#You're never convincing me a farewell to arms was good much less by saying we should like it bc Ernest took inspo from Greeks

[nozomijoestar]

Started new semester today and pissed Abt being disrespected twice by the professor but idk if I'd be able to swap at this point man 😑 (plus the material is already kindergarten shit already so I'm bored too but I kept that to myself prof was rude for other reasons)

: im challenging this and requesting to swap actually bc no you're not gonna get into the habit of disrespecting me for no reason and over pettiness at that with unearned arrogance to boot

[kassandra-lorelei]

Ey, Hannah, I have a prompt for you (if you're brave enough 😏). How about the first time Niles meets Mommy Ice Queen herself, BB Babcock? (and lbr probably makes a lasting impression)

Here we are, my dude! Enjoy! I’m sorry it took so long, I’ve had a busy couple of days.

@missbabcocks1

The phone had been ringing off the hook practically all day, and after the second Babcock relative, of course asking for C.C., they figured it was best to simply let her answer the phone until her family had all had their say in their recent marriage. It left Niles enough time to continue packing for the big move to California, anyway.Neither were quite sure how so many of them had heard in such a short amount of time. The entire point of eloping, after all, was to do it without anyone knowing, and they thought they’d managed to cover that pretty well so far. Niles suspected it had something to do with the Sheffields, because honestly, when didn’t interesting gossip have something to do with the inhabitants of the mansion? But he couldn’t say for sure, so he didn’t go around blindly accusing anyone of telling someone who could tell someone else, which had then resulted in him and his wife – how he adored being able to call her that! – having to have a talk about how they were going to handle the less-than-thrilled relatives who were now phoning up to hear for themselves about how C.C. had, soberly and willingly, married a butler.She’d taken them all on like a champion, Niles thought. She’d known from the start the kind of things her family would say in response to their marriage, and yet she’d chosen him anyway. And having to argue the same points over and over again to various people she might have shared blood with but had no real sense of connection to was doing more than getting her down, that he knew. So he prepared some lunch for them both, the Sheffields having gone to the hospital to get the twins checked over, and seated himself on the coffee table with the tray whilst she reclined on the sofa, phone pressed hard to her ear, and a frown pressed hard to her face.“Well, he does, and he doesn’t expect anything in return,” she seemed more than on the verge of snapping. “So you can take all that talk about gold digging and stuff it back right where it belongs!”She hung up the device without even saying goodbye. Then, with an exhale which seemed to calm her down, she turned towards him and gave a faint smile.“My aunt and uncle say “hello”,” she said, the slightest hint of sarcasm evident in her tone.Niles returned her look, and reached out a hand for hers, “Has anyone taken it well?”C.C. took his proffered hand, screwing up her face as she thought, “Well, my brother did seem happy. But he also said something about my cousin and my sister both owing him fifty bucks, so that might have had something to do with it. And Daddy actually wants to have lunch with us.”The butler felt his eyebrow raising. Stewart wanted to have lunch? After learning that he was married to C.C.? He didn’t quite know how to feel about that – the man had been affable when he’d met him before, but Niles didn’t know how things would change considering that his and C.C.’s relationship had changed.Not to mention the fact that they were having a baby…But, he supposed the only way to find out would be to actually have lunch. Stewart didn’t seem like the unreasonable sort, so Niles assumed everything would be fine.So, he nodded, “Alright. Well, I suppose that can be arranged before we leave. It can be like a farewell lunch, before the move.”