#but apparently my parents are concerned about how i prefer pants to dresses/want to cut my hair short/don’t like to shave

[fridayyy-13th]

so i’m having an afternoon.

[domesticmail]

the bird and her cage; one

chapter one; litany in which certain things are crossed out

a/n: colton anon !!! here’s your first chapter :) i hope you like it!!

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warnings: mention of physical, verbal, and mental abuse. alcohol.

word count: 2.3k

you poor, sad thing

you want a better story...

who wouldn’t?

           -  richard siken

You are so cold. The jacket you’re wearing was meant to look cute, not to provide warmth, and you’re suddenly regretting the choice to wear it as freezing air bites any revealed skin. Your hands are shaking, your legs are burning, and your teeth are chattering as you force yourself to move, keep running, keep moving, you can’t stop you can’t you have to keep going.

Headlights engulf you in bright, cutting light. You look back while moving forward, craning your neck to get a good view of the car because oh god, if it’s him, you’re going to die.

As the Volkswagen speeds past you, you put an arm up to shield your eyes from the light. Fuck. Your breath fogs the air and when it feels like you are finally too tired to keep running, you remember your phone, its weight pressing against you in your back pocket. Like a woman who has found god, you cry as you take it out and, hands and fingers shaking in the freezing air, get yourself an Uber for wherever the fuck you are. You type in “hotel” and click the first address you see, nearly sobbing with the release of tension. Thank god, you think to yourself, I can leave, I can get away, thank god, oh, thank you, oh my god.

Thirty minutes later you find yourself standing in front of a random hotel in St. Louis, broken-hearted and desperate.

And it’s painfully apparent.

The guy at the reception desk clearly sees that you’re in some sort of troubling situation, because he doesn’t ask any more questions than he has to. He smiles in that pitying way that strangers do when he hands you your room key, second floor, and you just nod weakly.

The room is comfortable. It’s unremarkable, really - clinically clean, the way hotel rooms are. You know they don’t clean the duvets, so you fold it down and crawl under the covers. You bring your knees to your chest and just rest for a moment. You close your eyes, big inhale, big exhale. I’m safe, you think to yourself.I’m finally safe.

The thought brings tears to your eyes, and in the company of yourself you cry, shaking sobs racking your body, fragile and sad and finally, finally safe. Your phone pulls you from the tears, ringing the tone you set specifically for one person; the only person on the planet you trust. Of course he’s calling, you think to yourself. No surprise there. His timing, coincidental or not, is unmatched.You slide answer on your phone screen, push the speaker to your ear with a sniffle.

“Dad?

”His voice, deep just like you remember, echoes through the other end. You haven’t heard him in a while, he’s been on a work trip, you thought, and yet here he is. Dad knows. “Kid?”

Your voice catches in your throat when you ask again, “Dad?”

“Hey, kid, are you okay?” That stereotypical concern lacing his words. It’s been weeks since you’ve talked over the phone, and here he finally is, exactly the way he was last time you spoke.

A hiccup as you say, “No - no, Dad, I’m…” Your words trail away. What are you supposed to say? Steven turned out to be an abusive prick, just like you’d always guessed. I’m in the middle of a place I don’t know, and I am so, so tired, Dad, I need you to save me. I need you to come here and save me because I don’t know if I can save myself from this - “You there?” He asks.

“Yeah, sorry.” You clear your throat. Better to go with the less explosive option. “Um, Dad, Steven and I broke up.”

A moment of silence.“The engagement’s off?”

“Yeah.” You sniffle.

Another pause. You can practically see him now, rubbing his forehead in that way Dads do when they know there’s something really bad going on but they don’t know if boundaries permit them to ask. He inhales and exhales hard. “Are you okay?”

You start to say yes, but your voice catches again, the lump in your throat like a terrible rock, throat constricted around it, and you begin to cry as you say once more, “No, I’m not, I don’t know where I am or what to do and I’m tired, Dad, I’m so tired of doing things. I’m tired of him and of everyone and of my life and I just - I want to get away.”

Once again, a pause. He’s got his index and middle fingers pressed into his cheek now, thumb supporting his chin, weighing your words. If he were a better man he would buy you a plane ticket; if he were worse, he would tell you it was your fault.But he is merely himself, and he clears his throat. “Okay. Okay.”

You rub your nose and sniffle again.

He asks, “Where are you, kid?”

“I - I don’t…” You start, then catch yourself. “One second.” You pull up Maps on your phone, then sigh. “I’m at a hotel in St. Louis.”

“St. Louis?” He whistles low. “That’s a ways away from Kansas, Dorothy.”

“Dad.“ You laugh despite yourself.

“I know, I know. Forgive me.” He coughs. “So, St. Louis. Missouri?” “Yeah.”

“Mkay. Do you want to come home?”

There’s a question. If you go back home, back to New York, you’ll be stuck in your apartment, and that’s...less than preferable. You’d rather not spend the next month in the bed you shared with him, every picture and appliance flooded with memories of the vile man you’d been engaged to. 

And anyways, this hotel room wasn’t that bad. Like you’d said earlier, clinical. No memories. A clean slate.“No - well, at least, not yet,” you sniffle.“Okay. Do you - are you in a good hotel? Do I need to get you a room somewhere nicer?”“No, no, Dad, I’m fine where I am.”

“Okay. Okay.”

“You don’t have to keep saying okay.”

He sighs on his end of the phone, and you can’t help yourself from smiling.

“Look, you’re an adult,” he says, “so I’m not going to micromanage you or anything. I mean, if it were your mother instead of me, you’d be on the next plane home. But I think maybe this, this time away, it’ll be good for you.”

“It will, Dad, I promise. I just can’t be anywhere he is right now.”

Another trademark pause.

“Did he hurt you, honey?”

You gulp.

“Y/N?”

Exhale. Don’t panic. If you can’t trust him, who can you trust?

“He was...abusive, yeah.” Sniffle. Tears threaten to flood your eyes but you hold them back with a sharp nip to your lip. “But I’m safe now. I’m safe.”

“I’ll make sure the son of a bitch can’t come within a mile - “

“No, Dad, you don’t have to - “

“I want to. Let me do this for you.”

You sigh. “Dad.”

“No. No leaning on this one.”

“Fine.”

“Thank you.” You can practically hear the angry grin on his face. Men, you think to yourself. “You have your wallet, and money, and everything?”

You pat your other pocket, feel the ridges of your wallet pressing into the fabric. “Yeah.”

“Okay. What about clothes?”

“Uh….no.”

“No problem. I’ll make a few calls.”

“No - “

“Yes. I’ll text you with the details.”

You huff. “Fine.”

“Alright. You call me if you need anything, yeah?”

“Yes.”

“Hey. I love you, kiddo.”

“Love you too.”

He hangs up first, and you find yourself sitting alone in the empty hotel room.

You’re not good at being alone. You come from a big family, five siblings, two parents; you’re used to noise, commotion, distractions. The hotel walls feel like they’re creeping in on you, big, silent rumblings as they crawl towards you slowly. The lack of noise is deafening, your skin is crawling, eyes itching for a distraction.

You need to get out.

There’s a bar a few blocks away, Yelp informs you as you weave through pedestrians on the sidewalk. Someone bumps your shoulder; you turn to look at them but they are already lost in the crowd of people. It’s a Friday night, everyone is getting out of work, just let it go. You’re going to get stampeded if you don’t keep moving - there’s already someone passing you, silently annoyed, you’re sure.

Paddy O’s, the sign high above the door says. From inside you can hear the hustle and bustle of a Friday night crowd, no doubt watching some event on the TVs above the bar. 

The door swings open and suddenly the noise loses its muffler as two beautiful women exit. One is tall, with deep, dark brown hair and striking features. Her left arm is draped around the shoulders of a smaller redheaded woman, who is laughing and holding her hand. The redhead has a pronounced accent and can’t get through three words without bursting into laughter. The taller woman is smiling down at her, chuckling.

They are dressed like they went to the bar immediately after work; that is to say, they’re dressed quite nicely. You look from the tall woman’s pantsuit to the redhead’s turtleneck and pants, and then to your own outfit. If their clothing is the usual for this place, then you are severely underdressed.

It’s a bar, Y/N, you think to yourself, shaking your head. You close your eyes and inhale steadily. You’ve got this.

After a few moments, you open your eyes again. The couple has disappeared from sight; probably back to their car. You walk to the doors and open one, entering the bar.

As expected, it’s loud, and it’s crowded, but there’s a seat at the bar a couple feet in that looks comfortable enough. You move through the surrounding patrons to take the seat, and order yourself an old fashioned - it’s your dad’s favorite, and you could use a little comfort right now.

The people on either side of you are deeply engaged in their own conversations. To your left is a woman of about 20, sitting with a man who you assume is her husband. From the small pieces of their conversation you can pick up on, she’s having a problem at work, and from the looks of it, he is humoring her by pretending to listen. You don’t know if she knows he’s not actually listening - but that’s not really your business. The guy to your right, you can tell, is one of those guys who peaked in high school. He’s chatting up the girl to his right about how his YouTube channel is just getting off the ground, and the merch line (you cringe at the phrase merch line) is coming out soon. 

So you’re by yourself, basically. The seat you’re occupying is your own little bubble in this bar, where you are the sole occupant. There’s nobody looking at you, nobody watching your move, listening to you order. No one is engaging you in conversation, trying to grab your attention. You are, just like in the hotel, completely alone.

And holy shit, you hate this.

Panic floods your veins, because oh god, this was a terrible idea. You are completely alone in a city you have never been in before and you decide to go to a fucking bar? In a random city? Oh, this takes the cake for stupid decisions. You really just up and decided to put yourself in a dangerous situation in a town where you have no one. Very smart.

You take a sip of your drink as the guy who peaked in high school and his date get up from their seats. The empty space makes you uncomfortable; you don’t want anyone to sit there but you also don’t want to be sitting next to open seats.

The glass is shaking in your hand. This is what you decide to focus on.

Deep breaths.

The breathing exercises don’t help, and the shaking is getting worse. You feel like crying as the rest of the Old Fashioned floods your mouth, the sweet liquid slipping down your throat as you swallow. The tears are gathering in your eyes again. You try to blink through them but it’s not working, everything is getting blurry and god damn it you’re crying at a bar you’ve never been to before in a city you’ve never seen and this all could’ve been avoided if you’d just flown home, you fucking idiot.

