I can play a bit of those Mario Party games, but that’s about it. I mostly button mash everything else. It’s amazing how often I win doing that…” she trailed off. “I know those too! It’s just the cotton gin thing stuck with me, for some reason. When will I ever need that information? Elementary school Jeopardy?” - “Haha, Iiiii’d imagine so. I remember when I was still in primary school, we had this ‘Bring-Your-Parent-To-School Day’ thing, and we did have something like that at one point. Kids vs. the parents. Sort of like…what’s the name of that one show? ‘Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?’. Pretty sure that show wasn’t around when I was that young, so your description’s probably more accurate.” - “I suppose you have a point there. I guess I can use it in a competition with my future kids,” she laughed. “Assuming I one day marry and have them or adopt them or what have you.” - “Same, honestly. I like to think I’ve gotten enough practice with ‘Thing 1′ and ‘Thing 2′, and having a kid of my own would be nice. It’s….different from having siblings, you actually have something that you had a hand in creating, and it’s like a little you.” He paused. “I mean…they’re obviously they’re own person, but half of their DNA is yours.” Cue a small sigh, “I dunno, having a tiny person thinking you’re the coolest thing ever for a time is a nice feeling. Kind of want to experience it on a different level than ‘older sibling-younger sibling’.” Cue another pause, then a somewhat sheepish chuckle, “That…aaaah, I didn’t mean to dump all that on you at once. Had an idea and ran with it. I hope that made at least some sense.” - Audrey giggled, pleased with his ramble. She liked the way this man thought. “Oh, no worries. I like listening to people talk about things that make them happy, especially when it’s about kids. And I know what you mean. I can’t help but wonder what a biological child of mine might look like. What traits of mine might they inherit? That sort of thing.” - “Basically a game of ‘roll the genetic dice and see what happens’, I guess. Sometimes it can be a little scary if you’ve got some potentially harmful stuff in your history, but otherwise it’s kind of cool.” A thought occurred to J.C., evidenced by the sudden change in expression on his face. “…I wonder if anyone’s ever had a child that’s exactly half of one parent and half of the other. Like one side of their head has curly hair and the other side is straight? I guess that could happen with multiples, but I don’t know about a singular child…” - “I don’t think that’s possible,” she scratched her head as she thought. “I know eyes can be two different colors, but I don’t think you can have two types of hair on the same head… Not naturally, anyway. I mean, my hair is kind of in-between Mom’s waves and Dad’s curls… Probably closer to Dad in that respect. Can’t style it very well… It’s not both though.” - “Mm.” He nodded as he listened to Audrey’s thought process. “Guess it all depends on what exactly the DNA wants to do when, for lack of a better term, building someone from scratch happens. ‘You get your mom’s eyes, your dad’s hair, the dimples of some relative a few generations back…’. Genetics are weird.” - “Tell me about it. Dad has no freckles, Mom has a few, I have a ton. Apparently, there’s some hidden super freckle gene somewhere in my family.” - J.C. chuckled, “Guess so. I don’t know a whole lot about what ran in mine, other than brown hair from my mother and…” he paused, “I know there was something on my father’s side, though what it is is escaping me at the moment…” - Audrey figured he must be having difficulty remembering as it’s been so long since his biological family was alive. Deciding it better to change the subject before he delves too deep into such a topic, Audrey thought up a distraction. “Do you remember that thing in school where you draw a square consisting of four smaller squares to figure out possible gene combinations or whatever? I forget what it’s called…” - J.C. thought for a minute; that sounded really familiar… “The thing where you put, like…uppercase ‘B’ for brown eyes and lowercase ‘b’ for blue eyes? I believe it’s a Punnett Square?” - “Yeah! That’s it! You’d think figuring out the odds of certain traits would be more complicated than drawing a few squares, but, there it is.” - He chuckled, “I know, right? Apparently, you can use them in…I believe it’s algebra, as well, but it’s a little more complicated there. ‘Square this number, multiply these two’…” - “Oh, gosh; not algebra!” she yelped in faux terror before chuckling. The two went on talking for a good while after that, but ultimately had to end the call. Finding such a thing quite enjoyable, Audrey made sure to call J.C. again… and again… and again. They’d even gotten to the point where they did video calls. It practically became a routine, but there were still interesting moments to be had. “Check it out! I got a wireless headphone microphone thingy!” Audrey chirped excitedly, waving her hand around her head to show there were no wires. “Now I can still talk to you, even if I step away from the computer a little!” - J.C. let out a playful, dramatic gasp at the reveal. “Ah, fantastique! You’re not confined to having to be close to the computer like I am.” he joked, pulling at his headphone cord a bit, “I have one of those microphones that are built into the computer, but I’m definitely planning on upgrading to a more ‘external’ one soon…seven to ten business days to be exact, should the delivery go without a hitch. Merci, online shopping~” - “Tell me about it! Present shopping has never been so convenient~ Also,” Audrey clapped, summoning Lola to jump onto the couch with her. “No more nearly knocking down the computer whenever Lola wants attention!” - J.C. chuckled at the little pup, “Ah, bonjour, Lola!” “Did you say Lola!?” came a voice from outside his door. “Can I see ‘er? Please, please, please, pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaase?” The older brother playfully rolled his eyes, “Oh lord, sounds like I said the magic word. You don’t mind Kat popping in for a bit, do you?” - Audrey chuckled and shook her head. “Not at all~ Let me just turn the speakers on so Lola can hear her. You like the attention, don’t you, girl~?” she cooed as she pet her head. - J.C. gave the two a small smile before turning towards his door. “Entrez!” With a small creak, in came Kat, bounding towards her brother’s bed. Thankfully, he didn’t have to worry about as much damage being done once she flopped onto it, as Kat was a good deal smaller than Syd. No real worries about his laptop flying off of the bed and onto the floor or the screen getting kicked in. Once she was on the bed, Kat crawled towards the webcam and made herself comfortable, smiling widely and cooing at the dog. “Hiiiiya, Lola! Hiya, Audrey!” - “Hiya, Kat!” Audrey returned the greeting as Lola stood up and wagged her tail at the excited voice. “Who’s that?” she asked playfully, getting a bark from her dog. “Yes! It’s Kat! Such a good girl~” she gave Lola a generous petting - The eight year old giggled at the dog’s response. “Kinda bites