“That’s what I was thinking,” she squeezed his hand, and made to sit up more. “That’s why I called Noel back and invited him as well. We can get a couple of my family members on our side, at least. And, we can tell them about the baby.”“Fine by me,” Niles said, remembering his brother-in-law had been very like Stewart when it came to personalities. He couldn’t imagine why either of them wouldn’t be overjoyed at the fact that C.C. was pregnant, and he was certainly proud of his wife for being so pro-active in the matter. It couldn’t be easy for her, but she’d chosen to do it anyway. She deserved a break after all of this.He released her hand and picked up the tray, offering her the selection of goodies he’d made in the kitchen only a little while ago, “And, speaking of lunch, how about we get started on the one we’re having today?”C.C. picked up a sandwich from the plate, grinning, “And that sounds fine by me, Hazel. I knew there was some reason I said “yes” when you proposed.”Niles couldn’t help the smirk creeping onto his face, “I think there might have been a couple of reasons, wouldn’t you say?”His wife pretended to look unimpressed, but only ended up looking amused, “Yes. A couple of reasons. The fact that you can cook, and the fact that, considering it was the fifth time of asking, you looked too sad and pathetic to survive another refusal.”The grin dropped from Niles’ face, replaced by an unamused look, and he picked up his own sandwich. She winked at him as he bit into it, and he conceded her another smile as he chewed. He really did love her, no matter what her family members seemed to think with their irate phone calls.They finished their sandwiches mostly in silence, only chatting a little about small things that didn’t really require a lot of thought – what things were going away leading up to the move and when, that kind of thing. But as soon as Niles had collected C.C.’s plate to put it back on the tray, the phone rang again, and both blonde heads snapped to it, before turning slowly to look at each other with an irritated sigh.Who could possibly be calling now? Hadn’t everyone on her side of the family tree been on the other end by now to give their two cents worth?C.C. picked up the phone, and held it to her ear in a resigned manner, “Hello?”Her eyes widened, and Niles’ heart stopped. Who was it?“Hello, Mummy. How, uh…how are you?”Mummy? Her mother, B.B. Babcock, hadn’t been the first in line to tell her what a huge mistake she was making? That Babcocks did not mix with servants, and that he was clearly only in it for whatever money he could squeeze out of her? None of that was true, of course, but her mother wouldn’t believe it for an instant.“I see,” C.C. was biting the inside of her lip. “Well, that’s all well and good, but unfortunately, it’s not your choice, it’s ours.”Niles felt himself on the edge of his seat – well, the edge of the coffee table – over this conversation. He had never thought about how B.B. would react. If he was honest, he’d tried very hard not to. He had feared that maybe she’d be able to change C.C.’s mind, and convince her to leave him…That didn’t seem to be the case right now, though.��No, you won’t change my mind,” C.C. rolled her eyes, and shook her head at him, clearly displeased with whatever her mother was saying. “If anything, I’m more sure that I can change your mind!”Niles blinked. What was she saying?C.C. continued her conversation, “You heard me; Daddy, Noel, Niles and I are all having lunch next Saturday at Sardi’s. Come down and join us.”She was…inviting her mother? He hoped his look of confusion would be enough to make her put the phone down, but C.C. wasn’t quite done yet.“I mean it. I’m going to prove to you that none of this is the mistake you think it is.”After a few more sentences in which C.C. insisted that B.B. come down and see for herself how happy they were as a couple, her mother must have finally relented, because C.C. got a pleased grin on her face and finally said goodbye, before hanging up.She turned to him, still looking satisfied with herself, “We have another guest for lunch on Saturday.”

