#but no the wheelchair assistance only got me halfway and made me walk the rest

[lovelyisadora]

love love love when wheelchair assistance at the airport is so fucked it makes you miss your flight, and the gate agent tells you to go fuck yourself as she looks you right in the eye and closes the flight in front of you 🙃

[deadpresidents]

Unfinished: April 12, 1945

As March 1945 drew to a close, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was exhausted. At the beginning of February, Roosevelt had attended the Yalta Conference with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin -- a meeting which required the American President to undertake a physically punishing and extraordinarily dangerous trip halfway around the world to the Crimean Peninsula in the middle of a raging world war. At Yalta, Roosevelt’s appearance had shocked the foreign leaders and their aides. In his last face-to-face meeting with Churchill, on February 18, 1945, FDR was seen as a dead man walking. Churchill’s personal doctor, Lord Moran, told a friend that Roosevelt had “only a few months to live”.

Being President of the United States for just one term is taxing enough on a young man or a healthy man. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been President for twelve years. He had campaigned for the Presidency and been victorious in four national elections. His Administration faced one of the greatest domestic crises in American History -- the Great Depression -- and the greatest crisis and bloodiest conflict in world history -- World War II. FDR had attacked these problems (and other issues that arose during his terms) with energy, creativity, and a relentless pursuit of victory.

A healthy and athletic man who stood nearly 6′2″ and weighed about 200 lbs. as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt had been stricken by polio in 1921. The disease robbed him of his ability to walk and, at the time, looked as if it had robbed him of a political future. He rebounded politically but physically he was never the same. Confined to a wheelchair, the muscles in his legs withered like the branches of a tree in winter. Although he could not walk under his own power, FDR taught himself to stand while wearing heavy steel braces around his shins. He needed the assistance of a muscular partner -- sometimes one of his sons, sometimes a military aide -- in order to feign the appearance of walking. Through sheer will, however, Roosevelt learned to take a few steps without anyone’s help -- a handy skill that he would show off at important campaign rallies. But as he began his unprecedented fourth term in the White House in the early months of 1945, FDR no longer had the energy to show off.

Roosevelt was as gravely ill as Lord Moran suggested. The successful 1944 Presidential campaign had severely drained his already tapped-out reservoirs of energy and stamina. His fourth inauguration was low-key, partly because it took place in the midst of war and partly due to the President’s failing health. Instead of the traditional inaugural ceremonies at the U.S. Capitol, Roosevelt took the Oath of Office at the White House and gave his brief fourth Inaugural Address from a balcony at the Executive Mansion. The famously verbose Roosevelt gave the second-shortest Inaugural Address in American History. By the time the crowd realized that he was talking he had already finished. Only George Washington’s four-sentence-long second Inaugural Address in 1793 was shorter than the address given by FDR on January 20, 1945.

FDR now looked entirely different than the man who had told the nation that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” in 1933. Dark circles surrounded his eyes, which seemed sunken into his skull. Since his first Inauguration, Roosevelt had lost 40-50 pounds. His hands shook so violently at times that some observers wondered how he was able to eat. He smoked constantly, but rarely finished his cigarettes. Most shocking of all, FDR no longer went to great lengths to conceal his disability. Frail and tired, he found it almost impossible to wear the heavy braces that he long wore on his crippled legs. On March 1, 1945, Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress on the results of his Yalta Conference with Churchill and Stalin. In an unprecedented move, the President sat in a chair on the floor of the House of Representatives and apologized to Congress, beginning his speech by saying, “I hope that you will pardon me for this unusual posture of sitting down during the presentation of what I want to say, but I know that you will realize it makes it a lot easier for me not to have to carry about ten pounds of steel around on the bottom of my legs.” It was the first time that President Roosevelt had ever publicly acknowledged his physical disability.

Twelve years of the Presidency, economic depression and war had strained Roosevelt’s health, but the 14,000-mile trip to the Yalta Conference on the Black Sea had pushed FDR to the limit. On March 30, 1945, Roosevelt arrived in Warm Springs, Georgia for a few weeks of relaxation and, hopefully, recuperation. Roosevelt loved Warm Springs. He had started visiting the small town in western Georgia in the 1920s, hoping that the warm waters from the natural mineral springs nearby would help him regain the use of his legs. When he was Governor of New York, FDR purchased a small house that he used when he visited Warm Springs. As President, the home was called the “Little White House” and although FDR only visited it sixteen times during his Presidency, many of those trips were for 2-3 weeks each. When his train pulled into Warm Springs at about 1:30 PM on March 30, 1945, many longtime residents said that things seemed different. Roosevelt looked terrible and while he waved to onlookers, it was with noticeable weakness.

The first few days in Georgia were tough. FDR was obviously ill and seemed to struggle making it through a church service on Easter Sunday. Roosevelt also avoided his beloved Warm Springs pools. Instead, the President rested, caught up on sleep, and visited with guests. The goal was for FDR to regain enough of his health to make a trip to San Francisco for the charter meeting of what would become the United Nations. At the Little White House with Roosevelt were some personal aides, military attaches, and cousins Daisy Suckley and Polly Delano. During his first week at Warm Springs, Roosevelt did very little work, dictating a few letters and reading briefings, stronger and more animated in the mornings and evenings but completely drained in the afternoon. Another goal for Roosevelt was to gain weight -- by the time he left Warm Springs, he hoped to be up to 170 lbs.

Still, there was no noticeable improvement in FDR’s health or spirits. Then, on April 9th, Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd arrived. As President Wilson’s Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt had become involved in a passionate love affair with his wife’s social secretary, Lucy Mercer. It was 1918 when Eleanor Roosevelt discovered the affair between Franklin and Lucy and threatened to divorce him unless he promised never to see or speak to Lucy again. FDR agreed to the ultimatum -- an ultimatum that was strengthened by his mother’s threat to cut off his inheritance if he and Eleanor were divorced, as well as the fact that Franklin’s budding political career would be crushed if the affair was revealed. The relationship between FDR and Eleanor was never again passionate or loving after the discovery of the affair, but Eleanor kept her word and remained married to Franklin. Franklin, however, didn’t keep his word to Eleanor.

The Franklin-Lucy affair probably resumed shortly after Roosevelt’s first Inauguration in 1933.  By that time, FDR and Eleanor had more of a professional relationship than a personal one. He respected the First Lady’s political viewpoints, supported her activism, used her as a sounding board, and tried to act on many of her suggestions. Personally, however, there was no passion or tenderness or intimacy between the First Couple. It was FDR and Eleanor’s daughter, Anna, who helped rekindle Franklin’s relationship with Lucy. She arranged for Lucy to visit the President in the White House when Eleanor was out of town. And on April 9, 1945, Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd was in Warm Springs, Georgia visiting President Roosevelt due to Anna Roosevelt’s invitation.

FDR was so excited to see Lucy that he didn’t wait for Lucy to make the drive all the way from Aiken, South Carolina to Warm Springs. The President and his cousin Daisy decided to meet Lucy’s car en route. At Manchester, Georgia, 85 miles away from Warm Springs, the highway rendezvous took place. FDR looked happier than he had in months as Lucy got into FDR’s car along with her friend, painter Elizabeth Shoumatoff. Lucy had brought Shoumatoff along to paint a portrait of the President -- a portrait that she hoped would be an improvement on the recent photographs that had made Roosevelt look “ghastly”.

For the next two days, Roosevelt and Lucy enjoyed their time together, going on small drives, eating happy meals, and sitting together while Shoumatoff prepared to paint the President’s portrait, studying photographs and making preliminary drawings. Daisy Suckley had the opportunity to observe the unique relationship between FDR and Lucy Mercer and also had some private conversations with the President’s longtime mistress. In her diary, Daisy recorded her thoughts about the two after she accompanied them on an automobile drive that they took: “Lucy is so sweet with F(ranklin) -- No wonder he loves to have her around -- Toward the end of the drive, it began to be chilly and she put her sweater over his knees -- I can imagine just how she took care of her husband -- She would think of little things which make so much difference to a semi-invalid, or even a person who is just tired, like F(ranklin).”

On April 12th, President Roosevelt woke up and ate a light breakfast. He had a slight chill despite the warm, humid weather that day and wore his cape draped over his shoulders throughout the early afternoon. Roosevelt did a little bit of work, reading the Atlanta newspapers and dictating some correspondence. Elizabeth Shoumatoff had set up her easel in the living room where the President worked behind a card table that served as his makeshift desk. As Shoumatoff painted, FDR continued reading, and at about 1:00 PM, Roosevelt said, “We have got just about fifteen minutes more to work.”

In the quiet of the room, Daisy Suckley thought that the President had dropped his cigarette and was searching for it because his head slumped forward suddenly. Roosevelt could barely lift his head when Daisy asked what was wrong. He placed his left hand gently against the back of his head and, in a barely audible voice, told Daisy, “I have a terrific pain in the back of my head!”

Roosevelt quickly slipped into unconsciousness as the women in the room summoned help. They called for a doctor who was staying in a cottage close to the Little White House and they helped two of FDR’s valets carry the President into the bedroom. Roosevelt’s hands and feet were ice cold, but he was still breathing. Smelling salts were administered but FDR was unresponsive. As the doctor and aides tried to help the President, Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd and Elizabeth Shoumatoff recognized the hopelessness of the situation. They also recognized the potential scandal that was possible if it was learned that the President collapsed in the presence of his longtime mistress.

Shoumatoff packed up all of her paints and the unfinished portrait she had been working on. Lucy Mercer grabbed her belongings and took one last look at her beloved Franklin. He was still alive when they left, but he was breathing laboriously and his eyes no longer recognized Lucy. Lucy and Elizabeth Shoumatoff had been on the highway back to Aiken, South Carolina for an hour when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died in Warm Springs at 3:35 PM. The official cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage. FDR was 63 years old.

Eleanor Roosevelt was notified of her husband’s death a few minutes after 4:00 PM. She summoned Vice President Harry Truman to the White House while he was having a drink at the U.S. Capitol with House Speaker Sam Rayburn. Truman wasn’t told why he needed to hastily come to the White House, but he knew it sounded urgent. As Truman left the Capitol, he ran into a young Congressman who questioned the Vice President about his speedy exit -- a young Congressman named Lyndon Johnson.

At the White House at 5:30 PM, Eleanor Roosevelt broke the news to the Vice President simply a directly: “Harry, the President is dead.” Truman was stunned and asked what he could do for the widowed First Lady. Eleanor smiled sadly and asked, “Is there anything we can do for you? For you are the one in trouble now.” At 7:00 PM, Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone administered the Oath of Office to Truman as the 33rd President of the United States.

By that time, Eleanor was on her way to Warm Springs to claim her husband’s body. At about midnight, she arrived at the Little White House in Georgia where she asked about her husband’s last hours. It was then that she learned news almost as shocking as the President’s death. Eleanor found out that FDR had been with his former mistress Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd when he was stricken. She spent 45 minutes alone with his body, picked out the clothing for his burial, but never lost her composure despite the shocks that she experienced that day.

A funeral train returned FDR’s body to Washington, D.C. the next day. Roosevelt was embalmed by morticians who found that the President’s arteries were so hardened that they could barely inject the embalming fluid into his body. FDR’s body laid in state in the East Room of the White House almost 80 years to the day that Abraham Lincoln’s body rested in the very same place following his assassination. On the 80th anniversary of Lincoln’s death -- April 15, 1945 -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt was buried in the garden of his beloved estate Hyde Park on the Hudson River in New York. Upon his death, the New York Times wrote of the deceased President:

“Men will thank God on their knees a hundred years from now that Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House. It was his hand, more than that of any other single man, that built the great coalition of the United Nations. It was his leadership which inspired free men in every part of the world to fight with greater hope and courage. Gone is the fresh and spontaneous interest which this man took, as naturally as he breathed air, in the troubled and the hardships and the disappointments and the hopes of little men and humble people.” 

Elizabeth Shoumatoff’s Unfinished Portrait of President Roosevelt -- which she was working on when he died -- now hangs in the Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia.

[fridayfirefly]

Lost and Found [Part Eleven]

Masterlist | Ao3

Despite the fact that he didn't get to bed until 2 AM that morning, Damian still woke up at 6 AM with the sunrise. Sleep deprivation was the last worry on his mind when his Soulmate - beautiful, breathtaking Marinette - was sleeping just one hall down from him.

He met Alfred in the kitchen, already preparing for the meals of the day. The waffle batter was already mixed, coffee was already brewing, and butter was already softening on the counter. "Do you need any help preparing breakfast?"

Alfred shook his head. "Thank you for the offer, but I pride myself in my ability to keep this kitchen under control, no matter how many visitors we have. Besides, I'm sure you would rather spend your morning getting ready for your day with your Soulmate than in the kitchen with me."

Damian nodded. "I'll see you at breakfast, then."

"I look forward to meeting Miss Dupain-Cheng."

Damian left the kitchen and made his way to the gardens, thinking about the night before.

They had gotten back to the Manor at 1:30 AM, too late for the Parisian guests to meet the Wayne family. Damian walked Marinette to her room to let her get some rest, wishing all the while that they could stay up together until the sunrise. Rationally, he knew that Marinette needed her sleep, especially with the drastic time change, but his emotions refused to let her go so soon. However, logic won out in the end, and he kissed her cheek and wished her goodnight. As Damian walked Chloé to her room, taking over for Jason while his brother packed his bags back in his Gotham apartment, Damian asked Chloé for a favor. There was a certain plan he wanted to put into action, that he needed some assistance with. Chloé agreed to help him out and their plan was set: in the morning, Chloé would bring Marinette to her room so that the two girls could get ready together, while Damian brought to Marinette's room a vase of fresh-cut flowers and a handwritten letter asking to take her on a date.

Chloé called his plan "sickeningly romantic", but said it with the sort of wistful smile that made Damian send a text to Jason advising his brother to bring flowers for his own Soulmate. Maybe it was sickeningly romantic, Damian thought over the concept, but he knew that it wasn't a bad thing. Emotions had been difficult for him at first, growing up the way he did, but he now knew better than to try and hide that part of himself from Marinette.

Damian already picked out which flowers to cut days in advance, fragrant purple wisteria and delicate white roses, which he got from the garden before the morning dew had burned off of them. He placed them in the glass vase, arranging and re-arranging them the whole way up to Marinette's room. He knocked on the door, and when there was no reply, he nudged it open. A flash of red by the window caught his eyes, but by the time his eyes focused on the spot, nothing was there. Shrugging it off as a trick of the light, Damian placed the vase of flowers on her bedside table and set down the note beside it. The note, which despite its simplicity had taken several drafts to perfect, read: Dear Marinette, I hope you slept well last night. Breakfast will be served at 8:00 AM. With your permission, I would like to spend today showing you around the city. Once the wedding approaches, I'm certain that we will both be busier, so I would like to get as much time with you now as possible. Sincerely, your Soulmate, Damian

With his plan completed, Damian left the room to go get ready for his first day with Marinette. He quickly sent a text to Chloé, giving her the all-clear to let Marinette return to her room.

Damian had just gotten out of the shower when he saw a note sitting on his bathroom counter. In what was unmistakably Marinette's handwriting, Dear Damian, I would love to go on a date with you today. Sincerely, your Soulmate, Marinette.

Damian breathed out a sigh of relief as the lingering doubt that Marinette might have changed her mind in the last six hours faded away. It is a silly fear, one that Damian wasn't used to indulging in. However, Marinette seemed to bring out all the little human characteristics that the League of Shadows had trained out of him when he was young. A younger Damian would have hated Marinette for it, but in the present day, in the privacy of his room, Damian smiled and let the feeling of relief wash over him.

——————————————————————

Marinette, Chloé, and Nino were all at the dining room table with Jon when Damian entered the room. Marinette brightened up as soon as she saw him. "Damian!" If Damian thought that Marinette looked beautiful last night (which he did) with tangled hair and tired eyes from a seven-hour plane ride, she looked downright breathtaking that morning, in a pretty pale pink dress, with her hair done up in a bun, tendrils curling around her face.

