#and my brother and sister in law have said if they do have kids they’re going to name them after Granpa Leo

[desperatecheesecubes]

I get emotional sometimes about the tradition of giving kids the names of loved ones who’ve passed on

[eretzyisrael]

This account, first published in JewishNews, is written by an anonymous London-based Guardian employee who has family living on a kibbutz in southern Israel. It offers a look at life in the newspaper’s offices in the days since Hamas’s attack on Israel.

I wake up on October 7 to a text from my brother-in-law: “Thoughts are with your family in Israel. I hope everyone is safe.”

I check the news. Hamas has entered southern Israel. They’re in a kibbutz. My partner’s family is in that kibbutz. His cousin is nine months pregnant. He’s in contact with them; they’re in the safe room. Terrorists are outside.

I check social media. Reports of hostages, maybe three. I check again; perhaps ten.

There has been a massacre at a music festival. I look at the video. Who do I know there? I check social media again; there are videos of hostages. I look at their faces. Do I know them?

We lose contact with family in the kibbutz. I tell myself that the phone lines are down because the IDF are there. I watch Hamas footage as it is coming out. I go on Telegram for the first time in my life and I see a room full of bodies covered in blood. I see children gunned down. I see the bodies of raped women. I see families holding each other as Hamas livestreams atrocities. I look for people I might know.

My partner and I walk 30,000 steps. There’s nothing we can do. Late that evening we hear that his family is safe but their house is gone, neighbors are dead.

I don’t understand. I could have easily been there and part of me thinks I was.

I look at the papers the next day. The newspaper I work for has a tank on the front page: ‘Hundreds die and hostages held as Hamas assault shocks Israel’—victorious terrorists hold a Palestinian flag. The subheading reads ‘Netanyahu declares war as 150 Israelis die. 230 Palestinians killed in air strikes.’

I don’t understand. I know people, Israelis, who were murdered. They did not “die,” as if in some kind of accident. I saw footage of terrorism. It was not an “assault.”

The front page of The Observer, The Guardian’s sister Sunday newspaper, on October 8, the day after the Hamas massacre. (via The Observer)

On Sunday, we get more information about what happened to my partner’s family, about how Hamas set the family’s house on fire when they thought it was empty, how my partner’s cousin screamed for her life when the room filled with smoke, how her husband had to pin her down to stop her cries, how Hamas laughed when they realized the family would need to crawl out of the room, how they refused to leave the burning building. We hear that they somehow survived and walked out through pools of their neighbors’ blood, pieces of dead children littering the street; kids who’d been playing on a Saturday morning.

I’m safe, I’m fine, but I can’t comprehend the color of the sky or the rustle of the trees. I look around at people enjoying their Sunday and I think: Do they not know what is happening? I check the news again and see there are more hostages. I look through the names.

There are still terrorists in Israel.

I listen to the radio, one Israeli interviewee and then one Palestinian. I can hear that the interviewer is struggling as defenders of Hamas justify terrorism. I don’t understand. Is this how they reported the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Did they platform Putin’s people?

I check social media. A friend has posted: “They’ve broken out of jail.” Another has said: “Today is a day of celebration,” and someone else has shared an infographic of “Settler colonialism for beginners.” My old flatmate tells her followers she will be at the demonstration outside the Israeli embassy and she invites people to join her.

On Monday I go to work. How are your family, a colleague asks. When I answer, she squirms. Can’t they just leave, my colleague says. No, they can’t actually.

I look at the morning newsletter for the newspaper I work for. It breaks down the number of dead Palestinian children. It does not mention dead Israeli children.

My group chats are exploding as family and friends work out what has been happening, who is alive. I go back to the news. I type the name of the kibbutz into the wires. Nothing. I read how Hamas invaded “settlements.” They’re not settlements! They’re small, pre-state kibbutzim.

I find out that a friend of a friend was at the music festival and is missing. I’m shaking at work.

I see a colleague who had posted about “decolonization” all over social media over the weekend. They’re laughing with the rest of their team. They’re having a great day. I used to love their podcast, full of hot takes and celeb gossip. Now they’ve evolved into an expert on the Middle East. It doesn’t look like their family is in the middle of it, though.

No one else at work speaks to me about it. I nod my way through conversations about fonts and I stumble home.

I go back the next day. I look at the front page. A photo of Gaza and “violence escalates.” Israelis “dead” but Palestinians “killed.” If they can’t empathize with the Jews now, they never will.

I email the editors. I tell them that my newspaper’s coverage has been upsetting. They tell me that their thoughts are with my family but they stand by the paper’s reporting.

I hear colleagues complaining about the newspaper’s “American readers. They’re always accusing us of antisemitism.” They’re laughing.

I leave work early to go to a vigil outside Downing Street. People quietly weep. Everyone there is Jewish.

I’ve seen on social media that I know people going to a demonstration. Later, I see photos of it: people on lampposts, red flares, Jews hiding inside, the Israeli embassy boxed in. All kinds of people are united in the chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” In Sydney, they are shouting: “Gas the Jews.”

On Tuesday, I find out that my friend’s friend at the music festival is dead. I remember the day I’d spent with him on the beach in Tel Aviv last month. He’d gotten back from South America and was excited to travel again. He had been gentle and sweet. I don’t understand.

On Wednesday, I go to work again, and the next day, and the next day. Finally, the pictures from the kibbutz come out. I look at all of them. I rewatch the footage. I bear witness. No colleague asks me how I am again that week.

I go to synagogue at the weekend and cry with my community. The rabbi holds space for pain. I say Kaddish for the boy at the music festival I will never talk to again.

Back at work I see someone pointing to a photo of the Israeli flag burning in the newspaper. They laugh, “This is my favorite picture.”

I remember telling my family that when I next went to Israel I’d lie to my colleagues and tell them it was Spain. I’d lie because my colleagues had said to me of Israel: “You gotta go while you still can.”

Now another colleague asks me what I think of Netanyahu. Do I hold him responsible? I explain that I have protested against Netanyahu but the only people responsible for October 7 are Hamas. She keeps asking me about the settlements. I tell her they’re bad but she won’t stop. “Don’t you think Bibi has a lot to do with this?” I ask her if she has family in the region. She does not.

I’m on social media again. Friends share infographics from Jewish Voice for Peace and heavy-hitting images from the Gaza Health Ministry. I don’t disagree with what they’re posting but they said nothing when October 7 happened. I start unfollowing decades-old friends.

In the days that follow, my synagogue receives a bomb threat, my local rail station has photos of missing children ripped off, I hear of more friends of friends who have been killed. I hear of others who are now enlisted. I hear that a synagogue president in America has been stabbed to death and synagogues all over the world have been vandalized and destroyed.

The newspaper I work for is covering the bombardment of Gaza and I watch in horror. I think that Israel must defend itself. Yet when I say this, people will tell me I am justifying the murder of children. They will tell me it is a genocide.

As the events of October 7 draw on collective Jewish memory of pogroms and the Holocaust, the newspaper I work for will dispel that myth, publishing a piece entitled “Israel must stop weaponizing the Holocaust.” Am I wrong to connect our grief today with that of our past?

In the weeks that follow, I will apply for other jobs and speak exclusively to Jewish friends and family. I will hide myself away from the streets of London and the waves of social media.

I will not forget the photos and videos I saw on October 7, but I start to think about how this day will be marked; how my children’s children will take part in a new commemoration, where we will remember not the Romans or the Persians or the Nazis but Hamas, and how we survived.

Intergenerational trauma has been retriggered but now is not the time to dwell on our historical violent oppression. Now is the time to rise up, speak out, and defend our right to exist. Now is not the time for colleagues to dismiss Jewish pain or publish inflammatory op-eds that will spark more violence.

I will keep applying for other jobs.

[joeybsversion]

Since Her

Joe Burrow x Reader

Joe dates his teammates little sister

The low buzz of your phone distracted you from your show again.

Joey: Come over

You rolled your eyes before sending off your response “aren’t you with the guys?” And turned your attention back to the TV.

Another buzz. “I’m never going to get through this episode.” You grumbled to yourself.

Joey: Yeah but you can come

Joey: please

You turned your attention back to the TV, ignoring your phone. Another string of buzzes distracts you again. This time though, it was a phone call.

“Hello?” You answered.

“Are you coming?” Joe asked.

“Joey.” You giggled. “You’re with the boys. And my brother is there. It’s awkward.”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re my girl and you’re my priority.”

You couldn’t help but smile at his response. “You know Sam doesn’t like the idea of us being together.”

“Please.”

“Fine.” You said, giving in and climbing from your bed to get ready.

You quickly fixed your makeup and slipped out of your sweats. “So much for getting caught up on my shows.” You clicked the TV off and headed out the door.

Joe was having a small party at his place with some of his closest friends from the team. One of them being your older brother, Sam Hubbard. Sam did not like the idea of you and Joe together and made it extremely clear.

You anxiously pulled into Joes driveway, bracing yourself for your brothers reaction when he saw you come in.

You knuckles met the wood of the door as you knocked.

“What are you doing here?” Sam growled as he opened the door.

“I’m here to see Joe.” You stepped around him and made your way inside.

“You’re not. Because Joe knows better.” He grabbed you by the wrist.

“Sam. Stop.” You pulled your arm away.

“I’m serious. I told the team they have to keep their hands off my little sister.”

You glared. “You invoked a team wide hands off law? Are you kidding me?”

“Of course I did.” He answered smugly.

“Who does that, Sam? You can’t just go around and tell the team they’re not allowed to date me or you’ll kick their ass.”

“I didn’t tell the whole team. Do I look like I have that kind of time?” He flashes a grin. “I told Joe.”

“You’re unbelievable.” You rolled your eyes. “Why can’t you just let me be happy?”

“Here’s the thing, I don’t give a fuck if he’s a multimillionaire, or the king of England, you’re not dating him.”

“And you’re done telling me what I can and can’t do.” You turned your back and walked away through the house to find Joe.

“Hi Joey.” You smile at him as you find the quarterback in the crowd of people.

“Baby.” He smiled and ran his hands along your sides, pulling you into him until your chests are touching. You look up at him and he kisses you, sliding his arms around your waste with something that feels a lot like possession. You could feel Sam’s stare burning into the back of your head.

“Your brothers staring.” Joe nervously laughed before pulling you in for another kiss.

“Good.” You laughed and kissed him back.

“Do you wanna go outside?” Joe pulled a cigar from his pocket and flashed you a cheeky grin.

“Sure.” You smiled and took his hand, following him out back.

You could hear the music from the party outside. The weather was cooler and it was a perfect fall night. You slowly danced and swayed to the music as Joe pressed the cigar to his lips, getting a light buzz from the nicotine.

“Are you trying to seduce me? Out here dancing wearing this?” He questioned.

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“It makes me think of you not wearing it.”

“Joe.” You muttered as he kissed down the side of your face.

“I want you so bad right now. But I can’t” he groaned, continuing to kiss down your neck.

“They’ve got you too, with these superstitions?” You pouted.

“Sam believes it.”

“Now you bring up my brother.” You laughed. “You really are trying to kill the mood.”

“I clearly and specifically told you, no sex after a home game win. It’s bad luck.” He blew out a puff of smoke from his cigar.

You rolled your eyes.

“You’re seducing me again.”

“What? How?” You laughed.

He shook his head, grabbing you by the hand. “Cmon, let’s go back inside.”

As you stepped back in the door you could feel Sams gaze on you again. You were sure he had just witnessed that incident outside and there was no way he’d be happy about it.

You can feel the tension in the air engulf you as Sam walks over and places a hand on Joe’s shoulder.

“Let’s go.” He flashes his cigar at Joe before leading him back outside. You stayed put in your spot.

Joe raises a cocky eyebrow and chuckles as he puts his cigar back between his lips. “I like her Sam.” He admits. “I really fucking like her.”

