#and then the babies hang out on mama's back until they're big enough to be on their own!

[zhooniyaa-waagosh]

Me: Oh no, hi mama, I'm so sorry!

My neighbor, looking at me saying this to a spot on the ground while I'm gardening:

[heavyhitterheaux]

Jack's Driving School

First Lady of Private Garden Fic

AN: no harm came to anyone while trying to teach First Lady how to drive lol they're around 20 in this

Synopsis: First Lady is moving back to Atlanta with her husband and best friend soon and Jack's goal is to teach her how to drive so she can get her license before the big move

Pairing: Baby!Jack Harlow x Baby!Reader

Requested by: my gorgeous baby @hoodharlow 😘💕

First Lady of Private Garden Masterlist

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

"Umm Pookie? My feet can't reach the pedals." You said as your feet were dangling in the driver's seat of Jack's Pontiac.

"Baby, you have to adjust the seat on the side. Remember I showed you how to do it yesterday?"

"Oh, okay." You responded as you reached for the button to move you closer to the steering wheel.

You turned the car on, but Jack immediately turned it off leaving you confused.

"What did I do wrong?" 

"Seatbelt, mamas. If this was the test for real you would have already failed." 

"But you turn the car on before putting it on!" You answered while looking over at him.

"And I already have a license so I can do what I want. You on the other hand cannot." He quickly replied and you immediately rolled your eyes.

"I don't like the attitude I'm getting from you."

"I'm only trying to help you to make sure you pass the first time. We only have about a month left until we leave for Atlanta. And didn't you say your goal was to have your license before we leave?"

"Yes."

"Okay, let's try again. Seatbelt first."

After you snapped the seatbelt in place, you turned the car on.

"Make sure your foot is on the brake and then put it in drive babe."

Thank goodness Jack's car was an automatic because there was no way in the world you would be able to drive stick.

"Okay, let's go. And please tell me you have your permit with you this time."

"OKAY, THAT WAS ONE TIME."

"AND THAT ONE TIME WE COULD HAVE GOTTEN PULLED OVER."

"BUT DID YOU DIE!?"

"I'm about to drop you off with Urban so he can do this."

"He's high like 90% of the time so how would that even work?"

"Good point. So I guess I'm stuck with you."

"You say that like it's a bad thing. Keep in mind you married me."

"I thought it was a good idea at the time."

"JACKMAN THOMAS HARLOW!" You exclaimed while smacking his arm and he immediately laughed. 

"I'm only playing, baby. Come here and let me kiss you."

"No. Suddenly I'm allergic to you."

Jack then reached over to place a kiss on your cheek and you swatted his hand away so he took the opportunity to turn your face towards him and place several kisses on your lips.

"I love you." Jack said but you crossed your arms.

"And I tolerate you." 

"BABY!"

"Okay, where to first?"

—-

"BABY! THAT WAS A STOP SIGN!"

"Oh oops."

"No. I don't want to hear that. You would have definitely failed. AND COULD HAVE HIT SOMEONE."

"I CAN’T SEE OVER THE STEERING WHEEL!"

"DO I NEED TO GO AND BUY YOU A BOOSTER SEAT!?! I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU COULD SEE!?"

"I don't know. Maybe!"

You were coming to a red light and pressed on the brake a little too hard sending Jack's forehead flying forward into the dashboard.

"GOT DAMN IT!" Jack exclaimed before looking over at you and giving you the evil eye.

"I'm sorry, smush. I'll suck your dick later to make up for it."

"You need to do a lot more than that because you know this shit is about to bruise."

"Come here, lean over and let me kiss it."

"NO! You've done enough for today." Jack muttered while massaging the spot that was hit on his forehead.

"Pookie, stop being dramatic."

"How can I not be when your test is tomorrow? How did you even pass driving school!?"

"Dani knows a guy who signed off on it for me."

"Oh, of course she does." Jack responded while rolling his eyes.

"I mean the only reason why I'm doing this is to hang out with little baby when you're busy in the studio."

"EXCUSE ME?"

"What? What did I say?"

"You know what you said so don't start."

"Can we take a food break? I'm hungry."

"A break? Baby, we have only been out here for fifteen minutes." Jack peered over at you and you simply shrugged.

"It's too bright outside for me to put you in my mouth so McDonald's is the next best thing."

"Look, go through the drive thru and let's make this quick."

"Are we going on the highway?" You curiously asked and Jack's eyes went wide.

"Baby, you can barely handle being on the street."

"I promise that I can do it!"

"Ehh, let's practice parallel parking first before we do that." 

"You have ZERO confidence in me."

"Umm, I wouldn't use those exact words, I just feel at this point in time you won't pass and we'll have to do this all over again."

"Wow, way to shoot your wife down." You responded while rolling your eyes.

"We took our vows before God when we got married and I am not about to lie to you."

"Well come tomorrow, I'm about to prove you wrong."

"Even if you don't, you're still keeping your promise to give me head since you tried to end my life earlier right?"

"Keep getting smart with me and I'll bite it off." 

It was now Friday morning and time for your test so Jack was giving you a pep talk or at least attempting to. But you were barely paying him any attention. 

"You know you got this baby. Remember everything that I taught you."

"Hmm, I'm more concerned about my outfit for my license picture. Pick between these two." You said while turning towards Jack and holding up two different shirts. 

"I- …."

"Pick one Jackman before you make me late!"

"Baby, all you're concerned about is your picture when I'm concerned about you actually passing."

"If worst comes to worst, you'll continue driving me around." You replied while shrugging while Jack shook his head. 

"Now pick one big head!"

"I'll show you a big head alright and go with the white one."

"I'm ignoring you and how should I do my hair?"

"This is not a photoshoot for a magazine! Baby, come on." Jack exclaimed while looking at the time.

"High ponytail it is and do you think that if I ask if Urban can take my license picture that they'll let him? He knows all my angles."

"And my favorite angle is you on all fours or you on your knees, but no. Baby, this is the DMV not Vogue."

"I…. Jackman behave. Speak for yourself! But, it was worth a try. Maybe if I don't like it he can hack into the system to change it." 

"Baby…. Just get dressed so we can leave."

“You are so impatient this morning.” You muttered before sliding on your shirt and taking your hair down out of the bonnet to put it in a curly ponytail.

“My baby looks so pretty and you best believe that if we didn’t have anywhere to be right now that I would be rearranging your guts.”

“We can do that later, you are not about to mess up my make-up with your shenanigans.”

“My shenanigans had you screaming last night and will be doing the same exact thing later.”

“That was you screaming, not me. Did you hit your head?”

“No, but I’m definitely hitting them backshots for you getting smart with your husband, now get your ass in the car.”

You simply smirked at Jack before sliding past him and making sure that you took your sweet time so that your ass grazed his dick and he immediately groaned.

“Now why would you do that because you know I don’t have any problem bending you over right now.”

“We have somewhere to be smush, remember?”

“I’m going to tear that ass up later.”

“Can’t wait.”

Jack had his mouth hanging wide open when you went in line to get your license picture.

You had passed and he didn’t even know how you were able to do it and he thought that Dani probably knew someone that she told to let you pass.

“Don’t look so surprised, smush. I told you that I would pass.” You said while leaning over to kiss his cheek now that the two of you were back in his car. 

“I’m not… I just….”

“Admit it, you thought that I was going to fail, but I guarantee that I’m going to be a better driver than you are.”

“I… highly doubt that, but whatever helps you sleep at night, babe.”

“Now I need to get my Range Rover.”

“I thought that you wanted a G Wagon?” 

“Why not both?” You curiously asked while smiling at him.

“I’ll add it to my list of many things that I need to buy for my wife once I hit my first million.”

You simply shook your head no.

“Absolutely not, that can wait. I just… can’t wait for you to finally get the recognition that you deserve. I might be biased, but I know that my husband is the shit and that there are big things in store for him. I’m just happy to be along for the ride and the fact that I get to see it happen in real time.”

“Now you know good and damn well that when it does happen, you are going to get taken care of first. Whatever you want. You have been the person to constantly push me in order to make this happen and I will get you anything that you ask me for, big or small. I made a promise to not only you, but your parents that I was going to take care of you.”

“I knew that I made the right decision to marry you, even if you get on my nerves sometimes.”

“I… love you too because I know that’s what you meant.” Jack answered before leaning over to kiss you and you eagerly kissed him back before your hand began to move south to slip into his boxers to lightly stroke him.

“Babe…”

“I promised you head for you hitting your head on the dashboard, didn't I? Now start driving while I fulfill my promise and make sure we don’t crash, because that would be a hell of an explanation we have to give to the police.”

“I’m not even scared of the police, it’s my parents.”

“Hmm, good point. Now drive.”

Taglist:

@harlowsbby

@babyharleezy

@hoodharlow

@stefansalvatoresgf

@jackiehollanderr

@primadxna-girl

@dessmxsworld

@cockslutslurper3000

@raelorns21

@variety-fangirl

@gbaabyyyy

@kamorsstuff

@harlowthot

@sinsandsuccubus

@curlyhairclub

@bootlegroach

@haylexo10

@thinkingaboutjharlow

@fluidsentiment

@charli123456789

@moody4world

@yourstrulymayah

@yana4life

@beanbagbitch

@alinaharlow

@carma-fanficaddict

@minaxcarter

@arination99

@xjup1t3r

@venusvinc

@jackharloww

@midnight-star47

@minkookie95

@inluvwithladybug

@exoticr0ses

@jharlowsangels

@jackierose902109

@knack4harlow

@cmalass

@megawhoree

@softtcurse

@sia2raw

@miniaturehideoutmentality

@hoya122

@nattinatalia

@jackslover12

@skyesthebomb

@jackharlows-world

@louisianalady

@fdl305

@automaticpeachsong

@harlowcomehome

@gassyandsassy1

@babygirlwilly

@amethyst09

@harrycanyonmoonn

@toocriticalharlow

@tattered-tales

@sisiking99

@dessxoxsworld

@gillybear17

@jacksdaycare

@iheartharlow

@disaster-rose

@babyvinnie

@evansxchalamet

@chtkmyharlow​

@itsyagirljaz

@neon-lights-and-glitter

@awhore4moree

@a-moment-captured

@jackmans-poison

@valentinqee

@lightsoutstyles

@j-worlds-blog

@middlechild404

@0elliotswhore

@iknowdatsrightbih

@w1ldthoughts

[driedbreadstixx]

ABOUT TYPHOON

All there is about him so far

Species

Typhoon is a Burmese roofed turtle mutated by Baron Draxum alongside the other Turtles.

Weapon + mystic powers

Typhoon wields a mystic kusarigama. He's quite skilled with his weapon, as his adoptive mom taught and trained him quite well, due to her being an experienced fighter herself.

The mystic kusarigama can manipulate and create strong winds, powerful enough to knock back enemies and make craters upon impact. The weapon emits a soft green glow. Typhoon loves his weapon dearly, because it fits his name well.

The name's origin

》Swift like the wind and unpredictable like a storm.《

He had always been a hyperactive bundle of energy and little prankster, so his mom settled for the name "Typhoon".

Personality

Typhoon is a friendly and fun loving turtle. He's incredibly playful and enjoys being active. He's a hyperactive bundle of energy and practically bounces off the walls 24/7. Typhoon physically cannot sit still without complaining and making his boredom known.

Alongside that, Typhoon is also incredibly affectionate. His love language is physical touch like hugs and holding hands.

Typhoon's story

Typhoon is the fifth of the Turtle brothers, but he was seperated from the pack pretty much right after their mutation. In the Hidden City, he was raised by a Yokai named Stellar, an ex Battle Nexus fighter.

After leaving the Battle Nexus and Big Mama behind, Stellar opens a flower shop in the Hidden City. Typhoon sells his own home made charms and stickers alongside his mom, in order to "make money to buy sweets with".

One day, when Typhoon is taken to the surface by Stellar, he comes face to face with the four other Turtles. At first, Typhoon doesn't quite believe he's a mutant himself. After all, he's been around Yokai all his life, which led him to believe he's a Yokai, too.

On the way back home to the Hidden City, Typhoon tells his mom all about the new friends he made, and how they're turtles just like him. Stellar is intrigued.

They go out to the surface again a few days after, hoping to encounter the Turtles once again. Fortunately, such happens, and Typhoon enthusiastically introduces his mom to them. Stellar is anything but hateful towards humans and mutants. In fact, she's rather fond and fascinated, so she greets her son's new friends with open arms.

Weeks and months pass and Typhoon grows pretty close to the Turtle brothers. When he's introduced to Splinter, he's immediately recognized. Typhoon doesn't understand how Splinter could possibly know him, but after a long explanation, everything clicks.

Typhoon is absolutely excited when he discovers he's actually biologically related to the Turtles. He enthusiastically informs his mom of those news when he returns home, and Stellar is happy for her child.

More and more time passes, with Typhoon regularly hanging out with his new brothers, until one day Stellar and Splinter agree it's best for Typhoon to move in with them properly.

Typhoon isn't very fond of the idea of moving out of the Hidden City and leaving his mom behind, but Stellar suggests he could visit every weekend and vice versa. Quickly, the final decision is made and Typhoon moves into the New York sewers with his brothers and biological father.

His relationship to the Turtles

Typhoon gets along well with all of his brothers, but he's certainly closest with Mikey. Both of them are around the same age, making them the babies of the family. Typhoon and Mikey share many interests, and their personalities seem so alike, it's "very well possible they might as well be one organism". The two of them had to share a room for a while until Typhoon could have his own. Still, Typhoon and Mikey still enjoy sleeping in the same room.

Typhoon is fascinated by Donnie's work and often requests to sit with him while Donnie works in his lap. Despite Typhoon's best efforts to learn and understand, his attention often shifts to other things.

He has poor humour, which resultens in Typhoon enjoying Leo's puns and one liners. Typhoon likes hanging out with Leo because of his funny and laid back personality. Although Leo was skeptical of Typhoon for a while, they've grown quite close.