Someone’s sitting down in the empty seat to your right, and embarrassment heats your face. Your instinct tells you to get up and leave but you feel frozen to your seat so instead you just look away, look anywhere but the stranger to your right. 

“Excuse me, are you okay?” 

You can’t turn around because if you turn around the person will see you crying, and you cannot be seen crying by another stranger today, so you just bite your lip hard and nod, hoping the person will take the hint.

They do not, because who the fuck would ignore someone crying in a bar? Someone who looks remarkably out of place, and desperately in need of a friend?

“Hey, are you alright?” They ask again.

You hiccup, then laugh self-consciously. You turn to the stranger, a tall - wow, a remarkably tall man. He’s broad and, well, really, he’s built like a fridge. He’s huge. He towers over you so greatly that for a minute you think maybe you’re hallucinating, but the sad look of concern he’s giving you tells you that no, he’s real. “Do I look okay?” You ask.

He offers a sad smile. “You don’t want me to answer that.”

You laugh again. “Thanks.” You sniffle. “You’re the second random person to see me crying today, so. Congratulations.”

“I feel like maybe that’s not something I should be celebrating.”

“Yeah, probably not.”

He’s looking at you like you’re fragile, like you’re going to break, and it’s killing you, but he is company, and that’s what you need right now. You smile at him weakly. “Is this the part where I buy you a drink to apologize?”

That brings a smile to his face. He laughs, a low sound that you know comes from deep in his stomach, and the air feels a little lighter. “No, absolutely not. If anything, I’m buying you a drink.”

“God, no.” You exhale, and smiling comes a little easier. “I can barely hold the glass.”

“That’s probably for the best.”

“Probably.”

And here is the awkward pause. The pause where you debate whether or not he’s gonna continue talking to you. Are you worth his time? You can see in his face that he’s considering something - probably which excuse he’s gonna use to go back to his friends.

Surprisingly, he fills the silence. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re new here, right?” 

You nod. “I’m actually from New York.”

He actually laughs again at this. “Don’t take this wrong, but I can tell.”

“Oh, fuck you,” you laugh.

“No no no no no, it’s not a bad thing, I swear!”

“Okay, saying ‘I can tell you’re from New York’ is always a bad thing, you can’t just - “

“I didn’t mean it like that!”

You furrow your brows at him, smiling. “What’d you mean then, huh?”

“I just mean...you have that vibe, you know?”

A laugh bubbles up from your throat. “No! What’s that supposed to mean?”

He’s laughing too, both of you facing each other. “You’re confident. You know what you’re doing.”

You raise an eyebrow at him, unbelieving. “I’ve known you for all of, like, five minutes. In fact, I don’t even know you!”

“Oh, shit, I’m so rude, I’m sorry.” He extends a hand. “Colton Parayko.”

You take his hand, and as you do, you look him in the eyes.

For a moment, everything stops.

There’s something meaningful about the way he’s looking at you. Something important that you can’t quite put your finger on. He is, for a moment, seeing you. The music has paused; the bartender has frozen; the woman to your left has stopped talking. All that is, is your hand in his, the tender way he’s holding your hands, like he is rooting you in this moment.

And then you shake his hand. And you say, “Y/N L/N.” And you pretend that didn’t just happen, that you’re not still looking him dead in the eyes because you’re scared to look away.

When your hands part, you can’t help noticing that yours feels empty, cold. 

You spend another two hours talking to him. He is easy to talk to, really; he has a comfortable presence. By the end of the night you are facing each other in your seats, your knees touching. You’re leaning forward when you talk, and he’s got one arm on the bar, the other one gesturing wildly. 

Conversation flows like a river between you two. You talk about New York; he’s been there once or twice, he says.

“Oh, really? For what, a frat trip?”

He laughs. “No, for hockey.”

“Did you play in college?”

This is the funniest joke he’s ever heard, apparently, because it absolutely sends him. “No, no.”

“What did I say?” You ask. You’re confused, you thought it was a pretty normal question.

He looks away from you, and then makes eye contact again, you’re having another moment. “I like you,” he says, smiling.

You’re even more confused now. “I mean - thank you. I like you too, but what’s so funny?”

He clears his throat and looks down at the bar. “I play hockey for St. Louis.”

You aren’t in the middle of drinking anything, but this makes you choke. A strangled noise comes from your throat as you slap a hand over your mouth. He grins at you. 

You remove your hand slowly. “Like. The city.”

“Yeah.” He’s almost bashful about it.

“Wait. Wait wait wait wait. Wait. Hold on just a fucking second.”

“Okay - “

“I’ve been sitting here. Bitching to you about my life. For hours. And you couldn’t find the time to tell me you play for the fucking National Hockey League?”

He giggles, and the sound almost seems unnatural coming from someone his size. “That’s...about it, yeah.”

“Oh, I am such a dick!” You exclaim.

“What? No, no -”

“I spent this whole time talking about myself!” You huff, closing your eyes. “I am so sorry.”

He puts his hand on your hand, and your eyes shoot open. Every time he’s touched you tonight, every passing contact, you feel warm, and the butterflies in your stomach start to act up. You can feel your heart rate quicken as he says, “Don’t be sorry. You definitely needed it.”

You smile at him. “Thank you.”

There’s another pause in the conversation, but this time you’re the one debating. You like him - a lot. He’s so warm, and kind, and sweet, and you can tell he’s being genuine, that he’s not just being polite, but you don’t want him to think you’re desperate. You’re not. You just like him. A lot.

You speak up at the same time he does.

“So - “

“Can I - “

“Oh,” you laugh. “You go first.”

“No, no, ladies first,” he responds, gesturing to you. “The floor is yours, Ms. L/N.”

“Um, well.” Suddenly you feel embarrassed. “I kind of made tonight all about myself, and I think maybe I owe you, now.”

He looks surprised, but he’s smiling. “Yeah, you do, kind of.”

“Okay,” you laugh, rolling your eyes. “So. I don’t know how long I’m gonna be in town, but...maybe we can do this again, sometime?”

There’s something about the way he grins at you that lights up your heart, because your pulse is rapid as he says, “I think we can work something out.”

You trade phone numbers. He offers to walk you back to your hotel, but you decline - you did just meet him tonight. If this were New York, it’d be different, you’d invite him in for wine and maybe more, but this isn’t New York. Plus, part of you is just so tired. For the first time in what feels like years, you actually want to go to bed.

The night air is warm, and on the way back to the hotel room, all you can think about is the way his hand felt on yours.

When you reach your room, you slip your clothes off and get in the shower. You hadn’t realized how tight your back was earlier - the knots in your upper back are causing aches in your lower back. The hot water loosens the tension, and you can finally relax.

As you’re toweling off from your shower, your phone buzzes.

colton parayko

So, is it weird to ask if you’re free tomorrow?

Maybe being alone in St. Louis isn’t that bad after all.

And hey - 

You’re not really alone, are you?

[kristannafever]

One Hour

Kristanna Canon After F2

Rated: M (tw: pregnancy/tw: labour)

WC: 2857

~Basically this is about Kristanna babies

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

One hour.  

That was what he had told her.  

The thing was… he had lied.

He loved her.  So much in fact, that he would endure the restrictive clothing every day for the rest of his life if she wished it.  Time did not matter when he was in her presence. His comfort was easily forgotten when she smiled at him in that special way that made his heart melt all over again.

And she loved him too. He knew she would never insist him to do anything that made him uncomfortable, which in turn made him want to do it for her more.

I prefer you in leather anyway…

Those words were not lost on him.  In the past three years she had never made him do anything he didn’t want to do in terms of ‘dressing up’.   Yet he did it for her without qualm because he knew their relationship was always going to be one of give and take.

He was a mountain main. An ice harvester.  Nothing about him was noble or royal.  And Anna was just that.  She was now the Queen of Arendelle.  If there was no compromise, they never would have lasted in the first place.

It was Anna that made it special though, he had to admit.  She gave forth all the effort for him where he was ready and willing to give most of himself up to her.  It was her who insisted that they spend every second weekend at his small cabin in the woods. It was her who called a recess on meetings he was a part of when she could feel him growing frustrated and bored. It was her who soothed his soul at night, letting him make love to her and cherish the extraordinary person she truly was.

That was why he had lied. He had done it before actually. At a ball a couple moths prior, he had overheard a lord of some far away land he could not remember the name of, talk ill about how the Arendelle daughters had handled their Kingdom and how he felt the new Queen was too naive to rule it properly.  Kristoff followed the man outside and told him exactly what he thought with his fist.

It did not go unnoticed, as these things rarely do.  Anna had approached him and asked if he had anything to do with the fact that the Lord of Boramtine came back into the party with a swollen eye.

Kristoff shrugged, slightly panicked because he did not want to lie to her.  

“I don’t even know that guy’s name,” he admitted, and it was the Gods honest truth.

Anna had sighed. “Well, who cares anyway.  He deserved it.”

“You’re damn right.” Kristoff folded Anna into a hug. “That guy was a total asshole.”

Anna laughed against him. “I just can’t wait to marry you, Kristoff.  These stupid things… these political matters that are so childish sometimes,” she sighed.  “I just want to be your wife and take a break from it for a bit.”

“We will Anna.” Kristoff kissed the top of her head. “We will.”

*****

One hour.

That was how long they made love on the first night as husband and wife.

They had come together many times before then in various ways, but it had never been like this for either of them.  It seemed like something out of a fairy tale.  

Anything that happened between them in the past had always been so hungry.  So desperate.  The intense deep physical attraction they had to one another more often than not made them both too impatient to take their time and savor.

Not on their wedding night, however.  It was something incredibly special to be joined for so long, loving and kissing with all the passion they had for each other, finally slowed down and appreciated.

Anna came again and Kristoff could no longer hold himself back.  He pushed himself deep within her and gave into his pleasure, spilling himself inside of her for the first time.

They both wanted a big family and agreed to start trying as soon as they were married.  No time was wasted.  Their reception had barely ended and they ran to their room to consummate their marriage.

Easily one of the greatest hours of Kristoff’s life.

*****

One hour.

That was how long they cried and talked about their future when Anna told him she was pregnant.

Nothing was held back from one another, not their fears, their joys, their ideals in raising children, nothing.  After that hour they felt incredibly excited about everything despite the nerves about being first time parents.  