“Maybe that’s true.” Sam lights his cigar. “But what happens when you get bored in a week or a month or a year from now?” He lowers his voice ensuring no one else can hear. “You’re gonna break her heart, bro.”

“No I’m not.” He says simply, looking over his shoulder to watch you through the window. “I’m not that guy anymore.”

“Since when?”

He shrugs and blows his smoke out, grinning to himself. “Since her.”

[maxillness]

Girls Like Girls || S.S x Wolff!Reader

Warnings: 18+, cheating, fingering, oral, multiple orgasm, nipple play, google translate Polish, jealous!toto, sub!susie, biting, overstimulation, minimal aftercare

Wordcount: 1.6k

The moment she saw her face she knew she had to get with her

But she was his

She is his

At the time they met, she had just started dating her brother, and now they’re married with a kid

She still wanted to get in her pants as much as all those years ago

He knew about this. She told him, but he trusted her not to do anything now that they were married and had Jack, so he didn’t think about it all that often

He also didn’t forbid them to be in the same room, which prompted them to be as good friends as they are now

He might think that she wouldn’t do anything about her little crush, but damn was he wrong, she just waited for the right time

And that might just be now

It was race week, and to not get herself bored, she asked Susie if she wanted to go out

“Sure. Where?” She had responded as her sister-in-law stood in her hotel room

“I don’t know. We can find a Café or we can window shop- anything really to not get bored” She chuckled slightly, knowing it was because she just wanted to be close to her and in her presence

“Okay. Give me two minutes” She said, disappearing into the bathroom

They found a little comfy café nearby, deciding to sit down and enjoy a hot drink and a pastry each

They made a few small talks talking about everything and nothing before they were finished and decided to go and look at shops

They didn’t buy anything as they didn’t find anything they liked or wanted

They eventually walked by a jewellery store, where a necklace caught Susie’s eyes

“It’s so beautiful” She said, eyes shining like a child in a candy store “But, it’s so expensive” She sighed, looking at the price tag beside it

“I’ll buy it for you” She said, making Susie turn towards her in surprise

“What? No. I can’t possibly accept that” She said, but her eyes kept drifting back the the green emerald in the chain

“Why not? You want it and it’ll look beautiful on you, and if you buy it for yourself, it’ll be a gift from me” She smiled, seeing the way her mouth hang slightly open hearing her words “It’s a gift, okay?”

“Okay” She nodded, too stunned to speak as she was nearly dragged into the store by her hand

They both sat on the small couch in Susie’s and Toto’s hotel room, both with a cup of coffee in their hands

Both their heads turned towards the door as they heard the door unlock

“Hey” Toto said as he saw them on the couch “What have my two favourite girls been up to today?” He asked, placing a soft kiss on Susie’s forehead

“Went to a café and window shopped” Susie answered, taking a sip of her coffee

“This doesn’t look like window shopping” He said, taking the charm of her new necklace in his hand “Looks expensive”

“Um-“ “It was a gift” She interrupted her sister-in-law, looking up at Toto whose eyes were soft with anger

“A gift, huh?” He said, letting the charm go, letting it fall back to his wife’s chest

“Yeah, generous, right?” She said, standing up from the couch. They watched as she went to the bathroom before Toto turned to his sister

“Czy to jest twój sposób na dostanie się do jej spodni?” Is this your way of getting into her pants?. He asked, switching to Polish knowing damn well Susie could German

“Oczywiście nie. To tylko pieprzony prezent, Toto. chciała tego, ale uważała, że ​​jest za drogi” Of course not. It’s just a fucking gift, Toto. She wanted it but thought it was too expensive. She stood up discarding her coffee

“Boże, zrobisz wszystko, prawda?” God, you’ll do anything, right?. He said, not noticing Susie had stepped out of the bathroom

“To moja szwagierka, mogę jej dawać prezenty, jeśli chc��, i nie będzie to dziwne. robisz to dziwnie” She’s my sister-in-law, I can give her gifts, and it won’t be weird. You’re doing it weird. It was then they both noticed her standing in the room

“I’ll see you tomorrow” She said, leaving the hotel room

It was later the same night, and she sat on the bed, still in her clothes from earlier, scrolling on her phone

She heard a knock on the door. She put her phone on the bed, standing up from the bed

She opened the door see Susie standing there, changed into comfy clothes; a tank top and sweats, socks without shoes

“He was mad at you about the gift, wasn’t he?” She asked, hands in her sweats “Why?”

I wanna get with you “Don’t know” She shrugged her shoulders “Must be that time of the month” She chuckled “You wanna come in?” She asked, taking a step to the side

“I shouldn’t” Her accent was heavy, obviously tired

“But you want to?” She asked confused

“Mhm… He’s still mad. I don’t want to be there” She said, stepping into the room, the door closing behind her

“You can stay as long as you want” She said, sitting back on the bed, softly tapping the bed for Susie to sit

She walked over to the bed, but instead of sitting beside her, she got in her lap, startling the other woman

She looked up into her brown eyes, her hands landing on Susie’s waist as hers were on her shoulders

“Thank you for the gift” She said softly, leaning in closer to her

“You’re welcome” Her eyes drifted from her eyes and down to her lips, and back to to her eyes

“Can I kiss you?” There were shock in her eyes as she heard the words

“You’re married-“ “Please” She leaned in closer, lips almost touching. She nodded softly at her plead, feeling her lips against hers immediately

Susie’s hands tangled in the hair of the woman under her, tugging at it lightly, drawing out a groan from her

Her hand came up to the blonds face, pulling her slightly away, put not enough for them not to feel each others breaths

“We shouldn’t” She said, caressing her cheek with her thumb

“But we both want to” She leaned back in, lips connected again

The Austrians hands pulled the others top over her head, throwing it some where in the room, revealing her braless torso

Her lips trailed from her mouth and down to her exposed breasts. She loved the whimper she got out of her as she circled her nipple with her tongue, her hand playing with the other

“Please, fuck” She moaned, feeling her teeth graze her nipple “Please, I need your fingers. Please, I-I’m begging you”

She quickly turned them around, laying the Scot onto her back, kissing from her breast and down to her stomach

She giggled slight, hearing the whimper as she pulled down her sweats and panties, throwing them away

She kissed the sensitive skin on her inner thighs, feeling her body squirm under her touch, aching for more

“Please, need you so bad” She yelped as she felt cold fingers pressing on her clit, lips still on her thighs, getting closer to her core

She started moving her fingers, rubbing circles into her, pulling out a mixture of whimpers and moans

Her sounds were like music to her. So much prettier then she had imagined

She looked up at the blonde through hooded eyes, pupils blown wide with lust seeing the arched back in front of her

She sped her fingers up, her whole body shaking under her, so close to her orgasm she could taste it on her tongue

“Please, ‘m so close- please” Her moans were loud, but she didn’t care

“Nobody’s stopping you. Come for me” She smiled, teeth sinking into her thigh softly

The sensation of her teeth in her skin sent her over the edge, clenching around nothing as she came, her name rolling of her tongue

She slowed her fingers down, soothing her out of her orgasm. She replaced her fingers with her tongue, hearing whimpers and whines fall from her lips

“N-no. Too much, please” She pleaded, feeling two fingers tease her entrance, slowly pushing into her

“I think you can give me one more, no?” She teased, purposely thickening her accent, her voice going deeper

“Mm- please, ‘s too much, c-can’t take it” She said, trying to kick her away as she started moving her fingers

Her tongue sped up as she started curling her fingers as well, pulling moans from her again, body shaking under her as a result from the overstimulation

“F-fuck- feels good” Her back was arched off the bed, eyes screwed shut, seeing stars behind her eyelids as she hit just the right spot

“Fuck, right there- yes, please. Don’t stop” One of her hands tangled in her hair as the other were in the sheets, gripping on for dear life, knuckles turning white

“I’m gonna- fuck, so close” She almost cried out, feeling the pleasure all through her body, her second orgasm nearing the edge

She rapidly clenched around her fingers, whole body shaking again as she came for the second time

Her body was limp as she pulled out and away from her. She laid down beside her, pulling her naked body into her clothed one. She tugged them both under the sheets, her breath still uneven

[riewritten]

in my head nothing absolutely bad happens in monster anime and they’re actually triplets in a family sitcom somewhere

more headcanons under the cut ✂️

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

༘⋆ FOR CONTEXT

no child experiments. no kinderheim 511. their birth sequence would be Johan first, Anna second, and Nina the youngest. it doesn't actually materialize that much in their dynamics (given they're triplets) except that these two oldest are oooooover overprotective of nina. mama vera was forced to labor the three of them prematurely out of stress upon receiving the news of her husband's death. her brother-in-law, klaus poppe, who had helped vera with the kids after the hubby's death, tried to pursue her not long after. and not only that, klaus also tried to lure anna into this silly lil experiment about children which he claimed was for 'work' at the red rose mansion all the while their mother was out. vera almost killed the man when baby johan exposed him while crying. this event led vera to cut ties with the poppe family and valiantly raised her triplets on her own. vera wasn't able to squeeze any info out of anna (on what poppe had done to her specifically while she was out). worried that she might be traumatized, vera got her into therapy. in the end, only johan and anna knew of it, and whatever happened sure left wounds deep inside anna's heart.

SO, that said!

-ˋˏ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ANNA

would be sooooo villanelle-coded (minus the psychopathy of course). like she is the Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss but at the same time she could also be the Female Rage™️. i am absolutely whipped at the thought that she'd have a complicated relationship with johan despite being inseparable during childhood because she's astute enough to know the real him, without filter whatsoever, and she could notice things the naive nina couldn't. no, johan didn't have to be a murderer in this universe for anna to hate him, he just got The Attitude that anna despises. it's jus the typical sibling fight though no worries. it's like there's this modern family-esque interview segments of them talking shit about each other every episode (little do they know, if a war ever breaks, they would absolutely sacrifice themselves to save each other — of course after ensuring their youngest sister's safety first and foremost).

in @suusoh 's head which i claim to be the same as mine because susu is rie and rie is susu, anna is as queer as she could be. and, in my silly lil daydreams, she actually labeled herself queer for clout bc she wanna rebel against societal standards only for it to end up the truest thing she had ever said about herself years later. on top of that, she actually envies her twin brother for having a dick like oh my god girl what the hell is wrong with you. ironically, she tends to be an absolute man-hater sometimes (depends on her mood). she could be a little impulsive, too, especially when she reached the rebellious age. boyfriends here, girlfriends there, and out of curiosity she even tried polygamy that's absolutely not her thing but she did anyway to annoy her conservative christian stepfather.

there's this only moment anna had accepted johan's attitude, remorsefully so, and thats when some girl tried to maul nina at uni (thank god she's good at judo) after mistaking her as anna ㅜㅜ this stranger apparently had her boyfriend stolen by anna during one of her impulsive moments (jesus christ). nina assured them it was all good after anna cried. but johan was absolutely pissed, and anna had a hard time forgiving herself for putting her loveliest babiest angel of a sister in danger bc of her shenanigans.

-ˋˏ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ JOHAN

who is he, indeed, if red rose mansion wasn't that traumatic and kinderheim 511 never existed ? it's also hard to imagine for me, tbh, it's just that i think he'd be a chill lil guy who lives in his own head. nina has a hard time managing countless of confessions from different people in the campus—you see, anna is too wild to approach, johan is too absent-minded to care, and nina is the most amicable of them three. when nina opens her locker she'd expect a bunch of love letters addressed to three people: anna, johan, and then herself. majority of them is addressed to johan, tho.

if anna takes pride in her beauty and charisma while nina takes pride in her congeniality and physical prowess, johan keeps up with his brains. he is constantly the school's top one. he gets sent to other campuses for academic competitions. and back in highschool, a faculty even offered vera to have him accelerated due to his intelligence. johan denied the opportunity because he likes the fact that he's on the same grade level as his twin sisters. they have this sort of bonding where they do homeworks together as soon as they reach home. how would he do that if he's accelerated to a higher grade level? who would help nina manage anna's wild tendencies at school? who would help anna keep up with her acads if nina's too busy with her extracurricular activities?

vera is quite concerned johan is having a hard time connecting with people, but little does she know, her lil boy just doesn't want to. socializing is a chore the same way studying is. unless he has an ulterior motive, he chooses to stay at the corner with his books (boo. bummer. a nerd.)

