#can I just say I am shaking in excitement

[madamechrissy]

Keep This Low Key

💜 Pairings: Choso x F!reader Rating: Explicit- MDNI

💜 Contents/Warnings: Oral (f and M recieving), fingering, teasing, kissing, explicit sex, multiple rounds, creampie, cum drinking, dirty talk and LOTS of feelings

💜 Word Count: this chap - 7.3k

💜 Summary: You have been Choso's best friend for years, and one night he has a date with Yuki, his girlfriend, while you have a date with Ino, your boyfriend, only for them both to break up with you at the same time! You all think of calling each other, but run right into each other. Choso brings you home since you didn't even have your car, and you two are crying over a couple beers and a silly movie, only to have a sudden idea. Why not say fuck dating, fuck heartbreak, and just fuck each other?

No drama, no mess, no upset, and you two are such good friends, nothing can go wrong, right? The only agreement is no feelings, and if you all find a s/o, you'll end things. But the moment Choso opens his heart to you, and the moment you start falling, things get messy, as you realize he's the best you've had, and you're falling hard. Will you all stay friends, become more, or will everything blow up?

✨️I know these two were dumb asf lol, but they are finally getting this together! I hope you enjoy their ending! ✨️

Chapter Five 💜 Masterlist 💜 Playlist 💜

Chapter Six- Final

When you show up dressed as Princess fucking Leia to Choso’s house the next Friday, well he almost cums in his pants again on sight. You’ve got the space buns, you’ve got the white robes, but underneath he sees an insane replica of her bikini, and you know Choso’s first crush in history just so happens to be her, so now he’s questioning your cruelty.

How does he keep taking it slow when you’re so perfect?

“I… you… huh!?” He’s mumbling, you smile then, tilting your head, stepping inside with a big bag in tow.

“We are having a Star Wars Marathon, and look!” You pull out lightsaber chopsticks and ramen packs. “And, gourmet dining. I don’t have a rockstar budget, you know.” You tease, starting to get everything together, so comfortable in his kitchen he’s baffled by you.

Choso’s tattooed hands come to rest on your waist as you start up the water on the stove, feeling the soft white material under his hands, you turn and look at him, a pretty smile breaking his heart. “You are perfect.”

“No…” You shake your head, nervous now, a blush decorating your cheeks, feeling the warmth spread as his palms press against you.

“God you are, look at you? Am I lucky or what?”

“It’s ramen Choso. Oh, I did bring over some cheap wine for later.” You’re trembling as he cups your jaw, the water is just starting to bubble when he’s kissing you again so deeply, taking your breath away. “I should dress like Leia more.”

“You just being here is everything. I missed you all week.” You exhale, kissing him once more, as he lets you go, and you start to put the ramen in, setting the timer. “You belong here, don’t you think?”

“Yeah?” You ask, voice soft and sweet as you turn to him, and he can’t stop the dopey grin on his face.

“Yeah. Are you staying the night?” He asks, not hiding the excitement in his eyes or voice at the thought of holding you all night.

“Well of course, we have many movies to watch, you know. Before we go and watch the latest tomorrow.”

“I wouldn’t let you go anywhere like this.” His husky declaration shocks you, when he gently opens the white robe, baring you to him.

“You w-wouldn’t?” You whisper in response, surprised and far too excited by his possessive tone. Choso exhales, tracing the curves exposed on your body, leaving a trail of goosebumps as he goes, the fire building in your core

“I’d let you do anything, you know. But I’d be insanely jealous.” You’re kissing him again, bare skin pressing on the soft black sweater he’s wearing, your fingers curling around the strong biceps of his arms, heat pooling in your tummy.

“How slow are we taking things?” You tease, repeating his question yesterday. “I could suck him slow?”

“Jesus…” You’re giggling as the timer goes off, turning your attention to making you both bowls as he wills his cock to stop pulsing, picturing you in this outfit on your knees is wrecking him. “You’re torturing me.”

“You did too, Mr. eats me out on a wall and leaves.” He groans and covers his face when you start seasoning the ramen and giggle at him.

“Don’t remind me, hurt so bad jerking it after.”

“Did it?” You smile and he glares.

“You’re enjoying my pain?”

“Just a bit. Oh god, remember this was like all we ate in college?”

“That and pizza, yes, but… this looks yummy. And these!?”

“I got you a pair, don’t worry.” You grin and turn on the little red lights for his pair, yours are blue. “We can battle after!”

“You’re so-”

“Nerdy, I know.”

“Adorable.” You’re blushing again, sitting next to him in his little kitchen, slurping up noodles with glowing chopsticks, the simplicity of the beauty in such a silly moment moves him so much he has to pause. Taking in how the sunlight filtering from the window is making your skin and hair glow.

“Thank you, Cho. I wanted today to be… like how we were before… but also different.” You peck a little kiss on his lips, smiling against them when his hand comes to rest on your thigh.

“Princess Leia though, where’s this from?”

“A convention last year! I think… Yuki wouldn’t let you go?”

“Ah, I remember now! Is it uncomfy?”

“You want me naked.”

“Yes.”

You both laugh softly, but you shake your head. “Let’s get some movies down, Cho bear.”

You’re on the couch next to each other later, two movies down, the beginning of the third starting, music you’ve heard a million times, you’re suddenly a little uncomfortable with the wig, taking it off and letting your hair fall. He laughs at how messy it is, gently moving to fix it, brushing his fingers through it, your eyes flutter shut at how good it feels.

“Today is amazing.” He murmurs then, and you sigh, nodding.

“It’s just what we needed, I think… to get back to us.” You smile softly, lashes casting shadows across your cheeks as you lean in, kissing him sweetly.

“I missed us, so much.” He whispers, choking up then on his emotions, you sigh, nodding and kissing him over and over, soon his hands are on your bare waist, the warmth making you feel that pressure between your thighs.

“I like us even better now.” You say softly, between kisses, as he pulls you on his lap, thighs on either side of him, grinding and watching his head fall back in pleasure, as you plant sweet kisses along his throat.

“I like us better too, mnh…” He’s pressing up, his clothed cock hitting you now, when there is a knock on his door. “Ugh, they need to fuck off.”

“Don’t answer?” You tease, he grins, the sight melting you, and kisses you as the knocks persist, untilyou both ease back a bit.

“I’m coming.” He shouts, then mumbles, “Well I wish I was.” He pouts and you giggle, trailing a finger down his front slowly.

“You will tonight, promise.” Choso lets out a little purr as you stroke his silky black hair, he’s kissing you again, earning another soft cry as the knocks persist. “Go get it, may be important?”

“It better be.” Choso stands up then, as the knocking continues, frowning when he’s met with the sight of Yuki in tears.

The woman he thought he saw a future with, the one he felt so much for, is crying right on his doorstep, you tense then as Choso falters, you see the pretty blond like you’ve never seen her, she’s always been a tough girl, or so you knew of her. She buries her head against Choso’s chest, shoulders shaking, and his hands don’t touch her, they stay up in the air.

“Yuki, what…”

“He’s not who I thought he was. Cho, I miss you so much.” She cries now, sniffling, and Choso grimaces, easing her off him gently.

“Listen, I’m sorry really but-”

“Should I go?” You ask then, and Yuki blinks a bit as she takes in your costume, then looking at the movie playing, then back at Choso.

“You’re not going anywhere, angel.” Choso says then, and Yuki gasps, when he steps back, putting his hands on your shoulders, and Yuki curses softly.

“Shit… You two…”

“Yeah, we’re together now.” Choso says softly, making your own eyes well up with emotions, you thought for sure with Yuki here he would maybe want a moment with her, or something to give him closure, but no.

He’s choosing you.

After so many years of the both of you missing this moment and that, having these high school crushes and college infatuations, missing each opportunity you could have had, to be so much more. But now, you have each other, finally, and you’re so scared that something can break this, so precious and new.

“You all can have a moment to talk, I can step out?” You offer quietly, and he shakes his head again. “Cho, maybe it’s good to… have closure after what happened between you?”

“Don’t need it, though, I’m past it all, long past.” He says again, but you kiss his cheek, looking at Yuki sadly and gesturing to her.

“Maybe she does.” You walk by and Choso tenses again, Yuki gently touches your arm, sniffling a bit.

“I was a whole bitch to you, I am sorry. Make him happy, hmm?” You nod with a small smile, as you step out for a moment, feeling the air hit you.

“I absolutely will.” Choso is now left with his ex and her sad brown eyes, but he’s more anxious of what you will think, hating that you’re even outside, especially after the lack of trust between you two before. He does not want anything to mess it up, even if he does feel sad that Yuki clearly is hurting, it’s about as sad as Choso would feel for any human being.

“Yuki…”

“Listen, I just needed to say that I am sorry for how I left things, you didn’t deserve that shit.”

“I forgive you.” He says softly, to her surprise. “It’s in the past now, and maybe… for the best.”

“I see that now.” She swipes at her tears, sighing and shaking her head. “What I said wasn’t true though, about you.”

Choso smiles just a bit. “I know it wasn’t.”

“You really forgive me!?”

“I never expected an apology, but of course I do. I think it was all just… meant to happen how it did.”

“Look at you all confident, hmm? I like it.” Choso sighs, running a hand through his hair as he thinks of you.

“She helps me with that. Also I mean, I clearly did have feelings before for her, so I think I see now how that could be worrying, even if we were blind to it. But I do promise that I was never unfaithful to you in any way or-”

Yuki cuts him off, shaking her head. “I know Choso, I didn’t think so not for a minute. But the connection you two have was intimidating to say the least, still, I took it too far.”

“Thank you for apologizing, Yuki. Really, I hope everything turns out good for you.” Choso gets a big hug then, she sighs, looking up at him, he lets her hug him but he doesn’t really reach back, aside from a pat on the head that makes her smile just a bit.

“You’re too sweet for this shit ass world, Cho. I hope you’re happy too.”

“I have her, I will be.” He says with a dopey grin, and when Yuki steps outside, she lights a cigarette, looking over at you with a knowing smile.

“That boy is madly in love, hmm?” 

“I don’t know if he is yet… but I know I am.” You murmur, you know Choso really adores you, but you all still haven’t gotten there yet. Yuki sighs, blowing smoke up and over, looking back at the door.

“Oh, he is.” She waves goodbye and you step back inside nervously, the warmth inviting, and you worry somewhat, as you don’t know if this affected Choso, but he immediately checks on you, cupping your face after you shut the door.

“I’m so sorry she came over, are you okay?’

“Cho, it’s fine, really. I think it’s good if anything.” Choso blinks then, long lashes casting shadows over his cheeks.

“Good?’

“Yes, because you both get closure. You were very serious about her.” Choso exhales, nodding then.

“Yeah, I was but do you know who I fell for before her?” You blush now, shaking your head as he presses a kiss on your temple. “Let me tell you a story, then, of the day I met this girl.”

“Will I get jealous?” You tease, and he laughs, shaking his head.

“No, because she is you.”

“Hey, watch it.” Choso shoves a boy out of the way who was being so mean to you on your first day in seventh grade. You nervously bite your lower lip, clinging to your stack of books as this stranger defends you.

“What, ya like her or something?” The boy sneers, and Choso’s brows lower over his eyes.

“So what if I do, leave her alone.”

“Or what?”

“Or you’ll deal with me.” He shoves forward, already towering over everyone you’ve seen so far in the school, you watch with nervous eyes as another boy comes up near him, tugging at his friend’s sleeve.

“That’s Choso, you don’t understand…”

The boy looks at his friend, then at Choso and sighs then. “Fine.”

“Apologize, while you’re at it.” Choso says through his teeth, and suddenly the boy looks at you very apologetically.

“I’m s-sorry…”

“It’s okay.” You murmur, as they run off, leaving you with this tall, dark haired boy with violet eyes. He looks down at you then, opening his mouth, then closing it.

“Are you okay?” He asks softly, and you instantly melt, you instantly feel so safe though you barely know him. Something about his warm, concerned gaze, and his pouty lips.

“I’m okay, thank you.” You say softly, smiling as you step a little closer, and so does he, and you inhale this calming scent he has, closing your eyes for a moment, as he inhales your sweet scent, something fruity he thinks like strawberries.

“I’m Choso.”

You smile and open your eyes, telling him your name softly, as the lights softly pool in from the bright windows behind your head, and he thinks to himself then, you look like an angel.

“Of course I remember that day, you were my knight in shining armor.” You say then, as the memories wash over you both, Choso sighs, his hands gently brushing your still messy hair back.

“I thought as those lights hit you, you were an angel.” You gasp, eyes locking on his, lips parted.

“Huh!?”

“Yeah, it’s where the nickname came from. You were so sweet and beautiful… and I felt this protective instinct. I couldn’t even explain it, but it was there.” You gulp now, nervously swallowing with a dry throat, as you stare into the swirling storms of his eyes. “I knew it then, even though I was a silly kid.”

“Knew what, Cho?” You murmur softly, breath caught in your throat when he leans down further.

“I knew I loved you, I knew it then. That anyone who would dare hurt you I’d take down, but then… I hurt you.”

“No, baby, no…” You’re crying now, blinking back tears as does he, and he shakes his head.

“I did, I did… I hurt you. The one that I love.”

“You love… me?”

“God yes, I always have angel. You’re it for me, even if I’m not sure I deserve you.” He whispers, and as his eyes swim with tears, so do yours, you cup his face as he leans down, and a fire burns within you.

“Then let me tell you, about a boy I fell for, hmm?”

“Will I get jealous?” He whispers back.

“No, because he is you.”

You looked nervously all around the cafeteria, you didn’t know anyone at all, and you were fearing you’d be all alone. A new girl in a new town, you fall upon the face of the boy who had saved you earlier, thinking just how cute he was, with his dark hair and pale skin, and lidded lavender eyes.

He catches yours then smiling warmly, a little turn of full lips that did things to your tummy- butterflies.

Choso gave you butterflies.

He waves you over, and you smile softly, as you sit next to him and his friends, your thighs brushing against each other as you sit your tray down. “Hey, angel.”

“Angel?” You ask softly, and he just smiles.

“Yeah.” You knew it then, when he shares his chocolate milk with you, when he fills you in on the details of this school, as his warm smile invites you in, and he begins to share everything he knows about the school, as you both lean so close.

It became an every day thing, lunch together, then breakfast, then he was even meeting you in front of your house to walk to school together, you all dropped his little brother off at elementary on the way. It was perfect, so perfect, like you’ve always known him, your first and only best friend.

One day as you’re under a cherry blossom tree, he yanks a petal and puts it in your hair, and that was it. You knew it then, that you’re in love with this boy.

Choso holds his breath, gulping then as you spill it, everything in your damn heart and soul. “I knew then that I loved you. And it just grew, Choso, it just grew even when I had my infatuation, and you had yours. Something in me always knew that I needed you in my life. And I almost lost you.”

“Angel, you’ll never lose me.” He says hoarsely, tears welling up in his eyes as he leans down so low, his big hands taking over your waist.

“I love you, Choso Kamo. I am in love with you.”

“And I love you, I’m in love with you. I have been, for so long, god don’t you know every song is about you.” 

“No they can’t be.” You whisper, shaking your head as emotions overwhelm you, as you can barely breathe.

“They all are, every one of them. It’s you. It has been you.”

“Choso…” He kisses you then, plump lips over yours, and you exhale and fall into it, still in your princess Leia costume, a million memories pouring in both of your minds as you meld into each other, as your words soothe the hearts that have been wrecked for so long.

“I love you, I love you Angel. I do. I have.” He sniffles then, pulling back, and you’re swiping away his sweet droplets of tears, trembling as he sees your own pouring down your cheeks.

“I can’t believe this is real.”

“It is, god it is. Though you’re a dream.”

“Cho…”

“You are. You are.” Choso eases off the white robes, leaving you in this insane bikini that’s wrecking his psyche, he can’t stand just how beautiful you are in it, kissing you over and over, as he now touches your hips, your waist, the nape of your neck, and your body responds.

“Please.” Is all you manage, and he moans, picking you up suddenly, pressing your back against the door, feeling the cool wood against overheated skin. Your legs wrap around his narrow hips, as he presses against you, and you both taste the salt of your tears melding.

“Please what, angel? Tell me.” He says, his voice husky, and you gasp out as he presses his heavy erection against your clothed clit, clinging to his soft sweater and whining out.

“Make me yours.” Choso moans now, carrying you to his bed eagerly, lips not leaving yours, his eyes closed but he knows it, knows the trail to it, only opening them when you bounce gently on his bed, and he takes you in.

“You’re mine.” His husky declaration just serves to make you soaking wet, you whine out, nodding and arching your hips up, making him more and more hungry for you.

“All yours, Cho bear.” Choso exhales and kisses down your throat, easing down the straps of your bikini, leaving trails of kisses and bites along your delicate flesh, and you’re reaching up for more, whimpering in desire. “Mnh!”

“You’re so beautiful, god look at you.” His big hands tremble, as his blunt nails press into your skin, and he kisses down the slopes of your breasts, rising and falling with each breath. “I want to cum inside you, make you all mine.”

“Y-you do?” Your eyes shoot up to his, as he nods eagerly, his lips parting while he slips your bikini top off fully, your breasts bouncing gently and making his cock throb harder.

“God yes, only if you want me to. I wanna fill you so good you drip me for days, hmm?” Your eyes dilate so big Choso can’t even see your irises.

“Y-yeah?” You whisper, making him chuckle a bit.

“You’re precious.”

“What?” You try to glare, but he’s sucking on your nipple now with his hot mouth, and your hands are entangling in his dark hair.

“I wanna ruin anything you think you had before.” His darker tone excites you further, you’re biting your lower lip nervously, heart racing.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He smiles up at you, easing your bottoms down your thighs, which tremble as your breath quickens, soaking wet pussy bare to his hungry gaze, making his cock twitch in his pants. God he can’t wait to sink inside you again, stay there, always he thinks.

“Let me…” You lean up taking his shirt off, revealing his strong, perfect body for your eyes, his every muscle, his every line. “You’re so gorgeous, Cho.”

“You’re gorgeous, angel. You’ve always been.” He kisses you again, both of you bare from the belly button up, his heavy hot chest pressing on your soft breasts, and you’re both feeling it, feeling the heat, feeling the love, feeling the desire.

Your hand snakes down to his bulging crotch, stroking him over his pants, making him hiss out your name, his eyes rolling back for a moment. “Oh my god…” He reaches down then to touch your wetness, making your pussy just drool all over his fingers. “You’re so wet for me, baby.”

“When am I not?” You tease softly, whining out as he rolls his finger against your little clit. “Cho, I need you.”

“Patience.” He teases, but you’re shaking your head, throbbing.

“I need your dick.” He snorts then, grinning down at you.

“Aren’t we having a romantic moment!?”

“No, you’re a munch and you will just eat me out, and Cho I love it but I need your dick.” He’s laughing loudly now, earning your glare.

“I want to fuck you so bad I can’t think, don’t worry.” He murmurs, watching you gulp, pushing you back down on the bed, spreading your legs and kissing down your stomach, leaving a wet trail down to your pussy.

“Y-you better gimme it.” You whine then. “But… god you’re good at that!?”

“I enjoy your sweet pussy all over my face.” He huffs, ending you as you watch with wide eyes as he licks you, a gentle swipe of his tongue making you arch up and moan, making your toes curl.

“Cho, oh god, cho, please, more, I need more.”

“Mm, I’ll give you more, baby, I’ll give you everything, I promise, just let me have my time, let me enjoy you.” He licks you again, from your hole dripping arousal up to your twitching clit, as you dream about that cock he’s pressing against the mattress. “Oh your taste.”

You're crying out as his tongue laps you up, drinking your wetness so loud and wanton in his room, when two thick fingers curl inside your walls, all slick and gummy and pulsing. You're dying for him, it's been two months without him inside you fully, all because you both had been so foolish. But now you need it, even as you feel an orgasm building.

“Please, wanna cum with you in me.” Your sweet murmur ends him, he whines out then, kissing you when he leans up, as his cock springs free, and you hastily rub his leaky tip on your folds, making you both shudder.

“I'll give you anything you ask for, Angel.” Your eyes lock then, as his tip sinks inside you, stretching and filling you slowly, you’re crying out as his piercing presses along your spot, nails sinking into the strong muscles of his arms. He gasps, pausing there, just a bit.

“More, please.” You’re begging, and he sinks further inside your greedy, soppy little pussy, you’re shattering from just that, when he stuffs you full, pushing all the way inside until he’s bottoming out and rolling his hips.

“Oh m-my god…” He whimpers softly, feeling as you’re throbbing around him, grinding his dark hair on his pelvis right against your clit, you’re cumming then and there, walls fluttering as he holds a breath. His eyes darken as he watches you, lips parted, studying your every movement.

“Cho!” You’re whining  out his name, and he moves then, strong sure thrusts, you’re falling apart for him, so beautiful, your brows scrunched together, your eyes dilated and lidded. He kisses you then, his tongue ring clicking against your teeth, you suck on it as he shoves so deep, stretching you so much, too much.

“Fuck, angel. You’re too perfect.” He whispers then, before he’s pulling out and you’re whining in indignation.

“Back in! Ah!”

Choso flips you then, on your tummy, making you moan as your ass arches back, you’ve never been like this, when he’s prone over you, licking a stripe up the side of your neck to your ear, sending shivers as his other hand wraps your throat. You feel him pressing inside you from this angle, so deep you feel him everywhere, you’re lost in him as he wraps all around you.

His scent in your nostrils, his lips on yours, his cock slipping so deep you feel him everywhere, head falling back against his chest, his weight pressing you into the mattress intoxicating. He’s lost in you then, as he kisses you and squeezes your pretty neck ever so lightly, as his other hand slips down to your hip, sinking his cock further in your tight little cunt.

“God, you feel s’good, angel… f-fuck, feel you.” He’s breathless, your ass arching up for more of his thrusts, each smack of his pelvis jiggling your ass while his leaky tip is shoving against your cervix.

“Ngh!” Is all you can manage, blinking rapidly as one hand clings to his wrist, thumb brushing over his pulse, your other gripping his soft blankets. “Harder, please, ngh!”

He moans now, shoving in so deep. “Choke harder?”

“Mhm!” You’re nodding, sobbing at how good he feels inside you, like he’s just supposed to be there, all while he makes you a sniffling mess under him, squeezing your throat harder with his big hand.

“Tap me if it’s too much.” You nod and he squeezes even more, fucking into you so good, his piercing dragging again just as your vision darkens, as he’s sucking the oxygen and filling you all with him.

You can’t get enough of this feeling, like you’re floating, everything so fuzzy as you’re dripping down Choso’s thick, veiny length, and you hear more and more of the lewd squelching along with ringing in your ears. Your orgasm rushes through your body, passing through every sensitive inch, he releases your throat then and you gasp for air greedily, pussy drenched.

“Love you…” He murmurs in your ear, and your eyes flutter as your walls tighten around him again, pathetic little cries falling from your pretty lips.

“L-love you…” You whisper back, as his pace slows, and his hot lips press sweet kisses up the side of your neck.

“Wanna fill your pretty pussy up, c-can I?” He asks softly, you nod quickly, flipped on your back again, thighs pressed up against your breasts by strong hands. You gasp at it, as his cock slides back in your pussy, so deep like this, balls slapping against your ass while he looks at you, every emotion in your eyes reflected in his. “You sure, angel, it’s okay?”

“I want you to cum in me, please.” Your whispers end his resolve, you feel too good, you’re just too pretty, your cunt is gripping him so tight, he’s losing himself over you, fucking you faster and faster, leaning forward and pressing his weight on your thighs, making him slam your cervix. “Ah!”

“Gonna cum so deep in you, angel, hmm?” You nod weakly, tears in your eyes of pleasure when he finally pushes in, jerky rhythm, his own eyes rolling back as he finally busts inside you, no barrier between you both.

“Oh my God!” You’re cumming just from that, from his warm cum filling you to the brim, pulsing inside you so much, you feel him throb as he cups your face, kissing you as you drink his moans in.

“F-fuck, s’perfect… oh it’s s’good angel…” Choso’s exhaling against your lips, and the intimacy is just enhanced as he pulls back, and his eyes are so dilated they look black, his tongue flicking over your lower lip as you’re so full of him. You’re trying to catch a breath, when it all overwhelms you, and the tears start to fall from your eyes, down your cheeks. “Are you alright!?”