that you guys are so far away, an’ that I can’t reach through the screen an’ give her some pets…but seeing you two’s okay enough! How’ve you been?” - “I’m giving her plenty of pets for you,” she giggled, petting the dog. “Work’s been a little overwhelming here and there, but Lola and your brother have been doing a good job of helping me wind down. What about you? School treating you okay?” - “Uh-huh!”, the little girl nodded,  “Right now we’re doing our sevens times tables in maths and we’re reading Sideways Stories from Wayside School. We’re supposed to be starting this really cool science experiment next week, but I dunno what exactly it is, ‘cos our teacher’s keeping it a secret.” “Maybe you’re doing the ‘butterfly life cycle observation’ thing.” J.C. commented, “I remember doing that a few times in primary school.” - “Oooo, that sounds fun~ Glad that you’re enjoying yourself. School takes up a lot of time, so, best enjoy it, if you can. Maybe you can give Syd some pointers on that.” Syd struck her as someone who didn’t enjoy school much. - “I meeeean, I dunno what exactly it is they do in Year 6, but I can try? She likes when they do more ‘science-y’ stuff and reading more action-packed stories, than having to learn history or maths….buuuut I can try!”   J.C. smirked at his sister’s confidence. “Well, you know the saying: ‘Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it’.” - “Well… there’s a lot of action in history?” she shrugged. “Though that’s rarely a good thing in real life… And you need to know math in order to properly do science. Lots of equations and all that.” - “Yeeeeah, true. But I guess you gotta explain stuff in a way that’ll make it sound interesting with ‘er. Not totally sure how you could make maths interesting.” The older brother snickered, “Maybe if the question’s something like…’If there are 96 pieces of chewing gum in a candy machine and there are 8 friends, how many pieces does each friend get?’. Something that she can kind of relate to. Or at the very least, reword the question, but keep the same numbers.” - “I’d imagine she’d say something along the lines of, ‘Depends on who has to figure it out. They’ll get more than the rest.’ Gotta be careful with how you word these things,” she wagged a finger. - J.C. laughed, “She would. Or ‘Why would they be sharing, that’s 96 whole pieces of gum right there!’.” “I do know she likes when her class gets to do creative assignments, too.” Kat piped up, “Like when they have a spelling list, but get to write a story that uses the words in it. Or when they make a scene from something or a model in a shoe box.” “…A diorama?” “Yeah, that! She tends to make a big mess when she’s making it, but the end product’s pretty good…and she has fun doin’ it too.” - “That’s good! See, you’ve gotta focus on the good with these things. Focus on the bad and you’ll make yourself miserable. I mean, there are difficult aspects to my job, but I try to focus on the fact I’m helping people get healthy and/or stay healthy. Just remind her something good will come soon enough, you know?” - Kat gave Audrey a salute, “Can do!” “It takes a bit of patience, too.” J.C. added, “I know she wants to do some of the experiments that I did in secondary school and uni, but…well, you need to learn to crawl before you can walk, and know how to walk before you can run.” “It’s hard, though, when you’re little.” Kat piped up. “Trust me, I know. And I’m pretty sure Audrey knows too; we were both your age once.” - “Exactly,” Audrey nodded. “I used to get frustrated with what I wasn’t allowed to do, but, looking back, I wasn’t ready. I couldn’t go baking a cake without learning to crack an egg first.” - “…Ssssoooo she can’t exactly go sledding down the stairs without knowing how to steer the sled first?” J.C. snickered, “I mean, in theory, yeah, but you shouldn’t be doing that anyway because you could get seriously hurt. And that’s regardless of how many pillows you’ve tied to yourself, how many you’ve put at the bottom of the stairs, and with wearing knee and elbow pads and a helmet.” - “Even if you somehow managed not to get hurt, I can’t imagine it would be much fun. I mean, it’d probably be a really bumpy ride. I’d much rather sled in the snow.” - “But then we’d have to go waaaaaaay up north if we wanted snow. It almost never comes this far south.” Kat pouted. “If you want some deep snow, yes, but I think if we a tad bit as opposed to- as you put it- ‘waaaaaaaay’, it’d be fine. Maybe even go a bit west, as well.” J.C. looked to Audrey, “How much snow would you say you get over by you?” - “How much snow?” Audrey proceeded to cackle for a good long time before holding up a finger, asking for a moment to compose herself. “Sorry,” she cleared her throat. “We just get so much snow! I mean it. A lot. A little snow for us would be two feet deep. There’s a reason we have snowplows over here.” - Kat gasped excitedly. “We gotta go to Michigan for sledding!!” J.C. sputtered, laughing a little, “So you’d be willing to take a half-a-day flight just to go sledding? Not one that’d be maybe an hour, hour and a half at most?” “Yeah! ‘Sides, you’d be able to go an’ see Audrey! Us too, obviously, but still!” - “Oh, come now, it wouldn’t just be sledding… There’s making snowmen too,” she giggled. “Not to mention the feeling of coming inside from the cold and warming up with some hot chocolate.” - “And snow angels and snowball fights!” the little girl bounced excitedly. - Audrey chuckled. “Now, now, don’t get too excited. We don’t even know if this winter visit will happen.” - “Can it, thooooough?” Kat asked, giving the two the “puppy dog pout/puppy dog eyes” combo. As much as the older brother would love that, doing so was dependent on a lot of factors.  “Iiiiiit’s a bit too early to say yes or no, sooooo…I guess we can chalk it up as a ‘we’ll see’?” - “It’s not up to me, kiddo,” she gave the child a shrug. “I’d certainly welcome you, but I can’t exactly fly you over here.” - “Awww…” “Hey, it’s not a ‘no’.” J.C. pointed out, trying to make the situation a bit more positive. - “There’s still plenty of time to figure it out,” Audrey offered. “I mean, school only started a few weeks ago over here. It’s still pretty warm out.” - “Yeah. You’re telling me you want to skip out on your birthday and Halloween and just go straight to winter?” J.C joked. Kat let out a small gasp and shook her head ‘no’. “Theeeeeeeeen you have to wait, kiddo.” - Audrey chuckled. "I’m looking forward to pumpkin spice season, myself.” - “I love fall.” J.C. sighed, thoroughly content. “Part of it being the pumpkin spice, part of it the cooler weather…” “Part of it being that you can toss me into leaf piles.” Kat added, grinning. The brother snorted, “That’s something that you love, goofball…buuuuut I do get a good laugh out of it. Next time we get a deep enough pile, you’re getting launched.” Kat responded with her arms joyously shooting upwards, and a happy “Yay!” - Audrey let out a small giggled, one of joy more than humor. She really liked seeing this man get along so well with children. This man was destined to be a father, she thought to herself as she smiled