Agreeing with the doctor’s recommendations, they agreed not to tell anyone until Anna was finished with the first trimester.  It was much harder for Anna than for Kristoff, but when the doors were closed at night and they were alone, they talked about it all the time.

They discussed names for boys and girls, guesses as to what their first would be, ideas about anything and everything under the son with the care for their child.  They wanted to do it all despite the suggestions that Anna find a wet nurse.  She was determined to do it on her own and Kristoff supported her because he would be right there with her every step of the way.

He couldn’t help her feed, but he could help bring the baby to her, help burp the baby afterwards, rock him or her to sleep and then put them back in the bassinet while Anna caught up on her rest.  He would do whatever he could, and as the time drew nearer, he became more and more impatient to meet their first child.

*****

One hour.

That was how long it took Kristoff to reach Arendelle after he abandoned his sled full of ice when he felt an ache deep in his soul that something was wrong.

He had never been so terrified in his life.  Panic drove him past the breaking point, exhausting Sven who pushed on with endurance he never had before.  The Reindeer apparently knew too.  

Kristoff had no idea that an hour could feel like an eternity.  It seemed like he had been riding forever before the castle finally loomed in the distance.  The gates were already open and he was greeted although he did not hear it.

He jumped off of Sven and ran inside calling her name.  Up the stairs and down the hall, still shouting and no one had yet called back. Cold dread gripped his heart and made him run faster through the familiar place that he now wished wasn’t so damn big.

A soft cry from down the hall made him trip, but he caught himself and ran forward, bursting through the door but scaring no one.  They were too concerned with what was happening on the bed.

Anna screamed again, grunting in pain and breathing in and out in quick bursts.

“What’s happening? Did I miss it?  Am I too late?”

Suddenly Gerda was at his side.  “My King, you have not missed anything, but you cut it rather close.  It seems as though this baby wants to enter this world much earlier than anticipated.”

Kristoff barely heard the words.  His eyes where on Anna where she laboured, looking over at him with beckoning and relief that made his heart skip a beat.

“Y-y-you made it,” she panted.

“Of course, Anna,” he grabbed her outstretched hand as he sat on the edge of the bed.  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“H-h-h-OW….OW!  Dammit this hurts!”

Kristoff didn’t squeeze back even though it felt like Anna was going to break his hand.  

“How did you know?” she managed in a strangled shout as she dealt with a contraction.

“I have no idea,” he admitted, tears suddenly in his eyes.  He was scared for Anna.  He was scared for the baby.  Fuck, he was just scared.  

“I am so… ahhhhh,” Anna took deep breathes and a long exhale, “I am just so… hnggggg, so glad you are here right now.”

“I am here, Anna.  I am here.”

Kristoff helped Anna with her contractions but he didn’t feel like he was doing much at all.  He held her hand and gave her encouragement, but could do little else but watch his wife give birth to their first child.

*****

One hour.

That was how long he held his son before it was time to try feeding.

Kristoff had never left the room.  He was in a chair by the door, away from the chilly window, holding his newborn as his wife rested.  

He cried on and off for the whole hour, in awe of the little form in his arms.  This was so new to him, so incredibly alien, but somehow it was just… right.  It was foreign and scary but it was so incredibly amazing that there were no words for it.  Holding a life that he had created with Anna was indescribable in the most incredible way.

When it was time to try feeding, Kristoff passed their baby to Anna and hovered by the bed.  He had no idea what needed to be done and he was sure as hell there was no way he would be able to help, but he wanted to be there all the same.

He watched with fascination as Gerda helped Anna try and latch the newborn on her breast.  It seemed difficult and hard to do. Finally, they managed to get the baby to start sucking and Gerda left them in peace to be as a family.

Kristoff could not look away.  It wasn’t until Anna asked him what he was thinking that he came back to reality.

“I am in awe right now,” he said slowly.  

“Of what?”  Anna’s voice sounded exhausted as she looked.

“Of you,” he said, still watching their son.  “Of what you just did, of what you are doing… of how incredible this is…”

“Kristoff, what’s wrong?”

He knew Anna would not miss the touch of melancholy he heard in his own voice.

“Anna, it seems like I didn’t do much at all.  You… you…”

He couldn’t get the words out.  He had no idea how to define it and his exhaustion and emotion made him cry instead of being able to explain.  

He failed.  He knew he had to be strong for her and he failed. What the hell was wrong with him? He had this one small part in all of this and he was letting her down.

“Kristoff.”

Her voice was like an angel calling him.

“Look at him,” she whispered.  “Look at what we made, Kristoff.”

He did.  He shifted up to her on the bed and sat by her head, looking down at their child.  

It was just as amazing as the first time he laid eyes on his son.  Kristoff’s heart no longer belonged to him, it belonged to the tiny form in Anna’s arms.  He loved the baby so much, and he was only just about two hours old.

“He’s an angel,” Kristoff whispered, tears coming anew.

“He is,” Anna sniffed. “He is.  And he is ours.”

Kristoff looked to his wife then and finally understood.

If he lived to be one thousand years old, he would never be as strong as Anna was.

*****

One hour.

That was how long Anna had been in labour with their fifth child.

The doctors warned it would be quick, and Kristoff did not doubt them.  That was why he had begged Anna not to go on this trip to see the trolls. It was an ancient tradition certainly, but not worth risking the life of mother or child.

Which was what Kristoff found himself facing now as they dashed through the woods.

“Kristoff, we need to stop!”

“We’re only about ten minutes from the edge of town, Anna.  Hold on!”

“This baby is not going to hold on!  It is coming now!”

Kristoff clenched his jaw and yanked on the reins to stop Sven.   The Reindeer had barely stopped before Kristoff hopped from the front seat into the back where Anna was gasping.

“What do you need me to do?” He was all business now, realizing that this was happening whether he liked it or not.

“Those clean clothes in your sack,” Anna gasped.

“What else?” Kristoff shouted as he jumped to the back to grab them.

“Your knife, for the cord,” she managed through a cry.

Kristoff didn’t ask questions.  He gathered the clean clothes, placing them carefully so they would not get dirty, then he grabbed the canteen and the blanket he kept tucked under the seat. It wasn’t clean enough for what was about to happen but at least Anna could lay on it afterwards.

It happened so fast. Anna complained that she wasn’t feeling well on the ride back to the castle and within twenty minutes she was having constant contractions.

“Is this normal to be happening so fast?” Kristoff asked, hating that his voice was so high pitched he was nearly shrieking.

“My fifth baby,” Anna panted.  “You try squeezing out four other kids and ask if this is normal!”

“Anna, I’m sorry.  I’m just really scared.”

“Don’t be scared, Kristoff.”

The sudden calm in her tone surprised and shocked him.  She was literally squeezing a human out of her body and yet she was still his rock. His something to hold onto in a panic. His something that calmed even the most rampant of his thoughts.

Really that should come as no surprise.  She had always been that way for him.  

“What do I need to do?” His returned confidence reflected in his voice.

“Help me with the baby when it crowns.”  Anna said with determination.  “Help me push when the contractions come, and help me get our baby out.”

Kristoff nodded, mind going blank.  He didn’t know where any of it was coming from, but for the next ten minutes, he was helping Anna deliver their child on pure instinct and adrenaline.

Those ten minutes felt like an hour.  He was so scared for the baby and Anna, terrified that he was going to do something wrong, and yet now he was holding their brand-new daughter, wrapped in one of his clean shirts cradled in his big arm while he helped Anna with the remainder of her birth before he cut her umbilical cord.

Still a little panicked for the fact that they might as well be in the middle of nowhere, Kristoff made a makeshift bed in the back for Anna and their baby with every blanket and scrap of clothing available.  

Anna had protested about Kristoff handing over his tunic to keep them warm, but his look had silenced her. He slipped it over both of them and made sure they were going to be warm enough.  Once they were settled, he hoped in the seat and told Sven to ‘Go’.

*****

One hour.

That was how long he paced the halls outside of the doctor’s office to hear word about his baby and Anna.

If the past hour felt the longest in his life, this one was an eternity.  Did they do everything right?  Was Anna still bleeding?  Did he cut and tie the cord properly?  His stomach churned at the thought that he might have done something wrong.

Finally, the doctor entered the hall with a smile, instantly calming Kristoff’s troubled mind.

“Mother and baby are happy and healthy, your Majesty.”

Your Majesty. It had been nearly a decade and he was still not used to hearing that.

“Thank you, doctor.”

The doctor nodded and Kristoff went into the room.  Anna was holding their daughter, a gentle and loving smile on her face as she gazed at their fifth born.

“How are the kids,” Anna asked as he took a seat beside her on the bed.

“They are fine,” Kristoff smiled.  “We don’t give Gerda enough credit for how amazing she is with children.”

“Hmmm,” Anna agreed. “Well they can meet their new sister soon.  I want to rest a bit first.  How long have we been here?”

“About an hour.”

“An hour, huh?  Felt like longer.”

Kristoff smiled, but there was a certain pain behind it.  “Time is funny, isn’t it?”

“Sure is,” she mumbled, as she sighed against the pillow, ready to sleep.

Kristoff placed a kiss on her forehead and slipped the newborn from his wife’s arms.  This one was so small.  Either that or he had forgotten how tiny they really are when they are brand new.

They hadn’t picked a name yet but their other two sons and daughters had given them plenty of input. A lot of it inappropriate but some of them good suggestions.  It didn’t matter right this minute anyway.  

Kristoff cradled his daughter, slowly pacing the room and rocking her gently as she slept, looking over every one of her little features, amazed with what him and Anna could make.

Five children, and he was still in just as much awe as the very first time.

[boopypastaissalty]

We Are Not Broken

The Session

Dr. Flemmings cleared his throat. “Now that all of you are here, let’s begin. The first thing I want you all to do is tell everyone what happened to you. It’s okay that you are here and you all have had similar experiences. This is a LGBTQ+ safe zone, so don’t be afraid. Who wants to start?”

Everyone looked at each other, none wanting to go first. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Logan took a deep breath, “I was kidnapped and tortured because of my gender and sexuality, along with Roman and Remus,” the twins both flinched at the statement, remembering all too well what had happened and what they had all been through together, “I have scars all over my body from the various weapons and beatings. It was hell, we were all malnourished and suffering, and I remember having to watch our kidnappers beat the everloving, pardon my language, f*ck out of Roman and Remus, I don’t remember the times I was beaten all too well, but it was all because some people thought not being cishet was a crime, found the twins and then found me.”