“Yes it’s just… I’m really happy.” He exhales in relief, kissing you deeply, taking a hand and entwining your fingers, before leaning up on an elbow, kissing away your salty tears.

“I worried I was too rough or…”

“No, no, I loved it.” He kisses the marks he left on your throat, exhaling and tickling your skin with his hot breath, you’re clinging to his strong muscles, feeling them bunch and roll as he gently kisses along your jaw.

“That was the best moment of my life, aside from our first time.” You giggle, shaking your head as he pulls up, a big grin on his face.

“No way, what about all your shows?”

“Nothing is like cumming inside you.” His husky tone wrecks you, you’re kissing again, sore little pussy pushing his cum down and out of your hole, making him hiss a bit at the sensation. “Fuck…”

“Mnh, y’know I should clean you up.” You tease, turning and flipping him on his back then, kissing down his chest, his tummy, he gasps, big hands wrapping your tendrils, still messy from the wig and now the lovemaking.

“I’m convinced I’m in some dream.” He whispers, you smile, shaking your head as you lap at the cum, his and yours, white and sticky along his tip, still having cum oozing out of his little hole as you drink on it, moaning. “Mmh!”

“You taste so yummy.” You whisper, sucking him semi hard, feeling him thicken and pulse in your mouth again, as Choso looks down at you in wonder, teeth sinking into his lower lip, his big hands gripping your hair and pulling.

“You’re so pretty like this.” He whispers in wonder, tears still on your lashes in droplets, before pulling you up to him, and you’re leaning down, kissing him deeply, tongues dancing when you’re grinding against his cock. “Need you again.”

“Again?” You whisper in wonder, as you lean up and peer down, finding him throbbing, heavy and hot against your slick cunt, you cry out, head falling back then as his hands grip your waist, sliding his cock up and down between your slick folds, over and over.

“Again, please, I can’t get enough of you.” Choso whispers, voice soft and husky now, violet eyes glittering when he watches his own cum pour out of your pussy, slick against his again throbbing cock. “L-look at it, pretty, so much.”

“You did cum a lot, hmm?” You tease, gasping when he lifts you like you’re nothing, pressing his tip back in your entrance. He nods, pressing in, making you whine as he’s so deep, so thick, so full. “Want me to ride you?”

“Please, god yes.” You both giggle breathless, and you start to ride him then, you lift yourself up and down his cock, feeling him fill you so deep, so much, as your arousal pools down at his base, across the muscles of his abdomen as you whine out, head falling back, giving him the best view of your pretty breasts in his face.

He grabs a breast now, sucking on a nipple, his other hand gripping your ass and dragging you down his length, making you so sensitive. Choso slips a hand down your tummy, now playing with your clit, making you whine and whimper with every touch, with every pump of his cock, until you’re weak and trembling.

“Come here, pretty, lemme help.” He murmurs, your hair falling to the side of you both like a curtain, dancing along his skin like silk as he takes over, planting his feet on the bed as your lips smash together, your nails digging into his chest as you cling to hang on while he fucks up into you.

Your walls tighten around him, and the feeling is exquisite, so intense that you feel like you’re going to break apart from the pleasure. You are moaning right into his mouth, tongues messy and dripping saliva, as you feel the pressure in your lower tummy about to let go.

“Cho!” You whine, and he moans, cupping your face with one hand, exhaling as he studies you.

The room is filled with the wet sounds of your sex, your breaths mingling with his as he whispers sweet nothings into your ear, urging you on, telling you how pretty you are, how good you feel, how much he needs this. And you do need this too, fuck you need it.

Nothing before matters, nothing matters right now but losing yourself in each other, in this connection, this perfect blend of obscene sex and sweet love making, his snaps of his hips hitting just so in slick walls. The way he brushes your hair gently but then pulls at it, the way you’re trembling around him, breath catching and eyes rolling back in your head.

A heady mix of pleasure and love fills you both, you can’t stop saying it, and neither can he. “Love you f-fuck angel…”

“Love y-you, baby…” You’re whining out the words as he busts another hot load so deep in your greedy pussy, and god she sucks it all up too, even as she’s pushing his white sticky cum down his cock. He grips you bruisingly, whimpering right in your ear while you tremble over him, and he slows his movements.

“God I’ll never get enough of you.” Choso murmurs, and you blink rapidly, more tears falling.

“Neither will I.”

You both kiss, over and over so hungry, until he pulls out and sees the mess you’ve both made, taking some of it with his fingers, pressing the cum back into your little hole, you gasp. “Sorry, angel, I want it to stay in there.”

He flips you on your back, smirking then, not sweet little Cho bear, no he’s devious, watching you squirm. “Ah-ah! Too much!”

“Just a little more, hmm? Be a good girl.” You’re gasping as your oversensitive pussy is stuffed more full of him, before he sucks you both off him, moaning, cheeks hollowing as he does. “Choso you’re a whole freak.”

“Only for you.” He blushes all cute, like he didn’t have his hand around your neck, like he wasn’t pushing cum in you, making the conundrum that is your boyfriend just that more enticing. “C’mon, let’s shower.”

“Yes please!”

Soon he’s washing you up gently, eyeing little marks with worry. “Are you sure I wasn’t rough with you?” He asks with a frown, fingers touching every spot with the fragrant suds of the body wash, as you rest your head against the tile wall, smiling, so fucked out it’s adorable to him then.

“Oh no, we could… be rougher.”

“And I’m the freak, hmm?” He presses you against the shower wall as you giggle, breathless, the hot water pouring down on both of you, filling the room with the hot steam that sinks into the breaths you take.

“Maybe we both are.” You drag him down for a kiss, your lips working over each other, his big palms pressing against your back, shocked when he’s hard again, pressing on your tummy. “Oh?”

“He won’t stop.” Choso mumbles, lucky you can’t tell his blush from how reddened the shower has his skin. “You must be sore?”

“I could go again.”

“Oh?”

You grin, as he lifts you up. “Oh.”

*****

Two months later

You and Choso Kamo have been inseparable, even more so from when you were best friends growing up, now you can’t keep your hands, lips, anything to yourselves, the public displays of affection certainly embarrassing all your friends, especially Yuuji, despite how happy they are for you. Even now, Choso is kissing you as they’re prepping their guitars and drums.

“Come on you two.” Megumi grumbles, and Yuuji rolls his eyes as Choso just yanks you even closer, pressing you against his chest.

“Choso, we’ll-”

“No, more kisses.” He cuts you off, and picks you up now, as your arms wrap around his neck, and you’re giggling breathlessly.

“You have a show!”

“I’ll give em a show.”

“Choso!” You’re breathless as he eases you down, and then he takes something out of his pocket, a key with a little baby Yoda keychain, you blink then. “What is this?” You ask curiously.

“My house key. I made one for you.” He clips it on your little bag then, sighing as you blush, the color making your cheeks so pretty before the lights darken in the club they’re at, still behind the curtains.

“You did?”

“I also cleaned out my entire top drawer.”

“Choso…”

“Also you could absolutely leave your place and move in, when you’re ready, but I know that’s crazy for now.”

“It is insane!”

“You basically live there anyway.” You do though, it’s not too often you’re even home anymore. “But we can wait for that step, for now… this baby yoda key can be my symbol of affection.”

“It’s perfect.” You say with a soft laugh, grinning up at him as he holds you in his arms, wrapped around you so tightly. “I accept your declaration of affection, my dear Knight.”

“Ah, my lady makes me so-”

“Can you two please stop?” Yuuji asks, and earns Choso’s glare. “It’s so corny, the nerdiest couple imaginable.”

“I can still kick your ass, kid.” Choso earns Yuuji’s tongue sticking out, but he kisses you once more before you hop down, grabbing a drink at the bar, and you almost burst out in laughter when you see it.

Gojo and Amber.

You snort so loud you earn her immediate smirk, but Gojo looks back at you and gives you a lazy smile. “Hey sweets.”

“Gojo, didn’t expect you here.”

“Mmm, your boy toy has good music.” You roll your eyes, sighing as he steps close to you, leaning down. “If you ever wanna make him mad again-”

“Yeah, no way. But… have fun with her.” You shove at his chest and he sighs, pouting.

“What a heartbreaker.”

“Whatever.” You laugh and shake your head, as Amber clings to Gojo’s tall, lithe frame, when Utahime walks in, you run up to her, hugging her tightly. “You made it to the show!”

“Of course I did. Ooh, cute keychain!” Her dark hair falls over a shoulder, as she toys with it.

“It’s a house key.” You whisper, Utahime grins.

“I’m so happy for you! Yuck, is that Gojo!?”

Gojo shoots Utahime a grin, wiggling his brows as she flips him off, scowling over at him. “Hey Hime.”

“Oh hell no.” She drags you into the crowd, and you’re laughing quietly. “He’s a walking venereal disease. A key!?”

“Yes, isn’t it cute?” You’re sipping your drink now, as the lights shine right on the stage, and you see him, the love of your life, and he smiles right at you.

“Dedicating this song to the girl who I don’t know what I’d do without.” He says your name, and the light shines on you for a moment, you pay no attention to anything however, it’s all you and Choso then. “I wrote this song for you back in middle school, my emo era.”

“You’ve left your emo era?” MEgumi quips, earning the entire crowd laughing as CHoso rolls his eyes.

“Well it wasn’t a phase I guess.” Yuuji teases, earning more laughter, you’re smiling so big your cheeks hurt, when the light passes, and Utahime clings to your arm gently, whispering her excitement.

“Middle school me was especially emo. So, I found this…” He pulls out a note, it looks well worn out, soft notebook paper of years past. “About this girl, and I decided I needed to update it, so how’s a new song sound?”

The crowd is cheering, and your heart is racing, as memories of you both back in middle school come to the forefront of your mind, of a boy who defended a girl, of a girl who was steadfast in her friendship. Of a boy and a girl who adored each other, but never said the words out loud, of a boy and a girl that now stand across from each other in a crowded venue.

Of you and Choso Kamo.

His melodic voice starts singing those words, and your eyes shut for a moment, it’s as if you see him back then, confessing his words to you, it all blends in this perfect, beautiful moment.

She’s an angel with a halo,

I’m a boy with broken wings.

But everytime she smiles I know,

That my heart, oh it sings.

“It’s a whole emo love story.” Utahime murmurs, you grin so big then, as he proceeds to sing, and when his song is done and they’re all cheering for him, he hops off the stage and pulls you in his arms, kissing you for everyone to see.

“I love you, Cho bear.” You murmur, as he cups your face.

“And I love you, angel.”

That night you couldn’t wait long enough to get home, which resulted in Choso fucking up into you right in the leaned back seat of his mustang, and two people may or may not have seen you even through some tinted windows, and it may or may not have really irritated one of them.

Amber cried that night, but Satoru snorted in laughter.

You both were two busy to notice, not when you’re grinding on his cock so deep inside you, as he’s clutching you your hips, crying out while your pussy tries to take him, stretching to accommodate, and his tongue ring is flicking against your lips, as you pant, sweaty in the hot car. Your ass hits the radio at one point, and you both laugh, so breathless.

“Is th-that our… s-song from… prom dance?” You manage to breathe out, and Choso groans, kissing down the slopes of your breasts, leaving slick, wet spots reddened from his mouth.

“It is, p-perfect, isn’t it?” He looks up, taking one of your hands and kissing them, picturing how pretty that ring is gonna look like, but you’ll just have to wait for your birthday for that surprise.

“You’re smiling so- ah! Up to s-something…” You cry out as he presses his thumb against your twitchy clit, making you scream out right in this parking lot.

“You’ll find out soon, just cum for me, pretty, hmm?”

“Yes, yes… mmm!” You’re shattering over him, and in the sweet aftermath he kisses your closed eyelids, sighing.

He can’t wait to have a forever with you.

The End

A/N: I KNOW two of these chaps were so angsty, but these two were dumb asf lol. I hope you enjoyed his storyyy - Choso is not my main jjk man I write for so this was very new to me lol <3

Taglist: @erencvlt @antisocialinlw @aquamarine001 @maskedpacific @mima0127 @yxnnu @lana18918 @bigbird789  @angellliqua @ghostskilledmyaddiction21 @staygoldsquatchling02 @bts-psycho @lillycore @mysticalnightbeliever @wystriz @tokyolhtl @imabyssa @delicate-ray-of-sunshine @ghostskilledmyaddiction21 @sparklydeerface @10honeybee01 @marie-is-in-the-dark @lavender-hvze @angelcakkess @bellasworlds-stuff @pauliiis-stuff @mysouleaten @city-of-lovers @teddiiursula @flowerbbybananamilk @anna-reader-blog @loveisnanami @seeing-stars-alt @nymphsdomain @mollyrocks420 @ilovemrsilver @kitzuuuu @skzynct @ivyvenus333 @schlokki @the-dark-creature @unikornboop @mima0127 @iluvmusicxoxo @trishiepo0 @k-drgn @jeonjieun17 @evelynxxo @cryingoverpixelsetc

[lesservillain]

inmate!eddie munson x reader

cw: smut, pregnancy talks and all that come with it, mentions of nausea and vomiting, hospitalization, i think that's it?

wc: 19k

a/n: finally. it's finally here. this has been a two year in the making project for me and I am so happy to have this out. on the outside was my first ever fic and i can't believe i'm actually saying good bye to these characters. i hope you all enjoy.

“Eddieee?” You call out for your fiance from where you stand in front of your refrigerator.

You were about to change out the calendar for the new year, head pounding as if you had celebrated the New Year drinking with everyone else despite your sobriety. Eddie had only had a few beers, but he woke up this morning feeling fresh as a daisy in comparison to how sick you felt. 

At first you were worried that maybe you had caught the flu. You hadn’t been feeling the best for a couple days, but chalked it up to how hard you had been working right before winter break to get all your students' grades in on time for the end of the semester. You’d also volunteered to chaperone the winter formal where, unfortunately, one of the students spiked the punch. Thankfully Eddie had been your chaperone date and handled the situation for you while you got sick in the bathroom hoping that you weren’t going to relapse after 18 months of sobriety.

But, now that you’re looking at the calendar all marked through, including the  ones with a red dot for your expected period days and little pink hearts on the subsequent fertile days, you realize that those days came and passed without notice. 

“What’s up, sweetheart?” Eddie asks as he pulls the new Iron Maiden hoodie you got him for the holiday over his head, curls bouncing as they are freed. Bear follows right behind him, coming up to you expectantly as he sees his box of treats sitting on top of the fridge.

“Babe, did I have a period this month?”

His head cocks to the side as he looks at you, eyes squinting and tongue poking out as he thinks about all the crazy shit that has happened this last month. With your crazy schedule and his extra hours at work, the two of you had barely had time to spend together, making it up to each other once your break had finally hit. But as he wracks his brain, he doesn’t recall you asking him to bring you home any sweets or crying any more than usual.

“Um, not that I can remember,” he says with a shake of his head. He watches as your eyes widen, a toothy smile spreading across your face before you cover it with your hands. It takes him a moment to figure out what has you all giddy, but when it hits him he’s flying to you, almost tripping over Bear as he wraps you up in a hug to spin you around. “Holy shit, please tell me you’re telling me what I think you’re telling me,” he says for lack of better words, brain short circuiting with excitement, placing you back down on your feet. 

“I mean, I can’t make any promises until I take a test,” you say, trying to keep your voice steady, not wanting to get your hopes up after having your heart broken so many times before.

“Can you take a test now?” Eddie asks with a childish excitement. 

“I think so,” you say flipping between the calendar pages, now crushed from Eddie's embrace. Upon further inspection, you realize you’ve actually not had a period since October. It makes your head reel back, but you keep that information to yourself just in case. “Let-let me go take one,” you say shakily, nerves starting to get to you as you swiftly walk to the bathroom. The door barely closes before you’re digging under the sink for a test, cursing when the box you had under the sink comes up empty. “Shit,” you curse, throwing the box into the bathroom trash can with force.

“Are you okay?” you hear from the other side of the door, followed by a whine from  your dog. You startle the both of them with the force you use to swing the door open. 

“I took the last one already,” you say with frustration, “I’m all out!”

“Well, come on, lets go get your shoes on,” Eddie brushes your frustration to the side, grabbing your hand and leading you out to the couch. He grabs your boots for you, unlacing them so he can put them on your feet. You can’t even stay mad at your own shortcoming when he’s treating you so well.

“Eddie, I can put my own shoes on,” you say with a chuckle. His big brown eyes look up at you with faux offense, still grabbing your foot and slipping it into the boot. 

“I don’t think so, princess,” he says with a playful sass that you’ve grown fond of, because it really only comes out when he’s in a giddy mood like this. “I can’t have you doing anything that may make the baby uncomfortable, like bending over or lifting a finger.”

Your breath hitches at his words. The baby. The one that may or may not be making a home inside of you right now. Eddie’s baby, with you. 

Bile threatens to travel higher as you look at how he’s beaming in front of you. Eddie’s never known the heartbreak that you’ve known when it comes to these things; wanting something so bad and yet your body doesn’t comply. He’s been so patient and understanding since you’ve started trying. Everything that you wish you had all those years when you were with Henry, which only made you want to give him a baby more. Anyone so kind, caring, and self sacrificing as Eddie deserved everything he’s ever wanted and more. 

Every month that you’ve sat silently sobbing as you stare at the one lonely line while he snores into his pillow none the wiser has been another twist of the guilt covered knife in your gut. He doesn’t ask about it, even if he sees the wrapper sticking out between the tissues you used to clean your tears. But he tends to you with acts of kindness and service, his love language with you. 

The same love language he displayed as he put on your shoes. Same as when he went out to start the car for you, opening the door and fastening your seatbelt, making sure it’s not too snug across your lap. He let you grab your tests, meeting you at the front of the store with a bundle of flowers hidden poorly behind his back. He makes you walk in front of him so he can “surprise you” when you get to the car. 

Eddie practically jumps out of the car to help you out as you arrive back to your house. Bear jumps between the two of you as you two run back to the bathroom, letting out loud giggles and squeals as Eddie pretends to chase you into the bathroom. You close the door on him, catching your breath and wiping tears from your eyes as he bangs on the door for you to let him in. Bear barks at him and Eddie laughs calling him a traitor. When you hear them walk away, presumably so Eddie can let Bear out, you pull the box of tests out of the bag. 

Taking a deep breath, your hands start to shake as you set everything up, reading over the instructions regardless of how many tests you’ve taken. You didn’t want to mess this up. Not this one. Every time someone told you that you would just know when you were pregnant, you thought you knew what they meant, only to be met with the negative test. This time felt different, though. Every tick of the clock was another butterfly in your stomach. And with the closing seconds, you felt your breathing pick up, chest tightening with anticipation. You stand up, hand hovering over the wrapper of the test. Counting one, two, three, before pulling the wrapper away.

Eddie sits on the edge of the bed, petting Bear on autopilot. He wasn’t sure how long these tests normally take, but after 10 minutes he was starting to get nervous. What if you were pregnant? It’s a good thing you found a house with a lot of space. He wondered what color you would want him to paint the nursery. Would you want to wait to find out what you’re having or would you want to find out as soon as possible? He would want to know right away, but would wait if you wanted him to. Is your car safe for a baby? He’ll just have to pick up some extra hours to get you a new one. Oh, god, would you want a minivan like Nancy and Jonathan…though, it does come in handy if you have multiple kids. Would you want more kids after this? 

Bear’s ears perk up under Eddie’s touch as the door to the bathroom clicks, the door opening much more gracefully compared to before. He’s on his feet immediately, slightly shuffling as he waits for you to come out. Any thoughts he had before the door opened are immediately evacuated from his mind as he sees the vacant look on your face, the tears flowing freely down your cheeks being the only hint of emotion he can gauge from you. 

His legs move on their own, pulling you into him as your knees buckle. He holds you up as the sobs shake your whole body in his grasp. Everything is automatic for him as your wails echo on the bathroom walls. Lowering you to the edge of the tub, he starts the shower, letting the water warm up as he undresses you, and then himself. He climbs into the tub, pulling you in with him so that the water hits the both of you as you continue to cry.

“Eddie!” Your voice is frantic as you call his name from the kitchen. You hear him running down the hall, a loud thump and a curse towards Bear as the two of them round the corner into the kitchen. 

When you answered the phone, you assumed it was going to be Dustin telling you that he and his new girlfriend, Maggie, would be leaving soon for your double date that he and Eddie worked really hard to find reservations on Valentine’s day for. Instead, you were met with the urgent voice of Wayne’s boss, Bill, who informed you that Wayne had passed out on the line again.

Eddie folded where he stood, spiraling into old memories from close to a decade ago. Bear laid next to where he kneeled while you got the quick details from Bill before hanging up. Quickly, you lead Eddie to the couch so you could lace his converse, pull his Iron Maiden hoodie over his head, and get him out the door and buckled into the passenger seat. 

About halfway to the hospital he finally breaks down, almost scaring you off the road when he cursed loudly, slamming his fist against the window. You let him get it out, offering your hand for him to take when he was ready, which he grabs almost immediately. Pulling your hand against his lips, he kisses your knuckles between sobs, eyes fixed out the side window. 

As you pull into Hawkins General, you let Eddie out at the door so he can get inside as fast as possible. Soon after you park, you make your way up to the room that you were told Wayne was in. You were expecting to walk in and find Wayne still unconscious with Eddie a mess by his side. 

Instead, you could hear the two of them bickering from the hallway. The sound was bittersweet, a smile on your face as you walk in and see a very exasperated Eddie pacing and a disgruntled Wayne sitting cross-armed in the hospital bed like a petulant child. You noticed the oxygen tubes in his nose, and he looked generally worse off than he did when you saw him two weeks ago for Sunday dinner.

“Why don’t you ever listen to me!” Eddie exclaims, not noticing that you’ve walked in the room yet.

“What did he not listen to this time?” You say jokingly as you walk to the other side of Wayne’s bed, leaning in to give him a hug that he returns with an old man grunt.

“Not just me,” Edde starts, “We both told him to go get that cough looked at and he never did. Well guess what? His stubborn ass has fucking pneumonia!”

“Wayne,” you look at him with concern. His eyes remain focused on the foot of the bed, ignoring that he’d been caught. “You’ve had that cough since Christmas. And I remember you promising me that you’d go and get checked out.” 

The old man lets out a sigh that turns into a cough. You place a hand on his back and rub up and down, eliciting an eye roll from Eddie as he watches you baby his uncle.

“Listen, I’ve been meaning to go, but I just haven’t had the time.”

“Oh, you have to be joking. You couldn’t find time between your shows to pick up the phone and call the doctor?”

“Eddie,” you give him a pointed look. 

“You can’t be--”

Eddie’s words are cut off by the doctor pulling open the curtain to Wayne’s room. The balding, older man greets you all, confirming some information with Wayne before going over some more of his test results. 

“Everything else came back fairly normal. Your blood pressure was a little high, but that’s to be expected. Just make sure you keep up on your blood pressure medication. Don’t want to have a stroke and a heart attack within a year, right?” 

The doctor is the only one laughing at his joke. Eddie’s eyes snap to Wayne, who grumbles “shit” under his breath. But Eddie keeps his mouth shut, letting the doctor finish and leave before finally speaking.

“So, when the hell did you have another heart attack, Wayne?”

“Eddie,” Wayne rolls his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“No,” Eddie says, waving his hands in front of him, “I know that I don’t live with you anymore, but I think it’s only fair that you tell me if you have another fucking heart attack!”

“After what you did last time, you really think I’d tell you?”

“Damn it, Wayne! Don’t hold that shit above my head!”

“Okay, okay,” you move around the bed to stand between the two of them. “That’s enough, you two. Wayne, I get why you might be discouraged to tell Eddie that you had another heart attack, but you have to understand that things are different now. Shit, even I’m hurt that you didn’t say anything.” He looks up at you with a wounded expression.

“And Eddie,” you place your hands gently on either cheek before tightening your grip, “You need to stop yelling before you get us kicked out.” His expression drops to annoyance, grabbing your wrists lightly and pulling your hands away. “Wayne only wants what’s best for you, just as you want what’s best for him. So…why don’t we talk about what we’ve discussed before.”

His eyes meet yours, mood shifting between you as he nods his head, reaching out to take your hand in his. When you turn around, Wayne is eyeing you both suspiciously, letting out another cough.