Typhoon also enjoys spending time with Raph, although his overprotective personality sometimes bugs him. Despite all that, Typhoon looks up to Raph and aims to be as strong as him one day.

Hobbies + favourite things

Typhoon has expressed a love for art ever since he was little. From doodling with crayons to painting to making origami figures. His favourite things to draw are dinosaurs, as he's absolutely obsessed with them.

His favourite colours are pink and green, and Typhoon loves pancakes. He'd have them for every meal if he could.

If given the chance, Typhoon would give hour long rambles about dinosaurs and his favourite prehistoric creatures. Two of his favourite dinosaurs are Baryonyx and Therizinosaurus, as those fascinate him the most.

Other stuff

Typhoon has a lizard plushie named Barbecue and he can't sleep without it. He's incredibly scared of the dark, suffering from nyctophobia. He believes Barbecue protects him from the dark and the monsters lurking within.

He has undiagnosed ADHD.

Reference Sheet

Voice claim

[might add onto this sometime!]

[doodleferp]

For the naga au has anyone ever tried to steal Vash and Ari's eggs? And if they did managed to steal one I think Ari will become an angry mama bear and won't rest until she gets her baby back! May god have Mercy on the Poachers soul!

Thankfully, our lovely couple hasn't had to worry about that! Vash already has some legal protections due to his status as one of the only two male nagas on the planet. Vash's territory is also too big for the government to effectively build a protective wall around, so they just set up bases in towns and in the jungle and patrol it to make sure everything's okay. Vash doesn't mind in the least and he is very friendly if a non-aggressive human crosses his path. I feel like Vash not only lets other nagas sleep in/hang out in his territory, but he lets humans live in his territory with no real issues. He's like a guardian angel for those towns and he's an instant celebrity whenever he pops into one. People will clean him up and bandage his wounds and give him food and treats and a warm heated bed. He loves it.

Like I mentioned in the lore post for this AU, only two people in the present know where Vash’s real den is, Ari and Luida. Luida has a general idea of where it is, but Ari KNOWS-knows where it is. Mostly because she lives there with him. Knives and a bunch of unrelated people are trying to find it, but Vash is a smart cookie and has a bunch of proxy dens around his turf so that people won’t be able to tell which one is the “real” den.

But on the topic of poachers. Vash and Ari have tangled with their fair share of ne'er-do-wells trying to take a piece or more of Vash and they deal with them accordingly. Vash is obviously nonviolent with his approaches, trying to scare them off or get them so lost in the jungle that they have no choice but to abandon the hunt and find their way back. Ari is much more direct. She might not have her electric powers, but she does have knives, a crossbow, and more knowledge of the jungle than any human alive. She doesn't kill them, but she does rough them up enough to send them running with their tails between their legs.

And as for the babies...the world doesn't know they exist yet. They live in the real Vash den and thanks to the previous loss of Indira and Sylvia, Ari and Vash don't want to release these babies to the public before they're old enough to defend themselves. The babies, however, are very interested in the human towns and really want to go see one. They get SUPER excited when Vash and Ari bring them human stuff.

Side note, I'm thinking of calling this AU Trigun Snakeskin. Thoughts anyone?

Also side note -- worm Vash seekers might want to check out this fanfic by @triplesilverstar.

[safetycar-restart]

happy valentine's day to my favorite whores!!!!!!! sister 📓 is back!!!!!

CHARLES TIME!

okay. now charles is our sweet little bean, right? right. he loves you, and he makes valentine's day with you SUCH a big deal.

he goes all out, dinner reservations, rose petals in your bedroom, a warm bath in the bathroom, with wine, and candles.

you took the day off work, easily deciding you'd rather spend valentine's with your sweet boy, rather than dealing with annoying people at the office. charles was the one who got up today first, but it was mostly because he wanted to pick up some stuff for you before going to the track for the car launch. he must admit, it was quite hard having to leave without getting a kiss goodbye, but he didn't want to wake you up and spoil the suprise, which he probably would have done.

he decided to pick up a giant bouquet full of red roses, he always said they reminded him of you because they were so pretty and elegant. he wrote a little note with them, expressing his love for you in such a beautiful way. he really knew his way with words when it came to you, he didn't even know he was able to write such a thing. of course, he added a little heart at the end, signing off the letter with:

xoxo,

mommy's good boy :),

- charles ❤️

he mailed the roses to you, waited until you woke up (he knows around which time you do). by the time you woke up, looking for charles, the doorbell rang, and the roses were already waiting for you in front of the door. picking them up with a smile, you read the note before placing the huge bouquet on the big table in the dining room. not long after that, charles is calling your number, and to no suprise, you pick up on the first ring.

"mommy! happy valentine's day!"

"thank you, angel. happy valentine's day to you too."

"did you- did you get the flowers?"

"yes, i did! they're so beautiful, darling. thank you so much."

*giggling like a little schoolgirl*

"mama, are you coming to the track? there's only an hour and a half until the launch."

"of course i am, angel. i was just about to get ready. don't worry, okay? you know i wouldn't break my promise."

"yes, mommy! i'm going to hang up now, i don't want you to be late because of me."

"okay, bubba. i love you."

"i love you too!"

you shake your head at the boy's antics, before moving over to get ready. as if an hour and a half isn't enough, but you don't want to make charles worry. you always show up a bit early for events like these.

by the time you're at the track, charles is messing around with carlos, being a little pest. you hear carlos say "there's your girlfriend, perceval. skedaddle along, you parasite." charles laughs before looking to the side, actually seeing you there before running off to hug you and greet you. he hasn't seen you since he woke up, and he missed you quite a bit.

"mommy!" he squeals, wrapping his arms around you. "hi, baby! you look so pretty!" you reply, referring to his fluffy hair, and his new teamwear, as well as his gorgeous face, of course. you wish each other a happy valentine's, before pecking his lips and going to greet carlos.

you were there for the entire car launch, watching charles have fun, talking about the new season, the new car, and watching him spin around for two laps. it's been a while since he last asked you if you saw how fast he was on the track. it was something you missed since the season ended.

when you got home, you cuddled for most of the afternoon, occasionally playing some animal crossing (you have an island together, a little house and allat) and dancing to some music.

then, followed the big dinner. charles made a reservation at this super fancy restaurant, picked a nice suit all by himself, and even got you a brand new, red silk dress, that he suggested you should wear tonight. of course, you did. and charles was absolutely stunned, admiring you for a good 2 minutes.

the restaurant indeed was fancy, you ate some nice food, and shared a little heart shaped chocolate cake. you both had such a sweet tooth, but you didn't really indulge in that due to your diet, and charles' own strict diet too. you two walked throughout milan, eating ice cream, admiring the city and taking pictures of each other, and some with each other. you had a wonderful time together, always enjoying each other's presence.

you got home late at night. maybe 10 or 11 pm. charles already prepared the bath beforehand, for you two to enjoy. drinking wine and just being warm in each other's embrace.

charles led you to the bedroom after that. it was candle lit, with rose petals leading all the way to the bed. you thought it was the cutest thing he ever did for you, and he did a LOT of shit for you. he walks over to the bed with you, shy smile on his face.

now, you might think he'd want to take it slow, gentle, romantic. he did. well, he'd treat YOU that way. eat you out, kiss you and run his hands all over your body. he wants you to relax. he didn't want to do anything extreme. he never did. you ended up giving him a slow handjob at first, and he starts whining, begging for your fingers in his mouth. he slips your index and middle finger in his mouth, happily sucking on them.

then, he mumbles something with your fingers in his mouth. to you, it just sounded like "mffmffmfhdhhmhmhm", so you let your fingers slip to his lips. he repeats himself, "i want you to make me choke on your fingers," and while you aren't taken aback, you just want to ask him if he's sure. maybe the wine got him a bit tipsy, you thought he wanted to take this slow. when you ask for confirmation, he just softly nods his head. what your boy wants, your boy gets.

you start stroking him a bit faster than earlier, having him moan out of suprise. you shove your fingers further in his mouth, and he mumbles something which you were only able to decipher as a "more". you shove your fingers down his throat this time, making him gag and choke on your fingers, his eyes starting to get watery. you retract your fingers from his mouth, let him breathe a bit. he asks an odd question, but you find it cute. he says "can i swallow my spit, mommy?" you smile at him, telling him he can. he pushes your fingers down his throat, gagging and moaning around them as you stroke his cock at a fast speed. your fingers are laying on his tongue when he says "mommy, i'm gonna cum! i'm gonna cum, please let me cum!" and who are you to say no to him? he cums all over your hand not long after, while choking on your fingers at the same time.

you pull your fingers out of his mouth, charles gasps, the lack of air getting back to him. you run your clean hand over his cheek, asking him if he's okay and wiping the tears from under his eyes away. he thanks you after that, asking you if he can clean your hand of his cum, happily lapping up his release off your palm and fingers. he lays down for a quick break, before asking you again. "mommy, can you fuck me now?"

oh boy, were you in for a long night.

- 📓

Oh my god. I’m gonna try and add some thoughts but this already fucking incredible and I have no idea how I’m supposed to make this any better.

At first charles was sad to realise the car launch would be on valentines, because he wanted to spend the day with his mommy!! But then you promised him you’d come to the car launch and take the whole day off and then you two can spend the day after the launch together. And well, if his mommy promises it’s gonna be fine then it’s gonna be fine.

The hardest part of his day was absolutely letting you sleep in and not waking you because he didn’t went to ruin the surprise of the roses. Normally, no matter what time he gets up he always wakes you because he needs his forehead kiss before he can go about his day. Often you’ll give hie forehead kiss and then to right back to sleep.

You expected flowers to show up, because Charles always takes valentines very seriously, but you didn’t expect just how many he ordered. The bouquet is fucking massive, and you know it’s because he feels guilty about not being at home.

You want to call him immediately to thank him, but you know he might be busy so you wait for him to call you. And he does, because of course he does. He calls his mommy at every possible opportunity.

He’s so happy when you thank him for the flowers, because it means he did good!!! He made his mommy happy!!!

You make sure to get to the track early, because you always want to be early for these events so you can greet Charles properly. He sees you and immediately runs to you, not even saying goodbye to Carlos. He’ll literally just turn away from a conversation when he spots you, nothing is more important than his mommy!!! Nothing!!!

Even though you’ve already seen the new suits (because come on, Charles can’t keep secrets from his mommy, you know about the suits and liveries the moment charles did), you still compliment him about how cute he looks!! You ruffle his hair and kiss his cheeks and pull him into a big hug.

He’s so happy!!! He’s getting attention from his mommy!! He also absolutely has a team jacket for you to wear. Because his mommy must also have the team wear. He gets so happy when he sees you in the team jackets.

So you watch the whole launch, smiling because you can see how genuinely happy Charles is. His eyes often wonder to you, checking to see if his mommy is happy, if his mommy thinks he’s doing a good job. You always nod when he looks at you, making sure he knows that you’re very happy.

He spends the whole drive back to the apartment telling you all about his day and how much he loved driving the car. It’s been a while since you’ve seen your boy so happy and optimistic.

Then fancy dinner!!!

Honestly it’s pretty rare that you guys to fancy restaurants because Charles would often rather be home with you. He doesn’t have to worry about being spotted by fans at home, he can subby at home, he can call you mommy at home.

But for special occasions like valentines, it feels so good to just go out with you to somewhere nice and romantic. He’s such a happy boy at dinner, smiling the entire time, telling you how he and Carlos were joking around earlier, how excited he was to show the car, how positive the reactions were.

And of course he must know about your day!! Did you sleep well? What did you have for breakfast? How long did it take you to get ready? Have you heard from your boss today? He wants to know EVERYTHING.

The moment you get home he’s whiney and needy. He’s still soft with you, wanting to give you head before you do anything for him but you can see that it’s beginning to affect him, that he’s starting to get all desperate and struggling to stay calm.

So you didn’t tease him. You can see how badly he wants to make you cum before he submits properly and you know that teasing him will send him barrelling towards his full subby headspace.

He makes you cum, and then has to be pulled by his hair away from your pussy because there’s no way in hell he’s moving on his own accord. He smiles at you then, eyes a little glazed over.

He made his mommy cum!! He’s been such a good boy!! His head is now turned off. No more Charles. Only mommy’s subby baby.

You start off soft with his handjob, just letting him enjoy it and you’re surprised to hear he wants to choke. I think Charles will sometimes make himself choke on dildos when you let him suckle on one? He’s just desperate and needy, wanting to be so full he can’t breathe.

So you listen to his request and do it, listening to how his moans sound with your fingers in his mouth, how he gasps and swallows around you, how he shakes in your arms.

He’s a mess when he cums, spit dripping down his chin and cum all over you hand. You’re soft with him then, letting him clean your hand and holding him close, thanking him for being such a good boy.

And when he asked to be fucked, well, how could you ever deny him?

[cassiebones]

There are at least two(2) times in the Encanto storyline when both Julieta and Pepa have overlapping pregnancies. This means these sisters were waddling around Casita, doing what they have to do, while their husbands doted on them and they were 100% still the baddest bitches around.

But

Imagine them getting rounder and playfully pressing their bellies together to "introduce" their little babies. The first time, Julieta is maybe a month further along than Pepa, so her belly is maybe a bit bigger and she is downing the arepas like they're m&m's, as well as several other kinds of weird cravings. Obviously she shares with her sister, but she always just has a plate with her and snacks while she cooks.

Meanwhile, Pepa, who is always super emotional (and raining/sleeting/snowing/etc) is suddenly calm for her pregnancy with Dolores. There's a little more sun and rainbows and less lightning. Alma is happy about this, obviously, and Pepa wants to be annoyed by that but tbh she's happy too. She feels...peaceful.

But then Julieta goes into labor and she can hear the screams and for the first time since her pregnancy began, she creates a huge storm and tries to contain it in her room. She wants to help bring Isa into the world, BUT she's a few weeks from popping so all she can do is listen and think this will be her soon enough. Félix does his best to calm her and mostly succeeds, promising he'll be there to hold her hand the entire time.