Dr. Flemmings nodded, “Use whatever language you need to, Logan”

“Does Spanish count?” Roman piped up, both twins were multilingual, both parents being native spanish speakers, their father from Spain and their mother from Mexico, in high school Roman took French and Remus took German and begrudgingly, at their parents request, taught each other and had become proficient in both languages. Sometimes the twins talked to each other in a strange mix of English, Spanish, French, and German, something they called Enspanchan.

“Preferably a language we all can understand, Roman”

Roman slumped a little, “Ay, lo siento” he said under his breath.

“Logan, do you have anything else to say?” Dr. Flemmings asked.

Logan shook his head and fidgeted with his hands, he had never been good at processing strong emotions, he usually distracted himself by researching and educating himself on random topics, incorporating them into his Sign Language lectures at the school he worked at.

“Uh well, I guess it’s my turn,” Patton said, interrupting Logan’s train of thought, “I was taking a walk, and some guy noticed the strap to my binder and commented on it. I didn’t think much of it, I ignored him and kept walking, but then he grabbed me and started calling me… horrible things and he dragged me into the nearby woods and…” Patton took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, “He took off all my clothes and destroyed my binder. He told me I’d be beautiful if I didn’t try so hard to be a man. He called me an ‘exotic beauty’ and kept asking me what kind of asian I am. And then he started touching me and…” Patton started full fledged crying, not wanting to say it. He got quieter and almost whispered, “He r*ped me… And now I’m pregnant.”

Everyone was silent for a few long seconds, Virgil finally broke the silence “That’s… horrible. What are you going to do with the baby? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Patton took another deep breath and said “I’m probably going to put them up for adoption. Someone out there probably really wants a baby and can’t have one themselves. I’m not saying everyone should do that, though, I mean everyone’s different.”

Dr. Flemmings took note of how much Patton was crying, “You feel broken, don’t you?”

“I feel broken, violated, I wish time would just stop for at least a little while. I wish I could turn back the clock to last month and tell myself to not go on a walk that day, but I know I can’t. I feel like I’m not trans enough, like maybe I’m not actually a man.”

Virgil looked at Patton, “Bullsh*t. You’re trans enough. You are just as manly as you need to be. You’re f*cking valid.” He clapped for emphasis. This was unusual behavior for him, as he didn’t like to have attention drawn to himself, but he hated it when other trans people didn’t feel valid, mainly because he knew how it felt.

“Well, kiddo, I don’t know about all that, just look at me”

“You. Are. A. Man. And. That’s. What. Matters.”

“Fine, you win”

During this exchange, Janus had been writing out their story and held up their hand in a sort of “Stop dooting your horns, you middle school band class” gesture. Everyone looked at them, they just seemed to have that presence, the type that made people shut up and pay attention without really trying. Janus passed around the notepad, which said: After a concert, a lady came up to me, nothing new there, and was haggling me about being nonbinary and how I’m just a “broken man” and then all of a sudden, I don’t really remember this well, I felt something swipe across my throat and there was a strange warm liquid coming from my neck and then it started to hurt. The next thing I knew, there was yelling and I was on the ground with my friend Ethan, he’s the drummer, Hel, pressing down on my neck. Lola, our bassit, Truth, was calling 911. I think I passed out, and when I woke up in the hospital, I was very confused. I was on so many painkillers that I was basically high out of my mind and the most important thing to me at that moment, for some reason, was chocolate chip cookies. I specifically remember being distraught that no one would bring me cookies because I couldn’t communicate that I wanted some. Anyways, that’s not important. This person probably ended my career, the one thing I actually wanted to do with my life, and I don’t know what to do about it. I might never be able to talk, let alone perform, ever again. Also some dumb*ss took a video of it and put it on YouTube and so the whole world knew before I had even arrived at the hospital.

Once everyone had read what was on the notepad, they all stared at Janus. They looked down at their legs. After a moment, Patton got up and walked over to Janus and touched their shoulder. “What else do you like to do?” he asked.

Janus shrugged.

Virgil suddenly blurted out, remembering the chaos after that concert a few weeks ago, “Wait someone put that on YouTube? How has that not been taken down?”

Janus shrugged, not knowing why either, and pulled out their phone. They found the video and played it, looking away. Patton and Virgil looked away from the video, while Logan and the twins watched, all three feeling bad that they couldn’t seem to pull away from the chaos happening on screen, like some sort of morbid scene in a TV show.

When the video finished, Logan, Roman, and Remus were in stunned silence while Janus fumbled to keep the next video from playing, the “What’s in your pants?” meme, which was when one time Janus and the rest of Duality were on a talk show, all in costume, and the host asked Janus the dreaded question, “What’s in your pants?” and Janus had immediately responded by pulling things out of their pockets and listing them, the items getting more obscure as they went “Phone, wallet, keys, worm-on-a-string, tiny rainbow plastic babies, a dead mouse, Quetzalcoatl? [Quetzalcoatl is Janus’s pet hognose snake], and a barbie head.” the clip had spread like wildfire and had become a large part of what Janus’s stage persona, Deceit, had been known for. Everyone in the band had their own costume, usually involving half of the face being different from the other, Janus’s Deceit costume had a Jack the Ripper vibe and they had makeup to look like scales on the left side of their face. Ethan’s Hel was an all black suit and the left half of his body was made to look like dead, rotting flesh. Lola’s Truth had a black and white lace dress and her makeup was meant to make her look inhuman and had several extra eyes on the right side of her face. The final member, Tori’s Valhalla looked like a norse warrior, the right side of their face looked scarred and they wore an eyepatch over their right eye, like Odin.

“That kind of reminds me of what happened to me,” Virgil said with a shudder once the video was over. “I was hanging out with my friend, May, after your,” Virgil pointed at Janus, “concert and ended up crashing at her place. I tend to sleep pretty heavily, so I was surprised when I woke up on the autopsy table for the mortuary science program at the college I used to go to. I had barely woken up before I felt something that felt like a punch in my abdomen. I saw May, she had a knife and looked angry, she stabbed me four more times, repeatedly calling me a dirty tr*nny. I don’t think she realized I was awake. Thing is, she was the one who supported me the most during my transition and always had my back when I had first come out. That’s what hurt the most. She had apparently secretly hated me all these years and just now was releasing all that. I didn’t dare move until she had left and I started to crawl towards the desk phone at the professor's desk. I was almost there when I passed out. I woke up again to the professor shaking me, he’d always liked me and was concerned about me. He told me he had called 911 and shortly after I was hauled into an ambulance and carted away to the hospital, swimming in and out of consciousness. I think May was planning on killing me and having me be found dead on the autopsy table as a morbid surprise for the mortuary science teacher and his first period class of that day.” He was trying to control his breathing and he felt his heart rate speeding up. Virgil hoped that no one would notice and call him out on it.

Janus started writing and then showed Virgil: Was May at the concert too?

“Yeah why?” Breath, dammit, breath. Virgil chided himself

Janus scrunched their eyebrows and started writing again: What does she look like?

“Do you think-” Virgil cut himself off, took in a deep breath, and found a picture of May on his phone. She had a black bob with straight bangs and wore dark makeup.

Janus looked at the picture, That’s her, they wrote. One thing I didn’t mention before was that she had gotten away.

Suddenly Remus started talking “I’d stim and they’d hurt me.” Roman looked at his brother, remembering how Remus would make weird sounds, start shaking his leg, or drumming his fingers on whatever surface he could get to, and after a while their kidnappers had realized that Remus’s fidgeting and sounds were him stimming, one of his ways to try and calm himself down, started beating him more when he did. “And it started happening more and more because I was more stressed and then I had to force myself to not and I had so much pent up, that everything was a million times louder, even the smallest touches were too much, and my head felt so light and it was like I was feeling everything and nothing all at once, like I was both on fire and numb and I don’t know how to describe it.” Even now, Remus was trying to keep himself from stimming, he had his hands firmly grasped together and his legs were crossed unnaturally tight and he was visibly getting upset.

This was the first time Roman had even heard Remus talk about it. He hadn’t realized how much Remus had suffered and how different it was from how Logan and Roman had suffered. No wonder he was so despondent. He was overloaded in every way. Roman noticed how tight Remus was wound up and pulled something out of his pocket, a long, green silicone fidget toy that had small bumps on it for texture. “Hey,” Roman addressed his brother and handed him the fidget toy, “breath.” Remus took it and fidgeted, reminding himself that it was safe to stim now. “You never said how bad it was for you.” Roman said quietly.

Remus nodded, “I didn’t know how to say it.” He had nothing else to say.

Roman looked around after a long moment of silence. “I felt powerless. I’m almost always able to help, but I couldn't do anything. It was so awful only being able to watch, almost worse than getting beat regularly.” Roman fell silent again, not knowing what else to say.

“You feel like you have to be the hero, don’t you? You feel obligated to do it?” Dr. Flemmings asked. Roman thought for a moment and then nodded. “Since we’re coming to a close, I want to tell you all that you all did a good job today. Here’s what I want you all to do: Patton, read Galileo by Pual Tran, I think you’d benefit from it. Janus, I want you to write, I don’t care what you write, whether it be a song, a poem, a backtrack, whatever, as long as you express yourself with it. Virgil, I want you to use methods to regulate your breathing like the 4, 7, 8 technique and I want you to try carrying around a stress ball, same goes for you, Remus. Logan, I want you to express yourself more and come up with a way for you to get your feelings out in a safe manner. Roman, I want you to think about why you feel obligated to be the hero. And lastly I think you all can benefit from each other, as you have all had similar experiences. Thank you all for attending.”

Everyone started saying their goodbyes and started leaving. Janus met up with an older guy in the lobby who nudged them and said “Happy birthday, kid.” The older guy looked a little sad, like he was remembering something tragic. Everyone heard him wish Janus a happy birthday and started wishing them a happy birthday as well.

Patton looked at the guy and said “Is this your dad, Janus?”

Janus shook their head no and at the same time the guy said “I’m their brother. John, by the way.”

“You guys are siblings? Wow! I never would have guessed!”

Janus looked slightly embarrassed, everyone always confused John for their dad, which wasn’t too far off as John and his wife had raised them. “Yeah the twenty-one year age gap doesn’t help,” John said, lowering his gaze somewhat, just wanting Patton to change the subject.