“Wayne,” Eddie starts, “When we got the house, the two of us sat down and talked about what we would do if you had another heart attack. Or if anything major happened to you again. And, um, we decided that we would want you to move in with us if--”

“No.”

“Wayne--”

“Nope.”

“Just hear us out,” you plead. He looks at you out of the corner of his eye. “Please?”

“...Fine,” he says with a huff. 

Eddie smiles slyly at you, thankful that he has you around to be on his side.

“Uncle Wayne,” you start, hitting him in that soft spot when you call him uncle, “We would really like for you to move in with us. Not to take away any of your freedom or anything. Actually, you’d be more free…because we also want you to retire from the plant.” 

Wayne’s brow raises at your suggestion. 

“Eddie and I make enough money between us that you wouldn’t need to work unless you wanted to. You’d have all the free time to fish and hunt and watch your trash TV. Which, may I remind you, we have that big TV in the living room now. Plus, Bear would love to have someone at home with him all day.”

He grunts again. Bear loves Wayne, but Wayne is steadfast in his dislike for Bear, even though you’ve caught him giving him people food and the occasional scratch behind the ear.

“You sure y’all want me to move in? Won't get to have all your alone time together anymore,” he asks, seeking confirmation of your proposal. 

“Oh, don’t you worry about that, pops,” Eddie says with a smile, “We’ll figure that out ourselves.”

The next month weeks flew by for you and Eddie. You’d been busy prepping your sophomores for the upcoming state testing that takes place the week before Spring Break as well as running yard sales during the most uncharacteristically warm winter that Indiana was giving you to get rid of any of Wayne’s extra stuff. There was also the babysitting for Chrissy and Jason you’d been doing while they remodel their kitchen. And that was just your schedule, as Eddie had a slew of his own obligations on his end with work and prepping the house for Wayne to move in.

The two of you found it almost impossible to have any time together. Almost being the key word here, because Eddie could find time to bed you like it was his job. The week before Wayne finally made his big move, the two of you were on each other like rabbits at any given moment. 

Now Wayne was fully moved in. He opted to rent the trailer out for cheap to a single mom who was looking around the park for something that she could afford for her and her son. He finished his last week at the plant, his boss and coworkers throwing him a surprise retirement party at the pool hall they like to frequent. Eddie and you decided to get a hold of his longtime friend down in Florida and sent him away for a week to have a buddies trip and to “get some more vitamin D in your system after working the night shift for so long” according to Eddie.

Eddie may or may not have purposely planned Wayne’s trip during the same time that you’d be off for spring break, but wouldn’t admit that to you. He just wanted to get you all to himself so bad, eating his words to Wayne about having alone time together. The only thing making him feel a little less crazy about the whole thing is your little remarks about how it would be even worse if it was a baby you were bringing home, and that at least the two of you are still getting a full night's sleep. So, he sucked it up until the day finally came that he was to take Wayne to the airport.

He quietly gave your sleeping form a peck on the cheek that morning before the two of them left, not wanting to wake you since you loved to sleep in on your days off. You’d been feeling sick again, similar to how you felt right before the winter break a few months back. Eddie was worried that they were putting too much responsibility on you by having you teach two grades at the same time, but you assured him that you could handle it, that once you were off for the summer that you’d feel better. 

You woke up around 11 am with a headache so bad it made you sick to your stomach. You’d been having them off and on for about a week, barely able to stand the fluorescent lights of your classroom or the smell of the coffee pot in the break room. At least your sophomore students spent most of the morning testing, and by the end of the week you were playing a movie for all of your classes as an excuse to keep the lights off. 

After puking up bile for 20 minutes, your stomach gave you a break so that you could make yourself look presentable enough for the doctor’s office. Eddie made you promise him that if you weren’t better by today that you would go and get checked out. So you shove some buttered toast into your mouth and cross your fingers in hopes that you’ll make it to the doctor without having to pull over and spill your guts.

Thankfully, the urgent care in town wasn’t busy and you were taken back to a room fairly quickly. The nurse asked you a slew of questions in a monotone voice as your mouth watered from the wave of nausea that hit you again. When you jumped up suddenly to wretch in the small trash can on the floor, you heard her say something about a pregnancy test in a passive manner. 

“Pregnancy test?” You ask between heaving breaths. 

“Yes, dear,’ she says nonchalantly as she continues to write on her stack of papers. A different feeling filled your stomach then, coating it with nerves that seemed to distract you long enough to get you off the floor. 

Ever since the let down from New Years, you and Eddie hadn’t talked much about kids other than some off hand comments here and there. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to keep trying, but the two of you decided to go with the flow and let things happen if they happen. 

At least that’s what you told anyone who asked. 

In your head you’ve been beating yourself up all over again, just like you did for so many years, which is probably only making you more sick. You almost tell the nurse not to even bother with the test, but she seemed like she wasn’t having the best day so you just let her take your blood and be on her merry way. 

When the doctor finally comes in, he gives you a quick look over and tells you to take some benadryl for your symptoms. It left you feeling annoyed, wishing you had just stayed home and done that yourself instead of wasting your time coming in.

As you leave he tells you he’ll call you later in the day with your test results and any other instructions that he seems necessary. It’s not exactly what you want to hear, but you didn’t protest as you signed some consent forms at check out, just wanting to get back to your bed.

When you woke up a little while later, you had to admit that you did feel much better than in the morning. Maybe you were just getting to an age where your allergies were getting more sensitive.

As you amble into the kitchen, the flashing light from your answering machine catches your eye. You press play as you open the door to let Bear out, listening to the machine play as you start to pull out everything to make a late lunch before Eddie gets home from his half day at work.

You have 3 new messages.

First new message.

Beep. 

Hey guys, it’s Dustin. I was calling to see if we could get a game set up for Friday? The guys and Erica are going to be in town and we’ve been talking about playing a game with everyone together again. Will said he would DM if you didn’t want to, but we’d like to have you back in the throne if the missus could get us into the theater room. Give me a call back as soon as you can and let me know. Bye!

Beep.

Second message.

Hey, sweetheart. Just wanted to let you know I got to work okay. I’m gonna stop and pick up a pizza on the way home, so don’t worry about cooking dinner tonight. Want you to be as relaxed and rested as possible for what I got in store for you tonight. Love you, baby.

Beep.

Third message.

Hello, this is Dr. Mando calling for…in regards to her test results. Everything came back negative in regards to your flu and strep tests. Blood work wise the only elevated result was for your HCG, which puts you around 9 weeks pregnant currently. We recommend you follow up with your OBGYN from this point on for any more treatment. If our results are needed for their records please have them fax a request form to-

[REWIND]

-ep tests. Blood work wise the only elevated result was for your HCG, which puts you around 9 weeks pregnant currently. We recommend you follow up with your OBG-

[REWIND]

-only elevated result was for your HCG, which puts you around 9 weeks pregnant currently. We-

[REWIND]

-hich puts you around 9 weeks pregnant currently. We recom-

Bear scratching at the door pulled you from your trance as you played back the message over and over again. You didn’t want to walk away, afraid that if you left the machine that the message would somehow disappear. Or that if you played the message again the words would change. Or that you would wake up and realize that you’re having a benadryl induced dream while you’re still asleep in your bed. But the feeling of Bear’s fur brushing against your leg throttles you into reality. 

You are awake right now.

And for the first time in your life you’ve been pregnant for more than 6 weeks. 

With haste, you pick up the phone line and begin to dial the first person who you know can help you.

Keeping secrets from Eddie was a challenge. His intuition when it came to you was almost scary. At times it felt like he knew you better than you knew yourself. Which, honestly, he might. But, it doesn’t help when he wants to be with you every waking second of the day. Something that you want, too, but every time you look at him you have to duck your head or avert your gaze to keep yourself from blurting out the news to him. 

It’s also been incredibly hard to deny all of his advances.

He’s not pressured you to do anything with him, never has, but you can tell he’s letting your rejections get to him in a self doubting way. Even when you did give him head hoping it would be enough, his pouty lip almost got you when you told him not to return the favor.

You do feel for him. The two of you had been planning to have quite the week with Wayne being out of the house. But even if you could have sex with him, not wanting to risk anything with how rough he can get at times, you honestly weren’t in the mood anyway. Benadryl was the only thing helping with your nausea and headaches so you were constantly drowsy. And now you were getting terrible acid reflux on top of it, going through tums like candy.

When you told Eddie that you made an appointment with your primary doctor for Friday morning, he insisted that he take you in case there was anything he could do to help. You told him not to worry about it, keeping from him that the appointment was actually with your OB. You felt guilty when the ultrasound tech handed you the grainy pictures of your little baby because you know that Eddie would have wanted to be with you for this moment, but it would all be worth it tonight as long as everything went to plan.

When you and Eddie pulled into the closed high school later that day, you were greeted by the now familiar, smiling faces of your fiance’s long time friends. It wasn’t often that all of them could get together like this between work, school, and their own families. But even with all of their big ages, the atmosphere as they all embraced each other was of childlike giddiness. You were included in the rounds of hugs and pats on the back as you had been accepted so openly by everyone over the course of yours and Eddie’s relationship. The tightest hug was from Eddie’s best friend, Jeff, the two of you share a knowing look with one another as you part.

Once everyone files inside, they begin to work together to set the old theatre room set up like they had back in the day. It was funny to watch them move around each other out of muscle memory, with a few more grunts and groans than they likely let out all those years ago. 

And as they start to play, the energy in the room becomes electrifying. There isn’t a single person sitting by their second hour in, voices talking over each other as the room is divided over combat choices. Even if you only had a basic understanding of what was happening, you were very much entertained where you sat next to Eddie at the end of the table. 

It was a sight to see Eddie in his element up close. The passion he has for this game was on another level. There’s no way that it was anything less than cathartic for him to be in a state of power like this, playing every part as if he was performing for an audience, using his whole body and voice to play each character as if he was truly in the fantasy world he created.

It made you tear up a bit, having to discreetly wipe your eyes to hide the emotions so as not to make him worry or pull him out of his game. But the images in your head of him playing pretend in the backyard with your child has a lump sitting in your throat. The two of them with pillow cases as capes and sticks as swords slaying dragons (Bear) while you watch them from the kitchen window. 

You end up having to excuse yourself to the restroom, needing a moment to collect yourself in your newly hormonal state. You barely make it into the hallway before the water works start, bee-lining for the closest restroom so you can let it out. Anyone passing by would probably think you were crying over some devastating news with the way you were blubbering and wailing. 

You do your best to clean yourself up, but you know Eddie will be able to tell you’ve been crying. So instead of going straight to the drama room, you decide to go to your classroom and work on some assignments for your classes on Monday. 

After a while, a knock on your door startles you, head whipping to see your man standing at the doorway to your classroom with a concerned look on his face.

“Hey, is everything okay?” He asks as he takes a few steps to stand by you at your desk. “Were we boring you with our nerdy game?”

“No, not at all!” You stand from your desk with a shake of your head. “I just wasn’t feeling well and needed a little quiet, that’s all.” You give him a reassuring smile, taking his hand in yours. He raises it to his lips and kisses the knuckles, taking a moment to admire your ring before letting your hands fall, still clasped between the two of you. 

“We’re taking a break right now,” he says with a suggestive tone you know all too well. There’s a mischievous look in his eyes as he glances up at the clock on the wall. “Need to be back in five minutes,” he leans into you, dipping his head to speak low in your ear, “Think that’s enough time for me to get you on your desk like last time?”

You feel the heat flush to your cheeks at the mentions of your previous inappropriate endeavors in this classroom. For a brief moment you consider his proposition, but ultimately you pull away with a sympathetic look.

“As fun as that sounds, you and I both know 5 minutes isn’t enough time for you,” you poke his chest and he gives you a shit eating grin, “And I would be mortified if any of your friends walked in on us because you took too long to come back to your game.”

“It might be too long for me,” he draws out the last word as he runs his hands up and down your sides, “but I think I could take care of you if you’ve got room for me under that desk.” 

His brows move suggestively as he waits for your response, which is just a playful roll of the eye and a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Eds, but I’m okay.”

“Well, alright,” he sighs heavily, his tone laced with faux disappointment, “I guess I’ll just starve.” You throw your head back with laughter at his dramatics, him joining you with a fit of giggles of his own. 

You decided to return to the game with him, everyone getting swept up once again in the game's energy that Eddie puts out into the room. The enjoyment is clear with how engaged everyone is, jumping up and down or yelling out like a group of your students rather than a room full of adults. 

Erica and Dustin get into it over a decision in game, and you get to witness Eddie’s potential Dad Mode as he defuses the situation with no one getting their feelings hurt. You can’t help it, but for the rest of the game you subconsciously note little things that he does that may be a preview for how he’s going to handle parenthood with you. And when the group wins against whatever big monster Eddie had them fighting against, you can feel the ache in your cheeks from all the smiling you’ve done while observing them.

“Alright, alright, let’s get this shit cleaned up,” he says as they start to tease him. He gives you a look that you can only interpret as “I totally let them win” before he starts putting away his things. 

“Hey, look what I found,” Jeff suddenly speaks up from across the room. He’s holding up a box that you know has some of their club's shirts in them for the new members. You feel your heart drop into your ass. 

Shit, it’s happening. 

“Looks like they’re still using your old design, Eddie.” Jeff says as he plops the box down on the table. You feel your heart pounding in your chest as you focus on not passing out.

“Guess you can’t fix perfection,” Eddie quips back, which elicits a few groans in response.

“Do you have a shirt?”

Your eyes flit to Will where he’s moved to stand next to you. You look at him for a moment before shaking your head, still unable to open your mouth.

“Oh, good idea, kid,” Eddie says as he places a hand on your shoulder. “You sat through a whole game, so that makes you an honorary member.”

You look over to Jeff, who gives you a subtle nod to signal that everything was good to go. It’s not exactly what the two of you had discussed, but this seemed a little more natural for the situation.

As you rise from your chair, you’re able to let out a small “okay” before walking to stand next to Jeff. You take a sharp inhale when you see it, the small bundle of material folded at the top of the other shirts. 

All eyes are on you as you reach down into the box. You pretend to look through the pile before grabbing what you really want, pulling it out of the box and holding it up with both hands. It’s the first time you’re seeing it yourself, the small onesie version of the Hellfire shirt that Eddie made almost 15 years ago, black quarter sleeves and all. It’s exactly what you imagined, and you’re so, so thankful that Jeff was able to bring your vision to life.

“What do you think about this one, Eds?” 

The words roll off your tongue without you thinking, your mouth moving on its own as it’s tired of waiting for your brain to catch up. Flipping the onesie around for the table to see, your eyes find Eddie’s. You watch in real time as the emotions come and go from his features; ignorant joy, confusion, and realization.

“No way!” You hear Dustin shout, too focused on Eddie to pay him any attention though.

“Dude holy shit!”

“Hell yeah man! It’s about time!”

“I call dibs on babysitting!”

“Are you serious?” His voice cracks, a loud sniffle escaping as his body starts to shake. Fat tears roll down his reddening cheeks that he tries to wipe with his sleeve. “Is this real?”

You nod, your own tears coming back once again. “Ten weeks,” you say as you exhale, doing your best to hold it together.

Eddie moves quickly to be by your side, taking your face in his hands and crashing his lips into yours. Collective oohs and awes swirl around you at the display of affection between you. When he pulls away he uses the collar of his shirt to wipe the tears from his eyes, letting out an airy chuckle. 

You hold the onesie out for him to take, and he holds it in his hands with such delicacy, as if it's the baby itself. 

“When did you find out?” He asks with a sniffle, not taking his eyes off the little article of clothing.

“On Monday, after my appointment.”

“You’ve known since Monday?” He almost seems upset, but there’s no way he could be mad at you right now. “Well, I guess that explains a lot.”

“I’m sorry, Eds. Trust me, it was really hard not to say anything. But, I feel like it finally paid off. All thanks to Jeff.”

You turn to gesture to him, and Jeff takes a small bow. “Happy to do my part for my future niece and or nephew. Just gotta let me know if I need to make another one in case it’s twins.”

“Twins?!” Eddie looks at you with wide eyes and an even wider smile.

“It’s not twins. Here,” you walk over to your purse and pull the strip of pictures from your purse. “See for yourself.”

Eddie takes the picture from you and examines them. Excited laughter takes over him. “Holy shit, I’m gonna be dad!” The gang surrounds him, congratulating the both of you.

“What if he sees it and doesn’t get it?”

“Babe, the sign literally says ‘Welcome home Grandpa’. I know he’s old but I’m sure he’ll catch on pretty quickly.”

Eddie and you stand at the end of the gate in the Indianapolis airport waiting for Wayne to make his way down the tunnel. The two of you thought it would be fun to surprise him about his promotion when you pick him up, making a day out of it to find him a new mug to surprise him with as well. Eddie holds the gift bag in one hand while you hold the sign, both of you skimming the crowd of people for the balding Munson in the mix.

“There he is!” Eddie nudges you, pointing into the crowd, “Hold it up so he can see!”

You raise the sign above your head as Eddie waves to get Wayne’s attention. Even from where you’re standing you can see the old man smile, then quint to read your sign. He’s almost to you before the look on his face changes.

“What the--What the hell did y’all do while I was gone?” Wayne drops his bags and wraps his arms around the two of you.

“Technically it was before you left,” Eddie laughs, returning his uncles embrace.

“Is that why y’all sent me away then? Do I gotta move back out to make room in the house now?”

“No, of course not,” you laugh, handing him the sign to look at. 

“We’re not about to kick out Hawkin’s next great babysitter,” Eddie says as he puts a hand on Wayne’s shoulder. The older man huffs out a laugh, smile wide as he runs his fingers over the word grandpa. 

“So that’s the real reason you wanted me to move in,” he says, looking at the two of you again. “I thought I was supposed to be retired?”

“Well, I hope your time off was enough because we’ll need you on duty in about 9 months.” Wayne shakes his head. Eddie hands Wayne the gift bag and he opens it to find the mug inside. 

“I love my Grandpa,” Wayne reads from the mug, a hand going to his eyes as he wipes away tears. “Shit you guys. I’m so happy for ya.” Tears start to well up in your own eyes and you pull Wayne in for a side hug. 

The three of you make your way home, discussing your future with the baby the whole way. Talks of all the diapers you’ll need to get, who will get up in the middle of the night to feed and change diapers, names and all the other fun parts that come with being a parent.

“So we gotta paint soon,” Wayne says from the passenger seat. “Do y’all have a colour picked out?” 

“Since we won't know the gender for a while,” you say from the back seat, “we talked about painting the baby’s room a light green for now. We can always paint it again later down the road.” 

“That sounds nice,” Wayne says with a nod. “We can pick some up this weekend and I’ll paint while the two of you are at work. It’s warm enough out that I can open the window so the smell won’t get to ya.”

“You sure you wanna do that by yourself?” Eddie asks, turning into the driveway. 

“Sure, gives me a break from the couch. I know the two of you are gonna be busy so might as well make myself useful.”

“We would really appreciate that, Uncle Wayne,” you say, putting a hand on his shoulder. He turns back to look at you, resting his hand on yours. 

“What’s wrong?” Robin says from her spot next to you at the bathroom sink. The two of you, plus Steve and Eddie, had decided to take a trip to the mall today. This was your third trip to the restroom since you’d been there and you could tell Robin was getting suspicious. 

“If you have a UTI or something you definitely need to go to the doctor, you know?”

“I’m fine, Robin.” You dry your hands, tossing the paper towel in the trash. “I just had a lot of coffee this morning,” you lie. 

The truth was that you were planning on surprising her and Steve today with a pit stop in the baby clothes store that Missy and Nancy had gone to when you went shopping with them a few months ago. It was a newer store and you knew that it would be fun little way to tell them your news. 

“You have to lay off that stuff,” Robin voices her concern. “I’m pretty sure I heard it makes your boobs shrink.”

“I don’t think so Bobbie.”

The two of you reconvene back with Steve and Eddie who were waiting for you on a bench. Eddie looked like a real dad with sitting there with the shopping bags in his hands. You took a moment to admire how long his hair was starting to get before they noticed you. 

“Ready for our last stop?” Eddie says, suddenly standing up. He’s had a nervous air about him this whole trip, and you don’t know why. Steve and Robin are going to be over the moon when you tell them, but you suppose it’s just because he’s excited. 

“Yeah, where did you want to go?” Steve asks, looking between you two. 

“Oh, just a shop over by where we parked.” 

The four of you make your way toward the other side of the mall. Eddie and you both stop at in front of the Baby Gap, Robin and Steve pausing when they realize you’ve stopped. 

“You good?” Steve asks. 

“Yep, we just need to pop in here.”

Steve and Robin look up at the store and share a look. 

“Does Nancy need stuff?” Robin asks quizzically. 

“Nope, we just need to get some things for ourselves,” you say, staring at them hoping it will click. 

“What do you guys need at Baby Gap?”

“Duh, what else do they sell here, Steve?” Robin nudges him. And then she looks at you with wide eyes. “Oh my god, you guys are buying baby clothes?”

Eddie and you both nod excitedly. Robin squeals, bouncing up and down. Steve still looks confused. 

“Why are we excited?”

“They’re pregnant, dingus!”

Now it was Steve’s turn to look at you with saucers for eyes. 

“Nuh-uh,” he says with a grin. 

“Yes, sir,” Eddie nods, putting an arm around you. 

Steve grabs Robins arm and shakes it, still looking at the two of you. “No way!” He says excitedly. “About damn time!”

“How far along are you? Do you know the gender yet?” Robin asks in quick succession. 

“I’m about 12 weeks. We won't know the gender for a little while longer, but Wayne already picked out the nursery room color for us.”

“Oh I bet he was over the moon to find out,” Robin coos. 

“He was. He’s very excited to be a grandpa.”

“Grandpa Wayne, oh my god.”

“Do you have any names picked out?” Steve asks. 

“We don’t have any names yet,” you say, looking up at Eddie, “But we’re open to ideas.”

“Well, Steve is a good name—Ow!”

“They’re not naming their baby after you Steve.”

“It was just a suggestion!”

“Besides, Robin is more gender neutral anyway.”

“Eddie.”

Brown eyes dart from the TV and over to where you stand in the doorway. Eddie shifts and stands, walking over to you with urgency. 

“What's wrong, sweetheart?” He asks with concern. 

You sniffle, looking up at him through your lashes. “We don’t have any pickles…” 

Eddie sighs in relief, glad that your tone wasn’t due to something serious. 

“We don’t,” he confirms, looking down at you. “But I’m guessing we need to remedy that?” 

You nod, and Eddie can’t help but giggle. The stage of weird cravings had started a week ago and you’d been asking him to buy you the most random foods. Bananas and hot sauce, sour cream that you ate from the tub, and now pickles. 

“Can you get strawberry ice cream, too?” You ask sheepishly. 

“Of course,” he assures you. “Anything for my babies.”

Your emotions get to you with that, and you can’t help but cry. Eddie would be concerned if this hadn’t become a semi-regular occurrence for you now. He simply pulls you into a hug and kisses the top of your head. 

Bear makes his way over to you, looking up as the two of you embrace. You’re both sure he knows something is up, because he’s been by you constantly since you found out you were pregnant. It's almost like he’s standing guard to make sure no one gets near you. 

“I’m okay, Bear,” you say, dropping down to squat at his level. He pants as you give him ear scritches, enjoying every second of it. Eddie takes the opportunity to grab his shoes and put them on. 

“Anything else you might want me to grab while I’m out?”

“More milk? And probably more cereal for you and Wayne. I think I ate the last of it earlier.”

“I’ll get you your own box.”

Bear rested at your feet as you graded papers at the dining room table. It was getting close to the end of the school year and you didn’t want to let being pregnant put you behind. 

Most of your kids were passing, which was a relief to you. It was a hard year but teaching two grades was an experience that you were glad you got to have. Thankfully the school was able to find a replacement teacher for your sophomore class next year, thanks to a recommendation by yours truly. 

“It’ll be so nice for you to have someone like Will teaching with you,” Eddie says as he finishes making you lunch. 

“It's going to be a big change from middle school, though,” you say as you set down your grading marker. “It was for me at least.”

“Will’s smart, he can manage. Plus he’ll have you for support.” 

“Only for the first few months. Then I’ll be gone for most of the year.”

You had an appointment a few weeks back to find out you were due around Halloween. The irony of it all was that you probably got pregnant right after you had taken the test back in January. Life works in mysterious ways you thought. 