"Good morning, Marinette. I hope you slept well."

"I slept great." A look of annoyance took over Marinette's face. "Even though someone woke me up early on someone else's orders." Marinette's expression shifted from indignation to a bright smile. "I did appreciate the flowers, though, so thank you for those."

"You're very welcome." Damian was pleased that she liked them. He was a little troubled by how intently he was watching her facial expression. "Concerning our date tonight-"

Damian was cut off by the sound of voices coming down the hallway. Richard walked in beside Babs in her wheelchair, the couple having a lively debate about what to do for their respective bachelor and bachelorette parties. "We have to hire one. How often in your life do you get the opportunity to hire a stripper?" argued Babs.

"Alright," conceded Richard, "We get one stripper, and we have him split time between both parties. Now onto decorations - I'm thinking we each pick the decorations for each other's parties, and then it's like a surprise when we get there. And I'm not only saying this because I found the best bachelorette decorations on eBay and I already placed a bid."

Chloé broke the silence that followed in the dining room, as a muffled laugh escaped the hand she had pressed over her mouth. "I'm sorry, but aren't you Waynes billionaires? Can't you afford to hire two strippers?"

"Not billionaires," Tim chimed in as he walked into the room with Connor. "Every time Bruce comes close to being a billionaire, he increases the wages of all Wayne Enterprise employees except for himself and donates a ton of money to charity."

"I suppose we could hire two strippers, but then what if one of them is better than the other. That wouldn't be fair," mused Barbara.

"We could have them switch halfway through, that way we each get the same experience," Richard added.

"How about, instead of arguing the logistics of strippers, you greet the Soulmates who just arrived last night?" asked Jon, with a tone of voice that very clearly demonstrated how absurd he felt their conversation was. Damian had spent too much time with Richard and Babs over the past few weeks of wedding planning - nothing that came out of their mouths phased him anymore.

"Oh, hello Soulmates of my brothers and Soulmate of my brother's Soulmate's brother. I'm Dick."

"Babs," said Babs with a wave.

"Tim."

"Conner."

Richard started pointing to each of the Parisians. "You must be Marinette, Damian's Soulmate. You're Nino, Jon's Soulmate. And you are..?"

"Chloé, my platonic Soulmate," said Jason as he walked into the room.

"I can introduce myself," snapped Chloé, glowering at Jason, who looked a bit sheepish as he sat down in the chair next to her.

Jason picked up his fork and waved it between Chloé and Marinette. "So you two know each other."

Marinette nodded. "We've all known each other since we were kids. Chloé, Nino, and I have been in the same class since maternelle - which you call kindergarten in America. We've been best friends for years now."

"Now that's a coincidence. Both sets of three Soulmates knew each other before they met up with their other halves." Richard nodded, looking the three Parisians up and down.

"Coincidence is putting it mildly. Statistically, it's incredibly improbable. I didn't run the numbers, but I'm sure if I did, it would be in the range of one in a trillion," Tim piped up.

"Good luck, I suppose," said Marinette with a shrug.

"Luck, coincidence, statistical improbability - call it whatever you want to call it. It's still mind-boggling that out of 7 billion people, you three - best friends who go to the same school - end up with Soulmates who are all family."

The conversation turned to other topics as the table waited for Bruce to arrive before they started breakfast. Richard got Marinette talking about her aspiring career as a designer, and it instantly brought Marinette out of her shell. Her passion and enthusiasm were contagious; Damian couldn't help but smile softly to himself as he watched her explain to Richard and Babs the inspiration behind her latest collection of dresses named The City of Lights, which incorporated elements of Parisian fashion throughout the ages, with a focus on finding innovative ways to incorporate light into the dresses. As Marinette was explaining in depth the pros and cons between tea candles and real candles (according to Marinette, an open flame near your hand-crafted creation is a very big con, but she felt so strongly against tea candle that she would rather her dress catch on fire than ruin the integrity of her design), Bruce walked in, wearing a bathrobe with the words World's Best Dad on the back, plaid flannel pajama pants, and fuzzy slippers. Overall, he looked nothing like the intimidating Batman and everything like a regular Dad on a Saturday morning. Damian had to admit, it was a good strategy for putting their new houseguests at ease, especially Marinette and Chloé, who were meeting their Soulmates' father for the very first time.

"Good morning everyone," said Bruce. He grabbed his coffee mug off the counter, filled it to the brim, chugged it all in one go, then refilled it and took it to the table. "What's for breakfast?"

"Pancakes," Alfred replied as he walked in with a platter stacked full of them. "Please don't spill any syrup on the tablecloth, it's a pain to get out. And before you ask, yes, I am talking to you, Richard."

"One time," Richard grumbled. "You spill an entire bottle of syrup on the tablecloth one time, and suddenly that's all anyone remembers."

Marinette laughed. "I take it I'm not the clumsiest person at the table, then."

"I'm not clumsy. I'm just sporadically situationally unaware," Richard defended.

"Clumsy," teased Babs, flicking Richard's nose and stealing the last bite of pancake off his plate. They were so effortlessly domestic, affectionate with each other all the time in a way Damian was beginning to envy. Damian kept his expression still as he sat in internal shock at the realization that he was jealous of what Richard and Babs had together. Damian was a naturally private person; he had assumed he would despise public displays of affection. However, with Marinette, he could see the appeal. Marinette had flipped his whole worldview on its head. Now he wanted romantic outings and for everyone to know that she was his. It was a strange and foreign feeling, but deep down it felt right.

——————————————————————

As breakfast winded down, Damian offered to show Marinette around the house. The first place he took her was to the gardens. Damian knew that Marinette didn't like surprises all that much, so he planned on explaining to her exactly what they would be doing for their date.

"The gardens are so pretty!" exclaimed Marinette. "Is this where the wedding will be held?"

"Yes. The ceremony will be at the gazebo in the center of the rose garden."

"I'm sure it will be lovely," said Marinette with a soft smile on her face.

"For our date today, I was hoping I could show you around some of my favorite spots in the city. If you would rather stay at the Manor, I understand but-"

Marinette cut him off. "I would love that. I might need to change my shoes though." She gestured to the three-inch heels on her feet."

"I would advise bringing along a pair of good walking shoes. I would hate for you to get hurt."

"It would be a shame to break my ankle on our very first date," agreed Marinette. "I'll just go grab a change of shoes and my purse, and then we can go."

Damian smiled at her. "I'll wait for you here."

Damian watched Marinette leave, thinking of all his favorite things he could finally show her, and all of her smiles he could finally see.

Taglist: @fanboy7794 @mikantsume @hetalia-lover-is-here @howtoshuckatlife @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @redscarlet95 @derpingrainbow @friedchickening @melicmusicmagic @beautym3 @kunstner1 @shizukiryuu @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @crazylittlemunchkin @black-streak @darkshadowguardian @mystery-5-5 @trubel43 @fandomfan315 @vincentvangoose @royalchaoticfangirl @mooshoon @drama-queen-supreme @kae690 @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine @zoerayne2426 @littleredrobinhoodlum @lunar-wolf-warrior @dani-ari @sam-spectra @be-happy-every-day-please @xxmadamjinxx @interobanginyourmom @northernbluetongue @eliza-bich @romanoff-queen @scribblinggraveyard @dur55 @jeminiikrystal @sassakitty @miss-mysterys-blog @aegyobutpsycho2 @pirats-pizzacanninibles @chaosace @pepelachanel @sturchling @amayakans @athenalovesredsblog @boxercity1

[rantingwriter]

Accidentally in Love (Hawks x Civilian Reader) pt. 5

Trigger Warning: long hospital stay and angst if you squint

“Alright, it’s time to try taking a step,” Mayu states as you stand shakily on your prosthetic. 

“Nope, I think I’m good,” you have been struggling to get your legs moving. You can usually twitch the muscle and shuffle about a millimeter forward, but taking a full step has not been successful as of late. 

“I’m here to catch you, you can do this.” Ryo was helping today, he is rather lanky, but he can lift his patients like it’s nothing. 

“Okay...Okay,” you try to focus and take a step, you manage to lift your leg, but you quickly lose your balance and fall forwards. Ryo catches you and keeps you upright, “sorry…”

“Don’t apologize, that was good. You got a leg up!” Mayu assists to get you standing again. 

“Let’s try again, one more time and we’ll call it a day.” 

You sigh in defeat despite the encouragement. “Fine,” you gear up to try again when a knock on the window startles the three of you. 

You look over to find Hawks with a little sign, ‘you can do it!’ His feathers hold the page up while he does a little cheer with his arms. You smile and shake your head, “Mayu, please stop drooling.” Ryo grumbles as Mayu stares at the goofy hero. 

“I’m not drooling!” She covers her mouth just to be sure. “Let’s, uh, do this and then uh...maybe we could go say hi?”

Ryo rolls his eyes, “yes, I’ll cover for you, but you owe me!” 

“Thank you!!” Mayu jumps up and down clapping, you clear your throat to remind them you are still there. “Right! Sorry, go ahead [y/n],” they get back into position and you try again to take a step. You shakily lift your leg, “halfway there…” you clench the parallel bars tightly as you urge the leg forward. 

Hawks is celebrating outside as Mayu and Ryo cheer, “you did it!!” 

“I did?!” You can’t really believe it as you stare down at your legs. You are still shaking and require the parallel bars to support your weight, but you have indeed taken your literal first step towards walking again. You try to take another, but that is less successful as you stumble into Ryo again. “Welp, guess that was a fluke…”

“No, that was a success,” Mayu rolls your chair forward so you can sit down. 

“You did great, I’m sure you’ll be taking multiple steps in no time.” Ryo adds on, ensuring you are sitting properly. 

You hear another tap on the window, Hawks is pointing up towards the roof. “Let’s go say hi,” Mayu is quick to wheel you towards the exit.

“Thank you!” You call back towards Ryo who waves in acknowledgement. 

You reach the roof and get swept up by the winged Hero in a hug, “that was awesome!” Mayu looks a bit worried, as he hovers just above your wheelchair. You are holding onto him for dear life and hoping no one could see the blush blooming on your cheeks. He carefully lowers you back down to your seat. “I was just passing by when I saw you, I’m glad I stuck around.” He is all smiles, “oh? I don’t think we’ve met.” He just now noticed Mayu standing behind you. 

“Hi, uh, yeah I’m Mayu, I’m her bearcyst, THERAPIST I meant therapist.” She holds her hand out to shake his. 

“Nice to meet you,” you can’t help but notice a slight shift in his demeanor as he shakes her hand.

“Could I get a picture with you?” She pulls her cellphone up, he nods in consent and they take a quick selfie. She squeals with glee, “thank you! It was great to meet you! I’ll see you tomorrow [y/n],” she dashes back into the building, leaving you alone with the pro hero. 

“That happened,” you chuckle as he stretches his arms. “Sorry about that.” 

“I’m used to it,” he waves it off, “I can’t stay long, but I’ll be back after work and I’m going to bring something to celebrate.” 

“You don’t have to do that,” you feel flustered from all the excitement and hype. 

“You kidding? That’s a huge step!” His wings emphasize his excitement as they raise up. 

You scratch the back of your head, eyes trained on a random box garden. “Okay, if you want to.” 

He grins and ruffles your hair, “I’ll see you tonight then.” He takes off and you feel your face burn with a blush. 

“Ugh, stop that me!” You rub your face a moment before wheeling your way back towards your room. When you arrive, you find Fumiko waiting for you with some lunch. “Hey! Sorry to keep you waiting.” 

She waves it off and smiles, “I just got here, how was PT?” You tell her about your day as you start eating and she lights up in excitement. “That is so great! Won’t be long and you’ll be able to walk out of here!” 

Your face falls for a moment, you hadn’t thought about what you are going to do after your time here is done. “Yeah...I can’t wait.” 

“What’s wrong?” 

“I’ve been here so long I honestly hadn’t thought about what to do next…” She leans against her hand, thinking as you nibble on a carrot. “I don’t have a job and my landlord has informed me he needs me to start paying rent again, starting next month, or get my stuff out.” The landlord was nice enough to halt your rent payments until you were discharged from the hospital, but he failed to mention he was only doing that for 3 months. 

“You know you could always come stay with me for a bit, my wife won’t mind. Rika and I could go get your stuff too and hold onto it until you are discharged and find a new place.” 

“Thanks, but I wouldn’t want to be a burden…” 

“[Y/n], you are my friend and I love you and if you call yourself a burden again I’m going to hug the stuffing out of you.” She squeezes your shoulder reassuringly as you chuckle. Her watch suddenly beeps, “I gotta get back to work, let me know if you need anything. Okay?” 

“Thanks Fumi,” you hug her before she leaves and relax on your bed to rest up. It took a lot of energy to make that step today and you are ready for a nap. You drift off for a long time, a loud thump against your window startling you awake. “What year is it?!” You look around, your gaze drawn to the figure writhing in pain hovering by the window. You call a nurse in to open up the window and let your friend in. Once he has landed you let the laugh you were holding slip out, “did you run into the window?” 

“Maybe…” he is hiding the embarrassment with his jacket collar. “Not important, I’ve brought coffee and [your favorite dessert].” 

“Oh my God, you remembered?!” He sets the dessert on the table and hands you a fresh can of WAX coffee. 

“How could I forget? You were craving it hard a couple weeks back.” He pops the lid off the dessert and he waits for you to take the first bite. You are so happy, flowers and sparkles float around you as you savor the bite. “Wow, I need to bring you this more often.” He tries a bite, it is a satisfying flavor. “How was the rest of your day?”

“Well, I slept for most of it, but I was reminded I need a game plan for after my stay here.” You sigh, reminding the young man of something. 

“Oh! I forgot to tell you earlier, I showed Best Jeanist that rainbow bird cloth you made and he wanted to know if you would work with denim.” 

“Yeah, I can work with any size thread,” you tilt your head, curious where he was going with this.

“He has his own clothing line and he is always looking for ways to improve. The quality of the cloth you made impressed him.” You perk up as you realize what he is implying. “He wants to interview you when you get discharged, but it sounds like he already wants you on the team.” 

“You serious?!” 

“I’m dead serious.” 

You aren’t sure what to do, your hands flailing a little, “oh my- I could kiss you, thank you so much!!” 

His feathers puff up a little and he has to stop himself from saying something stupid, “no problem, happy to help.” The two of you finish off the dessert and drink your coffee as you talk about his day and just enjoy each other's company. He gets a thought and checks the weather outside. “Hey, want to try flying?” 

“Pardon? I am missing a very key ability to do that.” 

“No, I know, I’ve got you covered on that.” He flutters his wings, “I just wanted to show you something that you can only see tonight.” 

“Uh...sure! I just need to let the nurses know.” You hit the call button, a nurse poking his head in to see what’s wrong. You ask them if you can go out for a bit and he looks a little conflicted until Hawks reassures him you would be completely safe with him. The nurse makes a note that you would be going out for any other nurses that might be checking in on you.

Hawks opens up your window and picks you up bridal style. “Ready?” He waits for you to give him the okay and he takes off into the night. You hug his neck and screw your eyes shut as he soars to the surprise destination. “Alright, we are here.” You open your eyes and find he took you to the top of a tower overlooking a festival. 

“Wow! We are really high up,” you feel a bit shaken as he sets you down on the platform. 

“Best seat in the house for what’s to come.” He sits down next to you, one wing curling around you to block the wind. 

“I’ve never seen the city like this before,” you are already mesmerized by the lights of the city. 

Hawks is mesmerized by something else, he removes one of his gloves and takes your hand in his. His fingers intertwined with yours, his thumb sweeping across the side of your thumb. You feel your heart rate spike up at the contact. Before you can say anything, a loud pop draws your attention to the inky black sky. A firework briefly lights up the darkness and dazzles anyone who sees it. “Wow,” you are breathless as you take in the glorious display. 