dreamily. - “Maybe if you and Syd team up, you can launch me.” he joked. Kat scoffed before laughing, “Yeeeeah, maybe not? Now, Audrey probably could! Either with us or by herself!” - The laughter snapped her out of her dreamy state and she laughed too. “I can’t guarantee a soft landing if I do.” - “He’s had worse!” Kat snickered, imagine Audrey doing just as she stated. J.C. smiled and rolled his eyes at the blonde and ruffled her hair a bit, “Alright, alriiiight…hey, did you finish your homework yet?” Kat shook her head no. “I was takin’ a break. Guess I should get back to it?” J.C. nodded, “Then when you’re done, we’ll go over it….maybe practice some of your multiplication flash cards?” “ ‘Kay….but you promised we would have a tea party after that and dinner, remember?” “Of course I do. You, me, and Mr. Bunnysworth are going over the details of the deed to your dollhouse.” The way he said it sounded so matter-of-fact. Kat giggled at her goofball brother before turning to Audrey and Lola, “Sounds like I gotta get goin’. I’ll talk you guys later!” - Audrey giggled again. These two were adorable! “Talk to you later,” she smiled and waved goodbye. Once Kat was gone, Audrey turned the sound back to her headphones. “Tea party, huh? Since you’re in England, do you have actual tea at those?” - J.C. smiled and blew a bit of air out of his nose, “Occasionally, yeah. Kind of a toss up between that or some juice. In the winter, she’ll use hot cocoa.” - Audrey chuckled. “That’s basically what we do over here. That or we just sip on air. It’s usually air, unless we’re using real cups. Those play tea cups are so tiny.” - “I know, right? You have to take teeeeeeny tiny sips if you want it to last the whole party. Like a little mouse or something.” - “Imagine if you were trying to actually hydrate with one of those,” she snickered. - “Oh jeez. If you drink out of them like a normal human being, it’s almost like doing shots.” He paused for a second. “…Oooor at least, how I imagine one would do them. Never done them myself. The occasional glass of wine on special occasions or on vacation, but otherwise…” - Audrey snorted. “I just imagined someone doing shots of tea, but instead of getting drunk, they just get more and more English!” - “Ha! I could start out sounding like this.…” He mimicked downing a few cups of tea before speaking again in a “fancier” accent: “…to something like this. And as the day goes on, it just….waters itself down.” - Audrey couldn’t help but cackle at the demonstration. Once she calmed down, she glanced at the clock and spoke again. “Oh goodness; is that the time? I need to let Lola out before she messes on the floor. Be right back!” She darted off camera to let Lola outside. While outside, her headphones were out of range of her computer, so neither of them could hear each other. With the silence, Audrey managed to forget she was wearing the headphones at all. Making her way back inside (and back in range of her computer), she sang softly to herself as she went about getting Lola a treat. - “Can’t be having that now! You two go do your thing, I’ll be over here.” As the two went off, J.C. took the time to readjust a few things with his computer, answer an e-mail, comment on a friend’s photo. His ears perked up a bit when he picked up the sound of Audrey’s voice again. Was she…? She was. He’d heard her sing once already (he had joined in, after all~), but regardless of that, she sounded lovely. Cue a bit of pink coloring his cheeks. - As she made her way back to the computer, she stopped singing and went about taking the headphones from around her neck and putting them back over her ears. “Sorry about that,” she sat back down with a smile, oblivious to the fact he’d heard her. - “Huh? Oh! Oh, it’s no big deal.” He chuckled sheepishly, “When you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.” Cue the blush getting a bit more noticeable. Seemed to be that she was unaware that he could hear her… - Audrey raised her brow at this and cocked her head slightly to the side. “You feeling alright?” - Ah, crud, he’d been caught. “You, ah….” he gestured to where her headset had been. “You had forgotten to take your headset off, and I caught a bit of you singing when you came back in. N-not that that’s a bad thing! I thought i-i-i-i-it sounded lovely…” - “Oh? Oh!” she brought her fingertips to her mouth for a moment, then brought them back down with an embarrassed smile. “Ah-ha… Oops… Thank you?” - “Eheh…heh…aaaah, no problem…” Well, this was awkward. - “What were we talking about?” she twirled some hair around her fingers as she tried to distract from what had just happened. - “Tea parties and fancy accents, I believe?” J.C. answered, going back to said “fancy” accent as a joke. - Audrey tittered and the two went back to talking. As time went by, the leaves turned color, the temperature got colder, and their online chats became more frequent. “Since Halloween is right around the corner, I have an idea I want to toss out there, if you’re interested.” - J.C., currently in a rather “spooky” sweater, looked up from his hot cocoa, curious. “Shoot. What’cha got rattlin’ around in that brain of yours?” - “You know how I don’t watch horror movies because I don’t want to hurt someone on accident or watch it alone? Well, I can’t really hurt anyone if they aren’t physically in the room with me,” she grinned a bit slyly. “Could be something a bit different, you know?” - “Oooo-hoo-hoo, I like~ So! How should we start out with this? Something super tame like….well, I mean Hotel Transylvania isn’t a horror movie, but it has monsters in it…or do we go for the big guns like The Grudge?” - “I was thinking an actual horror movie. My cousin Chloe got me a nice mountain of horror movie files to choose from. She may have been a bit over zealous though,” she chuckled. “I doubt I’ll ever watch them all. Anyway, I can send the files your way and we can watch it on that Let’s Gaze website we tested out before.” - J.C. laughed as well, “Fine by me! Anything in said mountain that’s catching your eye? I’m not super picky with what we watch.” - “Chloe did mention that some of them can have a bit of humor or ridiculousness to them. What were some of them? Child’s Play… Scream… The Cabin in the Woods… Any of those sound good?” - Taking a sip of his drink as Audrey listed off a few titles, he perked up at the last one. “Oooo, Cabin in the Woods, let’s go with that.” - “I take it you like that one?” she smiled as she went about sending him a link to download the file. - “It’s actually one I haven’t seen,” he clarified, “Child’s Play and Scream, I have seen, albeit a few years ago. Figured I’d start with something ‘new’ before going towards more familiar, y’know?” - “Sounds good. When do you think you’ll have time to sit and watch a whole movie with me?” - “Mmmmm, probably sometime a little later this week? Have a few ‘autumnal’ things that are going on with the family, so I might not be able to find some free time before then. I can keep you posted, though!” - “Is it apple picking?” Audrey asked enthusiastically. “Or throwing your sisters into leaf piles? Pumpkin picking?” - “All 3~” he