“True, but he can always call here if he needs something. Plus, I’m sure the other teachers are going to love him.”

“Oh they will. I just hope they don’t treat him too much like a kid.” 

Eddie puts a plate in front of you and takes a seat. “He is still young,” he says before he takes a bite of his sandwich. “Buy that will probably make him more relatable to the kids, ya know?”

You nod, taking a bite of your own food. The nausea has started to subside now that you were in your second trimester, which made it easier to eat foods that you weren’t necessarily craving. Still, you took your time eating so not to trigger anything. 

“Are you excited for tonight?” Eddie asks, taking a chip from your plate and popping it in his mouth. 

“Yes, I can’t wait to see their faces.”

Eddie and you finally decided to start telling more people about your pregnancy now that you were in the second trimester. Chrissy had been begging you for a double date for weeks now and you’d been putting her off so that you wouldn’t spill the beans too soon. So tonight was going to be the big reveal. 

Chrissy had become a really good friend ever since she sold you the house. She was a busy mom and successful realtor but she always made time to call and check in on you. It honestly was hard not to tell her when you’ve told your other friends, but you wanted to be sure you’d make it to the second trimester before telling too many people per the doctor's suggestion. 

So when you and Eddie arrived at the Golden Lamb, you could already feel the butterflies in your stomach. Thankfully you were too soon to be showing so they wouldn't know right away. 

“I honestly thought it would be hard with a fifth, but Chrissy has been nothing but a superstar about it all,” Jason says as you all share an appetizer. You were barely talking because the food was so good you just kept eating it. 

“Awe, so have you!” Chrissy says, beaming at the praise. “Jason’s been doing great making sure the boys are on their best behavior while I’ve been recovering.”

“How is that? The recovery, that is.”

You look up at Eddie when he asks the question. 

“It’s hard, I’m not going to lie. But when you’ve done it before it definitely helps to know what to expect. You guys will know one day.” Chrissy winks at you. 

“Yeah, about that..”

“You’re pregnant.”

You freeze at her words. Chrissy brings her hands to her mouth and gasps.

“H-how did you know?” You ask bewildered. 

“I knew it! I could just tell when I saw you!” 

“Woah, congratulations, man!” Jason reaches his hand across the table for Eddie to shake, which he does. 

“Oh I can’t wait! Our kids are going to be best little friends!”

That made you happy to hear. Chrissy’s youngest and even Nancy’s youngest baby weren’t going to be too much older than yours. He or she already has friends waiting for them, and that made you feel a sense of joy in your heart.

“Do you know the gender yet?” Jason asks. 

“We find out in a couple weeks,” Eddie says proudly. 

“Are you hoping for anything or just feeling blessed regardless?”

Truth is you’d gone back and forth or whether or not you wanted a boy or girl. You’d be happy with either, but the idea of a little girl to dress up would be fun. You know Eddie wants a boy, but has also expressed that he’s just happy to have a baby with you. 

“I’m just happy to be this far,” you finally say. “Although I think a girl would be fun.” You add that last part in without looking at Eddie. 

“Oh a little girl!” Chrissy squeals. “I always wanted a daughter but I’m happy with my little team of boys. But if you have a girl I will be living vicariously through you.” 

“Hey, we can always try again.” Jason says, giving Chrissy a little nudge. She rolls her eyes at him. You know she would be happy to have more kids, though. 

“I personally want a boy,” Eddie announces, looking at you. 

“Oh, man, boys are so fun. Our house is like a madhouse, but it’s totally worth it.”

“Which reminds me,” Chrissy chimes in, “Jacob wants to learn guitar. I was wondering if we paid you if you wouldn’t mind giving him lessons?”

Eddie is taken aback at this request. A Carver kid wants to play guitar? 

“Y-yeah, sure. That’s your second oldest, right?” 

You were pleasantly surprised that Eddie remembered, even after all the times you’ve drilled the names and ages of their kids into his head. 

“Yep! Little Jacob wants to be a rockstar someday,” Jason adds. 

“Hell yeah, that’s awesome,” Eddie says, nodding his head. “Just let me know when works for you guys.”

“We were thinking about dropping him off after church on Sundays? Maybe he can spend an hour or so with you?”

“That would be perfect,” you say, nodding to Eddie. 

“Obviously not when you have the baby, we can wait until after that if you want. “

“No, it should be fine,” you say, “Bring him over whenever. It will probably be easier to start now before the baby anyway.”

“Thanks, man, I really appreciate it,” Jason nods to Eddie. “By the way, have you ever heard of a band called Stryper?”

“Eddie! Quick!”

Eddie looks over at you as you come darting to him. He watches as you take his free hand and spin him around, toothbrush still in his mouth as he was getting ready for work.

“Wha es et?” He asks through a mouth full of toothpaste.

Wordlessly, you take his hand and place it on the side of your bump. The both of you are still as you wait for something to happen. After a few beats, you start to feel disappointed.

“I swear I felt them kicking,” you say dejectedly, letting go of Eddie’s hand.

“What, really?” He asks after spitting the toothpaste out of his mouth.

“Try again and maybe press down some?”

“Will that hurt it?”

“No, I don’t think so. Maybe agitate them a bit.”

Eddie puts his hand back on your barely there bump and presses down on it. It’s still for a few moments, and nothing happens. You let out a frustrated huff and cross your arms defeated. 

“I really did feel them.”

“I believe you, sweetheart. That’s so exciting,” Eddie says rubbing your arms with his thumbs,

Then you feel it again.

You gasp, grabbing his hand again and moving it to the spot where you felt the movement. Eddie’s hand rested there and you waited another moment. Nothing.

“Damn it--” 

Then it happened again. Eddie’s jaw dropped as he felt it that time, too stunned to speak.

“Wooooah,” he finally says, looking up at you.

“I know, right? Isn’t it crazy?”

Eddie puts both hands on your stomach and rubs it, kneeling down to be eye level with it.

“Hey there,” he says, eyes focused on your belly, “I don’t know if you can hear me but I’m your dad and I think it’s really cool that you have such strong legs. Maybe you’ll be a drummer like your Uncle Garreth. That would be super bad ass. Especially if you’re a girl. Girl drummers are awesome.” 

“What if they’re a boy?” You ask him. “Then you’ll be a kick ass boy drummer for all I care. I really want you to play guitar, though. Gonna teach you that as soon as you can hold your head up. Babe, should be make him a battle jacket?”

“If we make him one now he won’t fit in it for very long. We should probably wait until he’s older.”

“Damn, oh well.” Eddie sighs as he straightens up. His arms wrap around you and pull you in close, letting his chin rest on the top of your head.

“You have no fucking clue how excited I am.”

“I think I can take a guess.”

The room is quiet, dimly lit with the soft glow of the low lights and the monitor that sits next to your seat. Your feet wiggle back and forth, a nervous movement as you sit and wait for the ultrasound technician to enter the room. Eddie was sitting beside you, his own leg bouncing in anticipation.

Today you would find out the gender of your baby. The excitement was enough to keep the two of you up late into the night talking about what it will be like to have a baby boy or girl running around the house. All the baby proofing you would have to do was enough to make you feel like your house might actually be a deathtrap, even when Eddie assured you it wasn’t that bad.

A gentle knock on the door had both of your heads turning to it. “Come in,” you say, and the door opens moments later. The same technician from your last appointment walks in and you’re relieved to see a familiar face.

“Good morning,” she says as she closes the door behind her. “Are we ready to find out what you’re having?”

You and Eddie nod, a fresh batch of goosebumps rising on your skin. The technician moves around the room and does whatever she needs to do to get the monitor ready.

“Go ahead and lay back, and lift your shirt just over your belly,” she says as she pulls a bottle from the counter. As you lean back, she shakes it upside down a bit and squirts some on her finger, wiping it off on the paper towel sitting on the counter.

“Now, this may be  little cold at first, but it will warm up as I move the wand, okay?”

“Okay,” you say, a nervous smile on your face. 

“It doesn’t hurt, does it?” Eddie asks, grabbing your hand.

“No, not at all. I’m just going to put a little of this jelly on her stomach and press this wand to it so we can see the baby. You ready?”

You nod and the cold jell hits your stomach with a sound from the bottle.

“Now here comes the wand…” She places the ultrasound wand on your stomach with a light pressure. The screen of the ultrasound machine starts to blur as she moves the jelly around on your stomach. Once she slows down, you’re able to get a more clear picture of the baby growing inside your belly. 

It looked weird. Like a baby, but not at the same time. But when you saw it’s little arms moving it made a lump form in your throat.

“Awe, they’re waving at you,” the technician says, holding the wand still.

“Where?” Eddie asks, a clear look of confusion on his face. “I can’t read any of this.”

“See this right here, that’s the head,” the technician points to the large orb on the screen. “This is it’s spine, and this is it’s legs. Right here are it’s little arms.”

“Woah,” Eddie says with a smile as wide as Texas. “Hi little guy.”

“You’re such a dork.”

“What, I want to be polite!”

“Everything is looking good and they seem to be measuring on time, but I can’t say for certain until the doctor checks everything out. I’m going to take a few pictures and then we can check the gender, okay?”

You nod and let her do her thing. She moves the wand and pushes a few buttons on the keyboard, over and over, until she finally moves the wand to where it looks like the baby’s butt would be. A hot wave crashes over you as you realize that this is it.

“Okay, baby is not cross legged so I can see perfectly. Are you ready to know?”

Eddie turns to look at you for your approval. He nods, and you take a deep breath.

“Yes, we’re ready.”

“How was the appointment?” Wayne says as the two of you walk in the door, Bear relaxing over his feet.

“It went really well. We got some new pictures to show you.” Eddie walks over to Wayne and hands him the small print out of pictures the technician gave you to bring home. Wayne grabs his glasses and puts them on, still holding the small prints close to his face.

“Wow, this really looks like a baby now, huh?” He says, looking over to you. Your hand rubs your bump, now starting to show a bit. You’re happy it didn’t come in until after your school year ended, lest the students ask you a million questions.

“What else do you see?” Eddie asks the older man. Wayne looks over the pictures again, eyeing them up and down.

“What’s this last picture?”

“That is your grandson’s little Munson.”

Wayne looks up at Eddie, then over to you. As it all starts to make sense to him, he suddenly jumps up from his chair and jumps around.

“‘T’s a lil boy?! Hot dog, I got myself a new fishin’ buddy?!” His arms wrap around Eddie in a surprise hug as he jumps up and down more, rocking Eddie in the process.

“We had a feeling that you’d say that, so we went and got this.” You pull a bag from behind your back and present it to him, a very obvious smaller version of a fishing pole sticking out of it. It was made for kids, but you’re sure it would work when the baby is big enough. 

“I can’t believe this,” Wayne says wiping tears from his eyes. “I would have been this happy if it was a girl, too. But it just feels so--”

“Real?” Eddie says.

“Yeah. I just can’t--I mean, damn it’s really happening.”

“Eddie started crying when she told us,” you say as you lean into him.

“How could I not? I’m gonna have a mini me running around the house!”

“Don’t I know it. I’m putting all this work in for 9 months and I know he’s going to come out looking exactly like you.”

“Hopefully he’s more tame than Eddie was,” Wayne adds, shaking his head. “Eddie used’aa bounce off the walls when he was a toddler.”

“Oh, great, can’t wait for that,” you say with a smile. You truly didn’t care what the baby was going to be like. You hoped he was just like Eddie, in every way.

“Ugh, it’s so hot,” you say as you fan yourself. Even with the shade of your front porch you were still sweating in the unrelenting July heat. It was the hottest summer Hawkins had felt in a while and of course you just had to be almost 30 weeks pregnant right now.

“We can go inside,” Eddie says from the chair next to you, flipping through a mechanics magazine.

“No, the fresh air will be good for the baby.”

“Not if you’re frying in the process. Come on, we can wait for them inside.”

As if right on que, the familiar red beater truck pulled up behind yours in the driveway. 

“Hey, the party is here!” Grant shouted from the driver side window.

“Lets get this shit built!” Garreth yells as he pops out of the passenger side, Jeff following after him.

“Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna help?” Jeff says as Garreth and Grant start to unload the back of the truck of the boxes that were in the bed.

“I was expecting you all to do the heavy lifting. We are pregnant afterall.” Eddie says as he places his lemonade down, standing up from the chair. Jeff pshes him, slapping a hand on his back before the two of them start moving boxes inside.

The boys had all agreed to help put together furniture as long as they could drink and listen to rock music the whole time, neither of which you minded but you appreciated them asking. You’d been craving some wine during your pregnancy but had been good enough to not indulge yourself, especially after you’d done so well with your sobriety.

“You boys needa hand?” Wayne asks from the front door.

“Naw, we got it pepaw,” Garreth calls, holding the other and of a large box that him and Jeff are carefully maneuvering between the cars in the driveway. You held the door open for them as they entered into the house, stopping to kick their shoes off per your house rule of no shoes in the baby’s room.

Once the boys got everything inside, they immediately plugged in the stereo system and began to fill your house with Pearl Jam’s “Ten” album. Eddie Vedder’s vocals made good background noise as you cleaned up the house. Well to the best of your ability.

Your bump had grown big enough that it was starting to become more difficult to do certain things, like bending over and squatting. But you could still handle most of the chores with out much of Eddie’s help. It was working with chemical cleaners that worried you the most, so you looked into some more natural cleaning remedies and hoped that they were doing what they were supposed to do.

“Anyone ready for lunch? I’ll order some pizzas if you want--Wow, look at you guys go!”

The room was already starting to come together as the furniture was being built. It looked like Eddie and Jeff had the crib almost put together as Grant and Garreth tackled the dresser. You thought this was going to be an all day endeavor but they may get it all done in a few hours.

“You guys are some pretty good handymen!”

“Thanks, babe,” Eddie says as he holds a couple pieces together for Jeff to screw in. “Once we get these big pieces put together we’ll work on getting the shelves up. 

“Were you saying something about pizza?” Garreth asks with nails between his lips.

“Yeah, I’ll go ahead and order some. Any special requests?”

“Can you get some cheesy bread, too?” Grant asks.

“Absolutely. Well, I’ll leave you boys to it.”

“Love you, babe!”

You say a quick love you back before waddling down the hall to the kitchen.

After a quick pizza break and some trash TV with Wayne, the boys all erupted into hoots and hollers from the baby’s room.

“What’s all the commotion?” You ask walking into the room.

“I think we’re done!”

You look around the room and really take it in. It looks pretty much complete, sans some decorations and the things you plan to get from your baby shower. It hits you that you’re going to have a baby in this room with you in just a few short months.

“Awe, babe, don’t cry.” Eddie walks up to you and wraps his arms around you, swaying you back and forth.

“It just looks so nice. Thank you guys so much,” you say through sniffles.

“Of course, momma,” Jeff says, patting your shoulder.

“Anything for the newest member of Hellfire,” Grant adds.

“And the future frontman of Corroded Coffin 2.0,” Garreth says.

Eddie backs away from you and you take the opportunity to wipe away the tears from your eyes. It was so nice knowing that your baby was already so loved.

“Oh, yes! Just like that!” You moan out into your bedroom, your cries bouncing off of the walls and straight into Eddie’s ears.

He has you just how he likes you; on your back and with your legs spread wide for him. Either of your legs in his grasp to hold up so you don’t have to. Your pretty little head is resting on the pillow while he does all the work of making you squirm under him. Your hands hold your large stomach as his hips crash into yours with each thrust. 

He’s doing his damndest not to be rough, but he can’t help that you look so pretty when he fucks you hard. The way you talk so dirty when no one’s around gets him going in a way he can’t even describe other than feral. Each call of his name by you sounds like music to his ears that he wants to play on repeat.

“Fuck, baby, look so good like that,” Eddie groans, watching your swollen tits bounce. “My beautiful girl, all big and round for me.”

“Yes, just for you, Eddie,” you say, your hands flying to the pillow to grip it as he picks up his pace. Eddie takes your leg and rests it on his shoulder, guiding his free hand to your stomach to hold it in place while he fucks you into the mattress. Something about you being pregnant with his child was turning him on to no end. Just the thought of his baby being inside of you drove him crazy.

“Oh, shit I’m gonna--”

“Do it, baby. Cum for me.” Eddie brought his thumb to your sensitive clit and started rubbing sloppy circles in it. Everything with you was so much more sensitive since you’d gotten pregnant, and Eddie loved to take advantage of that whenever he could.

Eddie felt it in your body as you came, the way you clenched around him, legs shaking, eyes rolling into the back of your head. He wanted to take a picture to keep forever. “Fuck, I’m gonna cum,” Eddie says suddenly, his thrusts becoming sloppy as he reached his peak. You watch as he comes undone inside of you, filling you up with his spend. 

“Oh my god,” Eddie stutters out, head thrown back as he recovers from his orgasm. “That was insane.”

“Come’er,” you reach your hands out for him. He obliges, sliding out of you slowly and plopping down next to you in the bed. He wraps you up in his arms and holds you close, pressing a kiss to your temple.

“Are you okay?” He asks, hand landing on your stomach.

“Mhmm,” you hum, catching your breath.

“I still can’t believe it. That we’re going to be parents.”

You place your hand on top of Eddie’s and rub your thumb into the back of it. It’s quiet for a moment, but then the two of you feel the baby moving inside of you and laugh.

“Guess he didn’t like all that movement,” you say, watching the way your stomach is pressed from the baby inside you.

“Sorry, bub,” Eddie says with a laugh, “Can’t help that your mom is hot.”

“Hey, thank you for coming!” You wrap your arms around Claudia and Dustin as they exit your house from the back door. 

Today is the day of your baby shower and the backyard was already full of guests as they all pile in. Eddie was manning the grill, your brother and his wife talking him up as he cooked the dogs and burgers for everyone. Elanor and your nephews are running around with Bear while Nancy and Robin catch up. Steve and Mike were talking about cars the last you checked in on them. Max, Jane, Lucas and Will are helping set up some last minute decorations. And the band boys were chatting while they set the fire pit up for s’mores later.

“Thank you for inviting us. Here, I made these myself for the little one. There’s something in there for you, too.”

“Awe, thank you, Claudia. That’s so sweet.” 

“I’ll take that,” Wayne says as he takes the bag from Mrs. Henderson. 

“I helped pick out the colors, by the way,” Dustin says before he leaves to go join the boys at the fire pit.

“How are you feeling, dear?” Claudia asks.

“I feel surprisingly great. Other than my feet swelling in this heat, I don’t think I can complain. Well, besides the nightly gymnastics routine this one seems to want to do whenever I go to bed.”

Claudia laughs, “Yes, Dustin was the same way. It’s like they know when you’re trying to rest.”

“It really does!”

“Mrs. Henderson!” Steve calls out to her and Claudia excuses herself.

Wayne makes his way over to you. “Got an awfully full table of gifts over there,” he says.

“I know, I’m in shock. I knew people would get us stuff, but I didn’t think it would be so much. Hopefully we have room for everything.”

“We’ll make it fit, I promise ya that,” Wayne says with a chuckle. 

He looks at you for a moment before leaning in. 

“Can I tell ya a secret?”

You whip your head around, shocked to hear that Wayne wants to gossip with you.

“Uh, duh. Lay it on me.”

“Okay,” he starts, “See that girl your brother brought with him. I think you said that’s his wife’s sister?”

“Oh, Tenisha? Yeah she was one of my best friends growing up. She’s just really shy.”

“I can see that by the way she’s been keeping to herself. But, I’ve been watching everyone here, right? Well I think she’s been boring a hole into Harrington since he walked in the door.”

This revelation sparks your interest. Tenisha had a hard time branching out due to her introverted nature, so she didn’t have many boyfriends growing up. For a while you thought maybe she didn’t even like other people all that much.

But, this news was something you could work with.

“Good to know,” you say with coy smile, brain wracking with ways to introduce them.

The rest of the party showed up as time went on. Chrissy and Jason came with their kids, and you got to hold baby Jeremy while she talked your ear off. She even brought you a whole trunk load of old clothes from her boys that you’d be able to use for your baby.

Missy even showed up with her baby, little Henry junior. He looked a lot like Henry, so much that it was almost off putting to you, but you reminded yourself that this party was the celebrate your own baby with the man who loves you now.

“This is a really nice house,” Erica says to Eddie as you help pass out food and refreshments. 

“Thanks, man. We’ve really put our all in making it our home these last few months.”

“I’m willing to bet that the missus did most of the decorating,” Jason chimes in.

“Obviously,” you say with a sarcastic tone. “I think the place would be covered with band posters and guitars if Eddie was in charge.”

“Hey, a few decorative guitars wouldn’t be a bad thing,” Grants says in Eddie’s defence.

“Thank you, Grant.”

“It’s going to feel even more like a home once the baby comes,” your brother says. “Don’t you think, Nish?”

Tenisha looks up from her plate like a deer caught in headlights. You want to scold your brother for calling her out, but you know he’s doing it because you told him about her eyes for Steve.

“Y-yes,” she says, voice small, and you’re proud that she was even able to get that much out. She stands still for a moment before suddenly beelining it for you.

“Where’s your bathroom?” She whispers to you. Just as you look toward the house, you notice Steve is heading in that same direction.

“Hey, Steve!”

He stops and looks around to where he heard his name being called, landing on you.

“Can you show Tenisha where the bathroom is?”

Tenisha’s eyes go wide, but you ignore it when Steve agrees and beckons her over. You watch as she wordlessly makes her way over to him.

“Hi, I’m Steve. I don’t think we’ve met,” he says as he follows behind her into the house.

You look around for Wayne to see if he saw your quick move and you found him already looking your way, giving you a thumbs up.

The rest of the party went off without a hitch. Games were played, all the gifts were opened, and you even got to have some cake that Eddie had custom made for the occasion. And, much to your delight, Steve essentially stuck by Tenisha’s side the rest of the night, talking to her about god knows what. She seemed not to mind though, a smile on her face the whole time.

You felt like you were about to burst. People had been chatting you up for over an hour at this point and you were starting to have to go every 30 minutes or so it seemed. When you finally had the chance to excuse yourself, you all but sprinted to the rest room.

Once you relieved yourself, you went to wipe, but thought you felt a strange texture when you did. You decided to check the toilet paper, only to be met with the sight of bright red blood.

Your heart sank at the sight. Getting up you checked your underwear and found nothing there, so it hadn’t been bad enough to spread. But still, you were only 36 weeks at this point, still a whole month out from when the baby was supposed to come. This shouldn’t be happening.

“Eddie,” you say out of instinct. “Eddie!”

You run out to the backyard and find your husband talking with his uncle by the fire. He looks over at you and waves, unable to see you clearly from where you were at the back door.

“Eddie!” The urgency in your voice caught his attention and he immediately popped up from his chair and came trotting to you.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” 

“Eddie, I’m bleeding.”

“W-what? That’s not supposed to happen now is it?” 

You shook your head and Eddie immediately started to panic.

“Uncle Wayne!”

Wayne jumped up from his chair and ran over to where you two were standing.

“What’s goin’ on?”

“She’s bleeding.”

“Bleedin’! Well that doesn’t sound right. You oughta go to the emergency room. Now. I’ll get everyone going.”

You both nod and Eddie takes you by the hand, grabbing his keys off the counter as you enter the house. He barely lets you grab your purse before he’s pulling you into the car and peeling out of the driveway.

Once you get to the hospital, they take you back right away and get you hooked up to a monitor to listen to your baby’s heart beat. There was a sigh of relief when it was strong enough that it could be easily found by the nurse helping you. They ran some tests on you and did a quick check to see if you were dilated at all.

“Nothing yet,” the doctor says. “Not abnormal for you to not be dilated at this point. Have you had any contractions?”

“No, not yet. Should I be?” You ask with concern.

“Not necessarily. Sometimes women experience what feel like contractions at this point, but you’ll know the real thing when the time comes.”

“Why would she be bleeding right now if the baby wasn’t coming?” Eddie asks, hand clasped with yours.

“Well,” the doctor starts, “There are several possibilities, but it’s hard to say for sure. We’ll probably keep you here for monitoring for a few days just to make sure we don’t need to start the delivery process early.”

“Start it early? Will that hurt the baby?” You ask.

“Not at this point. We consider the baby developed enough at this point that delivery is a safe enough option for you. We would just give you a shot of steroids before hand to help with the development of the baby’s lungs before hand. But, for now, we think that you should get some rest.”