Said Saturday arrived both sooner than Niles would have liked and in exactly the right amount of time. He was quite looking forward to seeing Stewart and Noel again, if a little nervous about what they’d think, and apprehensive about the prospect of meeting B.B.. C.C. had tried to reassure him plenty of times that her mother would be all bark and no bite, and that nothing she could say would make her change her mind about them, but he still wasn’t sure. He knew from overhearing that C.C. was like B.B., so that could serve him well in some ways, but it could also be detrimental in others.Of course, it was really far too late to think about that kind of thing. They were already at their table, and C.C. had just craned her head round and spotted her father and brother making their way to them from the door.She raised her hand to wave at them, “Daddy! Noel!”The two men grinned as they spotted her, and the couple rose to their feet to greet their guests.“Hi, Kitten!” Stewart was the first to reach his daughter, enveloping her in a light embrace and kissing her cheek. “How are you?”“Just fine,” she returned his kiss on the cheek with one of her own, and turned to look at her husband. “You both remember Niles.”“Of course, of course!” Stewart beamed, thrusting out his hand for Niles to shake as C.C. greeted her brother. “How are you, my boy?”“My boy”. That was a good start.With a smile of his own, Niles took Stewart’s hand and shook it firmly, “I’m very well indeed, thank you, sir.”“Please, call me Stewart,” the older man’s voice had a hint of the same insisting tone as C.C.’s had, when she’d been on the phone. “We’re family now; there are no expectations or judgements here.”“I’d prefer it if you still call me Professor Babcock, actually,” Noel piped up, coming to stand by Niles. When the butler’s face began to denote one of confusion, he gave him a good-natured back-handed slap on the arm, grinning. “Gotcha! Of course you can call me Noel!”Niles began to take on the same grin that his brother-in-law was wearing, feeling much more relaxed than before because now at least three people at the table wouldn’t be against him, and they all took their seats. Conversation flowed smoothly and quickly between the party of four. Stewart had ordered champagne, but C.C. had refused a glass, so to make it seem less suspicious (and to give his wife time before they eventually came to the big announcement), Niles also politely declined one, stating that they were both on something of a health kick. The Babcock men seemed to take this explanation, and were quite happy to drink it by themselves.“A little pick-me-up before the put-me-down arrives,” Stewart had told Niles quietly and with a smirk.Speaking of the Devil, C.C. and Noel both looked round at the same time, having heard some light commotion at the door; a woman’s voice, and the clattering of heels.There she was – B.B. Babcock. Not tall, like her children, but still carrying a presence about her that made her look above everyone else in the room. Golden hair that seemed to be turning silver, and the sharpest pair of blue eyes that Niles had ever seen.And they were fixed right on the table, as the family rose to greet her.“C.C., darling!” the older socialite cried, coming to give kisses to the space beside each of C.C.’s cheeks.“Hello, Mummy,” C.C. returned the gesture. “How are you?”“Fine for now,” B.B.’s eyes scanned past her daughter, to Stewart and Noel, and then at last to Niles. “I trust that both you father and brother have introduced themselves to your…husband?”The last word was dripping with disgust and contempt, and Niles felt something kickstart inside him. It was like an instinct, or a defence mechanism, and he didn’t know if he could control it. But if he had a chance at the woman at least tolerating him, he had to try.But Stewart cut in first, “That he has, B.B., and I must say, Niles is quite the gentleman, especially for our C.C., and has the most fascinating stories-”“I’m sure he does,” B.B. interrupted coolly. “Life below stairs must have its interesting points, after all.”“As, I’m sure, does your life upstairs,” Niles suddenly blurted out, wondering where the confidence to say it had come from. He’d been wanting to make a good impression and now she already had ammunition against him!He looked around at all of the others – Noel and Stewart looked more than faintly amused, and C.C.’s expression was unreadable, even to him. Even B.B. herself looked shocked.But no one spoke up, at least not about that. C.C. suddenly and loudly suggested that they all retook their seats to continue reading the menus, which they hadn’t yet ordered from because of B.B.’s fashionable lateness. The conversation at the table wasn’t the same after B.B.’s arrival. The socialite had commandeered most of it since she’d come in, and Niles could tell that C.C. was nervous. Probably because they’d had their appetisers and the main course had just arrived, and they hadn’t had the chance to even look over at one another and decide that now was the time to tell her family that they were having a baby. Or because the longer they sat there, the closer they were getting to a time when they’d have to tell them.He’d been discreetly holding her hand under the table for a while now, squeezing it every now and then to provide some reassurance. He knew that it was only a matter of time before B.B. addressed him. He didn’t know what she’d say, but he knew it probably wouldn’t be good.It came sooner than he thought, “So…Niles, was it?”“Yes, Mrs Babcock,” he nodded in reply.“Tell me, Niles; what made you think you were good enough to marry my daughter?”Noel coughed into his champagne, having just taken a sip, and Stewart lowered his cutlery, no longer interested in the steak he had on his fork.C.C. leaned over, towards her mother, “Mummy, I-”B.B. held up a hand, and there was silence across the table, until Niles spoke up, prepared for the rudeness but shocked by such a bold question all the same.“I…I’m sorry?”“What made you think a servant, such as yourself, had any place asking my daughter, a woman of the highest class and breeding, for her hand in marriage?” B.B. appeared to stare down her nose at him. “Was it your ability to cook which you thought would attract her? Your ability to dust down a shelf? Or perhaps your somewhat questionable wit, which seems to be the only material quality you possess?”Niles was about to argue back, and so it seemed Stewart and Noel were about to jump to his defence, too, but C.C. got their first.