Janus broke off from John for a moment, wrote something down and handed it to Patton. It said: He’s a little sensitive about family history. Mom died while having me and we don’t know who my dad is, so he had to raise me. That’s why he looks a little sad today.

Patton’s mouth formed a silent “O” as he slipped the paper into his pocket and waved goodbye “Have a nice day!”

John looked at his sibling, “What did that say?”

I said you were having a bad day.

“Oh, okay” he believed the white lie.

Logan was on the phone “I know dad, you’ve told me the story every year for as long as I can remember. I’m about to get in the car, so I’ll call you back”

John looked at Logan and whispered to Janus “What are their pronouns?”

He/him Janus wrote

“He looks and sounds a lot like the doctor who delivered you.”

Janus shrugged and started walking towards their car, a black Jeep, and got in, deciding to go to the cafe that John worked at, knowing that John had to go to work, and besides, they were hungry.

Masterpost

[11jj11]

To be a Dad - Marissonshipping One-shot

Here's a (late) one-shot for Father's Day.

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

"Okay Mairin, what is it you want?" Alain asked, crossing his arms as he wife set an only-sort-of burnt dinner in front of him. He raised an eyebrow, blue eyes looking up at Mairin.

"What?" She asked in a tone that was just a bit too innocent. "Can't I make dinner for wonderful husband for a change?"

"Of course you can," Alain said, looking down at the plate that held his favorite meal, fingers tracing the mug of coffee she had given him several minutes before. "My favorite dinner is always a nice surprise– and judging by the burnt mess in the trash can you've spent several attempts in making this."

Mairin flushed.

"Nothing wrong with that... but then you also gave me a back rub as soon as I got home, brewed me my coffee just how I liked it, picked up the books I had on hold at the library, and for once stopped Kade from getting his muddy paws all over my work clothes..." Alain sighed, giving her a small smile. "Well, I can't help but think that maybe you want something."

"Heh..." Mairin said, scratching at her neck. "Well, maybe there's one little favor I need..."

Alain chuckled, taking a bite of his dinner, which was a little bit more charred than when he made it– but still fairly good. "You can always just ask, you know? You didn't need to go all out today. What do you need?"

"Will you watch Faith tomorrow afternoon?"

Alain paused as she said this, glancing back at Mairin, who had a pleading look on her face. He blinked, hesitating for a moment, before setting his fork down. A silence hovered in the air for several moments, before Alain spoke.

"Mairin, you know I have work then–"

"You can take the day off– I know the professor would let you," Mairin said, sitting down in the chair next to Alain. "But the girls are going out, and they invited me to go with them. It's been ages since I've just been able to have a night to hang out."

"Then take Faith with you, Serena and Bonnie love her–" Alain began, but Mairin cut him off.

"They're planning on watching a movie that's not appropriate for a two year old," She crossed her arms. "Besides, as much as I love Faith, sometimes I need a break too. I'm with her everyday, is it too much to ask to have one afternoon to myself?"

He hesitated. "I'm not saying that you can't– but can't we just hire a babysitter? You know I have so much going on at the lab right now, and even one day will put me behind–" He paused as Mairin turned away, a bitter look on her face. "...Mairin?"

"...The reason why I'm asking you to do this isn't just so I can get a break," Mairin muttered. "I think you need to spend more time with Faith."

"I see her everyday," Alain replied, before pausing. "Well, um, I haven't seen her today– but I assume you sent her to a friend's house or something while you did all this."

"See?" Mairin said, turning to face him. "You barely even noticed that she wasn't in the house! You didn't even ask where she was! Bonnie's watching her– and she runs a whole daycare but still has time to spend with Faith! Our daughter looks forward to you getting home from work every night, but you just barely give her a hello half of the time. Your normal shifts are bad enough, since she's usually in bed an hour after you get home!"

"Mairin–"

"But now you've been taking so many more hours at work that the only times you'll see her are way early in the morning, when she's half asleep and you're hurrying out the door," Mairin said, the words just rushing from her, as if she had been wanting to say this for some time now. "She's going to be three years old in a month, but yet you never see her! And when I say see her, I mean real quality time together! When's the last time you've played a game with her? Tucked her into bed? Sat down at dinner with the rest of us instead of eating alone because you get home so late!"

Alain stared down at his plate, while Mairin was panting from her rant.

"...I..." She looked away. "I'm not saying that you're a bad parent– I know you'd do anything for her, and you're supporting this family..." Glossy amber eyes looked at Alain. "But she misses you so much."

"It's not that I don't want to be with Faith, or you for that matter," Alain said, reaching out and grabbing Mairin's hand with both of his. "But these hours I'm putting in at work are all going towards me becoming an independent researcher. Once I get all the hours I need, I'll have more control over my schedule. I'll be earning more money, I'll be my own boss. I won't be stuck in the lab, I can spend more time with you and Faith, I just need to get through this and–"

"Won't be stuck in the lab because you'll be traveling about for your research instead," Mairin whispered, looking up at him. "Am I wrong? That means you'll probably be at home even less. And while you spend your focus getting in the hours you need, Faith will be growing up," She grasped his wrist. "One day, Alain, just one day for your little girl? How far would that put you behind with work?"

"...One day would probably be fine..." Alain said slowly after a moment, and Mairin's eyes softened. "But I'd need more than one day to arrange–"

"I already spoke with Sycamore," Mairin said. "I didn't want to pester you about work since it already runs you to the bone, so I called him to ask just how flexible your hours were," She hesitated. "So will you spend tomorrow with Faith?"

Alain smiled. "Of course."

Mairin leaned forward a bit. "...If you can take one day off, do you think you could take another as well?" She tilted her head slightly. "A day just for you and me...?"

A faint pink tinge appeared on Alain's cheeks. "Next month would be better..." He began, and Mairin leaned towards him a bit. He swallowed. "But you're right, I do need to spend more time with you two... so yes. I'll take tomorrow and... another time off."

Mairin grinned, leaning forward and giving him a peck on the nose, making him blink. "Wonderful!" Mairin said. "Why don't you call up the professor and let him know you won't be coming in tomorrow?"

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "Alright, but I will be turning in early tonight– I'm exhausted."

"Of course– don't worry about cleaning up, just enjoy your dinner," Mairin said.

Alain nodded, lifting another bite to his mouth.

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

"And have her in bed no later than eight if you want to stay up with her," Mairin said as she stood by the door, all dressed up for her night out with her friends. "But I'd prefer it if she was in bed around seven."

"Got it," Alain said, glancing at the list in his hand. He was honestly a bit annoyed that Mairin had made one– even if he had been busy lately he still knew how to take care of his child. "You should probably get going, you don't want to be late."

"It only takes like ten minutes to get Bonnie's place," Mairin said with a wave of her hand. "Now, Faith won't take a bath without both of her rubber Duckletts and the Swanna, and you'll have to find them since she likes to play with them throughout the day–"

"Wait, ten minutes?" Alain said, paling slightly. "Mairin– how fast have you been driving?! It's nearly a twenty minute drive!"

"Only because you drive so slow," Mairin replied. "Make sure you use the 'no-tear' shampoo and–"

"I drive the speed limit!"

"Alain, are you even listening to me?" Mairin asked, putting a hand on her hip. "No-tear shampoo in case you get it into her eyes."

"...Maybe you can just ride Kaj there?" Alain asked meekly.

"First of all, he doesn't do well with long flights," Mairin said. "Second of all, I'm not riding on a Pokemon in a dress. And finally– have you even been listening to a word I've been saying?"

"Use the special shampoo for Faith's bath, I've got that," Alain said. "What I'm concerned about is how fast you're apparently driving!"

Mairin smiled. "You worry too much– I'll be fine," She shouldered her purse, taking a step towards Alain and pulling him for a hug. "But I don't want to be late– I'll see you tonight!"

Alain returned her embrace, leaning down and pressed a small kiss onto her lips. "Drive carefully, please," He said as he pulled back. "I love you."

"I love you too," She said, stepping towards the door, before pausing. "Goodbye Faith– Mommy's leaving now!"

"Bye-bye!" A voice cried from down the hall. "Bring me back a present!"

Mairin chuckled. "I blame Serena– she spoils her with too many gifts," She gave one more smile towards Alain as she opened the door. "Bye, honey."

"Goodbye," Alain said, lingering by the door for a moment as it shut behind her. He glanced down at the list one more time, before stuffing it in his pocket, and he went in search of Faith.

He found the young girl in the family room, having already set up a large assortment of toys in the few minutes she had been in there. Blocks and stuffed animals were scattered across the floor, and in the center of it all was Faith, happily working on building a tower of blocks next to a sleeping Flareon. Alain swallowed, heading straight for the tower– having that fall onto a sleeping fire type was not the best idea.

"Um, how about we move your tower somewhere else, sweetie," Alain said uncertainty.

"Daddy!" Faith cried happily, a pair of amber eyes turning up towards him as he knelt down next to her. A pair of small arms wrapped around him, a grin on his daughter's face. "Mommy says we get to play for the rest of the day– it's going to be so much fun!"

"Definitely," Alain agreed, a bit swiftly. "But we should move your tower, we don't want it to fall onto Kade."

"Kadey's fine," Faith said, standing up and placing another building block onto the tower. "And it's not a tower, Daddy– it be Char-zar– see? It's her long, long neck!"

"...I see," Alain said slowly. "Well, um, how about we move 'Charizard' somewhere else since Kade's asleep?"

The two year old shook her head, grabbing another block, reaching up to place it on the top on her tower. Alain tensed as it wobbled, but Faith seemed unconcerned as she reached for another block. He wasn't quite sure how high she intended to build, but he couldn't just let her just keep building here.

"Faith, that's enough," Alain said firmly, and the two year old glanced at him. "We need to move the blocks elsewhere."

"No!" She cried, going up on her tiptoes to place another building block. The unbalanced tower of blocks wobbled, and Alain quickly slid between the crumbling tower and the sleeping Flareon. He gritted his teeth as they fell onto his lap, but the only harm the falling blocks brought was a loud noise.

But Kade slept on.

"Again!" Faith cried happily, kneeling down to gather the scattered wooden blocks, but Alain gently grabbed her wrists.

"Faith, I already said we can't play with the blocks here," Alain said, and an unhappy frown crossed her face. "Let's take the blocks somewhere else, okay?"