The doctor leaves the room and you and Eddie are left there to listen to the sound of your baby’s heart beating. Eddie’s grasp on your hand tightens, and for a moment you think that he might have started crying. You look up at him and are surprised to find that he’s actually laughing.

“Why are you laughing right now?”

“Because,” he raises his head to look at you, “Only my kid would try and pull something like this the day of his party. I always used to ruin my birthday parties because I would get so excited to get gifts.”

That did make you laugh. Which apparently made your son mad because you felt him kicking you, leaving you to sigh in relief. At least he wasn’t in any immediate danger. Though, you were not looking forward to staying in the hospital for a couple days.

“Do you think I’ll be out in time for Monday?”

Eddie looks at you in disbelief. “I don’t think your students are going to mind a substitute for a couple days while you’re in here.”

“I know, I just don’t want to leave them with a bunch of work to do. I’ve been slacking a bit these last couple weeks.”

“I’ll grade the damn papers myself if it means you’ll relax for a couple days,”

“Oh, god, we wouldn’t want that,” you laugh.

You got to go home on Tuesday. It felt cooler out compared to Saturday, so Eddie brought you a sweater to the hospital to keep you warm. The fabric was tight over your large stomach as you walked out into the late September air.

The bleeding eventually stopped on its own and the doctors decided it would be best to let you go home and finish out the rest of your pregnancy. Which you were relieved to hear because that bed was super uncomfortable.

“I just want to go home and take a nice long shower,” you say from the passenger seat. “Then maybe a good nap.”

“Whatever you need, princess. I know that was rough on you,” Eddie says with a hand in yours as he drives.

“It was rough on you, too. I know you were mad they wouldn’t let you stay.”

“They better let me stay when the baby is born. I’ll stand outside the hospital all night if they don’t.”

“They will, Eddie. We already asked, remember?”

“I know. But what if they find out I’m a felon and change their minds?” You can hear the concern in his voice.

“Eddie, they don’t care. Just don’t do anything stupid and there won’t be a problem.”

Eddie scoffs, “You think I would do something stupid?”

“Of course not,” you laugh, “I’m just saying is all.”

Eddie turns into the drive way and cuts the engine. He hops out from the driver side and runs around the car to open your door for you, lending you a hand to help you out of the car.

The two of you enter the house and you immediately head to your baby’s room. It’s filled to the brim with all the gifts you received still needing to be put away from your shower. The need to nest kicks in and you enter the room.

“Woah, what are you doing?” Eddie says, watching you as you start to fold some of the baby clothes.

“It’s a mess in here,” you say, placing a blue nighty into the dresser drawer. “We need to clean up.”

“We can do that later.” Eddie wraps his arms around you from behind and you let out a whine.

“But what if the baby comes tomorrow? He’s going to think we’re slobs!”

Eddie turns you around to face him, holding you with a hand on each arm.

“Later, sweetheart. Let’s get you in the shower and down for a nap first.”

You let out a sigh but ultimately give in.

“Aren’t you due today?” Will suddenly says between bites of his salad. The two of you had a shared lunch and had been spending it together since the beginning of the school year.

“Technically I was due Tuesday,” you say after a long chug of water, “But he doesn’t seem to be ready to come out yet.”

“Have you been feeling anything yet? Like the labor pains?” He asks.

“I’ve had a few contractions but nothing too major. The doctor said it’s normal for babies not to come on their due dates, but I’m ready for him to be out of me now.”

You rub your huge bump. It didn’t seem possible that you were this pregnant. You hadn’t seen your feet properly in weeks, but you certainly can feel them aching. The back pain was out of this world, and all you wanted to do was sit down. But at this paint sitting didn’t seem to be much relief either.

“I’m sure you are. I can’t even imagine what it must feel like.”

“It feels like I’m carrying a 30 pound boulder in my stomach is what it feels like,” you laugh. 

But the laugh is cut short by a sharp pain in your lower stomach. Another contraction was hitting you today and this one took your breath away. You hiss, bending slightly as you try your best to work through it. But this one was lasting a lot longer than the others.

Will jumps up from his seat. “Are you okay?” He asks as he hovers over you, hand on your shoulder.

“Yeah, just,” you blow out air from your mouth, “This one just really hurts.”

“Shit, is it time?”

“I…I don’t know.”

You couldn’t say no for sure with how this one was feeling. Was it time?

“Do you want me to call Eddie?” Will says before walking over to the phone.

“No, no it’s starting to stop now,” you say, leaning back in your chair. “I’ll keep an eye on the time and if it gets worse then I’ll call him.”

“Maybe you should go home, just in case,” Will says with concern.

“I think I’ll be okay.”

But you were not okay. After the third contraction, you decided to call Principal Higgins and let him know what was going on. He told you he would take over your class and that you should go home for the day.

“Hawkin’s Auto Body, this is Sarah speaking.”

“Hi Sarah, is Eddie available?”

“Oh, hey! Yeah, let me go get him!” The receptionist put you on hold and you felt another contraction hit. They were starting to become close together, around 8 minutes apart.

“Babe?” You hear from the other side of the line.

“Eddie, I think it’s time,” you say through gritted teeth.

“What? Really? Where are you?” His tone is frantic and you hear some crashing noises.

“I’m at work. I’m having contractions.” You whine as the feeling grows stronger in your pelvis.

“Oh my god, okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can. We’ll take your car, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll be waiting.”

After you hung up with Eddie, you braced the cold October air and made your way to your car. You turned it on and sat in the passenger seat while you waited.

Looking in the rear view mirror, you can see the car seat installed in the back seat for this exact occasion. Eddie was smart to put it back there in case the baby came earlier. Ever since your hospital trip, he’d been on top of everything when it came to the baby’s arrival. He helped you decorate, took you shopping for any last minute items you needed, and even prepared a hospital bag for you that sat in your trunk.

It didn’t take long for Eddie you whip into the school parking lot. He found your car and made quick effort to find the nearest spot to park. After he killed the engine, he booked it to your car and hopped in the driver seat.

“Are you okay?” Was the first thing he asked before buckling his seatbelt.

“At the moment, yeah. But the contractions are getting closer and closer together as time goes by. I’m due for another any minute.”

“Well, lets’s get going then, momma,” he says, shifting into gear and pulling away.

Eddie got you to the hospital in record time. They wheeled you in, mid contraction as they took you immediately to a laboring room. Everything was a blur as they got you in a gown and prepped you to be checked. When the doctor came in, the first thing he did was check to see how dilated you were.

“You’re already at 4 centimeters,” he said as he pulled his hand away. “I’m surprised you hadn’t come in sooner.”

“She was being stubborn,” Eddie said. He was upset that you had gone on having contractions for so long without calling him sooner.

“I was at work. I didn’t know it was going to get this bad--ooooh!” Another contraction.

“Well good news is that once you get to 5 centimeters things tend to go faster, so you shouldn’t be in labor for too much longer. Did you want to get an epidural?”

“God, anything to help with these pains,” you moan as the contraction wracks through your body. It felt like all your muscles from the waist down were tightening all at once. You were starting to sweat from the pain.

“That looks like fun,” Eddie says as he sips from his little cup of water.

You were bouncing on the exercise ball that the hospital provided for you to try and speed up the labor. The epidural kicked in and though your legs felt funny, the pain had subsided greatly. You still felt the contractions but they weren’t nearly as debilitating as they had been all day.

“It feels like a work out, but I think it’s helping.”

“I’m so excited,” Eddie says before walking over to you, both his hands out for you to take. You place your hands in his and do your best to stand, stepping closer to him until your belly touched his. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to your lips.

“I am, too. Insanely nervous, but excited.”

Suddenly you felt a sharp pain between your legs. The sound of water hitting the floor took you by surprise. You felt like you needed to sit down so you reached back for the bed and sat on the edge. 

“Shit, babe, I think your water broke!” Eddie ran to the door and yelled out for a nurse to come to your room. 

Shit, was this really happening?

Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. The nurses and doctor entered the room and it was clear that it was go time. They got you in position on the bed and you could feel something happening between your legs. 

“I see the head!” One of the nurses shouted. 

“Push, momma push!”

“Oh my god.”

Eddie was shaking beside you. You could feel the trembling in his hand as he held yours. But you didn’t have time to focus on him as you put all your effort into pushing. 

You squeezed his hand tight as you did your best to push, feeling the pressure building as you do. 

“Yes, keep going! He’s starting to come out!”

“You got this, sweetheart,” you hear Eddie say shakily. 

“One more good push!”

You put all your strength into pushing. It was the hardest thing you’ve ever done in your life. There was so much pressure building up and then—

The sound of cries. 

You opened your eyes and he was there. The nurses held him as the little baby covered in goo and fluids…was crying. 

“It’s a healthy baby boy!”

“Hellooo!” 

The sound of Wayne’s voice echoed in the room. He took a step in and Eddie waved him inside. 

“Come on in, Grandpa,” Eddie says from his seat next to you. Wayne mozies into the room, a vase full of flowers in hand. 

“I brought these for the lovely new momma,” he says, setting them down on your bedside table. 

“Thank you, Uncle Wayne,” you say, admiring the flowers. 

“Is that my little man over there?” He asks, moving closer to the bed.

You take the bundle in your arms and turn him to face Wayne. “Oh my god,” Wayne’s hand comes to his mouth as he cracks the widest smile.

“Do you want to hold him?” You ask, lifting your son a bit towards him.

“Can I?” Wayne asks, stretching his arms out. You make the slow exchange and Wayne just absolutely lights up. “Wow, I can’t believe it.”

“I know, it’s crazy isn’t it?” Eddie says, standing up to walk over to them.

“I’m sorry ta break it to ya, sweet girl, but this boy is all his daddy,” Wayne says with a chuckle.

“Wait until you see his hair,” Eddie says, gently pulling the little cap off of his sons head to reveal small poodle like curls underneath.

“Oh boy, we’re really gonna be in for it with you, ain’t we?” Wayne asks your son. “Your daddy’s gonna get all the karma from how he was as a kid.”

“All I know is he’s going to get away with murder when it comes to her.” Eddie says nodding to you.

“Is that so? That in love already, huh?”

You nod your head. It was true. As soon as the nurses laid him against your chest you felt that immediately wave of love come over you for your little one. He might as well have hung the moon and stars because he was perfect in your eyes. You weren’t even mad he looked exactly like Eddie. Quite the opposite. Your head swirled with all the trouble that the two of them were going to get to. And they would get away with it by batting their big brown eyes at you.

“Did ya come up with a name for him yet?”

This question made you look to Eddie. You’d been telling everyone that you weren’t sure what name you were going to come up with, but the truth was that you had a name for the baby all along.

“As a matter of fact, we did,” Eddie says walking over to the bed side bassinet. He pushed it over to Wayne, turning it so that the name card was visible to him.

Wayne stepped closer, leaning in to see the name without his glasses.

“Wayne…Wayne Lee Munson. Well…that,” Wayne’s body shook with a sob, “that’s my name.”

“And we thought it would be the perfect name for the next Munson.”

“Ed…” Wayne started to cry. He held your son close and wept. “Little Wayne Munson. Has a nice ring to it.”

“Well look at that little man there. He looks jus like you, don’t he?” Al Munson’s voice rang through the other side of the phone’s receiver. It wasn’t how you wanted to meet your future father in law, but you knew this visit meant a lot to Eddie so you went along with it. 

He told you his dad wasn’t a violent man, but he sure looked like it. Eddie looked so much like him, down to the way they both hunched over a bit when they sit. It was almost scary to think about what Eddie could have become if he hadn’t gotten out of prison when he did.

“I’m glad you guys came out,” Al says, “Was worried I wouldn’t get to see ‘em til he’s ten.”

“We’re glad to be able to make it. I’m sure you’re excited to meet him.”

“And the misses, too. Eddie’s told me a lot about you in his letters.”

“Hopefully all good things,” you say into the receiver that’s between yours and Eddie’s head. Al laughs, and it sounds like a raspier version of Eddie’s.

“Oh, yeah. You’re gonna make a great Munson. Wish I could be there to see it.”

“I wish you could, too, dad.”

“We’ll make sure you get lots of pictures.”

“I’ll be lookin’ forward to it,” Al says, leaning into the glass. “Lemme get a better look at’em.”

Eddie moved the phone to his ear as you reposition, standing slightly so you can show off your baby. You watch as his lips move but can’t hear what he’s saying.

“Yeah, that’s what everyone says. I feel bad for her because you know how I was as a kid…Yep, Wayne said the same thing.”

Al’s hand touches the glass near where you’re son is. It makes you feel for him. A man stuck in a cage, just outside of reach of what he wants.

“Okay, old on,” Eddie says holding the phone out to you. “He wants to talk to you.”

“Oh, really? Okay.” You swap with Eddie, handing Wayne to him and taking the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey there, darlin’,” Wayne says. “Just wanted to ask you a few questions.”

You felt your stomach turn. Was he going to grill you on if you were good enough for his son?

“Now, I won’t say anything, and you can give me simple answers if you want. But I want you to answer truthfully.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now, is my boy treating you right? He’s not been hittin’ on you or anything?”

The line of questioning took you by total surprise.

“Oh my god, no,” you say shaking your head. “Eddie is the sweetest man I’ve ever met in my life.”

Al smiles the same as Eddie.

“That’s what I wanted to hear. Now, he’s been pullin’ his weight around the house, too, right?”

“Absolutely,” you assure him.

“Good, good. Been helpin’ with the little one?”

“Yes, more than I ever could have asked for.”

Eddie was made for fatherhood. Even at his most tired, he still does whatever he can with Wayne. Changes him, helps bathe him, cleans up so you can feed him. He cooks and cleans. Any little thing you ask he does without a single complaint.

“Wonderful. Eddie’s a tough one, so but I’m glad to see he has a soft side to ‘em. If he ever gets outta line, you just go ahead and give me a call, got it? I got some people on the outside who will set him straight for ya.”

“I don’t think I’ll need to, but I’ll keep that in mind,” you chuckle. 

“Alright, darlin’, go ahead and give me back to Ed.”

You hand the phone back over to Eddie and do another swap with Wayne.

“What the hell did you ask her, old man?”

Al laughs on the other side of the glass. You let the two of them talk it out for the rest of the visit. You weren’t sure the next time you three would be able to make it out to see him, so you made sure to say your goodbyes before leaving.

The house is warm and filled with the smell of food cooking from the kitchen. As you do your best to prep, Eddie is sitting snugly on the couch holding baby Wayne in his arms. They’re watching A Charlie Brown Christmas on the tv; well, Eddie is narrating everything for Wayne. But Wayne seems to love listening to Eddie talk, starting up at him with those big brown eyes that you love so much.

“Don’t look now, but I think we’re being watched,” Eddie says to Wayne, pointing at you.

“I can’t help it, you guys are just so cute.”

You’re about to check on the food again when you hear a knock at the door.

“Come in!” Eddie shouts from the couch.

The door opens and begins to fill with familiar faces. Dustin and Lucas enter first, bickering about god knows what, followed by Mike, Jane, Max and Will who look fed up at the former two. 

“Hey guys!” You say as you approach, offering to take coats as they come in. Eddie stands up from the couch and walks over to Dustin and Lucas.

“Whatever you guys are going on about can end now,” Eddie says as he hands the baby to Lucas, “and you can hold this one while I go take a piss.”

“I’ll take that, thank you,” Max says as she slips between Dustin and Lucas, taking your son in her arms and walking away. “Awe aren’t you just the cutest!”

“Hey, he was handing him to me,” Lucas says with a scoff.

“You’ll have your turn later, Auntie Max needs her baby time now.”

Lucas pauses for a moment before leaning into Dustin.

“She looks pretty cute with a baby, doesn’t she?” 

Dustin elbows Lucas, “Make your own then, sheesh.”

“Can I see him?” Jane says as she walks up to Max, who shows him off to her.

“He seriously is so cute.” Max says, lightly bouncing Wayne in her arms.

“Thanks, I think so, too,” you chuckle.

Another knock at the door takes your attention away from the girls for a moment. You shout for them to come in and the door opens to reveal Steve and Robin with two handfuls of gifts.

“Oh my god, let me take those,” you say rushing over to them. “What is all this stuff?”

“It’s for the baby, duh,” Robin says, handing you some of the stuff from her hands.

“All of this is for Wayne?”

“Not all of it,” Steve says, making his way to your tree to set his gifts down. “There’s more in the car.”

“You guys are ridiculous,” you say, shaking your head.

“Woah, Santa came early,” Eddie says as he rounds the corner. He walks over to Robin to take the rest of the gifts and joins Steve by the tree.

“We said we were going to spoil him,” Robin says with a shrug.

Suddenly something small runs into the house, past you and onto Mike’s leg.

“Woah!” 

“Uncwel Mikey!” Elanor squeals.

“Is this where the party is?” Jonathan says as he enters the house, followed by Nancy and baby Amelia.

“It smells so good in here,” Nancy says as she gives you a side hug.

“Thank you! You guys didn’t have to bring anything,” you say, eyeing the tin of cookies that Jonathan was holding.

“It was nothing. I was in a baking mood, so those aren’t the actual cookies that are in there.”

“Well come on in and set them in the kitchen. I need to check on everything anyway.” 

Nancy and the baby follow you inside to the kitchen, Jonathan hot on her heels. “I’ll be back for you,” she says when she passes Max holding baby Wayne.

As you enter the kitchen, the timer for the turkey goes off. You grab your oven mitts and pull it out of the oven, prepping the thermometer to check that it’s cooked all the way.

“Wow, you made a whole turkey?” Nancy says impressed.

“I wanted there to be enough for everyone” you say, reading the temperature, “and it was cheaper than a ham. Got it on sale actually!”

“Looks good!” Jonathan says, setting the cookies on the table.

“Holy shit, Steve she made a turkey!” Robin yells from the kitchen doorway.

“I thought she didn’t know how to cook?!” Steve shouts from the living room.

“I’ve picked up a few things being a housewife, Steve!” You shout back at him.

“Hows motherhood treating you?” Nancy asks, moving to stand next to you.

“Honestly,” you start, “it’s been a crazy ride.” You pause for a moment, thinking about all the sleepless nights and endless feedings. But you think about your sweet baby and the man who has been helping you make it all possible and sigh. “But, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

“I know what you mean,” she says bouncing Amelia on her hip. “It’ll get harder when you have another, but it really is worth it.”

Another? You hadn’t really thought about having another baby just yet. You were still in the throws of first time motherhood that you barely had time to think about anything else. But, who knows, maybe you’ll have another. One day at a time.

You hear a commotion from the living room and assume the rest of the boys have arrived when you hear their collective voices.

“There’s my man,” you hear Jeff say.

“God, he looks just like you, Eddie,” Grant says, making you smile.

“Yeah, I apologize to her for it every day,” Eddie says with a laugh.

Nancy and Robin help you finish everything up in the kitchen while the rest of the party is entertained by your son in the living room. They all take their turns holding him until he ultimately started crying and needed his momma.

“Alright, dinner is ready, everyone,” you say from the doorway. Walking over to Steve, who was currently holding Wayne, you extend your hands to take the crying baby.

“Shh, it’s alright, mommy is here,” he says, gently bouncing Wayne in his arms.

“Damn, you’re a natural, Steve,” you say as you take Wayne from him.

“You think so,” he says standing up from the couch. “I’ve always wanted a big family.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” you say with a sly smile, “How are things going with Tenisha?”

“Great!” He says, clapping his hands together excitedly. “The long distance sucks, but Robin and I are going to drive out to see her for new years.”

“That sounds like it’ll be a good time!” You say and he nods. Wayne lets out another cry and you’re reminded that it’s time to feed him. “Go and get some food, I gotta feed the little one.”

You walk back into the bedroom and let Wayne nurse for a bit, calming him down instantly. A few minutes go by and you hear a knock on the door.

“I’m not decent,” you shout to the door.

“It’s just me,” you hear Eddie say as the door begins to open, him shuffling inside with a plate in his hand. “I brought you something to snack on while you’re in here.” It was more than just a snack. Eddie had made you a whole plate and brought it to you.

“Awe, you didn’t have to do that.”

“Actually, I did,” he says with a chuckle. “Or else there might not have been anything left for you by the time you were done.”

“So everyone likes the food?” You ask with a bit of hope in your voice. Eddie nods, and you sigh with relief. “Thank god.”

“It’s honestly really good,” Eddie says bringing a roll to your mouth. You take a bite and had to admit he was right.

“Eddie,” you say in a wobbly tone, feeling tears starting to well in your eyes.

“Yes, my love?” He says turning to look at you.

“Thank you so much,” you say with a sniffle.

“The roll was that good?” He asks with a laugh.

You shake your head, “No, no, I mean…Just thank you. For everything. I’ve never felt so complete in my whole life and it’s all thanks to you.”

Eddie goes to open his mouth to say something, but closes it. He suddenly sits up from the bed, walking over to his nightstand and opening the drawer. He pulls out a piece of paper and looks it over before holding it to his chest.

Walking back, he plops back on the bed and clears his throat. “Um, this is something I’ve been working on for a while,” he says fidgeting with the paper. You look at it, then back to him. It was covered in his sloppy hand writing and you were instantly brought back to all the letters you’ve shared between the two of you. The ones that brought you together.

“It was originally going to be my wedding vows to you, but it’s gotten so long that I don’t think anyone is going to want to sit and listen to me while I talk on and on. So I just…I guess I’m ready to share it with you now.”

“Okay,” you say barely above a whisper, extremely intrigued as to what he has to say.

“Alright, here it goes,” Eddie says clearing his throat again.

“To my future wife,

It’s always going to be hard to put into words exactly how you make me feel. I could write poetry, could write you a song, could buy a plane and fly the words across the sky. But none of that will ever be enough. So I’ll do what I do best and write you this letter.

Not a day has gone by since we met that I don’t think about you. Even when I was still locked up, the thought of you played on my mind a lot. To me, I felt an instant connection with you. It might not have been love at first, but I knew that you were going to mean something to me. With every passing letter that turned into phone calls, that turned into us meeting for the first time, I only realized that you were put into my life for a reason. And that reason has become clearer with every day that I get to spend waking up next to you and being blessed by a God I don’t believe in with the grace of your smile.

Now that I have you in my life, I don’t think I can ever imagine a life without you in it. I want to spend every possible moment with you that I can, even the bad ones. I can’t wait until the day we’re old and grey and sitting in our rocking chairs on the front porch while we watch the sun go down. Because then I’ll know that I have lived a full, one by your side.

Now that we’re going to be parents, which I still can’t believe, I want to make sure that I’m there for you no matter what. We probably won’t get married until after the baby is born, but I hope you know that we don’t have to do things the traditional way. I’ve never been normal, but I think you know that by now. So lets just do things how we want to from here on out.”

“This last part I wrote recently,” he says, pointing at the paper, avoiding looking at you.

“Wow, I really can’t believe we’ve earned the title of mom and dad already. Nothing could have prepared me for first time parenthood, but I’m glad I have you by my side to go through it. You’ve been nothing short of amazing as a mom and I couldn’t be more proud of you. I think Wayne has been the missing puzzle piece that we didn’t even know we needed in our lives. He rounds out our family in such a positive way that I sometimes feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. That’s how too good to be true my life with you feels. I don’t know what the future holds, but no matter what happens, I know that you and I will be able to work it together as a team. 

I guess I should wrap this up and give it to you before Wayne goes to college. Just know I love you so much and I always will. Never forget that, my love.”

Eddie turned to look at you, not even surprised to see the mess you’d become. Tears streaked your cheeks and you were holding in a sob that kept trying to escape.

“E-Eddie…” you say, leaning into him, finally letting it out with a little cry. “That was so sweet. I don’t even know what to say.”

Eddie kisses the crown of your head before resting his cheek against it.

“You don’t have to say anything. I already know how you feel. You make sure I know it every day. This is just my own way of saying thank you.”

You held your baby tight in your arms, suddenly overwhelmed at the life you’d been given. The man next to you loved you and you loved him. You were going to get married and spend the rest of your days together. As a family.

thank you all so much for reading!

[m00nchildwrites]

Rafayel if you got a kitten- headcanon

If you got a cat, 100% Rafayel would act absolutely betrayed at first. However, after the cat Butler event, we know that he is capable of being around them, getting along with them, and even in his own way, liking them. Although he would absolutely die before he ever admitted that.