Agustín comes out with a broken hand and a tiny infant in the crook of his arm. He is sobbing. Not because of the hand. Félix gives him a stored arepa to heal his hand, but he is still a blubbering mess.

"Look at her, Fe," he says. "She's so perfect." Félix pats him on the back and agrees. Little Isabela is perfect.

Well he believes that until he's holding his own baby Dolores in his arms. Then it's his turn to sob like a baby himself. She has tight little curls and her Mama's smile and his eyes and she is just a rainbow personified. After a hurricane of a birth, she's here, just three weeks after her cousin (Isabela was fashionably late).

Nobody loves her more than Pepa, though, who carries her practically 24/7, crying about how much she loves this tiny little loaf in her arms.

Julieta and Agustín take turns carrying Isa around, strapped to their bodies as they do their chores. As Julieta cooks, she explains recipes and measurements to Isabela, who just snores and drools on her shoulder. Juli has to stop sometimes just to stare at this tiny life she's created. Agustín bursts into tears sometimes when Isa does something cute like grab his mustache or fart. He kisses her little head and whispers how perfect she is.

When Félix holds Dolores, he tells her stories. She's so tiny still, but she's alert. Her big eyes make him believe she's actually listening to him and his stories become dramatic as he goes on and on and on. She's strapped to his chest as he does things around the house, still telling his baby these stories. He does this for years, as she grows, transitioning from being strapped to his chest, to his back, to toddling after him with Isa, who also loves his stories.

Bruno babysits often enough that it's natural for him to just have the two little girls hanging off him as he walks around Casita, answering any little questions they have with exaggerated or nonsensical answers (Tío Bruno, what's for dinner tonight? Capybara. Eewww! No, they're quite good. Just a little dry and crunchy.)

When Isa is 2, she asks how her mama got that baby in her belly and Bruno looks at his nonexistent watch and says whoa looks like I need to go water my cactus, bye! He sprints away like an Olympian. The girls have no chance of catching up so they ask whichever papa is closest (poor awkward Agustín stutters and mumbles and ends up telling them that a stork impregnated Julieta).

During her pregnancy with Luisa, Julieta's appetite is not so huge, but she has a surplus of energy so she spends 9 months basically just nesting. Her chores are done super quickly and she churns out food like a machine, until there's enough to keep in the cold box until well after the baby is born. Isabela and Dolores like to nap with her, their little ears pressed to her belly. Pepa naps with them too, sad that she's not pregnant too, but also glad because she is not ready for another baby just yet.

Luisa's birth is easier than Isabela's. Not as much fuss. She's also an easy baby. She doesn't cry as much and is always content in her parents' arms. Isabela adores her and holds her as much as she can. They join Augustín in the garden a lot so he can teach them about different flowers. Julieta always sends them out with food in case of bee stings (which inevitably happen, though Isabela is way more fond of the bees, who seem to like her as well).

The next time Julieta and Pepa are pregnant at the same time, their eldest are seven and it's Pepa who's about three months further along.

This time, however, Camilo wreaks absolute HAVOC on her body. She has such bad morning sickness for the first 2 trimesters that she can hardly eat the arepas she knows will cure it. She gets migraines nearly every single day, as well. Julieta makes her tiny, healthy snacks for her to chew on throughout the day to help, but they always come back. In her third trimester, things seem to calm down a little bit and she actually has a chance to feel excited about having another baby. She and Felix have wanted a second child for so long and Dolores is already a pretty great big cousin to Luisa, so they're certain she'll be an amazing big sister.

Then Camilo is born and he is a CRIER. Like big time. He doesn't stop crying for pretty much a month straight. And Dolores HATES HIM. Mainly because she has that super-sensitive hearing and is seven and doesn't really understand that Camilo cannot help that crying is the only way he can communicate. She just knows that her ears hurt and she wants it to just STOP.

Thankfully, Casita has made a part of her room completely soundproof, so she can't hear anything outside that space. She spends a lot of her time there until Camilo is a year old and can otherwise verbalize his feelings. That's when they start to get closer but she always has ear plugs at the ready because he tends to happy-shriek.

When Julieta is pregnant with Mirabel, all the little ones hover around her (they cannot go near Pepa's pregnancy because she is going Through It) and ask to feel her belly and ask her if she thinks it will be a boy or a girl. Julieta and Agustín wouldn't mind a boy, but also wouldn't mind a girl. Gus is a great girl dad, with hair clips in his hair and flowers and sometimes a little bit of Julieta's makeup, which he wears proudly. Having a boy would be just as nice, but they're really not picky. Also, Félix can attest to the fact that boys are not all they're cracked up to be as he carries around a screaming, colicky Camilo, who is unlike the three previous infants in that he doesn't seem to require oxygen because he NEVER TAKES A BREATH FROM SCREAMING.

When Mirabel is born, she is pretty chill. She cries an average amount, but she's a pretty happy baby. She only really cries when he disrupts her sleep. Usually, she grunts or moans when she needs something. Isabela ADORES her younger sister just as much as she adores Luisa and carries her all around in a sling, growing flowers to watch Mirabel's eyes grow impossibly large in glee. They spend a lot of time in the garden to get away from the incessant crying.

All the cousins are super close, like siblings. The ones close in age are always closest, like twins. Isa and Dolores have a sort of secret language and Mirabel/Camilo are a bit mischievous. They pull pranks together and always try to one-up one another. Luisa is never excluded, however, and is also incredibly protective of them all. She is honestly the one that keeps all of them alive when they do stupid shit.

When Camilo gets his gift, he just has more ammo to use for pranks. When Mirabel doesn't get her gift, they all initially use their gifts to cheer her up. Dolores always tells her the gossip. Isabela leaves flowers in the nursery for her. Luisa lifts her up to see and do things she otherwise would be unable to do. Camilo makes her laugh with his impressions and the ways he can modify each form. Growing up, they grow further apart as chores take over their lives and Mirabel tries to find ways to be as useful as them all, without any powers. She learns to use a sewing machine and to hand embroider and to just create with her hands. She explores Casita and learns Casita's language. She quickly becomes Casita's favorite.

Because of her lack of a gift, Alma starts putting pressure on Pepa to have a third child, just to see if the magic has truly run out or if there's something wrong with Mirabel. Or Julieta. She can no longer ask Bruno for advice of the future.

Pepa and Félix try for years to conceive a third baby, but are unsuccessful until they start to believe she may be too old. She's 45 when it's confirmed and she is a mess of nerves. Julieta plies her with home-baked bread and specially-brewed tea. She is basically Pepa's nurse for the next 9 months, keeping her calm, fed, and healthy. Mirabel, always wanting to help, reads to Pepa (while holding an umbrella to keep her books from being ruined) and makes baby clothes for her. Pepa is forever thankful for Mirabel's sweetness despite the coldness she faces from Alma. Dolores can hear her baby brother's heart beat every day and tells Pepa that he's strong, which calms her. Isabela grows flowers that can be ingested to keep things calm and keep Pepa healthy. Camilo learns how to brew tea and his Papa teaches him how to speak in calm tones so that his mama doesn't storm too harshly when she's nervous. Luisa even sometimes carries Pepa through the house when her feet are too swollen. Everybody does their best to help so that when Antonio is born, he is perfectly healthy and happy and the weather remains sunny. A rainbow forms over her head when she holds her baby boy for the first time, her fingers stroking perfect curls.

Antonio instantly becomes the most beloved in the entire family. He's not only the baby, but each person feels like they have a special connection to him, based on their involvement in Pepa's pregnancy.

Basically, all of these children are cherished by their parents and aunts/uncles. They are all loved, regardless of their abilities. Julieta and Agustín prove that throughout the movie. Pepa has obvious love and respect for her sons and daughter, who grant her the same in return. Camilo likes to tease Félix, but he definitely learns how to have respect for women from his father. And Antonio is an angel.

I love all of them with my whole being.

[godmother-encanto-au]

Alternate Side Story to Godmother

Each member of the Madrigal family has to find their own way to deal with the possible imposter in their midst. It's even more difficult when said possible imposter is a baby.

Camilo

Camilo isn't old enough to know that anything's wrong, beyond picking up on the obvious distress of the adults whose care he's in. He does sort of remember that his cousin, the one who shared the nursery with him, went away for a while and then came back and everyone was in a bad mood because of it. Toddlers have short memories, and he's just glad to have someone near his own age to play with.

What he doesn't like is that his mother picks up and fusses over Mirabel just as much as she does him, and he's used to having his mother all to himself. If he gets a snack, Mirabel gets a snack. If he gets a hug, she gets a hug. If they're crying at the same time, Pepa will try to soothe them both at the same time even though her lap is only big enough for one and she is his mama, not hers. Mirabel has her own mother who should be doing these things.

Whenever he had bad dreams before, Pepa used to slip into his bed and rub his back until he went back to sleep. She doesn't do that any more because Mirabel wakes up too and she can't slip into two beds at once.

He's a toddler, so he gets extra clingy and fussy. Eventually, he will grow out of it.

…..

Luisa

Luisa is old enough to know something's wrong, but not old enough to know exactly what. She's glad the baby is back, but doesn't understand why her mother isn't glad about it too. The baby is always hanging around the kitchen door now, if she goes inside Julieta chases her back out, sometimes with a broom.

“That's not nice, Mama,” she says, after watching Julieta knock the baby off her feet with the broom.

Julieta sighs, pulls back her broom and rubs her forehead.

“I'm sorry,” she says, (to Luisa, not to Mirabel), “I can't have her in here while I'm working. Can you take her away?”

Luisa picks her little sister up and takes her outside. She does remember the baby being heavier than she is now, and not so squirmy. She wrestles her way out of Luisa's grip and toddles off down the hill.

“No running away! That's not allowed!” she yells, chasing after her.

Mirabel freezes at the fence post leading to the goat trail, and waves at something, followed by a stream of baby gibberish.

Luisa stares through the goat path, but she can't see what Mirabel is waving at. All of a sudden, there is a strong gust of wind that nearly knocks her off her feet. Luisa is a solidly-built little girl, but she feels a pressure coming from somewhere, bearing down on her. It's like she's been wrapped in a cold, wet quilt.

“Come on,” she says, tugging at her sister's hand, spooked. “We're not supposed to be out here.”

There are butterflies floating lazily along the goat path, lacewings. In the underbrush, their transparent wings make them near invisible.

…..

Dolores

Recently gifted, Dolores has a front-row seat for every discussion that goes on in the house. The only break she gets is in her room, which is thankfully soundproof. Whenever she leaves her room, she is afraid she'll hear Tía Julieta say terrible things about the baby again.

The baby looks a bit different now than she did before, but not that different, right? Julieta thinks her hair is different, her eyes, even her hands. Dolores has looked but she can't see anything different. The baby just has more hair now, but Camilo was nearly bald until just recently. Babies change.

It worries her. She spends some time in front of her own mirror trying to see if she looks different herself. Does she have more freckles? Is her hair curlier? Does losing her baby teeth make her jaw look crooked?

Tía Julieta has always been the steady, calm one of the triplets, Pepa has always been the more temperamental sister. If anyone at all was poised to turn against her own child, they would have expected it to be Pepa rather than Julieta. Pepa's moods turn faster than the wind in spring, and Dolores becomes fixated on making sure her appearance doesn't change just in case.

Fortunately, Pepa seems more upset by Julieta's behaviour than she is focused on what her own children are doing. And she's sweet with the baby in Julieta's place, even though she complains about it in private (not private enough for Dolores' ears.)

“Babies change,” she hears Pepa mutter to Felix at night. “I don't know what's gotten into her...I mean, if you look at Camilo now and Camilo last month you could be looking at two different babies!”

She just about dares to ask Pepa why Julieta doesn't love Mirabel any more. She gets a long, weary sigh in response from her exhausted mother.

“It's not Mirabel's fault,” Pepa tells her. “Your Tía was very upset when she went missing, you remember?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“And you know sometimes when you hurt yourself, the pain doesn't always go away right when you put a bandage on it, yes?”

This is true even in the Madrigal house; Julieta's food heals immediately, but sometimes the pain lingers for a few hours.

“Yes,” Dolores agrees.

“Tíá Julieta's pain is lingering right now,” Pepa explains. “She might get over it soon, we don't know. All we can do is wait.”

“If something happens to me, will you stop loving me?” Dolores blurts out, on the verge of tears. “What if your pain lingers?”

“Nothing will ever stop me from loving you, hijita,” Pepa assures her. “I promise you.”

Dolores is assured by the promise, but a little doubt lingers, much like Julieta's pain. She hears the baby singing at night, words that are too complicated to be mere baby talk. This is one of the many things she does that upsets Tía Julieta so much. If she would just stop, everything could go back to normal.

…..

Isabela

It's all very silly to Isabela. Abuela says that her mother is wrong, the baby is definitely Mirabel and in time Julieta will accept it. If Abuela says it, it must be true. Abuela runs the whole house, and she was the one who brought the miracle to life, she knows what she's talking about.

She's the oldest, and as such she doesn't like to associate with the really small kids. Babies are messy and they don't listen, and even before Mirabel went missing Isabela didn't have much to do with her. She looks no different to Isabela's eyes.

“Out,” she hears her mother growl from the kitchen through gritted teeth. “Get out, now!”

It's hard not to feel sorry for Mirabel when she's hoisted out of the kitchen door and dumped on the floor. She doesn't cry, just bleats a little bit in the direction of Julieta's departing back.

“Never mind, you can come with me,” Isabela offers.

Mirabel jumps, because she hadn't seen Isabela there. There is something wrong with her eyes, Isa has noticed that much. They are glassy and unfocused, always drifting around looking for something. It's strange that Julieta's food hasn't fixed it.

“Come on, we'll go to my room. You'd like that, wouldn't you?”