smiled, “Maybe some preliminary costume searching as well.” - “Ooooooo~ Sounds like you’ve got some busy days ahead of you! My mom, dad, aunts, uncles, and cousins are all going apple picking with me next week! We’re all gonna get some fresh air, pick some apples, make some apple treats… that sort of thing~” - “Ooo, sounds fun! Maybe I can suggest that to Mum and Dad; apple-flavoured stuff- rather, stuff made from apples- sounds really good right now. Plus, it can give Syd a chance to put some of her energy towards climbing some trees.” - “I can send you some recipes, if you need any,” she offered. - “Ooo, that’d be lovely, actually. Spice things up a bit in terms of autumnal snacks, you know?” - Audrey’s eyes seemed to sparkle at the concept of sharing recipes. “Oh! Oh! I have lots of recipes! What do you think you might want; pies, crisps, cobblers, muffins, cakes, cider, applesauce, fritters, breads?!” - Dang, she really DID have a lot of recipes! And they all sounded really nummy~ “Man, you weren’t kidding!” he laughed, “Hm, where do I even start? Maybe we can start with fritters and muffins and go from there.” - “Good choice~ I’ll be sure to send those your way.” She reached for her notebook off camera and jotted down a reminder. “Maybe I could add a nice apple drink recipe in there. Gotta wash those treats down with something~” - “Oo, even better. Kind of like a little bonus treat.“ - Audrey giggled at that. “A treat for your treats~” - J.C. let out a giggle as well…with an unintentional snort. Upon realizing that he had done so, his face went a bit pink. He was still smiling, though, so that was a good sign. - She didn’t comment on the snort. She didn’t want to embarrass him, especially when she did the same thing. “It’s a shame you live so far away. It’d be fun to bake together, I bet!” - He stopped for a second, a thought occurring to him. If they could talk to each other while being in two different parts of the world, what was to stop them from baking? “Unless…we do the baking, but like how we’re doing now. Find some sort of set up to where we can place our computers or phones or whatever out of the ingredient ‘splash zone’, and check on each other’s progress along the way. Baking together, but not physically together, if that makes any sense.” - “We should totally do that,” she exclaimed. “I wonder what we should make. I’d suggest an apple dish, but I don’t go apple picking until next week. Heh. Maybe we should try something simple, just to test it out?” She put a finger to her mouth in thought. “Perhaps a no-bake pumpkin pie? Still autumn themed. Do you guys have boxes of instant pudding over in England? Maybe we should make something with more common ingredients. Hmm… Oh! Pumpkin bread!” - “Oh definitely; do a test run, see how that goes, and then go from there!” J.C. agreed. “Do we have instant pu…I actually might have to check the next time I go out for groceries. Pumpkin bread might be a better option to start with, at least. I know for a fact that we have the stuff to make it here.” - “I’ll have to Google this sort of thing later,” she mused aloud. “I know you guys don’t have graham crackers over there. I’m guessing you’d use shortbread crust for pies in place of graham cracker ones…” - “Usually, yeah, or we use digestive biscuits in place of them. They may have them in the ‘’American’‘ section of a grocery store, but it depends on the store.” - Audrey nodded. “It really is wild how similar, yet different, our foods can be. I’ll try to look through my recipes for ones that are more basic. Here in the states, we tend to use shortcuts that you may not have; like instant pudding.” - “Right? And it can mean something completely different too. The kind that you’re talking about is usually called ‘custard’. If you look up ‘Yorkshire pudding’, that’s usually what we mean. Haggis is technically considered one. …English is weird.” - “Haggis?!” she asked with a weird face. “You’re right. English is weird.” She scrunched her nose. “I’m not going to lie here; if I asked for chocolate pudding and got haggis, I would be very disappointed.” - J.C. laughed, “Same, honestly. I mean, the food itself actually isn’t all that bad; it’s just the way it’s made that makes it sound gross…and…maybe some of what’s in it. To each their own, I suppose.” He shrugged, “I’ve only had it a few times that I can remember; usually when we’ve gone to visit one of my aunts up in Scotland.” - “I’ve never had it myself, but I know it doesn’t taste like chocolate pudding. Hence why I would be disappointed. I’m generally down to try anything at least once.” She thought a moment. “Scotland, huh? Is it as pretty as the pictures?” - “Always a plus.” he smiled. “I’d say so, yeah. One of my favourite places that we sometimes stop over in is Edinburgh, it’s kind of got a fairy tale-esque feel to it. Where my aunt lives is a bit further south, over in Dumfries; more of a riverside kind of town. If you go north enough in the winter, you’re able to see the northern lights, apparently. Haven’t had a chance to myself, unfortunately. I mean, we’ve been pretty far north there that time of year, but never at a point where we can catch ‘em.” - “Oh, that sounds lovely,” she smiled. “Maybe you could ask your relatives to send you pictures, since you haven’t been able to catch them yourself. Oh! Another name for the northern lights is the aurora borealis, right? Sounds all scientific that way,” she chuckled. - He laughed, “Indeed it does. …Y’know, that actually sounds like a good idea. Knowing my luck, if you and I got together just for that, there’d be a wicked snowstorm that moves in on the night we’d be seeing them.” Of course, the alternative of being all snuggled up indoors by a fireplace with some hot cocoa with her wasn’t bad. - She cocked her head slightly, a bit curious, but kept her smile all the same. How exactly did he feel about her if one of his first thoughts about the northern lights would be seeing them with her? “Well, I’m sure we’d find other things to do. Maybe hot cocoa and a crackling fire? I love those~” Seemed she had a similar mindset. - “Maybe in some comfy pyjamas, under one of those weighted blankets.” he added, goofy grin starting to sprawl across his face“…Ooooor a lightweight but super fluffy one. Either or.” - “Oooo~ Both are good! Might depend on how warm the fire makes everything.” She chuckled. “Here we go; talking about a fictional snowstorm. Our conversations sure are something, aren’t they? I was supposed to remember something…” Audrey opened her notebook. “Oh, yeah! I’m supposed to get you some recipes and find one we can both cook together!” Looking off screen, she spotted Lola. “Looks like Lola wants O-U-T and I need to look for some recipes, so I’ll talk to you later, okay?” - “Right, right! That should be fun; here’s hoping that when we do do that, the internet says running smoothly the entire time. Nothing worse that trying to get an exact amount of something from someone, and the connection starts to glitch.” At the mention of Lola, J.C. blew a bit of air out of his nose, smiling. “Haha, silly pup. You go on ahead; I’ll catch up with you later!” -End-