So I have a headcanon. If you were to get a cat at first, he would say that it was a betrayal - that you were choosing cats over fishies. He would be super dramatic about it, an absolute pouty baby. When you ask him if he can watch the kitten while you are on missions lasting more than 1 day, at first he acts as though you're taking advantage of him and his soft spot for you and inviting in a dangerous monster into his home without any care for his safety or Reddie's safety. When you say never mind, you'll ask someone else. He scoffs and says, of course, he'll watch the little beastie ( the nickname he's taken to calling it). He is your boyfriend, after all. You can rely on him, but tells you which flowers to lay on his grave and what song to play at his funeral. And that you owe him extra cuddles for the trauma.

But after the first week, you catch the cat sniffing his fingers, and this time, instead of pulling away in revulsion, he freezes cautiously, and let's it happen.

You lean against the wall, a small smile playing at your lips, "Caught you in 3D, Raffie."

He jolts as though caught doing something scandalous, which to him, you guess he had.

"What! No! Now hold on, cutie," he stands brushing himself off, "Let's not get any wild ideas. I was merely testing Beastie to see if he'd take a bite if tempted."

You sigh shaking your head before going to press a kiss to your silly boyfriend's cheek, "Raf, I am not naming my kitten Beastie."

He leans into your kiss before pouting as you pull away to lean down and give your kitten pets hello. Rafayel crosses his arms, "I don't see why not. It fits the little beast."

"Raf."

The next week, you witnessed the same thing unfold, but this time hesitantly, slowly, cautiously as if approaching a wild beast that might snap at any moment, his long slender fingers extend and carefully, gently, just barely graze the top of the cat's head. Barely enough to be considered a pet, but the cat closes its eyes and purrs happily either way. Rafayel freezes, and then let's add a little snort and moves away as if offended or disgusted, but you know, it's just a front. You caught the tiniest of smiles on your boyfriend's lovely face before he remembered himself and went back to his act.

Then, as though suddenly overnight, you come to pick up your kitten, only to find it purring happily at Rafayel's feet as he stands or walks about his studio. Or you find it sitting on a ladder that he pulled up next to his as he paints on a large canvas, purring as it watches his brush move across the canvas. You catch him talking to it, asking it advice on colors, and then scalding its reply in an imaginary conversation. Your beloved boyfriend gesturing animatedly, flinging flecks of paint from his brush as he does, as your kitten sits next to him and slow blinks. Rafayel freezes, arms midair, and stares a strange mix of scandalized and touched all over his face. He drops his arms and stares back at the cat and then slowly, blinks back. When the kitten then let's out a happy chirrup before noticing you and running over, Rafayel runs over to you too eyes lit up.

"Do you realize what just happened, cutie?" He asks as he picks you up slightly and spins you in a hug in greeting. "I read in a book that slow blinking is a cats way to say they love you. I'm a real hero for fishies everywhere, cutie. I've gotten a cat on our side. He is practically a cat-fish now, yeah? Our little beastie loves me, cutie."

You giggle, arms wrapping around his neck as his excitement fills your with warm, "But I thought all cats were evil monsters? Are you sure the fishies will think you are a hero and not a traitor?" You tease.

He scoffs and sets you down, "I'm the God of the Sea. If I say Beastie is okay then he is okay."

The following week you finally had a few days off. Packing up your things you and Beastie (yes the name stuck) headed over to Whitesands Bay for a few days spent with Rafayel. Upon arriving, you grabbed the few boxes that had been delivered and dropped at the door and headed inside with Beastie walking obediently on his harnessed behind you. Rafayel had been especially proud of harness training you're a little kitten. After all, he needed a way to safely let him have walks on the beach without risking his safety.

Upon entering, you were swept into a hug by your excited boyfriend, who showered your cheeks and face with kisses, "Finally, cutie! I thought I was gonna dry up like a starfish left out in the sun before you got here."

You give him a loving kiss on his lips with a giggle, "Silly Fishie, I told you I had to finish laundry first. But we are here! Oh, these were on your steps." You hand him the small packages.

Rafayel's eyes light up, " Oh, excellent, they came in just in time. Grab Beastie and come in here," he leads you both to his couch. "I got these custom made!" Opening the smallest package, he takes out a small blue collar. It was lovely. The material looked like repurposed kimono silk, and the little golden tag dangling from it was shaped like Reddie. On the tag read, Beastie, in a beautiful font.

"Oh Raf! It's so cute!"

"Of course it is, I designed it," he preens under your praise.

Beastie seemed to enjoy his new collar very much, as well as his scallop shaped pillow bed that had been in the other package.

"Just wait until the rest arrives!" Rafayel grins.

The following day, you and Rafayel and Beastie were in the front yard of his studio home letting Beastie play in the grass when a delivery guy arrived. You watched in dumbfounded amazement at the sheer number of packages and boxes he was struggling to unload. You could hear his grumbling from the flowerbed where your picnic blanket was laid out.

Rafayel stood to help the poor soul who was fighting with the Gate and now walking up the path to the door. He failed to see the pair of you apparently, because when Beastie ran up to him and meowed a greeting, the delivery guy kicked out his foot pushing him away with a snarl, "Get back you pest!"

Rafayel was there in a second, eyes blazing and dangerously sharp as he scooped up Beastie, cradling him to his chest protectively, "Don't talk to my fur son that way."

As the delivery guy bowed and rained apologies, you don't think you've ever been more in love with Rafayel than at this moment.

"Fur son, huh?" You grin as the three of you snuggle into the couch a mid an array of opened packages, cat trees and treat and toys.

He huffs, head resting in your lap, Beastie asleep on his chest, your hand in Rafayel's hair and his hand scratching gentling behind the purring sleeping kittens ear, "Obviously. We are a family, cutie. Might as well get used to that."

You smiled, butterflies let loose in your stomach, "I think I can get used to that."

[moonyswifee]

Nemesis and Tutors

Remus Lupin x fem!reader [part 3]

summary: enemies to lovers, full moon week. remus is pretty exhausted, snape and avery being jerks like always.

warnings: violence, swearing, fluff, banter, she/her pronouns used for reader, mentions of blood and injuries, use of wizard blood slurs.

word count: 1.5k words

a/n: hi lovelies, i knoww this part is late, so sorry to all the people who wanted a part 3, but here it is! sorry i couldn't write it sooner, i have been so busy lol. i have had such a bad writer's block, i could not come up with good ideas for the plot at all. i had this idea, and i think its pretty good, but hope you all like it!!

part 1 | part 2 | part 3

-------

You return back to your dorm, your mind still reeling. What the hell was that? You did not know why you were suddenly feeling this way, and more than that, you definitely did not know why you were feeling this towards your sworn nemesis, Remus freaking Lupin.

Those were just feelings…of annoyance. That’s it. Nothing, nothing more than that. You sigh heavily and dump your bag on your bed.

Lily looks up from her bed as you enter. “Hey, how was tutoring? By the way, I got us those ginger cookies that were out of stock”

You shrug absentmindedly. “Eh.”

Lily chuckles softly and shakes her head, the response valid from you. She leans back on her bed, flipping through her book. “Was Remus terrible, then?” She asks teasingly.

You blink and look away, your heart skipping a beat at the name. “What? Why would I care what Remus was like? I mean-" You scoff a small nervous laugh. “Remus can just like, go missing, for all I care. Like, I just hate him, you know, I hate his guts. That man is intolerable. Completely and utterly infuriating. Did I mention I hate him?” You blabber defensively, almost like you were trying to convince yourself that you hated him.

Lily blinks and furrows her eyebrows in confusion and surprise. “Oookay? Are you okay?” She asks in concern.

You nod with a wide grin. “Me? I’m fine- I am. I am just…amazing. Why, how are you?” You say with a nervous laugh.

Lily narrow her eyes, and looks at you with a tilted head. “Why did you get so…defensive when I mentioned Remus?” She asks in amusement.

You huff. “Because…I hate him. Yep. I. Hate. Him.”

Lily nods slowly, with a slight smirk and goes back to reading. You’re relieved Lily seems to have dropped the subject. You walk inside the shared bathroom, sighing.

Lily calls out from the bed, still looking down at her book. “Do you like him?” She asks with a knowing smirk.

The bathroom door opens so fast it might have broken. “WHAT?”

You look at her with a horrid expression. “Why would you say that? I hate Remus, I don’t like him, Jesus.”

Lily smirks up at you triumphantly. “I never said anything about Remus.”

You groan and face palm yourself. How did you fall for that one? Lily, unbeknownst to your agony, sits up in bed and looks at you with the most excited grin. “Oh my god! Do you have feelings for Remus?”

You huff and narrow your eyes, pointing a threatening finger at her. “I don’t have feelings for Remus.” You grimace. “The only feelings I have for Remus are hatred. Pure hatred. And anger. And frustration. And infuriation. Is that a word? Is infuriation a word?” You ask, threatening finger still pointed.

“Yes, it’s a word.”

“Great! That is exactly what I feel for him, then.”

Lily puts her hands up in defense, smiling. “Okay. You hate him. I got it.”

You huff. “Good. Now where are those cookies?"

-----------

The next time you saw Remus, he looked as pale as a ghost. There were deep bags under his eyes and he looked like he could pass out any moment.

You knew why it was. It was the week of the full moon, and those days had to be hard. You would know, you had read all about lycanthropy the day you found out about Remus. Out of pure curiosity and thirst for knowledge, of course. You found yourself almost concerned for him, in a sense. You weren’t one to empathize with Remus, but you weren’t made of cold stone, either.

You sit down, late as always, on the desk next to him. Remus sits up, wincing slightly, and opens his books. “Where did we leave off last time?”

You open your books and show him the last topic. You look at his tired expression. “You’re not going to lecture me this time? Scold me for being late?”

Remus sighs and closes his eyes for a moment before opening them again, looking at his book. His head was bursting. “Not really. Sorry to deprive you of the pleasure.”

You narrow your eyes at him and start working. You look at Remus as he explains the topic to you, and you almost feel bad, listening to him drawl on about the effects of Veritaserum.

His eyes are tired and his face is pale. The brightness in his expression is gone. You find yourself thinking how unfair it is, for someone innocent to be affected so much by something that wasn’t even their fault. You almost feel yourself pitying him, stuck in this library and teaching you Potions. But you know Remus would never want pity. He’s just not like that. It’s the one thing you can bring yourself to admire about him.

As you study, you try to keep to yourself as much, to not bother him. Not because you care, but because you don’t want to get into an argument.

After a while, you hear hushed (or not so hushed) voices from the other side of bookshelf. The voices snicker quietly. “I would be embarrassed if I was him.”

You distinctly recognize the voices as Snape and Avery’s. The library is quiet, and you and Remus can hear every word they are saying.

“Yeah, always hanging out with those two arrogant pricks like their lapdog. I can bet they only keep him around because they feel bad for him.”

“And have you seen his face? It’s all scratched up, like some scary monster. He’s such a freak.” They snicker.

Remus feels his entire face heat up, and looks down at his book. Normally, he would say something, stand up for himself. But, he was too exhausted to even stand up right now. You notice Remus’ embarrassed gaze on his book, and your hands clench subconsciously. Why wasn’t he saying anything?

Avery snickers, “Must run in his blood. I mean, what would you expect after his father married that filthy muggle?”

Snape continues, “No wonder he doesn’t hang out with many people. I don’t know why Lily goes near him, anyways. Hanging out with Half-bloods like that Lupin. Serves her right for being a mudblood, I guess.”

That was the last straw. With a loud scrape of chairs, Remus and you both got up. Before Remus could make his way to them, however, you had already beat him to that. You stood with your hands clenched into tight fists and a death glare fixed on the two slytherin boys.

“What did you say?” You ask dangerously, your jaw tightened.

Avery and Snape faltered beneath your stare but retorted back, “You heard what we said. He’s a lousy, fucking filthy Half-blood who can’t keep his mouth sh-"

A sickening crack was heard as Snape was cut off with the courtesy of your fist to his crooked nose. He groaned in pain, clutching his nose. Remus stood with his eyes widened, his gaze fixed on you. Was this a dream? Had you really defended Remus? Had you just punched someone for him? He almost felt surprised at the little flutter his heart did.

You lean down, your glaring eyes level with Snape, who was still holding his bleeding nose. “No one gets to talk about him like that except for me.” You say, in a threatening dangerous voice. Remus would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little intimidated by you himself, as he watched with his mouth gaping.

You stand back up, and Snape and Avery scuttle out of their seats, running away from there as fast as they can. As they leave, you shake your hand slightly, wincing as you look down at your now injured knuckles.

Remus stands there speechless for a moment before he finds his voice again. “I didn’t know you could throw a punch like that.”

You grimace at you hand and look at him. “Well, there’s plenty you don’t know about me, Lupin.” You say, but there’s no real hindrance in your voice, only a weird gentleness and concern in your expression.

You both stand in silence for a while. “Thank you.” Remus says sincerely. “For…doing that.” He’s touched albeit a little awkward. Who knew Remus Lupin would be thanking you one day?

You didn’t, that’s for sure. You blink at him, caught slightly off guard by his gratefulness. You look away, flexing your hand. “ Yeah, well…He was saying stuff about Lily, too.” You say attempting to be as nonchalant as you can with your knuckles bleeding from punching a guy in defense of Remus.

Remus nods, looking at your hand. “You should, um…You should probably get that cleaned up.”

You huff slightly with a slight smile. “By Pomfrey? No way. She’s scolded me far too much for scraped knuckles and bleeding noses. I would never hear the end of it.”

Remus finds himself chuckling slightly at your statement. “I could help.” Remus offers casually.

You look at him, surprised by his offer. “What?”

He blinks. “Oh, I mean…I um, I have some experience with…this stuff.” He says, gesturing vaguely to your scraped fingers. “I just…I could clean that up. I mean, I kind of owe you now.” He shrugs.

You nod slowly, looking thoughtful on the outside. “You do owe me. Okay, fine. How do I know you’re not just taking me to your dorm to murder me in cold blood?”

Remus rolls his eyes with a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “Ha-ha. Very funny. I still hate you. Come on, smart-ass.”

You smirk slightly as you both pick up your bags and make your way out of the library. “Yeah, I know. I hate you, too.” Your heart felt otherwise. You sigh quietly.

This was going to be one long night.

-----------

thank you so much for reading!! ♡ let me know if you want to be added or removed from the taglist!

taglist:

@boromoony @blueikky @daydreamandforget @lupinzlover @cinnamongirlmmaya

[lesbianherald]

if you are comfortable with sharing that first draft, please do! I would absolutely love to see it, very curious to know how it all started!!

So - this is re: the first kiss in coming home, which is the first scene I wrote/inspired the whole fic! I offered to share the first draft of it this morning under an ask about writing and process.

Sometimes I have to jump ahead and write scenes I'm really excited about, because often they will jump into my brain and just circle and circle like food in a microwave. Then I use those scenes to prompt some of the rest of the story

For instance - I knew they needed to reconcile over something big - but the actual details of what happened between them and why I was completely unclear of.

things like "i should have kissed you that night in the snow" just sounded cool to me. so I got ideas for flashbacks in this too.

disclaimers - this is bad. i am not sharing this because I think its good but because I think its interesting, especially in terms of what I kept...

and there's a ton of notes to myself. little question marks. and this (//) which usually is just shorthand for I hate what i just wrote but I'm plowing forward anyways.

I redacted a few sentences that were just... too excruciating to publish, but I'll keep everything else the same.

Start

Jayce’s heart is thundering in his ears. Viktor’s expression isn’t one he’s seen before. Never. 

“But you - I can’t - and - eh (??),” Viktor tries. Jayce decides to take a step forward. Viktor stays where he is. He’s so close to Viktor. He can see he has a little freckle in his eye. 

And oh, no.  It’s all flooding out of him. “I was so stupid,” Jayce says. “So, so stupid. I should have just talked to you. I shouldn’t have trusted Noxus(??). I should have listened more and I should have acted less and-“ I should have kissed you, that night in the snow. “I should have done so much that I just - didn’t. I took your work. Our work. Something that was supposed to be helpful, and I almost - I almost hurt people. And I was so Naive and you were everything to me and -” 

He’s never wanted to admit that. Ever. Ever. Viktor’s eyes are wide. Full of emotion. And Jayce feels a glimmer of something like hope //. And he’s babbling like a baby. He can’t stop himself. He’s always been bad. At reigning himself in. And he’s done it so much with Viktor it aches and he can’t take it anymore (////////ugh girl). 

“I don’t need the credit. I already had my day in the sun. And I know it’s too late to ever go back to how it was. But god, I want to make something beautiful with you again. And I’m sorry I was so awful when you first showed up. And I’m sorry I yelled at you in the lab and called you selfish- And I’m sorry I -“ 

Viktor’s hands are on his face. Wiping at his eyes. He makes small, soothing little shushing noises. And he’s so close Jace can feel them on his cheek. And he’s hoping and hoping and please god please and then Viktor is kissing him. And its everything yet Jayce immediately needs more and more and more of him. Hands clutching him tightly as if he might escape between his fingers. A desperate pressure. 

Jayce makes a small, desperate whine that he didn’t even know he could make // and deepens the kiss, pressing Viktor’s body to his. {REDACTED} He feels along the soft hair on the back of Viktor’s neck. {REDACTED} He’s so soft and he smells like laundry detergent and paper. 

And Viktors hands start to shake. Jayce pulls apart from him for a second. He kisses the mole on his cheekbone. By his lips. He utters a hushed and desperate “I missed you,” before he knows what he’s saying. “I missed you so much” uttered between kisses. And he hates the sound of his voice right now. High and desperate and on the verge of breaking. 

Viktor pulls apart from him. He studies Jayce as if he’s struggling to comprehend him. He gently strokes his thumb along Jayces cheekbone. Jayce pulls Viktor into a hug. His lithe body fitting perfectly in the space between his arms and Jayce is no creationist but it’s like he was made to fit there. Something holy. Jayce kisses where Viktor’s neck meets his shoulders. 

Viktor draws in a shuddering breath. Runs a soothing hand through Jayce’s hair. And Jayce needs more of him. He needs to inhale him and fit him back in the spot in his ribcage that’s been vacant and bleeding since he left. He wants to never let this go again. {REDACTED}. 

“Hey,” Viktor says, “Hey. Jayce. It’s okay. Look at me.” 

Jayce looks at him. Viktor hovers over him. His hands on Jayce’s face. He’s never seen Viktor look like this. Like he’s overcome. And he’s so beautiful.

“Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay, Jayce. Look at me. Look at me. I’m here.” Jayce can’t help the agonized, shaky breath he lets in. [REDACTED] Viktor wraps Jayce in his arms. Jayce holds him there. Feeling Viktor’s shoulder blades. His back. He doesn’t know if it's Viktor that’s shaking or if it's him //. 

“Breathe,” Viktor says, placing a kiss to Jayce’s temple. Jayce buries his head in Viktor’s shoulder. He lets himself breathe. Lets himself take in the smell of Viktor’s laundry detergent. The sweet salt of his skin. Viktor strokes his fingers through Jayce’s hair. Jayce takes a moment to take it in. “I’m sorry,” Jayce says. “I’m so... stupid emotional. I can’t even -“ 

“I’ve always liked that about you,” Viktor says. “You have a big heart, metaphorically speaking.” Jayce kisses the mole on Viktor’s neck then finally lets himself look at him. Viktor’s looking at him with an unbearable amount of affection.

Jayce kisses him again. Slowly this time. Letting himself savor every second. Kisses him deeply. Moving carefully. He parts for air. Goes in for another. Another. Another. And Viktor is so shockingly soft. From his lips to his little sighs to the hand he has placed on the back of Jayce’s neck. Viktor is the one to deepen the next kiss. Swiping his tongue against Jayces bottom lip. 

“Let me take you home,” Jayce whispers into his neck. “Please.” 

Viktor shivers underneath him. 

“Yes,” he says, kissing the top of Jayce’s head. Viktor is looking him like that. Jayce takes a moment to soak it in, that look. Burn it into his memory. 

“What are you waiting for?” Viktor asks. “Go get the car.” 

[END]

[kathlare]

fruitcake

Lando Norris x Amelie Dayman

Summary: Amelie celebrates the release of her Christmas EP, fruitcake, as social media erupts with excitement over her new music. Amid the celebrations, she receives a thoughtful gift from Lando, filled with playful teasing and a touch of nostalgia.

Wordcount: 1.6 k

Warnings: none

full masterlist // request over here!

November 17th, 2023 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

liked by alex_albon, landonorris, and others

ameliedayman: fruitcake is officially out now ❤️ just sayin i never seen Santa Claus and Amelie Dayman in the same room

View all 1,382 comments

fanofamelie: FRUITCAKE SEASON IS HERE!!! 🎄🍰 → jinglebells23: @fanofamelie this is my religion now.

stelladayman: Can confirm the whole fam is playing this on repeat 🎶❤️ → amelieangel: @stelladayman as you SHOULD queen.

landonorris: Solid. → f1dramaqueen: @landonorris SOLID??????? AFTER ALL THESE YEARS THIS IS WHAT U SAY??????? 😭💀

mayaboyce: Cameron would’ve LOVED this. 🕊️❤️ So proud of you always. → sweetamelie: @mayaboyce brb crying in the club.

landosnumberonefan: LANDO COMMENTED. EVERYONE STAY CALM. → f1gossipqueen: @landosnumberonefan I’M NOT CALM. I’M LOSING IT. → f1dramaqueen: @landosnumberonefan I AM LITERALLY SHAKING.

madisonbeer: Fruity & festive. Just like you. 💅 → ameliedayman: @madisonbeer Takes one to know one 😘

jackdayman: Mom is already making us listen to it 24/7. → ameliedayman: @jackdayman As she should. Queen behavior.

f1chaos: Nah bc Lando actually COMMENTED?? After YEARS?? → pitlaneprincess: @f1chaos they think we won’t notice but we DID.

connorjessup: Christmas just got gayer, thank you queen 🎄🏳️‍🌈 → ameliedayman: @connorjessup My Christmas mission = ACCOMPLISHED 🎅✨

ameliefanforever: The way this EP is about to carry the holiday season on its back 🎄🔥

pitstopdrama: LANDO COMMENTING??? THEY’RE SO OBVIOUS OMG.

georgerussell63: Carmen won’t stop playing this, send help. → ameliedayman: @georgerussell63 No help is coming. Embrace the festive chaos.

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

The warm Rio de Janeiro breeze slipped through the slightly open balcony doors, filling the hotel suite with the salty scent of the ocean. The city buzzed below, neon lights flickering against the darkening sky, but inside, it was quiet—except for the soft hum of a song playing from Amelie's speaker.

She was sprawled across the plush white couch, her phone in hand, scrolling through the endless stream of messages and notifications. Her Christmas EP, fruitcake, had just dropped, and social media was ablaze with reactions. Fans were gushing over the nostalgic, dreamy melodies and bittersweet lyrics, dissecting every line, every note, every hidden meaning.

But before she could lose herself in reading all the comments, a knock at the door pulled her attention.

She pushed herself up, frowning slightly. It wasn’t like she was expecting anything. She padded across the marble floor, pulling open the door to find a hotel staff member standing there, holding a massive bouquet of deep red and ivory roses.

Her heart stuttered.

—Miss Dayman, these just arrived for you.— The man offered her a kind smile as he handed them over.

—Oh… wow. Thank you.— She took the bouquet carefully, stepping back into the room, the scent of fresh flowers filling the air as she shut the door behind her.

She stared at the flowers for a moment, her fingers tightening around the velvety petals. They were stunning—thoughtfully arranged, wrapped in elegant paper, tied with a delicate ribbon.

Her stomach did a little flip as she set them down on the table and searched for a card. Because she knew. She just knew.

And there it was, tucked neatly between the roses—a small, cream-colored envelope with her name written in familiar, slightly messy handwriting. Her lips curled into a soft smile as she unfolded the note.

Merry (early) Christmas, Ames. Just because. I know you're busy, but don’t forget to take a breath and enjoy it. You deserve this. Also, I still think ‘Santa Doesn’t Know You Like I Do’ is about me, and I demand an explanation. Miss you. Love, Lan.

Amelie let out a breathy laugh, her cheeks warming. Of course, he’d say that.

Lando had been teasing her about that song ever since he’d heard the first demo. It was playful, a little cocky, full of the kind of longing that only someone who really knew her could understand. And now, with this note and these flowers, he was making sure she knew he understood.