She takes Mirabel's (cold, clammy) little hand and leads her up to her bedroom. She's still working on getting it just right, the balance between flowers that rot quickly and woodstems that stay alive for longer, the ones that produce so much pollen they made her sneeze at night, waking her up. The ones that have prickly little thorns that hurt her feet when she's walking around without shoes, and the ones that attract swarms of insects that could bite or sting if she gets too close.

“We're going to play market,” she announces, dragging out a low table. “I'll be the flower seller, you can be the customer.”

Isa is a little embarrassed that she still likes to play market at her age, but the baby isn't old enough to rat her out. If she understood what Isa says to her she gives no sign, but she takes up her seat at the table, waiting for instructions.

(Secretly, Isabela is glad that Mirabel is her baby sibling and not Camilo. Camilo would have knocked over the table and demanded a snack already. Mirabel is usually well-behaved, by baby standards.)

“So you want a mostly pink bouquet, ma'am? That's no problem, how about some purple for balance?” she begins, conjuring a handful of pink and purple blossoms.

Mirabel gurgles in response, that's maybe a yes.

“How about some small palm leaves? They'll make the flowers last longer,” she continues.

There used to be a flower seller at the Encanto's market, and Isabela used to linger behind her while she dealt with customers. She moved to the city when Isabela's gift came in, no longer able to make a living when the Madrigals were giving flowers out for free. Isa misses her.

She finished tying the bouquet with a flourish and hands it to Mirabel, pretending to accept cash.

“Okay, now you have to go away and come back again for a new....hey! Stop that!”

Mirabel has taken apart the bouquet and shoved one of the flowers into her mouth, dropping the rest of them by her feet. She looks at Isabela's angry little face and chews slowly.

“You ruined it,” Isabela growls, grabbing the dropped flowers. “These aren't easy to make, you know...”

Mirabel grabs another of the same flower from her hand and eats it. It's a pata de vaca, Isa knows that some people use the flower as medicine so it's technically edible, but she made it specifically because it looks like an orchid but isn't as hard to conjure. Seeing the baby stuff those pretty pink petals into her mouth is infuriating.

“Out,” she growls, much like her mother. “Get out, now!”

She drags Mirabel to the door and pushes her out onto the landing, slamming the door behind her. For the rest of her life, Isabela will only grow pata de vaca when she's specifically asked.

…..

Bruno

Bruno, mostly, is confused.

This feels like the perfect situation where his gift of prophecy would help the most, soothe everyone's fears and assure them that yes, the baby that was brought back is definitely Mirabel and Julieta is just having a nervous reaction.

He can't assure them of anything. He's been asked, over and over, when the baby first went missing and then when she came back and every day since, but it's always the same result. He tells them that prophecies often fail when they involve very young children since their lives are yet to be shaped, and that's true.

But when it comes to Mirabel, or whoever this child might be...

The prophecy comes back more than just blank, it comes back clouded. That hasn't happened often since he first got his gift; once, when he was in his teens and asked to look into the future of a young woman's marriage the glass came back shrouded in fog, shredded with sparks of light. It turned out the young woman's aunt was a well-regarded bruja who was casting her own charms on the marriage, it interfered with Bruno's vision.

One other time, a time he tried to block from his memory, was when a young man asked about a girl he had his eye on. He took Bruno to see the girl in her village, a few miles from the Encanto. Her elfin face, vivid red hair and piercing gaze is scratched across his brain. When he made the prophecy, she was in the glass, suspended in a puff of smoke, for just a moment and looked directly at him as though she could see him. The glass shattered in his hands, he had to run home to have Julieta pick the splinters out before she could heal him.

A witch once told him that different forms of magic run contrary to each other, and when they clash it can destroy entire countries. A skilled practitioner can keep it at bay, balance the humours, but some clashes will happen no matter what.

He cannot create a prophecy for the child that was returned to them, but Casíta hasn't rejected her at least. That means there is some hope for them all.

…..

Pepa

Pepa is exhausted.

She complains at night when the children are in bed, asking her mother how she managed with three babies when Pepa is just scraping by with two. Camilo was already a handful, and Dolores is needier than usual, and as placid a baby as Mirabel is she is not Pepa's daughter.

“If it was just postparto tristeza I would understand, we've all been there,” she moans, slumping in a rocking chair in the courtyard. “But what do you even call this?”

“A delusion,” Alma tells her. “She will get past it, in time...”

“When, Mama? I have my own children to raise, I can't raise hers too! Shouldn't we be bringing in the doctor by now?”

A small hurricane blows across the courtyard, not big enough to do more than pick up a few dust bunnies. A true sign of just how tired Pepa is.

“Mama!” Dolores calls from upstairs. “Camilo is awake again!”

With a frustrated groan, Pepa flops bonelessly out of the rocking chair onto the floor. Camilo has only been asleep for an hour, maybe less. She could send Felix but he's useless at getting any of the children to sleep, he only winds them up more.

Camilo is bouncing on the bed when she enters the nursery, shouting some silly rhyme he just learned from the village kids. She catches him when he leaps at her and in one fluid motion slides him back under the covers. Then she tucks herself in beside him to rub his back; it's the only way he'll stay still and quiet long enough to fall asleep.

In the dim light of the nursery night lamp, from the opposite bed, Mirabel's large eyes blink at her.

“Mira, you're awake too?”

Of course she would be, silly question. With Camilo making so much noise how would she sleep through it? Though Pepa knows from experience that Mirabel would lie there all night wide awake without making a noise or movement.

“Okay, come over here,” she mumbles, pulling back the the quilt and beckoning Mirabel.

“No,” Camilo says with a pout, pulling the quilt back over himself. “Mine!”

Mirabel pauses halfway out of bed.

“Camilo, you have to share,” Pepa admonishes. “It's okay Mira, you can come over...”

“NO! No, no, no, no!” Camilo yells, punching the mattress for emphasis. “No share! No Mira!”

“Fine!”

Pepa leaves his bed, scoops up Mirabel and puts her back in her own bed. She lies down with her there, even though Mira won't need her back rubbed to send her to sleep.

“We'll be over here instead,” she tells her son, stewing in outrage.

“Share,” he growls, climbing out of his bed and toddling over to them. “Share Mama!”

“Share Mama,” Pepa agrees quietly.

She falls asleep before either of the children.

…..

Felix

Felix has his hands full between trying to support his wife, a bag of nerves at the best of times, and supporting his friend Agustin through this awful situation with his wife. The two men have been close for a long time, they grew even closer when the first of the children were born, and they've always maintained a united front against Alma Madrigal's tendency to make decisions on everyone's behalf.

The older children are confused and upset by the situation, and Felix finds himself leading them away on hikes, trips to the market, long racing games in the grounds of the Casíta, just trying to keep them away from what's going on inside. In the evenings he takes out his guitar and they play singing games. He teaches the girls how to dance, balancing them on his feet and throwing them into the air.

At night, with the children in bed, he breaks out the alcohol and the coffee, runs around the house to massage weary shoulders and lend a listening ear to his stressed-out wife and friend. He would do the same for Julieta, but once she's finished in the kitchen for the day she locks herself in her room and doesn't come out until the morning.

He gets to unburden his own woes with Bruno in the early hours of the morning. He's never quite gotten along with his strange brother-in-law, but he's a source of quiet strength right now. He lets Felix talk and talk for hours without saying a word himself.

Felix has always wanted a large family. He was an only child who wished he'd had siblings to play with, and for himself he always wanted at least three children. Now, however, he's hesitant. He can't imagine having a child go missing and coping half as well as Agustin is, never mind his wife's reaction to the child's safe return.

In all of this, he can't say he believes or doesn't believe that what Julieta says is true. He never looked closely enough at Mirabel to notice any change.

…..

Agustin

He keeps up a strong facade, but secretly Agustin is a mess.

Julieta has always been an honest woman, sometimes blunt in her manner. She has never shown any signs of insanity or cruelty, and yet she insists that Mirabel is not her baby. What else could that be if not insane, or cruel? He loves his wife, but he also loves his daughter. He can't support her in this, but he can't refuse to support her either when she needs him the most.

What really tears him apart is the thought that Julieta sees a change in Mirabel that he himself cannot see. What kind of father can't tell the difference between their baby and another one? But he can pick up Luisa's voice in a chorus of other children, and he knows Isabela's footsteps by the sound they make on the floorboards.

Mirabel was so small when she went missing, and the child that came back was even smaller. Julieta thinks her eyes are different, and she is right about this, but they are the same colour, and they still light up when she sees Agustin.

(They don't light up until he gets right up close to her, because for some reason she can no longer see clearly.)

Julieta insists her baby had straight hair, the imposter baby does not. Agustin had given her a bath maybe twice before she vanished, he's washed her hair. Was it really so different? Why can't he remember?

Maybe if I'd been a better father, I would know for certain.

His other daughters need him, with their mother so distracted, and he lavishes attention on them. He tries to lavish attention on Mirabel too, but she seems indifferent to him. She will sit on his lap for a while, she'll come to him when he calls her by her name, but she wants to be in the kitchen where she's not wanted.

One thing he does recall; his baby cried more. A horrible thing to think, he tries to banish it from his mind, he doesn't want to fall to the same madness that's consumed his wife, but he remembers Mirabel cried like a normal baby.

This baby almost never cries.

He tries not to think about it.

…..

Julieta

What's to be said?

Her child is dead, and she mourns.

…..

Alma

Alma is no stranger to the madness that grips people who have suffered a tragedy. She herself had to have a woman from the village come in to feed her babies when her nerves collapsed. She has seen women that lost a child carry around a doll, insisting it's their living child. She has seen a boy who saw his entire family killed before his eyes fall into a sleep that lasted two full years. Madness shows itself in many forms.

She never expected madness to attach itself to her Julieta. Pepa, maybe, even Bruno, but not steady Julieta.

And it is truly madness. She refuses to entertain the notion that the baby is an imposter. She says as much when an old friend visits from the city, after telling her about all the trouble.

“Are you really so sure it's her daughter?” Cristina asks between sips of coffee.

“Of course,” Alma scoffs. “She looks a little bit different, but why shouldn't she? She was missing for quite some time.”

“Nobody knows a baby like its mother,” Cristina says with a shrug. “You know, my mother suspected her brother was taken by espiritú. He was a very strange child.”

“Old superstition. Wasn't your mother from the east?”

“She was, but old superstitions are there for a reason. My grandmother thought her son was replaced too. He had a lame foot, and his lungs were bad, but he was born a healthy baby.”

“What did they do with him?”

“My grandmother beat him with an iron rod until he ran away.”

Alma shivers. She dearly hopes Julieta cannot hear their conversation.

“Why did she think the espiritú took him away?”

“He was a very pretty child, and they didn't take the proper precautions. My mother always had iron over every door in the house, even when she moved here. She took no chances. If you give them a chance, they'll take it. Is that the baby?”

By chance, Mirabel has wandered over to them, probably shooed out of the kitchen again.

“Yes, that's Mirabel. Come here, miha.”

Cristina picks her up, peers deep into her eyes. Mirabel hangs in her grasp, calm, babbling to herself.

“Well? Do you think she's one of your mother's espiritú babies?” Alma asks.

“I can't say,” Cristina replies, putting Mirabel down and sending her on her way. “She looks normal enough. Although...”

“Although what?”

“Well, it's probably just baby talk but I thought I heard her say féileacán.”

The hair on the back of Alma's neck stood up.

“What language is that?” she asked, feigning nonchalance.

“It's Irish,” Cristina replied. “I don't know many words, but I know that one.”

When Cristina left for home the next morning, Alma vowed to never let her pass their door again.

[lexa-griffins]

Toddler Madi loves playing with all the animals on their farm especially the baby chicks, ducklings, bunnies, and goats. She gave her mommy a heart attack at first because of how rough she played with them. It's not Madi's fault really. Her room and bed are full of stuffed animal plushies that she loves squeezing hard, playing hide and go seek, and tossing up into the air and catching. Clarke and Lexa can hear Madi's loud shrieks and giggles when they're both outside working. They learned their lesson and keep her in her playpen so she doesn't go off on any unexpected adventures.

When she's old enough to see the real animals, she thinks they're exactly like her plushies. Just more cute, warm, soft, and make funny noises and sounds on their own. During playtime, Clarke had a unique voice and sound for Madi's entire plushie army.

Madi picks up a full grown chicken that's as big as her and starts squeezing it and running around hoping it makes a bock-bock sound like her stuffed one.

Lexa shrieks and starts chasing Madi telling her to put down the chicken. Madi only runs faster and starts laughing even more because she loves this new game with her mommy. Clarke finally catches up to a surprisingly fast and energetic Madi and tickles her to death until she finally lets go of the chicken who quickly scurries off having been traumatized by their tiny child.

Lexa sits Madi down and gently tells her daughter that their animals are not her toys so she can't treat them the same. She has to be gentle with all of them and give them their space. Lexa then picks up another chicken and shows Madi how to gently pet one. Madi gets the hang of it until she tries plucking a feather and forcing the chicken to fly away from them. Madi laughs and giggles at the loud clucking noise the chicken made while Clarke and Lexa turn to each other, let out an exasperated gasp, and roll their eyes. Madi definitely can't be left alone with any animals yet.

Madi also really loves the ducklings because they always follow her in a line as if she's their momma duck. There have been numerous occasions where they even follow her up the stairs to her room. Clarke constantly sees her daughter having tea time with all the ducklings at her little table.

Sometimes, just before bed time when they're tucking in Madi and reading her a bedtime story, Clarke and Lexa will hear a tiny quack below Madi's bed. When they ask Madi what was that, she only giggles and says "Nothing mommy and momma." Lexa looks under the bed and sees all the newborn ducklings all nestled together next to Madi's stuffed duck plushie thinking it's their actual mom. Clarke just groans and scoops up all the animals to return them to their barn. However, Madi stops Clarke and tells her she wants to kiss each of them goodnight first. Clarke can't resist when Madi is pouting her lip and showing off her puppy dog face 🥺

It takes a very long time and a lot of supervision but Madi eventually learns how to treat all the animals on the farm with respect and set boundaries with them.