“I knew you would like it,” he squeezes your hand gently as you both enjoy the bright and colorful display. You test the waters and lean your head against his shoulder, much to your surprise he leans his head against yours. It’s comforting, the show lasts for around 15 minutes and it’s over all too soon. 

“Thanks for bringing me out here,” you speak softly, scared to ruin the moment. 

“Anytime,” you can hear the smile, “ready to head back?” 

“Not really…” a blast of wind sends a chill down your spine. “Yes…”

He chuckles and moves to pick you up, “hold on tight.” He jumps off the platform and glides languidly back towards the hospital.

“Will you still come see me...even after I leave the hospital?” 

“Of course,” he answers without hesitation, swiftly quelling the fear you didn’t realize you had. You couldn’t deny the feelings that have been growing stronger each time you see him. You didn’t want to say anything and risk ruining what you have, but you were starting to wonder if the feeling might be mutual. 

[bittersweetmelxdy]

Prompt 60 Victor plz?

so I usually write all my headcannons and scenarios that are set in ‘present day’ as part of the bittersweetmelxdy writing universe, where each of the love interest exist in their own separate universe where all the scenarios and headcanons are connected to the other. But I couldn’t fit this one in the rest, so assume this one exists by itself :), Hope you like this dear, I know you’ve been waiting for this for a long time.

Title: a calm before the proverbial stormPairing: Victor x MCWords: 1,417

Victor had woken up that morning in a state of calm, something that would not last throughout the day unbeknownst to him. He rose at his usual time, kissed his wife on the temple before rising to complete his morning routine. He then helped his wife out of bed, checked his schedule and emails, whilst she got dressed and then he carried her down the stairs to the kitchen, to prevent any accidents whilst she was heavily pregnant. Setting her tenderly in a rocking chair in the corner of the kitchen he then was about to leave, when he heard some sniffing behind him, immediately he whipped his head back around to see what had hurt his wife.  

“Wait! Where are you going?” your tears welled up in your eyes, and Victor’s felt a sharp pain in his chest at the sight of your pitiful gaze.

“Just to the kitchen.” he reassured, “you’ll be able to see me.” he then pointed at the counter that was clearly in your sight range.

“It’s too far.” you sobbed.

“Dearest, it’s not-”

“Victor if I say it’s far! it’s far!” you were on the verge of sobbing due to your irritation

Victor drew you into his chest and rubbed your back, which somehow only made your tears come worse. Feeling helpless, he just drew you in a little tighter, taking care of your pregnant belly, and hushed your sobs whispering soft words into your ear. Until your sobs subsided and you simply just sat and breathed deeply.  

“I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry, I don’t mean to be like this, but I just can’t.” You whispered, your voice hoarse and your fists clenched tightly in the back of his shirt.

“No, no dearest, it’s fine.” Victor slowly extracted you from his frame and then he eased you into a standing position, escorting you gallantly into the kitchen, “But maybe you are a bit too far for me to look after.” Victor took your bright beaming smile as his reward for his solution to your pregnancy-induced mood swing.

While he made breakfast for the two of you, he snuck glances as you set the coffee machine on for him, and then reached for a cloth to continue to clean the surfaces of your already spotless kitchen. He smiled as he watched you furrow your brows in concentration, if the doctor hadn’t mentioned that this behaviour was sometimes exhibited by expectant mothers, he would have been really confused at your new-found mysophobia. The doctor had amusedly told him when he had fussed over you about this, that sometimes some mothers take to “nesting” as their labour date draws closer and closer. He was told it was nothing to worry about, and that if anything he should indulge you in your behaviour and allow you to “nest” happily. You hadn’t caused too much chaos in your day-to-day life; it was mostly just excessive cleaning and moving around pillows and blankets in order to make the place more comfortable for yourself. Victor would just let you be, secretly enjoying how hard you were trying to make your home more friendly for your coming child.  

The smell of breakfast being finished, is what stopped your cleaning spree, Victor watched as you sniffed twice deeply before waddling your way to the table and easing yourself into a chair awaiting Victor with both of your breakfasts. Victor snorted once, and you immediately glared at him in response.

“Stop laughing Victor, it’s not funny, I can’t walk.” You pouted at him.

“I can’t help it dummy.” Victor placed the plate in front of you and as you tilted your head in anticipation towards him, he rewarded you with another kiss to your temple, withholding his thought on how adorable you were.

Breakfast passed without much fuss, Victor filling you in about his schedule whilst he watched you fondly munch away at your stack of pancakes that were literally covered maple syrup and bananas. He was lucky that your pregnancy cravings hadn’t been too crazy, the baby mostly just craving sweet foods, their favourites including kit-kats and strawberries. Seeing as you had always had a bit of a sweet tooth, this was a game Victor was definitely a pro at, knowing plenty of recipes to satiate your urgings. Victor loved watching you eat what he cooked, and you being pregnant meant that he could impress you even further with his culinary skill.

After breakfast, despite his refusals, Victor eventually bowed out and let you wash the dishes, choosing to instead to gather both your belongings to place them by the front door. He then helped you to the car and carefully drove you to LFG. Seeing as your office was closed for the day, Victor didn’t want you at home by yourself, so he decided that today he’d look after you himself.

Arriving at LFG, Victor settled you into his office, letting you place your belongings where you saw fit, as also using the blanket Victor had bought for you earlier, to nest yourself onto the sofa in the office. After a parting hug and kiss, Victor went about his day, working in his office and answering phones calls, periodically checking on you throughout the day to make your safe and happy. You had felt a few cramps and twinges, but you didn’t want to worry Victor unnecessarily, so you passed it off and didn’t let him know. However, it was when he finally left his office that things took a turn.

It was halfway-through the meeting, just as Victor was about to ask the company’s representative about their financial projections for the project, when Goldman burst into the room breathless. Victor raised his eyebrow at his assistant and Goldman doesn’t even bother to work around to tell him discreetly he just panted out the news that both made Victor’s blood run cold and sent him into fight-or-flight mode.

“Y/N’s water broke, she’s gone into labour.”

The whole room was so quiet, as Victor stood up abruptly, didn’t even gather his things and barely remembered to utter a “meeting adjourned”, before rushing back to his office to see you. You were sat, exactly where he had left you, and were breathing deeply, hands on your stomach. Victor sat gingerly next to you and placed a hand gently on your back, rubbing it in smooth circles to calm your already frazzled nerves. Looking up at him up offered him a tired smile and another contraction caused you face to twist in pain and your head lolled forwards, Victor scrunching his brows and resting his forehead against yours, as he listened to Goldman tell him that he had contacted the ambulance and they were on their way.

The paramedics helped you into a wheelchair and wheeled you down into the ambulance, Victor being allowed to ride in the vehicle to the hospital. Following them as they wheeled you into the delivery room, Victor’s heart contracted watching how much pain you were in. Once in the room, you latched onto Victor’s hand, squeezing it to the point of pain, as the doctor told you calmly to push.

“This hurts so much. We have to use condoms next time; you can never plan this pain as much as you plan for the baby!” You were almost screaming in pain.

“I thought you were the one who wanted a big family.” Victor tried to tease.

“Victor, don’t give me that smart attitude this is to-” you stopped speaking to give another painful push, “this is totally your fault.”

“Wholly and completely dearest.” Victor tried to placate you.

“Just another push Mrs Li, we can see the head.” the doctor told you.

You turned to Victor tiredly, “Victor I can’t, I just can’t…”

“You can, my brave, brave girl, I know you can.” Victor reassured you, and finally after one final push that nearly caused you to pass out, as your consciousness began to blur, you were greeted by the glorious cry of a small baby.

“Congratulations Mrs Li, you have a beautiful baby girl.” the doctor smiled, cutting the umblical cord, and you wearily smiled back, having already given birth to the afterbirth, watching as they left to clean and weigh the baby.

Victor brushed the damp hair from your forehead and pressed a firm kiss to your forehead, as you continued to slip in and out of consciousness, “Sleep dearest, you deserve it.” and your world faded as you finally succumbed to sleep.

[selfdulgent-selfinsert]

Caught in the Middle. (A self-indulgent, reader insert) Chapter 1:

Your name was (y/n), you’re a nurse at Beacon Mental Hospital in Krimson City. While you love your clients, the staff can be a little sketchy. Especially that Dr. Jimenez guy. He always stands a little close for comfort, but the worst was how he treated your new client, Leslie. While you couldn’t prove anything you were sure that disgusting doctor was hurting him in some way; it was a shame as Leslie is always such a sweetie to deal with. You always feel this protective swell in your chest when you hand him off to the porters for his daily 3 p.m. with Dr. Jimenez and Dr. Ruvik. While you were not permitted to attend these sessions, you made sure to busy yourself with what you could. Many Clients at the hospital needed tending and while your heart breaks for Leslie, you’d be damned if you let someone else go without the care they deserve!

“Err, (y/l).” Great, Dr. Jimenez. Whatever could he want? “Leslie is being rather… combative today and we require your assistance. Now.” God the way he speaks sends shivers down your spine, and not the good kind; but anything for Leslie, he’s never been combative so whatever is happening must be an emergency situation. You nod in response and signal a passing porter to inform the general nurse of your absence before quickly trotting after the doctor. The farther you both went into the facility, the less you could smell of clean sterile chemicals and more of whatever the doctor decided to bathe himself in. It smelt like sour milk and excessive ego. “Dr. Jimenez, how deep in the facility do you take Leslie?” your words echoed slightly, this area was deserted. Not a client or staff member in sight. “Dr. Ruvik needs silence for his practice. So we bring Leslie to the first basement.” You both stopped in front of the old cage elevator. While everything above the main floor was well kept and maintained, the area with the cage elevator was in disrepair. It was merely the early storage and morgue before the building was renovated in the early 2000’s; hardly anyone would need to be here unless they had to retrieve supplies from the basement or receive the supply orders from the barely functioning loading dock. While it couldn’t pass for a horror film, the isolation made you worry, for both your safety and Leslies.

Traveling down with Dr. Jimenez was uncomfortable, to say the least. Dr. Jimenez spoke at length of how his research is monumental to the world of science and how you should feel honored to amount to something. Like being a nurse means you do nothing all day. Being ushered through the door was the last straw, you booked it to Leslie who was thrashing about in a bathtub, some orderlies trying to hold him still. It was hooked up to a large machine that you couldn’t have ever dreamt of in your worst nightmares. Once reaching the tub you pushed the workers away, Leslie didn’t like to be touched often. “Leslie dear it’s me, (y/n). I won’t let them touch you, I promise.” Being calm was essential for your job and somehow for Leslie, it always did the trick. His thrashing slowed and he sobbed loudly “Hurt! Hurt! Hurt!”

“Where does it hurt Leslie, can you show me where?” You held out your hands for Leslie, ready to take immediate action.

 “Patient W32 displays an adverse reaction to disconnection from the STEM system.” A voice rang through your head, despite Leslie’s ear piercing sobbing and Dr. Jimenez screaming at the orderlies about their mistakes. It was Dr. Ruvik speaking into his closest companion. A tape recorder. You knew doctors could be weird and most of them still carried them around but it was the cold way he spoke about Leslie that resonated with you. It was cold and clinical, terrifying in its own right. He strode over and unceremoniously pulled what looked like a long needle from the base of Leslie's skull.

Leslie shot forward into your arms; gripping to your outdated nursing uniform like it was his lifeline, and wailing into your chest. You stared straight at Dr. Ruvik as he went about the machine. Peering around to other tubs, covered with black tarps but with cords trailing back to the beast. What was this place, what were they doing to Leslie? How could they do this to Leslie? Dr. Jimenez broke your internal query by approaching with a towel. “This machine will make him better (y/n), our research will work and Leslie will be cured. It’s incredibly difficult for him but the benefits of him living a normal life are worth any sacrifice.” He spoke, draping the towel over Leslie's standing body. Getting him out of the tub was going to be a challenge but at least Leslie could dry off now. While the situation looked intimidating, you couldn’t oppose; after all you were only Leslie's nurse, not his family or doctor, you couldn’t oppose this treatment. Legally at least. So you did what you could, you coaxed Leslie out of the tub and into a wheelchair one of the orderlies brought over. Helping to towel him off the best you could, the poor boy could only sit and rock slowly as you cared for him. Unbeknownst to you, Dr. Ruvik watched you. He had never seen you in person, only ever through Jimenez as Ruvik spent most of his time cooped up in the basement. You were immediately enthralling to him, the empathy you displayed over someone like Leslie, the gentle way you tended to him, your soft humming. You held his attention from the moment you ran in. Ruvik was shocked, what was it about you that captivated him? He had to know, he had to know everything about you, and He was going to have to spend more time outside of the lab.

You left late, getting Leslie clothed and calmed took longer than you expected. After putting him to bed, he’d jump awake screaming that his neck hurt, so you stayed to make sure he was sound asleep. It was exhausting but after what Leslie had been through you couldn’t bring yourself to leave. Of course, the Hospital had some objections to your overtime but Dr. Jimenez advocated for your stay; guess the “good Doctor” had his uses after all. The night was cold as you left Beacon, stepping into the cool fall night was a welcome change. You left your job at the door and walked home, the night more welcoming then transit.

 Your apartment was small but homey, you never wanted to live outside your means. Letting down your hair you slumped on the couch. It was 9 p.m. and exhaustion had you in its clutches. Deciding on leftovers and Netflix with your snake, Toby. An uneventful but restful night. If only it had prepared you for tomorrow.

Your alarm blared, you slept in, the clock shone a bright 9:30 a.m. You sprung out of bed, no one could have done it faster, you must have looked like a blur running around and readying yourself for the day. Only once you were halfway to work did you realize you’d forgotten both your thermos and lunch. GREAT. There wasn’t enough time to run home but just enough to try and grab a cup of tea for your morning; though the café was packed. Slumping in defeat, there was no way you were getting anything good, you’d have to brew something up in the staff room when you got there. Turning to leave you bumped into the best part of your morning, the broad chest of a handsome Asian man. “OOP! I’ so sorry!” You blurted up at him, he was really handsome, hell he made you wish you had more time to chat. His black slicked-back hair and glasses framed his sharp features wonderfully. Could his nose cut diamonds? Oh you hoped so. “Ah, I’m really sorry. Looks like we both won’t be getting anything here today eh?” He stepped aside and gestured to the door “Please, You first.”

“Thank you! I hope you have a really good day!” your cheeks were beet red; cute and nice? Why did it have to happen now, of all times when you had to leave this handsome creature?!?!? Waving as you jogged down the street, you considered coming here more often. Maybe you’d see him again, you hoped you’d see him again.

Bursting in the door, a minute to spare you were greeted by the secretary Linda. “Almost late again are we (y/n)?” Peering at you with a snide expression over her desk, twiddling with her pen. Linda liked to tease, but she meant well. At least you hoped she did.

“Almost Linda, almost!” you huffed “That day has yet to come!” passing Linda you clocked in and set on your daily path. Tea would have to wait until later, you needed to tend to Leslie and the others.

[lilyvandersteen]

Hot for Teacher

This is for @aavigueras. Sorry I forgot about your birthday, sweetie! Here’s a slightly smutty Klaine fic to make up for it :-) It belongs in my Coach Hummel verse - Part One can be found here.

Blaine wasn’t happy about having to transfer at the start of his senior year. Everyone else would already know each other, and would be coming to terms with saying goodbye to their friends at the end of the school year, and busy with their college applications and what extra-curriculars would make them look good.

He would be the only new face, and no-one would bother getting to know him just for one year. He hated that thought.

Once he’d parked his car, Blaine hurried inside and tried to locate the classroom he needed to get to for first period, nervously raking a hand through his curls in the hope of taming them at least a little.

Not for the first time, he cursed himself for having overslept on the first day of the school year. That had forced him to come to school with his head a complete riot of curls, wearing an old pair of jeans, a ratty T-shirt, sneakers because those were the first pair of shoes in his size he’d been able to locate and a leather jacket of his brother’s that he’d found hanging over an armchair.

