#and i spent christmas with his family and they got me so much sweet stuff

[bechdxl]

my partner got me a complete leather bound set of A Song of Ice and Fire oh he’s getting it good tonight…

[fanfics-i-find-here]

No Christmas?

Jason Todd x Reader, Platonic!Roy Harper x reader

Synopsis: Roy Harper ruins your plans for Christmas, but New Year’s is still good.

Note: I had this random thought on Christmas day (which was way too late for me to speed write a Christmas fic since I was with family). Some Roy and reader ended up with a sibling-like love-hate relationship. This is mostly lovey-dovey stuff with Jason too. If there are any Baby fever-esque moments it's because I get it every time I spend time with my nieces and nephews and you know holiday season.

For the past two weeks, your loving vigilante boyfriend has been off saving the world. While you love him dearly for it, you’re a little upset. He missed Christmas. It would have been your first Christmas together and you had been excitingly decorating when Roy showed up at your guy’s apartment with the mission file and little Lian. You had quietly entertained the girl while eavesdropping on the conversation. You interjected yourself in the conversation once you had done the math on how long they would be gone.

“You’ll miss Christmas.” You say to both of them as you offer Lian a piece of string cheese kept in the fridge just for the girl. They both turn from their seats at the dinner table. They give you a weird look.

“You’ll both miss Christmas.” You repeat pointedly.

“So?” Jason responds. You roll your eyes and turn to Lian.

“These boys just don’t get it do they?” she giggles as you tickle her side. You pick her up off the counter and set her on the table between Roy and Jason and you slip into the seat beside Jason. You press your hand between Jason’s shoulder blades, and he leans into your touch.

“It’s a family holiday,” you say softly, “Besides who’s going to watch this sweet girl?”

Lian remains oblivious to the conversation as she focuses on carefully peeling strips of cheese. She offers one to Roy and he sighs as he takes it.

“You’re right but I wouldn’t come asking if it wasn’t an emergency. You know that right?” He asks. You reluctantly nod.

“And there’s a reason I brought her with me” he pauses a flash of guilt crossing his face, “Would you watch her? You’ve already got just about everything she needs, and I brought a bag of clothes. She loves it here.” As if to prove a point Lian offers you and Jason strings of cheese. You take the cheese and nibble on it thoughtfully. You glance at Jason who seems to pointedly be ignoring you as he holds Lian’s arm up instead of taking the cheese to tickle her. She shrieks and her body tries to contort away from him.

“You have to be back before New Year’s.” You demand. Roy nods quickly.

“No later,” he agrees, “Besides I’ll need my own New Year’s kiss from my favorite girl.” He drags Lian into his lap and blows raspberries into her cheek. She shrieks again still out of breath from Jason's tickle assault.

“Daddy, stop!” she wiggles out of his lap and takes off into the living room.

“This’ll be good,” you try to convince yourself, “She’ll get a much-needed break from you two.” You try to joke.

You see Jason and Roy share a look and Roy stands, “I’ll go make sure she’s not making a mess.”

Once Roy leaves Jason turns in his chair, and gently pulls your hands into his.

“What’s this about?” he asks softly as he presses a kiss to your knuckles. You slide forward in your chair closer to him, your knee pressing to his thigh.

“This was going to be our first Christmas together.” You murmur squeezing his hands, “I wanted it to be spent together.”

He sighs quietly and drops one of your hands to cup your face, his finger stroking your cheekbone. You lean into his hand, eyes sliding shut.

“If you don’t want me to go, I won’t.” You snort out a laugh and open your eyes to find him much more serious than you expected.

“I would never ask that of you, Jason. If you need to save the world, then go save the world. Just…” you pause to wrangle your emotions, “Promise to come back to me.”

He must see your struggle. He leans forward and presses soft pecks to your forehead, temple, cheek, and the corner of your mouth.

“If I died, I would crawl my way out of my grave again just to come back to you.” He says softly. You squeeze his hand again.

“Jason,” you lightly scold, despite the tender ache that blooms in your chest from his words. He smiles at your tone and pecks your cheek again.

“We’ll be back before New Year’s. If something happens-”

“Call Dick. I know. If you don’t make it back before New Year’s-”

“You’ll kick my ass. I know.” He grins at you, and you roll your eyes. You lean forward finally pressing your lips to his.

“That’s totally gross”

You sit back in your chair to see Roy and Lian in the doorway. Roy haphazardly tries to cover Lian’s eyes as she wiggles in his arms trying to see around his hand.

“You're just jealous” Jason retorts as he tenderly tugs and squeezes your fingers in his hand.

“Of you swapping spit, yea right”

“Don’t say that in front of the child, Roy.” You stand cheeks warm. Jason follows and heads to the bedroom to start packing. You walk over to Roy and Lian.

“Babygirl we are going to have the world’s longest Sleepover.”

“Yay!” Lian practically leaps from Roy’s arms to you. You lunge to catch but Roy’s reflexes move faster (of course) stopping her before she can get anywhere close to the ground.

“Careful babe,” he pats her back, “don’t want to break your neck before you get to have the sleepover.” She nods giddily and slides down out of his hold instead of jumping out of it. She quickly scales up your leg into your hold, only dragging your shirt off your shoulder for a moment. She happily pats your shoulders as you settle her weight on your stomach.

“Can we watch the Barbie movies?” she asks.

“Course, what else would we watch?” you reply with a smile.

“Maybe I shouldn’t leave her with you. You’re corrupting her with Barbie of all things” he says in mock disgust. You give him a pointed look over Lian’s shoulder.

“You should watch yourself, Harper. I’m letting you take my boyfriend for Christmas.”

You watch his shoulders sag, and that guilty look crosses his face again.

“I am sorry,” he pauses a moment, “and grateful that you’re willing to watch Lian too.” He glances at the girl who has become preoccupied with twisting your hair in “braids” (read knots). You settle her on your hip and get closer to Roy.

“Listen closely,” you say sternly, “you boys will go save the world, or whoever, whatever, and you will both come home. You take care of him, okay?” he nods, “and yourself too. Got it?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“And you will be-”

“Back before New Year’s. Of course. Your bossy, you know?” he smacks an overdramatic wet kiss to your temple that has you crinkling your nose in disgust. You go to smack him, but he curves out of your arch. He leaps back closer to ruffle your hair into more of a mess than Lian was.

“Roy Harper!” you screech as he darts back into the living room as Lian giggles in your arms. You follow him into the living room and plop the girl on the couch. You pick up an old magazine, roll it up, and start to chase Roy around the room. He leaps over the furniture with an agility you wish you had. Lian happily cheers from her seat, but you have no idea who she’s cheering for.

“Can’t take you two anywhere, huh?” a humored voice says. Jason leans against the door frame with a duffle bag at his feet. Roy stops running and spreads his arms.

“Jaybird! Ya ready?” With him no longer in motion, you promptly smack him upside the head with the rolled-up magazine.

“Ow, what is wrong with you woman? I was just being affectionate, and this is what I get for it.”

“Yea if affection was spitting on people”

“Did you spit on my girlfriend?”

“No” “Yes,” you both say at the same time. Jason rolls his eyes and walks around you two as you glare at each other to sit on the couch next to Lian.

“What do you think?” He asks. She taps her chin in a thought.

“Ice cream,” she says, nodding solemnly. He cracks a grin at her.

“I agree it’s time for some ice cream.” He pulls her off the couch.

“You can’t give her ice cream.”

“Ice cream! It's ten in the morning!”

“Oh, now you agree on something” he sighs at the both of you. He glances at the clock. Time to go. He crouches down to talk to Lian, patting her staticky hair. You nearly swoon at the site and Roy rolls his eyes next to you.

“It’s up to Auntie when you can have ice cream. Me and Dad have to go away for a little bit.” She pouts but nods in understanding. He stands and the goodbyes begin. Roy picks up Lian and cuddles her for a minute, cooing promises of gifts and affection. Jason comes to stand by you, and you easily slide under his arms hugging him tightly. This wasn’t the first mission he had gone on while you were together and certainly not the longest either but that didn’t make you miss him less. He presses his cheek to your head whispering his own promises to you. You tip your head back to look at him, chin to his chest.

“You know I love you,” you say quietly.

“Sap,” he murmurs, “I love you.” He presses a kiss to your nose, and you smile pulling away only so you can give him a proper kiss. You give him another squeezing hug and press a variety of kisses across his face until he grins at you, and you hear Roy fake gagged in the background followed by girlish giggles. You pull away from Jason and nudge him on his way. You and Lian settle on the couch as they collect the last of what they need. Roy stands impatiently at the door as Jason triple-checks everything. Clothes, weapons, security system engaged (you could have taken care of that), windows locked (you also could have taken care of that), etc. He reminds you to lock the door once they leave and you nod trying to placate him as you shoo them with your hand. Jason comes back one more time and presses a kiss to your forehead before he and Roy finally slip out the door. Your body sags against the couch and Lian haphazardly mimics you, somehow upside down.

“Well, Little lady, just us girls. What do you want to do?”

“Tea Party”

“Now that’s something I can get behind” if only to cover the ache you feel now that Jason is gone.

The two weeks were spent full of all the girlish wants and desires. Barbie, tea parties, shopping, and Christmas decorating. Lian had found a Nerf gun that she begged and pleaded to get for her dad. You told her she would have to wrap it so he could open it when he got back. She had happily nodded despite not knowing what wrapped meant. You had found Jason a set of hardback classics books with gold lined covers and Roy a red hat that said, “I’m a mechanic but I can’t fix stupid”. When you explained to Lian that it was for her dad, she said she wanted to get one for Uncle Jay. She perused the hats for a while, considering she couldn’t read. She would hand you ones and you’d read some of them to her (others being not so appropriate for a child). She handed you a black hat that said, “Shit Show supervisor”. You quickly approved of it without reading it to her which didn’t seem to bother her.

You’d spent the next three hours after shopping trying to teach her how to wrap presents. She had given up once she was done with her two and fell asleep on the floor. You slide the presents under the tree that was still decked out even though Christmas day had already passed. You figured you would wait for the boys to come back to help put it away. They had both texted you with a variety of updates when they first left. Guilt-ridden apologies from Roy and love notes from Jason that made your heart squeeze. They both said that they would be back on New Year’s Eve, likely later in the evening. Then they had gone into radio silence, and you hadn’t heard from them since.

 It was the night before New Year’s Eve, and you were contemplating cleaning up the apartment when your eyes landed on Lian asleep on the floor curled around a teddy bear you got her. You decide against cleaning, carefully picking her up, and taking her to the guest bedroom she’d been staying in. She wakes despite your best efforts and requests a story. You settle on the bed next to her and read one of Jason’s books you’ve been reading to her and she slowly but surely drifts off to dreamland. You’re careful as you slide out of the bed and tuck her in. You watch her breath for a moment and think about how you hope one day you and Jason will be ready for kids because you love this girl and she’s not even yours. You sneak out of the room and quietly close the door. You come back into the living room to find more Christmas lights than you remember putting up. Roy balances haphazardly on a chair as he tries to hook it somewhere, Jason on the ground instructing him where to hang it.

“You're back early?” You ask your body frozen where it’s at. Jason turns to look at you. He has a healing black eye, but he grins at you as he quickly strides over to you and picks you up like a rag doll. Your body finally reacts, and you wrap your arms around his neck.

“Merry Christmas, Sweetheart.” He sets you down on the ground but doesn’t let go of you burying his face in your neck. You close your eyes and enjoy the bliss of him holding you. He still smells like sweat and gun smoke, but you ignore it for the knowledge that he’s back.

Your moment is interrupted by Roy’s voice, “I’m back too if anyone cares.”

You snort as you press your nose to Jason’s shoulder as they shake with laughter.

“And we're happy for it, Roy.” You finally pull away from Jason, but his hand stays at your waist, “Sorry, I just got Lian to sleep, otherwise we could open presents.” Roy’s eyes widen like a little kid.

“There’s presents?” you laugh again.

“Yeah, Lian and I went shopping. But we’ll do it tomorrow.” You feel Jason’s hand curl around your waist a little tighter. “I’m sure you both need sleep.” They both nod in agreement.

You tug Jason towards your bedroom.

“Guess I’ll take the couch and no canoodling while I’m under the same roof as you.” You roll your eyes.

“Your toddler is sleeping in a king-sized bed, I’m pretty sure you could sleep in there with her, and she wouldn’t even feel the bed move.” Roy concedes and quickly makes it to the door. You know he’s trying to play cool dad, but he loves his daughter a lot and you’re surprised he made it this long before going to see her. You drag Jason into your bedroom and close the door. You don’t move far from him as you ask, “Good mission?”

“What do you think?” He points to his bruise, but his seemingly sarcastic words carry no heat.

“Oh, my poor baby.” You say with a pout. You stand on your tiptoes and press a tender kiss to the edge of the bruise. You watch his eyes slide closed at the feel of your lips. With him not watching you, you drop down on your feet and begin to unlatch the parts of his uniform that you know. You feel one of his hands settle on your hip but when you look up you find his eyes still closed.

“What are doing, Sweetheart?” his voice full of humorous suspicion.

“Helping the handsome hero that’s found his way into my bedroom.” You say quietly as you focus on a strap for his chest plate. He slides an eye open to watch you before he wraps a gentle hand around your wrist, stopping your movements.

“He doesn’t need help”

“I don’t care” you chide

“He does want something though,” he says. You raise a brow.

“Roy said no canoodling while he’s in the apartment.” Jason snorts at your comment tenderly rubbing at the pulse point on your wrist with his thumb.

“It’s our apartment, I say we do what we want.”

“I am not having sex with a toddler one wall over.” You feel your cheeks redden at his vague instance. He grins at you and nods.

“I agree with that. I don’t want sex, just want you.” He pulls your arm up and presses a kiss where he had been rubbing. You wonder for a moment if he feels your heart jump at the contact. He uses the hold he has on your hand to spin you around pushing you forward with a light hand on your back.

“Change into your pajamas and I’ll meet you in bed.”

You glance at him over your shoulder and say, “You just want to watch me change, perv”

He laughs under his breath at your comment while he undoes the left-over straps and whatnot on his suit.

“Guilty as charged.” You smile at his response and begin to change into some comfortable pajamas. Despite both your comments, you’re the one watching him. He moves stiffly and you keep an eye out for any more injuries he may feel the need to hide. You dress quicker than him, settling against the headboard, waiting. As he shucks off his pants you take a moment to appreciate the view. Your boyfriend was built but not unhealthily so. Layers of fat over muscle, the skin overlaid with scars. You note some halfway-healed bruises and a band-aid here and there. For a two-week mission, he looked great. He stretches up and you hear his back pop followed by a groan.

“You sound like an old man” you tease. He looks up to see you already staring at him.

“Oh, look who’s the perv now,” he says you squint pretending to stare harder.

“I’m just enjoying the view.” It's Jason's turn to redden. In the near year you had dated Jason Todd, you had learned how insecure he was and how good he was at hiding those insecurities. He’d never admit it, but you saw the way he would look in the mirror sometimes and you couldn’t stand it. So, when the opportunity presents itself, you tend to be honest about how you see him. Like now. He stands in front of you in just his boxers but there’s nothing salacious in your stare.

“Whatever,” he says

“It's a good view”

“Okay”

“a great view”

“I get it” He stands at the foot of the bed and suddenly tugs at your ankles. You yelp and then cover your mouth, remembering you have guests. He grins at you, no longer with your back against the headboard. You glare at him in return.

“You should stop talking sometimes.” He says, squeezing at your ankles still in his hold. You wiggle your feet.

“What happened to my sweet boyfriend? This one’s full of rude comments.” You say with no heat.

“He’s right here, baby.” He climbs over top of you and hovers. You preen at the use of a different pet name than normal. He stares and you smile at him, sliding your arms around his neck. He kisses the corner of your mouth and then against your lips full-on. You press up into the kiss with a tug of his hair. You momentarily get lost in him. He pulls away and you try to follow. One of his hands comes to cover your forehead pushing you back down.

“We have guests remember.” He says a smirk on his lips. Tease, you think

“Fine,” you say with a roll of your eyes. He abruptly collapses on top of you, and you groan with a momentary loss of air. You know it’s not his whole weight but it’s still more than you were prepared for. He giggles against your collarbone as he settles his head on your chest. You dramatically wheeze for a moment as you say, “I need air, you loser.”

“If that’s the case.” You feel him shift up off you.

“No!” your arms around his neck tighten and you tug him back against your chest. You hear a mumbled repeat of your own words.

“I need air, loser.” You loosen your hold, and he tilts his head up. His chin lightly digs into the bone.

“It’s okay sweetheart, I’d happily suffocate here.”

“Oh my god. I think it’s time for sleep. Your comments are bordering delirious.” You say as you begin to gently pet his hair. You feel him nod and turn his head, cheek pressing against your chest.

“Merry Christmas” You hear him mumble.

“Merry Christmas, Jay.” You murmur back. He’s out cold soon after and you quickly follow.

You would like to say you were awoken by a small child bouncing on the foot of your bed and you definitely were. It just so happened that her father was also bouncing on the foot of your bed with her. The tightening of Jason’s grip around you is actually what woke you up. With him being your all-natural weighted blanket there usually wasn’t much that could wake you. You feel him squeeze at your waist as he buries his face into the junction of your neck and shoulder. You feel the heat of his breath there as he groans. You're barely conscious of anything but him.

Until you hear a screech. Having been the sole caregiver for Lian in the last two weeks made your sense key onto her quickly and your eyes fly open as you try (and fail with the man atop you) to sit up. Your heart races in worry. You find Roy standing on your bed towering over you and Jason holding Lian upside down tickling her sides. You let out a sigh of relief as you drop your head back against the bed. You hear Jason grumble against your skin, but you can’t understand him. You feel a little foot trip over your leg before you feel some extra weight on top of you. Lian clammers over Jason's back to be face-to-face with you.

“Presents, Presents, Presents!” She practically vibrates with excitement. She doesn’t wait for you or Jason to respond before she climbs off and slides down the bed racing to the living room. The dip in the bed disappears and Roy’s face appears in your view closer than he was before now standing on solid ground. He smacks Jason on the back, and it makes a solid pop sound. Jason groans again.

“Nice,” Roy says, clearly happy with himself, “Presents await get up.” With that, he leaves you two. Neither you nor Jason move for a moment. You quietly brush your fingers through his hair.

“You know he’ll come back in here if we don’t go out there.” You murmur.

“Yea, yea” Jason grumbles as he slowly drags himself off of you. You shiver at the loss of your heated weighted blanket. Jason slides off the bed and stretches, his back pops just like the night before.

“I think you need a massage therapist or something, that’s not normal.” You cross your arms in front of you as you sit up to ward off the chill.

“When has anything about me been normal?” he asks as he pulls one of his hoodies off a hook. You watch him as he comes to stand in front of you.