Both Clarke and Lexa are dreading the day when they actually tell Madi where some of their meat actually comes from. They know that Madi will start hiding and protecting all the animals especially the chickens

Madi is a free range raised toddler and you can tell. While she has Lexa's innate disney princess connection with animals she is also Clarke's kid and can be a little... brute force 😅 She loves the chickens in particular because they are small like her and they make little noises when she talks to them, the cows and the horses are pretty but they are big and they still terrify her whole lot (she shirks so loud the first time Lexa climbs on Heda's back with her you'd think they were killing the poor kid).

Those poor ducklings. Madi's obsessed with them, although they aren't really their per say, they made their home on the small pound they have at the edge of the farm and while Lexa feeds them it took a while for mama duck not to try and bite them if they approach the little ones so they are shocked that Madi managed to march the whole ducky nursery to her room without getting caught or bitten. It takes a lot of tears from Madi and a lot of patience of Lexa's part to explain why the ducks can't live under Madi's bed just because she wants them there. She eventually falls asleep on top of Lexa while Clarke ventures the darkness to return the little babies to their real duck mom. This also makes me think that Madi gets the nickname 'ducky' because of this episode which she loves.

But yes, once Madi grows a little and interacts more with animals she learns to read their body language much better and becomes quite gentle with them, Lexa loves to see her teach her younger siblings how to pet each animal without scaring them 🥺

Madi totally becomes a vegetarian in her teens because of that! She's too much of an animal lover to look at her perfectly cooked steak and not see Bessy moo back at her... that for sure takes some adjustment for all of them 😂

[babeyvenus]

The Wolf Among Us

Bigby x OC

Summary: Sonya Blaze, A.K.A. Hell Rider, is a half fable, half mundy girl who comes to Fabletown to learn more about her side of the folktales. She works alongside Sheriff Bigby Wolf as his newest partner and together they strive to find out who's behind the unexpected murders in Fabletown.

TW: Mentions of death, gore/blood, alcohol, smoking, drugs, sex implications, suicide, guns and ofc language.

A/N: just a little filler for now.

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Chapter 19: Off Day

As they arrived, Bigby looked around, taking in the new sights. He hadn't been on this side of New York, considering he never bothered to interact with the mundane side of the city.

Sonya parked and took off her helmet, sighing as she looked up at her previous home. "Home sweet home...", she muttered as Bigby got off and dug into his pocket. "You need some time with that?", she asked teasingly.

He gave her an unamused look and lit his Huff n' Puff. He took a long drag, enough for big puffs of smoke to exit his nose before he drops the cigarette and smushes it under his foot. "Let's go.", Sonya says and leads him up to the house.

She pulled out the keys and opened the door, looking around to see a living room and smiled widely. "Pico!" She grins at the sight of a light orange fluff whose head pops up in attention.

Bigby looked over her shoulder to see a Shiba inu running toward her. Sonya kneels down and picks the excited dog up, whining and barking happily.

She set her bag on the couch and sat on the floor with the dog, Bigby followed behind and stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room. "You can sit down, y'know...", she says, making him scratch his head and sit down next to her on the couch.

Pico looks over at Bigby and growls lowly. Bigby frowns. "Easy, boy.", Sonya warns. Bigby snapped his attention to her. "I hope you're not talking to me."

Sonya chuckles and shakes her head as she pets Pico. He looks up to hear something walking downstairs and runs over to the sound.

They looked up to see a shorter woman who sleepily walked down the stairs and looked at them in surprise. She looked like Sonya, or rather a slightly older version of her. Her skin was a bit darker than Sonya's, her eyes almost a dark honey color. They seemed to light up when they caught onto Sonya's smile.

"Hi, ma.", Sonya greets, getting up. The older woman rushed to her daughter, bringing her in a tight hug. Sonya hugs her back, swaying back and forth before her mom cups her face to examine her. "Where have you been? You're a mess!"

She glanced at Bigby. "Who's he?" Sonya looked at Bigby with a smile before looking back at her mom. "Mama, you remember the place Dad kept talking about?", she asked. Her mom nodded. "Well, this is Bigby Wolf. He's practically the protector of Fabletown. and he's my... boss."

Bigby stood to shake her hand. "It's nice to meet you." Her mom smiled. "You too, I'm Theresa. I hope she hasn't been giving you any trouble."

He rubbed behind his neck. "It's actually the opposite…" Sonya rolled her eyes. "We've been through a lot."

Theresa frowns at her. "Is that why you couldn't update me on anything?" Sonya nods. She glances at Bigby, "Can I tell her?" Bigby thought for a moment before sighing. "I don't see why not. She already knows about us."

"You can tell me after we do something with this head of yours. I can't believe you let it get this bad!", Theresa complained, giving Sonya's arm a slap. Sonya frowns. "I haven't exactly had time to groom myself, Ma."

Bigby waited as Sonya was pulled away to get her hair washed. He looked at the dog who stared back at him. Be rolled his eyes but raised an eyebrow as the dog walked over to him and sat by his feet.

Bigby looked to his left to see a photo set on top of a lamp table beside the couch. He examined it to see a younger version of Sonya, Theresa and a man and a baby he didn't know. He assumed the man had to be her dad. "She looks so happy...", he muttered.

His attention snapped to his right as he saw Sonya walk out of the kitchen with a towel draped over head. She pulled the towel off to reveal her shorter, wet, coiled hair, some curls stuck to her face, some dripped onto the towel.

She gave him a sleepy look as he looked back at her in curiosity. "Did you cut it?", he asked. She looked at him with confused eyes and shook her head. "Of course not. Water just makes my hair shorter.", she says, picking Pico up and sat down by Bigby's feet. She pulled Pico into her lap and rubbed his back and his head.

Theresa comes into the living room with a small container of grease and a blow-dryer. Sonya glanced at Bigby. "If you can't take the noise, you might wanna cover your ears."

Theresa looks at him. "You have sensitive ears?", she asked. "You could say that.", he replies. "You still haven't caught onto what fable he is, Ma?", Sonya asks.

Theresa thought about it for a moment, and shook her head. "I'm not sure." Sonya chuckles. "It's in his name."

Theresa looks at Bigby for a moment before her eyes widen in realization. "You're the big bad wolf??"

He nodded, rubbing behind his neck again. "I wouldn't have thought so. I thought you would've looked a little more... hairy.", she says. "And maybe a little meaner."

He smiled awkwardly. "Yeah...I'm trying my best not to be as monstrous as I was before."

"They made him sheriff but still treat him like trash.", Sonya deadpans. Theresa frowns, while she starts to apply the grease to her daughter's head. "Sometimes people don't wanna see the change in someone because they're so stuck in the past. The best thing you can do is move on.", Theresa says.

Sonya nods in agreement. "I gave up trying to be everyone's friend. Realized not everyone deserved my kindness and just stuck with whoever accepted me for who I was rather than someone I wasn't."

Bigby took in their words and frowned a bit. He hated that they were right. He did care about what other fables thought of him, simply because he was trying to change.

It didn't help much that they kept bringing up his past in the Homelands. It wasn't fair. But he supposed he didn't deserve a better life like everyone else. No one else went around eating pigs and grandmas.

Sonya noticed his silence and tapped his foot in reassurance. RIght after, Theresa started blowing out Sonya’s hair, the sound making Pico rush up and run to his bed and Bigby wince a bit before he started to get used to it.

Moments later, Sonya started to fall asleep and Bigby took note of that. He didn’t understand how she could fall asleep with something so loud in her ears. “I don’t know what you guys went through, but y’all must’ve been working hard.”, Theresa says.

“We did solve two murders…”, he says, making her turn to him in shock. “What happened?”, she asked. He explained what happened, gently informing her about her daughter being targeted as she silently listened and did her daughter’s hair.

“She protected me… a lot more than I can say anyone has done… She’s got guts.”, he says. Theresa finally finishes, now aware of Sonya’s soft snores. “She gets her impulsiveness from her daddy. I think that’s why she got her powers. She just accepted without thinking. Expected me to just be okay with that.”

Bigby glanced at Sonya’s sleeping state. “When she rushed in to save me...she told me she panicked. She didn’t have to, but she did. I’m grateful.”

Theresa gave him a smile. “She does that a lot. Always has to play the hero. I kinda expected that out of her brother but I think he admires her for that. He didn’t get to know his dad very much… so she stepped in.”

‘That’s why she said that about T.J….’, he thought. “I think she did a good job.”, he says. Theresa appreciated him. “Me too. She took on the role all by herself. She knew nothing about being a boy, but helped him whenever I couldn’t. Sometimes I hated it and I felt helpless that she seemed so independent at such a young age.”, she frowned softly. “It hurt. Made me feel like I wasn’t doing a good job as a mother. But she always reminded me that it wasn’t my fault.”

“She does her best at everything. She can be lazy but if its something really important, especially as important as what y’all went through, she won’t stop. She’ll overwork herself until she passes out.”, she says, looking at him. He nods. “I kept telling her she could take a break. She only took a nap when we were almost close to finishing up, we just got some food last night too.”, he confessed.

Theresa sighed. “I hate that she does that. She’s gonna die quicker if she doesn’t take better care of herself.”, she says, fluffing Sonya's hair. She smiles. “She hasn't been taking care of her hair, but it got longer…”, she mutters.

She frowns again. “She’s probably gonna be out for a while.”, she turns to him. “If you can get her up to her room, that’d be helpful. I’ll cook y’all some food while y’all are here.”, she smiles. “I haven’t had to cook that much in a while.”

He nods as Theresa gets up to go wash her hands and starts on food.

Bigby leans down a bit to gently shake Sonya awake. She mumbles, frowning in her sleep and relaxes her face. He shakes her again, getting no response. He sighs and picks her up, with Pico following behind him as he carries her up the stairs and is met with a divided hallway.

There was one room on the left of the hallway that had easy access to the stairs, and another door to the farther part of the hallway.

He went to the right side of the hallway and noticed a hanging nametag on a door that had Sonya's name and he walked up to it.

He entered the room, his nose being hit with her potent scent. He was almost sure if she went missing, he could find her.

He looked around her room to see a XL twin bed covered in black and gray sheets. She had a purple rug under her bed that seemed untouched and fluffed. An empty desk with just a monitor on top and a black desk chair, and a purple dresser that blocked her window and seemed to be a bit dusty.

He saw a full body mirror that had small polaroids taped onto it, and his curiosity spiked. He looked around at some posters she had on the walls, snorting at some of them before he gently laid her down. Pico struggles to get into her bed before he finally does and snuggles up to her.

Bigby smiled a bit and continued to look around her room and sits down in the chair. He squeaked a bit from under his weight as he leaned back a bit. It was a lot more comfortable than his rustic, ratty chair back in his office. He almost considered taking it.

He closed his eyes for a moment before sighing and getting up to leave her room. He walked back down the stairs and into the kitchen where he smelled seasoned meat. He looked over at Theresa as she smiles at him. "She still asleep?"

He nodded. "Is it okay if I step out for a bit?" She nodded, saving her hand in his dismissal. He left the kitchen and left the house to pull out a Huff 'n Puff, lighting it immediately. He took a long drag of the cigarette, sighing out softly and letting out a large puff of smoke.

As he leaned against a lamp post, he almost contemplated his own mother. Theresa seemed so kind, it almost made him wary of her regardless of her knowing about fables. But her daughter's a half fable and the way she talks about her and treated him more like a person rather than a monster…

He considered letting his guard down, just a bit. He finished the cigarette, stomping it out before he walked back inside. The smell of the previous meat entered his nose dully. It smelled good, though.

He walked back into the kitchen, peeking his head around the corner and saw Theresa loading barbeque brisket into a bun. His stomach rumbled loudly, making Theresa jump a bit as she turned to him, placing a hand on her chest as she laughed.

"You scared the shit out of me.", she says, gathering her composure. "Was that your stomach?"

He nodded, scratching behind his head in slight embarrassment. "Well, luckily for you, the food's finished.", she says, smiling.

She handed him a plate and had him sit down at a table. He softly blew onto the food before taking a bite. When he took the first bite, he nearly gulped the rest, making Theresa grin. "Glad to know it was good.", she says.

She took his plate before handing him another one and smiled at Sonya walking into the kitchen, yawning. "That was quick.", Theresa says.

Sonya grumbles. "Pico wouldn't stop kicking me." She saw Bigby eating and smiled. "Finally got you some food, huh?"

She walked over to get herself some food and hummed in delight once she took a bite. After they'd finished eating, they talked for a while until noon arrived.

Sonya and Bigby stood up. "We gotta go before the princess bites our heads off for being gone too long.", Sonya says, rolling her eyes and giving her mom a hug. "Try to keep in touch, please.", Theresa says. Sonya nods and leads Bigby to the door. Sonya exits just in time to see school buses dropping off kids.

Bigby starts to follow her but is stopped by Theresa. "Please look after her.", she asks. Bigby gives her a reassuring nod before leaving. He closed the door and looked to see Sonya hugging a boy about the same height as her.

He walked over to them, catching the boy's attention. The boy frowns a bit. "Who's he?" Bigby almost snorted in amusement at his attempt at being intimidating.

Sonya turns to Bigby, “This is my brother, Eric. Eric, this is Bigby, my boss.” Eric looks Bigby up and down. “He better be.” Bigby raises an eyebrow with a soft chuckle. Sonya gives Eric’s arm a slap. “Cut it out.”

Sonya sighs, looking at Bigby. “Let’s go.” He nods, following her to her bike. She starts it up and looks at her little brother. “Stay out of trouble.”, she says, making him nod before she rides off with Bigby.

The Woodlands

She parks outside the gate, letting him off. He looks at her in confusion. “You’re not coming?” She shook her head. “Nope.” He crosses his arms. “Why not?”, he asks. “Ask your Deputy Mayor.”, she says, bluntly before driving off, leaving him in confusion.