As he walked through the corridor, he noticed that most boys seemed to wear clothes similar to his, minus the leather jacket, and hardly anyone spared him a second glance. That was a welcome change from the public school he’d gone to before he transferred to Dalton, where he’d stood out like a sore thumb and had been bullied relentlessly. Maybe he’d stick to this barely-out-of-bed look, then, if it made him blend in.

Once he’d found the classroom he’d been looking for, he sat down next to a tall blonde guy and introduced himself. He got a smile and a fist-bump in return. The guy’s name was Sam, apparently, and he was the football team’s quarterback. Blaine showed himself suitably impressed, and Sam told him to come to try-outs that afternoon – “You’re not tall, but I bet you’re fast, man. We need a new kicker. The one we had last year sucked. We haven’t had a good kicker since Hummel left.”

Blaine promised to come. He’d never played football before, but he was certainly fast, yes. He’d had to be, to escape his bullies.

Sam was in most of his classes, and introduced him to a few others – Ryder and Jake, also on the football team, Artie, a guy in a wheelchair telling the most sexist jokes Blaine had ever heard, and a group of girls he said were in glee club with him.

Brittany was fun to be around, Marley proved sweet and helpful, Tina was a veritable fountain of gossip, and Unique earned his lifelong gratitude by steering him straight into the girls’ bathroom to comb and spray his curls into submission. Kitty, though, was scary. There was just no other word for it. Every word she said was caustic, and she seemed to be looking right through Blaine. He’d steer clear of her.

The afternoon came, and Sam, now enthusiastically discussing Batman with Blaine, took him to the football field, where Blaine and a dozen or so other hopefuls tried out for a place on the football team.

Blaine made it, and Sam proved right about the position he got – kicker.

“You’re a natural, boy!” Coach Beiste shouted. “Not as good as Hummel yet, but you have potential. And he’s coming in on Friday to coach you guys, so you can learn from him.”

The other guys on the team cheered as if she’d announced a rock star was coming, and Ryder clapped Blaine on the shoulder. “He’ll show you the ropes in no time, and then we’ll have a kick-ass team.”

Blaine, who’d been so happy a few minutes back that he’d made the team, lost his smile. Now didn’t that sound familiar… All his life, he’d been second best to Cooper, who actually WASN’T better, but just charmed everyone into thinking so. If this ‘showing him the ropes’ would be just as much of a farce as it was with Cooper, he’d prick the star kicker’s bubble straightaway. No need to tread lightly because his mother would skin him alive if he hurt Cooper’s feelings. Yep, this ‘Hummel’ – what kind of a name was that, anyway? – had better bring it!

Not as good as Hummel yet, huh? We’ll see about that.

K & B

On Friday, halfway through the training, he had to admit to himself that Coach Hummel was not like Cooper at all.

Oh, the assistant coach was certainly just as striking as Blaine’s older brother, who made everyone swoon with a wink or a smile. Hummel was a bit slighter and shorter, but his eyes were gorgeous, his posture was ramrod straight, his biceps were to die for and he had the finest ass Blaine had ever seen.

Hummel radiated self-confidence, yet his attitude couldn’t have been more different from Cooper’s.

Yes, as soon as Hummel had walked onto the field, the whole team had greeted him with slaps on the back and congratulations for a match he’d won, apparently, but Hummel didn’t soak up the attention as though it was his due. He ducked his head with a barely there smile, and then clapped his hands and announced that it was now their time to shine. “Show me what you’ve got, so that I know what we need to work on to make this team the best it can be. We’re going to make the McKinley Titans go far this year!”

All right, then.

True to his word, Coach Hummel let each member of the team do a series of exercises and then pointed out how they could improve their performance. They took the advice eagerly, all smiles and nods, looking impressed. Blaine rolled his eyes.

Suck-ups.

When it was Blaine’s turn, he gave it his all, and then stared at Hummel defiantly.

“Sheldon is right, you’ll certainly make a good kicker,” Coach Hummel mused. “You’re fast, and you have a strong kick. The only thing you’ll have to improve is your aim. The football lands to the left of the goal every time you kick, and it has to go through it. So we’ll have to work on that.”

Blaine flushed angrily, but kept his mouth shut.

“Okay, try again. I need to see what exactly you’re doing wrong so that we can fix it.”

Blaine gritted his teeth and squared his jaw, kicking again, and swearing under his breath when he saw the football sail in the wrong direction.

Before Coach Hummel could start his critique, Blaine said conversationally. “So, Coach, do you get a kick out of seeing teenage boys in tight pants? Seeing us stick out our butts really doing it for you?”

Hummel snapped his head in Blaine’s direction, his eyes narrowed and hard as flint and his mouth a thin line. That was the only reaction Blaine got to his taunting, though.

Hummel started to list what Blaine had to pay attention to if he wanted to improve his aim. Blaine, not interested in being lectured by a guy barely older than he was, decided to step it up a bit.

“I mean, I can’t imagine anyone would coach the football team for the fun of it. Does it pay well?”

Blaine ran his eyes over Coach Hummel slowly and deliberately and then delivered the punch line. “Going by your outfit, I’d say it doesn’t.”

Hummel went pink in the cheeks – and wasn’t that a sight to see! – but didn’t say any more to Blaine, moving on to the next member of the football team.

Blaine felt rather mean for commenting on Hummel’s outfit, which had clearly seen better days. His ratty trainers, in particular, seemed about to fall off his feet. Was he really that poor that he couldn’t buy himself new ones?

Soon, Coach Hummel had assessed the whole team, and moved on to group exercises, showing once again that he knew his job by making suggestions that did improve the team’s performance.

Blaine, who refused to admit he’d been wrong about Hummel, kept up a steady stream of jabs and taunts. Other than his nostrils flaring, Hummel never let on he’d heard Blaine. It wasn’t until Blaine mentioned Hummel’s parents – “They say people who go to college in state don’t want to move away from home because they’d miss their mommy too much. Are you such a mommy’s boy, Coach?” – that Coach Hummel lost his cool.

“Enough! If you can’t behave yourself during training, you’ll be off the team before you can say ‘Titans’. Is that clear?”

Hummel didn’t raise his voice, nor did he look at all angry, but his eyes pierced through Blaine and his cold tone made the hair on Blaine’s arms prickle uncomfortably.

Blaine nodded.

“Now, you seem bored, so I’m going to give you something more… interesting to do,” Coach Hummel drawled. “Until I dismiss the team, you’re to run laps around the field. After each lap, you will do five squats and sit-ups. You’ll be taking no breaks. Off you go!”

Blaine looked around him to ascertain if this was a normal procedure, but saw only glaring faces. Apparently, his teammates did not take it kindly that Blaine was dissing their hero.

Uh-oh, looks like I’ll have some damage control to do later… Better keep my mouth shut from now on!

Blaine nodded again and took off for his first lap. True to his resolve, he didn’t say another word, and he followed Coach Hummel’s instructions until he was sweating like a pig and his muscles were burning. He didn’t stop until the training was over and the rest of the team had left the field. Only when Coach Bieste and Coach Hummel had left as well did he trudge back to the locker room wearily.

As soon as he came in, a fist grabbed him by the neck and pushed him against the wall.

“What were you playing at, Anderson?” Sam hissed. “Hummel’s a good guy, and a good coach. If you ever diss him again, you’re off the team. We’ll all tell Coach Bieste we’d rather have NO kicker than a jerk who thinks he’s all that.”

Sam looked over his shoulder at the others. “Am I right, guys?”

“Too right, captain!” Ryder said, and everyone hummed in agreement, still glaring at Blaine.

Sam turned back to Blaine. “Seriously, what were you thinking?”

Blaine sagged a little, and blurted out the first thing that popped into his mind, “That he’s so hot.”

Uh-oh, I should not have said that. I should NOT have said that. I just made everything a thousand times worse. I probably won’t make it out of the locker room alive.

Sam blinked, his glare sliding off his face and leaving only confusion. The other guys, too, had clearly not been expecting this answer from Blaine.

And then Jake threw his head back and laughed, and in no time, the others followed suit.

“Dude,” Jake managed to get out between two guffaws. “You know… I get… you want his attention… but… you’re going about this… all wrong. Dissing Kurt… won’t make him… like you… at all…”

Blaine turned his head to the side. “His name is Kurt?”

Sam threw the jock strap he’d just taken off right into Blaine’s face. “Yes, asshat! It’s Kurt. And Jake’s right. Better take his advice. Puckster Junior is the biggest girl magnet in school.”

Blaine, feeling comfortable enough now to start stripping off his football gear, made a face. “Girls don’t really do it for me.”

That made Jake throw his jock strap at Blaine too. “Yep, we got that when you called Kurt hot. But what I told you goes for guys, too. Basic rule. Don’t be a dick if you want them to like you. It’s as easy as that. There are… other ways to catch their attention.”

Jake gave Blaine a once-over and wiggled his eyebrows. “Show off your nice booty, Anderson! And the front view isn’t too bad either.”

Blaine flushed red, and the rest of the team howled with laughter.

Before Blaine could escape to the shower stalls, the locker room door opened with such force that it banged against the wall, and Coach Hummel came in, his eyes flashing, and told them to get a move on, because he was hungry. And then he crossed his arms, and yum, those muscles flexing were a sight to see.

Jake jabbed Blaine in the ribs, and hissed, “Stop drooling and show off your assets, man!”

Well, no time like the present to find out if Jake’s right, I guess…

“Hey, Coach…”

The look Coach Hummel threw him could have set fire to the whole school building.

“Yes, Anderson?”

How do I get him to look at my junk? Ah, got it.

Blaine told Hummel the team had been comparing their dicks and voting for the best one, but needed a deciding vote between Blaine’s and Sam’s.

As soon as he’d cottoned on, Jake looked offended for a second that he wasn’t a finalist, but then started to laugh again, so infectiously that everyone joined in.

Coach Hummel’s face went blank, and Blaine held his breath as Hummel’s eyes raked over him and Sam.

Just when Blaine thought he’d gone too far this time and would end up with detention, Hummel gave his verdict, deciding that the best dick was his own. Blaine’s mouth fell open.

Wow. This guy always zigs when I think he’s going to zag. I like that.

And then Hummel disappeared again. Blaine, still gaping like a fish, only pulled himself together again when Sam slapped his shoulder and told him to get a move on.

Blaine grabbed his towel and looked for a free shower stall. Most of the guys were already putting their regular clothes back on, so he had the showers all to himself. While he soaped himself up, he couldn’t help but think of Coach Hummel. His eyes spitting fire. His arms. His ass. His endless legs. Unf.

Before he realized, he’d taken his cock in his hand and was pumping it furiously, his other hand clamped over his mouth to muffle the noises he made. It took barely any time at all for him to come spectacularly, painting the red tiles white and sagging against the wall because his legs had been reduced to jelly.

Now in a much better mood than he’d been all afternoon, he started to sing as he rinsed off, giving it his all. As he tried a dramatic twirl for the ending, he froze and squeaked when he noticed someone standing there, watching him.

Hummel!

Coach Hummel told him to hurry up, and Blaine scrambled to take his towel and get dry and dressed before Hummel decide to toss him out of the locker room naked.

But yet again, the man proved nicer than Blaine gave him credit for, complimenting him on his singing, his smile completely genuine in spite of Blaine’s rudeness during the football training.

Blaine was so taken aback he only managed a generic word of thanks. He put on his clothes on autopilot, not even bothering with combing his hair but leaving it a mess, and grabbed his bag and jacket to get out of there, but halted a step outside the door.

I should apologize. I was horrible to him, and he didn’t deserve that one bit.

Blaine hesitated, but then stepped back inside and headed to the showers. As he rounded the corner, he collided with Hummel, who swore under his breath and lost his grip on the towel slung around his waist.

“Sorry!”

It came out breathless, not just because of the collision, but because the slipping towel revealed that Hummel had – Oh my! – not been lying about his dick being the best. Wow!

“Did you forget something?” Coach Hummel asked, now putting on his clothes at record speed.

“I forgot to apologize,” Blaine said. “I wasn’t in the best of moods, but I shouldn’t have worked that out on you. You didn’t deserve any of that. I was a total jerk, and I’m sorry. You’re a good coach, and I promise I’ll be on my best behavior from now on.”

Hummel gave him a long searching look, and then nodded. “Apology accepted. You can start with a clean slate next week.”

Then, with a wave of his hand and a quick smile, the man disappeared, leaving Blaine staring after him.

Not like Cooper at all, this guy. I’m glad he’s giving me a second chance.

[trey-ff]

THREE.

SONYA

After two days spent in the hospital, Hassan and I were finally allowed to be discharged. I hadn’t been there for that long, but I was elated to be going home. Though anxiety and a little apprehensiveness rested in the pit of my stomach at what lied ahead, I couldn’t wait for my life with my son to officially begin.

“Where’d you get these flowers? Please, don’t tell me it was you-know-who.” Ebony frowned, pointing to the vase of roses that Hassan had gotten for me.

“If you’re referring to Carter, hell no. Hassan, the man who helped deliver the baby, bought them for me. He stopped by yesterday to check on us.” I informed her, leaving out the fact that Carter had stopped by, too. She hated him and I didn’t need her going on a tangent about it. Besides, I still hadn’t come to grips with the progression of our talk myself.

“This Hassan seems like a real gentleman.” she smirked as I simply chuckled.

“He is,” I admitted while tossing my tresses behind my shoulder, “I wasn’t even expecting him to come see me, let alone, bring me flowers. He even sat and talked to me for awhile, too.”

“That was really nice of him.” she smiled, getting up from the chair with Hassan nestled in her arms. While I finished getting myself together, she entertained her nephew. Soon, I was dressed in black leggings and a gray Champion sweatshirt, ready to go.

“Can’t wait to get home.” I sang, trailing back towards the bed where me and Hassan’s things were halfway packed.

“Just be sure that you have everything.” she mumbled while bundling Hassan into the carseat that I had her retrieve from my house before she came. Nodding, I stuffed my worn clothes inside of the duffle-bag before zipping it up. Then, I glanced around the brightly lit hospital-room.

“I think that’s everything,” I sighed, unplugging my charger from the outlet beside the bed before plopping down in the nearby chair, “I just need to put on my sneakers and then, we can go.”

“I hope you know you’re gonna’ have to be rolled out of here in a wheelchair. So, we still need to wait for them.”

“Why? It’s not like I can’t walk. I just got dressed by my damn self.” I grumbled, adjusting the tongue to my black Huaraches before tying the laces. She chuckled.

“It’s discharge policy.” she shrugged, tugging the baby-blue hat further down Hassan’s head. Thankfully, he was deep asleep and was not being much of a hassle. It seemed that every time he was awake, he was in need of a feeding and I was still adjusting to that.

Soon, the nurse entered my hospital-room with a wheelchair and my copy of the birth-certificate. While Ebony carried Hassan, the nurse assisted me into the chair and followed her lead until we approached Ebony’s truck. Once everyone was settled comfortably and securely inside, we headed in the direction of my house.

–

“Ah, I’m so happy to be home.” I cheesed as we pulled onto my street. In response, Ebony only chuckled and shook her head. As we approached my house, I noticed Hassan’s car still parked outside and that reminded me to tell him that I had been discharged from the hospital.

And so, I pulled out my iPhone and shot him a text, along with an apology for making him wait two whole days for it. I imagined it must have been tough for him to get around without it.

“C’mon, kid. Let’s get you two in the house.” my sister sang after parking alongside the curb. Unbuckling my seatbelt, I opened my door and due to the height of the truck, I had to literally leap down, causing Ebony to snicker and mutter short-ass beneath her breath.

“Oh, shut up. You ain’t got no more than two inches on me.” I chuckled, feeling the vibration of my phone in my pocket. It was a text from Hassan, informing me that he would be stopping by sometime later that day to scoop his keys. Texting back a simple okay, I proceeded to open the backseat-door to get my son.