-ˋˏ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ NINA

is their cute lil baby! she's everyone's favorite. i think her personality in canon monster (before her 20th bday) is pretty much the same in this one, except that it's more chaotic in her house because she has two sibs trying to kill each other here and there. if not for her extracurricular activities and side jobs (which johan and anna tirelessly demanded her to quit so she could have a rest, only to no avail because nina is the angel who wants to help), i think her academic excellence would be in par with johan's. she also has a lot of friends—that's the reason why johan and anna are protective of her. she could indeed defend herself physically, but she's too kind and naive for her own good it annoys the two. if someone makes her cry, they doubt nina would even put them in their place physically or emotionally because she is just that kind—that's when johan and anna enters behind her back. they could be sneaky little vengeful devils if need be for nina. maybe they got it from uncle klaus.

-ˋˏ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ☆ ༘⋆

cutting this before it gets longer lol. thank u for reading! i hope you enjoyed this as much as i did lmao. i had sooo much fan imagining and drawing them this way 🤭

[nburkhardt]

Robin doesn’t know how Steve and Eddie does it.

She’s had them for all weekend and is so tired and drained, it was fun at first but by the second night she’s done. How the hell do they do this every single day? She’s only had three and a half days and she’s so drained and actually she kind of wants to cry.

Steve and Eddie decided to adopt a pair of sisters, biological at that. One is six and the other three. They’re adorable and energetic, Robin adores them. Spoils the hell out of them, actually.

Currently though? All she’d like is for them to go to sleep. More accurately, the six year old.

“When are daddy and dada coming home?”

“I miss daddy and dada”

“I hold their hands when I go to sleep”

“How many sleeps until they’re home?”

It’s a near endless loop of some phrase asking for Steve and Eddie. The three year old woke up the first night crying for Steve, nearly wouldn’t go back to sleep either. At one point Robin just stood next to her, wondering if maybe movement would cause another moment of “I miss daddy, I want daddy” from the little baby.

When Steve asked her to watch the girls for the weekend because Eddie’s band was asked for a special show up in Chicago, she was all for it. These are her girls, she loves them! Plus, Steve hardly has long weekends anymore. Being a full time teacher for the middle school now and part time coach. Eddie also didn’t play as much anymore, none of the boys actually. All of them too busy with their own lives and families. Eddie’s record shop is one of the best in town now, and he tutors new musicians.

So, when Steve mentioned it to her? She said yes, go have fun with his nerdy husband and his band. The girls will be fine.

Well, she kind of regrets that now. The six year old, Charlotte, is a lot like her. Can’t stop moving, wants to play all the time, has a million questions. The three year old, Melody, despite not being biological Eddie’s is his mini me. And by that, she means the little girl is a wild card. She’s a cat in human form, doesn’t stop either and somehow worse than Charlotte. Her words are still coming out funny and Robin mimics her all the time. Both of them are definitely obsessed with their parents, normally she loves it. Loves seeing these two little girls get the world handed to them by her best friends, loves seeing Steve and Eddie heal themselves by being the best damn parents.

But after this long weekend? She needs a break from these girls. “Come on Charlie, just close your eyes and go to sleep”

Charlotte rolls over on the floor to look up at her, “I hold my daddy’s hand when I go to sleep”

She nods, “okay, you’ve said this, I don’t know how much I believe it but alright. They’ll be home tomorrow I swear. You go to sleep now, you’ll go to school and by the time you get out, they’ll be home!”

She hopes they’ll be home by then, Steve never gave her a time and at this point she’s hoping that they’ll actually be here by morning. She’d really liked to take a day just to sleep it away.

(Steve and Eddie end up surprising Charlotte at school to pick her up. Melody is still too young for school, so she squeals when they walk in through her front door.)

~~

Don’t ask for a time period. I just wanted to get out some frustration because this was me all weekend. Though unlike Robin, I’ve been around kids longer but my god was this weekend rough. I think my nieces have a bit of separation anxiety (probably due to when we were on lockdown for the pandemic) and a lot of the quotes I used here are real. Oh and the part where ‘Melody’ woke up crying for Steve? Yeah that really happened. at one point I legit was just standing awkwardly waiting for my niece to start crying again 🫠 (my sister & brother in law weren’t at a concert though. Just took a weekend away for their anniversary lmao)

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

69 for ❄️:

---

“How hard it is when grief and anger come hand in hand. When you feel like things should have been different and the fact that they’re not is a reflection on you.”

“How do you make peace with it?” Eddie asks, feeling helpless. “I mean, can you ever? When they’re gone? Did you, with your brother?”

Charlie frowns. “My brother isn’t dead.”

“What?” Eddie asks. “You said you lost him and his whole family?”

“Yeah, I… That might have not been the best way of explaining all that,” Charlie admits, scratching his chin.

“I’m sorry I misunderstood,” Eddie mumbles. But he kind of feels like this one isn’t on him.

“My brother is alive,” Charlie reconfirms. “My parents are dead. My sister-in-law and niece and nephew are dead. But my brother is alive.”

Eddie feels cold. “That’s heavy. I’m sorry.”

“Hmm,” Charlie hums in agreement. “So I guess it’s a different question for my brother than your wife. I get it when it comes to my father, though. The inability to find closure.”

Eddie nods.

“Then, shouldn’t you try to get it with your brother?” He asks. “You know… Before it’s too late?”

“We’re not that old, kid.” Charlie laughs. Part of the way he says it makes Eddie think of Bobby. It’s the sort of thing he’d say to deflect. 

“Shannon died at twenty-six crossing the street,” Eddie says. “Age has nothing to do with it..”

“Yeah,” Charlie sighs. “My dad was young, too. Drunk. Fell and hit his head. My brother found him in the morning.” 

“Fuck,” Eddie exhales.

“He was thirteen.” 

Christopher’s age. 

“That’s… That would fuck up a kid,” Eddie says. “I mean, Christopher just saw a woman who looks like his dead mother, and… Yeah.”

“It did fuck him up. Real bad,” Charlie agrees. “I was so mad at him for so long. Dad loved him, you know? Like he could tell he was the ideal son and I was the one made a little different. Only one of us got hit, you know?” 

Eddie nods. He does know. 

“Yeah, my middle sister was the golden child,” Eddie says. “Still is. Not her fault, but…”

“You can’t help but resent them.” 

“Right.” 

There’s a long pause while that settles over them.

“Things aren’t so bad with me and Sophia, though,” Eddie says. “Are we close? No. But if we needed each other, we’d be there. It sounds like you and your brother, though… There’s a lot of damage.”

[ghostedeabha]

hello! i read your family fic and absolutely loved it with all my heart<3333 i was wondering if you could write more about the riley family :33

maybe they’re celebrating someone in the family’s birthday! your pick on who it is :D

but i would love to see what you do with this<3333

you ask for birthday and i raise you:

soldier returning home for his children's birthday🥰

i hope you enjoy !! <3

simon "ghost" riley x mom!reader/children!ocs

word count: 1433

warnings: pure pure fluff, tears of joy, so so so so much crying from reader and the 17 year old son (bc men are allowed to be vulnerable too <3)

a/n: simon returing from a mission early for the twins' fourth birthday?? i think yes :) idk why but this is immediately what came to mind when i read this request. this fic takes place just before the riley family vacation to soap's beach house <3 in my mind it's like early july

a/n 2.0: also we officially have names for the riley kids. bug, matthew, lyla and luka <3

--------

"mandy it's not his fault he can't be here, he's literally in a another country fighting a war right now. i'm sure he's just as heartbroken about it as the rest of us." you sighed to your sister in law.

it was the twins' fourth birthday, you and your sister's wife mandy, were in the kitchen prepping the food for their birthday party in 20 minutes.

"i don't know, i just think he should've asked for the time off. he knows when his kids' birthdays are." the blonde said as she cut up some strawberries.

"he can't just request time off in his job. his job isn't like a 9-5 mandy."

you were starting to get frustrated with the conversation so you just decided to change the topic and turn the attention towards the stars of the day, the twins.

"anyhow, the twins are going to wake up from their nap any minute now so i'm gonna go upstairs and shower really quick before i lose the opportunity."

"alright, i'll start bringing the food and games outside."

"okay, bug and matthew should be out there setting up the tables and decorations so ask them for help if you need it. when is erin coming back again?"

"she said she'd be back just after the party started, she needs to go pick up the rest of lyla and luka's gifts."

"gifts? plural? mandy, you two already brought like four seperate bags of gifts! they're four they don't need this much." you replied with a laugh, disbelief overtaking you as mandy reveals her and your sister were absolutely spoiling your children.

"they deserve it! plus, i promise, you'll like this last part she's getting too. now go! go! get your shower."

"god, you two are insufferable." you mutter, mostly to yourself, with a slight laugh as you walk up the stairs to get to your room and take a quick shower.

almost immediately after you step out of the shower and wrap a towel around yourself, the cries of one of the twins rang through the house, their cries triggering the cries from their twin. you let out a soft sigh and dried yourself off as quickly as possible and slipped on your bathrobe, making your way to the twins' room.

"awake from your nap my darlings?" you say softly as you enter their room and approach their separate cribs.

lifting luka from his crib first, you hold him out for a moment and then bring him close, pressed to your chest.

"happy birthday, my sweet pumpkin." you say softly, rocking the crying infant whose cries die down slowly now that he is in the arms of someone safe and loving.

you walk over to lyla's crib, adjusting luka in your arms to carry him in just one so you can reach in a hand to lyla to let her know you're there.

her cries begin to cease as she grabs at your hand.

"hi there baby, did you nap well angel? happy birthday~" you coo at her.

lyla nods as she grabs at your fingers.

"i'm gonna put your brother in here with you for a moment so i can go get your outfits." you tell her with a smile as you set luka in the crib with lyla.

you turn to their dresser and pick out their outfits for the party, you suppose you'll just have to get dressed in a few minutes.

it was a bit of a struggle to get the outfits on thr twins, both having woken from their naps with a lot of energy meanth they were wiggling around as you were trying to change them and that only prolonged the task.

eventually though, you were successful and placed the two down onto the floor and smiled at them. "goodness, look at how cute you two are... gotta take a picture for daddy, yeah? look at mummy, smile!"

you take your phone out from the pocket if your bathrobe and snap a picture of lyla and luka, adorable smiles on their faces.

a small twinge of sadness pokes at you as you take the picture, sad that simon will only get to see them on their birthday through a picture. celebrating his babies' birthday alone on base.

nonetheless you shake off your negative thoughts and pocket your phone once more, picking the twins up and carrying them both back to your room so you could keep an eye on them as you tried your best to get ready in time for the party

you were now 40 minutes into the party, games being played, the bunch of kids in your backyard ran around and laughed happily. you scanned the area, taking note of where all your own children are.

bug was playing in the dirt with lyla, probably looking for critters, something they bonded over frequently.

matthew was playing tag with luka and some of the other little kids, letting them tag him as they played.

"erin should be back in about five or so minutes." mandy says from behind you, causing you to jump a little at the suddenness.

"jeez! oh, okay.." you reply, putting a hand over your heart to calm yourself as you laughed a little from nerves.

"we should probably start opening presents, yeah?" mandy suggests, motioning to the overflowing presents table.

you couldn't say you didn't spoil your kids, that's for sure.

"yeah, you're right." you nod and begin to call out to the guests and your family.

"guys! it's time for presents and cake!"

"present!" you hear luka scream excitedly, beginning to try and run over to you.

you laugh at his cuteness and sit down, letting everyone gather around, situating the twins on your lap while they open their presents.

you were almost to the end of all the presents when you heard the patio door slid open and closed, erin walking through with a few bags in her hands.