“Right. How could I ever think of such a thing?” you say as he tugs your arms from your body to gently feed them through the arms of the hoodie before he slips it over your head. You feel warm instantly. Both from the hoodie and from the way he gently brushes your hair down and away from your face. He cups your face for a moment and stares.

“See something you like, Loverboy?” you ask. He rolls his eyes and tugs you off the bed.

“Don’t I always.” He kisses your cheek and proceeds to pull you into the living room. The smell of bacon and slightly burnt pancakes wafts through the room. Despite the smells, you find Lian at the coffee table in the living room eating a bowl of cereal. You collapse on the couch beside her, and she tries to speak through a mouthful of fruit loops.

“Er wake! E pen sents!”

“Chew first, talk second” you remind her. She quickly chews and swallows.

“You’re awake! Now we can open presents, right?” she puts another spoonful of cereal in her mouth as you answer.

“Let’s wait for the boys.” You respond just as a plate of food shows up in your line of sight. You follow the arm holding it to see Jason with his plate. You take it and Jason sits down next to you with no preamble as he digs into his food. You follow his example, eating to the sounds of whatever kids' show Lian had been watching. Roy joins a few moments later as Lian quickly eats up the last of her cereal.

“Presents!” she climbs over Roy’s legs that were propped up on the coffee table to which he dramatically complains. She pays him no mind as she finally makes it to the tree and drags out the presents you two had bought, pushing other presents to the side that you hadn’t noticed before. You set your plate on the coffee table, knowing you won’t be able to eat until everything was unwrapped.

The hats were the first to be opened. Roy agreed with the choice stating, “I am the best mechanic around but even have limits” he made a point to stare down Jason as he said limit. Jason laughed loudly at his and thanked Lian for the “best hat ever” winking at you. Before they opened their other gifts Roy instructed Lian to get the others from the tree. She hands you a small rectangular box signed “from Red Hood” You laugh quietly as you lean against Jason's side. Lian opened her gift from Roy to find a bucket of bouncy balls. You were confused but Lian seemed excited about it. Jason watched as you opened your gift. The “from Red Hood” made sense. It was a delicate necklace with a ruby heart lined by tiny diamonds.

“It’s gorgeous” you murmur as you rub a thumb over the heart.

“Flip it over” You glance at Jason at his words and flip it over. Engraved on the metal back in delicate writing So someone has my heart, Jay. Your eyes tear for a moment, and you quickly turn, kissing Jason. Speaking against his lips you say, “I love it”

Ever one to ruin your moments, Roy speaks up.

“What did I say about canoodling while we were under the same roof?”

“It’s a kiss, Roy” you shoot back.

“What’s noodling?” Lian asks as she tries to pry the lid off of her bouncy ball container.

“Next presents!” Roy says as he pulls the rough wrapping job of his present. A delightfully evil laugh escapes him once he sees the Nerf gun.

“No opening toys til you get home.” You say as you spot Roy’s mischievous grin directed at you. “How did we end up with two kids?” you ask Jason as you lean against him. He snorts as he pulls off his wrapping paper. He rubs his thumb against the spine of the books.

“It's not as personal as yours but I hope you still like it.” You gnaw at your lip.

He nods, “How could I not like it? It’s from you.” He grabs your hand squeezing it. The last gifts were handed out. Jason got Lian a kinetic sand kit and Roy grumbled about the mess.

“That’s why toys can’t be opened til you get to your home,” Jason said smugly. You opened the weight box that Roy gave you cautiously. You could never be too sure with him. Nothing popped out so you’ll take it as a win. Kind of. A Rock, He got you a rock. It was slightly round and still had dirt and dust stuck to it. You glance between it and Roy.

“It’s a Pet Rock,” he says proudly. You scoff and roll your eyes.

“Hilarious, Harper”

“If you don’t want him, I can take him back”

“No, that won’t be necessary.” You cradle the rock against your chest.

“You have to kill him to gain a real prize”

You glare at him as you say, “I’m not going to kill him, not my style.”

“It’s just a rock”

“You gave him to me!” You look at Jason for support in this weird argument. He has a hand covering his mouth to keep him from laughing.

“You two are unbelievable” The rest of the morning is spent eating the last of breakfast and putting away the Christmas tree. You decide to leave the fairy lights hanging in the living room to add a “neutral ambiance”. They both looked at you like you were crazy but complied when Lian agreed with you about the “natural beans”. Lunch was had. Roy admitted it was time to head home and check in with everyone else. He collected their bags and gave some quick goodbyes and gratitude’s. Lian’s goodbyes were more tearful, but she got distracted once she realized she would get to play with both the bouncy balls and the kinetic sand once they got home. You and Jason spent the rest of the afternoon as lazy as you could be, mostly cuddling because he would still have to go on patrol that evening despite the holiday (because of the holiday). You had texted Barbara to try and talk her into letting Jason off the hook, but it was an all-hands-on-deck night, and you couldn’t argue with that. You two made dinner together and ate before he left for the cave. As he was getting ready to leave, he pulled you close.

“I’ll be seeing you at midnight, sweetheart,” he says swaying you both side to side.

“Midnight? I’m not even on your route right now.” You question

“I will be seeing you at midnight” he repeats with no room for argument.

“Okay,” you reply in a placating manner.

True to his word, you meet Red Hood on your balcony a minute before midnight. He’s lounging against the railing when you come out with two glasses of sparkling cider (“Why not champagne?” he had questioned to which you responded with “You’re working” and he’d agreed). He pulled you into a lazy hug, one hand on your back and the other holding his glass.

“To another year?” he asked, raising his glass.

“And many more” you respond with a grin clinking your glass with his. You take a sip out of your respective glasses.

“That a promise or threat?”

“yes”

“I’ll hold you to both of them.” He says slightly salacious, but you don’t have a moment to respond as he presses his lips to yours as fireworks go off all across Gotham.

Maybe you missed your first Christmas together, but he made it up to you and New Year’s was definitely worth it.

Additional Note: I actually started to get really annoyed with this towards the end and I hope it does not show. Anyway, Merry late Christmas (to those that celebrate) and Happy New Year!! See y’all in 2025!

[anaconamor]

a taste of something sweet - ruben dias x reader.

quick sum: fiance! ruben coming home after the cwc final, and not being able to spend a single second away from reader. seeing her with family has him confessing more than he originally proposed for. insta au included at end! tiny smut, so minors dni! 🤍🎄

wc: 1.7k | masterlist | ruben’s masterlist

psa🗣️: hi angels!🤍 miss you all! it’s been a MINUTE since i posted for ruben, but here’s something for us ruben girlies for christmas time! hope you enjoy! 🤍🎄

“ruben!” you squealed, waiting for him to fully come in before throwing your arms over his shoulders. ruben let out a deep chuckle, and picked you up behind your thighs, sighing in content at being with you again. you had the biggest fear he wouldn't be back before christmas eve, and that your plan to have both families over would be ruined. expect that wasn't it, and here stood your world champion. 

“i missed you so much princesa,” ruben set you down and kissed you deeply, grunting in delight at tasting your cherry lips again. “me too you have no idea, but you're back and that is all that matters to me,” your foreheads leaned into each other, as you ran your hand through his hair. 

“i passed by to get the last minute stuff so we could pack into the coolers, and i got you these as well,” ruben walked to where his luggage stood, locking the door first and then pulled out a bouquet of white and red roses, smirking at your awe reaction. “they’re are gorgeous ruben,” your finger traced the petal, bring the bouquet to your nose and smelling the flowers. “thank you belo.” 

ruben blushed at acknowledgment, wrinkled crinkling in his eyes. he kissed your forehead before dragging you into the kitchen. “i know i called you earlier, but i want you to know how proud i am of you handsome. a treble winner, supercup, and now a world champion? you have no idea the immense feeling i have for you, and to see you smiling after these past weeks? my heart is just full of joy.”

ruben had been quiet these past week, from training, to recovery, to the games and unexpected results, it was taking a toll on him. he didn’t show much emotion, let alone tell anyone how he truly felt, but you could read him from the back of your hand. if he needed you there he was, you vowed to that after he proposed after the unforgettable night in istanbul. 

if he needed space you would respect that, waiting as much as much time he need to process and then come find you fully. if he wanted to talk and express how he felt, he would pull you into his chest, whispering and not fully saying too much out loud, just enough for him to get into a stable mindset. if there was anything ruben looked forward too or longed for, it would always be you.

“my heart is complete with you, always princesa, eu te amo,” ruben said with a deep and groggy voice, enlightening a spark inside you hearing the three words you would never get tired of hearing. it didn't feel real, to have a man like him make you feel this way, to be head over heals, to finally find that stability and security with a man who never has taken you for granted and appreciated you through the good and bad. 

ruben and you spent the whole night finishing last-minute gift wrapping, and he went on to teach you his favorite portuguese cookies, opting to also make some for his family and yours. you hadn't seen your parents or sibling in weeks, and this time was perfect, being all together in a cabin, and spending your favorite holiday all together. 

ruben couldn't go to sleep for some reason, continuing to talk about the season they were having, and also about the final they had just won. he also made some wedding talk, surprising you since he usually wasn't one to give an opinion unless it was about a venue, food, or invites. part of him was also nervous to see your families all together, unsure how it would play out. 

he eventually fell asleep, feeling slightly guilty since he knew you were tired, and stayed up specifically to wait for him to come home. he kissed your nose and whispered a small goodnight, eventually falling asleep on top of you, finally getting the earned sleep since he could only do that when you lay with him. 

ruben ensure your luggage and coolers were safely secured in the car, making the trip up north to meet your families together. the two of you were the first to arrive, having time to go buy some groceries, and unpack. although that became hard as ruben couldn't keep his hands off of you, whispering dirty words into your ear that finally made you cave in. 

he longed for this. craved for this. he took his time with you, relishing every single second before your families came. groaning at the sounds you made, his name falling from your swollen kissen lips, the scratches you were leaving all over as the pleasure became to much. he was utterly obsessed with you, hitting every spot till you crumbled beneath him, ruben not far behind. 

maybe it was your hormones, but you shed a tear or two when seeing you parents all over again, especially your brother who brought his wife and newborn baby up to the cabin. it was not different with ruben’s family, giving them a hug and kiss on a cheek, asking how their drive up went. catching up with his mom, and cousins.while making dinner for a whole. 

it was a great idea you had gone shopping prior or else you'd be stuck, as the snow immediately came down after 4 pm. that night was spent with pure laughters, sharing old memories, drinks being poured every other few 30 minutes, and proposing goals for the new year to come. 

the day of christmas eve, everyone was up to go skiing, the tour guide showed the spots you could go and safely succeed skiing. you were more than grateful it was a private part of the cabin, no cameras or fans coming up to you, you knew it came with a footballer boyfriend, now fiance, but you would never quite get used to it. 

ruben was attached you, some could say maybe had separation anxiety as he always looked around to ensure you were okay, like a lost puppy. he would plaster a huge grin when he met your eyes, sending you a glance to check in if you were okay, you would nod and send him a wink. 

after coming back from skiing, everyone either took a nap or began to get ready for the evening. the tree was filled with gifts, the kitchen smelt like homemade ingredients and scents, and every corner you turned was decorated with lights. you turned on a few candles and set the table, ensuring everyone had a glass and utensils. 

ruben and you snuck in a shower together, avoiding his hands as he clearly desired more, but it felt too risky. you wouldn't have been able to look at anyone the same if you did had done something, or even heard you in the smallest way possible. 

“gatinha, you look so beautiful,” ruben whispered, as he came up behind you, wrapping his muscular arms around your waist and placing a small kiss on your neck. his nosed traced all the way way to your shoulder, not being able to get enough of how you looked and smelled, it was driving him crazy. you wore an emerald-colored silk dress, with small white kitten heels, and your hair down. 

“I know we have been together all day, but it feels like i havent been able to see let alone hold you,” ruben sighed, sounding slightly upset about it. you swiftly turned around and kissed his lips, feeling as he suddenly pulled you closer, releasing a small giggle from you. “i know me too, but i promise, once everyone is asleep we can make good use of the fireplace okay?”

ruben reluctantly agreed, walking out hand to hand out to see everyone either playing a game of poker, cooking, or watching tv. you insisted on helping in the kitchen, even if it meant washing dishes or almost slightly burning yourself. your mom and his mother conversation flew, as they talked about their teenage/ adult years, and apparently a romance show the two couldn't stop gushing about. 

later on, so your sister-in-law could get a break, you offered to help her watch the baby. to ruben’s surprise, he found himself glancing from time to time, a part of him wanting that with you one day. the way you cradled the baby, swayed side to side, kissed their cheek, and adjusted their beanie and blanket to make sure they weren't cold. right then and there ruben knew you were forever for him. 

“come here, i know your still cold,” ruben said, bringing you to his lap, the weighted blanket covering both your bodies as you watched the fire grow slowly. it was late, too late, but the two of you couldn't sleep. ruben rubbed your back, constantly placing kisses on your head and the bridge of your nose. 

you held onto the mug filled with hot chocolate, ruben dipping the cookies he made into the drink and eating them from time to time as you discussed your futures. he loved the sound of your voice, just like you did as well, it was a common thing shared among you. “i hope you know one day you'll be the mother of my kids one day y/n…” he randomly rambled.

“What?”

“you’re gonna be such a great mom one day, and i can’t wait for us to finally have mini us in the house. you mean so much to me i never want to be apart from you, i want to share everything with you,” ruben confessed, watching as your eyes went crazy to search for a tint of lies or regret. but with ruben? everything was always honest and serious, which you loved, as you valued communication. 

“thank you for staying through my best and worst. for keeping my head up high and never letting me down. for me to able to come home to the woman of my dream waiting for me. to have an inspirational and loving person along my side anywhere i go,” ruben continued.

“we made that promise no? when you proposed to me? nothing will ever separate us, and i hope you know that you won't get rid of me that easily. you’re it for me ruben, have been since the first day i met you. and i can’t wait for what's to come for us,” you said smiling, kissing the red tip of his nose and then lips, where he immediately closed his eyes and snuck in. “i love you querida.” just like the fire grew in the fire place, the fire inside your chest did as well. “merry christmas, ruben.”

“merry christmas, y/n.”

———————————

rubendias posted on their feed!

rubendias

liked by: johnstones, bernandosilva, cancelo, yourusername, joaofelix, nathanake, pepteam, and 534,274 others.

rubendias: lovely way to spend christmas after being a world champion! merry christmas cityzens! 🩵🤍

tagged: @yourusername

comments:

username6000: handsy aren’t we now ruben…

johnstones: sure that picture wasn’t meant to be left in your photos?

↪️ rubendias: nope ☺️

bernandosilva: love you two! merry christmas 🩵

↪️ yourusername: thank you benny 🤍 tell isa we send our hello’s 🤍

user19: HE IS SO BEAUTIFUL WTF?

username3928: y/n why are you allowing him to post these selfies? 🙄🙄

↪️ yourusername: i haven’t. he knows he can’t post stuff like this knowing i’ll go 😵‍💫😵‍💫

joaofelix: tu mano ruben 😂🤣

username1087: y/n my gf 😣

↪️ rubendias: she’s actually my fiance ☺️

mateokovacic: 🩵

[dysfunctional-doodle]

Hello. I hope I'm not bothering you, but I was wondering what's your personal headcanons on the Bayverse Turtles? I may have spelled headcanons wrong, so correct me if I am wrong.

(Dude I always spell headcanons wrong I got you)

Oooh hc time! Random stuff really, but:

Mikey has ADHD and Autism. I mention it very briefly in my tmnt chat fic, but I read a fanfic with this idea and it just fits so much for me. Especially the ADHD, which I think the creator of the movie confirmed somewhere anyway?

Donnie has chronic pain in his upper back/spine area, specifically where the shoulders are. To me, he just seems to have a more awkward, uneven build compared to his brothers - he is thinner and taller, yet his shell is still huge. So i kind of had this hc floating around. Idk if other people like it but eh. Cant be a nerd without a bad back I guess

Mikey and Donnie are definitely the younger brothers. Mikey being almost a full year after Donnie, and Donnie being about half a year after Raph and Leo (who are the same age)

Raph knits. Basically confirmed anyway. Specifically he learnt to knit after they were struck by a particularly harsh winter and needed blankets - Raph, being the only one that wasn’t too weak/in hibernation mode at the time, learnt how to knit to try and protect his family when he couldn’t fight the enemy with punches and kicks. He still knits blankets for them every year when the winter grows cold. They keep every one, so they have the comfiest beds

They share a room. 4 giant turtles crammed into one room with rickety bunk beds and hammocks is very funny to imagine

Leo loves romance movies. In particular the TV movie ones.

Leo had a similar attitude to Raph when he was a child until Splinter went missing for a few days whilst scavenging for food (he was fine in the end…mostly. A hasty escape from a warehouse caused him to injure his leg and be forced to hide until he could gain enough strength to return to his sons). When seeing his brothers grow hungry and scared over the few days he took charge, becoming much more of the Eldest Brother figure.

Mikey idolises Leo. He wants to be just like him one day. He thinks he’s the coolest. (It makes Leo’s comment about his head “always being in the clouds” hurt so much more)

Mikey gets a Klunk eventually, saved from being drowned. Her siblings were not as lucky (yes, I am very much writing a fic for this)

Donnie’s favourite pass time is computer science/programming/IT based activities, like how 2012 Donnie seems to enjoy chemistry the most and 2003 Donnie leans heavily towards engineering.

Leo loves house plants

Raph hates house plants

Donnie is blind as hell without his glasses and spent a lot of his younger years unable to see much. Once he could finally see he suddenly was given a world with endless possibilities and potential

Leo is terrible at technology. I’m talking 80 year old woman bad. He always clicks on scam ads and blows up computers. Something just doesn’t click with him and technology

They all have heavy turtle instincts due to them, like 2003, being just turtles rather than a mix of human dna. This causes them to have instincts and qualities turtles have such as retreating into their shells, brumating (at least partially), chirping, etc.

Donnie has a major sweet tooth

Raph can’t stand most sweet things

As kids, they would spend most their time looking at the human world and pretending they were with them.

Donnie is autistic, and has a lot of stims when he is happy that involve chittering and chirps.

Leo cheats at every video game/board game they play due to the eldest sibling advantage

Mikey loves to draw his own comics

Their Christmas hip hop album is fire

Raph is actually the cook, and is quite good at it. Mikey always burns things or they are undercooked because he’s too impatient, Donnie experiments and Leo blows everything up

That’s all for now!

[minimomoe]

Love Bites

Baker Fem Reader x Toji Fushiguro (mafia au)

word ct: 15.1k, 11 Chapters

tags: Fluff, grumpy x sunshine, found family, a little angsty but nothing too bad, marriage proposal, established relationship, (last chapter only: kitchen sex, creampie, oral- fem receiving, other sexxy funtime stuff)

Chapter Six: Warm Water

“I spent Thanksgiving with somebody who wasn’t Rina this time around. I’m sure you guessed it, so yes, it was with Toji and his family,” you smile. “They have such different personalities but I can tell they really care for each other. I almost started crying in the middle of it.” 