“I’ll get your stuff. You just worry about him.” Ebony said as I nodded and grabbed the handle to his car-seat. After being sure that the doors to her truck were locked, we hiked up to my burgundy front-door, where Ebony fished my obnoxiously decorated keys out of my purse, forcing me to smirk at her agitated expression.

“Ugh, I can’t stand all these stupid-ass keychains you got on here.” she complained as she always did whenever she saw my keys.

I had a rhinestone S for obvious reasons, a Minion keychain that my niece gave me, a lime-green furry ball keychain that I bought from Forever 21, a flashlight in case I needed to see, an ice-cream cone because who doesn’t like ice-cream, a million store membership cards to stores I barely ever shopped at, a corkscrew for the wine I never drank, and a keychain from that trip to Puerto Rico that I didn’t go on, amongst many other silly little trinkets that I randomly hooked on there.

“Hey, at least I could never say I lost them.” I laughed as she unlocked the door and pushed it open. With no expectations of seeing anything out-of-the-norm, I was startled to the point of almost dropping my baby when my family and friends jumped out of hiding and shouted SURPRISE!

“Oh my goodness! You guys fuckin’ scared me.” I breathed, touching my chest as the group of maybe ten or so people bursted into laughter. Upon first glance, I spotted my mother, my aunts, Aaron, my niece and nephew, and my best-friends, Deidra, Ashley, Sasha, and Noah, along with a few other familiar faces.

“Aye, no more potty-mouth. You’re a mother now.” Deidra, my girlfriend from my old job at the casino, joked as she wagged her finger at me. Chuckling, I stepped further into the house and made my rounds. Of course, everyone who hadn’t seen my son yet paid me two seconds of attention before insisting that I showed them the baby. Not that I cared, I was just happy to be around so many loved ones.

–

After catching up with everyone, my mother insisted that I eat. For my homecoming and the arrival of Hassan, my mother and aunts cooked an array of my favorites for the get-together that my friends had planned for me in lieu of a baby-shower.

“This is so good.” I admitted, dipping another chip into the sriracha and ranch dip that my Aunt Gina made. Sasha pursed her lips up at me.

“You’re just greedy,” she giggled while scrolling through her never-ending pictures of Hassan, “so, which one should I post? This one… or this one?”

While the other guests, specifically my relatives, were in the living-room with Hassan, I was sitting in the kitchen with my friends. Due to my isolated and neglectful mood during my pregnancy, I could definitely say that I hadn’t been the best best-friend to them. But, they knew that the battles in which I was facing at the time were tough. So, instead of dwelling on that, we broke away from the rest and got lost in our usual quibbles.

“Don’t be plastering my baby all over Instagram now,” I told Sasha, who was infamous for documenting every moment of her life, significant or otherwise, on social-media, “I haven’t even made a post about him yet.”

Sasha was what I considered the it-girl of our group. All of the latest trends, hot-spots, and gossip, she was up on it. Everywhere we went, at least five people knew who she was; she was quite popular around Vegas. If you’d let her tell it, though, none of them were really friends. She simply knew how to network for her net-worth.

“And, you probably never will, Sonny. Only thing yo’ ass be on is Tumblr anyway.” she clowned, somehow making my other friends laugh.

“Whatever. Tumblr is better than all that shit you guys be on. Yes, that includes Twitter and Instagram. And, don’t even get me started on Facebook.” I chuckled, taking a sip of my Fiji water.

“Now, we can all agree that nobody, but old-ass people with uninstalled updates on their computers and shit use Facebook. Hell, they just now finding out about that blue and black, gold and white dress debate. I promise you, my aunties were arguing up and down my wall about that shit last week like it ain’t happen last year. They was just begging to get blocked.” Ashley ranted, forcing me into a fit of giggles.

Now, Ashley, I had met at my bartending job and she always had me dying. She was over-the-top, petty, and had no filter or restraint of any kind. You always needed one brash friend like that, though.

“Hey, I use Facebook.” Noah said defensively. Noah was the guy-friend within our circle of friendship, which ultimately deemed him lucky if he was fucking all of us, or gay if he wasn’t. However, despite what outsiders, specifically men, had to say about it, he always stayed true. He was mature, educated, and probably best-labeled as the voice of reason and the fix-it guy. He was like the big brother that we always wanted.

“And, you see why you don’t be invited to the group-chats now, right?” Ashley asked, sending a fake-smile his way.

“Aw, boo-hoo, I’m so upset that I’m never invited to the men-ain’t-shit group-chats. That’s all ya’ll ever talk about anyway.” he chortled before drinking some of his Rolling Rock.

“‘Cause they ain’t!” we all exclaimed in unison before bursting into laughter. Hell, it was the truth. All us girls had dealt with at least one trifling-ass dude in our pasts so, if we related or connected on anything, it was definitely that.

“Now, that we on that subject, I’m thinking about putting Jaxon on child-support. I said I wouldn’t, but he’s just not stepping up to the plate like he should be with Xavier.” Deidra complained, referring to her three-year old son.

Deidra was the oldest of us all, sitting fine at thirty-two. Due to that, I felt that she often took the place as the mother in our group. She, like Noah, was protective, worrisome, and good for letting us hear it when we needed it.

“I say you do it. I mean, why not? What is this trend with men making babies that they refuse to care for?” Sasha muttered, earning an agreeing head-nod from me.

“I just… I know he wouldn’t be able to keep up with the money. And, what good would he be to Xavier locked up? He doesn’t have a job right now and I’m sympathetic.”

“Take off the sym and keep the pathetic ‘cause that’s what you are right now, girl. What good would he be locked up,” Ashley mocked before chuckling, “hell, what good is he now?”

“Ash, you’re not a mother and I’m almost virtually certain that you’re incapable of loving anyone, but yourself so, you wouldn’t really know that feeling either,” Noah jabbed, making her roll her eyes, “no matter how triflin’ the nigga is, that’s not easy to just do, especially knowing the consequences in store if he didn’t pay up. Like, Sonny, do you plan to put Carter on child-support?”

His question instantly reminded me of the envelope of money that Carter had given me days prior. It was tucked inside of my purse and I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone since I was still kind of murky on the offer myself.

“Um… I hadn’t even given it a thought. I probably wouldn’t do it, though. I just… don’t feel the need to.” I shrugged. Beyond their knowledge, Carter had already insisted that he would be helping me out financially, whether I wanted him to, or not. So, I didn’t have the push to put him on child-support.

“Now, you the pathetic one for real. Deidra, I understand her sensitive-ass not wanting to because he low on paper, but Carter is not. He’s paid and you need to reap the benefits. Not be a gold-digger, or a feigning baby-mama, but a woman who’s thinking in the best interest of her son. Have you even seen or heard from him since the birth?” she asked, switching gears a little. Crunching down on my chips, I thought for a moment before slowly nodding my head.

“He stopped by the day after I gave birth.” I said, keeping it short and sweet, though, I knew that they would continue to prod me for more details.

“And? How’d that go?” Sasha inquired.

“It just went,” I chuckled, shrugging as she kissed her teeth, “I mean, he ain’t have shit interesting to say. He basically told me that he can’t be the man that I want him to be right now. He hopes that later on, if I oblige him, he can be that man and we can work things out.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re actually considering that?” Noah commented, furrowing his eyebrows at me. Noah hated Carter, specifically for how he’d treated me after I had revealed my pregnancy to him, which were reasonable grounds.

“Nah, I ain’t paying him no mind. I mean, if he wants to be around for Hassan, fine. I’ll need to learn to accept that, but for me? Nope. I ain’t interested in any men right now. The only boy that my world revolves around is Hassan. Period.”

HASSAN

“Hassan, these scallops are burnt.” Chef Granquist barked snidely, pointing towards the dish of scallops and herbed brown butter that I had cooked. This harsh and rather loud confession made the heads of my fellow classmates turn in our direction.

“I couldn’t keep them from stickin’ to the pan.” I confessed, refraining from showing any attitude, though, there was none at all. Usually, I received the utmost amount of praise from Chef Granquist; I was definitely one of his favorites. However, that didn’t exempt me from his criticism and discipline.

“Maybe if you were paying attention, you wouldn’t have made this careless and stupid mistake. Take note,” he grumbled, now speaking to the class and making an example out of my error, “the pan should be heated to the point where a single drop of water would bounce around the pan. Then, add the three tablespoons of oil and make sure the scallops aren’t touching one another. And, judging by the pan that you decided to use, I could tell that they were touching. I said to use the 14-inch saute pan and you’re using a 10-inch? Just doing your own thing today, huh?”

“No, Sir. I… I forgot.” I grumbled, not really knowing what else to say, but also knowing that nothing would discontinue his ongoing opprobrium.

“You forgot? Do you think a customer would accept that excuse, or any excuse for that matter, from a cook? I forgot? I expect better from you, Hassan,” he admitted before walking away from me and to Donovan, a fellow cook, who had prepared the same dish, “now, these are much better. You see, Hassan, how Donovan listened to my instructions? If you had done the same…”

I zoned out as he praised Donovan and downed me in the same breath. It wasn’t that I didn’t take heed of his lessons because I did. Without this class and without his referral, I wouldn’t have landed a job at Top of the World. That was my dream job until I was able to own a restaurant myself. I knew that it would take a lot of determination and discipline, along with the material that was being taught in my classes. And normally, I was ahead of the game, but there was some shit going on between me and Whitney that was clouding my focus and better judgement.

A part of me considered this to be somewhat more important than our troubles, but even still, having her upset with me weighed on my mind. Whenever Whitney and I weren’t on common grounds, it had the ability to fuck my whole day up, as it should, considering I couldn’t imagine life without her.

About three years ago, I had moved from Houston to Vegas with my best-friend, Dave. The decision was spontaneous; we just wanted something different from the usual. We were bachelors and wanted life to be like a never-ending party, which Vegas turned out to be. Well, until I met Whitney.

Our come-about wasn’t love at first sight, or anything out a romance flick. It was actually quite the opposite. I met her at a party two years ago, fucked on the first night, and didn’t bother leaving any contact info when I dipped right after. Then, we saw each other at another party, fucked again, but this time, we exchanged numbers. We had a friends-with-benefits ordeal for awhile before feelings inevitably became entangled on both ends. Instead of pushing them away, we just went with it to see if we could maintain all that came with a relationship. And, being that a year and four months of monogamy had passed us by, it was clear to me that we had something worth fighting for. Or, so I thought.

“Hassan!” Chef Granquist shouted, indicating that during that brief gap in my reality, he had been talking to me. Damn, I just couldn’t quit fucking up.

“I’m sorr-”

“Am I boring you? No, honestly.”

“No, I’m just… I’on know. I apologize and I assure you, I’m here wit’ you for the remainder of the class.” I said, motioning a finger between his eyes and mine. He chuckled.

“Oh, don’t assure me anything because you aren’t doing me a favor by being here with me. You’re doing yourself one. But, if I ever do bore you, please, there’s the exit. Be my guest.”

Not bothering to add anything to the discussion, I nodded my head and waited for him to continue his instructing. The last thing that I wanted to do was jeopardize this class by spacing out and shit so, as promised, I made sure to stay attentive for the rest of the class.

–

“Yo, where you at, nigga?” I griped, speaking to Dave. Since my car was wrecked and my keys were still in Sonya’s possession, I was relying on his ass to take me and pick me up from school and work. Thing is, he wasn’t always reliable.

As stated, Dave was my best-friend and had been since we were eight years old. Hell, with our nineteen-year friendship, we considered one another practically kin. We bonded, bickered, and defended one another like brothers. Since we grew up right next door to one another, we were brought up together and essentially, came from the same cloth. Our parents heavily believed that it took a village to raise a child and that was just the method that they used to mold two bad-ass little boys into the grown-ass men that we were today.

“I’m like, ten seconds away, Hassan. You better be lucky I’m even comin’ to get ya’ no-car havin’ ass. You could be callin’ a yellow-cab or some shit everyday.” he grumbled irritably.

“Just shut the fuck up and get here. You ain’t reliable worth shit. Hell, a yellow-cab probably would be more reliable than you.” I rumbled. He kissed his teeth.

“Man, you too disrespectful. But, what else is new, right,” he muttered before blowing the horn, “I’m outside. C’mon.”

“And, what was the point in blowin’ the horn if we on the phone? You always been a dumb-ass.” I snickered, hanging up before he could respond. Then, I got up from the bench and walked outside the school with my duffle-bag and backpack in tow. Jogging down the cement steps, I noticed his black Audi parked fixedly in a parking-space. As I approached the car, he was typing away on his phone, but looked up once he saw me and pressed a button to unlock the doors.

“Wassup, Chef Home-Boyardee?” he snickered, using the same joke he always did as soon as I jumped inside his car. Kissing my teeth, I broke into laughter at his goofy-ass before shoving him aside.

“If I never told you before, I’m tellin’ you now. You get on my nerves.” I chuckled, accepting his hand for a dap before he shrugged and took the car out of park.

“Hey, that’s what I do,” he smiled before peeling out of the parking-lot, “so, how was class? It was cool?”

“Eh, it was aight, I guess. I was fuckin’ up more than usual, though, and Chef Granquist ain’t have no issues callin’ me out on it.” I snickered, shaking my head.

At first, being that my passion elicited sensitivity when it came to criticism, constructive or otherwise, I would get mad and react poorly whenever he did that. As time went on, I gradually learned to appreciate it and used his words to fuel my ambition. To succeed in culinary school, I learned real fast within my first year that you needed determination, perseverance, and a thick layer of skin.

“Well… why was you fuckin’ up in the first place?” Dave asked as we pulled up at a red light. I shrugged.

“I’on know, man. I’m just… tired. Between work and school, I just been real stressed out. I’m tryin’a balance it out, but everything pilin’ down on a nigga right now. Then, there’s Whitney. She feels that I haven’t been spendin’ enough time wit’ her, which is kinda true. But, it’s not that I’on want to, I’ve just been busy.”

The night before, I was unexpectedly called into work while spending time with Whitney. Though the decision wasn’t an easy one to make, I ultimately sided with my job and she was upset about that. I could be the first to admit that I placed my passion above my personal life in most instances. But, I really wanted this dream of mine to come to fruition so, sacrifices had to be made along the way. She knew that from jump-street.

“Man, tell Whitney to go ‘head somewhere and find a hobby,” he grumbled, forcing a chuckle from me, “that broad too dependent for me, man.”

Dave couldn’t stand Whitney and the feeling was mutual on her end, too. He felt that she was too whiny and demanding, while she felt that he was a bad influence on me. Dave wasn’t the relationship-type; it would have to take the perfect woman for him to commit. But until he met that woman, strip-clubs had his heart. I couldn’t knock him for that; I used to be the same way before I settled down with Whitney.

“C’mon, bruh. That’s my girl. She’s definitely a li’l needy, but I love her, man. I wanna give her all the things she needs and wants, you know?” I admitted as he frowned in disgust.

“Nah, I don’t know. I could not imagine bein’ whipped like that, especially for a broad like that. But, more power to you ‘cause you gon’ need a whole lot of it when it comes to her annoyin’-ass.”

“You disrespectful as hell, D. Nah, you really are.” I mumbled, pulling out my vibrating iPhone as his laughter filled the car. The number was unknown, but from the context of the text-message, I knew exactly who it was.

“Yo, remember how I told you about Sonya, the girl whose baby I delivered,” I asked, watching as he glanced over at me and nodded his head, “she just got discharged from the hospital so, let’s head over to her crib. I gotta get my car.”

“Oh, yeah. We definitely need to make that detour ‘cause you been cuttin’ all into my schedule.” he grumbled, forcing me to kiss my teeth at his lying-ass.

“What schedule? You don’t do shit. From what I see, Ruiz pretty much let yo’ ass do whatever you want.” I retorted, referring to his boss. Dave worked at this tattoo-parlor, Devil in the Detail, and the nigga was barely ever there. Being that him and the owner were tight, he could get away with shit like that and still get his paper at the end of the week.