“What does Snow have to do with…”, he muttered before walking into the apartments and made his way to the Business office, seeing the previous line had been gone. He walked into the Business Office and walked up to Snow.

“Mr. Wolf, what’s wrong?”, Snow asked. “Sonya’s not coming into work. I’d say that’d be fine, considering the circumstance, but somehow you have something to do with why she isn’t coming into work.”, Bigby says, making her pause. He raised an eyebrow. “Why is that?”, he asked.

She smoothed her hair, taking a curled strand of hair behind her hair. “Well, the case is done. I told her she can take some time off until there’s a new case.” Bigby’s eyes narrowed a bit before he nodded. “I guess that’ll be for a while… I suppose that’s fine.”, he says, and shakes his head at Bufkin drinking a tall bottle of wine.

“Do you ever get tired of drinking a whole bottle?”, Bigby asks. Bufkin drunkardly smiles. “Nope!” Bigby sighs a huff through his nose before walking to the mirror. “Hey, mirror.”

The green face appears, looking at the man stoically. “Hello, Bigby.” Bigby scratches at his stubble. “I gotta know where Sonya’s going. Can you show me her?”

The Mirror hums. “You know our rule.” Bigby rolls his eyes. “We ate, talked and parted ways, now can you, please, show me Sonya Blaze?”, he rhymed.

The mirror shows Sonya entering an electronic store he’s never seen. Bigby frowns, looking closely at the store name. “Best buy…?”, he mutters. “Where’s this at?”

The mirror hums, coming back. “5th avenue.” Bigby sighs. “Okay.”, he says and walks away. He walked out of the Business Office to walk into his own, and closed the door. He walked over to his desk, plopping down in his chair and grumbles at the paperwork that waited for his return.

[melancholic-pigeon]

WIP Wednesday- HIOB ch. 13

a spot of Sibling Fluff for ye loves and ladies on this October Wednesday!

"I'm home," Percy calls out, shutting the door behind him. He's got yesterday's clothes (minus the lingerie, obviously) in his backpack, and an empty paper cup in his hand. He technically could have gotten the latte for free, but he never actually takes advantage of it— comping Leo a macchiato is one thing, but he likes the lady who owns the cafe, she has three kids and a stay-at-home husband to support, and he's still rolling in the dough Jason gave him. 

There are only so many sex toys one can buy, and the amount of money is kind of ridiculous— he's the one who did the math for what that lump sum would plausibly be, based on the typical rate for tutors and the amount of sessions they're not actually having. There's no way it wasn't given with the expectation that he'd try to spread it around a little. 

"Incoming," his mom calls from somewhere in the kitchen. A second later, Estelle barrels down the hall and launches herself at his ankles. 

"Up!" 

"Hi, little whale." Percy puts her on his hip as requested. "I missed you."

She rubs her cheek against his shoulder like a cat as he carts her towards the sounds of baking.

"Posy here," she announces once they enter the kitchen, squirming happily in Percy's arms. Their mom, sure enough, is putting a tray of cookies in the oven, and her face lights up when she looks over her shoulder. 

There's a way she does it that's reserved exclusively for when she's looking at her kids, and it makes Percy happier than anything else to see it. 

(Including Jason and everything about him, which is impressive.)

"That he is." She has flour in her hair, tied back into a loose bun. There's a little on her nose too, but she doesn't seem to notice.  "You're excited to see your big brother, huh?"

"Yep!" 

Toddler kisses are a lot like dog kisses— more slobber than smooch, like there's too much affection to be contained.

"I'm excited to see you too," Percy tells Estelle as he wipes off his cheek. She throws her arms around his neck, and their mom grabs the ice cream scoop and quickly starts loading another tray with globs of blue dough. 

"I'll head out when these are done." Her voice is tight— she knows she's not hiding anything; she just wants to compose herself a little. "I'll be back in a few hours. And I don't want any of you going out on the balcony until the finish is dry, understood?"

"Yes, Mom, we know the drill. No licking the freshly varnished wood." Percy reaches around her and brushes the flour off her nose with his thumb. "You've done this already. It's basically just Thalia, Jason and I who hang out there, and we're all well past the stage of chewing on furniture."

"Old habits die hard." She smiles, reaching up with her free hand to pat Estelle's dark hair— which there's enough of for four babies. "Especially when you're revisiting them with someone else." 

Percy can't argue with her there. He never used to spend hours thinking through every possible way an ordinary household item could turn lethal in the hands of a small child— that anxiety still takes up a good quarter of his head-shrinking time.

The cookies serve as a great distraction from Mama leaving. Several miniature ones were baked just for Estelle, the perfect size for little hands. After their snack, she races off to the living room, surprisingly speedy. 

He sits down next to a huge pile of toy cars on the floor. She picks out a green one and puts it in front of him. 

"Vroom vroom," she instructs, showing him how with another. 

"Vrrrrooom," he obliges, zooming the car up her arm as she shrieks with laughter. 

As terrifying as it is, actually hanging out with Estelle makes it all worth it. She's getting chattier every time he turns around, and most of it is semi-intelligible. They even manage to discuss lunch, sort of; she doesn't have any trouble with 'soup', but it takes him a second to figure out that by geem, she means she wants the green spoon with the handle that looks like a turtle.

It seems to be her favorite color, which means she gave him the green car on purpose, and that makes his throat squeeze a little. It's like a few weeks ago, when he was in the middle of the panic attack that led to him dropping out of college— she knew he was sad and that the soft alpaca yarn, an icy yellow, always made her feel better, so she'd toddled over to the couch and put her baby blanket in his lap. 

He apparently did the same thing to their mom with his pacifier, and Jason used to give Thalia his plush wolf to cuddle. Percy's pretty sure there's a name for that stage of development, but he only made it through four of his intro to psych classes, and he'd barely even processed the fact that he was in the building, much less retained any of the material. 

They end up on the same page, which is all that matters. Estelle insists on feeding the leftover tomato bisque to herself, which ends up more of a bath than a meal, so he has to give her a real one after— that's fun too, though, because he gets to reminisce on the water toys he used to play with when he was little. 

True, he gets drenched from head to toe in the process, but he doesn't have the heart to scold her for splashing him. It's kind of his job to let her get away with murder anyway.

She's down for a nap by the time their mom comes back. He changes into his spare work shirt and transfers his wallet to a dry pair of jeans, then heads out for his shift with a hug and a kiss and a see you soon, love you too. He has the day off tomorrow, so he's planning to stay at Thalia's overnight and make breakfast in the morning and do as many of Jason's chores for him as he can possibly pack in. 

It's futile, but he fantasizes on the bus about doing Jason's math homework for him, too. He'll never agree, but the idea that he'd still have space to breathe once he gets back on the field full-time is a compelling fantasy. 

It's a bit shorter this week, but yknow, life.

@perseusjackson-jasongrace 💜

[heresathreebee]

Garrote part 10

[Starz Power Diego Jimenez x Jazmine Mann (Black!OC)]

Word count: 3.1k words

Warning(s): Mature | Gun phobia, stalking. Diego and Healy get POVs in this one while Jazmine gets some R&R with the help from her mother. This is a plot only chapter, sorry. Previous Masterlist Next

Author’s Note: No beta reader and I’m far too exhausted to edit properly. After this story, I’m gonna adjust exactly how I format my fics. My million other fic ideas plus my debate over participating in NANOWRIMO this year have been keeping me from working on this too much, I figured it was time to put this up since the last chapter was posted in September... 

The rest of the day went by with a subtle ease. The temperature was just perfect for a coat and Diego seemed to have nowhere to be. Bordering on the miraculous, it was the man himself who asked her if she wanted to go out and have fun. Feeling caught off guard, Jazmine elected to throw caution to the wind and suggest something other than a fancy nightclub to hang out in. And when Diego heard the name, his jaw dropped. 

Two-Bit’s Retro Arcade. 

He did not ask why (though he did scoff, but more so in amusement than derision). Julio was elated to hear the address (apparently he’d been before), and Miguel looked crestfallen to have to stay at the penthouse. The journey from ritzy apartment to 25 cent arcade felt like being washed in time, stepping backwards into her past with a piece that didn't belong in that memory. 

The place was decently busy, there seemed to be no parties bigger than five. A collection of young kids took up the classics section, rotating between Dig Dug, Pac Man, and Tapper Light. The young man who played pinball every day was there. She didn't know his name but she knew his three letter handle because he had the highest score on every pinball machine in the arcade. The rest were small and easygoing groups, buying beers and gathering around prize winning claw games or Dance Dance Revolution. 

"Do they have air hockey?," Diego asked over her shoulder. He was dressed down per her request, in a simple hoodie and jeans. She kept glancing at him, feeling drawn to the simplicity of liking a simple man. 

"Over here." She had no intention of hiding how familiar she was with this place. Diego gave Julio a nod and the man dissolved into the background but was never out of sight. Suddenly, Jazmine became very aware that there were now at least two guns in this public space. Air hockey was... occupied. "Looks like a college tournament. Come on, we're not going to be able to play for like a week." 

She grabbed his arm to guide him away, but the man didn't budge. He stared those college boys down, looking for a fight. If he started something… 

"Diego. Diego! Please… it's just a game, I know a better one we won't have to share." 

At last he acquiesced and followed behind, never more than a foot away. She didn't realize she was holding her breath and wondered if those guys noticed his staring… they probably thought it was normal though. 

Jazmine brought Diego to the darkest corner of the arcade where nobody was or needed to pass by. If she stopped dead in her tracks, Diego would have tripped over her immediately for how close he was, but now that he had her exclusive attention, she didn't mind. She gestured to her favorite game and smiled. 

"Welcome to Marvel Vs Capcom: Clash of Superheroes," she announced. "Nobody plays this version because there's a huge glitch that sometimes makes one character untouchable." 

"OK." Diego wore a sly grin. No doubt he intended to find the cheat character and win all matches, but Jazmine knew all of this game's little secrets. 

Unsurprisingly, Diego's first pick was Wolverine. Jazmine refrained from rolling her eyes and let him work through the board of player characters, picking her own at random and sometimes picking the one she knew would fair better against his character to make it an even game. She watched his brow grow tighter and tighter as he couldn't find the broken character. He even switched up strategies– picking the characters that looked the least strong and working up from there (the opposite of his earlier choices). At last, he picked Chun-Li, having not noticed Jazmine picked it three times already, and he glanced at her face once more to see if she reacted, but the woman gave nothing away. Not until he looked towards the screen did she crack a smile. 

The way the smugness drained off of Diego's face made her smile broaden. He looked at the controls as if they were to blame, then to Jazmine and back to the screen where Chun Li had walked off of the edge of the screen. Annoyed, he leaned over the controls menacingly and waited for an explanation from the Cheshire cat grin on his partner's face. 

It took her awhile to answer him– she was trying really hard to fight the bubbling laughter in her belly. "Yeah, that um… that's what I was talking about. If you play the same character four times, the game breaks. You can't be hit but you also can't hit and you need to hold down the joystick to keep from walking off the edge of the screen… if you let them get away, well… you have to unplug the whole system." 

Diego looked pissed. He stared her down for so long she gulped but eventually, he freed her from his penetrative gaze. His hand slipped under her jacket and found a home at the base of her spine, and suddenly she was being whisked away towards the bathrooms. 

"Where are we–" 

Diego wasted not a breath and pushed her into the women's bathroom (unsurprisingly closet sized), before crowding her space to step inside and lock the door behind. Her heart began to pound against her chest as he turned and fixed her with a commanding glare. He moved as sly as a big cat, forcing her to find purchase against the tiny wood counter with the sink and leaning over her with his lips pressed to her nose. 

He said something softly in Spanish that she didn't understand, but it sounded sultry and it sent a pleasant shiver down her back. She thought he was going to kiss her, but then there was something hard and heavy he pressed into her hand. 

A gun. 

Her eyes bulged– glancing quickly between him and the shiny dark metal of the killing contraption– and shook her head minutely. 

"Take it," he said. She just kept shaking her head, hiding her hands beneath her arms and feeling dizzy, on the verge of passing out. He growled. "I wasn't asking." 

If he wasn't pressed against her, she would be rocking for comfort. Jazmine did not like guns. Her eyes misted over as she whispered, "why?" 

"They've been following us since we left." He slid the wretched mechanism up along her arm and let it rest just below her collarbone. "Haagen's men probably. They're getting bolder– probably by their master's orders." He tilted his head as if he was speaking of something completely mundane as he said, "did you really think those air hockey guys were college students? It's a Thursday." 

Jazmine didn't mean to whimper, but she managed to keep her tears at bay long enough to touch a finger to the gun, not quite taking it, but letting him know she would. She let him show her the safety and slipped it into the back of her pants, careful not to hurt her and demonstrating an awareness of her southpaw. He was almost hugging her when he finally stepped back (as far as the little toilet would allow). When his heel clinked against the porcelain, he turned to make sure he hadn't stepped in a mess, and Jazmine bolted. 

~

"Hello?" 

There was no one else's voice she wanted to hear more than that of Lashawn Mann. Jazmine felt guilt well up alongside the anxiety that had been threatening to consume her for weeks. 

"Mama?" Her voice sounded so small in her own ears. "Can I come over and see you?" 

"Of course, baby. You can come see me right now: I'm at your place." 

Jazmine caught a cab from Essex street home, and though Diego possessed an acute lack of awareness for personal space or feelings, he did leave her alone for a while. No SUVs with fake licenses trailed her home, no voicemails and no texts came through. She put it in airplane mode to make sure things stayed that way. She had a thought to drop Healy's hearing aid down a drain but put it in her pocket instead. 

Lashawn was waiting with Hercules. The tiny bit of annoyance Jazmine usually felt about getting slobbered on washed away the instant she saw her furry grey friend. The woman plopped her butt onto the ground and let the dog run amok in excitement to see her again. 

"Mom…" Hercules settled down in her lap and weighed her to the earth like an anchor for a ship at sea. "If something happens to me, will you take care of her?" 