"so sorry i'm late! but i have lots of presents!" she calls, waking over to you and the twins as she holds up the bags.

"here, here, take them." she says, pushing them all onto the table.

"thanks erin, you really didn't have to get this much." you reply with a laugh, letting both of the twins reach out to try and grab the bags, you make sure they grab their own bags, watching as they opened them excitedly.

"okay, erin and i have one more present, but it's for all five of you. gimme just a minute, i'll be right back with it, it's a big gift." mandy says as the twins finish opening their presents.

this makes you look at erin and mandy, a confused and almost worried look on your face. you knew your sister and her wife pretty well and there's so many ways this could go.

mandy runs into the house as everyone at the party waits in anticipation for whatever the hell mandy could've brought.

when mandy returns, her gift is the very last thing you expect.

simon walks through the back door with her, a smile on his unmasked face.

"daddy!" lyla squeals loudly, wiggling from your lap to run over to simon, hugging his leg as she cried from her overwhelming happiness.

"dad?!" you hear matthew and bug yell in shock, both of their voices cracking.

matthew full on runs into simon's arms, hugging his father as tight as he possible could as he also cried, overwhelmed by shock and happiness. he sobbed hard into simon's shoulder as simon chuckled and rubbed his back. "missed you too bud."

"oh my god.. simon?" you say softly, getting up from your seat as you keep luka in your shaking arms.

"c'mere, love." simon responds, motioning in a come hither motion to you.

like you were on autopilot, your feet carried you and luka over to simon, joining in on the family hug. bug was the last to join, wrapping their arms tightly around simon from behind.

"i missed you all so much..." simon says softly, quiet enough for just your sweet little family to hear.

"we missed you too dad." matthew says between sniffles, his emotions still getting the best of him.

"and happy birthday to my two little rascals, you're... three now right?" simon says, teasing the twins.

"no! daddy silly! we dis many." lyla says with a giggle, holding up four fingers in her father's face.

"ah yes, my mistake princess." he chuckles and gives her little head a kiss.

this was definitely the best birthday party you could've ever had for the twins.

[pablitogavii]

Can you do one where reader’s (old boy bsf w his family )best friend, comes to pay her a visit at her parents house when she’s hanging out with the team,family (her and Pablo)and wags, and they’re all having a nice dinner out in the garden and  the best friends, mom says “oh we really thought though __ and yn we’re going to end up together since they were little kids” & his sister also mentions  “yea I’m still said she won’t be my sister in law and the team,wags Gavis family gets so mad, and gavi gets insecure so the wags and teammates and his family reassure him, and when they get home reader shows him that she only wants him.(something like that. )

I saw similar request at another writer's post, so I will try my best to make it uniquely mine because I am against copying other's work. So I'll change up a request a little, but still hope you will enjoy the story.

Thank you for the request!

They were champions of LaLiga after four years of hard work, sacrifices and determination. It was also Pablo's very first title playing for the first Barça team, so he decided to throw a not so little barbecue party at his family home inviting only his friends, teammates and their significant others.

You were of course first on his list, as his own girl and as you always say 'biggest fan' hehe. You were so proud of Pablo for not giving up even when people started saying he is 'overrated' and 'worse midfielder Barça had'. He kept his head up, his focus sharp and he deserved this title.

"Amor, do you want red or blue napkins?" you came from the kitchen showing him each color and he smiled pointing at red before saying he 'needs your help' with something.

"Let me just give these to mamá and I'll be right there cariño" you said and it warmed Pablo's heart to hear you call his mother 'mamá' knowing how much Belen loved you for her son.

"What is it cariño??" you came towards the grill and Pablo smirked pulling your waist behind the wall and into the secluded corner before attaching his lips to your hungrily.

"That was it..thank you so much amorcito" he smiled with his forehead against your and you smiled wide with your cheeks blushed feeling happier than you ever did in your life.

"Y/n!" Aurora's voice interrupted your voice and Pablo rolled his eyes making you giggle at his exaggerated response. He loved having ALL your attention ALL the time!

"I seriously feel jealous of my family for loving you as much as I do!" he said and you chuckled pecking his lips one more time while caressing his cheek softly.

"You have all my heart Gavinho, don't worry.." you wink at him walking to see what Aurora needed while he looked after you for a few moments thinking to himself how he got so lucky to have you in his life.

"Your brother might kill you for interrupting our moment hermanita" you joked and Aurora rolled her eyes reminding you that she was indeed Pablo's sister, they are quite similar to those who know them both.

"There are people at the door asking for you??" she said and you furrowed your eyebrows wondering who it could be since your parents were traveling for work and you don't know anybody else who knows Pablo's address.

"You know how to ruin romantic moments Rora!" Pablo snarled at her while working on the grill with his dad and when she told him someone came to see you, he got curious as well but didn't give it much thought.

You came to the door and when you opened it, you were in utter shock to see your high school ex boyfriend and his family smiling back at you.

He was a definition of 'toxic boyfriend' always limiting and trying to control everything you do. You found out some months after the break up that he was even continuously cheating on you because you weren't ready to sleep with him yet.

"Paul? What? What are you doing here? Didn't you stay in Valencia after high school?" you said and he smiled walking up to give you a tight hug like you were the bestest of friends and you just politely hugged him back before moving back.

"I came to Barcelona for a summer break, and wanted to take a chance to apologize for the way I treated you..I was a kid and I realize that now..I've changed Y/n" he said and you felt so uncomfortable first that he was here at all but then that he brought his mother and sister with him probably knowing that they were always so kind to you and you respected them tremendously.

"Um..that' okay. Water under the bridge, it's in the past..How..how did you know where I'm at?" you said and he smiled looking you up and down shamelessly making you that much more uncomfortable.

"You became quite a little celebrity shortie..fan accounts tagged being here to get autographs from footballers and I just used my sources" he said and you wondered if he knew how creepy he sounded.

"No, my BOYFRIEND is a celebrity..I'm just happy to be here with him" you made sure you highlight on the fact that you were no longer single and that this visit was uncalled for.

"Right, the Golden Boy Pablo Gavi...but come on, he is a famous footballer, you are surely one of many in his house shortie" Paul smirked and you felt like slamming door into his face for disrespecting you yet again, looks like people can't change after all!

"Would we be able to come in?? I'm parched from how hot it is outside??" his mother interrupted my thinking and you knew this was the wrong time and that you didn't want him anywhere near you again but the lady was older and you couldn't get yourself to refuse letting them come inside.

Belen helped his mom and sister to the kitchen offering them some water seeing that they were both sweaty and tired probably from walking on the sun.

"Nice house shortie! You got yourself a cash cow!" he said looking around Pablo's family house and you felt disgusted that he just assumed that's why you were with Pablo.

"This is Pablo's family's house...um we live in a small apartment across from Camp Nou" you said in your defense not knowing why you were even trying to defend yourself to someone like this.

A bell rang interrupting your thoughts and Paul said he will make himself at home which made your stomach flip wishing he could just leave.

You opened the door to Pedri, Ansu, Ferran and Sira, and Rafa and Taia looking confused that you were not happy but worried instead.

"Hey, amiga. Everything alright?? Don't tell me Gavi burned the grill?" Ansu said and you gave him a weak smile saying that everything is fine.

"If someone messed with our hija, Imma beat his ass!" Rafa said while Taia hugged you and you smiled knowing that they always called you their 'fake daughter' because of how often you babysit for them and how kind you are to help Taia while being pregnant.

"Here for you to talk always" Pedri reminded you and you thanked him welcoming the all into the garden swallowing hard when you saw Paul talking to Pablo by the grill. What the hell was he telling him!?

"Um, I'm sorry for not introducing you cariño..this is Paul..um he came to visit Barcelona with his family..and..um" Pablo noticed that you were nervous knowing the whole story himself about this guy who did nothing short of disrespecting his girl and mistreating her.

"He's welcome to stay if he wishes, no worries mi princesa linda..let's go get our friends drinks huh? Excuse us, man" Pablo kissed you in reassurance and you loved that it was in front of Paul shutting him up for good.

Throughout the night, the Gavira house became a true little fiesta, with all the players including the best coach in the word (Xavi Hernandez) singing and dancing all together.

Pablo was sitting besides Pedri chatting about the rest of the season, and you noticed Paul from the corner of your eyes staring at your ass while his mother and sister (bless their soul) were really kind and talked to Pablo's parents.

You walked to your boyfriend feeling very uncomfortable that anybody but him was looking you like that, sitting on his leg while his arms wrapped protectively around you and Pedri asked if he should leave playfully.

"Shut up Pepi!" you messed up his hair making them both laugh not expecting to hear "which one do you want shortie??" from Paul that made everyone uncomfortable once again before leaving to get another drink like he was invited.

"Um..no..she is like a hermanita to me" Pedri quickly said feeling attacked and not wanting his friend to ever think he would do something like that not to mention that everyone here knew that you were in love with Pablo and that you would never hurt each other.

"When will he leave???" you laid your head on Pablo's shoulder while he was giving the guy death glares hating him for ruining this night for his girl and for everyone else.

Pablo was raised to respect everyone who comes into his home and he doesn't have it in him to throw someone out he invited to stay no matter how badly he wanted to do just that. Not to mention that the douchebag on purpose brought his family to make this whole thing as complicated as possible.

"Pablo! Y/n! Can you come here queridos??" Belen said and the two of you walked to the group of older people sitting on the couches talking with Paul's family.

Pablo sat down on the open chair as his mom gave him a look (she raised a gentleman) but when she saw he was pulling you onto his lap, she smiled at the both of you.

"Señora said you were getting engaged to her son in high school?" Pablo's dad said and both you and Pablo said "what!?" at the same exact time.

"He kept saying he was going to marry her after school..and I thought it was going to happen..I would have been so happy to have her as my daughter in law" woman spoke truly oblivious of all the things her son did to you being fed only lies by him.

"She would be best sister in law!" his little sister grabbed your hand and you smiled at the kid knowing it's not her fault and that this whole situation was orchestrated by that manipulative liar who was getting drunk at the bar now.

"Is this true?" Pablo whispered to you and you were shocked that he could even consider that you would not tell him something so big about your past when you promised to always be honest with one another.

"Of course not Pablo! I don't know what he said to them..but I never wanted to marry him and we were never engaged" you said but Pablo was so sick of this whole thing slowly getting up and excusing himself.

"Pablo!" you called after him but he didn't turn around making you sit down with tearful eyes hating that Paul could still ruin things in your life like this.

"Hey, don't cry..Pablo is impulsive, you know that but he doesn't love anyone like he loves you..he believes you hermanita" Aurora came to hug you and you did your best not to cry knowing you needed to set things straight with everyone.

"Señora, I don't know what Paul told you..but we were never engaged and he did not treat me well..he even cheated on me with many other girls..slapped me once and never let me be happy..I was never going to marry your son and I think he wanted to get back at me for leaving him which is why he brought you here..lied to you..and used my respect towards you to break up my relationship" you said to the lady who was in utter shock at your words.

"Mi hija pobresita, I am very sorry señora..I know you must be a lovely lady but I am going to ask you to take your son and leave my house. This is a private party and we don't want to cause any trouble" Pablo's dad was by your side kissing the top of your head reassuring you that everyone believed you and that you were no longer alone.

"Too late papi.." Rora said pointing at the bar as everyone turned to look at what was the commotion about.

When Pablo came to the bar, Lewy sat besides him giving him a beer while asking what got his so riled up. He opened up to the older man who reminded him that there are self centered people in the world who are only happy when they make other people miserable.

"I don't want to imagine her being anybody else's wife but mine Lewa.." Pablo admitted taking a large sip of beer feeling the man's hand on his shoulder.

"And I know that she only wants to be Mrs. Pablo Gavira.." Lewa said seeing Pablo smiling lightly thinking about your future and seeing you in that white dress before him.