Since working there, which had been about a year and some change, he had probably only done like, three tattoos that I know of. He didn’t even go to school for the shit, but his artistic mindset and ability to stencil out ideas was only half the battle. All they had to do was train him and he was set to go.

In almost every situation that he was encountered with, Dave never really had to do much. Shit just came naturally for him. If he didn’t want to be bothered with some shit, he got someone else to do it, or ignored it until the problem was no more. I never wanted to take anything away from my brother, but it always made me question how he would handle real-life problems that actually required his effort.

“You don’t know what I do,” he chuckled as if he knew something that I didn’t, “and, I’on gotta’ tell you.”

“I never said I wanted to know.”

“You asked what schedule so, evidently–”

“Ah, ain’t nobody finna’ go back and forth wit’ yo’ simple-ass. Just shut that shit up and go to 54 Highland Road in Summerlin so, I can get my shit and you can go ‘bout your schedule.” I said my last word through hand-motioned quotation-marks. He grilled me before silently focusing on the road ahead.

“You know, you is really a throne in my side.” he sighed, mocking his mother, who always used that line when we were getting on her nerves. We both bursted into obnoxious laughter as we started reflecting on times when we were truly a throne in her side.

–

“Yo, look at ya’ car, Hassan. How on Earth did you do that shit?” Dave chortled, pointing towards the dent in my BMW. Shaking my head, I kissed my teeth as I stared at the damage myself. Being that I had gotten sidetracked with delivering the baby, I didn’t really remember, or even so much care for the damage that had been done to my car but, it was turning out to be way worse than I anticipated.

“Some dumb-ass kid rear-ended me, probably not payin’ attention. It’s like every single time I turn around, some bullshit is happenin’ wit’ this car.” I said while mentally calculating the damage and the money that would need to be forked out in order to repair it.

No matter how hard I tried, there were always constant setbacks and hurdles interfering with me chasing my goals. I knew things wouldn’t be easy, but goddamn. Could a nigga catch a break, ever?

“Man, it ain’t too bad. I mean, it’s dented up, but I can call up my boy, Roscoe, and have him fix it for the low. He don’t be chargin’ too much for shit like that.” he muttered as he parked alongside Sonya’s house.

“Yeah, I suppose,” I grumbled while pinching my chin-hair between my fingertips, “are you comin’ in wit’ me? I’m sure she won’t mind.”

“Aight.” he rumbled, shutting the engine and jumping out of his car. Together, we hiked towards Sonya’s front-door, where I knocked and patiently awaited her arrival. The door opened, but Sonya wasn’t the one who answered it. Rather, it was an older, nearly identical version of her.

“Hello, and who are you two gentlemen?” she inquired while looking between the two of us with a welcoming smile. Extending my burly hand, I shook hers, which encouraged Dave to do likewise.

“Well, I’m Hassan and this here is my boy, Dave. I’m a friend of Sonya’s. Would she happen to be here?”

“Um, yes. Come in. I’ll go get her.” she simpered, widening the door for us. Due to the lively decorations and the sound of many voices coming from the living-room area, I assumed that they had thrown her a little get-together.

Peering to my right, I noticed the vase of flowers that I had gotten for her seated on a cherry-wood end-table and grinned. Just then, she entered the main-entrance where we stood and her face lit up with genuine excitement. Beyond our first encounter, where she was cranky and rude due to her pregnancy, I could tell that Sonya was outgoing and a joy to be around. She just had this warm, inviting, and down-to-earth aura that I fucked with heavily.

“Hey, Hassan, how have you been?” she simpered, feeling comfortable enough to embrace me in a hug.

“Good, you?” I smiled, subconsciously taking in her scent before allowing her to pull away.

“Pretty good, pretty good,” she assured before turning her focus to Dave with the same smile, “and, you are?”

“Dave, his friend. You must be Sonya. I’ve heard a lot.” he smiled, extending his hand for a shake that she gladly accepted. I raised an eyebrow; it was always weird for me to see him being polite for a change.

“Good things, I hope.” she giggled, looking towards me.

“Of course. I ain’t got nothin’ negative to say about you.” I chuckled as they both did likewise.

“Oh, here,” she murmured while taking my keys out of her pocket, “if you want, I know a mechanic who can fix that up for you. He’s actually here right now. I could probably get him to do it for a super low price, being that you know me. Maybe even for nothing at all.”

“Um, nah–”

“That’s wassup. He’ll do that.” Dave intervened and I looked at him like he had two heads. Wasn’t he just telling me that he had someone who could handle the damages for me?

“Perfect. Want to meet him and get things arranged?” she offered, aiming her thumbs towards the back of her home. Between them, the decision had already been made with no room for my input so, I simply nodded my head. She motioned for us to follow her lead.

“Why?” I asked, referring to the stunt that he had just pulled.

“‘Cause her boy probably won’t you charge you anything for it.” he grumbled, not convincing me in the least bit. Instead of questioning him any further–not that I had any time to–I stopped behind her in the familiar living-room.

“Guys, this is Hassan, the man who delivered Hassan.” she introduced while pointing at me. As I waved and earned their astonished expressions, I knew that Dave was looking at me crazy. I hadn’t told him that she named the baby after me.

“Ah, that’s how you gon’ introduce me? Just throw me on the spot?” I snickered, remaining humble about the ordeal. I had already received the utmost praise from friends, family, and the practitioners who made a career off of what I did with no experience, but didn’t see the hype around it. I mean, I felt that I had to do what I had to do; I would have liked to believe that anyone in my position would have done the same.

“You didn’t tell me this was the man who delivered the baby,” the woman, who I had learned to be Sonya’s mother smiled, “I thank you so much for being there for my daughter. I’m Nicole, by the way.”

“And, I’m Ebony. Her sister.” another woman smiled, introducing herself to both Dave and I.

“Nice to meet you both,” I grinned, “and, it was really no problem, Nicole. I’m just glad that they’re both happy and healthy.”

By chance, I happened to glance at Sonya and noticed her already staring at me with a smile painted on her face. I smiled back before subconsciously licking my lips.

For a few minutes, we talked with her people in the living-room and I sat with the baby for a little before she asked that we follow her into the kitchen. There, four other people were seated at the island, chilling. I learned through her introductions that they happened to be her best-friends. We sat around the table, drinking and getting acquainted with one another. Just like I detected in Sonya, their vibes were genuine and laid-back.

“So, Noah,” Sonya started, catching his attention, “I need you to do me a favor. Well, more so Hassan, but I’m asking you.”

“Which one?” he pondered, truly confused. Whenever Hassan was mentioned, no one knew exactly which one was the topic of discussion. Sonya laughed and pointed to where I was seated beside her.

“That BMW outside is his and it’s a little wrecked. So, would you mind fixing it up for him, for free?”

“I’m willin’ to pay for it if you need me to, though,” I intervened, not wanting to impose, “just take a look at it and let me know the damage.”

“Nah, it’s cool. After what you did for Sonya, this one’s on the house, my friend. That, and I need a project.” he snickered, fanning his hand as if it were no big deal. While I did have the money to tend to the damages, Lord knows I didn’t want to waste a dime on it. So, I was thankful that he came through.

“Good lookin’ out, man. I appreciate that.” I chuckled before we clinked our beers together.

“See? I told you.” Sonya simpered, nudging my arm. Saying nothing to that, I simply snickered and belted down what was remaining of my alcohol.

–

For about an hour and a half, we continued to talk and whatnot until at some point, Sonya disappeared with her son. Eventually, her other guests began leaving one by one until only Dave, Noah, and I remained. And, if it hadn’t been for Dedrick and Brooke, who asked me to play with them after spotting me outside taking a heated phone-call with Whitney, we would have been gone. It didn’t bother me, though, because I needed the distraction from her bullshit and kids always did the trick.

“Aight, aight, Brooke won that round,” I snickered while catching up to them near sliding glass-door, “how in the world are you so fast?”

“I dunno, I just am.” she giggled cutely while I wiped my forehead with my hand. I couldn’t believe that these two kids were running me ragged like this. It always amazed me how much energy children possessed.

“I’m fast, too. Right, Hassan?” Dedrick asked.

“You outran me, didn’t you? The both of ya’ll future track-stars.” I snickered, pulling my phone out of my pocket to see that it was nearing six-thirty. It was still somewhat light out, but it was drawing time for me to go home and get up on my studying.

“Are you Auntie Sonya’s boyfriend?” Brooke blurted at a random, stealing my attention from my phone. Dedrick looked up at me with the same goofy smile and inquiring eyes as his sister; I could tell that they were waiting to ask, despite their timing being off as hell.

“Uh, no. We’re just friends.”

“Oh, I thought you were her new boyfriend because Uncle Carter isn’t anymore.” she murmured, making me furrow my brow. Uncle Carter? Now, there was finally a name to the nigga that bailed on his girl and newborn baby.

“Uncle Carter, huh? So, that’s Hassan’s father?” I snooped, trying to get some insight on this guy. It felt wrong of me to be using them for information, but hell, I was curious about this man and Sonya had failed to mention anything to me. Aside from the minimal that she shared with me at the hospital, I knew nothing and for some reason, I wanted to know more.

“Yup, but we haven’t seen him in a long time. Auntie Sonya said he isn’t coming around anymore. She said he has a new job and it keeps him busy, like our Daddy.” Dedrick sighed as he picked up the Spalding basketball and bounced it against the patio cement.

“I heard Mommy and Auntie talking once and she was crying about it,” Brooke whispered to both me and her brother, “it was really sad.”

My meddling didn’t really answer any questions for me; I was still in the dark on why they weren’t together anymore and even more perplexed on why I cared so much. However, despite Sonya’s words, I felt that it was more complex than him just abandoning her and their son for no apparent reason. There had to be more to the story and Dedrick’s new job claim shone some light on it.

“I bet it was,” I sighed, feeling confusingly yet genuinely upset that Sonya was going through this shit, “c’mon, let’s go inside. I gotta go home soon.”

Luckily, the twins obliged on this attempt, as earlier I had tried to get them to go inside and instead, was tricked by pleads to continue playing.

Opening the sliding glass-door, I motioned for them to walk through as I followed behind.

“Did they tire you out?” Ebony chuckled as I closed the door behind me and took in the scene before me.

Dave was seated next to Ebony at the island, babysitting what appeared to be his third beer. Knowing that he and Ebony remained in that same spot at the table talking and shit after everyone had left was crazy. Not in a bad way, it was just that Dave could definitely be the introverted type and to see him actually socializing with someone was new.

“Yeah, they sure as hell gotta lotta energy in ‘em, too.” I snickered, leaning against the island as they waved at their mother before scurrying in search of their father.

“Tell me something I don’t know.” she giggled, shaking her head in the direction that they went.

“So, how old are they?” Dave pondered, redirecting her attention back to him.

“Just turned five in early September. It seems like it was just yesterday when I had them.” she chuckled, earning a light smile from Dave. Before either of us could add anything to the discussion, his phone notified him of a text-message.

“It’s Ruiz,” he grumbled, speaking to me before glancing down at the text-message again, “he needs me down at the shop ASAP.”

“Hm, sounds urgent. Guess that means you’re leaving now?” Ebony mumbled, almost sounding a little disappointed in the fact that he had to go. I furrowed my eyebrows at her tone and expression while he only chuckled smoothly and stood up from the island.

“Yeah, when work calls, I gotta answer. But, I’a be sure to see you around.” he smirked, eliciting a smile from her. Shaking my head, I redirected my gaze elsewhere. Dave was always doing some shit.

I didn’t understand why he was entertaining this woman, knowing that she was married. Furthermore, why was she entertaining him? Either way, I ruled it none of my business. Dave was going to do what he wanted to do, regardless of the matter so, it made no sense for me to get involved.

“Wait, where’s Sonya?” I pondered, wanting to at least say goodbye before I left. Knitting her neatly stenciled eyebrows together, Ebony tilted her head to the side.

“If she’s not in the living-room, then she’s probably in the nursery with Hassan.” she replied as I nodded and hiked in the direction of her pointed finger. Heading up the staircase, I passed the bathroom and stopped at the second room ahead, seeing her sitting in a rocking-chair with Hassan nestled in her arms.

While well out of her sight, I watched her as she stared lovingly at her newborn son. Breaking into a smile while she played with his little hand, she cooed and spoke to him in a hushed tone, while rhythmically rocking back and forth in the rocking-chair.

She looked so calm… and beautiful.

Snapping out of my admirable daze, I caught her eyes as I cleared my throat and stepped into the nursery. To my presence, she smiled warmly at me.

“Hey, I’m surprised you’re still here.”

“Yeah, your niece and nephew kinda held me captive for an hour.” I snickered as she did the same and shook her head.

“That sounds about right. They always prey on the newcomers because they’re the most naïve and never want to tell them no. I can bet they ran you around, didn’t they?” she smiled, bursting into chuckles when I nodded with honesty.

“I can’t even lie, they did,” I simpered, peering around the nursery, “so, li’l man livin’ lavish already, huh?”

The walls were powder-blue, immediately putting you in a tranquil state of mind. As soon as you walked in, there was a white cot in the middle of the room, stationed beside the tan rocking-chair that Sonya was occupying. The changing-table was across from that, fixedly placed near the doorway. There was a white, woven dresser to the right of the cot, that held two stuffed-animals. A matching bookshelf, which already housed some baby-books, was a few feet down from that. All in all, the room was well-decorated.

“Yeah, he’s already pretty spoiled,” she admitted, staring at the empty wall space above his changing-table, “I want to get those wooden letters to spell out his name and put it there. What do you think?”

“That’s a cool spot for it. So, I’m guessin’ you decorated the room yourself, huh?”

“Yeah, this was my hobby while I was pregnant. I’m nowhere near done, by the way. His room will be my little passion-project. I have so many ideas for it. There, in that binder.” she smiled, pointing to the black binder on his changing-table. With a smile, I picked it up and opened it. There were color-palettes with variations of blue, Post-It notes with little handwritten tips and ideas, printed pages of furniture, stuffed animals, and equipment that she wanted to buy.

“Really? A chandelier?” I chuckled, making her giggle.

“It’s just a thought. All of those are thoughts that I probably won’t implement anytime soon. Well, maybe the mobiles and the hamper that I printed out, but not the chandelier. I think that might be too much.” she admitted while I continued to flick through the binder. When approached with a yellow Post-It tab, I flipped the page and saw her plans for the living-room. Similar to that of the nursery section in the binder, it was scattered with different ideas and pictures.

“This is more than just a hobby to you,” I mumbled, glancing up from the binder to make eye-contact with her, “this is your dream. I can feel the passion through the pages.”

“It is. I love interior-design. I went to school for it and everything.”

“So, that must be your job, then?” I asked, furrowing my brow when she chuckled and shook her head no.

“I wish. I work… well, as of now, I don’t work. But, before getting pregnant, I juggled bartending, blackjack dealing, and serving.” she revealed, surprising me. I assumed that Sonya worked in a more sheltered, office-type environment. She just didn’t seem like the nightlife kind of woman.

“Do you like what you did for a living?” I pondered, my previous thoughts hauling that question out of me.

“Well, sometimes. I mean, would I rather be doing something else? Of course. But, this is convenient and the money’s easy. I do wish to really take interior-design seriously someday, but now that I have Hassan, I don’t know how easy that transition will be.”

“It’ll definitely be tough, but if you want it bad enough, you’ll aim for it,” I told her, feeling the need to continue, “I’m tryin’a maintain that same mindset for the restaurant, too. Sometimes I be wantin’ to give up, but I done got this far. Ain’t no point in backin’ out now. You put in the years for school, you might as well utilize that degree. Just don’t let it go to waste, you know?”

“Yeah,” she said softly before smiling at me, “it’s definitely something that I want for me and Hassan. I don’t wanna be out at all these hours of the night when I should be home with him. We both deserve better than that.”

“You do.” I murmured, catching her gaze soon after I said that. Though the moment seemed natural on my end, it must have been awkward for her because she cleared her throat and diverted her eyes.