Her fingers traced the words, rereading them once, twice. Miss you.

God, she missed him too.

She glanced at her phone on the couch, considering calling him, but the speakers were still playing, filling the room with the soft intro of Santa Doesn’t Know You Like I Do.

A mischievous idea sparked in her mind.

Grinning, she grabbed the remote and turned up the volume, the warm, dreamy melody washing over the room. Without thinking, she twirled the note between her fingers before setting it aside and stepping barefoot onto the smooth floor.

And then, she just… let go.

She started swaying to the music, arms lifting as she spun in slow circles, the silk of her oversized pajama shirt fluttering around her thighs. Her curls bounced with every movement, her laughter slipping past her lips as she moved to the rhythm.

The song felt different now. More real, more theirs.

Amelie threw her head back, spinning again, the warm air from the balcony making her feel weightless. She danced like she was seventeen again, like she was in love for the first time, like she had no worries beyond the music and the way her heart was beating out of her chest.

Still twirling, she grabbed her phone off the couch and, without hesitation, pressed the call button. It rang twice before his voice came through, slightly groggy but laced with amusement.

—To what do I owe this pleasure?— Lando’s voice was teasing, but there was warmth there too, the kind that made her heart squeeze.

—You’re ridiculous,— she said breathlessly, still spinning. —And you’re so full of yourself. This song is not about you.—

Lando scoffed. —Bollocks. It's definitely about me.—

She could hear the smug grin in his voice, and it only made her laugh harder.

—You wish it was about you.—

—Ames, come on.— He stretched out her name, a whiny little pout in his tone. —You think some random guy out there knows you better than I do?—

She rolled her eyes but couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

—You’re in Las Vegas. Why are you even awake?— she asked, dodging the question, pressing the phone between her ear and shoulder as she kept dancing.

—Jet lag. And I might’ve been waiting for you to call,— he admitted easily.

She stopped moving, her breath catching for a second.

—Oh.—

Lando chuckled softly. —Yeah. Oh.—

The silence stretched between them, not awkward, just there. The kind of silence that felt full of something unsaid.

She exhaled, playing with the hem of her shirt.

—The flowers are beautiful,— she murmured. —Thank you.—

—Anything for you, Ames.— His voice was softer now, quieter.

She sat on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest, the song still playing faintly in the background.

—Lan?—

—Mhm?—

She hesitated, chewing her bottom lip.

—Do you ever think about how we ended up here?— she asked.

—All the time.— His answer was immediate. No hesitation.

Her throat tightened.

—Do you think we got it right this time?—

There was a pause, then a deep inhale from his side.

—Yeah, Ames. I do.—

She let that sink in, the warmth of his words settling deep in her chest.

—Me too.—

For a moment, they just sat there, half a world apart, connected by nothing but a phone line and the kind of love that had taken its time finding its way back.

And for the first time in a long time, Amelie wasn’t afraid of where this would go. Because maybe, just maybe, they had finally figured it out.

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

[avatarloverfrfr]

Carbon Copy

Neytiri x daughetr!Reader; Jake x daughter!Reader; Sully Family x Child!Reader

Chapter 1: The Birth of Y/n.

Masterlist

Previous: [prologue]

Summary:Despite leaving their homeland, Y/n holds onto her mother's values. However, tragedy strikes with Neteyam's death, shattering Y/n's innocence and sparking a raging fury within her, forever changing her carefree spirit

But the most dangerous thing about Pandora, is that you may grow to love her too much. We sing the songcords to remember. Each bead, a story in our life. A bead for the birth of our son, Neteyam. A bead for when we adopted our daughter, Kiri. Born of Grace's avatar. A daughter whose conception is a total mystery. A bead for the first communion with Eywa.

The people say, "We live in Eywa, and Eywa lives in us." The great mother holds all her children in her heart.

Neytiri POV

"Breathe ma'ite. You are almost there." Mo'at says as she kneels on the woven mat next to me, her presence strong and encouraging. The fire lit near us flickering across her face, her golden eyes fierce yet tender as she presses a firm hand against my belly, guiding me with her knowledge.

Jake is beside me, his hands gripping mine, his breath uneven, whispering reassuring words in between my groans that escape my lips.

"I'm right here. I've got you."

The elder women of the clan surround us, their voices a gentle hum, their hands soothing against my skin. They've all done this before-- brought life into this before, felt the same fire. I am not alone.

The pain does not care about my thoughts. It consumes me, raw and unyielding as my body trembles. A guttural cry rips from my throat then--

A cry.

High and piercing, fragile and alive.

My chest heaves as I collapse back against Jake, my body shaking, exhausted-- but my heart races for a different reason now. The world slows, my ears ring. Suddenly Mo'at lifts her up so I could see her.

Tiny. Blue and soft. The room goes still as she takes her first breath, her small cries filling the kelku around us like a song.

Mo'at brings her toward my arms, my body moves before my mind can catch up. My hands, still trembling reach for her, pulling her close to my chest. ma'Y/n. My daughter.

"ma'ite..." I whisper as I tune out everyone else and put all my focus on Y/n. Breathing in her scent.

I press my lips to her damp forehead, my tears mixing with the warmth of her skin. She nuzzles into me, her tiny face pressing against my collarbone, her breathing uneven but there. I stare down at her-- the curve of her nose, the shape of her lips, the softness of her ears. She is mine. She is me.

Beside me, Jake lets out a shaky breath, his eyes wide, mouth slightly parted in awe. His hands tremble as they trace the side of her little face. "She's perfect," he whispers, voice raw thick with emotion. Something that the Olo'eyktan doesn't show often.

Then I see it. Her fingers curl against my skin- four small, perfect fingers. Four toes.

Like me.

Like Neteyam.

Tears blur my vision as I cradle her closer, pressing my forehead to hers. She whimpers, her little body shifting in my arms, searching for warmth. My heart swells so much I fear it may burst.

"Oel ngati kameie." I whisper, my voice cracking as I see her-- not just with my eyes, but with my soul.

She stirs, pressing her tiny nose against my skin, nuzzling into me as if she already knows. As though Eywa brought me a a friend that I've known for my whole life.

I laugh-- soft, breathless, overwhelmed with love.

Jake presses a kiss to my temple, his hand cradling both me and our daughter. The warmth of the room, the voices of the people, the heartbeat of the world around us, it all fades. In this moment, it is just us.

Just me and ma'Y/n.

The flap of the kelku rustles and I hear the patter of small feet.

"Sa'nok! Is she here?" Neteyam's voice is high and excited, filled with energy only a five year old can have.

I lift my head as my eldest son runs in, his eyes wide with wonder. Behind him, Kiri and Lo'ak stumble in, their little faces filled with curiosity.

"Come," Mo'at beckons softly, as I shift Y/n in my arms.

Neteyam reaches me first, his big golden eyes locked onto the tiny bundle in my arms. He crouches besides me, his small fingers reaching out hesitantly as he whispers.

"She looks just like you, sa'nok," he said smiling at me, tracing his finger over her cheek. His tail flicking behind him, his ears twitching with excitement.

Kiri steps closer, peering over my arm, her little hands clasp together. "She is so small... like Lo'ak." she whispers with a small as Lo'ak lets out a annoyed huff. Then her eyes flick to Y/n's hands, and her brows furrow. "She has four fingers too, like you and 'Teyam."

Lo'ak curiously squeezes in between them, peering at his new sister. "Why does she have four fingers, but me and Kiri has five?" he asks inoccently tilting his head. "Is she like sempu?"

Jake chuckles from beside me, ruffling Lo'ak's braids. "You and Kiri are like me, and Neteyam and Y/n are like your sa'nok.

Neteyam beams with pride, puffing out his tiny chest, "That means she's like me!" He grins, looking down at Y/n with even more excitement. "She's my tsmukU!"

I watch as my children take turns touching Y/n's tiny hands, whispering soft greeting to her, welcoming her into our world. My heart swells at the sight-- my family, all together, surrounding this little life Eywa has blessed us with.

Kiri rests her head against my arm, staring at her new sister with quiet admiration. "She looks just like you, sa'nok." she murmurs, her voice soft with wonder. "She has your face."

I smile, brushing my fingers over Y/n's cheek. "She is a gift from Eywa."

Lo'ak giggles suddenly, leaning in close to his sister. "She's so tiny!" He pokes at her little toes, making her stir slightly in my arms. "I think she likes me already."

Neteyam huffs, crossing his arms. "She likes me more." he insists, his tail flicking as he stares down at her protectively. "I will always protect her."

My heart clenches at the twos words, at the love in their young voices.

"She will need all of you," I say gently, looking at each of my children. "She will need her brothers and her sister. You must always be there for her, always keep her safe."

Jake reaches over, wrapping an arm around all of them. "We will." he says, "She is a Sully. Sully's stick together."

My eyes fall to Y/n, still pressed against my chest, her small body rising and falling with each breath. She is so peaceful, so perfect. A gift from Eywa herself.

"Ma'ite," I whisper. "You are home."

Chapter 2: Demons.

hey yall im so sorry, all these promises of updating but i dont. Well.. Sully Siblings will definitely be next, i think😛

Taglist:

@neytirismissingtoe , @ikeyniofthetayrangi ; @fluorynn

[mokki-tea]

Artfight is coming!

I feel it in my bones! Did you see the team reveals??? I'm so excited! Gifting art is my love language, and boy-oh-boy I have a lot of love to share! Find me under the username Mokki~

[elegyofthemoon]

can someone remind me to write up my thoughts about gallagher and the enigmata later or at least compile them somewhere i want to share it but also my Goodness i am sleepy as heck today and i have work tonight 😔

[slimeciclecock]

Forgive me for the person I'll become when Missa releases all his new music <- delusional

[skitskatdacat63]

Sorry guys for being completely unhinged this weekend 🙏 but I can't help it and I refuse to be normal about it

[ajdrawshq]

Is there any non-spoilery way you could talk about how isat isn't just about timeloops? because like I do want to check the game out eventually for sure if only because indie fun times but I'm busy for a while before I get the time and tbh I'm just not as curious because I don't know how it's gonna break that formula (also ngl no colors makes me lose 50% interest because I like. looking at colors. lots.)

UHM OK WELL UM. hm. how DO i do this without spoiling anything. im very not good at describing things especially things i Really enjoy so how do i put this . hold on i might need to look at some reviews so i know how to words. ok

as a disclaimer i havent fully interacted with a lot of (if any??) media that has timeloops so i cant say for certain what it does differently from similar media that makes it stand out from others. at the same time ive never seen something that is so directly About Timeloops in this way even if i consider stuff ive heard about in passing but i could be wrong (madoka n utena come to mind ?). ill try to think abt the things that arent Just timeloop related plus the stuff u mentioned and hope that helps it feel more interesting and less generic?

i think one of the main things i can say is that it Really makes you feel what the protagonist is feeling. more than anything ive ever watched or played or whatever . and thats saying a LOT given how much i empathize with protags in games. and its not even just an empathy thing here. both the story progression and the gameplay work in such a way that you experience pretty much everything the same way they do, while still having their own personal stuff u can learn about of course

on that note tho. that is actually something to be careful of for a few reasons. i know ur generally pretty good with darker content so i doubt thatll be a problem for u here (its not that bad tbh but there is IS a warning when u open the game/look at the steam page and it aint lying) but. due to the nature of timeloops. it CAN get tiring and this is very much intended. and this helps a lot w the story and themes in a way that its. like. think how kh days does repetition on purpose. its a lot like that (although i had way easier of a time getting thru isat than days? i cant remember how u feel abt days' gameplay but i think it was positive ? either way getting thru isat was way more bearable than days imo). it does do a good job at balancing this with a couple mechanics that mean u dont have to repeat everything all the time (i had like. Very few actual full loops by the time i finished) and theres ALWAYS new things happening, even if ur super thorough with everything. its pretty easy to do things at whatever pace u feel like and if u wanna focus on the main story only to make it easier it wouldnt take too much away from the experience (tho i do encourage talking to the npcs at least a few times), and theres always a goal to work towards. also dialogue skipping and the banana peel are ur best friends

sort of adding onto that. it really, really helps that u are sharing the experience with the protagonist. not only does that help u relate to them (even if u dont share as many traits w them as i do akvdjsn) but theyre probably the most beloved character in the game and for good reason!! its really fun to see their interactions with the rest of the main cast and the npcs, and watch them all develop in different ways throughout the game. and my goodness all of the characters are beautifully written - at first ur kinda thinking ok its a ragtag group of sillies in an rpg whats new. but their personalities and relationships and hobbies and problems and everything about them is just so well done.. they feel so natural. human even. every conversation feels real to me. one of the main themes of the game is the concept of change, and each of them represent and approach it differently, both positively and negatively. its hard not to fall in love with them as individuals and as a group because they just have so much going on, even the ones i didnt expect to like at all!!

the worldbuilding is also a fun spin on fantasy rpg worlds. it mostly revolves around the area u play in bc well. of course it does. but its vv interesting to learn about all the different cultures within the world and how they interact with and build on the themes of the game. theres all sorts of queer stuff going on and its all handled like a love letter to people who relate, and i can feel it even with what i dont relate to at all!! the way "magic" works and the ways people use it in battle and everyday life is super cool too, makes the whole thing feel a lot more believable and realistic :3 i dont wanna talk abt any specifics bc its more fun to learn abt this stuff ingame

OH AND THE TEXT.. EFFECTS?.. idk what to call that but the way dialogue (both internal and external) is written and programmed is funky as hell (affectionate). it was weird at first bc oftentimes (mostly for humor) its like. almost the way i type actually?? which feels strange in a legit game but it Works. it works so well and adds tone and vibes and a Voice in a way u usually cant get in a game without any voice acting. deltarune is also good at that but this one does it differently enough for me to consider it unique

HAVE I MENTIONED THE ART STYLE i love the art style . its so charming and expressive especially all the talking sprites n battle portraits. simultaneously silly n adorable while fully capable of being serious. and creepy. anyway look at the sillies i love them n their designs dearly (especially Siffrin (1st on the left) and Mirabelle (2nd on the left))

also on that note, the lack of colors....... i both totally understand being put off by that (i also love looking at colors n this part made me feel weird abt it when i was thinking abt getting it at first) and personally enjoy it? without saying anything spoilery (bc its really not), its just another part of the worldbuilding and themes that i now find really fun :3 should be noted that i usually have an anti blue light filter so it mightve been easier to look at w the yellowish tint going on. maybe it even looks better that way ? kinda reminded me of old films now that i think abt it.. neat!!

as a last thing i couldnt quite insert somewhere else. it is equal parts a comedy and a tragedy, and it is so, so effective at accomplishing this. the humor is fantastic and adds to the games' and characters' personality, every tragic moment is . for lack of a better word or phrase. absolutely fucking delicious. and i adore how well it can shift from one to the other gradually or in an instant, or just be both at once!!!! yippee!!!!!!!

aaand thats all i can say. i have no idea if that cleared anything up BUT i encourage u to give it a try bc i do think youd like it in the end. u probably wouldnt finish it as fast as i did but that might be a good thing jfbskndj but yeah!!!! in stars and time!!!!!! its good and i love it!!!!!!!!

[lamefish]

when fratboy!satoru takes your virginity you kind of expect him to be an ass about it. he's cocky as it is, and has a habit of gassing himself up too much when it comes to his... skills in the bedroom. if you're not listening to him talk about how he's the strongest, you're listening to him talk about how he's the biggest.

being the only virgin of your friend group was starting to grate on you and... a small part of you might've wanted to find out if there's any bite to satoru's bark. it's not like the two of you were dating or anything, but you felt comfortable enough to walk up to him one day during lunch and ask, in front of his best friend:

"will you take my virginity?"

maybe you expected him to blush. or freeze up. or at least trip over his words. but instead, the stupid white-haired prick looked up at you with the most relaxed expression possible and shrugged.

"okay."

and that's how you ended up here, sitting criss-cross applesauce on his messy dorm-room bed with his tongue halfway down your throat. a few empty cans of beer and abandoned cheat sheets lay strewn over his floor, and you hate yourself for letting this be the backdrop of your entry into the sex-having life.

but you can’t hate yourself for long because as he runs a hand up your thigh and under your skirt, you start to feel more excited than you thought you’d feel. he pushes you back, slots his knee between your thighs and bites at your bottom lip before trailing down to your throat.

still, it’s satoru, so when he pushes your panties to the side and feels just how wet you are for him, he laughs. “you get this wet when you touch yourself or is all of this just for me?”

“shut up,” you groan as he nips at the skin of your throat and gently runs his finger through your folds and up to your clit. you’re surprised he knows where your clit is, even.

and he’s not wrong—you’ve never been wet like this before. you can feel just how damp the fabric of your panties are you as satoru pulls them down your thighs and hikes your skirt up to get a clearer look at your soaked cunt.

“pretty,” he licks his lips. “wannna taste her, that okay baby?”

his eyes search yours for consent and you’re stunned for a moment as he waits for ‘enthusiastic consent’. you didn’t expect this sort of check-in from a frat boy. your nod seems enthusiastic enough to him, but just for clarity—“use your words.”

“yes. please, gojo.”

“satoru,” he corrects you. “want to hear that name when you cum on my tongue. cant believe no ones tasted her before.”

the use of referring to your pussy as ‘her’ is odd but quickly overlooked when he delves into your pussy like he’s dehydrated. tongue flat against your heat just to flex and circle around your clit. he sucks and bites a little and pulls you to your first orgasm in nasty speeds.

you cum on his tongue whilst his eyes bore into yours from between your thighs. white hair pulled out of his face by your hand as you tug the strands in hopes that he’ll stop licking at your overstimulated clit. it takes until you’re shaking for him to finally pull back and free his angry cock from his pants.

you think you gasp when you see it. he said he was big but you didn’t think he was a truthful man in the slightest. his cock is so heavy it doesn’t even stand at full mast—it fights gravity. satoru sees the look on your face and instead of sporting a shit-eating grin like you expect, he climbs over you and presses a soft kiss to your forehead.

“let’s stop here?” he asks. “we could watch a movie. oooh what about die hard?”

you giggle, your nerves melting a little at his words. “i’m okay, i want this. i am not graduating as a virgin.”

satoru snorts and, after rolling a condom on, gently pries your legs apart enough for him to slot his wait in between them. he guides your ankles to link behind his back and slowly runs the tip of his cock through your slick folds. “tell me if you need me to stop,” he says. “just relax. i’ve got you, baby.”

you actually manage to relax a little, focus on the feeling of being stretched as satoru slowly pushes into you until his tip is completely hidden in your cunt. it’s uncomfortable, but not unbearable. “keep going.”

one of his long fingers dips down to rub soft circles over your clit to relax you a little more as he pushes deeper. you’ve never felt so full, so sore yet desperate for more… you wonder if it’s always going to feel like this, or if it’s just because satoru is the one breaking you open to find pleasure in your insides.

he lets out a pretty moan as he bottoms out inside of you, the weight of his heavy balls resting against your ass as he stills and catches your lips in a wet kiss. his tongue slips into your mouth, runs over your teeth and pushes against your tongue as he slowly draws out of you and then, with a grunt that you taste, snaps his hips forwards into you.

that hurts, but there’s an odd stitch of pleasure in the way he’s broken you open. “sorry,” he speaks against your lips. “it’s better that i just got it out of the way, it can start feeling real good soon. gonna make you cum on my cock, baby. you want that?”

you nod, eyes staring into his as your foreheads meet. satoru nods back, licking his lips and smiling. “yeah? you wanna be stuffed full, huh? always knew you were filthy. but i’m the only one that gets to see it.”

his arrogance pulls at your lips. “until i fuck the next guy.”

snap. his cock splits you open at that, and though you wince and screw your face us, you’re letting out moans made for porn too. his finger on your clit starts working a little faster as he draws back again just to drive into you even harder.

“no,” he dips his head down to bite at your neck. “not until you fuck the next guy. i mean you can try, baby, but it’s not happening.”

“ngh, what do you mean?”

another thrust into you sends you further up the bed. you’re sure you look a mess but satoru looks down at you with such wide blown eyes that you could be convinced you’re from the heavens. “not giving you up that easy,” he groans. “you know, i fucked someone last week just because they had your name. got to moan it without being slapped. again.”

your hand flies up to his chest, almost in an attempt to slow his now mean pace. “wait you—ngh god—you like me?”

“i’m far fucking past like,” he moans, hips starting to stutter. any discomfort has faded into glorious pleasure. your stomach starts to tighten again and you know you’re close enough that he’s going to try and time your orgasms. “you’re so perfect. so much better than i imagined.”

your eyes roll back a little at the thought of satoru fucking his fist late at night to the thought of you. how nonchalant he was when you asked him to take your virginity, you wonder if he went home last night and stroked himself to the sheer anticipation of being inside of you.

“satoru i’m gonna—”

he cuts you off with a deep kiss. it’s sex and want and lust, but it’s also soft in a way you can’t describe—maybe even a little anxious after his confession. it might just be his pending orgasm, but you swear his lips tremble between yours.

his cock throbs as he drills it into you, hits your most sensitive spot with every single thrust. it’s like he already has you mapped out, because you’re both cumming in tandem with each other before long.

a part of you aches to feel his cum spill into you instead of the condom he wears, to be claimed and filled by his seed over and over. would he fuck it back into you? clean you off with his talented tongue? would he plug you with his cock until he’s ready to overfill you with a second load?

he moans into your mouth and pulls back a little to revel in your fucked out expression. your legs still wrap around his waist, boxing him in and keeping him close. you worry that in typical frat boy fashion he’ll make an excuse and run off to recount the fuck with his friends. but satoru pecks at your lips, then your chin, then down your neck again.

“what are you doing?” you ask, vision slightly blurred from the intensity of your orgasm.

“gonna make you cum again,” he smiles against your skin. “didn’t you hear?”

“hear what?”

he pulls back to look at you, a soft smile pulling at his pretty lips. “that if you cum at least five times when you lose your virginity, you’ll fall in loooove.”

[lxnarphase]

━ ❝ OH, IT'S MINIKUNA ! ❞

✮₊‧⁺...content: heian era!sukuna x wife!reader, fluff, mentions of childbirth, sukuna is an overly proud father, sukuna is whipped for his wife

✮₊‧⁺...lunar's note: based of this little blurbie and this one too !! needed some fluff with kuna bc he would love having a baby girl idc what anyone says !!! also i did my best describing the birthing process in a time accurate period but it's definitely a bit inaccurate because...i have never had a baby LOL

no one has ever seen sukuna ryomen, king of curses, wince before.

not until today, at the wrath of his pregnant wife who somehow got a hold of his fingers instead of his hand.

one of the nurses did warn him to not give you his finger and to ensure you always hold his hand. but by the gods, he swears you almost ripped his finger off.

it's cute to him, however, when you attempt to curse him out.

'gods, sukuna, i despise your entire being!'

'i know, my wife.'

'i should've never let you get me pregnant, you animal!'

'you begged for it, my wife.'

'i am never letting you bed me again, use your hand for the rest of your existence!'

'you can't keep your hands off me, my wife, no need to lie.'

but the sigh of relief, the way you instantly look down and coo once the sound of wailing filled the air...it makes him melt just a little bit.

he can't deny, seeing you in pain made him heated. it took everything in him not to kill every midwife, nurse, and lady-in-waiting in your birth room for not being able to make this process completely painless.

except chiyo. he would have to reward your personal physician for preparing you so well for this...

what did the old hag like again? wines, meats, gifts for her grandchildren back at home?

hm, yes, that would be great for her. of course, he'll say it was from you. the king of curses shows gratitude for no one.

he's pulled out of his thoughts at the hushed whispers once the other women exam the baby before following your unspoken request to hold your child.

"d-do you think lord sukuna will harm our lady for this...?"

"i hope not, surely he can make an exception, t-they both are still young and can always try for more!"

"but he's the king of curses, t-there no way he won't have a reaction!"

before he can demand what they find so important to discuss in front of you, chiyo hushes the girls with a wave of her hand, ushering the girls to help wipe off your sweat, tears, and clean off the baby—gentle like it's the finest glass, she instructs—before turning to sukuna with a knowing smile.