"But I wanna play here!"

"The blocks almost fell on Kade. Would you like it if they fell on you?" Alain asked, raising an eyebrow. A pair of amber eyes glanced at Kade as he snored, then slipped towards the ground.

"No..." She said quietly, shifting.

"So why don't we move the blocks somewhere else then?"

"Okay..." Faith muttered, but then her eyes lit up. "This time we build Chespie! You help, okay? Make it really-extra-super tall!"

Alain smiled, gathering several of the blocks in his arms. "Alright, really-extra-super tall it is."

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

"And then the mama Swanna went 'quack quack quack!'" Faith sang happily, holding her rubber Swanna toy high. "Two little Duck-its came waddling back!"

Alain squeaked the two rubber Ducklett toys he was holding, and moved them towards Faith. This caused her to giggle– then dart to the other side of the room. She held up her Swanna once more, and began the next verse of the song.

"Two little Duck-its went out to play!" She called, watching Alain to make sure he had the Duckletts 'playing' as the song said. "Over the hills and far away! When the the mama Swanna went 'quack quack quack!' Only one Duck-it came waddling back!"

Alain pushed himself to his feet, letting the blue Ducklett toy fall to the ground, and he lead the pink and purple one over to where Faith was standing. She beamed happily, while Alain gave her a tired smile. It had just been over an hour– but they had played at least a dozen games, if not more.

Nothing seemed to hold Faith's attention for long, as soon as a new idea popped into her head or she saw a different toy she would jump onto a new activity, leaving the last one behind without a blink. They had gone from the living room, to playing tag in the halls, and they were currently in her bedroom.

"Okay sweetie," Alain said softly. "It's time for a little break. We need to clean up this mess we've made."

The bedroom looked like a Hurricane attack had hit it– toys scattered about– and not to mention what was out downstairs as well.

"No!" Faith said, running and jumping onto her bed. "Let's play!"

How did she have this much energy?

"We can play after we clean up," Alain replied. "We can't leave out this mess," He leaned down, picking up some puzzle pieces that had been scattered about. "I don't think your mother would like to see this mess when she gets home."

Faith had a glint in her eyes. "Mommy told me that we don't have to clean up!"

"Uh-huh," Alain said. "How unfortunate that she didn't mention that to me," He deposited the puzzle into its box, and then turned towards Faith. "Come now, help me clean this up."

"No!" She exclaimed, continuing to jump on her bed. "Playtime!"

He let out a long sigh, and headed towards her bed. She let out a squeal– jumping off and bolting for the door. Alain caught her midrun with ease, swinging her up into the air, the young girl laughing as her father plopped her down onto the bed. He couldn't help but smile at her laugh, and his fingers swiftly found her sides– her laughing only becoming louder.

"Stop it, Daddy!" She giggled, squirming. "That tickles!"

"What's the magic word?" Alain asked, grinning.

"Da-daddy!" She laughed.

"I don't think that's the magic word," Alain said thoughtfully, his fingers coming to a stop, face twisted in an exaggerated look of thought. Faith used the moment to 'break free' from Alain, tackling him. Alain fell back onto the bed with a dramatic grunt, even though Faith was nowhere near strong enough to do so, but the small giggle she gave was worth it. She sat on his chest, smiling down on him triumphantly.

"I win!" She declared.

"Yes you do," Alain said, wrapping his arms around her as he sat up, pushing himself to his feet. "You win the amazing prize of... helping Daddy clean up your toys!"

A pouting look came onto her face. "I don't wanna clean up!"

"Neither do I," Alain said. "But we need to."

Pleading amber eyes looked up at him. "Do it later?"

"No, we need to do it now," Alain said, and she stuck out her lower lip.

"Please?" She asked, leaning against him, giving her father the biggest begging eyes she could manage. Alain stared down at her, knowing that he needed to stay firm no matter how adorable she looked right now. "Clean up later– after we play outside?"

Alain hesitated, and Faith took the opportunity to give him another long 'please', and Alain's willpower crumbled. "...Do you promise to clean up as soon as we're done playing outside?"

"Yes!"

"Okay," Alain said, setting her on the ground. "But as soon as we're done we're going to clean up no matter what."

"Okay!" She chirped– racing for the door.

He followed behind her, even though the young girl was already bolting for the backdoor. Alain felt exhausted, a different exhaustion than coming home from work, but still exhausted. Playing with her for a few minutes was one thing, but it was startling to find out just how much energy she had, and he was finding it hard to believe she had already had a nap today.

How did Mairin keep up with her everyday?

"Daddy?" Faith asked, pausing by the backdoor. "What are Char-zar and Tyranitar doing?"

Alain's eyes widened for a second– remembering just how close the two Pokemon had become in the last few months– and he raced for the door, pulling Faith away as quickly as he could. She let out a yelp of surprise, confusion in her eyes as she once again found herself in her father's arms. She poked his cheek, giggling at his pale face.

Alain risked a glance out the window– but only saw Tyranitar at the base of a tree, glaring angrily upwards.

"Why'd you do that?" Faith asked, tilting her head. "Char-zar's just being silly– she's up in the tree."

"...Oh," Alain said, stepping towards the door once more. There was a look of relief in his eyes as he spotted an orange shape up in the boughs of the tree, a metallic band in her claws. He opened the door. "Charizard– give Tyranitar's mega stone back to him!"

Tyranitar let out a roar of agreement, while Charizard let out a laugh, holding the band with the Tyranitarite out tauntingly. This only made the rock type more frustrated, stomping his feet angrily, and Charizard laughed harder. Alain sighed– wondering when babysitting his Pokemon had been added to his duties of watching Faith, and he headed outside.

"Tar!" Tyranitar screamed, clenching a fist as he prepared a Stone Edge.

"Yeah– no," Alain said, snapping his fingers with his free hand, and the Pokemon paused from forming its attack. "No launching moves in the backyard. Charizard, you get down here right now and return his mega stone or else you're both going back into your Pokeballs."

Charizard let out a rumble, but she spread open her wings and glided down to the ground– dropping the mega stone right on Tyranitar's head. The rock type let out a panicked screech, seizing the band and looking over the mega stone in a fright. He let out a sigh once he found it wasn't scratched, and slipped it back onto his arm, hissing at Charizard.

"That's no way to treat your mate," Alain said– and his two Pokemon stiffened up. Charizard's scales flushed to a red, and she let out a tangle of sounds, waving her arms and wings about, as if trying to deny the statement. Faith let out a giggle at the sight, shifting in Alain's arms.

Tyranitar hadn't said anything– simply staring in the other direction as if Alain hadn't said anything of the sort. The rock type looked at Charizard for a moment, before once again looking away before anyone would notice he was looking. Charizard was still letting out flustered snarls and calls at Alain, waving her claws at him as if refusing to accept what he said.

"You guys aren't exactly subtle, you know," Alain said, raising an eyebrow. "Getting upset if I try to put one of you in a Pokeball. Sleeping right next to each other every night– and then of course these childish fights. If you guys honestly don't think you're an item then you're both blind."

Charizard glowered at Alain.

He smiled sweetly at her, knowing that he wasn't at risk for a Flamethrower as long as Faith was in his arms. He turned towards his daughter. "Okay, now that's settled, what do you want to do?"

"Fly on Char-zar!" Faith cried excitedly.

"Well, um," He hesitated, looking at the lizard uncertainly. "That probably isn't the safest idea..."

"Kadey rides on her!" Faith protested.

"Well, as long as I'm with you I guess a short flight will be okay..." Charizard went onto all fours as he spoke, folding in her wings so she could be mounted. Faith let out a happy squeal, and he uncertainly approached his starter, sliding onto her back. "Take it slow Charizard– don't go too high, and–"

The lizard snorted, cutting him off as she flared open her wings. This wasn't the first time she had worked with young humans, and she wasn't about to be told what she already knew. Alain gulped, making sure Faith was secure in his arms as Charizard lowered herself to the ground, preparing to take off.

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

"Faith, you promised me," Alain said, crossing his arms.

"But I'm hungry! I can't clean up when I'm hungry!"

"...Will you help me pick up your toys after dinner then?" Alain asked.

Faith nodded. "Uh-huh!"

He let out a long sigh. "Alright then, we can have dinner first. But right after that we need to clean up all of the toys."

Faith flashed him a grin.

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

It wasn't until dinner and two games later that he was finally able to get Faith to help him clean up the mess of toys that she made. She had protested despite her promises, eyes watering as she pouted– but he had given into her too many times today.

"Hmph!" She huffed as she stalked past him, a single toy in her arms as she dragged it to a toy box.

"Oh don't give me that," Alain said, multiple toys in his arms. "I'm the one doing most of the work."

"But I wanna play some more," She whimpered, slowly dropping her toy into a basket. Alain was wondering at what point they had collected so many toys for her, and how she had gotten them all out within a day. She wasn't even three yet, she didn't need this many toys.

"Well, there won't be anymore playing tonight," Alain said. "After this it's bath time and then off to bed."

Alain realized that he probably shouldn't have said this at all, because he just had enough time to deposit the toys into the box when he saw a blur of black– Faith bolting from the bedroom as fast as her little legs could carry her. He blinked once, before letting out a loud sigh. He hurried after her, the young girl already dashing down the stairs.

Alain caught up with her fairly easily, scooping her up into his arms. "Nice try, missy, you're getting a bath no matter what."

He decided it wasn't worth the effort to have them finish cleaning up the bedroom, it was nearly Faith's bedtime anyways, and it would probably take another ten minutes to make a dent in the mess, he'd just clean it up himself once she was asleep. Faith was currently pouting in his arms as she was carried back upstairs and to the bathroom.

Much to Alain's relief he found that Mairin had laid out everything needed– towel, clean clothes, and the shampoo she had been so insistent on.

"I need my Duck-its!" Faith suddenly shrieked as Alain put her down, and he looked at her in surprise and confusion.

"What?"

"My Duck-its and mama Swanna!" She cried. "They hafta take a bath with me!"

Alain remembered the two rubber Ducklett toys and the Swanna toy they had been playing with earlier... which were currently buried in the bin of toys in the bedroom. Alain let out a long sigh, and began to run the water.

"How about they take a bath with you next time, okay?" He said.

This was apparently the wrong answer.