“So, uh, thanks for coming here today and hanging out with me and my people. You’re like a savior to them, too, so believe me, they were just as honored as me to have you.” she smiled. To be honest, I was through with hearing about anything related to the delivery and moreover, I was through with being praised for it. I was just thankful that both Sonya and Hassan were good.

“Listen, if we gon’ have a friendship of some sort, you have got to stop wit’ this talk. You’ve thanked me enough, Sonya. I did what anyone would have done, or tried to do. Now, promise me that we won’t talk about it again.” I stated before she shook her head in defiance.

“Nope, I cannot promise you that. You don’t know it, but you being there on that day, at that moment, will forever mean the world to me. I was terrified and there was a lotta shit weighing down on me. You know, from coming to grips that I was a single mother, to not really knowing my place in this world. I hide it well, but I was and still am very lost and afraid. And, at my most desperate and vulnerable moment, you were there. It’s something that I will never forget and always bring up when the time calls for it. I feel that I can’t thank you enough.”

Hearing that gave me insight on just how much I impacted her life by being there for her when she needed someone the most. So, as humble as I wanted to be about the situation, it was clear that she was affected in ways that I could not imagine and if she felt the need to often express it, I could understand that.

“Okay, no promises, then,” I chuckled, “I know that, uh, you’re going through some things and I’m just glad that I was there to help when you really needed it. If anything, I’m honored that you think so highly of me when I think so highly of you. Wit’ what you’re facin’, you maintain such a cool composure for your family and friends and that’s somethin’ to admire.”

“I try. I hate having them always worry about me,” she murmured before glancing at the bedroom window, “it’s starting to get dark.”

“Is that your way of tryin’a kick me out?” I smirked as she laughed and shook her head.

“No, I just don’t wanna keep you any longer. I’m sure you have things to do.” she murmured as she placed her son inside of his bassinet.

“Unfortunately. I gotta hit the books tonight. So, I’ma see around?” I asked, not really knowing how things would progress between us. If things had gone differently, this would have been our final encounter, but it just didn’t seem like the end for us.

“I hope so.” she admitted as I engulfed her in a hug. As we pulled away, we both heard the faint sound of a phone ringing from the other bedroom.

“Oh, that’s me.”

“Aight, handle that and I’a let myself out. I’m sure.” I chuckled when she seemed to have hesitated. Then, she broke into a smile and nodded her head.

“Okay. Bye, Hassan.

“Peace.” I simpered as we both ventured in different directions. As I jogged downstairs and turned the corner, I spotted Aaron still seated in the living-room with his kids and Noah.

“Aight, catch you later, my man,” I grumbled, throwing Aaron a nod in which he returned before smiling at the kids, “see ya’ll later. Be good, aight?”

“Okay.” the twins smiled in unison as they both slapped their small hands within mine for a high-five.

“I should have your car fixed up in about three days, my guy.” Noah assured as we dapped up one another.

“It’s no rush. I’ll still be able to get around so, don’t even stress yourself wit’ it.” I rumbled, not wanting to put him on a schedule. After I handed him the keys and we exchanged numbers, I went in search for Dave.

Peering into the kitchen, I furrowed my eyes when I noticed that Dave and Ebony were no longer there. Something told me to head towards the front-door and outside, I saw Dave taking his phone back from Ebony, who wore a seductive grin on her face.

“This fool.” I muttered as I watched him continue to flirt around with a married woman. I knew that I said it wasn’t any of my business, but I was gon’ make it my business to talk to him about it.

“Aight, I’a be sure to hit you up,” he smirked at her, turning his attention to me after I opened the front-door, “aye, you ready?”

“Yeah. See you later, Ebony.” I said, giving her a side-hug before pulling away.

“See ya, Hassan. Bye, Dave.” she sang, waving at him.

“Peace.” he rumbled with less enthusiasm than her before he turned to follow my lead to his car. Before I could get on him about what he was doing, he started talking first.

“Yo, why you ain’t tell me that shit?” he blurted, forcing me to furrow my brow at his random outburst.

“Tell you what, nigga?”

“That she named the baby after you.”

I shrugged.

“I mean, I wasn’t bein’ secretive about it. I just omitted from mentionin’ it ‘cause I ain’t think it was that important.” I said honestly, watching as he hit a button on his key-pad and the headlights flashed, indicating that the doors were unlocked.

“Nigga, how is that not important?” he exclaimed as soon as we both jumped inside of his car.

“Why you so moved over it? It’s just a name.” I snickered. I was floored that she had named her son after me, but I wasn’t alarmed by it like Dave and Whitney were. I understood the sentiment behind it and appreciated the gesture. It wasn’t like him having my first name made him my son or some shit.

“Yeah, your name. How you bein’ so nonchalant over it?” he inquired as I watched Noah get inside of my car, prepared to take it to his shop.

“David, it’s not that serious,” I said, watching him lightly kiss his teeth and lower his eyes at me when I sarcastically called him by his full first-name, “but, while we askin’ questions, is you gon’ tell me why you really wanted her boy to fix my car? ‘Cause that shit you told me earlier ain’t add up.”

“Well,” he began, turning the key and making the engine come to life, “‘cause I think you should pursue that. The whole car situation would give you more of a reason to be around her. I was just lookin’ out. So, no thanks necessary.”

“You damn right no thanks necessary. I got a girl.”

“Yeah, that’s just what she is. A girl. Sonya’s a woman. Hey, listen, I ain’t gon’ pressure you to make the right move. I’m just sayin’ make ya’ next move ya’ best move. Na’mean,” he snickered, nudging me as I side-eyed him and raised an eyebrow, “and, it kinda seem like she feelin’ you, too. No?”

Thinking on our previous interactions, I moved my head in a so-so motion. She wasn’t being flirtatious, or throwing herself at me, but I could see why Dave would believe she may have had some attraction to me. I just didn’t feel that it was for all the right reasons, though.

“Yeah, but it’s only ‘cause I delivered her son. It’s like, blind attraction. She’s displacin’ her feelings ‘cause of that shit. It’s not comin’ from a genuine place.”

“If that’s what you think, then I’ma gon’ head and leave it alone. But, if I were you, I wouldn’t pass that up.” he confessed, blankly staring down at the Rolex on his wrist.

“That’s how you feel ‘bout her sister?” I questioned, addressing the topic of him and Ebony. Snickering, he shook his head and swiped a palm down his mouth.

“A li’l bit, but not too heavy,” he said before releasing a deep laugh, “she got some potential, though, wit’ her fine-ass.”

“Yo, you do know she has a husband, right? The one that was right in the house wit’ their two children? The one that you met?”

“And? What that mean? That ain’t stop her from flirtin’ wit’ a nigga. She bored wit’ her relationship anyway, she basically told me. Her man spend more time at his job than wit’ his wife and kids. He literally pushin’ her into the arms of any man willin’ to take her.”

“So, that makes it aight for you to entertain her?”

“Man, don’t be preachin’ nothin’ to me,” he grumbled, fanning his hand at me, “I ain’t gon’ do nothin’ that she ain’t gon’ allow me to.”

“Whatever, D. I just think it’s foul that you poucin’ on a woman’s vulnerability like that.” I rumbled, pointing at him as he only shook his head.

“I am not. So, I’m droppin’ you off at Whit’s?” he asked, changing the subject because he knew that I was right. I snickered at that before responding.

“Uh, nah. We ain’t speakin’ right now and I got studyin’ to catch up on. I can’t be bothered wit’ it tonight. Just take me home.” I grumbled before he nodded. For the most part, the ride to my apartment was silent as we mulled over whatever was on our minds.

SONYA

“I love these onesies, Ebs.” I chuckled, holding up a red one that had black direction arrows labeling the arm and leg holes, with the phrase, you can do this printed in the center. She had a lot of silly onesies that belonged to Dedrick and now, belonged to Hassan.

“Mom bought him that one,” she snickered before throwing another red cup into the garbage, “it always amazes me how after a get-together, there’s always more cups left than people invited. And, why don’t people throw away shit?”

“‘Cause they figure someone else would do it. You don’t even have to clean everything, Ebony. I’ll do some tomorrow.” I assured. The guests didn’t make too much of a mess, but the house definitely needed a thorough cleaning. Being that I was in no condition to clean while I was pregnant, things weren’t the way that I usually liked them. But now, I could fix it up with no problem.

“You are not cleaning this house, Sonya. And, don’t think I didn’t hear you telling Deidra about moving some things around, either. You’re supposed to be on bed-rest and bonding with your son.” she nagged, forcing a soft chuckle from me. I hated consistency so, I was always renovating and decorating around my house. My house was my personal project; it kept me inspired and entertained.

“Yes, ma’am.” I stretched like a scolded child. Shaking her head, she simply laughed at me and continued throwing away the used plastic dishes. With Hassan nestled comfortably and carefully in my arm, I fished through some of the other baby-clothes that she had given me

“So… I see you and Dave were getting really acquainted with one another. What was that all about?” I asked, attempting to spark some conversation. In return, she playfully rolled her eyes and smiled.

For a majority of the evening, she were chatting up a storm with him with Aaron right there. Now, I wasn’t saying that she wasn’t allowed to have male friends with a husband around, but she knew how men were these days. Although I couldn’t detect it, I knew Aaron probably felt some kind of way about her smiling and giggling with a man that wasn’t him. As her sister, I didn’t really think too much of it; she just seemed so enamoured by Dave that I had to ask.

“Oh, please. He’s not even my type. Too thuggish for me. And, besides,” she smirked, flashing her pear-shaped engagement-ring, “I’m already taken.”

“That never stopped anyone before,” I snickered as she kissed her teeth and went back to cleaning, “so, what were you two even talking about?”

“Well, he’s a tattoo-artist and I’ve been telling Aaron for the longest that I would get his name tattooed right here, on my lower-back. I just wanted to know the pain-level for that area and he said it isn’t so bad. But, then again, he has fifteen-thousand tattoos,” she exaggerated through a giggle while wiping down the countertop, “he said he’ll do it, though.”

“Oh, so you’re actually getting Aaron’s name?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s an idea. What’s wrong with that?”

“I mean… nothing. I just think it’s unnecessary, you know? What if you two split up? Then, you have a tramp-stamp on your lower-back of a nigga you aren’t even with.” I chuckled, reflecting on the time that Carter had almost convinced me to get matching-tattoos with him. I thanked God that I didn’t go along with the plan because that ink on my skin would have lasted much longer than we did.

“That isn’t going to happen.” she muttered just before Aaron ventured into the room with their two sleepy children in tow.

“Hey. He looks just like you, Sonya.” he smiled, peering at his nephew who lied awake in my arms. Brooke and Dedrick followed behind, smiling at the baby, too.

“I know, right? Ain’t he blessed?” I joked, making him erupt into chuckles.

“Auntie, can Hassan come over again sometime?” Dedrick asked, stealing my attention. Sighing, I pursed my lips together and shrugged. I wasn’t too sure that Hassan would come around for the sake of my niece and nephew, but I didn’t want to crush their hopes, either.

“I’m not so sure, baby. We’ll have to see if he can come around when he isn’t busy. Did you have fun with him today?”

“Yeah, we played Hide-N-Seek, Tag, and he taught us how to play Man Hunt, too! He said that maybe next time, he can show me how to throw a spiral with the football.”

“Yeah, and he told me to bring my bike so, he can help me take the training-wheels off and teach me how to ride without them.” Brooke added, forcing me to glance at Ebony, who shrugged, and Aaron, who appeared confused.

“He said that?” I asked with an eyebrow raised. Hassan didn’t seem like the type to make broken promises, especially to children so, I didn’t know what to think.

“Well, he said maybe, if we see him again. That’s why we asked can he come back.” Brooke explained before I glanced up at Aaron, who appeared stumped by their eagerness for Hassan to return.

“Princess, why didn’t you just ask me to teach you how to ride the bike? And you, too, Dedrick. We have a football at the house, I can show you how to throw.” Aaron stated, furrowing his eyebrow.

In no way did I think he felt that his family was being snagged from him. He just seemed confused as to why his own children, who normally came to him for things like that, were relying on a man that they had only met once, and didn’t know if they were even seeing again.

“‘Cause you’re never home when we get home from school anymore, Daddy. I’ve been asking about the training-wheels for a long time.” Brooke exaggerated, making me snicker. I watched as Ebony crossed her arms, probably waiting to see how her husband would handle this problem. She had been complaining to him that he was missing out with the children, but Aaron claimed that the weekends allowed him more than enough time to provide his family with the attention that they needed. What he didn’t take into account was the fact that he slept his family-time away because he was so damn tired from his hectic weekday hours.

“This weekend, Daddy promises to do both of those things with you, okay? I’ve just been a li’l busy wit’ work and stuff. We can even go to the movies on Saturday, too.” he smiled, making them jump and down in excitement.

“Don’t get too ambitious now.” Ebony muttered, believing that no one heard her, but Aaron and I both looked her way. I held an expression of shock; he appeared aggravated.

“Please, not right now, Ebs.” he exhaled while the kids were discussing which movie they wanted to see. She rolled her eyes and continued wiping down the countertop. In the midst of the awkward moment, the only thing that I could think about was why the hell was she flaunting her ring, and further than that, why would she want to get his name tattooed if they were going through this shit? But, to each his own.

–

Since I was feeling tired and a wee-bit uncomfortable with the tension between Aaron and Ebony, I told her that I would go back to the bedroom to breastfeed Hassan. I had never seen them argue about anything, especially something as ongoing and potentially damaging as this. It was weird for me to be around.

While cartoons played on my TV, I slowly caressed one hand down Hassan’s back and with the other, I busied myself with my phone. Releasing a laugh at something that Ashley posted on her Instagram, I was surprised to see a text-message come through from Carter. I hadn’t spoken to him since the day before and again, I was reminded of the money that he had given me. Sighing, I opened it.

why you didn’t tell me you were discharged?

Frowning, I formed a response.

didn’t know i had to.

Immediately after my text sent through, the three dots appeared, indicating that he was already responding, and it was probably something smart. I did not feel like going back and forth with this boy.

shit, it would’ve been nice to know. i stopped by with my mother because she wanted to see you and Hassan. we brought you food and everything.

do you always have to be so damn inconsiderate?

“Uh-uh, he is not about to…” I muttered while ferociously replying to his text-message.

you should be the last one calling anybody inconsiderate when you have a whole ass CHILD that you refuse to father. but go on.

I knew that, that would trigger his anger, but hell, it was the truth. Had he informed me that he was stopping by the hospital, instead of just showing up as if we were on good terms, I would have made it a priority for Monica to see Hassan. I just didn’t understand how leaving the hospital without telling him made me the inconsiderate one.

fuck outta here tryin’a reverse the situation! my mother wants to see her grandson and she has a right to!

Just as I read that text-message, Ebony was entering my bedroom. Not paying her the slightest bit of mind, I typed my response.

i never said she couldn’t! just have her stop by tmrw WITHOUT you and she can see him. problem solved.

“Who are you texting? Looking all grumpy.” she muttered, closing my bedroom door behind her. I glanced up, thin eyebrows still knitted in frustration.

“Carter. I swear, he aggravates my whole life.”

“Oh, his punk-ass. What happened?” she asked, but I ignored it for the time being as he texted me back. Plus, I needed to give her a run-down of the hospital-visit before I revealed anything else.

i’ll stop by if i want to. that’s my son too.

“He’s just being a pain in the ass. I don’t even know why he’s texting me.” I mumbled as I fed into his bullshit.

yeah, a son that you didn’t want to claim. don’t be using my son as a way to be around me.

As opposed to the idea of our baby that Carter was, he had me truly convinced that he wanted nothing to do with him or me. So, with that in mind, I couldn’t understand why he wanted to be around now. The only thing that I pulled from this confusion was that he just wanted to have me in his life, somehow, someway, and I didn’t like that.

and you don’t be using him as a way to stay away from me.