"Pablo..Paul..close enough" and those words made all hell break loose when Pablo grabbed his collar and pinned him angrily against the bar while everyone watched.

"Pablo!" his father rushed asking all the women to move back while all the guys pulled the two boys apart but not before each had a chance to throw a few punches.

When everything calmed down and Paul's family was escorted out by Belen together with him, you went to Pablo's bedroom where he sat on his bed inspecting a cut on his cheek.

"Hola..can I come in?" you said and he looked up at you with tearful eyes while nodding his head as you sat on his lap hugging him tightly.

"I'm sorry cariño..I shouldn't have let them come inside..I promise that he lied..there is only one man I ever thought about marrying and that's you.." you spoke tears finally escaping your eyes wetting his shirt and he pulled you close letting his figners dry your tears softly.

"I believe you princesa..and I'm sorry for losing my temper..again" he said knowing that you must have been terrified when the fight broke having bad memories about Paul getting violent.

"I'm just glad he didn't hurt you badly.." you said touching his cut inspecting how deep it was but thankfully in was only superficial.

"I'm okay linda..don't worry about me..and this is the first time I fought for you.." he smirked and you rolled your eyes at his comment taking some gauze to clean up some of the dried up blood.

"Ouch!" he said and you moved the gauze looking into his playful smile chuckling yourself now that the whole situation was over.

"Lewa said you talked about me being your wife??" you said and he nodded proudly looking at your lips yearningly having missed them in the last half an hour.

"Give me besitos linda..I deserve them after fighting for my future wife" he said smartly and you chuckled nodding your head before leaving down and placing your lips onto his careful not to touch his cut.

"We should head back down and join the others cariño??" you said after a few minutes of making out that ended up with you laying on his bed and him hovering above you.

"But you are all mine when we get home princesita??" he said and you blushed nodding your head in agreement before the two of you headed downstairs to re-join the party being welcomed by a large applause.

"Can I just say a few words?" Belen said and everyone went quite while Pablo's arms wrapped around you.

"Having this beautiful angel join our family is such a blessing for the Gavira home. My son is a good man he will treat you right, and you love him more every day..oh and you are only my future daughter in law! Cheers!" Belen cheered and everyone laughed making Pablo blush and you kissed his red cheeks cheering with everyone.

"Yo te quiero cariño.." you whispered after taking a sip of wine and he smiled nodding his head leaning down to place his lips to your lovingly.

"Yo tambien the quiero mucho princesa" he said into the kiss resting his forehead against yours feeling like the luckiest guy on the planet <33

Hope you liked! I know it's different but I did my best to make it unique!

[chosenimagines]

I personally love headcanoning the idea that Leonard actually does have a relationship with his nephews.

I mean, I would’ve loved it if we had gotten to learn more or been introduced to Leonard siblings and maybe see that they themselves certainly dealt with their own hurdles with having Beverly as a mom. There’s no way anyone can convince me that she didn’t do damage to all 3 of her kids and I’m sure Leonard’s big sister (I hc her name is Katherine) and their little brother Michael both had their own unhealthy relationships with their “Scientist Always, Mother Never” parent.

We know from what Leonard has said that his little brother was a bit of a dick to him so maybe any reconnect between the two would take longer, but Leonard doesn’t say anything negative about his big sister so what if they actually reconnected and started to mend that bridge? Getting closure now that they’re both adults - I think I remember his big sister is supposed to be like six or seven years older than him?

So picture this: It’s pre-Penny moving into the building, Leonard has been Sheldon’s established roommate for a while, and maybe he gets a surprised call from Katherine - she’s shocked too at having made the call - cuz she’s gonna be in the LA area for a medical conference thing and she’s been battling with herself to get in touch with Leonard to catch up… Cue them meeting up, some initial awkwardness thanks to being estranged siblings, but eventually they put the cards on the table and fuss up about their fucked up childhoods - maybe Katherine having felt guilt for not protecting her brothers from their mom but she was a kid too - and things start to mend between the two of them.

Things move along with the continued mending of their relationship with emails and phone calls - Leonard gets to know his brother-in-law better and gets to spend more time with his nephews outside of just occasional family holidays. It’s a little slice of healing pie in the Hofstadter books.

Penny eventually moves in and gets to see a normally shy Leonard - imagine this happening early on in the show when they are still getting to know each other - act loud and silly with his little nephews when his sister drops them off to visit while she and her hubby have work stuff and they know the boys would be bored to tears at these events. I know that apparently Leonard sister ends up having five boys in total but maybe at the start it was just 3 under the age of 11.

Howard calling the boys - Hoflings (Hofstadter + Clings cuz they cling onto their fun uncle Leonard)

Sheldon barely tolerates these visits despite the boys being very polite and not leaving messes, but Raj and Howard have a blast monkeying around with them.

I guess I just want Leonard to have a little bit of happiness when it comes to his family and I would like to think that if he did get a chance to interact with his nephews and niece (apparently Michael has a baby girl with his wife) that he would follow his Uncle Floyd’s influence and maybe be an even better uncle. I just doubt that either one of his siblings would put their kids through the same shit they went through so they definitely wouldn’t follow Beverly’s parenting styles.



Based on our agreement I am gonna share my HC on the activities with fun uncle Leonard

>regular visits at the comic book store (obviously) =>nephews sometimes spending their pocket money there =>rarely but happily Uncle Leonard buys them a small gift

>Leonard, Raj & Howard invent a kids' version of D&D so they can play with Leonard's nephews

>Raj & Howard are being called uncle as well and Leonard's heart overflows with joy

>at least once a year a Star Wars Marathon Sleepover with snacks with Star Wars-ish names for the snacks

>if his nephews and nieces would want that Leonard would play sports with them and go to indoor playgrounds

>he would take them to work and let them do some cool physics experiments

▪️❤️▪️🧡▪️💛▪️💚▪️💙▪️💜▪️

Masterlist of Masterlists

The Big Bang Theory

[teecupangel]

Reread the Desmond reborn as al mualim's daughter posts and all I can think of now is Altair saving someone from the guards but when they go up to thank him he's just muttering under his breath about his father in law getting to retire and spend time with his wife and child but every time he asks to retire Desmond says no

Also I think it'd be funny if their first child was a girl (whether a genderswapped darim or an oc older sister to Altaïr's Canon kids) so that Altair can have the realization that he now understands al Mualim's overprotectiveness and despair over having things in common with his father in law

The Desmond is reborn as Al Mualim’s daughter post for those curious.

Altaïr doesn’t know the full story.

The supposed wife Al Mualim has? That’s Desmond’s mother. And they’re not romantically involved. It’s more of a case of “you knocked up my mother, you give her what she wants” and what she wanted was to get the title of Al Mualim’s wife without the ‘duties’ that come with being said wife.

So yeah, they’re not together but they are married. Most of the time, she just visits Desmond and have tea with her, talking about nothing at all.

Al Mualim dotes on Desmond but Desmond’s favorite parent is her mother even though her mother can be quite a cunning bitch.

Desmond wouldn’t let Altaïr retire because she needs someone on the field she can trust. Also, they’re not retiring until she’s sure that Abbas wouldn’t do anything stupid (Abbas will do something stupid but the kind of ‘dumb love rival that shouldn’t be a rival’ kind of stupid, not the ‘we moving this romcom to tragic drama’ stupid. He’s too head over heel at Desmond to do anything else)

I mean, it’s Desmond. We can even have it be a genderswapped version of Elijah called Eli or Ellie. This would give Eli a happier childhood and a father absolutely wrapped around her little hands without even trying.

(Also, the idea of Eli being the cool older sister who is soooo done with her ‘easily panicked because of Sef’ younger brother Darim and her mischievous ‘as long as we don’t kill anyone we don’t be punished too much’ younger brother Sef is too funny for me. It might be a more peaceful alternate life for her but she still has to suffer because of her family XD)

[liaromancewriter]

for the <100 drabble:

Ethan, Max, divorce

Taking Care of Business

Premise: Ethan is presented with an important contract.

Book: Open Heart (post series) Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Cassie Valentine); feat. Max Valentine (M!OC) Rating/Category: Teen. Fluff. Words: 760

A/N: Submission for @choicesseptemberchallenge2023 day 25 prompt: surprise; I'm using @choicesflashfics week 52, prompt 3.

The knock came at the most unfortunate time. Ethan Ramsey was feeling harried after waiting two hours for the workers only to have them arrive with the wrong materials and take another hour to return with the right ones.

He swung open the front door to his apartment, his scowl turning right side up when he saw his best man on the other side.

“Well … this is unexpected,” Ethan said, stepping back to let Max Valentine in. “I thought you were traveling.”

“Caught the red-eye from Berlin,” Max explained. He held up a legal-sized manila envelope. “We have business to take care of, mon frère.”

Ethan smiled wryly, shaking his head. Max had started teasing him with that term after Ethan commented last time on the oddity of being anyone’s brother-in-law.

The younger man paused in the middle of the living room floor and frowned at the banging coming from the bedroom.

“Bad timing?”

“Ignore that.” Ethan waved away the sound and invited Max to sit at the kitchen island. “Changing up some things in the bedroom and ensuite before Cassie moves in.”

Ethan switched on the electric kettle and espresso machine at the same time. “Does your sister know you’re in town?”

“Yeah, we met up for brunch earlier,” Max said, brushing one hand down his hair and rolling the kinks out of his neck. His lips kicked up in amusement. “She thought this,” he nodded at the envelope, “would be better handled by me than Huey, Dewey, and Louie.”

“Our family’s lawyers,” Max added when Ethan looked confused. “Don’t worry, they’re not actually called that. Inside joke between Cassie and me.”

Ethan recalled the brief conversation with his fiancée last week. Given the short turnaround between their engagement and wedding, her family had been pushing to get the prenuptial agreement signed sooner rather than later.

Max removed the papers from the envelope and turned them towards Ethan.

“You’ll find the terms are very generous. Cassie wouldn’t accept anything less. You both keep what you bring in, equitable division of marital property, yada, yada,” he said. “Still, have your lawyer take a look and redline it. I’ll forward the electronic document to you.”

Ethan scanned the papers, noting the provisions for divorce, infidelity and dissolution of marriage by either party. The lawyers had done a thorough job of outlining all scenarios. What did it say about him that he was unfazed by this?

“There’s one non-negotiable clause,” Max continued as Ethan flipped the page. “You’ll receive shares in the Hudson Group after the ceremony, but they’ll revert to the family in case of divorce or death unless you and Cassie have kids.”

“Be honest,” Ethan mused, peeking at Max over the papers. “What are the chances of your sister divorcing me or letting me divorce her?”

“Since Cassie will have you buried six feet under before you can finish that thought, I’d say slim to none,” Max laughed. “But the Group’s lawyers don’t share her sunny optimism.”

“Where do I sign?” Ethan took a pen out of the kitchen junk drawer.

“As your best man, I advise you to take this to your lawyer,” Max said, all joviality wiped from his face. “Prenups are serious business, Ethan. No matter how inevitable the two of you think you are, I’ve seen strong marriages falter over the most inconsequential things.”

“Were any of them Valentines?” Ethan asked curiously.

“Not the immediate relations, but—”

“I appreciate you looking out for me,” Ethan interrupted, putting a hand up when Max started to speak. “But I’m not marrying your sister for her money or for shares in the Hudson Group. I have a comfortable life, and my father is taken care of. I don’t need anything else.”

Max drummed his fingers against the quartz countertop and stared at Ethan. The considering look in his green eyes was so similar to the one Ethan often witnessed in Cassie that he almost did a double take.

“Fine.” Max reached for his phone. “I’ll have the lawyers email you the DocuSign link. An electronic signature is easiest and more convenient since they need to file the paperwork before the wedding.”

Ethan smirked when Max threw him an annoyed look, again so much like his fiancée. “Cassie told me you’d do this, but I was adamant that you were too level-headed to sign a legal contract without proper advice. You just cost me two hundred bucks.”