"No! No! They hafta take a bath with me, they hafta!" Faith cried, and Alain just stared at her with exasperation. It was strange to see the normally cheery Faith look like she was on the verge of a tantrum, especially over some bath toys. He let out a long sigh, knowing that there wasn't going to be an easy way out of this.

"...I'll go look for them," Alain said at last, and instantly Faith's distressed expression vanished, the young girl beaming up at him.

And honestly, that smile was what Alain lived for.

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

Despite Faith being the one in the tub, Alain was positive that more water had ended up on him. And also despite her efforts to avoid getting into the tub, she had refused to get out once they had actually finished. She had been in tears as Alain drained the water, and if it wasn't already eight o'clock he probably would have let her play for a while.

Getting her ready from there had been just as much of a struggle, her going basically limp as he tried to get her into her pajamas, refusing to open her mouth so he could brush her teeth. It was a side of Faith he had honestly never really seen before, even on the weekends it was usually Mairin that got her ready for bed, and if she always put up this much of a fight Alain wasn't sure how Mairin did it every day.

"Another story!" Faith cried, jumping eagerly on her bed as Alain set aside their third story book.

"No sweetie, it's time to go to sleep," Alain replied.

"No! I wanna another story!" She was surrounded by stuffed Pokemon– having spent at least five minutes picking out the plushie she wanted to sleep with, and had apparently decided on all of them. Alain sat on the edge of the bed, giving his daughter an exasperated look as she crawled out from her covers once more, about to dart over to her bookshelf.

"Faith, I said no," Alain replied, carefully grabbing her before she could bolt, tucking her back under the covers. "We got read several stories already, and it's already past your bedtime. You got to stay up late tonight– isn't that cool?"

Apparently it wasn't cool, her lower lip curling. "I wanna another story."

"How about a song?" Alain offered instead. He honestly didn't like singing, but he was more than willing to for his daughter.

She pressed her lips together, considering this. "...Okay. Only if you do the actions as well."

"Only one song though," He said. "And then it's time for bed– promise?"

"I promise!" She chirped, but Alain only raised an eyebrow, having seen how well she had kept her other promises today. "Start by singing baby Sharpedo!"

"There's no such thing as a baby Sharpedo, because that'd be a Carvanha..."

"Huh?"

Alain just gave her a smile, and started singing.

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

Mairin came home while Alain was singing his fifth song.

"It looks like you two are having fun," Mairin said in the doorway of Faith's bedroom, raising an eyebrow at a very tired looking Alain. "But isn't it a little past your bedtime, Faith?"

"Daddy said I could stay up!" Faith said happily.

"No I didn't!" Alain cried, and Faith once again began to crawl out from under her covers. "She won't go to sleep," He quickly grabbed her, once again tucking her in, and she let out a giggle. "I've tried everything but she won't listen to me!"

"Faith, have you been good for Daddy?" Mairin asked, and she let out a small giggle. "Because when he says it's time for bed that means it's time for bed."

"But I wanna another song!" Faith declared.

"I've got this," Mairin said to Alain, who gave her a grateful smile. He pushed himself to his feet, Mairin taking his place on the edge of the bed. He ducked out of the room, waiting in the hallway.

He couldn't quite make out what the two girls were saying as they whispered quietly to one another– but in just a few minutes Mairin was slipping out of the bedroom, flicking the lights off behind her. He could hear Faith cooing out a 'goodnight' as she shut the door, the little girl staying in bed, a small smile on Mairin's face.

"How?" He asked in disbelief. "What did you do?"

"I told her it was time for bed," Mairin replied, heading towards their room.

"But I told her that as well and she wouldn't settle down!" Alain protested, careful to keep his voice quiet. "Story after story, song after song– she'd just climb right back out of bed if I tried to leave!"

"You just got to be firm with her, Alain," Mairin replied, holding back a laugh. "It's like with Pokemon, you give an inch they take a mile. What else did you let her get away with tonight, if she was able to stay up until nine?"

"I didn't let her get away with anything," Alain said defensively. "I know how to take care of our child... though she didn't really want to clean up her toys," He hesitated. "Actually, we never finished doing that..."

Mairin was smirking. "You gave her an inch."

Alain didn't reply as they made their way to their room.

It wasn't that late, but it seemed both of them were tired from their day. They both started getting ready for bed without much thought, Mairin talking about her girl's night out. Apparently the movie was good (though not as good as How to Train Your Latios, she insisted) and that they would have to watch it together sometime. Alain nodded and listened, but found his thoughts continually drifting back to Faith.

It hadn't been an easy afternoon, but it had been the first time in a long time he had spent real quality time with his daughter. It was startling to think that only a couple of years ago she had been a tiny baby, and before that... she hadn't been apart of their life at all. It was a hard thought to comprehend, trying to picture Faith not being there, even though he had spent most of his life without her.

And with a twisting feeling in his gut, he realized he was still doing that.

He didn't want to admit it, but there was times when Faith had almost seemed like a stranger tonight, seeing sides of her he had never really seen. Not that he didn't know his own child... but how there was so much he was learning by just spending that immediate time with her. Time he usually spent away at the lab or up in his office...

What he was doing wasn't bad. He was furthering his education, expanding his research and job opportunities, he was bringing in money to support the family he loved. But lately he had been pushing himself, trying to go farther, and that was taking time away from his family. He was working hard, doing something he loved, but...

But was it something he loved more than his family?

Time wasn't unlimited, it was slipping away through his fingertips. Not that long ago Faith had been tottering with each step and stumbling over her words, but she was growing so swiftly, and that would only continue. If he continued pressing towards the goals he had set, more of that time would slip away.

Becoming an independent researcher... it was a goal he wanted to reach, but that didn't mean he was enjoying the road there. And if reaching that goal meant being taken away from his family life... he didn't know if it would be something he'd love once he reached that goal. It would mean perhaps working from home, but still locked away in his office or out traveling to gather data.

It would mean not only being away from his home here, but from Sycamore's lab as well. Away from the first place he had truly felt safe, the place he had first felt like he had a family. Was that something he wanted to give up?

"Alain, are you okay?" Mairin asked quietly as they climbed into bed, and Alain realized his eyes were watering. He swiftly blinked them away, turning.

"Where's my phone?" He asked quietly.

"On the dresser, why?" Mairin asked, and he pushed himself to his feet.

"I need to talk to the professor," He said, hands clamping around the cell phone. "I... I want to go back to my regular shifts."

"But what about those hours you need?" Mairin asked, blinking in confusion.

"...I don't want them," Alain said, thumb hovering over the call button. "They're... they're not worth it. Not when they're taking me from you. From Faith."

"Wait a second!" Mairin cried, and he glanced at her as he headed back towards the bed. "Is this because of what I said to you yesterday? Alain, I was just a little frustrated, I wasn't saying to give up what you've been working towards–!"

"But I don't want to give up you for that!"

She reached out, grabbing his arms and forcing him to sit. "Alain. Yes, these last few weeks have been stressful, but it's only temporary. I don't want you to give up something you love because of what I said."

Alain hesitated. "It wasn't because of what you said. It was because of tonight," Swallowing, he slowly set the phone on the lamp table. "Mairin... she's growing up, and I haven't been there for half of it. My little baby is growing up and I... I don't want to miss anymore."

Mairin didn't reply.

"I have a good job, one that supports us, one that I love... why on earth do I need a new one? One that will take me away from the lab and from you and from our daughter?" His mouth went dry. "...I don't want it. I don't want that, I don't want it, I don't want something like that, I don't–"

He went quiet and he felt Mairin's arms wrapping around him. "I'll support you with whatever you choose, Alain."

He turned, pulling her against his chest. "I choose you," He whispered. "I choose this family, I don't want to grow any farther away," His lips brushed against her forehead. "I'm calling the professor first thing tomorrow..."

"I'm sure Faith will be thrilled to have you around more," Mairin said with a smile.

"...She has so much energy," Alain said after a moment. "How do you keep up with her all day?"

Mairin laughed. "I don't. Chespie and Bébé know how to keep her entertained when needed. Or we go to the park and she finds some playmates to keep her occupied for a bit," Mairin smirked, poking his chest. "Maybe she needs a little sibling to keep her occupied."

Alain knew that Mairin was just teasing, a playful gleam in her eyes as she pushed up against him, but he couldn't help but go still as she said this. He just stared at her for a few moments, thoughts turning, his wife still wrapped in his arms.

"...Why not?" Alain asked, and Mairin blinked at him.

"...Huh?" She replied– clearly having not expected this response.

"I mean, do we want Faith to be an only child?" He said slowly, surprising himself as he said this– but yet he felt no doubt at the idea. "I wouldn't mind a son... you girls are starting to out number me."

Mairin blinked again, before letting out a laugh. "Going from too scared to be a dad to the one wanting another kid?" She asked, raising an eyebrow– but she was smiling. They sat in silence for a few moments, taking in the idea. It was all so sudden, but yet for Alain it felt so right. "Another baby... heh, that would definitely be a change. But if you're going to be home more often... and I'm sure that Faith would be excited."

Alain rolled over so Mairin was below him, pulling her into a kiss, before quietly whispering into her ear. "Well, you did say you wanted a day of just you and me, so it seems this all works out then, doesn't it?"

"Yeah! I wanna a little sister!"

Both Mairin and Alain froze up as they heard the small excited voice, turning just in time to see a small shape pushing the door fully open. Faith had a huge grin on her face, an Eevee doll in one hand as she looked at her parents happily.

"Faith you're supposed to be in bed!" Mairin cried, her face suddenly turning red, Alain still right above her.

"I'm thirsty," She replied, and she looked between them excitedly. "But you guys were talking about babies? Are you gonna to get me a little sister? How do you get a baby–?"

"Let's go get you that drink– okay sweetie?" Alain suddenly declared very loudly, rolling out of bed and scooping up Faith before she could continue.

"Alain, do you want me to?" Mairin asked, still looking slightly flushed from Faith's sudden entrance, even if nothing had actually happened. "That way I can put her back to bed afterwards?"

"I've got it," Alain replied, looking at Faith sternly. "We're going straight back to bed after we get you some water, okay?"

"I want milk!"

"You already brushed your teeth, we're going to get you some water," Alain replied, nodding at Mairin to show that he could handle this. Maybe Faith had been able to pull some strings earlier, but he was more than capable of putting their daughter to bed.