"What do you mean 'if something happens to you'? Child, I ain't heard from you in two months and you come back with that?" Lashawn sat down on the floor despite her bad knees and leaned on her daughter's shoulder. "Baby, what's going on with you?" 

~

Estupido. She shouldn't have run away like that. 

Diego was overthinking in the backseat while Julio sat in perfect silence. The driver would have preferred the radio on, but his boss demanded the proper atmosphere to brood in. Taking what little he knew of the woman, Jazmine was probably going to retreat to her apartment since he lived in the only other place she was safe. Whatever– she would return in her own time. Unless her own time hindered their operation. 

We can't lose this opportunity. We are so close to Porsche and revenge. Hurry up, cariño. Make our next move. 

Diego was stuck deep inside his head even as he stood with his sister hours later in yet another huge warehouse with examples to be made of. Alicia wiped the blade of her knife onto her bodyguard's sleeve, then turned the blade over to her brother. 

"Finish the last one, will you?" 

Diego hummed, distracted by the conversation at the edge of the half circle. He did not like what he heard. He dug the blade straight into the crying man's heart, then cut his throat just for good measure. The blood on his hands was drying before he was able to speak again. He and Alicia were sat in her limo across from each other. She tactfully ignored his piercing gaze, while he worried the stickiness between his fingers mindlessly. 

"What's this I hear about you staying in New York?" 

Alicia glanced coolly up from inspecting her nails. "What do you mean? Someone needs to run the business." 

"That's what that idiot and your little fuck toy Dre are for. They deal with shit here while we get Porsche back, and then we go home. Together." 

"No," she shrugged. "Dre can't be trusted, Diego. I'm staying, you're going back to Mexico. We can split parent: the girl comes to live with me for a while and then with you. Every month or so…?" 

Diego's hands ball into fists and his teeth hurt from the pressure of keeping his jaw closed. Fucking puta, he thought as the car slowed to a stop. Exiting the car, the man pulled himself up to his full height and reveled in the brief moment of fear that registered on her face. 

"I'm not your errand boy, hermana. I don't do things because you think it's convenient. And I won't be sent away like an annoying pest so you can trounce about in luxury while I'm stuck doing peasant work. Am I the only one worried about that little fucking girl?" 

Through the marble stonework of her mask, he saw the cracks in her armor. "We can talk about this later, Diego." 

"Do you even want her back?," he sneered. 

"Stop it!" 

Alicia pushed him out of her way and disappeared quickly, her entourage scurrying to follow her. Diego looked to his men to find them with their eyes cast down as if they were witness to something they should never see. He stormed away with his head full of rage and more questions than answers. 

~

Meanwhile in a stuffy police office space, Healy was getting chewed out. His superiors figured him out, and now he was sat in interrogation with a furious pair of agents awaiting an explanation and disciplinary action. 

"You took it too far, Healy," his boss said. "I mean, you have really outdone yourself this time." 

"Yes sir." 

"Fucking A, right!" Agent Brasa slammed her hand on the table. No doubt she was chewing a huge wad of nicotine gum and gunning for his immediate firing. "This was our case, Healy, ours. Mine and Holbrooke, not yours!" 

Holbrooke remained ever brooding, silently leaning against the wall and watching the scene unfold. Though they made remained neutrally poised, he could tell by the pinch in their brow they were just as angry as Brasa. Healy had given up trying to talk to Brasa, and instead appealed to Holbrooke this time. 

"You two have every right to be angry with me–" 

"Oh do I??" Brasa cut in, "I didn't realize I needed your permission to be pissed off!" 

"-- but I did it because I had an 'in.' I saw an opportunity that only I could have seized, and–" 

"Are you really going to let him get away with this, Stahlworth?" Brasa looked accusingly at their boss, who merely scratched at his neck and closed his eyes as if keeping them open pained him greatly. 

"Brasa. Holbrooke. Out. I'll handle this the way I see fit– and don't argue with me, Marie, or I'll put you on suspension." 

The two stormed out into the hall, and finally Healy was able to breathe. As soon as he had been confronted by Stahlworth, he had come clean– setting up a covert op without agency permission and using a civilian to distract the perp while he slipped a mole into the organization and collected information. Brasa and Holbrooke had done amazing work– they discovered Haagen was the head, profiled the victims, and knew many of the locations of the exchanges– but they couldn't get any further to seizure warrants or when the exchanges were taking place. 

Healy looked pleadingly at Stahlworth. "They didn't have the resources to cover all those locations with proper 24 hour surveillance, Jack. Haagen is always one step ahead of them– of us– anyways because someone in this very organization is on his payroll. I don't need the glory, I don't want the case to myself– I just want this fucker behind bars. If you have to suspend me, I understand, if you have to fire me, I get it– but please don't throw out my evidence. People's lives are on the line, and Brasa and Holbrooke need this info–" 

"Who's your informant?" Healy snapped his mouth shut as the dreaded words left Stahlworth to hang menacingly in the air. "Healy? Who. Is your. Informant? Who are you working with? Give me a clearer picture of what you've been up to, and maybe I'll ask the DA to go easy on your ass." 

Healy gritted his teeth and dug his heels in. "I can't tell you any of that. A mole for a mole, I can't afford to trust that the eyes and ears in this very room are sound. Now if you want to pass this case back over to the agents it belongs to, I just have a few conditions concerning the safety of–" 

"Is this about Meghan?," Stahlworth asked. 

Healy's voice died in his throat. A lump formed and he had to swallow it down before it consumed him completely. Standing from his chair, Healy buttoned his coat and came face to face with his boss. 

"This is about the kids I can still save. Sir."

~

After LaShawn helped Jazmine pack her belongings, the daughter decided to take Hercules to the park for some fresh air. Her mother had made it clear she wanted Jazmine to move back in with her since she'd lost her job, but what she didn't know was that before Healy and Haagen, Jazmine was two months behind on rent, and she should have lost the lease to her apartment weeks ago. As it stood now, the landlord hadn’t bothered her once– so someone was paying her bills. Exactly who would remain a mystery as Diego, Healy, and Haagen possessed the means and the interest in keeping her in New York City, so she tried not to think too hard about it. 

Jazmine picked a spot in the grass and let Herc off the leash. She threw a beat up tennis ball with a little cheap plastic arm and watched her happy grey pupper zip around picnickers and other dog walkers, always stopping to be petted by every little girl and boy who squealed happily to see her. The woman was jumpy and constantly on edge, but for some reason she barely flinched when Diego sat down next to her. 

"I'll be honest, I'm glad you're here," she said without looking his way. 

He took the plastic arm and threw the next ball watching Hercules trot over hill and dale for this throw. "Did Healy tell you about Porsche?" 

Jazmine turned to see the dark bags under Diego's eyes. "He said something about a missing baby… is that what you mean?" 

The man leaned into her shoulder. "Yes." 

"I'm sorry, Diego." 

"I want my baby back, Jazmine. I want to watch her grow up happy and healthy and loved." He turns to look at her with an expression of maturity she didn't think he was capable of. "That's why I need you. We need you. You're probably scared, but you can't be more scared than that little girl is right now." 

It felt like a punch to the gut. Part of her was annoyed by his dismissal of her fear, but for the most part she understood. It wasn't hard to figure out what happened to older girls and boys in Haagen's ring, but what the fuck was he doing with babies? The thought twisted her stomach until her head ached from nausea. 

Diego continued, scratching at his eye to cover the build up of tears that threatened to spill out. "Healy said he found evidence of sales for kids under 13 that looked more like adoption papers than anything. Requirements for private education and a separate bedroom, things like that. He said he has a stack with no names but six of them are around her age with the name of the adoptive parents on it. It's a start." 

"It's a very good start." Jazmine placed her hand on Diego's back and let him curl into her side with a sigh. "It means she's still alive, that's fantastic... do you think Haagen noticed the papers were missing? He probably has so many…" 

Diego shrugged noncommittally and dragged her down to lay in the grass with Hercules. As he did, she felt the gun in her pants dig into her back, tightening that fist clenched around her heart. She was safe for now, in this moment. But would she ever be again?

@mental-bycatch @nicke0115 @1zashreena1 @girlpornparadise @kid-from-new-zealand​

[elisaphoenix13]

(FT) Detection

Peter crawls through the window FRIDAY opened for him and he drops down to the ground as his nanotech suit recedes back into its housing bracelet. The family floor was surprisingly quiet, and a quick look around confirmed that everyone was either out, in their own rooms, or on their own floors. Which was a rare occurrence. Someone was always doing something or other in the penthouse.

He decides to make himself a couple of sandwiches and raids the fridge to pull out the fixings and put them on the counter, and as he finishes making the first sandwich, the elevator door open and Tony steps off. Peter grumbles when his father walks over and snags the sandwich, and then opens the cabinet to grab a glass to get himself some water.

"You're welcome."

"Thanks for the sandwich Underoos." Tony says after taking a bite and Peter scrunches his nose.

"Okay, first of all, gross. You tell us not to talk with our mouths full so you should practice what you preach. Two, I'm twenty. Don't call me Underoos."

Tony raises an eyebrow at him. "Granted, I shouldn't be talking with my mouth full, but you also have a one year old that has puked on you multiple times so this shouldn't bother you...and I'll call you whatever I want. I'm your dad."

Peter ignores him and finishes making both sandwiches before biting into one. "Where is everybody?"

"He asks with a mouthful of food." Tony snarks and Peter grins. "Your brother is still in class, Diana is at school, and Mom took Cassie, Valerie, and Emma to the store."

"Please don't say they went to-"

"Target." Tony confirms and the younger groans. "They left shortly after you did for patrol."

"That doesn't mean anything. They can be there all day."

"At the most they'll be there until the Diana is out, which is…" Tony looks at his phone. "Five minutes ago."

Not even a moment later, a portal opens in the kitchen and Stephen steps through with the girls directly behind him. He and Cassie set some bags on the counter as Peter polishes off his first sandwich, and Diana retreats to the living room to do her homework. Valerie on the other hand, remains next to Stephen's leg, quietly holding the teddy bear that the sorcerer bought for Peter when he was turned into a baby for the third time. It was big, but it was also small enough that Valerie could still easily walk around with it. At least when she wasn't glued to someone's leg. Emma was more outgoing than her three year old aunt.

That was a weird thought. Peter's youngest sister and his daughter were close in age.

The arachnid shakes the thought away and looks through the bags, and huffs when Cassie slaps his hand away and holds Emma out to him.

"Hold her and finish your lunch."

"Did you buy the whole store?" He half seriously wonders as he takes Emma from Cassie and holds her in one arm so he can eat with his free hand.

"Of course not. We just restocked on some things we were low on." She responds and moves a few things into a different bag.

"Shirts?"

"They're for Quill." Stephen answers.

"Why?" Peter holds his sandwich out of Emma's reach after taking a bite.

Cassie rolls her eyes. "Because he keeps losing shirts!"

"I'm pretty sure that's Scott's fault."

"I try not to think about it."

Peter sniggers and finishes his second sandwich just as his daughter requests juice, and after getting her to compromise for milk, he pours some in a sippy cup for her. There was a second request for juice after Emma was happily drinking her milk, but it came from Valerie so Peter grabs a juice pouch from the fridge and hands it to his father. Stephen and Cassie were still busy sorting what they had bought at the store, so Tony had to help Valerie with her juice.

"Go watch tv for a little bit, topolina." Tony mutters softly as he brushes Valerie's hair back with his hand.

The little girl nods and mumbles a quiet 'thank you' before wandering off to the living room. Peter follows her so he can put Emma in the playpen, and the baby lays down as she drinks her milk and turns her attention to the tv. The fact that she was willingly laying down meant that she was likely to take a nap and thankfully not tired enough to fight it. Peter was glad for that. He already spent a few hours apprehending criminals and didn't want to fight his daughter to take a nap.

"Hey tiger, think fast." Cassie tosses a bag of Doritos at him and he opens it with a grin after he catches it. "Don't eat the whole thing at once."

"Maybe you shouldn't give me the entire bag then." He holds the bag out towards her. "Want some?"

"Urgh. No." Cassie blanches and pushes aside the bags that are for her parents. "Juice sounds good though."

Peter tilts his head. "You sick babe? You love Doritos almost as much as I do."

Cassie waves her hand flippantly in his direction. "A little. I should be fine tomorrow since I caught it early."

Stephen's hand was on her forehead before Cassie even finishes her sentence and the sorcerer frowns. "You don't have a fever. What are your symptoms?"

Tony watches the exchange curiously as Cassie lists off her symptoms to the doctor. "Mama Bear's sixth sense didn't work?"

Peter shrugs as he pops a couple of chips into his mouth, and his chewing slows to a stop when his spider senses pick up an odd sound. The sound wasn't odd per say...but the circumstances were. He looks around the kitchen and counts four people (including himself), and then takes the three girls in the living room into account. Seven people...and he waited a few moments to see if anybody would come off the elevator (or in the rare chance the stairwell), but no one did. His spider senses weren't detecting any danger either.

So why could he hear eight heartbeats?

He puts the bag of chips into the counter and closes his eyes as he tunes into that eighth heartbeat. Maybe it was Tibbs or Athena? No. Their heartbeats were faster and the wolf was probably still with another team member and unaware that Stephen was home. Tibbs was probably wandering throughout the tower...so where the hell…?

Peter's eyes snap open and he stares at Cassie. He knew exactly where that heartbeat was coming from and it had him freezing. His breaths started coming a little faster as he tried to process what he discovered, and it was obvious enough to alert his parents and Cassie. Tony quickly leads him to one of the chairs at the table before he collapses, and helps him get his breathing under control before asking about his sudden panic attack.

"Bambino, what's wrong?"

Then the danger sense went off just before Quill threw the door to the stairway open and storms toward Peter with his galaxy eyes glowing. The arachnid jumps out of his seat and up to the ceiling on reflex, and the celestial wills some of his light into his hand just before Tony stands between them with his hands held out.