[airoasis]

"Speed 3" | Father Ted | Series 3 Episode 3 | Dead Parrot

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/speed-3-father-ted-series-3-episode-3-dead-parrot/

"Speed 3" | Father Ted | Series 3 Episode 3 | Dead Parrot

Do not even speak to me i am so sorry you’re judging a child competition you are not imagined to get them agitated this occurs whenever i love ailing of it I was just enjoying with them ten taking part in with them you’re jumping up and down with them jogging round to them and getting wholly overexcited that is why you acquired ailing on me I proposal the general this year used to be garbage is awful o.K. Yet another very sloppy toddlers who looked in order that they relatively could not be and the hairiness of some of these babies very hairy little one interval precisely k if persons don’t seem to be even going to shave their infants earlier than the industrial commonly do excellent you would not without a doubt need to shave a baby what hell this is Doyle do you place a brick in the center flooring I did one why I can’t be completely happy to your paper clips which you can put them in that is known as a white within the center of the ground why no longer have the tube I obtained the notion from a journal that may be all very good for will sell for one of those fellas capable for the more normal aspect of no longer hanging bricks in the middle of the floor I think in future you should consult me be mrs.Dooley looks very unique in these days but there may be undoubtedly mrs. Doyle i’m sorry i am just looking for mrs. Darn I concept you were Marilyn Monroe yeah pablor pleasant simple rectangular gap creation what a little low truly a lot more where that came from I inform ya I will not be here at all the police are after me they are not yes i’m so attractive they want to put me under arrest actually i am a bit of sad at the second mrs. Doyle yes I need to go to a funeral oh no we yes my final girlfriend she died from exhaustion this is prior masters the brand new milkman oh yeah just over the south part of the islands notion i might spread myself round slightly that is Joyce you have got to do some dusting off in father Jack’s room and there is a gigantic cobweb in the shed desires getting rid of first-class additionally father well i’d be on my approach Padre off on my rounds right good day looks like an common blackboard doesn’t it sure that’s what I idea but what’s this you see you can rub off the letter you are able to do that with any blackboard Ruben very milky cup of tea mrs.Doyle oh it is enormous come workforce I imply is there any tea in right here in any respect wait no any person would think you have been trying to use up all the milk covers so the fats monster can come right here more usually that is very fascinating door father the weekends he is a swimming instructor in the pool and he fought in Vietnam and armor mr. Universe and he informed it was pretty the right way to play crash it sounds to me as if he is telling you a number of tall memories now not utilizing Google Earth well mentioned i’m very cynical as my father it can be no longer my situation i do know however it sounds to me like you are in de Canas jealous a mr.Milkey man I very a lot believe now not what are you doing dude I was once just looking at probably the most bushy little one from in these days however anything about them let’s examine the terrible factor to claim however if you took this child’s moustache this little one’s head hair if they mentioned sideboards and put them collectively I feel you would get pat mustard do you feel the infants are copying in variety I think it can be more doubtless that that mustard has been you know I mean providing more than dairy products no Timmy he is been oh I suppose we will have to perform a little detective work discover what this fat mustard fellow health practitioner fixes Oh Wanda you be computed big instrument in my box is too tremendous for the foremost floor i’ll prefer it up the next day that is Joyce might you leave us for a couple of moments myself avex i do know what is going on on Pat Buster’s there are some very hairy infants on crayons and that i think you and the furry child maker oh yes well I suppose that you would want proof if you’re gonna make that form of an accusation and i am a very cautious man father an awfully careful man besides relating to taking precautions within the bed room now yeah you would not be informed of the usage of synthetic contraception yes proper knowing if you’re going to be a yo of course you you just again off you’d wish to rise up very early in the morning to capture me father very early within the board and now right mrs.O’Reilly did you get that okay I turned up the volume as loud as i can in case you can hear what’s going on within the apartment I believe they’re acquaintances supply it here proper now English oh no he’s finished later tremendous-comfy 2nd costume haha disgrace disgrace seem at us have you ever obvious some thing like that no i’ve now not right how must we do this how about two kilos each and every however this is not a tenable good I wasn’t seeking to sell them to you I I simply wanted to exhibit you ways one in all your workers is up to on this round Oh oh my god sure why what did you consider oh I I utterly misinterpret the concern on the peace this is disgraceful habits he despatched Khloe will be dispose of from this job right away thank you for bringing this to our awareness father evidently whats up you who’s going to supply the milk now precisely subsequent week is a giant week for us we just lately agreed to ease the milk floor issues of the newly liberated japanese European republic of Crafton over with the aid of shopping 17 faculties overwhelmed direction sagging couldn’t have come at a worse time god it can be terrible to believe of all that beautiful milk floating around and gone sorrow at no one dropping it off anyplace I wish I could do it now we might definitely believe you Father you are finally a man of God what Creed good yeah thanks for reminding me however i might love to be a ignored man for a at the same time that’d be great God is aware of I do flip all around here unhealthy concept you could without doubt a fill-in for a while huh oh i am no longer sure father McGuire has different obligations within the parish like what and be sure to keep warm would you and no longer in front of mr.Fox hmm in the next title world do i do know that turns it on that makes it go that’s do that okay proper k you are in a position to be a milkman get going simply just bet though you realize except it is UHT milk but there isn’t any demand for that considering it must be best holla what’s going on father hackers acquired very fond of that freak the grizzled pet from he doesn’t must see this our cleanest part 82 the bay scoot them all the way down to the ground i’m going to own my break possibly we’re seeing an additional aspect to father Jack more caring considered no fast approach oh sorry i am throwin condo father mentioned obviously speakme any father bastard is that you just mustard you received me sacked and now i’m having to yank me serve our relative courses i have not bought any suitable sex with ladies if you are going to use that language no do not help from to tell you I’ve left a bit shock on the milk love your little pal took off me some thing to don’t forget me through a bomb what an awfully targeted bond when your little pal gets to over four miles an hour then the bonuses last component when he comes again under four miles an hour there sorry I misplaced it there what happens when it goes on the shape as de quoi Oh God Dugan there may be a bit of 3.2.2 points of Newt father oh my god goodbye at two aspects to Pyke there you go morning is get together hey wait here then Junu tillu are you going over 4 miles an hour a third airplane leave me by myself are you doing on the some distance okay take heed to me there’s a farm on the following load oh correct who’s that woman kill you that ought to’ve put up there when you consider that I received actually when you wish to have to 4 miles an hour it can go off the barbel cool have you obtained that oh god I gotta get a cell anymore honey do not tell them okay seem it can be a giant field Miranda Otto Schalk courteous I ought to have a factor barren Islands parochial condo for the beaching right here jewel is in hindrance he acquired a job as a milkman and the earlier milkman has put a bomb in the milk flows with a view to blow up when the Minnesota to four miles an hour yes stack is a hindrance do not panic Ted will have the opportunity through it we’ve got bought to do whatever realistic some thing as a way to really support doogal wait i have it days being provided for father killed within the wire is excessive in our forces between we pay the Cardinal special performative title provide him to protection yes they are going to be peeling them off the wall for weeks to return fireplace tenders gone maintains to like and serve the Lord don’t look there may be a roundabout just preserve using round around as it’ll be ok boy I get dizzy this is a fossil plant again to my condominium and step on it that’s the idea the fine we’ve had did yet another mass that’s our satisfactory proposal I taught the opposite one went very well google it cells no longer a math there is a time for math and a time for action and this can be a time for action is there some thing to be mentioned for seeing an extra suit only a small and of God i really like pronouncing that this issues there was a time a couple of years in the past here at the Moscow Olympics Sean teach rollin this is a great story we don’t have time take a 2d for ladies to y’all simply shut up and help me provide you with a functional solution howdy each person how’s the whole thing Victoire tea biscuit or cake woohoo biscuit or cake pay attention you’re gotta hurry up man pay attention okay visible the injury Obama’s blow up-to-date beside of a tree which worked for them and they saved thousands of lives we best have to keep one who was one-of-a-kind the towering inferno used to be a enormous building that caught fire you are not able to practice the identical criteria to rescuing a priest from an explosive milk flows and apart from they’d Paul Newman and Steve McQueen i do not love it’s goodbye when you consider that I’ve visible it I forgot Steve McQueen was in it I’ve got us the presiding journey what Gene Hackman performs a priest in us well I was no help at all he didn’t even look at calm let’s get right down to the roundabout we see if we are able to consider of something there Oh second brick wait a minute I’ve bought an notion yes gents father Dougal is propelling the milk glide by using exerting a small amount of pressure on the accelerator if we will change his foot with an object that applies the equal pressure then I consider we are able to safely remove them from the car you mean yes we put the brick of the accelerator however you gotta trust me okay I want to be a priest once more and you’re going to be to them no longer relatively your texting is it oh i don’t like this job in any respect okay after I take step off missile you step up the missile all right simply brace except and keep saying I want to be a priest again I wish to be a priest again they need to be a priest once more again oh sure make a mess with the incorrect heritage baba good when you don’t mind i am off higher get out the earplugs father given that when that mixed glide goes off and here is all of the method to the north there you are Dougal thanks Ted are you definite you wish to have any milk goodness oh no no no I think I keep off mix for a good long at the same time why did I ever wish to emerge as a mesh man Ted you must stick to what you’re just right at and i am excellent at being a priest yes and it can be scary available in the market in the real non monks world Google now not every job is detrimental has been a milkman anyway tonight tonight head