“Hello, what happened?” Ebony pondered, placing her hands on her hips. Considering the conversation between Hassan and I done, I placed my phone down and turned my attention towards my sister. Just as I opened my mouth to respond, it clamped shut and I furrowed my brow in confusion.

“Where’s Aaron and the kids?” I pondered, abruptly changing the subject. It wasn’t a purposeful attempt, as I really wanted to tell her about Carter and his bullshit. But, I was curious.

“Aaron took them home. He claimed that I was taking too long and he was tired so, I told him to go. I swear, Sonny, he’s been working my nerve lately and I’ve been trying to be understanding so, we can make things work, but he’s pushing me.” she admitted, kicking off her sneakers. While carefully holding Hassan against my chest, I slid aside and patted the bed for her.

“Well, you know these hours are weighing down on him. It’ll be fine as long as you two stay mindful of each other and the kids.” I assured as she laid down beside me.

“Sure, sure. Now, spill the beans.” she chuckled, clearly not in the mood to discuss her own family matters.

“Well, it all started on Saturday when Carter stopped by the hospital a little after you and Mom left. He–”

“What? And, you’re just now telling me?”

“Oh, get a grip. I had plans to tell you. I needed to digest what happened first. Just listen,” I huffed, “he stopped by and basically told me that whether I want him to or not, he will be around for Hassan… financially, that is. He gave me three-thousand dollars and promises to do so every other month. Oh, and he told me that he needs time before he can accept that he’s a father. Only God knows when that’ll be, but when reality hits, he says he promises to be an active father and boyfriend.”

She was silent for a moment before speaking.

“Even though money won’t make up for his bullshit, I think you should take it for Hassan. Being a single-mother is hard enough as is so, do what you gotta do. Most mothers have to take the child support route, but him willingly contributing without you having to drag his ass to court every other month is good. Now, boyfriend? I don’t know about that one.”

“Me neither. I’m not interested,” I mumbled before thinking over that response, “okay, I would be lying to you if I said there weren’t any feelings still there.”

“Sonya, are you serious? This man left you high and dry for nine months when you were pregnant with his baby. There should be no feelings there at all.” she riposted as I kissed my teeth. I always valued my sister’s advice, but she could be extremely misunderstanding. There were times where I just wanted an ear from her, but Ebony didn’t know how to give anything besides tough-love and judgement. Still, that never stopped me from trying to get my point across.

“I get that, Ebs, but he’s my son’s father. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t even have Hassan. I don’t know, I just think… maybe he was scared of the idea of being a father. I mean, before the pregnancy, he was a good man, Ebs. He was really good to me and then, all of this responsibility between owning the casino and having a baby on the way just switched him up. Now, I’m not saying it’s right, but I’m starting to understand his mindset. Listen, I’m stuck with this man for the next eighteen years–fuck that–for as long as my son lives, I’m stuck with this man. I would be willing to make things right, or at least be on cordial grounds with Carter for the sake of Hassan.”

Another deep silence entered the room as she digested my words.

“I still feel nothing but hatred towards that man, despite all that. I understand that you want to do everything in the best interest of Hassan, but for you to even think about taking him back is bizarre. Ya’ll don’t need to be together for Hassan to be a happy kid. I mean, have you ever heard of co-parenting?”

“Yes… but, I’m just saying that if he changed, or reverted back to how he used to be, I wouldn’t mind trying. I don’t want to rule out the possibility.” I said as she shook her head in disappointment.

“That’s just letting him know that no matter how big the fuck-up, given that this one takes the cake, he can always count on you to take him back. He’ll never learn.” she said, emphasizing her last three words.

“I wouldn’t make it easy for him.”

“You sure?” she asked cryptically while raising a brow.

“And, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“You always had a weak-spot for him and having a baby with him just makes it all that much weaker. I mean, two days ago, you wanted nothing to do with the guy. Now, he actually has you thinking about a foreseeable reconciliation? You had on a whole front all this time.” she chuckled as I eyed her with a glare.

“I’m trying to be mature about the situation. For one, we have a son and I will not deprive them both of a relationship that they should have. Two, forgiveness is everything. It won’t be easy, but I’m willing. We need to be on the same page before there could be effective co-parenting. And, I feel that once we get on that same page, feelings might resurface and there’s nothing wrong with that. Especially if he redeems himself.”

“Alright, Sonya. I see you’re headstrong about it and I can’t tell you anything. You’re a grown-woman. In which case, we’ll just agree to disagree.” she said, dismissing the issue while opening the portal to another one in the same breath.

“Can’t you ever be supportive?” I blurted, forcing us to make eye-contact before she kissed her teeth.

“Oh, so now I’m unsupportive because I don’t want to see my sister getting hurt again?”

“I’m not saying that. I just think that you should at least try to see where I’m coming from. You’re so hell-bent on hating him that it’s clouding your better judgement. I don’t like the nigga all the time, either. Trust me. But, at the end of the day, my kid comes before all that animosity.”

“So, for Hassan, you have to put up with Carter’s bullshit? You talking about my judgement, yours is fuckin’ warped.” she argued, missing the entire point.

“Just forget it. You don’t see it and there is no part of me that feels like explaining it again.” I mumbled, growing irritated with her altogether. If I wanted sympathy and understanding, I wouldn’t be getting it from her so, there was no point in trying to get through to her anymore.

“I was done anyway.” she mumbled as I rolled my eyes.

“Whatever.” I muttered, fanning her off as I positioned Hassan a little better on my busty chest.

“Ditto,” she whispered, staring aimlessly at the ceiling before turning her head and smiling at Hassan, “he’s so damn cute. I’m proud of you, sis.”

“For having a baby?” I chuckled.

“No, for having a baby and being so strong throughout the whole thing, despite everything. I know you had your doubts and probably still do, but you’re going to do great. With or without Carter. I know I can be a bitch when it comes to him, but I just don’t want you to feel like you can’t handle it by yourself. I know you wouldn’t want to, but you can, Sonya. You’re stronger than everyone thinks.”

“Thanks, Ebs.” I sighed, sending her a genuine smile. It was funny how we could go from arguing, to making up in the matter of a mere second. Our sisterly bond was just that powerful.

“Did you have fun tonight?” she inquired. Releasing a light, sleepy chuckle, I nodded my head and slowly licked over my lips.

“Yeah, it was great,” I smiled, peering at Hassan, who was lying drowsily awake on my chest as I caressed his back, “it felt good to come home to so much support and love, you know? I needed that.”

“I know you did, kid,” she grinned, tucking her hands behind her head and crossing her legs at the ankles, “so… Hassan?”

“He’s fine. He’s just about ready to go to sleep since–”

“Not that Hassan, fool,” she muttered after kissing her teeth at my oblivion, “the other Hassan.”

“Oh… what about him?”

“That’s what I’m tryin’a figure out. Do you like him?” she pondered, forcing me to slit my eyes at her before rolling them in annoyance. Ah, here we go.

“Why can’t a man and a woman ever be friends without that kind of suspicion? I mean, seriously.”

“Why so defensive? I just asked a question.”

“Because,” I huffed before shaking my head, “no, I don’t like him. Maybe as friends, but we’re not even that so, I don’t know exactly how to answer your question. I like him as a person, I guess.”

“Oh my God, what a political answer,” she giggled, forcing me to do likewise, “okay, I’ll take that.”

“Good, because that’s all you were getting.” I sighed, yawning tiredly. Seconds of silence filled the room before Ebony broke it again.

“He’s good with kids.” she quipped, more than likely referring to Hassan. I furrowed my brow, figuring that there was more underlying her comment than just pure observation.

“Okay.” I dragged before she chuckled.

“I’m just saying. If things were to go past… whatever this is between ya’ll two, little Hassan wouldn’t be much of an interference. I know you talking about fixing things with your baby-daddy, but he seems like such a great guy. Most men stay away from mothers, but he seems comfortable with it. Plus, he delivered little Hassan. That bond between all three of ya’ll is already special.” she said, sounding so sure of herself. Taking my eyes off of the ceiling that I was staring at and to her face, I snickered.

“Okay, firstly, he has a girlfriend, whom I’ve met days ago. Secondly, I’m not interested. I got enough problems. And thirdly, I’ll probably never see him again after today,” I argued as she pursed her lips together unconvincingly, “I’m serious, Eb. The only reason he was around today was to get his keys and then, chill for a bit. After Noah fixes his car, that’s it. From here on out, he’ll be nothing but a memory and I’m totally cool with that.”

[gigiboheme]

Carnival Dream Review

Long story short, our cruise on the Carnival Dream wasn’t totally a nightmare but it was enough of a drag that I was sorely disappointed. For more details, please read on.

Embarkation was easy enough. Because I have issues with mobility and use a cane, and sometimes a walker, I was directed to the “Special Assistance” sections and lines which moved us along rapidly onto the ship. A word of warning, though: if you have trouble with distance walking like I do, get a wheelchair. I wish I would’ve not been so proud and had gotten one for myself. I paid heavily for it in terms of pain later on that first evening.

I did have a “modified” stateroom - 6207 - and it’s an 8A class balcony room that is starboard and forward, at the front right side of the ship. This presented a problem in that it was quite a haul sometimes to the elevator, but that would be an issue for me on most big ships. The room is quiet from a people-noise standpoint but of course, being forward, pitches and rolls quite a bit in anything other than calm seas, and the wind sounds are very strong at times. I enjoyed that sound, but some might not. Our steward was ace and kept us flush with towels although the room was serviced only once a day which I found odd.

Here’s a view from the door, and pardon the bed. My husband had already rolled around all over it when I took pics! It was much more nicely made when we arrived. To the left, just out of view, is a light, mirror and shelf, and some wall hooks and to the right, just out of view, is the door to the bathroom.

Here’s a view from the balcony door looking toward the stateroom door. Closets and desk area are on the right, just out of view, and the bed and chairs/table are on the left, just out of view. Bathroom door is on the left past the bed, across from the mirror/shelf/light on the right. On one hook there is a door tag for “Cruisin’” or “Snoozin’” to let your steward know when you’re open for room cleaning. Blank room service requests also hang here until you fill them in and put them on the outside door handle.

The stateroom was spacious enough for me and my husband but we travel light so others might find the storage (4 drawers) and closet space (two floor to ceiling) somewhat lacking. The fridge had no shelves and kept our bottled water cool but not cold. The hair dryer was okay but had a short cord and could not be used standing up. There is a bag to send out laundry but we did not take advantage of that service. The safe is small but usable for items like phones, wallets, jewelry. (Sorry, some pics are upside down and I can’t get them to flip!)

The bed and pillows were comfy, the linens were clean and smelled fresh, but they were worn, and I did notice holes in the room curtains. The nightstands have no drawers and not much surface space for things like books or glasses but there is storage underneath. There is a table and two chairs to the right of the bed. If you’re in a wheelchair and need that space for access, these can be easily relocated to the entry area under the mirror.

The balcony was adequate but I can’t envision a wheelchair being easily maneuvered out there, although there is a small ramp to allow for such. The deck chairs are narrow so unless you’re a skinny, good luck being comfy. Previous reviews from several years ago said that this was an obstructed balcony due to it being a steel bulkhead but that is not the case now. The plexiglass (or whatever is it) made for great views through the window and door. The curtains work well to keep out heat and sunlight as needed.

The bathroom was large and had plenty of hand rails. The sink is low and a wheelchair would fit there and its occupant be able to see into the mirror and use the sink, and there is an adjustable shaving/tweezing mirror. The shower is a roll in. There is a fold down seat, a rubber mat on the shower floor, and there are dispensers of shower gel and shampoo. I was not inclined to use those but my husband did and found them satisfactory, but this is a man who would bathe with a stick and straight lye so I don’t count his review as worthy. It might be good stuff but I didn’t try it out. I did use the bar soap provided and it was fair. My biggest issue with the bathroom: Mold. It smelled mildew-y and there was soap scum on the walls and mold under the mat. Other problems: the seat under the sink had three of four leg bases missing and, even with the shower curtain closed, the floor gets soaked and is extremely slippery which is a big safety issue for those of us with poor balance on dry land, much less in standing water on tile. You’ll need extra towels to keep yourself upright. (Note that these pics were post-cruise. Normally the bathroom was loaded with clean towels, hand towels, and washcloths.)

Now to the rest of it.

I’m from New Orleans and I know I’m a food snob because we having amazing cuisine but the Dream’s food didn’t even meet an overall standard of mediocre. The buffet was particularly obnoxious with the exception of the Mongolian Wok, which was okay. The seated dinner was fair but meats were routinely overcooked and group table diners were awkwardly served at different times, meaning your table mate got to watch you eat dinner while they waited for theirs. There was too much of a time lapse between serving for the normal “wait until all are served” rule. Room service was timely and friendly but breakfast items other than cereal were either stale or tasted off. The sandwiches got a pass from husband. I didn’t care for them. Overall the food gets an F grade and because eating is such an integral part of daily living, it really affected our trip in a negative way.

Teenagers and kids abound on the Dream, and I expected that, but what I didn’t expect was the lack of monitoring to keep them out of the adults-only Serenity area. At one point some under-21s were shouting and cursing - fuck this, fuck that, fuck you - and it got to the point that I stood up and pulled a grumpy granny act and told them to shut it. I then told the two very timid but sweet ladies behind the bar to step it up and either check IDs or call security. If you plan to be in a public area other than Serenity, expect tons of screaming, loud pop music, kids and teens, and all that comes with them (trash, crying, diapers, etc).

The spa was lovely. We got a Cloud 9 couples pass to the thalassotherapy pool and steam/sauna rooms and it was well worth the price. The pool in particular was amazing and we enjoyed it a lot. It was never too crowded for us to have a roomy spot. Spa prices were ridiculous for services but that’s a given on any cruise, and deals were forthcoming throughout our time on board. Staff was friendly, towels were abundant, areas were clean. The spa was the best part of the ship, hands down.

Our ports of call were Costa Maya and Cozumel. Both were way too tourist-y and of course that is expected, but Cozumel was flat-out ridiculous with the gauntlet of pushy people selling alcohol, cigs and diamonds that has to be traversed before getting to the actual areas where one can walk around freely and meet their excursion hosts, etc. We had a delicious meal and drinks at Three Amigos so that is recommended.

My biggest concern of the whole trip was the lack of cleaning in the public areas, as in, I didn’t see much of it happening. Also, while I did see hand sanitizer dispensers scattered here and there, their use was not encouraged and I saw maybe one of every 20 people use the hand sanitizer. Norovirus is a huge concern on any vessel holding thousands of people and I did not once see a crew member wiping down handrails, elevator doors and buttons, or anything else for that matter. I did see some haphazard table wiping in the dining area but otherwise, nada. I saw dining staff sneeze, cough, and touch faces and noses, and then touch tabletops and dishes. This alone made the trip a huge fail for me.

Disembarking was not well organized. There was supposedly an instructional flyer with details but I never could find one and the steward was clueless. We did get a customs declaration form and some luggage tags with a number on them stuck into our room’s “mailbox” but only from previous cruising experience did I know that those were for our luggage to be zoned by number and to have the bags out the night before port arrival so they could be picked up and placed into our zone. We eventually discovered a channel on the TV that had the very sweet “Emily the Unicorn” discussing disembarking procedure and that was helpful. Still, it took us 3+ hours to get off the ship. We chose to have our bags picked up the night before so we expected a wait, but not that much of one. We got kicked out of our room about halfway through the wait time and hid in the library (in comfy seats) while we waited for our zone number to be called. Again, if distance walking is an issue, go to Special Assistance and request a wheelchair. Due to long lines and standing, I was in tears by the time I got to our ride’s vehicle.

In summary, I wanted to like our time on the Dream. I really did. It was a five-day getaway for me and my husband for which we’d had much anticipation. His vacation time is extremely limited and even though we enjoyed the spa and were able to relax a bit, I feel like his time was wasted on a subpar experience. I have only ever been on the QM2 and perhaps that has me terribly spoiled but the total sum of negatives didn’t allow the Dream to be a dream for me. I won’t be repeating the experience.