"What the hell is going on?!" The billionaire demands and Quill growls.

"He couldn't wait until after they tied the knot-"

"I literally just found out and we're engaged!" Peter argues and Tony and Cassie look between them in confusion.

"What's going on?" She asks.

Stephen sighs heavily. "I think I know." He looks at Peter. "You can hear it?" Peter nods and the sorcerer turns to Quill. "And I'm assuming you can see it?" Another nod and Stephen looks at Cassie. "What did you say was your main symptom?"

"Umm...I've been nauseous and-" Her eyes widen in realization before she turns to look at Quill with a glare. "Papa! If you're making up for not being able to beat up Peter for the first time, then knock it off! I already have a baby! A second one isn't much of a difference!"

Tony stares at Cassie just as Emma starts to cry from being so rudely awakened, and Cassie orders Quill to calm down and go take care of her. The god dismisses his light and his galaxy eyes with a heavy sigh before he disappears into the living room, and Peter cautiously hangs down from the ceiling by his fingertips. Once he makes sure that Quill isn't going to come back for him, he releases his grip on the ceiling and lands on his feet next to Tony who folds his arms.

"You couldn't say something?"

"I didn't have the chance." Peter mutters.

The elevator doors open and Scott rushes off and looks around wildly until he finds Quill in the living room and he sputters.

"What the hell was that all about?! You ran off in the middle of a conversation with no warning!"

"Talk to your future son-in-law!" Quill growls out and Peter groans when Scott looks at him.

"Please don't break my ribs again."

The thief looks at him with utter confusion and Peter watches as comprehension eventually creeps into his eyes. Scott inhales deeply and then marches into the living room where he promptly smacks the back of Quill's head in annoyance.

"You got bent out of shape because Cassie is pregnant again?"

"Ow, babe--"

"Don't 'babe' me! The first time is one thing but this is the second and they're engaged. Papa Bear needs to simmer down!" Scott leaves the living room and joins the others in the kitchen, where they had been stifling their laughter. "Do you have any juice?"

Stephen smiles and points to the fridge, and the thief helps himself as Peter and Cassie go into the living room to check on Quill and Emma. After the verbal lashing he got from Scott, he made himself comfortable on the couch and laid Emma on his chest, and Valerie was currently crawling onto the couch. She wiggles into Quill's side just before he throws a blanket over them, and he closes his eyes with the intent to take a nap with the girls. The other reason was because he had yet to master the purring noise he made when he slept while he was awake, and his snoring always soothed the girls.

"You're not gonna take a nap with Quill?" Peter asks Diana as she puts her homework folder into her backpack.

"I'm too old for naps."

Cassie snorts. "You'll regret those words when you get older."

"Daddy said that too." Dia looks up at Cassie. "Can we make brownies?"

"If Mom says it's okay then absolutely. Papa is taking care of Emma so I'm all yours right now." Cassie says with a smile and Peter gawks when they head out of the living room.

"What am I? Chopped liver?!" He exclaims and Cassie laughs.

The elevator opens again and Harley steps onto the floor tossing his keys up and down, and he stops and looks around when he notices the still fading tension in the air.

"Did I miss something?" He asks.

"Not really." Peter sighs and greets his brother with their handshake. "Didn't you have a test today?"

"Nailed it." Harley claims with a grin. "I still feel like I just missed something."

"Quill tried to kill me."

Harley frowns. "Why?"

Peter jumps when Quill's purring finally starts, and he watches as Valerie and Emma relax against him. It would only take a few more minutes for them to fall asleep, and as long as Quill slept, they would too.

"Cassie and I are having another baby."

"Dude...keep it in your pants." Harley chuckles when Peter shoves him. "Does Scott know?"

"I already smacked Quill for being overdramatic." The thief calls from the kitchen, and Harley and Peter walk in and watch Cassie and Diana grab stuff to make brownies as Stephen puts away Peter's sandwich mess.

"Thanks Mom." Peter mumbles a little sheepishly.

He was was normally good about putting things back when he was finished, but after the whole discovering an extra heartbeat and then being threatened by a god, he was a little frazzled. He and Harley decided to do their college assignments at the table while Cassie and Diana made brownies, and Scott retreated to the living room to watch tv quietly. Quill continued to snore for the next hour until Peter asked Scott to wake him up so Emma wouldn't sleep too long, and it didn't take very long for the younger girls to wake up from their naps after that. Peter and Cassie didn't have to tend to their daughter immediately since Scott and Quill were happy to play with her and Valerie, and that was another load of help. It made it so Peter could finish a good amount of his homework and Cassie could finish helping Diana make brownies. Tony and Stephen were content to curl up on one of the other couches where they either read or answered emails for SI. At least until Athena finally made it back up to the family floor and noticed Stephen was home. She didn't waste any time running over to him, jumping on the couch, and then laying down with her head in his lap.

"Brownies are ready if you want them warm!" Cassie calls to the ones in the living room, and then carries a couple over to the table for Peter and Harley.

"Thanks babe." Peter tears off a piece of brownie and throws it into his mouth, but just before he starts back on his homework, he freezes.

"What's wrong?" Harley asks.

Peter covers his mouth and shoves past Cassie once he gets up, and she and Harley watch as he races up the stairs to his room. Harley furrows his brows as he takes a bite of the brownie curiously and he looks at his future sister-in-law.

"Cass, there's peppermint in the brownies."

"What?!"

She tries a piece of Peter's abandoned brownie and curses as she rushes over to the counter and looks at one of the ingredients she and Diana used. Sure enough, what they thought was vanilla extract was actually peppermint extract, and she throws it in the garbage.

"Why is that even up here?!"

"It must have been grabbed by accident. He's going to be sick for the rest of the day." Harley says.

"I can't believe I poisoned my fiance." Cassie groans and smacks her forehead.

"Just say the word and I'll make them disappear." Quill says when he walks into the kitchen.

"Papa, you are not eating the entire pan of brownies." Cassie smacks his hands.

"I won't! I'll put one aside for your dad."

"Ugh."

[thatssonanii]

Another Emergency

Caleb and Hanna rushed to the hospital, Hanna called Charles hoping to talk to him before they got there. His phone went to voicemail, residing her to her worries. When they got into the hospital one of Charles' assistants were waiting on them and led them up to the correct floor. The assistant took them to Charles. He was being bandaged when they got into his room.

"Where is my baby?" Hanna asked.

She didn't mean to be rude but she wanted to know about her daughter.

"Surgery," Charles groaned out. The nurse was wrapping a bandage around his arm. "They're removing the bullets."

Hanna's heart was in her throat, Caleb held her as best he could. He was trying to wrap his mind around it all. First, Benny got shot and now Lainey, it wasn't a coincidence.

Caleb spoke up, "What happened? How were you both hit? Your detail."

"Alaina didn't want to draw so much attention tonight. We wanted it to be about you two so we only had two agents at the dinner, the others," he paused to ease his new shirt on, "The others were hanging back. She wanted to go to Luca's house to see the kids before we went to her place."

"Please, just tell us what happened," Hanna said becoming impatient.

"Luca, Alaina, the kids and I were on his porch talking. Treasure ran into the yard, Alaina followed her and then there were shots. Six shots. Two grazed me. From what I could see two got Alaina."

"They shot her in front of her babies? Who would do something like that?" Hanna asked. She cried quietly to herself.

A doctor entered the room, greeting Charles then Caleb and Hanna. In his hand, he held a clipboard and folder, from the folder he slipped a xray out to put up.

"Ms. Parker is getting her stitches and will be in her room soon but before I take you all there I would like to show you this and discuss what is happening," the doctor explained, "Both bullets went in through her abdomen and ricocheted. One stopped near her lungs and the other near her spleen."

Charles listened intently, ignoring the tears that stung his eyes.

"This means what?" Caleb asked.

"We were able to remove the bullets and repair the damage. However, she loss a lot of blood by the time she got here, stopped breathing several times during surgery and she suffered a seizure as well. Because of that we put her into a medically induced coma."

"But she's gonna be okay," Charles insisted.

"We are going to monitor her through the night and go from there. Would you all like to see her?"

"Yes," Hanna answered immediately.

When they got to her room, the nurse was leaving. The doctor let them know that she could hear them and would more than likely remember what was said, she just wouldn't respond. But assured them that if all goes well, she should be awake in no more than three days.

Caleb and Charles stood back as Hanna stood at Alaina's bedside. She put her purse in the chair beside the bed and went to fixing the covers and Alaina's pillows.

"Look at your hair, girl," Hanna chuckled softly. "You would have a fit if you saw this. But you don't have to worry about that, I'll fix it." Hanna started to carefully pull the bobby pins out of Alaina's bun one by one, setting each one to the side. Once they were out she combed her fingers through her daughter's hair, humming a hymn to her. "Call her brothers and sister, Caleb. Please."

"Of course. Charles and I are gonna step out." Caleb didn't expect an answer, he told Charles to follow him. He closed Alaina's door tight behind them, noticing all of the agents outside her door. Caleb called all of his children before turning his attention to Charles. "I know you know."

Charles sighed, roughly rubbing his eyes. "I don't yet but I will before the sun comes up."

While they waited for the others to arrive, Hanna sat beside Alaina on her bed talking to her. It didn't matter what the doctor said, she was gonna talk to get baby regardless. She knew Alaina could her the anointing in her voice.

"My lil chicken leg child. Girl, what am I gonna do with you? I remember when Zion first brought you to my house. You followed me foot to foot through that little house," she laughed rubbing Alaina's hand. "And the first time I took you to church. You lit up. You loved it. You're my only child who still likes to go. When Zion and Cameron would go off without you, you cried and then you got angry. You loved Benny but he was always with his sister and Lord knows you couldn't stand her. And I couldn't stand your mother."

"Can I help you cook, Ms. Young?" 13 year old, Alaina asked.

Hanna smiled at her, looking up from the greens she was cutting. "Didn't I tell you that you could call me Mama, sweet girl?"

"Yeah but my mom told me that she's my only mom. She got mad at me when I called you that."

Hanna sighed. She never cared for Alaina and Zion's mother, Whitney. That was an evil, evil woman. Just like her husband, their father.

"What do you want to call me, Alaina?"

"You're more of a mom than mine. I wanna call you Mama but I don't wanna get in trouble." Alaina shrugged sadly.

"Then that's what you'll call me, it can be our secret," Hanna smiled tugging at one of Alaina's braids.

"Isn't that a lie? The bible says it's a sin to lie."

"It's not a lie if she doesn't ask, Lainey. Now come on and help me cut."

Cameron rushed to the hospital, Marcie wanted to come but he decided against it. He didn't want her and the baby at the hospital all night. When he got inside the hospital his siblings were waiting for him with a few men in suits and dark shades. The three of them followed the been into the elevator up to Lainey's room.

They rushed to Caleb and Charles, Melissa wrapped her arms around Caleb for comfort. Benny and Cameron stood off to the side with Charles, hands in the pockets of their sweats and hard faces.

"Is she alright, Pop?" Melissa asked softly.

"She will. You can go on in there with your mama. We're comin in a few minutes." Caleb hugged her then opened Alaina's door for her. "When is the last time you talked to Mitch, Benjamin?"

"Three or four days ago when I took Treasure's bag to him. Why?"

"You think he did this," Cameron asked Caleb. He didn't like Mitch but Cameron knew he wasn't that crazy to put his kids in harms way.

Caleb nodded. "Who else would something like this? As jealous as that boys is, I'm not surprised."

"Nah, I don't think so," Benny said shaking his head, "I mean let's think about this. What would him killing Lainey solve for him? If anything he would've killed Charles."

"Yeah, his problem is with me not her. We're cordial but it's fake, it's so we don't upset her or the kids," Charles added.

"So if it wasn't Mitch then who was it?"

"It was either Rose or that damn Candace." Cameron answered sucking his teeth. "We should've killed her ass when we had the chance."

"Not so loud," Charles warned. "Let's all take a deep breath and relax until we find out who it was. I should know within the next few hours."

The men went into the room to find Hanna and Melissa sitting beside each other at Alaina's bedside, watching some movie. Charles stood near the door, his eyes on his fiancè. Watching her like she would disappear. Caleb and Benny sat near the window of her room, Cameron leaned against the wall beside them.

Cameron was pissed to say the least. He knew it was Candace ass soon as he heard the news. She's the only one crazy enough to do this but he didn't understand why. As he thought more about his sister, the day her brother, Zion, got sentenced and he delivered the news to her.

Even though he had a key to Zion's apartment, Cameron always knocked if Alaina was there. He wanted the 17 year old to feel like she had privacy and respect that she never got with her parents or her other brothers. She greeted him with a big hug and smile as always.

"Zi isn't back yet. He left early this morning so he should be back soon. You wanna wait?" She asked leading him into the living room.

"That's why I'm here, Lainey. He had court this morning, he's not coming back for a while."

"What?" Tears rolled down her bare face.

"You remember when he got arrested a few months ago?" Alaina nodded wiping her tears. "He took the deal they gave him and got some time."

"How much time, Cam?"

"That's not important, sweetheart. He won't even have to do the whole thing, just half. He said he'll call you when he can though."

"Cam, how long? It matters." She stressed folding her arms.

Cameron sighed. Zion was going to cuss him out but he should know his sister by now. "15," he mumbled.

"15? What ... What did Zi do?"

"That I'm not telling you. Just know I'm here and I'll take care of you. If you need anything, call me and I'll come."

She shook her head. "So, what? He left me so I have to go back to my parents house? I'm not goin back there."

"No, you know he would kill me if I let you go back there. You can still stay here, drive his car to school and everything. He had your account set up just in case last month."

"Promise you won't leave too. I don't have anyone else."

"If anything happens, you know you still got Mama and B."

Cameron let out a sigh. He'd forgotten to call Zion and tell him what was going on. If Caleb thought her had trouble with him and Benny, he was gonna have more when Zion came.

Candace was going to have on her hands whether Hanna liked it or not.