[batterymonster2021]

"Speed 3" | Father Ted | Series 3 Episode 3 | Dead Parrot

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/speed-3-father-ted-series-3-episode-3-dead-parrot/

"Speed 3" | Father Ted | Series 3 Episode 3 | Dead Parrot

Do not even speak to me i am so sorry you’re judging a child competition you are not imagined to get them agitated this occurs whenever i love ailing of it I was just enjoying with them ten taking part in with them you’re jumping up and down with them jogging round to them and getting wholly overexcited that is why you acquired ailing on me I proposal the general this year used to be garbage is awful o.K. Yet another very sloppy toddlers who looked in order that they relatively could not be and the hairiness of some of these babies very hairy little one interval precisely k if persons don’t seem to be even going to shave their infants earlier than the industrial commonly do excellent you would not without a doubt need to shave a baby what hell this is Doyle do you place a brick in the center flooring I did one why I can’t be completely happy to your paper clips which you can put them in that is known as a white within the center of the ground why no longer have the tube I obtained the notion from a journal that may be all very good for will sell for one of those fellas capable for the more normal aspect of no longer hanging bricks in the middle of the floor I think in future you should consult me be mrs.Dooley looks very unique in these days but there may be undoubtedly mrs. Doyle i’m sorry i am just looking for mrs. Darn I concept you were Marilyn Monroe yeah pablor pleasant simple rectangular gap creation what a little low truly a lot more where that came from I inform ya I will not be here at all the police are after me they are not yes i’m so attractive they want to put me under arrest actually i am a bit of sad at the second mrs. Doyle yes I need to go to a funeral oh no we yes my final girlfriend she died from exhaustion this is prior masters the brand new milkman oh yeah just over the south part of the islands notion i might spread myself round slightly that is Joyce you have got to do some dusting off in father Jack’s room and there is a gigantic cobweb in the shed desires getting rid of first-class additionally father well i’d be on my approach Padre off on my rounds right good day looks like an common blackboard doesn’t it sure that’s what I idea but what’s this you see you can rub off the letter you are able to do that with any blackboard Ruben very milky cup of tea mrs.Doyle oh it is enormous come workforce I imply is there any tea in right here in any respect wait no any person would think you have been trying to use up all the milk covers so the fats monster can come right here more usually that is very fascinating door father the weekends he is a swimming instructor in the pool and he fought in Vietnam and armor mr. Universe and he informed it was pretty the right way to play crash it sounds to me as if he is telling you a number of tall memories now not utilizing Google Earth well mentioned i’m very cynical as my father it can be no longer my situation i do know however it sounds to me like you are in de Canas jealous a mr.Milkey man I very a lot believe now not what are you doing dude I was once just looking at probably the most bushy little one from in these days however anything about them let’s examine the terrible factor to claim however if you took this child’s moustache this little one’s head hair if they mentioned sideboards and put them collectively I feel you would get pat mustard do you feel the infants are copying in variety I think it can be more doubtless that that mustard has been you know I mean providing more than dairy products no Timmy he is been oh I suppose we will have to perform a little detective work discover what this fat mustard fellow health practitioner fixes Oh Wanda you be computed big instrument in my box is too tremendous for the foremost floor i’ll prefer it up the next day that is Joyce might you leave us for a couple of moments myself avex i do know what is going on on Pat Buster’s there are some very hairy infants on crayons and that i think you and the furry child maker oh yes well I suppose that you would want proof if you’re gonna make that form of an accusation and i am a very cautious man father an awfully careful man besides relating to taking precautions within the bed room now yeah you would not be informed of the usage of synthetic contraception yes proper knowing if you’re going to be a yo of course you you just again off you’d wish to rise up very early in the morning to capture me father very early within the board and now right mrs.O’Reilly did you get that okay I turned up the volume as loud as i can in case you can hear what’s going on within the apartment I believe they’re acquaintances supply it here proper now English oh no he’s finished later tremendous-comfy 2nd costume haha disgrace disgrace seem at us have you ever obvious some thing like that no i’ve now not right how must we do this how about two kilos each and every however this is not a tenable good I wasn’t seeking to sell them to you I I simply wanted to exhibit you ways one in all your workers is up to on this round Oh oh my god sure why what did you consider oh I I utterly misinterpret the concern on the peace this is disgraceful habits he despatched Khloe will be dispose of from this job right away thank you for bringing this to our awareness father evidently whats up you who’s going to supply the milk now precisely subsequent week is a giant week for us we just lately agreed to ease the milk floor issues of the newly liberated japanese European republic of Crafton over with the aid of shopping 17 faculties overwhelmed direction sagging couldn’t have come at a worse time god it can be terrible to believe of all that beautiful milk floating around and gone sorrow at no one dropping it off anyplace I wish I could do it now we might definitely believe you Father you are