"well, your greatness...congratulations on having a healthy and gorgeous little girl," she hums, wiping her hands with a clean cloth before going to rinse her hands to help stitch any rips and clean you up.

the room falls silent aside from your soft little coos and the wails of your daughter as you brush the wet, fluffy hair on her little head.

all the women in the room continue to work, but it's clear they are silently waiting for his outburst.

everyone knows that a proper heir to any throne is a boy...but now, sukuna's first born child is a girl.

but rather angry, yelling, and threats to your and your child's life, the room is filled with Suku's booming laughter, which practically shakes the entire room.

instead of an enraged expression, pure delight, and excitement are painted on his face as he sits next to you on the soft cushiony bedding on the floor, his hand caressing the rounded cheek of your newborn.

"so, you've given me a girl," he hums in delight, all four of his eyes narrowing. "this will be the one who takes over my throne once i decide to step down?"

this thing, this tiny, itty bitty baby...came from you both? it's almost laughable how small this baby is compared to his hand, that something so little could be related to him.

she's...nothing short of perfect. "absolutely divine...she will not just be beautiful like her mother, but as powerful as both of us."

he's so proud of you and your child. he would shower your daughter with riches, love, and anything she could ever want and ask for.

but, he couldn't lie.

she's a damned fat baby, big head and all.

"sukuna, watch your mouth!"

he can't help but laugh, not realizing his thoughts came out of his mouth. "what, it's a good thing! means she's healthy," he boasts with a grin, leaning down closer to see her better.

"she looks strong already. as soon as she is able, i will personally teach her how to be a truly malevolent little princess, how to properly slit the necks of her enemies, how to—!”

oh, he is so excited, it's adorable.

“sukuna, shush, i just gave birth to a child with a massive head like yours, give me a moment," you say with a light laugh, your smile still reaching your clearly tired eyes.

“…apologies, my wife.”

chiyo can't help but laugh with you she finishes applying the healing ointment on your lower body, using a bit of her cursed energy to speed up the healing process to help you skip any serious pain.

after all, nothing but the best physician for you in sukuna's palace.

"always such an excitable boy, my lord, ever since you were a young man," she hums, helping one of the midwives properly wrap your baby in the soft, clean cloth.

"be gentle with her," you instruct him, gently moving your arms toward him so he could take the little bundle. he's...nervous, but he hides it well.

you place your daughter in his arms and he looks down at her, suddenly conscious of how loud he's breathing. she's got his hair, still a bit wet but soft and fluffy. it's pink, just like his.

a pleased rumble vibrates his chest, and he doesn't even realize he's doing it.

but then...her eyes open.

both sets.

he almost didn't notice it at first, they're just so small, but they're there. the same color as yours, pretty and big, filled with so much life.

his eyes burn, vision getting blurry. no words come to his head, he can't think of anything to say. he's so caught up in his thought he doesn't even notice chiyo ushering the other girls in the room out and shutting the door before quietly tending to you with water or food.

she knows that look, you do as well. she's been around longer than uraume to know her master, knowing the king of curses since his young years as the unwanted child of the village, abandoned by his mother for his 'horrid' appearance.

she was lucky to have found him before the villagers got to him, torches, axes, pitchforks and daggers in hand to take care of the child who they believed to have brought misfortune to their home.

getting him to safety was one of the best decisions she'd ever made, king of curses or not. no child deserved to be abandoned like that. and now, he's seeing himself in that tiny little being in his arms right now...chiyo can only imagine what he's feeling.

so, out of respect, she keeps her gaze averted, pretending she does not see the misty gaze he gives your daughter. this is a moment for you and him, and she does her best to make all her movements as quiet as possible.

all sukuna can think about in this moment is how he used to be just as tiny as this. he was just as vulnerable in his mothers arms. he couldn't talk, couldn't speak, couldn't fend for himself.

yet, his parents looked down at him just like this and decided he was an abomination and didn't give him a chance.

but now?

sukuna knows he would never, ever let anything happen to this little bundle in his arms. he would rather destroy the entire planet before letting anything happen to his baby girl. no one would make his little one suffer and live to see another day.

he flinches just a little, feeling your soft hand rubbing his bicep. "it's okay, my love," you softly coo at him, reaching up to wipe a tear from his eye before it had a chance to drip down his cheek. "she's going to grow up feeling loved and cherished because she's got a great father."

"hmm..."

a smile crosses his features as he looks back down, looking at the squirming baby so makes a little noise before calming down when he strokes her little, chubby cheek again to keep her from crying again.

"and she's got a great mother. she'll be the most wonderful princess in all of history," he says with a toothy grin, chest rumbling with a laugh.

"aww, my love, that's so sweet..."

"seriously, though, how in hells did you squeeze this thing out of ya? thing's got the head of a watermelon."

"sukuna, give me back my baby, and chiyo? get this man some food to stuff in his mouth before he says something to warrent the rage of a new mother."

all rights reserved © lxnarphase | do not repost, copy, translate, or alter my work

[kavehayati]

I MEAN THIS IN THE MOST NOT COCKY WAY POSSIBLE BUT I GENUINELY THINK THAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE LOVED THE WAY I LOVE PEOPLE

[pucksandpower]

Little Star

Max Verstappen x Leclerc!Reader

Summary: you’ve grown used to being overshadowed by your older brother, merely a distant star that seems dull in comparison to the sun of Maranello … and then Max happens

Based on this request

The sun dips low on the horizon, casting long shadows across the paddock of the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. The air still buzzes with excitement from the day’s race, but behind the Ferrari hospitality unit, a different energy permeates the air.

You lean against the cool metal wall, sliding down until you’re sitting on the concrete, knees pulled to your chest. Tears stream silently down your face as you struggle to catch your breath between sobs. The sounds of celebration echo in the distance, a stark contrast to your solitude.

Footsteps approach, and you hastily wipe at your eyes, hoping to erase any evidence of your breakdown. A familiar figure rounds the corner, stopping short when he spots you.

“Hey,” Max Verstappen says, his brow furrowing with concern. “Are you alright?”

You force a smile, but it doesn’t reach your eyes. “I’m fine,” you insist, your voice wavering slightly. “Just ... needed some air.”

Max doesn’t buy it for a second. He crouches down beside you, his blue eyes searching your face. “You don’t look fine,” he says gently. “What’s going on?”

You bite your lip, debating whether to confide in him. After a moment, you sigh. “It’s stupid,” you mumble.

“If it’s making you cry, it’s not stupid,” Max counters. He settles down next to you, his shoulder brushing yours. “Come on, talk to me.”

You take a shaky breath. “It’s my birthday,” you admit quietly.

Max’s eyebrows shoot up. “Today? Why aren’t you celebrating?”

A bitter laugh escapes your lips. “Because everyone forgot,” you explain, fresh tears welling up. “Charles won the race, and ... I’m happy for him, I really am. But it’s like I don’t even exist when he’s around, you know?”

Max nods slowly, understanding dawning on his face. “That must be really tough,” he says softly.

You nod, sniffling. “I’ve always felt like I was in his shadow, but today ... it just hit me harder, I guess. Even my mom forgot.”

“That’s not okay,” Max says firmly. “Your birthday should be special, no matter what else is happening.”

You shrug, picking at a loose thread on your jeans. “It’s fine. I’m used to it.”

“No, it’s not fine,” Max insists. He stands up suddenly, determination etched on his face. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Before you can protest, he’s gone, jogging away towards the paddock. You’re left alone again, wondering what he’s up to.

True to his word, Max returns a few minutes later, slightly out of breath and holding something behind his back. “Close your eyes,” he instructs with a grin.

Curious, you comply. There’s a rustling sound, and then Max’s voice rings out, clear and slightly off-key: “Happy birthday to you ...”

Your eyes fly open in surprise. Max stands before you, holding a small cupcake with a single candle stuck in the frosting. His face is illuminated by the flickering flame as he continues to sing.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Y/N, happy birthday to you!”

Emotion wells up in your chest, a lump forming in your throat. “Max,” you whisper, overwhelmed. “You didn’t have to do this.”

He crouches down, carefully balancing the cupcake. “Of course I did,” he says softly. “Everyone deserves to feel special on their birthday. Now make a wish and blow out your candle.”

You close your eyes, thinking for a moment before leaning forward to extinguish the tiny flame. When you open them again, Max is beaming at you.

“What did you wish for?” He asks, settling back down beside you and offering you the cupcake.

You shake your head, a small smile tugging at your lips. “Can’t tell you, or it won’t come true.”

Max laughs, nudging your shoulder playfully. “Fair enough. So, twenty-two, huh? How does it feel to be so old?”

You roll your eyes, but can’t help chuckling. “Says the guy who’s practically ancient at twenty-six.”

“Hey!” Max protests, feigning offense. “I’ll have you know I’m in my prime.”

The banter feels natural, and you find yourself relaxing for the first time all day. You take a bite of the cupcake, savoring the sweetness. “This is really good,” you mumble around a mouthful of frosting. “Where did you even find it?”

Max grins mischievously. “I have my sources. Can’t reveal all my secrets, can I?”

You laugh, shaking your head. “Thank you, Max. Really. This ... it means a lot.”

His expression softens. “You’re welcome. I’m sorry the rest of your family forgot. That’s not fair to you.”

You sigh, your momentary happiness fading slightly. “It’s not their fault. Charles had a big win today, and-”

“Stop,” Max interrupts gently. “You don’t have to make excuses for them. Your feelings are valid.”

You blink, surprised by his directness. “I ... I guess I’m just used to it,” you admit. “It’s always been about Charles. Even before he got into F1, he was the golden child. I love him, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes ...”

“Sometimes you want to be seen too,” Max finishes for you. You nod, grateful that he understands.

“Exactly. And it’s not just Charles. Arthur’s always been following in his footsteps, and Lorenzo ... well, he’s the oldest. I’m just ... there.”

Max frowns. “That’s not true. You’re your own person, with your own talents and dreams. Have you talked to them about how you feel?”

You shake your head. “I don’t want to make them feel bad. Especially Charles. He works so hard, and he deserves his success.”

“His success doesn’t diminish your worth,” Max says firmly. “You deserve to be celebrated too.”

Tears prick at your eyes again, but for a different reason this time. “Thank you,” you whisper. “I don’t think anyone’s ever put it quite like that before.”

Max smiles softly. “Well, it’s true. And for what it’s worth, I think you’re pretty amazing.”

A blush creeps up your cheeks. “You barely know me,” you point out.

“I know enough,” Max counters. “I know you’re kind enough to put your family’s happiness before your own. I know you’re strong enough to handle being overlooked without becoming bitter. And I know you’ve got a great taste in cupcakes.”

You laugh, the sound bubbling up from deep in your chest. “Well, when you put it like that ...”

Max grins, clearly pleased to have made you smile. “So, birthday girl, what do you want to do now? The night is young, and I happen to know where they keep the good champagne around here.”

You hesitate, glancing towards the paddock where you can still hear the sounds of celebration. “I don’t know ... I should probably go find my family.”

Max raises an eyebrow. “On your birthday? Come on, live a little. They can wait.”

A spark of rebellion ignites in your chest. “You know what? You’re right. Let’s do it.”

Max jumps to his feet, offering you his hand. “That’s the spirit! First stop, champagne. Then, who knows? Maybe we’ll steal a golf cart and go joyriding around the track.”

You take his hand, allowing him to pull you up. “Is that even allowed?”

Max’s eyes twinkle with mischief. “Probably not. But it’s your birthday, so I think we can bend the rules a little.”

As you follow Max towards the paddock, a warmth spreads through your chest that has nothing to do with the lingering summer heat. For the first time in years, you feel seen. Appreciated. Special.

“Hey, Max?” You say, causing him to pause and look back at you.

“Yeah?”

You smile, genuine and bright. “Thank you. For everything.”

Max’s expression softens. “Anytime,” he says softly. “Now come on, birthday girl. Let’s make this a night to remember.”

As you walk side by side into the fading light, you can’t help but feel that this birthday might just be the start of something new. Something exciting. Something uniquely yours.

And for once, you’re not thinking about Charles, or Arthur, or anyone else. You’re just thinking about you, and the possibilities that stretch out before you like an open road.

Happy birthday indeed.

***

The Ferrari hospitality suite thrums with energy, laughter and music spilling out into the warm Italian night. Charles Leclerc stands at the center of it all, a wide grin plastered across his face as he basks in the glow of his hard-fought victory. Champagne flows freely, and the air is thick with the scent of celebration.

“To Charles!” Someone shouts, raising a glass. The room erupts in cheers, and Charles feels a swell of pride in his chest.

“Speech! Speech!” The crowd chants, and Charles laughs, holding up his hands in mock surrender.

“Alright, alright,” he concedes, clearing his throat. “I just want to say thank you to everyone here. This win ... it’s not just mine. It’s ours. The team, the mechanics, the engineers, the strategists ... we did this together.”

More cheers erupt, and Charles feels a hand clap him on the back. He turns to see his teammate grinning broadly.

“Well said, amigo,” Carlos says, slinging an arm around Charles’ shoulders. “You drove like a champion today.”

Charles beams, the praise from his teammate adding to the euphoria of the moment. “Thanks, Carlos. Couldn’t have done it without you pushing me.”

Carlos laughs, taking a swig of his drink. “Always happy to provide motivation. Oh, hey, before I forget — can you pass on my birthday wishes to Y/N? I meant to find her earlier, but things got a bit crazy.”

The words hit Charles like a bucket of ice water. His smile freezes, his eyes widening in horror. “W-what?” He stammers, hoping he’s misheard.

Carlos frowns, noticing the sudden change in Charles’ demeanor. “Your sister? It’s her birthday today, right? Her 22nd?”

Charles feels the room spin around him. How could he have forgotten? His little sister’s birthday, on the same day as his big win. The realization crashes over him in waves of guilt and shame.

“Charles?” Carlos prompts, concern evident in his voice. “You okay, mate?”

Charles shakes his head, trying to clear the fog of shock. “I ... I forgot,” he whispers, more to himself than to Carlos. “How could I forget?”

Carlos’ eyes widen in understanding. “Oh, shit,” he mutters. “You didn’t remember?”

Charles runs a hand through his hair, panic rising in his chest. “I was so focused on the race, and then the win ... God, I’m such an idiot.”

He scans the room frantically, hoping against hope that he’ll spot you among the partygoers. But of course, you’re not there. Why would you be, when your own family forgot your birthday?

“I need to find her,” Charles says, already moving towards the exit. “I need to apologize.”

Carlos nods, squeezing Charles’ shoulder supportively. “Go. I’ll cover for you here if anyone asks.”

Charles barely hears him, his mind racing as he pushes through the crowd. He bursts out of the hospitality suite, the cool night air a stark contrast to the stuffy interior.

“Y/N!” He calls out, his voice echoing in the near-empty paddock. But there’s no response.

Panic rising, Charles pulls out his phone, fumbling with the screen as he opens his contacts. He hits your name, holding the phone to his ear as it rings.

Once. Twice. Three times. Then, your voicemail.

“Hey, this is Y/N. Leave a message!”

Charles swears under his breath, ending the call. He tries again, and again, but each time it goes straight to voicemail.

“Come on, come on,” he mutters, pacing back and forth. Where could you be? Who would you have gone to when your family let you down?

A thought strikes him, and he quickly dials another number.

“Hello?” Arthur’s sleepy voice answers.

“Arthur!” Charles practically shouts. “Is Y/N with you?”

There’s a pause, then confusion in Arthur’s tone. “No? Why would she be? Aren’t you guys celebrating?”

Charles feels his heart sink even further. “Arthur, it’s her birthday. We forgot.”

“Shit,” Arthur breathes. “How did we ... God, we’re terrible brothers.”

“I know, I know,” Charles says, the guilt eating away at him. “I’m trying to find her now. Can you call Maman and Lorenzo, see if they’ve heard from her?”

“Yeah, of course,” Arthur agrees quickly. “I’ll call you back if I hear anything.”

Charles ends the call, his mind whirling. Where else could you be? He tries to think back to earlier in the day, wondering if he’d seen you at all after the race. But everything is a blur of champagne and celebration, and he realizes with a sickening jolt that he can’t remember the last time he actually spoke to you.

He’s about to start knocking on motorhome doors when another idea strikes him. Quickly, he opens the Life360 app on his phone. The family had started using it a few years back, mainly to keep track of each other during race weekends.

Charles waits impatiently for the app to load, praying that it will show your location. But when the map finally appears, his heart sinks. Your icon is greyed out, with a message underneath: “Location permissions turned off.”

“No, no, no,” Charles mutters, refreshing the app desperately. But the result is the same. You’ve deliberately turned off your location tracking.

The realization hits him like a punch to the gut. You didn’t just disappear — you chose to be unfindable. And it’s all his fault.

Charles slumps against the nearest wall, sliding down until he’s sitting on the ground. He puts his head in his hands, overwhelmed by the magnitude of his mistake.

“I’m so sorry, Y/N,” he whispers into the night. “I’m so, so sorry.”

As he sits there, memories flood his mind. Your proud smile when he won his first karting race. The way you’d curl up next to him during thunderstorms, seeking comfort. Your unwavering support through every step of his career, even when it meant less attention for you.

And how had he repaid that loyalty? By forgetting the one day that was supposed to be about you.

Charles’ phone buzzes, and he snatches it up eagerly. But it’s just a text from his mother:

Haven’t heard from Y/N. Is everything okay?

He stares at the message, unsure how to respond. How can he explain that he’s lost his little sister on her birthday?

Another text comes through, this time from Lorenzo:

No luck here either. What’s going on?

Charles takes a deep breath, steeling himself. He has to tell them the truth, no matter how much it hurts.

He creates a group chat with his mom, Lorenzo, and Arthur, his fingers shaking slightly as he types:

We forgot Y/N’s birthday. All of us. She’s not answering her phone and her location is turned off. I can’t find her anywhere.

The responses come in rapid succession:

Maman: Oh no. How could we forget?

Lorenzo: Shit. Have you checked with her friends?

Arthur: I’m on my way to the track now. We’ll find her.

Charles feels a mix of relief and shame. At least now everyone knows, and they can all work together to make things right. But the fact remains that they let you down in the first place.

He’s about to reply when he spots a familiar figure walking across the paddock. Max Verstappen, looking slightly disheveled and ... was that a touch of glitter on his cheek?

Without thinking, Charles jumps to his feet and runs over to his rival.

“Max!” He calls out, slightly out of breath. “Have you seen Y/N?”

Max turns, surprise evident on his face. Then, something else flickers in his eyes. Anger? Disappointment? It’s gone too quickly for Charles to be sure.

“Why?” Max asks, his tone cooler than usual. “Suddenly remembered she exists?”

The words sting, but Charles knows he deserves them. “Please, Max. I know I messed up. We all did. But I need to find her, to apologize.”

Max studies him for a long moment, as if weighing his options. Finally, he sighs. “She’s safe. That’s all you need to know right now.”

Relief washes over Charles, quickly followed by confusion. “You’ve seen her? Where is she?”

“I’m not telling you that,” Max says firmly. “She needed space, and after what happened, I don’t blame her.”

Charles feels a flare of frustration. “She’s my sister. I have a right to know where she is.”

“No,” Max counters, his blue eyes flashing. “You had a responsibility to remember her birthday. You didn’t. So now, you don’t get to demand anything.”

The words hit Charles like a slap. He opens his mouth to argue, then closes it again. Max is right, as much as it pains him to admit it.

“Is she ... is she okay?” Charles asks quietly, all fight leaving him.

Max’s expression softens slightly. “She will be. Eventually. But Charles, you really hurt her. All of you did.”

Charles nods, swallowing hard against the lump in his throat. “I know. God, I know. I just want to make it right.”

“Then give her time,” Max advises. “And when she’s ready to talk, really listen to her. Don’t make excuses. Don’t try to justify it. Just listen.”

Charles nods again, feeling utterly defeated. “Will you ... will you tell her I’m sorry? That we’re all sorry?”

Max hesitates, then nods. “I will. But Charles? You need to do better. She deserves better.”

With that, Max turns and walks away, leaving Charles alone with his thoughts and regrets.

Charles pulls out his phone again, looking at the group chat with his family. He types out a message, his heart heavy:

Y/N is safe. A friend is looking out for her. We need to give her space, but when she’s ready to talk, we all need to be there. Really be there. We’ve got a lot to make up for.

As he hits send, Charles makes a silent promise to himself and to you. He’ll do better. He’ll be the brother you deserve. And somehow, someway, he’ll make this right.

But for now, all he can do is wait, and hope that you’ll find it in your heart to forgive them all.

***

The city lights twinkle below as Max leads you into his penthouse suite, the door clicking shut behind you. The space is modern and sleek, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering a breathtaking view of Milan’s skyline.

“Make yourself at home,” Max says, gesturing around the room. “Are you hungry? I can order some room service if you want.”

You shake your head, still feeling slightly overwhelmed by the events of the day. “No, thanks. I’m okay.”

Max nods, studying your face with concern. “You sure? It’s been a long day.”

A small smile tugs at your lips. “Yeah, you could say that again.”

There’s a moment of awkward silence before Max clears his throat. “So, um, you can take the bed. I’ll crash on the couch.”

“Oh, no,” you protest immediately. “I can’t kick you out of your own bed. I’ll take the couch.”

Max shakes his head firmly. “Absolutely not. It’s your birthday. You get the bed.”

You bite your lip, an idea forming. “We could ... share? I mean, if that’s okay with you. The bed looks plenty big enough.”

Max’s eyes widen slightly, a faint blush creeping up his neck. “Are you sure? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“I’m sure,” you say, surprising yourself with your boldness. “Unless it makes you uncomfortable?”

“No, no,” Max says quickly. “I’m fine with it if you are.”

You nod, and another silence falls. Max runs a hand through his hair, looking suddenly unsure of himself.

“Do you want to watch a movie or something?” he suggests. “Or we could just talk, if you prefer.”

“Talking sounds nice,” you admit. “I’m not really in the mood for a movie.”

Max nods, gesturing towards the bed. “Shall we?”

You both settle onto the massive king-size bed, sitting cross-legged and facing each other. It’s oddly intimate, and you feel a flutter of nerves in your stomach.

“So,” Max begins, his blue eyes fixed on you. “Tell me something about yourself that isn’t related to racing or your family.”

You pause, caught off guard by the question. It’s been so long since someone asked about you, just you.

“Well,” you start hesitantly, “I’m actually studying to become an astrophysicist.”

Max’s eyebrows shoot up. “Seriously? That’s incredible! Why astrophysics?”

The enthusiasm in his voice makes you smile. “I’ve always been fascinated by space, you know? The idea that there’s so much out there we don’t understand ... it’s exciting.”

“That’s amazing,” Max says, genuinely impressed. “What kind of stuff are you studying right now?”

You laugh softly. “Are you sure you want to know? I might bore you with all the technical details.”

Max leans forward, his expression earnest. “Try me. I want to hear all about it.”

Encouraged by his interest, you begin to explain your current research project. As you talk, your hands move animatedly, your eyes lighting up with passion. Max listens intently, asking questions and showing genuine curiosity.

“... and that’s why understanding dark matter is so crucial,” you finish, slightly out of breath. “Sorry, I kind of went off on a tangent there.”

Max shakes his head, smiling warmly. “Don’t apologize. It’s fascinating. I had no idea you were into all this. Why haven’t I heard about it before?”

Your smile falters slightly. “Oh, well ... it doesn’t really come up much. Everyone’s usually more interested in talking about racing.”

Max frowns. “But this is incredible. You’re studying to unravel the mysteries of the universe. That’s way cooler than driving in circles.”

You laugh, but there’s a hint of sadness in it. “Try telling that to my family. I think they see it as more of a hobby than a career path.”

“What?” Max looks genuinely shocked. “How can they not be incredibly proud? This is huge!”

You shrug, picking at a loose thread on the comforter. “I guess it’s just not as exciting as F1? It’s okay, though. I’m used to it.”

Max shakes his head firmly. “No, it’s not okay. Y/N, you’re brilliant. Your family should be shouting it from the rooftops.”

Tears prick at your eyes, and you blink them back hastily. “Thanks, Max. That ... that means a lot.”

He reaches out, hesitating for a moment before placing his hand over yours. “I mean it. And for what it’s worth, I think what you’re doing is incredible.”

You look up, meeting his gaze. There’s a warmth there, an understanding that makes your heart skip a beat. Without really thinking about it, you shift closer to him.

Max seems to take this as an invitation, because he moves closer too. