#bagelldaddy

[alwaysfine]

"This was you?" -- Declan

❝    goodnight  ,  baby.    ❞    amanda’s voice is soft as she whispers into her daughter’s ear  ,  before pressing a kiss to her forehead and shutting off the light.  they’d finally gotten into a routine with declan back in their life  ,  but tonight  ,  declan had come later than usual and both had decided it would be better to let him see jesse tomorrow.   amanda knew her daughter would get much too excited to sleep if she saw him now  ,  and she still had to go to school tomorrow.  while amanda had expected declan to leave  ,  he hadn’t.   and she was glad he hadn’t.  coming back down the hallway  ,   cheeks instantly went red when she saw him sitting on the couch with the old photo album she kept on the nearby bookshelf in his hand.  she had barely remembered what photos were plastered among its pages  ,  and she could only hope they weren’t too embarrassing. 

nose wrinkles at the question  ,  before she saunters across the living room floor.    ❝    let’s see it.    ❞    taking a seat next to him  ,  she feels her heart skip a beat as their fingers brush when she takes hold of the photo  ,  and she tries her hardest to ignore the feeling.  instead  ,  cerulean eyes drift downwards to the date stamp which reads august 2, 1986  ,  and she realizes she is indeed staring at a photo of a six-year-old amanda.  golden hair is pulled into to braids  ,  and she’s in a little red dress  ,  with none other than a ukulele in her tiny hands.  

a soft laugh leaves amanda’s lips  ,  as she realizes that she looks so much like jesse in this picture that she could truly be mistaken for their baby girl who was sound asleep down the hall.  ❝    you almost thought i was jesse  ,  didn’t ya ?    ❞    amanda grins  ,  before offering the picture back to him.    ❝    i was six  ,  and that was one of the first and last times i ever touched a ukulele.    ❞    she pulls her knees into her chest before resting her head against his shoulder.  it had felt like the natural thing to do  ,  and she was only hoping that he wouldn’t mind.    ❝    trust me  –  i’m leavin’ the instrument playin’ to you two.    ❞

@bagelldaddy​ sent ‘ this was you?’ to find an old picture of amanda / accepting !