“You can afford it,” Ethan said without remorse before turning away to switch off the whistling kettle. “Tea or something stronger?”

-------------

All Fics & Edits: @bluebelle08 @coffeeheartaddict2 @crazy-loca-blog @genevievemd @headoverheelsforramsey @lucy-268 @jamespotterthefirst @jerzwriter @lady-calypso @mainstreetreader @peonierose @potionsprefect @queencarb @quixoticdreamer16 @rookiemartin @socalwriterbee @tessa-liam @trappedinfanfiction

Submissions: @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics @midnightmelodiz

Ethan & Cassie only: @cariantha @custaroonie @hopelessromantic1352 @mrs-ramsey @youlookappropriate

[easily-distracted-by-fandom]

my little pony: fim x Hive Mind

so there was a post that said to smash together your first au and your current one and I have done that. It apparently caught my motivation by the throat.

#mlp x hive mind tbh#ummm#honestly adore#this can go two ways#we can shove the ponies into a hive!au#and make twilight a telepath##Luna was distanced for a long hecking time#and Celestia is a Claire like figure who is very dutiful#Shining armor is Candace’s strike leader#and also her husband#Pinkie is twilights whatever Megan is#i forgot the name#general manager?#and also therapist because pinkie has amazing coping mechanisms#fluttershy and rarity are part of liaison#rarity is the public communication and such#fluttershy is making stories because she’s really good at that#see: fluttershys horror games#Applejack and Rainbow Dash are strike team#Stuff happens#something something starlight starts an anti lottery cult at the seafarm#they send starlight through lottery#she gets assigned to twilights whatever Lucas’s teams name is

ok so Rarity grew up with level 30ish fashion designer parents. She’s their 1st child and was expecting to come out a fashion designer herself. Her sister is Sweetie Belle (just Belle, it’s a human au) she isn’t AS parentified in this au because of teen level so. Her parents do send Belle up to spend time with her because they hope that Belle will pick up some ‘level one talent’ from Rarity.

Fluttershy was besties with Rainbow Dash (they’re Flutter and Dash, Flutter is regarded as a weird name). She loves working with animals and expected to be assigned to work with them. Her parents are low-level workers but her father has a passion for cloudgazing and used to take her and Zephr outside to do so. Flutter got scared into shutting up about it after the first time she talked about it in class. She now freezes in fear whenever it’s mentioned, not because she’s scared of the outside but because she’s scared of what people will say to her. She had a pretty sucky time in teen level and used to daydream, making stories up in her head. Especially during days where she was too anxious to leave her room.

Dash is an only child of her family, who are level 16ish athletes. She wanted to be on a track team and is incredibly lithe and agile. She’s mentoring one of her younger cousins (Scootaloo, Lou in this universe)

Applejack (AJ) is part of a family of outside workers and economists that regularly work Outside. She’s a middle child with a head of business and a very strong work ethic. She’s also just very strong. I might make her and Dash lesbians for each other idk. Her older brother (Mack) is an outside worker and her younger sister (Blossom) look to her for advice.

Twilight. Ok so her family is law enforcement. Level 20 all that stuff. Her older brother (I can’t figure out what to call him, frick it we’re calling him Steve) is a telepath strike team leader and dating Cadance. Cadance loves little kids so used to take care to Twilight when she was younger but telepaths aren’t allowed to read the minds of any kids before they’ve gone through lottery. The hive used to let all kids visit telepaths but when telepaths rates suddenly dropped among those children they realized something was wrong. Twilight wanted to be a researcher, she still researches things because no one can stop her. This leads to… situations.

Pinkie Pie is a honor baby. She was the last of 4, her older siblings all going off to be top ten member of the hive. (Maud is a reset specialist. Maud gets lots of time off. Maud goes outside and looks at rocks in her free time. Maud is adorable. Lime is a professional trainer/tough love therapist she screams people into loving themselves. Marble is a researcher). She loves baking and making people happy. So when her jobs was to make people happy and make sure everything ran smoothly she knew she could do it. Pinkie might be a borderline telepath. Pinkie might’ve already known she was a borderline telepath. Pinkie has told no one because she figured out how this works.

Spike is Twilights younger brother, by the time he was born she was two years away from teen level. He really wants to be her assistant. He does not understand what she does.

cadence and Steve are married. Cadence and Steve have a child. Their child is Flur (Flurry Heart). Flur is one, Flur is absolutely a telepath.

Chrysalis is from a different hive, Chrysalis hates it there, Chrysalis is really good at makeup. Chrysalis pretends to be Cadence to see how this hive treats its Telepaths, Chrysalis isn’t that good at pretending to be someone she’s never met. Chrysalis gets caught, this is fine because Chrysalis is a telepath and transfers to Hive Equestria. Literally no one but Chrysalis is happy about this. Celestia is the oldest living telepath. This is bad because she’s in her 40s. Celestia cut off contact with her sister for 20 years after Luna began distancing. Celestia is constantly stressed

Luna is the second oldest living telepath. Luna is in her late 30s. Luna had a really bad like 20 years of her life where she just decided that killing Celestia was her life’s goal because nothing else mattered in her stupid life. This was a very hard time for Hive Equestria.

Starlight Glimmer (Arlie) started a cult. Arlie was like 17 when she started the cult, Arlie had lost her best friend to the lottery a year earlier. Arlie and Trixie (who’s name is not Trixie but who goes by Trixie anyway) live on the sea farm and decided that lottery was the root of all evils (Trixie was scared it would assign her to a low level since she felt useless). Their cult does Weird Cult Activities, a telepath unit is sent to check it out. Twilight realizes this is Literal Children and just… convinces them to go through lottery anyway? Trixie gets to be on Liason. Arlie is part of the tactical team because she actually did Run A Cult Very Good thank you. She’s imprinted for tactical commander and is definitely going to run Twilights. These three may or may not become a polycule of lesbians.

Hive Equestria is a genetics hive btw but they more mess with animal genetics rather than human. Anyway wayyy back before anything some genetics stuff happened and so Hive Equestria people aren’t… entirely human anymore. There’s three categories: pegasi: these people have feathers, they usually can’t fly but the feather amounts can range from tiny wings to scatterings around the neck. Earth: they’re human, but… something is off. They’re the only ones encouraged to trade hives. Everyone can of course… they’re just made aware that they aren’t exactly going to be treated normally out there. Unicorns: they have horns. What type, all types. It gets unwieldy but they’re also the most likely to be telepaths/borderlines

they didn’t have enough telepaths to keep any rise up. They never have. So instead telepaths are deified to the point where crossing them is religious sacrelige. Crime rates are very reduced, especially because being friendly is part of their culture to like an extreme. It’s very common after lottery to get a tattoo that signifies your role somewhere visible (usually the cheek) each one is personalized. Kids spend a lot of time in school daydreaming about their ‘cutie marks’.

I can’t think of any other characters that are immensely important but if you give me motivation in forms of reblogs and such I might draw a few of them and/or figure out a story.

[jrob64]

Silly Songs With Killian - a CS Modern AU One-shot

You can blame @sotangledupinit for this silly, but sweet, little story! She posted a prompt on Discord which caused my muse to jump to attention, and I wrote it in two days. If you're not familiar with the Veggie Tales videos, you'll still be able to enjoy this, but do yourself a favor and check out the songs on Spotify here. You don't have to be a kid to enjoy them and I guarantee they'll make you laugh!

Special thanks to Kit for making young Henry look even younger for the pic set, Mary for being my beta, and Krystal for being a second set of eyes for the Silly Songs lyrics and also for the pic set I created. It pays to have wonderful fandom friends!

Summary: After a frustrating and exhausting day, Emma Cassidy is relieved when her little boy, Henry, is entertained by a gorgeous musician at a restaurant, giving her a chance to sit back, relax, and enjoy the music (and the view!) It gets even better when the singer, Killian, sings some of Henry’s favorite Silly Songs from his favorite videos, Veggie Tales. 

Rating: T

Words: 3946

Also posted to Ao3 and ffn

*********

It’s been one hell of a day. It wasn’t supposed to be this exhausting, but of course my ex, Neal, had to complicate things.

I was looking forward to going wedding dress shopping with my future sister-in-law Mary Margaret and her other bridesmaids, sipping champagne and giving my input on each of the possibilities. It was going to be so much fun.

And then...remember the saying that was popular many years ago - shit happens? Well, Neal can be used interchangeably with shit - they’re one and the same.

It was his scheduled weekend with our three-year-old, Henry, which was one reason why Mary Margaret chose this day. Then on Friday, almost an hour after Neal was supposed to pick Henry up at my apartment, he sent me a text: Something came up. Can’t make it this weekend. Tell Henry I’m sorry.

Apparently he turned off his phone after sending it, because he didn’t answer any of my increasingly volatile texts - eighteen of them, to be exact - or phone calls. I had to sit Henry in front of the television so I could go into my bedroom to leave some choice words on Neal’s voicemail.

Fortunately (or unfortunately for my sweet little boy) Henry is used to being let down by his father. In the eighteen months since we called it quits, Neal has skipped out on more weekend visits than he’s kept. I guess being a lying piece of shit takes up way too much of his time and he can’t spare any for his son.

Also unfortunately, all of the people who usually babysit for Henry were unable to watch him. Most of them were included in the shopping trip, my brother David was busy because he was painting the living room of the house he and his fiancée just bought, and Ruby’s Granny was off bowhunting with her new beau. (Bowhunting with her beau has been a running joke ever since she left a week ago.)

So instead of enjoying a carefree day of shopping with Mary Margaret, Belle, Ruby and Elsa, I had to keep an active, inquisitive toddler entertained in one bridal shop after another. We were all relieved when he finally fell asleep in the third shop, until the manager woke him up by screeching about how he was going to drool on the green velvet upholstery. That cost her any business she might have had from us (though in all honesty, her gowns were all hideous and looked like something only the Wicked Witch of the West might wear.)

Eventually, Mary Margaret said ‘yes to the dress’ in the fifth shop late in the afternoon, then we all decided to get an early dinner at a nearby restaurant that serves kids’ meals and has outdoor seating. If Henry has to spend one more minute inside today, I think he might have a complete meltdown.

After placing my order and getting Henry situated with the provided coloring sheet and obligatory four crayons, I hear someone speaking into a microphone and look over to see a guy standing on a small stage with a guitar. A very, VERY attractive guy.

“Good evening, everyone,” he says, and my jaw drops at the sound of his British accent. “My name is Killian and I hope you enjoy the music tonight. I do take requests. Feel free to sing along or dance in this nice, open area in front of me.”

“Oh, wow!” Belle gasps. “He’s very handsome, isn’t he, Emma?”

My jaw snaps shut and I turn to look at her. Seeing her sly smile, I teasingly say, “Why are you asking me? We all have eyes, you know.”

“Yes, but we all have significant others, too,” Ruby adds, which is completely unnecessary but, sadly, also completely true.

While my self pity begins to set in, the guy - Killian - strums his guitar and launches into the Eagles classic “Take it Easy”. Henry, who by this point has scribbled all over the coloring sheet, somehow managed to break his crayon into at least four pieces and, judging by the color of his teeth, took a bite of it as well, looks up with bright eyes. Since I allowed him to kneel on a chair instead of trying to strap him into a booster seat, he takes advantage of it and hops down.

Before I can chase after him, he makes a beeline for the open space in front of the admittedly gorgeous singer and begins jumping around in what passes for a three-year-old’s version of dancing. I sigh and start to get up, but Mary Margaret stops me with a hand on my arm. “Let him go. He’s been very good all day and deserves to burn off some energy. Besides, he’s only a few feet away and we can see him clearly from here.”

It doesn’t take much convincing for me to heed her advice. If someone else can entertain Henry for a while, I’m not going to complain.