He carried her out of the room, Faith pressing up against him as they headed down to the kitchen. She was chattering away about nothing in particular as Alain searched for sippy cup, that way she could take it up to her room in case she needed another drink later. She was moving her Eevee toy about, the stuffed Pokemon currently 'climbing' up Alain's head.

"Veevee made it to the top of the mountain!" Faith declared, a blur of brown covering Alain's eyes as he tried to fill up the cup.

"Good for him," Alain said as the toy was pulled away from his face. "Is Veevee the best climber?"

"Almost," Faith said, face twisting in thought. "Veevee is a super-good climber, but Gogo is the super-good-best climber. At least Mom says Gogos are good climbers."

"Gogoats are very good climbers, they can jump pretty high as well," Alain said, needing to set Faith down so he could fit the lid onto the cup, and he handed it to her. "Here you go, one drink for little Ms. Faith."

"Princess Faith," Faith corrected, sucking on the sippy cup as Alain scooped her back up into his arms. She began chattering way about how she was going to play princesses tomorrow and how all of her toys would be princesses too. She seemed to get more excited with each word, practically bouncing in his arms by the time they had once against reached her room. "And then the Duck-its will be the evil bad Pokemon that take Princess Veevee and then–"

"It sounds like it's going to be a very fun game," Alain said, tucking her back under the covers. "But it's time for bed now, okay?"

"...I wanna story," Faith said after a moment, looking up at Alain.

"Nuh-uh– you already had plenty of stories tonight, it's bedtime."

She looked up at him with big eyes. "Can you sing me a song?"

Alain hesitated, glancing at the door, before sitting down on the edge of her bed. "...One song– and only one song– and then straight to bed after, okay?"

Faith beamed, eyes gleaming. "Okay!"

Mairin found them about ten minutes later– Faith out of bed and on the ground, happily playing with some toy cars as she pushed them across the room. Alain was up on the bed, leaning against the wall, eyes closed and soft snores coming from him as Mairin entered. She looked down at Faith, raising an eyebrow.

"Daddy's songs made him fall asleep and not me," Faith informed her, sending a toy truck crashing into a car– and Mairin just simply laughed.

[justanalto]

49. "I didn't know you could do that" - Mackelena or FitzSimmons?

sfhdsjkalhfsa this ask isn’t timestamped so i forgot when you asked me this but I finally got it!! thanks so much for asking! Mackelena or FitzSimmons

As far as skills went, Elena Rodriguez-Mackenzie (yes, exactly in that order) thought she’d seen the gamut of them in the first few years she’d been married to her husband. After all, you didn’t become a SHIELD agents (or marry on, for that matter) without acquiring a considerable set of skills. Mack had more than proven himself in all areas of their relationship – he’d presented to her a buttery filet mignon their first date, kept her in stitches throughout, and had even offered to clean up following dessert. (Not that Elena saw that as a deciding factor. It’d just made her feel a little more appreciated.) He could hold more than his own in a political debate, and when he couldn’t took it upon himself to learn about the subject until he could.

 (“It’s important to be informed,” he’d shrugged when she asked him about it one night. “A lot of things we have to deal with today? Ignorance is usually at the heart of it.”)

When they’d stopped in Greece for their anniversary, he’d taken her to dinner at the fanciest restaurant Athens had to offer, but instead of staring at each other the entire night, they’d watched as the coastline burned some distance away, the result of corporate greed and (apparently) some accidental arson. She’d woken up the next day to find their bags packed and Mack with his phone pressed to his ear.

 “Yessir. I’ll get her the coordinates as soon as possible. Tell them to prep for disaster relief.” 

“Where are we going?” SHIELD didn’t need them already, did they? She and Mack had fought long and hard for this vacation – they weren’t going to go back a damn day earlier than they’d asked for. “Was that Coulson?” 

“Yeah, and he’s sending backup. We’re going down the coast.” 

“I thought we were going to the beach.” The causes of the fire had resonated something deep within Elena, having been at the receiving end of her own share of government gone wrong. But Mack had been so excited to go to the beach and eat out, she figured she’d just sneak out at night to help. The people had deserved at least that much. “You’ve been talking about it for weeks.”

“And I can see it in your eyes.” When Elena opened her mouth to protest, Mack raised an eyebrow with a knowing smile. “Don’t tell me you weren’t going to find a way to go help those people when I wasn’t looking, Yo-Yo.” 

“You would’ve been too slow to notice, anyways” was her answering remark, but she took her bags with a renewed rush of affection for her husband. It was exactly like him to give up something as rare as their vacation (on their anniversary, no less) to go help people that were more in need. It was one of the reasons she’d seen him in the first place. 

Besides, she was sure he got enough of a treat when Coulson let her loose on the politicians, watching amusedly with the rest of the team as Grecian man in double-breasted suits were thoroughly dressed down in fluent Greek by a short Colombian woman wearing a t-shirt patterned with bright pink flamingos. 

The picture still hung on their mantle. 

Needless to say, Elena was plenty confident she knew the extent of her husband’s skills. The last surprise had been when was carrying Natalia, Mack’s surprising ability to read IKEA instructions coming in handy when their daughter announced her presence a month early. Since then, they’d picked up parenting skills up together as a duo, days spent learning to prep bottles and swaddle tiny humans tinged with warm bouts of laughter. 

(She wasn’t allowed to speak about his skills in bed. Daisy had expressly forbidden it after she’d caught them in a supply closet one day. “I don’t wanna hear about it!”)

Those days were now behind them, however, and their bottle-prepping days were now replaced with chauffeuring ones. Depending on Natalia’s preference that month, it was dance lessons, soccer practice, or track and field. Mack had been happy his daughter was taking an interest in everything under the sun, but even had to admit it was taking a bit of a toll on their wallets. They were going to have to have a talk soon – one that Elena was not looking forward to.

“Daddy, we’re home!” Natalia announced as soon as she and her mother stepped through the door. The activity of the month was dance lessons once more, and Mack had warned his daughter that she had to stick with them for at least six months – so far, she was holding true to her promise, even looking to perform that winter in the concert. “Wanna see what I learned for Swan Lake today?” Without even waiting for an answer, she ran through the house looking for Mack. “Daaaaadddy!” 

Elena laughed, setting her keys down. “Turtleman,” she called, “your pequeña bailarina is home,” She could still hear Natalia bouncing around the house looking for her father, so she joined in. “She learned how to do a – damn word’s in French to begin with, how am I supposed to remember it in English, a uh. It’s a twirl.” Mack would know what she was talking about, anyways. “One of the hard twirls. You’d be proud. I think she got my footwork genes.” That and Elena’s spunky attitude seemed to be the two main things Natalia had inherited from her mother. They weren’t too sure about the Inhuman genes yet, but Simmons had assured them that they’d be well prepared when or if they showed.

“Daddy, I talked to Auntie Mel today!” Had her daughter really not found him yet? Hm. Normally, Mack would’ve scooped her up already. “She said I can come visit her next week! And have tea with her! Have you ever had tea with Auntie Mel, Daddy?”

“Mack?” Elena peeked into the different rooms of their house a little faster than she normally allowed herself, but the fact that Mack hadn’t responded yet to either of them was somewhat concerning. “Turtleman, where are you?” When each room turned up more empty than the last, she had to work a little harder to push down the panic threatening to work its way through her system. “Mack!”

She finally found him in the deserted study at the end of the hallway, headphones in and bent over a sewing machine. “There you are, both of us have been looking all over for you. May called and said Talia could visit next week, and the dance teacher wants to know if she’ll be signing up for lessons in the spring –”

Mack took off his headphones. “What?”

Elena stood there for a minute. “I – never mind.” She looked down at the sewing machine to see a large mass of pink velour being run through the stitcher. “Are you…are you sewing?” 

“Talia’s costume for the jazz portion was too long,” Mack answered, and it was only then that she registered the small click-clicks the sewing machine was making. “Took it to May in the hopes that she could help, but I’m guessing she hasn’t seen Talia long enough to see that she’s grown. A lot.” He dryly held up stretch of cloth Elena vaguely identified as a pant leg. “She cut the pant leg to her knee.” 

Well, it certainly had been…an attempt. “I didn’t know you could do that,” she hummed. Better he tried than she did – she’d never had an eye for delicate crafts and suspected she never would.  “When did you learn how to sew, Turtleman? And when did you learn to use a sewing machine?”

“Back in the days of home ec,” Mack chuckled. “None of the other kids thought I’d be able to make a stitch because my hands were so big. Scored the highest on the final because of my stitches.” Elena watched as he switched pant legs, running the cloth through the small threader. “What were you saying about Talia?”

“Daddy!” Natalia burst through the door as if they’d choreographed the entire sequence. “I learned how to do a pirouette today. We had a diff’rent teacher in and her name was Miss Bobbi, her hair was really gold and shiny –” both parents exchanged a slightly confused and alarmed look, Elena having learned enough about the disavowed agents to know Bobbi and kids didn’t mix – “and when she called my name, she had to cough a lot.” 

“Did she now?” Mack asked, amusement coloring his tone. “It was probably just a really long name, bailarina. After all, I thought my name was long enough until your mother’s came along.” 

“She said to say hi to you. Do you know her, Daddy?”

 Mack really jolted then, the sewing machine coming to a quick halt. “Why would I know your dance teacher, silly? You just met her, too.” The machine started up again, and Elena sighed in relief. “She’s just being funny.” 

Natalia seemed to take the answer at its surface. “Yeah. She was funny. She yelled at the other guy in the office a lot.” Mack finished up the pants, shutting off the machine and beckoning his daughter close so he could see if the legs matched up.

“Good as new,” he announced. “You ready to go back to the fifties, Miss Talia?” The younger girl stared down at the pink pants and psychedelic swirl top before striking a dramatic pose. “That a girl! Perfect, kiddo.” He held his hand out for a high-five, which Natalia met with a cheer. “Your winter concert is gonna be so great. I can’t wait.” 

“Auntie Mel said I could come visit next week, too! I talked to her today.” Natalia beamed at the thought of getting to spend time with her aunt and turned to her mother. “Mamá?”

 “What is it, mi hija?” 

“D’you think Auntie Mel was alive during the fifties? Can I ask her?” 

Both of them could already see the fallout that would occur from anyone inferring May was old – and it wasn’t pretty. The scenarios already had them shuddering in fear. “Mamá? Daddy?” 

“Maybe it’ll be best not to ask her that, honey.”