finally a man of God what Creed good yeah thanks for reminding me however i might love to be a ignored man for a at the same time that’d be great God is aware of I do flip all around here unhealthy concept you could without doubt a fill-in for a while huh oh i am no longer sure father McGuire has different obligations within the parish like what and be sure to keep warm would you and no longer in front of mr.Fox hmm in the next title world do i do know that turns it on that makes it go that’s do that okay proper k you are in a position to be a milkman get going simply just bet though you realize except it is UHT milk but there isn’t any demand for that considering it must be best holla what’s going on father hackers acquired very fond of that freak the grizzled pet from he doesn’t must see this our cleanest part 82 the bay scoot them all the way down to the ground i’m going to own my break possibly we’re seeing an additional aspect to father Jack more caring considered no fast approach oh sorry i am throwin condo father mentioned obviously speakme any father bastard is that you just mustard you received me sacked and now i’m having to yank me serve our relative courses i have not bought any suitable sex with ladies if you are going to use that language no do not help from to tell you I’ve left a bit shock on the milk love your little pal took off me some thing to don’t forget me through a bomb what an awfully targeted bond when your little pal gets to over four miles an hour then the bonuses last component when he comes again under four miles an hour there sorry I misplaced it there what happens when it goes on the shape as de quoi Oh God Dugan there may be a bit of 3.2.2 points of Newt father oh my god goodbye at two aspects to Pyke there you go morning is get together hey wait here then Junu tillu are you going over 4 miles an hour a third airplane leave me by myself are you doing on the some distance okay take heed to me there’s a farm on the following load oh correct who’s that woman kill you that ought to’ve put up there when you consider that I received actually when you wish to have to 4 miles an hour it can go off the barbel cool have you obtained that oh god I gotta get a cell anymore honey do not tell them okay seem it can be a giant field Miranda Otto Schalk courteous I ought to have a factor barren Islands parochial condo for the beaching right here jewel is in hindrance he acquired a job as a milkman and the earlier milkman has put a bomb in the milk flows with a view to blow up when the Minnesota to four miles an hour yes stack is a hindrance do not panic Ted will have the opportunity through it we’ve got bought to do whatever realistic some thing as a way to really support doogal wait i have it days being provided for father killed within the wire is excessive in our forces between we pay the Cardinal special performative title provide him to protection yes they are going to be peeling them off the wall for weeks to return fireplace tenders gone maintains to like and serve the Lord don’t look there may be a roundabout just preserve using round around as it’ll be ok boy I get dizzy this is a fossil plant again to my condominium and step on it that’s the idea the fine we’ve had did yet another mass that’s our satisfactory proposal I taught the opposite one went very well google it cells no longer a math there is a time for math and a time for action and this can be a time for action is there some thing to be mentioned for seeing an extra suit only a small and of God i really like pronouncing that this issues there was a time a couple of years in the past here at the Moscow Olympics Sean teach rollin this is a great story we don’t have time take a 2d for ladies to y’all simply shut up and help me provide you with a functional solution howdy each person how’s the whole thing Victoire tea biscuit or cake woohoo biscuit or cake pay attention you’re gotta hurry up man pay attention okay visible the injury Obama’s blow up-to-date beside of a tree which worked for them and they saved thousands of lives we best have to keep one who was one-of-a-kind the towering inferno used to be a enormous building that caught fire you are not able to practice the identical criteria to rescuing a priest from an explosive milk flows and apart from they’d Paul Newman and Steve McQueen i do not love it’s goodbye when you consider that I’ve visible it I forgot Steve McQueen was in it I’ve got us the presiding journey what Gene Hackman performs a priest in us well I was no help at all he didn’t even look at calm let’s get right down to the roundabout we see if we are able to consider of something there Oh second brick wait a minute I’ve bought an notion yes gents father Dougal is propelling the milk glide by using exerting a small amount of pressure on the accelerator if we will change his foot with an object that applies the equal pressure then I consider we are able to safely remove them from the car you mean yes we put the brick of the accelerator however you gotta trust me okay I want to be a priest once more and you’re going to be to them no longer relatively your texting is it oh i don’t like this job in any respect okay after I take step off missile you step up the missile all right simply brace except and keep saying I want to be a priest again I wish to be a priest again they need to be a priest once more again oh sure make a mess with the incorrect heritage baba good when you don’t mind i am off higher get out the earplugs father given that when that mixed glide goes off and here is all of the method to the north there you are Dougal thanks Ted are you definite you wish to have any milk goodness oh no no no I think I keep off mix for a good long at the same time why did I ever wish to emerge as a mesh man Ted you must stick to what you’re just right at and i am excellent at being a priest yes and it can be scary available in the market in the real non monks world Google now not every job is detrimental has been a milkman anyway tonight tonight head