You recount the last couple of weeks to Ezra while wiping him down with a warm towel. You know that the nurses do the same but you want to do something for him as well. You gently lay him back into the bed and dip the towel into the bowl of water beside you. “I guess you can say that we’re dating now. Well not that I guess, Toji said that. Actually, he asked to be together and I agreed. He wouldn’t force anything on me,” you explain to him. “Maybe it’s because I haven’t been in a relationship in so long but everything is so exciting. He still visits the shop when he can, but now I spend the weekends with him and his son.”

Your eyes widen as you realize what you admitted to your brother. “Before you get upset, Megumi’s a real sweet kid. And there’s no ex wife or girlfriend that I’m dealing with. I think the mom may have passed away, but I will wait for them to tell me when they’re ready. I think you’d like Megumi. He loves animals. I told him that you were a vet and he had so many questions that only you could answer,” you smile apologetically. “He has a little journal of different animals and their traits, then he gives those animals to different people in his life. Toji is a wolf. Yuji is a tiger. That’s Megumi’s best friend who he loves very much, even if he won’t admit it. Nobara is a fox. That’s his other best friend. Gojo’s a peacock, Nanami is a great white shark, Sukuna’s a bear, and Choso’s a jellyfish. You’ll know who I’m talking about when you wake up.” 

You push a thick curl out of Ezra’s face. “I should give you a haircut,” you mutter. You clutch your hand in a fist next to his head. “It’s not that I���ve never felt this way about anyone before. You know that I’m a hopeless romantic. I fell in love too many times to count,” you chuckle to yourself. You pull your hand back into your lap and sigh. “But with him I feel… I feel safe. I realize that before I was always waiting for the ball to drop, for another horrific incident to blindside me, but I haven’t felt that impending doom hanging over my head in a while.” You release a shuddering breath and blink up at the fluorescent lights to avoid crying. 

“I’m starting to clean up their house. I found mom’s cookbooks, if you can even call them that. You know she had that doctor handwriting that’s impossible to read. I also know that she never really measured anything, so all those recipes are her estimating,” you laugh softly. “I’m thinking about making those cardamon lumps she used to make for us during the holidays for Toji. I also have no idea what to get him for Christmas. Oh, speaking of getting things, I got you another book!” You dig in your bag to retrieve the new book. 

You give a small smile. “It’s called Before the Coffee Gets Cold. It’s a book about time traveling, surprisingly. I won’t spoil it too much, but I would love to travel back to talk to mom and dad again, even if it won’t change anything. They even have an old cafe that they always went to that could work like the book.”

 Before you could say another word a monitor above Ezra’s head started to beep rapidly. You look at it with concern, unsure of what the machine was reading. Within seconds the other monitors screech as well. You watch in horror while red flashes on all of the screens. Ezra’s expression hasn’t changed, but you rush out of the room, screaming for a nurse or anybody to come help. A few orderlies hear your distress, alerting nearby nurses that run to your location. They all swarm to Ezra’s side, checking his vitals and yelling codes at each other. You watch helplessly behind them. Another orderly tries to pull you away from the scene but you stood stock still.

“Ma’am, you need to leave the room now.”

“Will he be okay? What’s going on?”

“He’s getting the best treatment possible, but please, you can’t stay here.”

“What’s wrong with him? What are they saying?”

“Ma’am please,” the orderly gives you a pained look.

Tears swim in your eyes when you look back onto the bed. A swirl of green, blue and white mix together when the tears get heavy enough. You allow yourself to be pulled away from the room as ordered, leaving the nurses and now doctor to treat your brother. You are led to the waiting room by yourself. The orderly offers to get water but you wave her away. You pace back and forth in the small space, your mind running wild with all the worst possibilities. In haste you trip over your own feet, stumbling into a chair at the last second to avoid hurting yourself, but everything hurts. Your heart clenches, your stomach is churning, your breaths are shallow. With shaky hands you grab your phone, pressing the first contact on your call log. With two rings the line picks up, and you're greeted with Toji’s deep voice. 

“Hey baby, how are you?”

You can’t speak. The grief is too much, an invisible hand that constricts your throat so that only a choked sob falls from your lips. You want to explain what’s happening but fail again. Toji starts to panic on the other line, trying to get information out from you but the only thing he can hear is you weeping. 

“Send me your location. Can you hear me? Just let me know where you are, I’ll come to you.”

“I’m at the hospital,” you whisper. “I don’t want to be alone.”

“Is it your brother? You won’t be alone.”

Toji’s answer was another wave of tears from you. He hates to hear you cry so hard, and he hates that he’s so far away from you. He looks at Nanami, who already saw his demeanor change and waves him away. 

“I got it from here,” the blond man says. Toji gives him an appreciative nod, leaving him with the bloody men they cornered. Nanami already paid him no mind, getting down to business without him. 

Toji looks down at the mess on the floor and realizes he has blood on his shoes. He couldn’t scare you any more with that. He doesn’t want to scare you at all. Your last words echo in his head before he hung up, about how you didn’t want to be alone. He leaves Nanami without saying another word. 

Back at the hospital you wait in the empty waiting room. Despite you declining it the first time, a styrofoam cup of water sits beside you brought by the orderly. You flick it every so often, watching the ripples bounce, cross, and settle on the sides. You’ve calmed down from your call to Toji. Now there’s a cold, mucky feeling sitting heavy on your chest. You empty the contents within the cup in one gulp, trying to wash it down, but the room temperature water felt like slime going down your throat. 

Chapters: I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI.

M.list || Ao3 || Twitter || Ko-fi

[little-miss-dilf-lover]

If you want, can you please write something like tangerine and reader getting ready for bed together and then going to sleep? I always love to read tangerine fics before sleep so this would be perfect. If not it’s totally fine and thank you anyway!! Also I love your writing sm, definitely someone who’s posts Im always excited to see. 💌

I adore stuff like this!! AAA stop you’re making me blush🥹 thank you so so much! thank you for requesting, hope you like it💌

get ready for bed (tangerine x f!reader)

wc || 0.8k

warnings || none, just fluff & cursing

a/n || idk if it’s a british thing or a family thing, but ‘shouting’ is sometimes used as endearment, so any ‘yelling’ and swearing in this is purely out of love😭

masterlist + rules

taglist

“Oh my god! Come here.” You excitedly call out to your boyfriend.

“One bloody minute, I’m having a piss.” Tangerine replies from the ensuite bathroom. “Yeah?” He runs through to you standing by the bedroom window.

“Did you wash your hands?” Looking him up and down.

“Yeah.” He smiles.

“No, you didn’t. Go wash them.” You instruct, pushing him back into the bathroom.

“Alright, mum.” He groans while reluctantly washing them.

He returns showing you his now clean hands. “Better?”

“Yes, now come here.” You say, pulling his arm so he could be closer. “Look at that.” You point to the sky.

“What am I looking at?” His eyes darting around.

Holding the sides of his head, angling his face so he could see what you see. “The moon, look at it. Ain’t it nuts?” You smile.

“That’s the moon?” His eyes widen. “Fucking hell.”

“I know! And look, there’s Jupiter and there’s Saturn.” You point out on the glass.

“Fuck off! Really?” He says in almost disbelief.

“I know!”

“How do you know that?” He asks, looking to face you.

“Magic.” You smirk. “Bath or shower?” You ask.

“Shower?”

“I want a bath.”

He groans at your request.

“Oh come on, you love them. You know you love the bubbles and candles.” You say almost like you’re trying to bride a child.

The sides of his moustache twitch up as he faintly smiles. “Fine.”

“Be a dear and run it for me, I’ll get some wine and grapes.” Kissing his cheek, rushing downstairs to the kitchen. Collecting two glasses and a chilled bottle from the fridge. Washing a couple bunches of grapes in a bowl before running back up the stairs.

When you enter the bathroom you see Tan’s sweet attempts at decorating. Smiling at his thoughtful actions, looking around the room. Eyes widening at the mirror. He had written ‘I love you’ in lipstick. “Uh- that was a Chanel lipstick.” You chuckle.

“I’ll buy you another one.”

“You’re very sweet.” You say, looking at the candles surrounding the rose petal bubble bath.

“Mi lady.” He jests, extending a hand to help you into the bath.

“Why thank you.” Placing your hand in his.

Shrugging off your dressing gowns, both stepping into the bath. “Fucking hell that’s hot.” He groans. Look at that, a broody contract killer fazed by some hot water.

“You baby.” You tease.

//

You had spent the forty or so minutes chatting and relaxing, helping each other wash before deciding to get out.

Tan got out first, wrapping a towel around his lower half before helping you out of the bath. Drying you off and leading you into the bedroom. Standing in your towels as you search through the dressers.

“Can we wear these?” You ask, holding matching frog pyjama bottoms.

“What about these?” He questions, pointing to another pair of matching pyjama bottoms. They were the ones you got him for Christmas, they were grey with tangerine illustrations printed all over them.

“Yes!” You gush. “Can I borrow this? Thanks.” Picking up one of his t-shirts, not giving him chance to answer. Helping each other dress.

You do your skincare while Tan dries his hair sitting at the edge bed. Once you’re finished, you sit in front of him on the floor, silently asking him to dry yours too. He doesn’t hesitate, gently combing through your hair before drying it.

When he finishes you thank him with a kiss.

Pumping some moisturiser onto your hands, you gently swipe some onto his face, patting around his eyes as you smile at each other.

Walking into the bathroom, rinsing your toothbrushes so that Tan could squeeze some toothpaste onto them. Brushing your teeth together as you mumbled an incoherent conversation.

“I’ll go lock up.” He says with a smile, kissing your forehead.

“Ooh! Get me water, would ya?” You ask cutely before he could get too far.

“Eh? Can’t hear you.” He says halfway down the stairs.

“Water.” You yell out from the bathroom, sitting on the toilet.

Finishing up in the bathroom, washing your hands before jumping into bed.

Snuggling yourself under the covers and kicking your feet under the duvet to warm it up. Your beautiful boyfriend returns with a smile and two bottles of water.

“You did hear me?” You warmly say.

“No? These are mine.” He jokes before throwing a bottle to you.

“Har har.” You sarcastically laugh. “But thank you.” Exhaling after taking a sip.

Tangerine slumps into bed bedside you, pulling you close under the covers. Using the remote he dims the bedside lamps. “You’re so pretty.” He said sweetly.

“Shut up.” You shy away, hiding a grin.

“You are.” Snuggling into you and kissing your forehead.

Rolling yourself over resting your back against his chest, kissing his arm sweetly as he pulls you closer into him.

“Goodnight, I love you.”

“Goodnight, I love you more.” Reaching his head around to kiss your cheek.

“Not possible.” You quietly say, snuggling his arm as you both drift off to sleep.

[otherpeoplesheartachept-2]

Year in Review

Thank you @stitchyqueer @ileadacharmedlife and @nausikaaa for the tags <33

It was nice to reflect on the year, I've been feeling shit lately and a bit like I didn't do anything for the past 12 months, but going back through my camera roll and stuff was a nice reminder that I actually did exist this year! yay

this post ended up being quite long so I'll put it under a cut

January: that all being said, January was pretty unremarkable lol

Febuary: this month is my gfs and my sister's birthdays :) I made the shirt for my sister and the Rauisuchus tiradentes for my girlfriend.

March: In March my girlfriend and I got two ferrets Dolchii (on the left) and Gluppii (on the right)!!!

My gf had been wanting more ferrets for a while (she already had one) so we got some! These guys are so sweet and silly and hyper. I love them so much. I also spend SO MUCH TIME playing Stardew Valley because of the update. (And not to brag, but on the new game file I started for the update, I completed the community center in the 1st year and unlocked ginger island in the 2nd year, and then essentially stopped playing for the rest of the year lol)

April: I wrote Stink Bug for the Carry On Sapphic Week. The rest of this month was sad, as my girlfriend's ferret Scooby passed. He was quite old for a ferret, and we kind of knew his time was coming, but my gf and Scooby had been best friends for eight years so it was a really hard time for her. He was such a good pet and friend and he's missed deeply

May: This month was not a whole lot better. Of course we were still mourning Scooby. And I spent most of May having the worst asthma attacks of my life. It was very stressful and added on top of all that, we had to move out of our apartment the next month, but because my lungs were so bad, I could barely pack anything.

June: Asthma was still doing its best to ruin my life, and we had to move!!! This move was genuinely so awful. So much went wrong, I spent like three days straight carrying boxes and furniture up 2 flights of stairs, I couldn't breathe, I was broke, and there are still some things I have not found since unpacking so I fear they are lost forever. on the upside, Dolchii and Gluppii very much enjoyed running around an empty apartment lol

July: July is usually busy but fun, it's my birthday, my nieces birthday, and my anniversary, but this year I got covid for the first time, so no birthday or anniversary celebration for me. Surprisingly and thankfully (with my lungs being as they are) I wasn't too affected by covid, it was just like a flu for me. So I made a lot of pixel art with nothing else to do while quarantining. I made this art of the main CO gang, the tiny mall wizard, the Smiling Friends gang that I never posted, and a rolly polly animation

August: this month was chill. The highlight was when I went camping at the coast and saw a weevil irl for the first time ever!!! I love bugs so much

September: My family and I went to an aquarium, a raptor center, and I found this really cool rock shop on the coast that I'd never been to before. I bought this tiny trilobite there. I also started playing Fields of Mistria which I quite enjoy.

October: HALLOWEEN!!!! my gf had the idea of us being like dnd characters for Halloween, so we got to work. My sister and I spend ages sewing a really sick cloak for my gf to be a wizard (and I'm realizing I have no picture of said cloak, but you have to believe me, it's cool lol) and i made some foam armor and painted myself green to be an orc. Unfortunately my girlfriend was sick on Halloween so we didn't get to wear our costumes together:( my sister got this lovely pic of me in mine tho. I also drew Egg Guy this month lol

November: I spent November prepping for the carry on countdown, posting Something Borrowed, Daydreaming, and If I were Him, if He were Me, and of course, being a mod for this event!!!

December: I managed to work on the coc and make people Christmas gifts this month! I made my sister a banana slug patch, and fixed the gar I gave her last year that she broke lol, I embroidered a little teacup for my mom, and made some felt casts and band aids for my niece to play doctor/vet with her stuffed animals. and I posted Lamb art, Are They Even?, Simon as a vessel, Teeth art, Brobelove Stardew au art, and a Carry On cross stitch. I think my favorite from the coc was my Lamb art, but the cross-stitch is a close second.

I feel like I spent a lot of this year just surviving, and I'm trying to remind myself that that is okay. and I am proud of myself for the art I did manage to make.

Going in to the new year, I want to be more consistent with journaling; I made 4 entries in my 2024 journal. I also want to continue working on pixel art and to get back in to embroidery more.

I hope you all are well and have a good 2025 :)

tags and hellos:

@that-disabled-princess @srirachafilledbees @dreamingkc @carryonmylovelies @jasonfunderberkerthefrogexists @the-beard-of-edward-teach @sillyunicorn @martsonmars @shemakesmeforget @witch-of-the-sands @thewholelemon @excalisbury @facewithoutheart and anyone else who'd like to participate or I have forgotten your username!

[maringlechan]

Journaling~~ 2025

Hello 2025!

Here to put down whats happened over the last few days and journal for Jan 1st bc i really wanna try and do as much journaling/recalling events as much as i possibly can this year.

Let's start from last week around Christmas eve/day on Tuesday/Wednesday. Christmas eve i was out shopping for last minute things but didnt really do much for the day.

Christmas day was spent with morning at my moms house at 10am and we all showed up late TT. A nice chill morning with brekkie and mimosas. Mom and Gabe did a brekkie bar that had eggs, potatoes, cheese, bacon, and their little sausage and cream cheese croissants. We played our usual bingo game and i won the last game! The prize was $100!!! Stayed at their house watching Christmas movies until dinner at Uncle Jon's house at 5pm. Stayed there for a bit too for dinner. Uncle made brisket, sliced potato stacks, and so many dessert cookies that Heather and grandma Cheryl made. Packed leftovers and made it home for a quiet rest of the night.

Stayed home to finish out the week as i waited for Morgan to come home from his parents house. He didnt get back until Saturday the 28th. He left down to visit them the 23rd. Since on the 22nd, he was getting gifts for his sisters. He finally came home on Saturday the 28th and i couldnt wait to see him!

I was hanging out with drew on Sunday, just running around doing stuff since i was bored and wanted to see Morgan that night too. I ended up going to his place and when i was about to leave at like 11:30pm, Seven wouldnt start! I tried letting the battery restart by disconnecting the plug sparks on it (probs not the right words). Couldnt get Seven to start to spent the night and waited til morning.

I felt so bad since morgan wanted to have a bit of time to be writing on his story a bit more. But we still had a nice day and made chilled with youtube, gaming, and cooking as I had Seven worked on. I ended up having to call a tow truck and have him towed to the Firestone that was just down the street. I asked them to do an oil change, since I knew he needed one, and also do a battery check and replace whatever they needed to to get him running.

Seven got fixed and Morgan said he wanted me to stay the night tomorrow night. So, I asked Drew if it was ok for me to stay over and he said yes! I stayed over and we had a charcuterie board with the smoked cheeses and summer sausage my mom gave me for christmas. He showed me some ZB1, his latest fav boy group. We watched some old family guy episodes and then played both of the new board games i got, Tippy the Dragon and Pop the Pirate! They were pretty fun! We went to sleep pretty late and had to get up early since Seven wasnt parked in an ideal spot.

We woke up at 7am and left shortly after to avoid getting a ticket. We wanted to eat at this place in Tukwila called, Jony's. It looks like a small mom and pop shop in the corner of the plaza where the 711 is across from the Taco Bell. They ended up not being open so we opted for Neighborhood Cafe, which was a Filipino Cafe next to the Indian Curry Palace which is where me and Morgan usually get our indian food. The food was a little over sweet and mid for both of our dishes. I got a latte with oatmilk, avocado toast (arugula, tomato, avocado, feta cheese) and banana bread french toast (banana slices on banana bread drizzled with syrup). Drew got the chicken fried steak and an ube biscuit. Drew thought it was all very mid. It was a cute little place though. Might take morgan if he thinks the menu looks good!

After that we went to Target, Barnes & Noble and then the mall. I bought my Lion King windbreaker jacket i was looking for, but still didn't get it in the ideal size of a Large. Got a medium instead since it was out of stock everywhere. Didnt really find much else so we went to Auburn instead. We went to the outlet mall and Drew found 2 sets of the little plague doctor plushies that hes been collecting ever since i gave him the original plague doctor in a boo basket. He was looking for a Knuckles plush too! We found one at Spencers, but the plague doctors were ones he wanted a lot more.

After that it was Muckleshoot Casino! I used my bingo win and pulled out about $80. I was up a few hundred until I lost it all TT. Drew was up for a bit too but it sounds like he broke even by the time that we left for the night. Dropped off Drew and then went to Morgans for the night, it was new years eve!!

We stayed up til shortly after midnight and called it a night. We drank a little bit and smoked a little bit but nothing too crazy. We did fall asleep on the futon though and didn't get to the den to sleep until like 4:30 in the morning TT.

We had a lazy wakeup at about 8ish with some <3333 before making brekkie. We had the new coffee i got that was a Lion King anniversary coffee that was cinnamon and brown sugar flavored. We also made chinese broccoli and ate as Morgan played God of War Ragnarok. We drank coffee in our new christmas tree mugs i bought us.

Morgan then opened up all his presents shortly after and i felt kind of bad that i had gotten him a few things since he looked shocked and said he felt bad that he didnt get anything. I never expected him too though, giving gifts is just another way I like to say, I love you to him. I'm gonna try and not do so much gift giving and try other things that show Morgan i love him a lot besides gifts. He really likes acts of service (like when im doing the dishes for him or offer to help out in the kitchen).

After that the rest of the day was pretty chill with just youtube and a run to the store for Ezelles and dairy queen for a sweet treat. We had the chicken curry i helped make the day before so I wanted something else to eat. I ended up leaving my sweet treat in the freezer and didnt realize until i got home! TT He said he'd come by for a kitty sleepover on Sunday <3

I left Morgans at around 9ish and stopped at Drew's since when we went shopping last, he left his new Sabrina Carpenter album and body wash in the car. We chatted a little bit then I went home.

Here i am now writing this journal entry just to make sure its done for the first day of january!!

Anyways, heres to 2025! <3

[the-ronins-world]

Kate Bishop x Oc Male!

"The three words."

December, 2026.

New York.

It's been about a year since the whole Ronin business around New York with the Tracksuit Mafia, Maya Lopez, and Wlison Fisk AKA Kingpin.. with her mother, Eleanor, being involved, the hiring of a Black Widow assassin, Yelena Belova.

The whole deal with death was after Ian. And out from the other side, Ronin died a second time for good with the help of his father, Clint Barton and Kate Bishop. And the average everyday LARPers.

They managed to pull through, just in time for Christmas in Iowa. Just like his father promised his little sister. Ian was finally back home with his family. Not as an Oni.. but a mortal being.

Kate and Ian have gotten close during the whole ordeal, life and death type of stuff, now dating. They spent time together, knowing their weaknesses and dreams, and love languages.

He feels comfortable with her. He trusts her.

They both understand each other.

Now, today, with a few days before Christmas, Ian starts to make and bake christmas cookies in her apartment since his apartment was burned down by the Tracksuit Mafia. As Lucky the Pizza Dog sits by as he waits a thing of cookie dough like a good boy.

And he has been thinking about her, in how he hasn't told her.. the three words..

"What do you think, boy?"

He says with a smile to Lucky as he gives him a lick of cookie dough on a spoon.

He happily licks the utensil until it's clean as he barks happily.

"Yeah? Good? It's a secret recipe. So shh.."

Ian chuckles as he suddenly hears the front door open. Then Lucky happily runs towards the door and jumps up and down. And barks excitedly.

In comes Kate Bishop herself, the 'World's Greatest Archer' as she calls herself. Or Hawkeye after his father. Or himself.

With a handful of Christmas decorations and two boxes of pizza from their favorite pizza joint. As she's happy in an adorable Santa Hat.

"Hey!"

She says with a bright smile.

As Ian looks at her as he dusts off his hands on the Christmas apron.

"Hi!"

He says with a returning bright smile as he blushes. As they lock eyes as their eyes are the same color.

Blue like the ocean and as deep as it is as well.

"You want to help me, handsome?"

She says with a chuckle as she sees him blush as she knows that he's pretty shy when it comes to eye contact.

As he clears his throat as he nods.

"Yeah.. beautiful. You can carry more than my brother carrying sweets."

He jokes as he grabs the things from her arm, like boxes, strings of lights, hot chocolate mix, marshmallows, and all types of Christmas things.

As she puts on a Santa Hat on him, as he raises his eyebrow.

"I'm not exactly Ol' Jolly Saint Nick?"

She smirks.

"But only Jolly."

He rolls his eyes.

"Hahah."

He says sarcastically.

Lucky woofs in agreement.

"Not you too, Lucky."

As she laughs as she pitches his cheek with affection.

He blushes more as he looks away in embarrassment.

As the night continued, they proceeded to decorate the apartment and set up the tree after Ian wanted a real tree. But after compromise, he decided on it. In their ugly Christmas sweaters, they just got about done with decorations. They do the usual bather and flirtatious wordplay while eating pizza, the usual pepperoni and cheese.

As the white, red, and green lights flicker across the tree and TV stand underneath the monitor..

They watch 'A Christmas Story' with hot chocolate in sleep pants. Like they are about to go to sleep, or just be to be comfortable.

But a comfortable slient comes them, leaning on each other.. as he never felt so much.. peace.

'As long I'm with her.. I'm at peace with.. the world.'

Ian thinks to himself as he looks at her, for a bit, as she falls asleep, with Lucky falling asleep as well.

"...I love you.."

He mumbled softly as he looked at her, and then he looked at the movie.

But unknowingly, Kate smiles through her sleep.

That's what matters to her..

He loves her.

But she replies back in her sleep.

"...I love you too.."

The Archers hit their targets..

Bullseye.

[jjungkookislife]

ANOTHER HFTH DRABBLE IS HERE!!! 🥳😭😍

Not gonna lie, when I first read the title, i thought their relationship was having troubles and I got worried 😰 until I saw the summary and was like: we’re good 😮‍💨 my fav couple is fine ☺️

I can totally relate with MC, cause I am somewhat like that with trips too. I like to be organized so I usually take the lead to make sure everyone’s ready, that they don’t forget anything, and nothing goes amiss. Just cause I know that they will ask me about it or ask me for help if something does go wrong.

But I do love Jk being so attentive and really sweet. It’s the small things like still being mindful of her and her whereabouts despite the chaos of his friends and making her a playlist of “their songs” to listen during the trip 🥺 Just the perfect bf. He is also such a gentleman, my goodness. How he is so thoughtful and caring like the opening of the umbrellas for Grandma Jeon and Grandma Park, and the latter calling out Jimin for not being like him 😂

These Grandma besties are both so cool. Who else would go on a trip with your grandchild and their friends and BE THE ONES embarrassed to be seen with them too much that they have to be on different floors 🤣 and it was cute how Grandma Jeon’s shy for Jk to see her dating 😆

All in all, I really loved seeing this adorable couple again, how they’re so in love with each other and being lovey dovey all throughout the trip 🥰 And the others being fake annoyed with all the PDA 😂 Missed them so much 🥹

Thank you so much for this amazing drabble 🥰 I hope you are doing well and taking of yourself 💜

Yes, the title is a little misleading but it was supposed to be like Margarita on the rocks 😅

My sister makes fun of me for making lists before I travel but I am very forgetful 🤣 we were planning a family trip in 2018 and she told me to “start your little list today” 💀

My best friend is a mom and she’s always prepared she absolutely saved me for PTD and D-Day bc I forgot so much stuff 😭

I always have to make sure my gate exists before wandering off to find a bathroom and snacks 🤣 I’ve never flown with a large group of friends so I can imagine the chaos lol the biggest worry would be making sure everyone is on time 😅 but I feel like MC does a good job of handling the group and JK is just so sweet 😭 from the umbrellas to the sunblock 🤣 and ofc rubbing it in Jimin’s face that he’s the sweetest 🤣 yes he’s still Lowkey mad that Jimin wanted MC to be his fake gf for next Christmas

I aspire to be like Grandmother Jeon 🥰 she is truly the life of the party. A rich, unbothered queen with her little chihuahua who definitely spent her time at the doggy spa making friends and eating to her heart’s content 💅🏼

I definitely enjoy writing for this couple so much 💜 I hope you’re doing well and I hope you have a good day/night 💖

also, if you or anyone else have any drabble ideas for this couple I’d be happy to jot them down and hopefully write them 🥰

[stubblesandwich]

Popping in on Christmas Morning (or Afternoon depending on your timezone) to wish you a Merry Christmas from your Santa!!

I'm still finishing up your gift, hopefully I can get it out either today or tomorrow, but I guess it all depends on the business of the holidays lol

I hope your having a wonderful Christmas so far! Hope everyone's enjoying the gifts you gave, hope you enjoy yours too! I hope the time spent with your family and loved ones is bringing you lots of joy! I hope you have peace today, amidst a stressful world.

Merry Christmas from your Santa 💗🎅

(PS A couple questions for you: What's your favourite CS kiss? They've had so many, and I love them all! What are your plans for the New Year? Do you do resolutions? What's your favourite Christmas memory?)

HEY SANTA!! So good to hear from you. 💓

I totally understand if you're running behind, as truth be told, I'm also running behind with my gift to my giftee. 🙃 You will catch no pressure from me, my dear.

The kids loved the gifts we got them this year, and my husband and I got each other some good stuff, too. It's been fun this year. It's evening here now, and we're all settling down for the night and chilling after putting on a big ham dinner for everyone. I'm ready to take out my brain and put it on a shelf for the week lololol BUT we still have two more things to host this week 😎 prayers for my sanity, please.

Oooh, you're asking a hard question now! Favorite kiss?? Golly gee, so hard to pick one, isn't it? They just kiss so well, don't they 😆 it's such a problem. UMMMM you know something, I think I love two kisses equally for different reasons. This might not help you much. But I'd say the kissing gifs I stare at the longest are the first kiss/Neverland kiss and the kiss at the end of S3 outside Granny's. For different reasons. The first kiss, obviously, because it's super hot and passionate and just so!!! unexpected. I think I love that one because it obviously just WRECKED Killian. Like he was a goner after that. They might not have been love at first sight but I firmly believe he was at least love at first kiss with Emma. Like that was the moment he was like "oh CRAP" and was just gone for her. Hence his confession about it in the echo caves. 🙃 And I just love that for him so much. Like I firmly believe his feelings for Emma went from crush/attachment/infatuation/strong interest to straight up love at that point. Like I think he was just done for and I love that so much.

And then the second kiss/kiss outside Granny's is so so important to me. Like obviously it's important to Killian because he's loved her for the whole season, and he's given up so much for her, and he has done everything he could to help her/protect her (and Henry). And you could tell he was so hesitant to tell her about trading the Jolly Roger. Like, he clearly just had no plans at all to tell her. He wasn't going to lie to her about it or conceal it if asked, but he also wasn't going to boast about it or anything like that. Which!!! Is so important for his character and shows how far he's come at this point from the person he was in S2.

But I think I like this kiss even more for what it means for Emma, how far she's come from all the times she's pushed him away and tried to bury her feelings for him. She's just blown away entirely by that level of sacrifice from him, for her and her alone. He gave up his home! His most prized possession! His livelihood, essentially. All for her, to save her and her family and bring her back home. It's so freaking beautiful, honestly. She's so open, and she can't help the rush of feelings that overtakes her and she just has to kiss him! (That and I'm of the opinion that she's still thinking about kissing past Hook, very recently, and she's had kissing him on the brain again haha.) But, it truly is so beautiful. I love how long they kiss, how sweet and tender it is. It's not as fiery as the Neverland kiss, because they know each other better now, and it's not just physical but also emotional, as well. There's so much feeling in this kiss. 🥺 The way he touches her chin, and the way he pulls back to look at her. The way she smiles at him! They way they touch noses and foreheads! Gahhhhh!! Honestly, this has to be top kiss for me. Clearly I am very normal about it and them 😆 I think I have a problem

Thank you for the question! Clearly I have too many thoughts about them kissing lololol

New Year's Eve we are getting together with some good friends. We all have kids, so that makes it hard to party hardy, but thankfully all our kids are also besties, basically, so they play together really well. It's such an enormous blessing to have a group of friends to do life with. So we usually do something with them on NYE, at someone's house. Lately there's been a karaoke machine, too, which is tremendous fun. I hope you get to do something cool on NYE! Tell me about it, if you do! You know something, I'm not big on resolutions because I always quit haha. I do need to eat healthier/hit the weights and treadmill again, so I do plan to do that in January. But that's less a New Year's thing and more a thing I plan to do once all these sweets are out of my house 🙃 I cannot seem to stay away from the sweets. I need them far, far away from me.

I think my favorite Christmas memories from childhood are just the general feeling of Christmas magic. The excitement of gifts, the snow days off school, the classic Christmas music. As I've gotten older, I've come to realize so much of that Christmas magic was just my mom working her tail off to make the holiday special for us kids, and that makes me love her and appreciate her all the more. I loved the classic movies we'd watch, too, every year. All the claymation classics, Elf, Jim Carrey's Grinch, A Christmas Story, It's A Wonderful Life. All the good ones. This year, I'm trying to find more Christmas movies to watch that I didn't get to see as a kid, and that's been fun. I'm trying to make new memories this year with my husband, in this house, and I've been enjoying that so much. We have a woodburning stove that heats our whole home in the winter, and it makes things so incredibly warm and cozy, and it all smells so good. I love sitting by the fire with a warm drink (doing that right now, actually!). I don't love putting up Christmas lights, but I do love when my husband puts them up so I can look at them. 😆 They're just so pretty and warm and cozy. I can't get enough of it.

Okay!! I talk too much!! Clearly!! Sorry for this gigantic answer and waxing poetic about Captain Swan kissing lololol I'll be done. Thanks for stopping in, Santa! Take your time with my gift, seriously, do not pressure yourself at all. You'll get to it. ✌🏻 Enjoy this time with your family! Talk to you soon!

[searching-for-synpathy]

Just got back from this year's Thanksgiving trip with my girlfriend to her family in the city, which was-to completely steal a line from an artist's dailies comic about her own holiday-"not bad, not particularly good, just kinda happened." I couldn't really muster up the cheeriness or confidence to feel like I did more than just float through a room for a couple days, but I'm honestly feeling kinda OK about that. I caught some bad FOMO seeing my family do the whole thing back home without me, and I saw that my dad's lost all his hair finally over Facetime, which got me thinking about sad things again. I could see my girlfriend really making a sweet effort for me when she took me out to try to watch some of the parade (which I thought she'd NEVER do, lol), so that was nice.

We've had a very nice time since getting back home earlier today. She bleached my hair, we smoked a little, watched TV, and I made mac n cheese and noodles while she tried to get down from being too high (poor bb).

I have her christmas present in my underwear drawer while mine is still arriving—she wanted us to do a little private christmas celebration, but I kinda wanted a little more excitement than just giving each other stuff in our apartment....soooo I just spent like at least an hour looking up local cute wintery events for me to give her a NON-ENGAGEMENT ring at (lol!) Unfortunately, everything that sounded cool and fun (HISTORIC MUSEUMS...WITH FOOD AND MUSIC AND LIGHTS AND COSTUMES...ARGHHHH) are like half-an-hour to an hour's drive away, plus semi-expensive entry fees, and I kinda just wanted to keep things chill and easy to dip out of in case she's not feeling well. SO after all that unhelpful research I decided maybe the best thing could be the tree-lighting ceremony they're doing on Friday, which is free!! And is supposed to come with the chance to get a carriage ride (which I'd be happy to pay for as long as it's not crazy,) smores, lights, etc. etc., hopefully it will be cute enough. Plus I was wondering if I could ask the carriage guy to give my gf her present as a little surprise (hehehe).

So, that's kinda keeping me going right now, just like my halloween costume kept me going till that happened. I also want to get us a little cheap tree, maybe some more lights.

I also just looked up christmas contra dance (bc of course!!) but right now it looks like the only events are between xmas and new years, when I'll be back in texas, hopefully. So.

In sum, just trying to feel some magic while kinda just moving through it, towards it, whatever. I'm trying not to beat myself up too much about the trip, trying not to obsess over what my gf's parents think about me and about my dad's diagnosis, trying not to blow anything out of proportion-yknow. just trying to do it right.

[storiesforallfandoms]

your gift ~ pete davidson

word count: 1211

request?: yes!

“Could I request an imagine where you and pete are spending christmas together and you come im just wrapped in wrapping paper like you’re his gift and he just bursts out laughing because he’s awkward like that?”

description: for their first christmas together, she decides to give him an extra special gift

pairing: pete davidson x female!reader

warnings: swearing

masterlist (one, two)

It had been many years since I had spent Christmas with a romantic partner. I didn’t expect too much for my first Christmas with Pete. We had only been dating for a few months, so I figured at most we might go see some Christmas lights and drink some hot chocolate. Imagine my surprise when he asked me if I wanted to spend Christmas Eve with him.

“If you didn’t already have plans with your family that is,” he said. “I know Christmas is supposed to be, like, a family thing.”

“I was going to ask you the same thing. You don’t want to spend it with your mom?”

He waved away my comment. “Please, she is basically insisting I spend it with you. Anything to get me out of the house.”

So, we agreed that he would stay to my place on Christmas Eve before we went to spend time with our respective families. From the moment Pete asked, I found that I was very excited for this Christmas.

We did way more of the cutesy couples Christmas stuff than I anticipated. We went to look at the Christmas lights around my neighborhood, got candy cane hot chocolate, got matching Christmas pajamas (well, I got the set, Pete just got the pajama bottoms). He even insisted on us decorating my Christmas tree together.

With every memory we made, the happier my heart became. It was probably the best Christmas I had ever had.

The night of Christmas Eve, Pete and I were curled up on the couch eating pizza we had ordered and watching some classic Christmas movies. I had a warm blanket thrown across my lap and that, plus the heat from Pete’s body, was enough to feel like I was going to be lulled to sleep. I closed my eyes and was close to drifting off until I felt Pete move under me.

“You’re not falling asleep already, are you? It’s not even 9pm,” he said.

I opened my eyes and looked up at him, sheepishly. “Can you blame me? I’m just so comfy, I could fall asleep right here.”

“You can’t fall asleep before presents.”

This sparked me enough for my eyes to open wide and to sit me upright on the couch. “Presents, you say?”

“Yeah. Haven’t you ever opened at least one present on Christmas Eve?”

“Not since I was a kid.”

“Well, if you don’t want to we don’t have to exchange gifts yet.”

“Now, I didn’t say that.”

Pete chuckled and stood from the couch. I watched him go, nearly bouncing with excitement. When he came back, he had both hands behind his back.

“I tossed it in a gift bag because my wrapping skills suck, so it won’t be that fun to open,” he said.

“All presents are fun to open. Just gimme,” I said, extending my arms and doing the grabby hands at him.

He laughed and pulled the bag from behind his back. I took it and ripped the paper out to reveal a stuffed bear inside. When I took the bear out and squeezed it, Pete’s voice came out of it saying, “Merry Christmas, baby.”

I looked up at Pete, who was smiling brightly at me.

“It’s from Build-A-Bear,” he said. “They had a Christmas line of bear clothes or whatever, and the workers there said that people usually recorded voice messages for whoever they were gifting to. Do you like it?”

It was a sweet brown teddy bear with a red and green Christmas sweater and little images of candy canes on its feet. I hugged him close, Pete’s voice repeating the earlier phrase.

“I love it,” I said.

“I thought you might. Just in case, though I did get you something else with the bear.”

I held the bear out to see a golden locket around its neck. When I opened the locket, there was a picture inside. It was one of the first pictures Pete and I took when we started dating.

I stood from the couch and wrapped my arms around Pete. “Thank you so much. I love them both, Pete.”

“I’m glad you do, honey.”

Now was the part where I had to make up some reason why I didn’t have Pete’s gift.

I had meant to tell him when he came over. I had gone to my sister’s place to wrap presents and left them there so she could bring him over to our parent’s place. I realized only after getting home that Pete’s gift was left there, too. I was planning to give it to him on the day after Christmas after spending time with family.

And now, after he had given me the best gift I could’ve ever received, I had to tell him I didn’t have one to give back to him.

Unless...

I pulled away from our embrace to look at Pete. “I have to go get your gift. Stay here.”

“Okay.”

I went to my bedroom and dug wrapping paper out from the back of the closet. I unrolled a very long strip and ripped it from the roll. I managed to wrap it around my torso and legs, taping a few pieces down so it stuck to me. I grabbed a red bow as well and stuck it to my forehead for effect.

“Okay, make sure you close your eyes!”

I heard him laugh but got no further response.

“Are they closed?” I asked.

“Yes (Y/N)!”

I quickly shuffled out form the room, trying not to rustle the paper too much. Pete was sat back down on the couch, his eyes closed and the bear he had given me sat on his lap as they both waited. I positioned myself in front of him, making sure the wrapping paper would stay up and the bow stayed on, before saying, “Okay, you can open your eyes.”

The minute he looked at me, Pete burst out into laughter. I started laughing with him, knowing how ridiculous I looked.

“I think I already have this gift,” he said, standing from the couch again. “Did you keep the receipt? I may have to return it.”

“Nope. You’re stuck with it.”

“Oh well, I like it enough.”

I giggled as Pete leaned down to kiss my lips.

“I do have an actual gift for you,” I assured him. “I just left it at my sister’s. I meant to tell you and totally ended up forgetting. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. I don’t mind waiting to get it. And besides, this gift is the best thing you could’ve ever gotten me.”

Oh, how he makes my heart flutter.

He kissed my again, the crinkling of the wrapping paper reminding us that I was still “wrapped up”. Pete looked down at me and started laughing again, shaking his head at me.

“Can I unwrap more than just this paper?” he asked.

“Well, we do have all night.”

Pete made quick work of ripping the paper from around my body and tossing it to the floor, along with the red bow on my head. He picked me up in his arms and carried me back to my bedroom, our pizza, the movie, and my new stuffed friend forgotten on the couch.

[legally-lupin]

Christmas At The Burrow- Fred Weasley X Fem!reader

Summery: Y/n l/n has spent many Christmas holidays at the burrow with the Weasley family and her friends but this is her second Christmas with them but as Fred Weasley’s girlfriend.

Warnings: none just CUTENESS

Words:699

Y/n finished putting all the presents and her stuff in the enchanted Bag Hermione gave to her for her birthday. Excited to go to the burrow again and see everyone. To see him. The girl grabbed her Hogwarts trunk and travelled to the burrow via floo powder.

“The Burrow!” Y/n yelled then in a wave of green fire and smoke, she was greeted by Mrs.Weasley

“Oh y/n dear I was wondering when you will arrive” Mrs Weasley hugged the girl's frame and squeezed her tight rocking her side to side.

“Hello, Mrs Weasley.Happy Christmas!” A small kiss was placed on Mrs Weasley's cheek

“I’ve got everyone's presents where shall I put them?” Y/n asked the older woman Mrs Weasley smiled

“Please dear call me Molly and you always spoil us too much dear!” Mrs.Weasley poked the girls side Y/n smiled at the woman then pointed her wand at the enchanted bag.

“Accio presents” and one by one the gifts flew out in a neat pile all individually wrapped.

“There will do sweets” Mrs Weasley smiled as she called down for her children.

One by one the Weasley family came down Harry and Hermione joining them

“Y/n!” Hermione squealed pulling you into a hug

“Hey mione” the two girls stood hugging each other till they heard a cough y/n looked up to see George

“Georgie!” Y/n pulled the older boy into a hug

“Happy Christmas y/n”

“Merry Christmas Georgie where’s Fred?” The girl asked looking around amongst the red hair for him.

“Still in his room. He doesn’t know you’re coming he’s been all doom and gloom” George rolled his eyes and looked up at the stairs calling his twin to hurry and come down.

Loud slow footsteps can be heard ascending the stairs there stood a miserable looking Fred

“What George! I want to be alone” Fred snapped

You crept behind him and covered his eyes tippy-toeing to reach his tall frame.

“Guess who-“ y/n was picked up by Fred into a massive hug

“Merlin’s beard I thought you weren’t coming this year” Fred’s head nuzzled into your neck placing kisses every now and then.

“And miss Christmas with you guys. Never!” Fred placed a small peck on your lips as you all sat in the living room to open presents.

“Now he’s happy” his twin laughed as all of you sat in the living room you were about to sit next to Hermione and Harry when Fred sat down on the seat you went to sit on giving you a cheeky wink he tapped his lap. Forcing you to sit down on his lap. Cheeky bugger.

“Ok, so I got something for everyone” you flicked your wand and the parcels floated to the designated persons.

Wrapping paper went everywhere and a huge wave of thanks came your way. You smiled happily seeing everyone so happy.

“Y/n how on earth did you know what to get everyone” Hermione raised an eyebrow at you as you did get everyone what they wanted. You shrugged your shoulders leaning to Fred happy with yourself.

“Thank you, love. I love it” Fred placed a light kiss on your cheek

“I’ve got something for you as well” Fred rummaged in his pockets and pulled out a beautiful red silk box it was tied with a maroon ribbon. You carefully peeled it off and open the box. You gasped in shock. You’ve been eyeing this necklace for a while but weren’t sure whether to buy it or not.

“Freddie love this is gorgeous” you pulled him in for a big kiss getting a few laughs and an aww from Mrs Weasley

“I’m glad you like” he helps put it on you. This necklace framed your collarbones and neck beautifully.

“Thank you so much Fred I love it just as much as I love you” y/n smiled a big pearly white smile at the older boy. Fred’s heart melted at the stir he smiled and kissed her head

“I love you too love. So much”

[writersblog20]

A Christmas break🎄

Jamie Campbell Bower x reader

Credits to gif maker and the picture

Summary: Jamie comes home for a Christmas break. You spent Christmas eve together and with your family. You never liked Christmas but maybe Jamie will change that….

Warnings: pure fluff!

Words: 3,4K

A/N: I’m going to make a follow-up to this story but can be read separately. Since this is someone new I write for, I’m not tagging the people that wants to be tagged in stories with other celebrities. If you do want to be tagged in my Jamie stories than you can hit me up and I’ll add you : )

A Christmas break

Finally Jamie had a break between Christmas and New Year. You were esthetic to say the least because Jamie would finally come to you. You would take him home and to your family. It would be the first time that he would actually see your family in real life. I mean, they already met but through facetime and now they would actually meet.

You were never a big fan of Christmas and New Year’s eve but now you couldn’t be more excited now that you have Jamie by your side. Besides that, you couldn’t wait to spend some alone time with him and Jamie was just as excited as you were, hyping each other up.

You waited impatiently at the airport for Jamie. You were shuffling around a little while the excitement creeped up in your belly which doubled when you saw a familiar hat coming through the gates. You immediately smiled as you saw Jamie pushing his card out of the gates. He looked around but he found you quickly and when he saw you, his eyes started to sparkle and he got a big smile. He opened his arms and you ran to him, throwing your arms around his shoulders. He picked you up and twirled you around. “God how I’ve missed you, darling.” He told you and placed multiple kisses on your head until you looked up and closed the gap between the two of you in a quick but nevertheless, passionate kiss.

You parted and looked at him with a big smile, which he replicated. “I’ve missed you too!” you told him and wrapped your arms around his waist again. He placed his arm around you and hugged you close to his body. “Let’s go home.” You told him, looking up with sparks in your eyes. You couldn’t wait to show him around in the town that you grew up and do all the fun, traditional things with him. He smiled brighter and pulled you in for a kiss again. “Let’s do that, love.” He told you and took your chin between his fingers, giving you another kiss. He got the trolly and pushed it forward, you by his side.

You chatted a bit about his flight and his last convention until you reached your car. You put everything in the back and drove home. Jamie placed his hand on your thigh while you drove off. You felt the butterflies creep up on you again. You’ve never had a healthier relationship than this one and he never failed to make you feel special and loved.

The ride home didn’t take long and you helped Jamie, get everything out of the car. He took a lot of stuff with him, like a lot! He saw you looking and Jamie smirked. He put the luggage down for a minute and turned around towards you with a smirk. His fingers found your chin again and you were forced to look up. “You don’t think I forgot about the presents do you?” he asked you teasingly and giving you clarity about why he had so much with him. You could feel yourself melt underneath his touch and sweet gesture, making you feel shy and flustered again. He chuckled and let go of your cheek before he gave you a kiss on your forehead.

You helped getting everything inside and helped him unpack. You placed his clothes in your closet. Jamie placed his arms around you all of a sudden and pulled you against his body in a hug. “I have missed you so much sweetheart.” You smiled and nuzzled into his shoulder. “I’ve missed you too, you have no idea.” You murmured, enjoying the contact you had right now. He got out of the hug and cupped your cheeks so he could give you a passionate kiss. “I think we’re done here right?” he asked you as he broke from the kiss and looked at his empty suitcase. You nodded and smiled. “Let’s get something to drink and cuddle before we have to leave to my mom.” You suggested and Jamie smiled, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. “That sounds great, darling.” You loved how clingy Jamie could get because you would be the same.

You took his hand in yours and let him down the stairs. You made some tea while Jamie placed his arms around your waist and let his head rest on your shoulder. While you waited for the water to boil, you jumped on the counter, putting your arms around Jamie’s shoulders, hugging him. “I want to give you something. I didn’t bought it for Christmas so I want to give it to you now.” he told you with a smile. Jamie had brought a big box with him and you were wondering what was in it from the moment you saw it being placed in your car.

Jamie let go off you and walked to the big box and looking back at you as a hint for you to come to him. It was wrapped in Christmas paper and a big red bow. You chuckled and Jamie immediately smiled brightly when he heard your giggle. You looked at Jamie again and he nodded, encouraging you to open it. You smiled and unwrapped the box before opening it. There was a big, like really big teddy bear completely pushed into the box. You chuckled and got it out, realizing how big it actually was. You couldn’t stop giggling. Jamie knew how much you loved teddy bears or plushies in general and you both joked about the plushies that they were never big enough.

“Is this one big enough, darling?” he asked you, chuckling himself. You nodded and threw your arms around him. “Thank you so much!” he chuckled and kissed your head. “Go look what he is wearing.” Jamie whispered in your ear. You let go of Jamie and inspected the teddy. He was wearing a big Stranger Things sweater that you pointed out a couple of weeks ago. “Oh my god Jamie. I love it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he chuckled, seeing your eyes sparkle at the gift. “I’m glad you like it love.” He told you and kissed your lips.

You both struggled to get the sweater of the huge teddy bear, both laughing in the process. The bear was almost the same length as you were and you loved it. You finally got the sweater of the teddy and you immediately put it on. It was even some extra sizes bigger because Jamie knew you like your sweater a couple sizes bigger. The sweater smelled familiar and you looked at Jamie. “I put some of my cologne on it so it smells like me.” he told you and you could almost feel your heart burst. You just hugged him and he smiled softly, knowing you were happy with his gift.

You both drank some tea and cuddled on the couch until it was time to get dressed. Your mom said that tonight it would be casual so the smell of food wouldn’t get into your clothes. You put on your outfit that was inspired by Wednesday Addams. The turtle neck with the spencer in black and white. You were absolutely in love with your outfit. Jamie wore his hereditary shirt and lied down on your bed while you were doing your make-up. He held his head up by his hands, elbows on the bed while he stared lovingly at you, snapping a quick pic of you.

“I really love your outfit darling. It suits you.” he told you adoringly. You smiled and felt flustered. You were done and walked to Jamie, who pulled you down on your bed and attacked you with kisses, making you giggle. “Jamieeee….. We’re going to be late.” You whined but your chuckles gave you away. Jamie laid down on his back, his arm stretched out on the bed as he sight dramatically, making you chuckle. You hang above him, surprising him. You smiled and kissed him. “There is that better?” you asked him with a chuckle. “Much better, love.” He told you and got up from the bed with a smile. “Let’s go than.”

You packed your car with all the presents and drinks. You looked at all the presents and chuckled. “We both really went shopping didn’t we…” you chuckled as Jamie stood next to you, looking at the presents as well and chuckled. “I think we did….” Jamie laughed. He reached for your hand and held it. “But I wanted to spoil you.” you felt your cheeks heat up. “I did too.” Jamie smiled and kissed the back of your hand. “Shall we go than princess?” he smirked, knowing the effect it had on you with the pet names. You felt your cheeks heat up and nodded. “Let me drive this time sweetheart.” He told you. You agreed and sat in the passengers seat. Jamie’s hand was resting on your thigh again as he drove to your mom’s house and her boyfriends while you both sang your heart out when running up that hill came up the radio. Your heart was already filled with so much joy that you felt all fuzzy inside.

You arrived at your mom’s place and her boyfriend helped you both getting everything out of the car after Jamie introduced himself to him. You smiled softly at the interaction as you both walked in. You greeted both of the dogs happily before going to your mom, who was in the kitchen preparing food. “Hi mom” You greeted her and gave her a hug, which she returned. When you got out of the hug you looked at Jamie who smiled and reached out his hand so he could properly introduce himself but your mom already pulled him into a hug. “Come on now, we’ve spoke before!” your mom teased.

Jamie was nervous, you could tell but when your mom hugged him, he started to feel more relaxed and welcome. You all decided to get a drink before getting back to the food after you put all the presents around the tree and where there was still some place because it was a lot. You all chatted and laughed while drinking some alcoholic beverage. You held Jamie’s hand underneath the table as you thumb softly rubbed the back of his hand for comfort. His nerves hadn’t left completely so you wanted to make sure he knew that he was welcome here.

After a drink, Jamie chatted with your mom’s boyfriend as you helped your mom in the kitchen with the food. You looked over at Jamie and he looked back at you, giving you a soft wink to let you know that everything was okay. You smiled softly and your mom noticed. “You guys are a good fit. I really like him.” she told you and you felt flustered again. “Yeah, he’s really great.” You told her with a smile. “So.. You think he’s the one?” she asked you and you smiled. “I know he’s the one.” You told her as you looked at Jamie but you noticed that he heard you as he got one of the biggest smiles and you saw him blush, getting shy and flustered himself.

You felt flustered, knowing he heard you. You tried to focus back on the food until the son of your mom's boyfriend came out of hiding from his room. You greeted him and Jamie did too. When the food was ready, you all gathered around the table, you sitting next to Jamie obviously.

After dinner, you all chilled for a bit until dessert and after some more relaxing. The tv was on with a radio station where they play songs that are in the top. They would end it on New Year's Eve and it was very much a tradition in your country to listen to it. After dessert, you slowly started giving the presents to each other. It was mostly small things but you loved every one of the gifts. You made Jamie a t-shirt which you designed. You were a graphic designer and he loved your work so you made him something unique and he absolutely loved it. You got some perfume, things for in the bath, a blanket which you could put your arms through, a very big onesie from Jamie as a care bear. You chuckled and immediately gave Jamie his other present. You giggled, knowing what was already in it.

He eyed you with a smirk and opened the present, seeing it was a onesie from one of the care bears as well. You all laughed and Jamie pulled you against him kissing the side of your head. “I love you, darling.” He whispered. You felt fuzzy inside by the way he looked at you. “I love you too Jamie.” You unwrapped more presents (god you all went really out this year with the gifts.) You gave Jamie concert tickets for the two of you, you got a lot of chocolate and small stuff. You felt so content and happy right here in this moment, you couldn’t remember when you were this happy on Christmas eve or day.

After all the presents, you all had a drink before heading home. You hugged everyone, just like Jamie and packed everything in the car. Jamie wanted to drive again so you sat next to him. He held your hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. “I really enjoyed this.” you told him and he looked over at you. “I’m glad you did. I know how you can feel about Christmas and I wanted to give you the best one.” Your heart was melting at the sweet gesture. “You did. This is the best Christmas I’ve ever had and not because of the presents but because of you.” Jamie couldn’t stop smiling and kissed your hand again.

When you arrived home, you were both exhausted. You put the presents on the table for a minute, not having the energy to unpack it right now. You both headed upstairs to put your matching Christmas pajamas on, which Jamie gave you. You both stood in front of the long mirror. Jamie had his arm around you as he pulled you closer to his body. “Let’s make a Christmas photo.” Jamie suggested and you laughed, finding it a great idea. “By the Christmas tree?” you asked carefully, making Jamie smile adoringly at you, his eyes radiating nothing but love. “By the Christmas tree.” He repeated you, making you smile shyly.

You both walked downstairs and placed the phone down for the picture. You took multiple pictures until you both got into a laughing fit. When you were done, you both looked at the pictures that had been taken. “I love them!” you told him as you scrolled through the pictures. You chose the one where you both laughed hysterically and the one where  you looked into the camera and Jamie looking lovingly at you and the third where Jamie gives you a kiss on your cheek.

Jamie and you posted them on Instagram before you went to the kitchen to make some tea. Jamie walked up behind you. “Darling? I have one more present for you…” he told you and you turned around a bit surprised. “Oh Jamie, you didn’t have to….” Jamie smiled and shook his head. He gave you a perfectly wrapped box to you that he held behind his back. You looked up at him still a bit surprised. “Open it” he told you encouraging you again. You carefully unwrapped the present and you saw the box. Your mouth fell slightly open, not believing what he actually got you.

You got the paper completely away and held the box in your arms. It was a camera. Not just a camera but the one you were saving your money for. You were saving this for over a year and a half now and Jamie just gave it to you. you couldn’t believe it and felt tears prickle in your eyes. Jamie smiled lovingly at you, his eyes radiating nothing but love. “Now you’re not limited anymore. You can show the world your talents. I believe in you darling.” The tears slipped. ( you were a concert photographer and was stressing about the pictures because it was a basic camera, not really doing well in low light situations which caused you so much stress). You threw your arms around Jamie and cried. You never really cried about a present but this meant so much to you and Jamie knew that “Jamie….. I…. I don’t know what to say….. Thank you so much! I can’t thank you enough.”

Jamie chuckled and held your chin between his fingers again. “Darling… seeing you smile like this is already enough for me. You deserve it! You’re so talented but were limited by your other camera. Now you are limitless and I know you’ll be great. Big even!” he told you and placed a kiss on your lips before softly wiping away the tears on your cheeks. You chuckled emotionally and cupped his cheeks, pulling him back in a passionate kiss.

You both were exhausted and plopped on the couch with the tea. You put the grinch on while Jamie started reading the book you gave him, which was your favorite. You laid stretched out on the couch while Jamie let his head rest on your stomach as you went softly through his hair with your fingers. You forgot about the movie and stared at Jamie who got a grin, noticing you were staring. “You’re staring darling.” He told you with a smirk but his eyes never leaving the book. You felt flustered but didn’t stop looking. “I’ve never felt more complete than I do now.” you told him honestly.

Jamie looked at you and placed the book away, turning on his side with his head still resting on your stomach, looking at you with a loving smile. “I believe you’re the one as well, love.” He told you, making you smile. “I’ve never felt this for someone. My love grows with the minute and it’s never been this strong for you my love.” You felt shyly. Jamie cupped your jaw with his hand, his thumb softly rubbing your cheek. You both just stared at each other lovingly, enjoying the intimate moment the two of you shared.

“Let’s go to bed, princess.” He told you and helped you up from the couch. You both got ready and plopped in your bed. Jamie rested his head by your shoulder, his finger slowly tracing your arm and drawing invisible patterns. You turned around so you could face Jamie. Your fingers softly tracing the features on his face before you both lazily made out. “Merry Christmas darling.” He whispered softly. “Merry Christmas Jamie.” You smiled. You snuggled closer to Jamie before falling into a deep, peaceful sleep, happy that Jamie was by your side again.

~Next morning~

You slowly woke up, blinking your eyes a few times while you were still wrapped in Jamie’s arms. You lifted your head up a little bit and could see that it was snowing through the blinds. You smiled, feeling once again all fuzzy and content as the warmth hugged your heart. You looked at Jamie who was peacefully sleeping and quickly snapped a pic. You couldn’t let this perfect moment go uncaptured.

Once you did that, you felt Jamie pulling you back in your place, right in his arms as he murmured. “Let’s stay like this for a while, my love.” You smiled and snuggled closer into the warmth from his body. “I’d like that.” You whispered back as he kissed the top of your head.  Jamie pulled the covers more up as you closed your eyes again, enjoying this perfect morning on Christmas day.

[sweeter-innocence-fics]

Breathing Steady (One-Shot)

Pairing: Colin Zabel x Reader

Work Summary: Sequel to Even If It All Comes Crashing Down.

Family life isn't always easy, but it's worth it.

Series Masterlist

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 11149

Read on AO3.

Masterlists.

Taglist: @trashmaximoff

Taglist info.

Notes: I loved writing the first one so much that I had to do a sequel.

I've been really sick this week though so even though I've proofread this like 5 times, there are probably still mistakes, so apologies for that.

Warnings: pregnancy, discussion of trauma and mental illness, pregnant sex, alcohol

Edit: I wrote a fluffy Christmas one-shot in this series called Yours to Keep.

---

“You ready to divide and conquer?” asked Colin, grabbing a basket from the entrance to the supermarket.

“Ready,” you said, handing him his half of the shopping list. Daisy was holding his hand tightly as you grabbed a shopping cart and opened up its baby seat. “Come here, sweetie.”

Daisy seemed torn between her desire to keep holding Colin’s hand and her love of shopping carts. She looked up at him with her little forehead wrinkled up, concern written across her face.

“Hold this,” said Colin, passing you the basket, and then he scooped Daisy up into his arms. “Come on princess, let’s get you in the cart, okay?”

“Okay, daddy,” she said, letting him lift her into the seat.

She was becoming a real daddy’s girl. She did everything he asked of her, unquestioningly, whereas she would hesitate or complain when you asked. It would be annoying if it wasn’t so cute.

“Daddy’s gonna go pick up some stuff,” he said, ruffling her hair. “We’ll meet in the middle in ten minutes. Stay with mama, okay?”

“Okay, daddy.”

Daisy was three and a half now. She’d spent more of her life with Colin as her dad than she had without him. He adored her, and you wondered how you’d got so lucky to have this sweet, handsome, kind man in your life.

You pushed the cart with Daisy in it and started gathering your items. Daisy babbled at you, mostly nonsensically, but you made sure to nod your head and ask her questions as she did so, to show that you were listening.

As you turned a corner, you almost collided with a man who was holding a baby in a papoose. You started to apologise profusely, until you met his eyes.

“Y/N?” It was your ex. Daisy’s biological father. You took a step back without meaning to.

“Mama?” said Daisy, looking concerned.

Your eyes darted from your ex’s face to the baby strapped to his chest. He had a kid. A kid that he was clearly choosing to raise, unlike Daisy. A kid who he’d presumably had with some woman whose pregnancy didn’t disgust him.

Your stomach was churning. He was looking at Daisy.

“Is this-” he started, but you cut him off.

“This is Daisy, yes.”

“Wow. She’s gotten so big,” he said, as if he was some casual acquaintance rather than the biological father who had abandoned her. You just blinked at him. “This is my son, Thomas.” He gestured to his baby. You opened your mouth but no words came out.

“DADDY!” Daisy’s voice made you jump. You looked at your ex, who was staring down at her, feeling a twisting in your gut, as if she’d somehow known, but then you spotted Colin at the end of the aisle. She was calling out to him, not your ex. Colin started towards you. “Mama look,” said Daisy, pointing. “It’s daddy.”

Wordlessly you lifted Daisy out of the cart and placed her on the floor, and she ran over to him. He set his basket on the ground and caught her.

Your ex made a small noise of disapproval, and you rounded on him.

“What?”

He held up his hands. “Nothing. Nothing. I guess it’s just weird to see my daughter calling another man ‘daddy’.”

Your hands curled around the handle of the cart, gripping hard enough that it hurt. You were incandescent with rage.

“Are you serious right now?” you hissed, trying to keep your voice low enough that Daisy and Colin wouldn’t hear you. “She is notyour daughter, you made that very clear when you walked out on me while I was pregnant with her.” Your eyes were hot with tears, but you refused to let them fall. “I hope you’re a better father to Thomas than you were to her, because I’m not letting you anywhere near my daughter.”

“I-”

“Stay away from me,” you said, rubbing at your face with one hand in an effort to hold your tears back.

“What’s going on here?” Colin had walked up to you two, Daisy on his hip and the shopping basket in his hand. He glanced from you to your ex and back, taking in your obvious distress. “Who’s this?”

“No one,” you said, before your ex could introduce himself. “Absolutely no one.” You pushed the cart down to the end of the aisle and turned a corner.

“Y/N?” Colin was right behind you. “What’s wrong?”

“Can we just go home, please?” you said, hating the way your voice cracked.

“Of course we can.”

Thankfully, there were no queues for the checkout. You held Daisy as Colin paid for your items and then started loading them into the cart again.

“Mama,” said Daisy, touching your shoulder.

“Yes, sweetie?”

“What’s wrong, mama?”

“Nothing’s wrong, baby,” you said, hugging her closer to you. “Mama’s just having a bad day.”

She put her arms around your neck and pressed a wet kiss to your cheek. As she snuggled into your neck, a couple of tears fell, but you otherwise managed to keep it together.

You were silent as you walked back to the car. Colin started loading the shopping in the trunk. While you were putting her in her car seat, Daisy yawned, and her eyes fluttered closed. You closed the car door quietly, and felt a hand on your lower back.

“Hey…” Colin’s voice was tentative. “You alright?”

You closed your eyes, exhaling through your nose. “Let’s just get home, okay? And then we can talk about it.”

“I love you,” he said, pressing a kiss to your temple.

“I love you too.”

*

The car ride home was silent. Colin kept shooting you anxious glances, and you did your level best not to meet his eyes. By the time you were pulling into your driveway, Daisy was fast asleep in her car seat.

You watched Colin very quietly and carefully open the car door, undo the straps holding her in and take her into his arms. You unlocked the front door so that he could take Daisy inside, and then went back to the trunk of the car for the groceries. With a stab of guilt and embarrassment, you remembered that you’d only bought about half of the items on your list. Grabbing as many bags as you could carry, you tried to push your anxiety down.

Colin met you on the doorstep. “Here, let me take these,” he said, reaching for the bags in your hands. Normally you would’ve waved him off, but today you just silently held them out to him and let him take them.

You went back to the car, gathered the rest of the bags, and then locked up. When you brought the bags into the kitchen, Colin was already unpacking the rest of them.

“I put Daisy to bed,” he said as he put a fresh jar of coffee into the cupboard.

“Mm. Thanks.” You didn’t say anything else as you unpacked the rest of the groceries. Colin stayed close to you, but said nothing, and you could tell he didn’t know what to say to you. He got like that sometimes. Speechless.

The air between you was heavy. As you put the last bag away, he put a hand on your shoulder.

“Hey, why don’t you go sit on the couch and I’ll make us some coffee?”

“Okay,” you said, nodding. “I don’t want coffee though. I’m feeling a bit nauseated.”

“Hot chocolate?”

“Yes please.”

You went into the living room, but didn’t sit down on the couch right away. On the mantlepiece, there was a photograph of you, Colin and Daisy on your wedding day. You looked radiant and beautiful, all dressed in white, and Daisy looked incredibly adorable in her flower girl dress. Colin was dressed in a dark blue suit, holding Daisy in his arms. Unlike you and Daisy, he wasn’t looking at the camera. He was looking at you, a soft, tender smile on his face. You loved that face.

Your fingers grazed the picture frame, as if you could somehow get closer to it, see more, or fall through it and go back to that day.

“Hey?” You turned to see Colin holding a mug in each hand. “Can we talk?”

Sighing, you said, “of course we can.” You sat down on the couch and took your mug from Colin. It was loaded with mini-marshmallows and cream and it smelled divine.

Colin sat down next to you and set his own mug on a coaster.

“What happened back at the grocery store, baby?” he asked softly, putting a hand on your arm.

All of the tears that you had been holding in for this whole time suddenly came out at once. You began to sob, loud, heaving sobs that wracked your entire body.

Gently, you felt your husband prying your mug from your hand and placing it on the coffee table so that you wouldn’t spill it. His arm curled around your waist, pulling you to him, and you came willingly, burying your face in his neck.

He whispered soothing words to you, about how much he loved you, about how everything was going to be okay, about how he was here for you, rubbing his palm up and down your back.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer until you were sitting in his lap. He shifted to make the position more comfortable, laying one hand on your lower back to support you and the other on your thigh to ground you.

When your tears seemed to have subsided, he tucked some of your hair back behind your ear.

“Who was that guy in the grocery store?”

You took a deep breath, steeling yourself. “My ex.”

“Your ex? Your ex as in-”

“My ex as in Daisy’s biological dad, yes.”

Colin’s grip on your waist tightened protectively. His forehead creased in concern.

“What did he want? Did he say something to you? Did he say something to Daisy?”

You shook your head. “He didn’t want anything, I don’t think. He didn’t speak to Daisy. But when he heard her calling you daddy, he made a shitty comment about his daughter calling another man daddy.”

“What a fucking asshole.”

In spite of yourself, you giggled. “I know, right?” Colin nuzzled the side of your face, and you leant into him, sighing. “He had a baby with him. His son. Thomas.”

“Oh?” Colin’s hand was rubbing circles on your back.

“And I guess it just made me mad that he’s choosing to be a father to this baby when he absolutely refused to do so with Daisy. So I’m angry. And I’m hurt. I wish it didn’t hurt because before today I hadn’t thought about him in ages, but when I saw him with his kid, it just brought everything back. Does that make sense?” You looked at him shyly. Part of you was worried that he wouldn’t understand you, that he’d think you still had feelings for your ex, or that he wasn’t good enough to fill the space that your ex left behind.

“Y/N, my love, that makes perfect sense.” But it was Colin. Of course he understood. He always did. “You have every right to be upset by this. That guy is a fucking asshole and you have always deserved so much better.”

“Well, now I have so much better.” You cupped his face and kissed him softly on the lips. Your thumb traced the line of his cheekbone.

“I can’t believe how much of an idiot you’d have to be to give up on someone like you. You’re perfect. You’re beautiful, loving, compassionate, witty and so intelligent.” You flushed with pleasure, enjoying the warmth of his arms as he held you. “And Daisy is the funniest, smartest, sweetest little kid I know. Your ex is a fucking idiot. If he can’t see how incredible you are, then he doesn’t deserve you or Daisy.”

“Have I mentioned that I love you?”

“You may have said it once or twice,” he said, smiling coyly at you.

“Well, I do.”

“I love you too.”

You turned and swung one leg over him so you were straddling his lap. Cupping his jaw, you kissed his lips, and then his neck, and then his collarbone. His hands slipped under your shirt, one feeling your breast, the other grasping at your hip. You rocked against him, feeling his half-hard cock through his jeans.

Your ministrations were interrupted by a loud, sharp buzzing.

“Fuck,” said Colin, trying to reach into his jeans pocket, but being unable because you were on top of him. You shuffled back and slipped your hand into the pocket, your knuckles grazing deliberately over his fly as you did so. He inhaled sharply. Pulling out his phone, you handed it to him. “Thanks.” He checked the caller ID. “It’s Mare. I’m really sorry, I gotta take this.”

Sighing, you climbed off his lap.

“Hey Mare,” he said into the phone. “Uhhh, no, no, I’m not busy.” He glanced at you, wincing apologetically. You nodded to let him know that it was okay. “Uh-huh…” His expression was drawn tight. “Yeah, okay. I’ll be right there. See ya.” He hung up the phone and then slipped it back into his pocket. “I’m so sorry, baby, but I’ve got to go to work.”

“It’s okay,” you said, feeling a little hollow. You didn’t hold it against him, but you also really didn’t wanna be alone. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He stood up and grabbed his keys and wallet. “We can talk about this more later, okay?” Smoothing a hand through your hair, he kissed your forehead.

“Okay. Will you be home for dinner?”

“I have no idea. I’m sorry. I’ll try to be but I can’t promise anything.”

“Okay.”

He dropped one last kiss on the top of your head, and then he was leaving, and you were alone.

You settled down on the couch, snuggled up with a blanket and your hot chocolate. You watched TV. The next time you looked up, it was dark. Colin still wasn’t home.

Feeling tired and a little depressed, you stood up and stretched. Your back was starting to ache. It was probably your period. It had been a little while since you’d last had one, and it would also explain why you felt so emotional. Curious, you checked your period tracker app.

You were over a week late.

Frowning, you checked again. That didn’t seem right. A slight suspicion was starting to creep in, but you were interrupted by the sound of Daisy’s bedroom door opening.

“Mama? Daddy?” She sounded scared. You realised that you were standing in the dark.

“Mama’s here, baby,” you said, pocketing your phone. You found her standing by her door, clutching her teddy bear to her chest. After flicking the light on, you picked her up and held her.

“Where’s daddy?”

“Daddy had to go to work. Are you hungry?” Daisy nodded. “How do you feel about pizza tonight?” You really didn’t feel like cooking and you needed the comfort food.

“I love pizza. Pizza pizza pizza pizza pizza.”

“We just have to go to the store really quickly, Daisy, and then we can get pizza, okay?”

“Okay, mama.”

You helped Daisy into her coat and shoes, and then grabbed what you needed and headed for the door. It was raining outside. As you stepped out, you suddenly thought this might not be the best idea after all. You didn’t need to do this now. This could wait.

But then, you didn’t think you could rest until you’d checked. Holding Daisy’s hand, you walked to the corner store.

Desire for pizza kept Daisy from complaining about being dragged out in this weather. Her hand felt tiny in yours. So many conflicting emotions were spinning around in your head and it was hard to think.

It was with relief that you made it into the store, the bell above the door jingling as you entered.

“Are we getting candy?” asked Daisy.

“Not today.” When she pouted, you said, “We’re having pizza for dinner, remember?”

“Pizza,” she agreed, her eyes lighting up. She kept repeating the word over and over. You walked over to the toiletries. Grabbing three pregnancy tests as casually as you could, you tried to keep walking, but Daisy stopped babbling to ask you, “what’s that?”

“It’s… medicine,” you said, thinking on your feet.

“Why?”

“It’s for mama’s back pain, sweetie,” you said.

“Oh.”

With Daisy’s hand clasped in your own, you placed the pregnancy tests down on the counter. The cashier glanced at them, and then looked at you, and then Daisy. As you paid, they said a cheery “good luck.”

“Thanks.” You took the bag and stuffed it into the pocket of your coat. “Alright Daisy, let’s get pizza.”

“Yay!” Daisy started up her pizza mantra again. You were too wrapped up in your own thoughts to be bothered by it.

The two of you watched cartoons with your dinner. Normally you liked to eat at the table as a family, but with Colin out at work and you feeling like crap, you really couldn’t be bothered to enforce it.

Part of you was desperate to go and take a pregnancy test, but you knew it was a bad idea. Just wait until Daisy is in bed. That’s all you have to do.

After dinner, you bathed Daisy, kneeling on the floor beside the bath. The toilet was right there. You could take the test without even leaving her alone.

But you couldn’t. She’d ask what you were doing and you couldn’t explain that. You waited patiently, trying to focus on the elaborate game she had made up with her rubber ducks, to take your mind off your late period.

When she was clean and dry, you helped her into her pyjamas and then tucked her into bed.

“What story do you want to read, Daisy?” You showed her a pile of her favourite bedtime storybooks. She couldn’t pick between two of them, and she looked at you with puppy dog eyes, so, with a sigh, you agreed to read her two stories rather than one tonight.

She was asleep halfway through the second one. You finished it anyway. When you were done, you kissed her forehead, switched on her nightlight, and left the room.

You leant back against her bedroom door and exhaled slowly. Although for hours you’d been anxiously wishing you could go to the bathroom to take a pregnancy test, now that you actually had the opportunity, you stomach was churning.

With trembling hands, you took the tests out of your coat pocket and went into the bathroom. The tiled floor was cool against your bare feet. The toilet seat was cold against your bare skin as you sat on it, reading the instructions.

Once you’d peed on the test, you set it aside and washed your hands. Three minutes felt like an impossibly long amount of time. You played a game on your phone, trying not to look at the test. Your stomach hurt.

When your alarm went off, you put your phone down. Eyes fixed straight ahead of you, you picked up the test. It took all the willpower you had in you to force yourself to look down at it.

Positive.

You were pregnant.

You scrambled for the other boxes. Pulling out the other tests, you peed on one and then the other in quick succession, and then put them aside while you waited.

Your breathing was shaky. You washed your hands again. You checked your phone. No notifications. You pulled your trousers up.

The timer on your phone counted down. You watched it, unable to bring yourself to do anything else. When it hit twenty seconds left, you heard the front door open.

“Y/N?” Colin called out softly, clearly not wanting to wake Daisy. You flushed the toilet, and then washed your hands for the third time. You checked both tests. They all said the same thing.

As you exited the bathroom, Colin was standing in the doorway to the living room. He was holding a bouquet of flowers. Your heart stuttered.

“Hey,” he said, pushing the flowers into your hands. “I’m so sorry for missing dinner. I brought you these.”

“Colin-” You tried to cut in but he kept talking.

“I didn’t wanna leave you alone because I knew that you were having a bad day,” he said, stepping into the kitchen. You followed him. “But then Mare called and I had to-”

“Colin.” You set the flowers down on the counter.

“Sometimes this job can be so unpredictable and it really sucks because what I want more than anything in the world is to be here-”

“Colin,” you said, grabbing his face in your hands.

“… Yeah?”

“I’m pregnant.”

“You’re…” His voice trailed off. He stared down at you with an expression that reminded you of the look on his face as you walked down the aisle on your wedding day. His eyes were shiny, and you realised he was tearing up.

“I’m pregnant,” you repeated.

He threw his arms around your waist and pulled you close to him. His face was buried in your neck, breathing you in.

“We’re having another baby,” he said, choked up.

“We’re having another baby,” you agreed.

“Daisy’s gonna be a big sister.”

“She is.”

“I love you so fucking much.” He pulled back to look you in the eyes, hands cupping your face. “So fucking much.”

You grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him in for a kiss. He kept cupping your face, kissing you sweetly and chastely, but you had other ideas. You untucked his shirt from his trousers and started to work on his belt buckle, but felt his hands on yours, stopping you.

“What’s wrong?” you asked, breaking the kiss.

“Is- Is it, like, safe? To- To do this with you, like-” He gestured at your stomach.

You started to laugh. “Are you asking if it’s cool to fuck me while I’m pregnant?”

“I, uh… Yes?”

“Yes, Colin. You can fuck me while I’m pregnant. Our baby is just a bundle of cells right now. They’ll be fine.”

“Well, in that case…” He gripped the bottom of your thighs and you jumped into his arms, wrapping your legs around his waist. With both of you giggling, he carried you to the bedroom.

*

The gel was cold against your stomach. Colin’s fingers interlaced with yours were comparatively warm, keeping you steady. You squeezed his hand, and he squeezed yours back.

“There we are,” said the sonographer, turning the screen to face you. “From the looks of it, you’re about ten weeks pregnant. Everything is looking healthy and normal. Congratulations.” You exhaled in relief.

There they were. Your baby. They looked like a misshapen peanut. You loved them already.

“Thank you so much,” you said, and she handed you some tissues to clean up the gel. She busied herself with typing notes on the computer as you got on with it. Your husband was uncharacteristically quiet beside you. “Colin?”

As you turned to look at him, you saw that he was staring at the sonogram. His hand had gone limp in yours. His brow was furrowed.

“Colin? Are you okay?”

“We’re having a baby…” he said. He sounded as though he might cry. You exchanged a look with the sonographer, who gave you a wry smile.

“We are, yes, Colin,” you said.

“Is this your first child?” the sonographer asked.

“It’s his first, my second,” you explained. “We have a daughter at home.”

“We’re having a baby,” Colin repeated. You squeezed his hand.

“I’ve seen first time fathers react like this before,” said the sonographer, looking amused. “Perfectly normal.”

“Mhm,” you said.

This whole situation was starting to feel a little surreal. When you were pregnant with Daisy, your ex had never shown up for any of your scans. Hospitals freaked him out, apparently. And by the time you started showing, he was out of the door. You leant on your friends, who were with you throughout the pregnancy, taking care of you in any way they could. With Colin here, everything was different.

At that moment, he turned to you, a brilliant smile on his face. “We’re having a baby.”

“Yes, babe, we’re having a baby,” you said. He kissed your forehead. “Are you ready to go home and tell Daisy about this?”

“Absolutely.”

The two of you had agreed not to tell Daisy you were pregnant until the first sonogram. You wanted to make sure that everything was alright before you told her.

You picked her up from Colin’s mother’s house on the way home from the hospital, and Colin was absolutely thrumming with excitement. You almost thought he might spill the beans in the car, but thankfully he managed to contain himself.

He parked the car in your driveway, and before you’d even got your seatbelt off and exited the vehicle, he was scooping Daisy up in his arms and peppering her face with kisses.

“Daddy!” she squealed, giggling. You watched the two of them fondly.

“Alright, who wants ice cream?” you called out.

“ICE CREAM!” yelled Daisy.

Once you were all settled at the kitchen table, each with a bowl of ice cream in front of you, you felt Colin grasp your hand under the table. You made eye contact with him. He raised an eyebrow, questioning, and you nodded.

“Daisy, sweetheart, mama and I have something to tell you,” he said.

“What is it, daddy?” She had ice cream smeared around her mouth.

“You’re gonna have a little brother or sister,” you said. She looked up at you, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion. “We’re having a baby.”

Daisy set down her spoon, her expression serious. “Where is the baby?” she asked.

“The baby’s in mama’s tummy, sweetheart. Do you remember how I told you that you used to be in mama’s tummy?”

“Oh yeah.” Daisy went back to her ice cream, not looking at either of you. Colin glanced at you, looking concerned. He shuffled his chair closer to Daisy’s and set a hand on her shoulder.

“You’re gonna be a big sister, Daisy,” he said. “Are you excited?”

She shrugged. “How does the baby fit in mama’s tummy?”

“Well,” said Colin. “The baby is very small right now, but they’ll get bigger, and mama’s tummy will get bigger.”

As Colin continued to talk to Daisy, trying to coax her feelings out of her, you stood up and went into the living room. From a shelf, you pulled down the photo album from the year you were pregnant with Daisy.

You came back into the kitchen to find Colin cleaning Daisy’s sticky face and hands. You pushed her empty bowl aside and set the photo album down.

“Do you want to see some pictures from when you were in mama’s tummy?” you asked.

“Okay.”

You flipped open the album and turned pages until you got to a picture of you when you were six months pregnant. Unexpectedly, your heart twisted. This was the woman whose boyfriend – the father of her baby – walked out on her because she repulsed him. Your clothes were ill-fitting and you looked exhausted.

You were broken out of your thoughts by Daisy slapping her hand down on the photo, and then tracing the shape of your baby bump with a fingertip.

“That’s you,” you said. “You’re in there.”

“That’s me,” said Daisy in wonder.

As you turned the pages, your bump got bigger. Daisy’s eyes got wider the bigger your bump got, until finally, here was the picture of you in a hospital bed, holding new-born Daisy in your arms.

“Is that… me?” she asked.

“That’s you,” you confirmed.

She turned to you, her eyes big. “Mama?”

“Yes, Daisy?”

She held out her arms to you, and you pulled her into your lap. She pressed the flat of her palm against your stomach.

“When will your tummy get bigger?”

“It’ll take a few months,” you said.

“And when will the baby be here?”

“It won’t be ‘til after your birthday.”

“Oh…”

Gently, you stroked her hair. “Daisy, I want you to know that this is going to be a big change for all of us, but no matter what, your daddy and I love you more than anything.”

“What about the baby?”

“The baby will love you too, because you’ll be their amazing big sister.”

“Will you love the baby?”

“Of course we will. We’ll love both of you, so so much.”

“Okay.”

She put her arms around you and rested her head on your chest. You stroked her hair with one hand and soothingly rubbed her back with the other.

Later, just after putting her to bed, you quietly closed her bedroom door and found Colin sitting in the living room.

“How is she?” he asked.

“I think she’s a little uncertain about this whole thing, but she’ll get used to it.” You flopped down on the sofa beside him.

“And how are you feeling about all of this?”

You bit your lip. “Honestly?” He nodded. “I’m a little terrified.”

He opened his arms, and you sank into them, resting your head on his shoulder. His arm wrapped protectively around your waist and his hand was pressed very gently against your stomach.

“What’s scaring you?”

Exhaling deeply, you pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes. “I know this is ridiculous, and you’re going to tell me that this obviously won’t happen, but…”

“But?”

“I’m scared you’ll leave me.” Colin opened his mouth to say something, but you held up a hand to stop him. “I know it’s stupid and irrational and you’d never do something like that but…” You sighed. “I look at those pictures of me when I was pregnant with Daisy and I can’t stop worrying that I’ll end up alone again.” You were crying now. Teardrops rolled down your cheeks as Colin tightened his grip on your waist.

“Baby,” he breathed. “I would never walk out on you like that. I know you know that. But I understand why you’re scared. Your asshole ex has a lot to answer for. I love you. I love you so much. And I’m Daisy’s dad now, and the father of our unborn baby. There’s no way I’d ever abandon any of you.”

You pulled him closer to you and planted a kiss on his lips. You could taste your own tears.

“I know,” you said. “But sometimes I need that reassurance, I guess.”

Colin pushed a lock of hair back behind your ear. “I’m always here,” he said. “If you ever need to be reassured that I love you and I’m never leaving, please tell me. I don’t want you to suffer in silence.”

“Okay… I will…”

He kissed your cheek. “Do you wanna watch a movie or something?”

“I’d like that.”

*

“Daisy?” you called out. “It’s time to go to grandma Judy’s house. Come on.”

You opened her bedroom door just in time to see her scrambling out from under her bed.

“What were you doing under there, Daisy?”

“Nothing.” She wouldn’t meet your eyes.

Sighing, you got down on your knees to look under the bed. You were six months pregnant, and not as mobile as you had been before. Feeling around for a few moments, you pulled out a teddy bear. Frowning, you reached under the bed again and pulled out another toy. And another. And another.

Daisy had a perfectly good toybox. Why were her toys under her bed?

“What are these doing under here Daisy?” you asked lightly, trying not to make it sound like she was in trouble. She mumbled something. “What was that?”

“They’re my toys,” she said, a little louder. “I don’t want the baby to have my toys.”

“Were you…” Your eyebrows were drawn together in confusion. “… hiding them?”

Daisy looked down. “Maybe.”

You couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Sweetie, of course they’re your toys. No one is going to give your toys to the baby unless you want them to.” You ruffled her hair. “But you are going to have to learn to share, Daisy. Why don’t you choose a toy to take to grandma’s?”

Pensively, she picked up her favourite teddy bear.

“This one?” you asked, pointing to it. She nodded. “Alright, go take this to daddy and ask him to help you put your shoes on.” She nodded again, and then left the room, leaving you to struggle to your feet.

You came into the living room to find Colin tying Daisy’s shoelaces.

“Hey, you ready to go?” he asked.

“Yeah, just let me grab my coat.”

You could tell Colin was nervous. When you dropped off Daisy at his mom’s place, Judy gave him a Look that you couldn’t decipher.

In the car, he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. The two of you had agreed that he would drive to the bar, and you’d drive back, since you couldn’t drink anyway.

When he pulled into the parking lot and parked up, he didn’t get out of the car right away. He didn’t even let go of the steering wheel.

“Everything okay?” you asked.

“Just… There are gonna be some people there that I don’t exactly want to see.”

Colin had mentioned that his ex-fiancée was going to be at the reunion. The thought hadn’t bothered you, but seeing his nervousness put you on edge.

“Well,” you said, shifting in your seat, trying to get comfortable. “I’ll be right there with you the whole night. And we’ve got the house to ourselves, so if it’s shit, we can just go home and have our own party.”

Colin cracked a smile. You patted his thigh comfortingly, careful not to linger too long.

“Alright,” he said, “we got this.”

He stayed close beside you as you made your way into the bar. It was crowded, so he kept one hand on your back, letting you feel his presence.

“ZABEL!” There was a yell from across the bar.

Colin winced. “Come on. I’ll introduce you to some people.”

You weaved your way through the crowd to where a group of guys were standing. They greeted Colin raucously – they had already started drinking – and he responded in a lukewarm manner. You could feel people’s eyes on you, assessing you.

“This is my wife, Y/N,” said Colin. His hand was between your shoulder blades. You shook hands with various people as Colin introduced them, so many that you couldn’t keep their names straight.

“SHOTS!” announced one of the men. Another of them clapped Colin on the back. You watched on in amusement as the group did a round of shots. Colin took the shot and then winced, setting the glass down on the bar.

“Do you want a drink?” he asked, his mouth right next to your ear.

“Orange juice, please.”

“On it. You wanna sit down?”

“I’ll grab a table.”

You made your way over to a booth that was a little way from the main action, but wasn’t so far away as to be unsociable. As Colin ordered drinks at the bar, you watched him, leaning your face on your hand.

He was in the process of picking up his beer and your orange juice when someone stopped him. A pretty, blonde woman had laid a hand on his arm. He turned to look at her, and his face fell, but he quickly rearranged it into a polite smile.

You couldn’t hear what they were saying, but at one point, the woman hugged him, and he held the drinks awkwardly to let her. She held herself unsteadily, as if she’d had a few drinks. More talking. Then, with the hand holding his beer, he pointed over at you. The blonde woman turned to look at you, and you smiled.

You could see Colin attempting to make his excuses, but the woman didn’t seem to be picking up on it, and as he walked back over to you, she came with him. He set down your orange juice in front of you.

“This is my wife, Y/N,” he said. “Y/N, this is Allison.” You raised your eyebrows, but shook her hand politely. So this was his almost-ex-wife.

“Nice to meet you,” you said, glancing back at Colin.

“You too. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see Colin find someone.” There was a passive-aggressive edge to her tone. Before you could say anything else, she had seated herself opposite you in the booth. You shifted up to allow Colin to sit next to you. “So, how did you two meet?” She swayed drunkenly.

“Uh-” Colin started. He was starting to look pink in the face.

“I was in a car accident. He was one of the first cops on the scene, and he looked after my daughter while I was in the hospital.”

Her eyebrows shot up towards her hairline. “That is so surprising. When we were together, he was always so…”

“So?” you asked. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see that Colin’s jaw was clenched.

“I don’t know, he never really seemed like the heroic type.”

It was like the orange juice had soured in your mouth. You looked at Colin. He wasn’t looking at either of you, instead looking away, as if searching for an exit.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter what he seems like to you, does it?” you said, softly but dripping with venom. “He’s my hero.”

She snorted, and you wanted to hit her. You didn’t, though.

“Well, I’m happy you two found each other,” she said, getting to her feet. “See you, Colin.”

As soon as she was out of earshot, you turned to Colin. “Is she always such a bitch?”

“Uh…” Colin let out a nervous laugh. “Only when she’s been drinking.”

“Is there anyone else here you particularly wanna catch up with?” you asked. “It’s a reunion, you probably shouldn’t spend the whole thing sitting in the corner with your wife.”

“But sitting in the corner with my wife is my favourite place to be.”

You giggled. “Well, there’s plenty of time for that later. Let’s go socialise.”

“Okay, fine.”

*

A few hours later, as you were leaving the bar bathroom after peeing for the fourth time, a drunk man stumbled into you, knocking you into a wall. The impact was pretty soft, but Colin was next to you in an instant, with more agility than you thought he was capable of after a few drinks.

“Hey, watch it, dude,” he said, standing between you and the man. “She’s pregnant.”

The man looked down at your stomach. “Sorry, my bad,” he slurred, and then, almost tripping over his feet, walked in the other direction.

“You alright?” Colin had one hand on your shoulder, the other brushing some hair out of your face.

“I’m fine,” you said.

“You ready to head home?”

“Definitely.” You hadn’t wanted to bring it up, but now he mentioned it, your feet were pretty sore, and you were tired, and you were sick of having to go to the bathroom every few minutes.

“Alright, let’s go.” He handed you your coat, and you slipped it on.

“Don’t you wanna say goodbye to anyone?”

Colin glanced around, and then shook his head. “Nah. I’d rather sneak off.”

“Okay, fair enough.”

With Colin right behind you, you picked your way through the crowd of people to the exit, and thankfully made it to the parking lot without anyone stopping you. Once outside, he slung an arm over your shoulder.

“Thank you,” he said as you walked over to the car.

“For what?”

“Being here with me. It would’ve sucked to do this alone.” He pressed a sloppy kiss to the side of your face. His breath smelt like whiskey and beer, but he was keeping it together remarkably well.

“Any time.”

You got into the driver’s seat and readjusted it so that you could reach the pedals. Colin sat in the passenger seat, looking out of the window pensively.

You reached across the centre console to put a hand on his knee, and he turned back to you.

“I meant what I said, you know?” you said.

“What?”

“You’re my hero.”

His face split into a wide, dazzling smile that made your heart skip a beat.

*

As soon as you were through the front door, Colin was wrapping his arms around your waist from behind and resting his chin on your shoulder.

“So…” he said.

“So…”

“We have the house to ourselves tonight.” In spite of yourself, you felt a spike of anxiety run through you.

“Mhm.”

“We haven’t been alone together in a while.”

“You sure you’re not too drunk?”

He kissed your cheek. “I’m too drunk to drive, I’m not too drunk to make love to my wife.”

You opened your mouth, unsure of what to say. You hesitated for a moment too long, and Colin released you, drawing back.

“You alright?” he asked as you turned to face him.

“I’m fine,” you said, unconvincingly. You took his hand and led him to the bedroom.

His fingertips were warm on the back of your neck as he fumbled with the catch on your necklace. You held your hair out of the way to assist him. He set the necklace down the dresser.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, his warm breath tickling your ear.

You turned and your lips found his, your fingers curling into the front of his jacket, pulling him closer. His kisses were sloppy but enthusiastic as he walked you backwards, sitting you down on the edge of the bed.

He sank to his knees, slipping from your grip and leaving you panting. He lifted your foot and started to untie your shoelaces. You giggled as he kissed the inside of your ankle, before slipping off your shoe. He did the same with the other shoe.

As his fingers reached for the waistband of your trousers, you felt a stab of anxiety again. You closed your eyes as he peeled them off you, and then pressed a kiss to your inner thigh.

“You’re wearing too many clothes,” you said, running a hand through his hair.

“Sorry,” he said, grinning at you. “I got carried away.” He stood up and pulled his shirt off over his head, revealing the smooth, flat planes of his torso. You had the overwhelming desire to touch him.

“Help me up,” you said, holding out your arms to him. With an expression of bemusement, he took your hands and pulled you to your feet. You wrapped your arms around his neck immediately and started to kiss him again.

As you fumbled with his belt, his fingertips glided up under your shirt, coming to rest on your hip. You froze.

Colin pulled back to look you in the eye. “What’s wrong?” His skin was warm where it touched yours.

You swallowed. “N-nothing.” He just looked at you in disbelief. Your eyes were starting to sting. “I…”

“Talk to me, baby.” He brought his hand up to cup your cheek, his thumb wiping away a stray tear.