When the song comes to an end, Killian acknowledges the smattering of applause and plays the extremely recognizable first chords of “All Right Now”. Henry doesn’t miss a beat, throwing himself around like a rag doll while all of us at our table, as well as most of the other diners, laugh delightedly at his exuberance.

By the time Killian is in the middle of his third song, “Old Time Rock and Roll”, our food arrives and I face the dreaded task of dragging my son back to the table to eat. I nibble at my fish and chips until the song ends, then dash to the makeshift dance floor to cajole Henry. When he shows the expected resistance, Killian chuckles and helpfully says, “Go with your mum, lad. I’ll play a slow song that’s not as much fun for dancing.”

True to his word, he croons the song “Everything I Do, I Do It For You” as Henry acquiesces and comes back to his seat to shove French fries into his mouth as fast as possible. It might not be a good song for Henry’s style of dancing, but Killian’s smooth voice singing the beautiful lyrics is sending pleasant chills down my spine.

Another song with a slow tempo follows, during which my little man polishes off his fries. But when Killian starts “Footloose”, all bets are off and Henry is back on the dance floor with a chicken nugget squeezed into both of his chubby fists.

After we finish our meals, Belle, Ruby and Elsa leave to spend the rest of the evening with their boyfriends. Mary Margaret lingers, telling me she’ll stay to keep me company, because she’d rather not have to help David clean up his painting mess. We don’t want to take up a table, so we move to some empty seats along the edge of the patio from where we can still see my little dancing king.

“You’d think his battery would run down soon,” Mary Margaret comments.

“Are you serious? That kid is like the Energizer bunny, plus he’s been cooped up in stuffy dress shops all day. My money is on the singer wearing out before Henry.”

She’s uncharacteristically quiet for several minutes. When she finally speaks, she says quietly, “He really is very handsome and seems like a nice guy.”

Her statement is out of left field and I’m confused. “Who?”

“The singer - Killian,” she clarifies.

I narrow my eyes at her. “What’s your point?”

“No point. I was just making a comment,” she shrugs, all innocence.

I don’t believe her. Mary Margaret is the queen of set-ups and wears the crown proudly. She introduced Belle to Will, Ruby to Jefferson and Elsa, well, she introduced Elsa to Victor, but that didn’t work out very well. Elsa met Graham on her own.

“I’m not looking for someone to date, Mary Margaret. I’m still dealing with my idiot ex and trying to concentrate on raising my son not to follow in his father’s footsteps.”

“I understand, but…”

And it’s at this point I resign myself to the fact she’s going to spout some argument that’s going to weaken my resolve not to date.

“If Henry had a really good male role model in his life, it would help you in raising him to be a gentleman.”

“Seems to me David does a pretty good job of that, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“I know,” she sighs, “but between working, getting the house ready and planning the wedding, his time with Henry is very limited.”

“The house will be ready before you get married and the wedding is in less than five months. After the honeymoon, he’ll have more time.”

“Oh, but then we’ll have children of our own, and you know how much time that takes.”

“Is this your way of telling me you’re pregnant, Mary Margaret?”

‘’What?” she gasps. “No! I’m just saying…”

“I know what you’re saying and I hear you. If the right guy comes along, I wouldn’t be opposed to dating him, but I’m not gonna try to force something to happen.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a date for the wedding, though?” she presses.

“Henry will be my date. He’ll be very dapper in his little tux.”

“But…”

“No buts, Mary Margaret. I don’t want to be set up with someone just so I don’t look pathetic at your wedding.”

We both fall silent as we watch Henry continue to dance in front of the bemused musician. Glancing at the time on my phone, I realize he’s been at it for well over an hour and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. It’s beginning to get dark and I know I’ll have to wrangle him into the car before too much longer for his bath and bedtime.

I feel a little sorry for Killian, though. Nobody else has taken him up on his offer to dance, despite his repeated invitations. In fact, most of the diners aren’t paying attention to him at all. I hate to take his number one fan home, especially when I’m able to sit back and relax while listening to some seriously good music.

“I’m going to take a little break and then I’ll be back,” Killian announces, lifting the guitar strap over his head.

“Well, I guess that’s my cue to take Henry home,” I say to Mary Margaret.

“I suppose so,” she agrees. “Let me say goodbye to him and then I have to be on my way, too. According to his text, David is anxious for me to see how the living room turned out.”

We both stand up and move toward the stage, but I stop in my tracks. Killian is squatting down in front of Henry, listening to him with a huge smile on his face. I don’t know what Henry is saying, and I’m not sure Killian will be able to understand it anyway. Henry has an extensive vocabulary for a three-year-old, but I listen to him with ‘mom ears’, which means I can actually decipher what he’s trying to say.

When we reach them, Killian looks up at us and whatever I was going to say flies right out of my head. From a distance, the man is handsome. Close up, he’s nothing short of breathtaking. Carefully trimmed scruff covers a jawline sharp enough to cut glass, his cheekbones would put every male model to shame, and his dark hair is swept back from his forehead with a few rogue strands hanging down enticingly. Even his slightly pointed ears are adorable.

But it’s his eyes that shut down the functioning part of my brain. To say they are blue is like saying the sun is a tad bit warm, and the way the waning light catches them makes them shine like sapphires. I’m aware that my mouth is hanging open like a fish on dry land, but I can’t seem to make it form actual words.

“Hello, Killian. We’ve been thoroughly enjoying your music tonight, even if we haven’t been showing it as much as this little guy.”

Thank God for the natural chattiness of Mary Margaret.

Killian reaches out to ruffle Henry’s sweaty hair, then stands up. “I’m very happy to hear that,” he says in that beautiful, lilting accent. “I was just telling young Henry here that I’ll play some special songs for him after the break.”

I finally find my tongue. “Oh, but I was coming to tell Henry it’s time to go home.”

My little con artist turns his baby browns on me. “Please, Mommy. I be a good boy, I pwomise.”

That’s just great. Now if I take him home, I’ll have to forfeit my Mom of the Year award.

Mary Margaret laughs. “Well, Henry and Emma may be able to stay, but I really have to go.”

Why did she emphasize my name so much? As if I don’t already know.

She hugs Henry and me, tells Killian goodbye, and winks at me as she passes by. Even without trying to set me up, she’s setting me up.

I look back at Killian, who finishes chugging a bottle of water and grins at me. Reaching out to take my hand, he shakes it and says, “It’s nice to meet you, Emma, and little Henry.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Killian. Thanks for entertaining my son tonight.”

“It’s been my pleasure. I love how uninhibited kids are, and how joyful.”

“Well, his day certainly didn’t start out joyfully at all.” I shouldn’t have said it, but I’m still boiling about what Neal did to his own son, especially when this stranger seems so happy to spend time with him.

“No?” Killian questions. “May I ask what happened?”

I glance down at Henry, not wanting to bash his no-good father in front of him. He’s happily lining up little stones he collected along the edge of the patio, oblivious to the conversation going on above him.

“He was supposed to be with his dad this weekend, but he canceled. Again. So Henry was stuck shopping for wedding dresses with us all day.”

“I see.” He ponders for a second. “Would that wedding dress be for the lovely lass who just left…or someone else?”

“Yeah, it’s for Mary Margaret. She’s engaged to my brother.”

“I’m very glad I was able to make Henry’s day better, because his dancing did the same for me.” We watch Henry play, babbling to himself. “He seems like a happy little lad,” Killian observes.

“I do my best, but as a single mom, I make a lot of mistakes.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Love. All parents make mistakes. It’s a good thing kids have perfect aunts and uncles,” he says with a smirk.

“So, are you an imperfect father or a perfect uncle?” Am I really flirting with him right now?

“I have two nieces, so that would make me the latter.”

“Do you get to see them very often?”

“Aye, they live just a few miles from me, so I spoil them as often as possible. They’re my brother Liam’s girls.”

“Doesn’t sound like you’re originally from the U.S., if you don’t mind me saying.”

He chuckles again, rubbing his finger behind his right ear. “We were born in England and lived there until I was fourteen, then my father took a job here so we moved across the pond.”

“That explains the accent.”

He nods and checks his watch, blowing out a breath. “I should probably get back to my set. Will you allow young Henry to stay for a few more songs?”

I shrug my shoulders. “Sure. What’s another fifteen minutes in the grand scheme of things?”

A genuine smile splits his face. “Excellent! I think he’ll particularly like the next three or four songs I play.” He looks around and grabs a nearby chair from an empty table, setting it down beside me. “Won’t you please have a seat, Emma?”

“Such a gentleman,” I say, sinking onto the offered chair.

“Oh, I’m always a gentleman.”

Somehow I don’t mind him flirting with me.

He steps back on the stage, slips his guitar into place, and positions himself in front of the microphone. After giving me a wink, he announces in an overly accented, squeaky voice, “And now it’s time for Silly Songs with Killian. The part of the show where Killian comes out and sings…a silly song.”

I burst out laughing at the very familiar words. Henry is addicted to Veggie Tales, the wacky shows featuring talking fruits and vegetables. I love them because they teach good moral values; he loves them because they’re hilarious. His favorite part of every video is Silly Songs with Larry the Cucumber, which we watch over and over and over again. Apparently he conveyed this obsession to Killian.

Killian closes his eyes, somberly strums his guitar, and sings, “Oh, where is my hairbrush? Oh, where is my hairbrush? Oh where, oh where, oh where, oh where, oh where, oh where, oh where, oh where, oh wherrrrrrrre…is my hairbrush?”

Henry is jumping up and down like a kangaroo on a pogo stick, shouting, “Mommy! Mommy! It’s the Lawwy song! Keeyin is singin’ the Lawwy song!”

Wiping tears of laughter from my eyes, I look around at the half-dozen people at the tables, who are looking at the musician like he’s lost his damn mind. Bunch of sticks in the mud. Lighten up.

But Killian isn’t bothered by their response, or lack thereof. He smoothly transitions to another of Henry’s favorite silly songs. “Oh, everybody’s got a water buffalo. Yours is fast, but mine is slow. Oh, where’d we get them, I don’t know. But everybody’s got a water buffalo, oooooo.”

Henry is beside himself with excitement. He’s running around in a circle, waving his arms in the air in his best impression of a rabid chimpanzee.

Killian moves on to sing a few lines of “I Love My Lips” (I can’t help thinking I’m quite fond of them, too), followed by “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything”.

By this time, the diners have relaxed, laughing and clapping along with the crazy tunes. Meanwhile, my son has finally worn himself out, collapsing in a small heap in front of the stage, looking up at Killian adoringly.

“...and we’ve never been to Boston in the falllllll,” Killian concludes with a flourish and takes a deep, dramatic bow.

I dig into my purse and pull out a twenty dollar bill. I always try to watch my budget, but I’ll skip getting a chocolate caramel latte for a few days to compensate. It’s worth it for what Killian did for Henry tonight.

Walking up to the stage, I drop the bill into the tip jar, smiling up at the singer. He’s between songs, so I say, “Thank you so much, Killian. You’re my hero for entertaining Henry tonight. It was great and he loved it, didn’t you, kid?”

Henry jumps to his feet. “I weally did, Keeyin! I love Lawwy songs!”

“What do you tell him?” I prompt.

“Thank you, Keeyin,” he says obediently.

“You’re very welcome, lad. I play here again in three weeks. Perhaps you can stop in and see me again?” He’s talking to Henry, but he’s looking at me.

“Can we, Mommy?” Henry pleads.

I know we probably can’t. This restaurant is all the way across the city from where we live, plus it’s pretty expensive. Mary Margaret footed the bill today, but twelve bucks for a kid’s meal is a little steep and I won’t pay it. I don’t want to say any of this though, because my tired son is walking a thin line between lingering happiness and an emotional collapse. So I use the parental standard, “We’ll see.”

Taking Henry’s hand, I say, “Thanks, again, Killian. Have a good evening.”