“I married him for love, Mummy,” she snapped. “Yes, Niles is a servant, but I looked beyond his job to see what kind of man he is, even if you refuse to do that! He is witty, even if you’re not listening, and he’s charming, and kind, and intelligent, and a whole host of other things that you can’t see simply because you can’t get past the fact that your daughter chose to marry a butler for love and not some rich nobody for material wealth!”C.C. was yelling by this stage, and half the restaurant had turned to look. Niles didn’t fully care, though. He was too immersed in his love for his wife, and for how grateful he was that she was sticking up for him like this.B.B. rose threateningly to her feet, “Better a Babcock with material wealth and no love than some no-name destitute with no future!”“I have a future, Mummy, and I already know it will be a thousand times better than my past,” C.C. had risen to her own feet as well, and was glaring at her mother, but turned briefly to look at her father and brother as well as she grasped for Niles’ hand. “In fact, I think it’s about time we shared some news with you all.”Niles took her hand, and got to his feet. C.C. was preparing to announce it. Here went nothing…“You’re pregnant, I knew it!” Noel shouted out joyfully. He must have been suspicious when C.C. refused the champagne.C.C. let out an irritated sigh, “Yes, Noel, I am. And I’d have liked it very much if we’d been the ones to say so, but there you have it!”Stewart let out a cry of joy similar to his son’s, and the two men joined the others on their feet, apparently prepared to congratulate them. But B.B. just gaped.“You…pregnant?!” she screeched, pointing at Niles. “He…that servant…got you pregnant?!”“My husband the servant got me pregnant, yes, Mummy,” C.C. folded over her arms. “Isn’t that what some married couples do? Have children?”“When they are perfectly matched, yes!” B.B. was fuming. “If you’d stuck it out a little longer and not given in to false charm clearly meant to con you out of your money, you could be having the child of a Senator, or an influential businessman-”By this stage, Niles was sick of it. Sick of everything B.B. had said for the entire time they’d been there, sick of her insults and put-downs to everyone at the table, sick of the fact that she just couldn’t accept that people thought differently to her. Sick of it all.So sick, he no longer cared about making any kind of impression. He knew his wife would sooner give up her own mother than him – this entire conversation had made that clear. “But she isn’t,” he barked. “Whether you like it or not, Mrs Babcock, and whether you can see it or not, I love your daughter. I love her with all my heart, and nothing would have deterred me from asking her to marry me. I don’t know if you know this, but I asked her more than once. She turned me down four times in a row! Any sane and reasonable man would have given in by then, but I didn’t because love doesn’t make us sane and reasonable people. It makes us do things we never thought possible, like pulling elevator doors open with your bare hands because the woman you know you’re supposed to be with just made you the happiest man on Earth. I don’t care about the money, she can keep it all as far as I’m concerned; all I want and need is the honour of calling her my wife, and the mother of my child. And, maybe someday, children. It’s C.C.’s choice entirely what we do and where we go. I’m happy no matter what, as long as she is. And if you don’t like that, then maybe you should go back to your upstairs world and leave us be!”B.B. stared at him, astounded by the speech he’d just yelled in her face. Niles waited for the fallout, feeling C.C. grip his hand tighter and chance a smile in his direction. He was lucky to have her, and she was probably grateful for him stepping up like that and defending her as well.“In all my years,” B.B. began, her voice sounding low and dangerous, “I have never, never been spoken to like that by…anyone! Let alone a servant!”“I’m not a servant to you, I am your son-in-law!” Niles continued his argument. “Luckily for you, you won’t have to see us, though. Considering we’re moving to California, the sunlight should be sufficient to keep you away. Though we’ll leave a window open at night if you do decide you want to visit and your bat form gets you there fast enough.”Outraged, B.B. picked up her bag, which she’d left on the table, “How dare you both suggest such a thing, and assume that I would want to be anywhere near your servant’s hovel! As far as I am concerned, I only have two children now. The pair of you will receive nothing from me!”“We never asked,” C.C. said firmly. “And if that’s the way it has to be, then so be it. I’d rather my child grew up without a grandmother than with one who thought they were worth nothing because of their father’s profession.”B.B. let out a noise which sounded like an angry huff, and she turned to her ex-husband and her son.“Don’t the pair of you have anything to say about the way I am being treated by C.C. and this dogsbody?”Noel shrugged, “They are both grown adults. This isn’t really my place to step in, Mummy. Sorry.”B.B. scowled, “And you, Stewart?”A slow smile crept across the older man’s face. He leaned in a little, and gave a tiny wave of his fingers.“Don’t let the door hit you on your way out, B.B..”Without saying anything else, but sending hateful glares to everyone at the table, B.B. turned on her heel and stormed out, snatching her coat from the people in charge of the coatroom as she left.Everybody retook their seats, allowing the atmosphere in the silent restaurant to now go back to normal before they breathed out sighs of relief.“Well, you certainly made quite the impression there, Niles,” Noel grinned. “I can’t wait for the next family reunion! Uncle James could use some fun made at his expense.”“I’m sure that everything about this family is going to be turned upside down from now on,” Stewart picked up his glass, preparing to toast. “And I, for one, am looking forward to it. Welcome to the family, Niles. Those of us who are sane are happy to have you.”Chuckling under his breath and grinning at his wife (who returned the look), Niles picked up his own glass, “And I am the luckiest man on Earth to be able to be a part of it.”With a unanimous response of “Cheers”, they all settled back into their meal, and Niles shared a tender smile with C.C.. He’d quite honestly worried for nothing, and he felt oddly good after throwing a few insults B.B.’s way.And if there were any more relatives of C.C.’s that were like her mother, then that family reunion Noel mentioned sounded more than interesting…