“I just feel…” You closed your eyes so you wouldn’t have to see Colin’s face as you said the next part. “I feel ugly.”

There was a silence. You didn’t dare open your eyes. Colin’s hand moved from your hip to your shoulder.

“Please look at me,” he said. Reluctantly, you opened your eyes. His eyes were big and dark and shiny and he was looking at you with all of the love in the world. “You are, without a doubt, the most astonishingly gorgeous woman I’ve ever met, and you get more beautiful every day.”

“Colin,” you said, half-laughing, half-crying.

“I’m serious.”

“I know you are. I just…” You looked down at your feet. “My ex really fucked up my self-esteem, I guess. I thought I’d gotten past it, but when I look at my pregnant body, all I see is the reason he left me.”

“Baby…” He tilted your chin upwards, forcing you to look him in the eye. His other hand moved to cup your stomach. It took everything in you not to flinch away. “I’m so sorry that he made you feel like you were anything less than perfect. And I’m really fucking sorry that I haven’t been telling you every single day how incredible you are. Because you are, and you deserve to know it.” He kissed the tip of your nose, and your stomach fluttered. “Let me show you?”

You nodded. “Okay.”

His fingers fiddled with the hem of your shirt. “Can I?”

“Go ahead.” You let him pull the shirt off over your head, leaving you in your bra and panties.

“Gorgeous.” He was looking at you reverently. “Lie down for me?”

You lay back on the bed, putting a couple of pillows under your head and one under your hips for comfort. Colin kicked off his trousers so he was only wearing his underwear now.

He crawled onto the bed and hovered over you, bumping his nose against yours. He trailed kisses down your jawline, and then your neck, and then your collarbone. You didn’t protest as he unhooked your bra and tossed it to the side.

“Fuck, baby,” he said, taking one breast in each hand and gently squeezing them. “You look incredible.”

His tongue traced your nipple gently, coaxing it to full hardness. Given that the two of you were alone in the house, you didn’t try to hold back your moans. As Colin’s lips wrapped around your other nipple, you gasped loudly, threading your fingers through his hair.

“Fuck,” you whispered as he tugged at your nipple with his teeth. Your whole body was thrumming with energy.

He released your boobs and started kissing his way down to your stomach. Normally, he’d keep going downwards, but this time he stopped, lavishing your baby bump with tender, chaste kisses. There were tears in your eyes.

You reached out, sliding your fingers under his chin, turning his face towards you.

“I love you so much,” you murmured. “I’m so glad I have you.”

“You’re my world,” he said simply, and then continued his path downwards. You spread your legs, making space for him. He seemed to fit perfectly between them, massaging your thighs with his fingers and kissing just above the waistband of your panties.

You shifted uncomfortably. He was so close, his face inches from your pussy, just a thin layer of fabric away from you, and you were so, so turned on. He touched you through your panties, and an embarrassingly loud moan escaped your lips. His eyes met yours. He grinned at you and then tugged your panties down.

As he dragged them down your legs, you tried to cover yourself instinctively, but he pulled your hands away.

“I haven’t shaved,” you said, feeling embarrassed to even be bringing it up, but Colin just pressed his face against you and breathed you in.

“I don’t care,” he murmured, and then rolled his tongue over your clit.

“Colin,” you moaned, gripping his hair. You felt him exhale sharply; he liked it when you pulled his hair.

Bringing his hands up to the outside of your thighs, he dove into you, face first, touching and tasting and opening you up, making you feel pleasure you hadn’t felt in months. You don’t know how long he was down there between your thighs, but when he finally came up for air, he was drenched in your cum.

“Colin,” you breathed, sounding thoroughly fucked out. “I need you.”

Hastily, he pulled off his underwear, revealing his thick, aching erection.

“Where do you want me?”

“Like this,” you said, pulling him towards you with your legs. “I want to see your face.”

Colin hovered over you, carefully keeping a few inches from your stomach. The blunt head of his thick cock pressed against you, and you followed it instinctively, trying to draw him inside you. He chuckled.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Colin, if you don’t fuck me right now, I swear to- ah-” Colin pushed inside you, and your moans echoed through the silent bedroom.

Your hands in his hair, sweat dripping down his forehead, he fucked you slow and deep. Just like he’d fit perfectly between your thighs, it seemed he’d carved out a perfect space inside you that he was filling with his cock.

Your legs wrapped around his waist, your toes curling against his back.

“Colin,” you gasped as he hit your g-spot. His eyes fluttered closed briefly, and then he opened them again, fucking you a little faster.

“You feel so fucking good, baby,” he murmured. “You gonna come on my cock, pretty girl?”

You nodded, no longer able to verbalise your thoughts. Colin was pounding against your g-spot, each thrust bringing you closer to the brink. His hands skated down your sides, the barest hint of fingernails biting into your skin.

“Fuck. Fuck,” you gasped, sliding your hand between your legs and rubbing your clit. Colin grabbed your chin with one hand and kissed you, squeezing your face almost hard enough to hurt. With his tongue in your mouth, he swallowed your moans as you came, clenching around him.

“Fuck, that’s good,” he said, pulling back from you, and then burying his face into your neck as he rutted into you.

“Yes, yes, come for me, baby,” you whispered. “Come for me.”

Colin groaned, and then swore, his breath hot on the skin of your neck. You tugged on his hair, and he let out on last cut off moan, before coming inside you.

He collapsed sideways and rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling.

“How was that?” you asked.

“Magical,” said Colin.

*

You were laying back on the couch, eight and a half months pregnant, TV remote in hand, when your phone rang. Caller ID told you that it was Daisy’s pre-school calling. Frowning, you answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is that Daisy’s mother?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Daisy isn’t feeling very well. She needs to be picked up.”

“Okay, thank you, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Thank you, see you soon.”

You hung up the phone and struggled to sit up. You weren’t really dressed for going out in public, but you were exhausted, and Colin was at work, so you just slipped on some comfortable shoes and a hoody and went outside.

Daisy’s pre-school was a short walk from your house. You walked slowly, your leg muscles aching. You’d been planning on doing some stretches before picking Daisy up, but this had really thrown off your schedule.

One of the teachers greeted you at the door. “So sorry to drag you out like this,” she said, taking in your swollen, pregnant belly.

“That’s alright. Where is she?”

The teacher led you into a side room, where Daisy was sitting, already in her coat and shoes and clutching her lunchbox. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her face blotchy.

“Mama!” she called out as soon as she saw you, running across the room to you and wrapping her arms around your leg.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” you asked, stroking her hair. She didn’t respond. Instead she pulled back and made grabby hands at you, clearly wanting to be picked up. You winced. “Mama’s back is pretty sore right now, baby, do you think you can walk?”

Daisy’s face fell, her arms dropping to her sides. You looked down at the floor, and an overwhelming wave of guilt crashed over you.

With great effort, you squatted down and folded her into your arms. She wrapped her arms around your neck, and you stood, propping her up on your hip as you did so. It was uncomfortable and awkward but Daisy was clinging to you with her little fingers curled into your shirt, and you knew she needed you.

“Thank you for calling me,” you said to the teacher. “I’ll take her home now.” Daisy rested her head on your chest, and you curled your arms protectively around her.

The walk back to your house was even slower than the walk there. Holding her like this was uncomfortable, but you didn’t want to put her down and see that little look of disappointment on her face.

Finally, on the doorstep of your house, you set her down. She was reluctant, but you had to insist, on the promise that you could cuddle her as much as she wanted once you were inside.

As you were rooting around in your bag for your keys, the front door opened. Colin let out an unmistakable sigh of relief as he took in the sight of the two of you.

“You’re home early,” you said.

“Yeah, it was pretty quiet so the chief let me go,” he said. He looked from you to Daisy, taking in her red eyes and tear-stained cheeks, and frowning. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

Daisy didn’t say anything. You nudged her forward until she stepped into the house, and then shut the door behind you.

“I got a call from Daisy’s teacher saying she wasn’t feeling well,” you explained.

“Oh no,” said Colin. “How about daddy reads you a story, huh Daisy? Would that make you feel better?”

Daisy wrung her little hands. She closed her eyes, and tears began to fall. It always unnerved you when this happened. Daisy cried silently, not for attention, but from genuine sadness. She had done this every now and again since the car accident, and it always frightened you.

“What’s wrong, baby?” you asked, fear edging into your tone.

“Want mama,” she said quietly.

“Mama’s right here.”

“Hold me.”

You moved to squat down again, but Colin put a hand on your shoulder. “Don’t strain yourself,” he said.

“Come on Daisy,” you said, holding out your hand to her. “Let’s go sit on the couch.” She took your hand.

You made yourself comfy on the couch and patted the space beside you. Daisy tucked herself against your side, resting her head on your bump. You curled an arm around her, holding her. Daisy didn’t say anything.

Colin emerged from the kitchen a few minutes later with some fruit cut up on a plate and a juice box.

“Here you go, sweetheart,” he said, holding out the plate and juice to her. She picked up a piece of apple and put it in her mouth.

The three of you sat in silence while she ate. When she was done with the apple, she drained her juice box, and then had a couple of segments of satsuma. Still, she said nothing.

Eventually, you couldn’t take it anymore. “Please tell me what’s wrong, Daisy.”

She looked at you, and then at Colin. “…Daddy?”

“Yes, Daisy?”

“Are you my real daddy?”

His mouth fell open. He glanced at you over her head, but you were just as surprised as he was. In the back of your mind, you knew this would probably come up eventually, but you hadn’t thought of you how you’d deal with it when it did.

“Yes,” said Colin, decisively. “I am your real daddy.”

“Michael said-” Her breath hitched. “Michael said you’re not my real daddy and when the baby comes you won’t love me anymore.”

Anger flared inside you. Michael was the older brother of one of her classmates. You were going to have to call the school about this.

Colin evidently saw the flash of anger in your eyes, and shuffled closer. He put one hand on Daisy’s shoulder, and the other, soothingly, calmingly, on your bump.

“I think what Michael meant by that is that I’m your stepdad,” he began. His words were measured, careful. “Which I am. But that doesn’t mean I’m not your real dad. Of course I’m your real dad.”

“What is a stepdad?”

“It means…” Colin looked at you, uncertain.

“Daddy met you and me after you’d already been born, Daisy. That’s what it means.” It wasn’t the most elegant explanation, but you wanted her to understand.

“Oh…” She seemed moderately confused, but didn’t ask further questions.

“But stepdad or not, I am your real dad,” said Colin. “You’re my baby girl and I love you more than anything. Nothing is ever going to stop me loving you. The new baby being born won’t change that. I have enough love for both of you.”

She turned to him and held out her arms, making grabby hands at him, so he pulled her into his lap and hugged her tight.

“I love you, daddy,” she murmured.

“I love you too, princess,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

*

“Mama,” said Daisy, holding out a piece of paper and a crayon. It was later that same evening, and she seemed to have perked up a lot since Colin had reassured her. Colin was in the kitchen cooking dinner, and you and Daisy were watching cartoons in the living room.

“Yes, baby?”

“Help me write this.”

You took the paper from her with a mixture of confusion and amusement. “What am I writing?”

“Daffodil,” said Daisy. Leaning on the coffee table, you wrote the word ‘daffodil’ on the page with the crayon. “Now write ‘Bluebell’.” You did ask she asked. “Buttercup.”

“What is this, sweetheart?” you asked, writing down the word ‘Buttercup’.

“Names.”

“Names?”

“For the baby,” she said. “You and daddy haven’t decided yet and the baby needs a name.” You just stared at her, dumbfounded. “And I think the baby should have a flower name like me.”

“Thank you, Daisy,” you said, putting an arm around her. “We’ll be sure to bear these suggestions in mind.”

*

The next day, Colin had the day off work, so the two of you decided to go out for lunch while Daisy was at pre-school.

“… and so Daisy’s teacher said she’d be speaking to Michael’s parents about what he said to Daisy.”

“Good,” said Colin, squeezing your hand.

“I don’t know if this is my pregnancy hormones talking but god I wanted to hit that kid.” Colin gave you a look, and you held up your hand. “Joking, obviously. Kinda. But seriously, how dare he say something like that to her. But more importantly, where did he get that from? He’s not old enough to have come that conclusion by-”

There was a sudden screeching of tyres. You were halfway across a road, Colin’s hand in yours, but then he was stepping in front of you, guarding your body with his as a car swerved off the road and hit a streetlamp.

Your lungs felt as though there wasn’t enough oxygen in the world. The car had missed the two of you by less than a foot.

“Hey,” Colin yelled. Your eyes fluttered open – when did you close them? – but he wasn’t talking to you. The car was wrapped around a streetlamp. Instinctively, you took a step back, feeling dizzy.

The car door opened, and the driver tumbled out into the road. Thankfully he seemed uninjured.

Colin held out a hand to him and helped him to his feet. “Are you hurt?” he asked. The man shook his head. “Good. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I-”

“You just ran a red light and nearly hit my pregnantwife. I should arrest you right here.”

You were breathing hard. In snatches, you remembered your car being T-boned. You remembered the pain. You remembered how Daisy had screamed.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean-”

The conversation between Colin and the driver faded in and out. All you could hear was your own shallow breathing, and then, suddenly,

Pop.

You looked down. There was a patch of dampness at the crotch of your trousers.

“Colin,” you said hoarsely, but he didn’t hear you. He seemed so far away all of a sudden. “Colin.”

He turned. You were holding your hands out to him, like you were trying to keep your balance. His forehead creased with concern.

“Are you alright?” he asked, sounding like you were hearing him from underwater.

“I think my waters just broke.”

His eyes widened. The driver was staring at you too, his face a mask of horror.

“Okay, okay,” said Colin, putting his arm around your shoulders and guiding you out of the road.

“It’s early. The baby isn’t due for another two weeks.”

“It’s gonna be okay,” he said. “It’s gonna be okay. Stay here for just one second, baby. I’m gonna go get the car.”

It was parked just around the corner. The two minutes it took for him to retrieve it and come back seemed like an eternity.

He pulled up beside you, and then got out to help you into the passenger seat. A contraction hit you, and you hissed in pain.

“It’s gonna be okay, baby,” he murmured.

“Someone needs to pick up Daisy,” you said.

“She’s still at pre-school for a couple of hours, don’t worry, I’ll sort it.”

He got behind the wheel and set up his speakerphone. First, he called the station to report the accident. Then, the hospital to let them know you were on your way. Lastly, he tried to call his mother. It went straight to voicemail. He tried again, but the result was the same.

“What about Louise, maybe?” he suggested, frowning.

“She’s out of town,” you said, leaning your head back against the headrest.

“I’ll try Mare.”

“Okay.”

Mare picked up on the third ring. Colin hastily explained the situation to her, and asked her to pick up Daisy from pre-school, which she agreed to.

The whole time, you cradled your bump, trying to breathe deeply. It was all going to be fine. Colin was here. You were okay.

*

The labour was harder than it had been with Daisy. With Daisy, you were in hospital for a total of four hours. This time, it was closer to twelve.

While you sat waiting for your cervix to dilate, Colin fussed over you: he brought you water and snacks from the vending machine, since you’d missed lunch; he mopped your brow and kept your hair out of your face; he held your hand through your contractions, and didn’t let go or complain when you squeezed his fingers too hard.

Colin’s mother called back during this period. He told her that you were in labour, and you could hear her excitement through the phone.

She apologised for not picking up earlier; she had food poisoning, and she’d been sleeping. Colin told her not to worry about it, Mare was taking care of Daisy, and she could come and see the baby when she felt up to it.

After what felt like an age, the doctor confirmed that your cervix had dilated enough, and you were wheeled to the delivery room. Colin didn’t let go of your hand for the entire time.

*

She had his mouth. And the shape of her nose was distinctly Colin-like. You were in awe of her. She was just so small.

“You wanna hold her?” you asked Colin. So far, he had just been watching, staring down at the bundle in your arms with his dark eyes wide with wonder.

“I- She’s so-” He looked moderately panicked.

“Come closer.”

Taking a deep breath, Colin sat on the edge of your hospital bed. Guiding his movements with your hands, you passed him your daughter. He looked down at her face, and exhaled slowly.

“She’s so beautiful,” he murmured. At that moment, she let out a tiny yawn, and Colin’s jaw dropped. Her little hands were curled into fists. Her eyes opened just a crack, and she looked up at him. “Hi, lovely,” he said. “I’m your daddy. Nice to meet you.” She just stared at him.

On the bedside table, his phone began to buzz. The caller ID informed you that it was Mare calling.

“You should take that,” you said. Carefully, he handed the baby back to you, and then answered the phone.

You barely heard the conversation he was having. Your daughter was in your arms, staring up at you with curiosity in her dark grey eyes. You wondered if her eyes would end up looking more like yours or Colin’s.

“Mare’s outside with Daisy,” said Colin. “She was just calling to see if we’re ready for her to bring her in.”

You nodded, not taking your eyes off the baby. You didn’t look up until the door to your hospital room opened.

“Hi,” said Mare. Daisy was standing a little bit behind her, clutching her hand.

“Thank you so much for babysitting Daisy,” said Colin.

“It was no trouble. Really.”

“Hey princess.” Colin squatted down to Daisy’s level. “You wanna come meet your baby sister?”

Daisy nodded. He scooped her up and, with her in his arms, sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Hi Daisy,” you said. “This is Rose. Come say hi to Rose.”

Curiosity piqued, Daisy crawled forwards and peered down at her baby sister. “Hi Rose,” she said. “Why does she look so squished?”

You chuckled. “New-born babies often look a little bit squished. She’ll start looking more normal in a couple of days. Do you want to hold her?”

“Yes.”

“You have to be very careful, okay, sweetheart?” said Colin. “She’s very little so you have to hold her very gently.”

“Okay, daddy.”

With Colin’s help, you passed Rose into Daisy’s arms. Colin leant over her shoulder, ensuring that she was supporting her head and being gentle. From across the room, you heard the sound of a photo being taken on Mare’s phone.

“Don’t mind me,” said Mare. “Just thought I should capture this moment.”

“Thank you, Mare.”

“I’ll leave you guys to it. Give me a call if you need anything else.”

She left the room, leaving your little family unit alone.

“Rose is a flower,” said Daisy.

“It is a flower, that’s right.”

“Like Daisy.”

“Exactly. You said we should call her a flower name too, and you were right.”

Daisy was silent for a long moment. You stroked her hair with one hand.

“Mama?”

“Yes?”

“Can I have a cuddle?”

“Of course you can, baby,” you said. “Colin, take Rose.”

Colin carefully took the baby from Daisy’s arms and held her against his chest. You pulled Daisy into your lap and wrapped your arms around her.

“I love you, mama,” she said.

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

“I love daddy. And I love Rose.”

Colin sat down on the bed beside you again. You rested your head on his shoulder. Rose seemed to have fallen asleep in his arms. You felt the pressure of his lips against the top of your head.

“We all love you too, Daisy,” said Colin.