Something that looks like slight panic flashes through those gorgeous eyes of his and he speaks into the microphone, “I’ll be back in five, folks.” He slides his guitar around to his back and steps off the stage, placing himself directly in front of me. “Emma, if I may be so bold, and if you’re not already dating someone, would you consider going out with me?”

“Wh-what?” Apparently, getting asked out by the most handsome man I’ve ever laid eyes on renders me a bit stupid.

He lightly wraps his hand around my wrist and pulls me further toward the side of the patio for some privacy. “Even though we just met, I would really like to get to know you better.”

“But…but you don’t even know my last name.”

“What is it?”

“Cassidy.”

“Mine is Jones, so now we know each other a little better already.”

I stare at him, trying to think of a single reason why I should say no to him. “I…we…um…Henry and I, we…uh…we come as a packaged set.” That’s the way, Emma. Use your kid to try to scare him off. And you did it so gracefully, too.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m really quite fond of your son. That’s not a deal breaker,” he states firmly. He still hasn’t let go of my wrist and now he’s rubbing his thumb over it. I find I don’t mind at all.

“I…”

“Mommy, potty!” Henry announces.

Oh, geez. Killian has to get back to his set and Henry has to pee. I’m running out of time.

Dropping Henry’s hand, I rummage through my purse, trying to find a pen. “Got a piece of paper?” I ask, mid-rummage.

Killian dashes to his guitar case and pulls out a piece of sheet music, returning with it just as I locate the elusive pen. He plants his foot on a chair and slaps the paper down on his knee so I can scribble my number on it.

When I finish, I lift Henry into my arms and take off to find a bathroom. Before disappearing inside the restaurant, I glance back at Killian. He’s still standing where I left him, a broad smile on his face as he grips the paper in his hand. Raising my free hand, I give him a little wave and he returns it.

After I’ve had time to think about it, I might regret giving him my number. Right now I just have to keep my kid from peeing down the front of my dress.

*********

A year ago, Killian Jones was my hero for giving me a chance to relax while he entertained my son. Five months later, he was once again my hero by being my date to Mary Margaret and David’s wedding. Today, he’s still my hero because he’s continuously proving that not all men are incomparable asses.

On the contrary, he’s everything I dreamed a man should be, once upon a time. Killian Jones is talented, intelligent, funny, considerate, masculine, caring, loving, passionate, and a great conversationalist, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous (if I didn’t mention that, it would be a crime.) He’s the total package and I’m head-over-heels in love with him.

Oh, and he’s a fantastic role model for my little boy. I usually hate to admit when Mary Margaret is right, but in this case, she was unequivocally correct. He and Henry absolutely adore each other and it makes my heart so happy. They do everything together - read books, play Star Wars with lightsabers, build block towers, climb trees, ride bikes, you name it.

And Henry loves singing silly songs with his soon-to-be stepfather. What more could a mother want for her son? Except, perhaps, a sibling.

Killian and I are working on that…and thoroughly enjoying every second of it.

*********

Thank you for reading. I hope it brightened your day!

Tagging: @hookedmom​​​​​​ @kmomof4​​​​​​ @cs-rylie​​​​​​ @qualitycoffeethings​​​​​​ @grimmswan​​​​​​ @wyntereyez​​​​​​ @the-darkdragonfly​​​​​​ @ultraluckycatnd​​​​​​ @paradiselady19​​​​​​ @xarandomdreamx​​​​​​ @motherkatereloyshipper​​​​​​ @julesep3026​​​​​​ @courtorderedcake​​​​​​ @lfh1226-linda​​​​​​ @pawshapedheart​​​​​​ @vampcoffeegyrl23​​​​​​ @tiganasummertree​​​​​​ @captainswan4life85​​​​​​ @bluewildcatfanatic​​​​​​ @eleveneitherway​​​​​​ @elfiola​​​​​​ @kday426​​​​​​ @julieenchanted-swans​​​​​​ @gingerchangeling​​​​​​ @andiirivera​​​​​​ @djlbg​​​​​​ @jonesfandomfanatic​​​​​​ @snowbellewells​​​​​​ @huntressandlioness1​​​​​​ @anmylica​​​​​​ @booksteaandtoomuchtv​​​​​​ @pirateherokillian​​​​​​ @cocohook38​​​​​ @ilovemesomekillianjones​​​​​​ @laschatzi​​​​​​ @zaharadessert​​​​​​ @jennjenn615​​​​​​ @yasbio2015​​​​​​ @lyssapup27​​​​​​ @nachocheese-itsmycheese​​​​​​ @singersdd​​​​​​ @mie779​​​​​​ @undercaffinatednightmare​​​​​​ @winterbaby89​​​​​​ @xsajx​​​​​​ @jackieorioncat​​​​​​ @teamhook​​​​​​ @bdevereaux-blanche​​​​​​ @soniccat​​​​​​ @searchingwardrobes​​​​​​ @jarienn972​​​​​​ @apiratewhopines​​​​​​​ @softkilly​​​​​​​ @goforlaunchcee​​​​​​​ @kymbersmith-90​​​​​​​ @captainswan217-blog

[rayhalloffame]

hey hi hello i have returned and im now making it everyone’s problem

it’s longer than i first expected but like

i mirror these characters with people from my hometown so

*

ray hall and saying slurs when he’s young bc he doesn’t entirely understand them but his dad said them a lot and he picked up the habit.

ray hall (bi king he is) having so much self hatred due to internalized homophobia that usually manifests in outwardly lashing out at anyone even slightly insinuating he’s queer

ray hall and The Mullet Phase/neg

heather nill and staying quiet when she knows she should speak up and speak out against the injustices around her because in her house that was backtalking and never ended well.

dodge mason and being an outcast the entire year because he was new in a school where everyone knows everyone

dodge mason and sitting alone in a corner of the commons area for lunch because there aren’t enough lunch tables for all the kids and he has no one to sit with

tyler young and saying things that definitely Aren’t Okay but they don’t know any better because they’re kids and havent seen anything but the way everything’s always been.

bishop moore and almost alwaysbeing smarter than everyone, but not having the ability to know when it’s okay to share what he knows and when it isn’t.

natalie williams and not being able to go through her rebellious phase because of her dad keeping a close watch. that manifesting as an even bigger blowout rebellion later down the road that strains their relationship for a long while.

sheriff cortez and feeling like he has to prove something to stay sheriff, he has to earn it. so he starts being stricter on the laws. then his son is gone, and he falls into an endless well of gambling, and it ruins him.

daniel diggins and being able to read people like books. being burdened with how everyone feels, not because they told him, but because he can see it in their faces. he can look at you and just know.

troy van and playing panic to try and escape bullying and name calling and threats and beatings because of how they choose to express themself.

shawna kenny and spreading rumors, not out of maliciousness, but because theres nothing better to do. she thinks no harm comes from them, because she can just roll rumors off her back, why can’t everyone else do that?

anne mccarthy and being called crazy and kooky and weird because no one understands how she lives. no one understands what she does or who she is. and in a town like that, that’s perceived as a bad thing.

dayna mason and being babied by the whole town. dayna and hearing ‘bless her heart’s and ‘we pray for you every day’ when all she wants is to be treated like a person.

luke hall and raising his brother the way he was raised. with fights and booze and driving boats. luke hall and doing his best to shoulder a reaponsibility that should’ve never been his.

heather nill and raising her sister the exact opposite how she was raised. heather wanting the best for lilly. heather wanting her to never know fear in whatever place they’re living. fear is for outside. fear is for the real world.

*

this is everything i have off the top of my head

not all of them are negative!! yippee!!

Omg the Luke and Heather parallel I’m so sick to my stomach!! Trying to do their best as older siblings :’((

Also diggins has my heart truly

[sarifinasnightmare]

The Pancake Conundrum

August 12-18: Sam Wilson

Rating: For Everyone

Pairing: Sarah Wilson X Bucky Barnes

Author's Note: Inspired by my mother who woke me up with a ridiculous craving. 😊

Summary: Bucky needs Sam to help him make Sarah happy again.

“Sam wake up.”

“No.” Came the muffled reply.

“Sam please, I need you.”

“No.” He buried himself under his blanket for emphasis.

“Sam!” Bucky grabbed the blanket and yanked it off him.

“You need to learn a thing or two about consent.” Sam whined as he glared at him with one sleepy eye opened. “I said no, meaning I do not consent to whatever fuckery you want me to participate in.”

“Sarah’s crying.”

“So you’re her husband, make her stop crying.”

“I am trying but only you can solve the problem.”

“That is…?”

“She wants your banana pancakes because mine aren’t the same.”

Sam sat up. “Are you kidding me?”

“It’s her hormones, she’s all over the place. Come on man, please. Help a brother-in-law out!”

“You know you could’ve avoided all of this by not dating her when I told you not to.” Sam groaned, glaring at him.

“Sam, I love her, I married her, get over it. Now come on!” He pulled on Sam’s arm.

“Gah! Alright, alright!” He finally gave up and got out of bed.

The men quietly bickered on their way down to the kitchen where Sarah, in shorts and tank top with a smooth, round belly poking out was sniffling into her napkin.

“Bucky I’m sorry. I know you meant well.” She cried a little.

He quickly sat in front of her and gave her a kiss on her cheek. “It’s okay, don’t cry. I brought Sam. He’ll make better pancakes.”

“You diva.” Sam retorted as he looked over the batter and pancakes that Bucky had made for her. “Crying over pancakes like a brat. Mom would’ve made you eat those.”

“Oh shut up, Sam.” Sarah snapped. “I know they’re fine, but they didn’t taste like yours and I just started crying. This baby’s got me all messed up. I hate it!”

“I’m sorry.” Bucky apologized, offering her another napkin to cry into.

“Oh no, it’s not your fault. I love our baby, I do, I’m just so tired of being fat, and hot.” She tugged on her tank top. “It’s so hot in here.”

“It’s August. What do you expect, sis?” Sam said. “In fact, the house has been the coldest it’s ever been in years. What temp do you have it on?”

“Sixty degrees.” Bucky replied. “I bought a separate unit for our bedroom. It’s fifty in there.”

“Jesus, I hope your World War II pension has enough for the electric bill!”

“Sam please fix the pancakes!” He begged.

“Fine, fine!” He tasted the batter. “It tastes like mine.” He looks at the pan. “There’s your problem.”

“Which is…?”

“You got to use bacon grease, man!”

“Bacon grease? She can’t even eat bacon right now; it makes her sick!”

“No one said she had to eat the bacon!” Sam said as he went into the fridge. “Aha, always have some on reserve.” He said, pulling out a small Tupperware containing congealed yellow grease.

Soon Sam had the pan hot with the bacon grease going and ladled in the batter. Making three of them he added more bananas and drizzled it with maple syrup before setting it in front of his sister with a flourish.

“There we go. The original and still the best banana pancakes.” he said proudly.

Bucky rolled his eyes.

Sarah said nothing as she tentatively dug in, then proceeded to clean the plate and once she finished, she leaned back with a sigh of relief. “Bucky, can we go back to bed now?”

“Gladly.” He said as he easily scooped her up. “I’ll clean everything up in the morning.” He promised.

Sam shook his head before turning off the stovetop and setting the pan aside, then covered the remaining batter and put it in the fridge to use in the morning. “Think I’m going to soundproof my room. You two are ridiculous. I can only imagine how much crazier it’s gonna get with the baby.”

“Stop playing. You love this baby too, Sam.” Sarah mumbled, resting against her husband’s shoulder.

“I do, but yall are too much. I mean it’s freezing up in here!” He turned to Bucky. “How do you even sleep in that room?”

“I got two words for you, Sam. Cryogenically frozen.”

“Oops, my bad.”

“I hate you,” Bucky carefully laid Sarah on her mounds of pillows before returning to Sam, “And thanks.”

Sam yawned but waved it off. “It’s nothing. Good night.” He went back to his bed and buried himself under his blanket.

“G’night.” Bucky mumbled before closing the door and sliding down onto his small slice of the bed, Sarah fast asleep, minor crisis averted.