[airoasis]

"Speed 3" | Father Ted | Series 3 Episode 3 | Dead Parrot

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/speed-3-father-ted-series-3-episode-3-dead-parrot/

"Speed 3" | Father Ted | Series 3 Episode 3 | Dead Parrot

Do not even speak to me i am so sorry you’re judging a child competition you are not imagined to get them agitated this occurs whenever i love ailing of it I was just enjoying with them ten taking part in with them you’re jumping up and down with them jogging round to them and getting wholly overexcited that is why you acquired ailing on me I proposal the general this year used to be garbage is awful o.K. Yet another very sloppy toddlers who looked in order that they relatively could not be and the hairiness of some of these babies very hairy little one interval precisely k if persons don’t seem to be even going to shave their infants earlier than the industrial commonly do excellent you would not without a doubt need to shave a baby what hell this is Doyle do you place a brick in the center flooring I did one why I can’t be completely happy to your paper clips which you can put them in that is known as a white within the center of the ground why no longer have the tube I obtained the notion from a journal that may be all very good for will sell for one of those fellas capable for the more normal aspect of no longer hanging bricks in the middle of the floor I think in future you should consult me be mrs.Dooley looks very unique in these days but there may be undoubtedly mrs. Doyle i’m sorry i am just looking for mrs. Darn I concept you were Marilyn Monroe yeah pablor pleasant simple rectangular gap creation what a little low truly a lot more where that came from I inform ya I will not be here at all the police are after me they are not yes i’m so attractive they want to put me under arrest actually i am a bit of sad at the second mrs. Doyle yes I need to go to a funeral oh no we yes my final girlfriend she died from exhaustion this is prior masters the brand new milkman oh yeah just over the south part of the islands notion i might spread myself round slightly that is Joyce you have got to do some dusting off in father Jack’s room and there is a gigantic cobweb in the shed desires getting rid of first-class additionally father well i’d be on my approach Padre off on my rounds right good day looks like an common blackboard doesn’t it sure that’s what I idea but what’s this you see you can rub off the letter you are able to do that with any blackboard Ruben very milky cup of tea mrs.Doyle oh it is enormous come workforce I imply is there any tea in right here in any respect wait no any person would think you have been trying to use up all the milk covers so the fats monster can come right here more usually that is very fascinating door father the weekends he is a swimming instructor in the pool and he fought in Vietnam and armor mr. Universe and he informed it was pretty the right way to play crash it sounds to me as if he is telling you a number of tall memories now not utilizing Google Earth well mentioned i’m very cynical as my father it can be no longer my situation i do know however it sounds to me like you are in de Canas jealous a mr.Milkey man I very a lot believe now not what are you doing dude I was once just looking at probably the most bushy little one from in these days however anything about them let’s examine the terrible factor to claim however if you took this child’s moustache this little one’s head hair if they mentioned sideboards and put them collectively I feel you would get pat mustard do you feel the infants are copying in variety I think it can be more doubtless that that mustard has been you know I mean providing more than dairy products no Timmy he is been oh I suppose we will have to perform a little detective work discover what this fat mustard fellow health practitioner fixes Oh Wanda you be computed big instrument in my box is too tremendous for the foremost floor i’ll prefer it up the next day that is Joyce might you leave us for a couple of moments myself avex i do know what is going on on Pat Buster’s there are some very hairy infants on crayons and that i think you and the furry child maker oh yes well I suppose that you would want proof if you’re gonna make that form of an accusation and i am a very cautious man father an awfully careful man besides relating to taking precautions within the bed room now yeah you would not be informed of the usage of synthetic contraception yes proper knowing if you’re going to be a yo of course you you just again off you’d wish to rise up very early in the morning to capture me father very early within the board and now right mrs.O’Reilly did you get that okay I turned up the volume as loud as i can in case you can hear what’s going on within the apartment I believe they’re acquaintances supply it here proper now English oh no he’s finished later tremendous-comfy 2nd costume haha disgrace disgrace seem at us have you ever obvious some thing like that no i’ve now not right how must we do this how about two kilos each and every however this is not a tenable good I wasn’t seeking to sell them to you I I simply wanted to exhibit you ways one in all your workers is up to on this round Oh oh my god sure why what did you consider oh I I utterly misinterpret the concern on the peace this is disgraceful habits he despatched Khloe will be dispose of from this job right away thank you for bringing this to our awareness father evidently whats up you who’s going to supply the milk now precisely subsequent week is a giant week for us we just lately agreed to ease the milk floor issues of the newly liberated japanese European republic of Crafton over with the aid of shopping 17 faculties overwhelmed direction sagging couldn’t have come at a worse time god it can be terrible to believe of all that beautiful milk floating around and gone sorrow at no one dropping it off anyplace I wish I could do it now we might definitely believe you Father you are finally a man of God what Creed good yeah thanks for reminding me however i might love to be a ignored man for a at the same time that’d be great God is aware of I do flip all around here unhealthy concept you could without doubt a fill-in for a while huh oh i am no longer sure father McGuire has different obligations within the parish like what and be sure to keep warm would you and no longer in front of mr.Fox hmm in the next title world do i do know that turns it on that makes it go that’s do that okay proper k you are in a position to be a milkman get going simply just bet though you realize except it is UHT milk but there isn’t any demand for that considering it must be best holla what’s going on father hackers acquired very fond of that freak the grizzled pet from he doesn’t must see this our cleanest part 82 the bay scoot them all the way down to the ground i’m going to own my break possibly we’re seeing an additional aspect to father Jack more caring considered no fast approach oh sorry i am throwin condo father mentioned obviously speakme any father bastard is that you just mustard you received me sacked and now i’m having to yank me serve our relative courses i have not bought any suitable sex with ladies if you are going to use that language no do not help from to tell you I’ve left a bit shock on the milk love your little pal took off me some thing to don’t forget me through a bomb what an awfully targeted bond when your little pal gets to over four miles an hour then the bonuses last component when he comes again under four miles an hour there sorry I misplaced it there what happens when it goes on the shape as de quoi Oh God Dugan there may be a bit of 3.2.2 points of Newt father oh my god goodbye at two aspects to Pyke there you go morning is get together hey wait here then Junu tillu are you going over 4 miles an hour a third airplane leave me by myself are you doing on the some distance okay take heed to me there’s a farm on the following load oh correct who’s that woman kill you that ought to’ve put up there when you consider that I received actually when you wish to have to 4 miles an hour it can go off the barbel cool have you obtained that oh god I gotta get a cell anymore honey do not tell them okay seem it can be a giant field Miranda Otto Schalk courteous I ought to have a factor barren Islands parochial condo for the beaching right here jewel is in hindrance he acquired a job as a milkman and the earlier milkman has put a bomb in the milk flows with a view to blow up when the Minnesota to four miles an hour yes stack is a hindrance do not panic Ted will have the opportunity through it we’ve got bought to do whatever realistic some thing as a way to really support doogal wait i have it days being provided for father killed within the wire is excessive in our forces between we pay the Cardinal special performative title provide him to protection yes they are going to be peeling them off the wall for weeks to return fireplace tenders gone maintains to like and serve the Lord don’t look there may be a roundabout just preserve using round around as it’ll be ok boy I get dizzy this is a fossil plant again to my condominium and step on it that’s the idea the fine we’ve had did yet another mass that’s our satisfactory proposal I taught the opposite one went very well google it cells no longer a math there is a time for math and a time for action and this can be a time for action is there some thing to be mentioned for seeing an extra suit only a small and of God i really like pronouncing that this issues there was a time a couple of years in the past here at the Moscow Olympics Sean teach rollin this is a great story we don’t have time take a 2d for ladies to y’all simply shut up and help me provide you with a functional solution howdy each person how’s the whole thing Victoire tea biscuit or cake woohoo biscuit or cake pay attention you’re gotta hurry up man pay attention okay visible the injury Obama’s blow up-to-date beside of a tree which worked for them and they saved thousands of lives we best have to keep one who was one-of-a-kind the towering inferno used to be a enormous building that caught fire you are not able to practice the identical criteria to rescuing a priest from an explosive milk flows and apart from they’d Paul Newman and Steve McQueen i do not love it’s goodbye when you consider that I’ve visible it I forgot Steve McQueen was in it I’ve got us the presiding journey what Gene Hackman performs a priest in us well I was no help at all he didn’t even look at calm let’s get right down to the roundabout we see if we are able to consider of something there Oh second brick wait a minute I’ve bought an notion yes gents father Dougal is propelling the milk glide by using exerting a small amount of pressure on the accelerator if we will change his foot with an object that applies the equal pressure then I consider we are able to safely remove them from the car you mean yes we put the brick of the accelerator however you gotta trust me okay I want to be a priest once more and you’re going to be to them no longer relatively your texting is it oh i don’t like this job in any respect okay after I take step off missile you step up the missile all right simply brace except and keep saying I want to be a priest again I wish to be a priest again they need to be a priest once more again oh sure make a mess with the incorrect heritage baba good when you don’t mind i am off higher get out the earplugs father given that when that mixed glide goes off and here is all of the method to the north there you are Dougal thanks Ted are you definite you wish to have any milk goodness oh no no no I think I keep off mix for a good long at the same time why did I ever wish to emerge as a mesh man Ted you must stick to what you’re just right at and i am excellent at being a priest yes and it can be scary available in the market in the real non monks world Google now not every job is detrimental has been a milkman anyway tonight tonight head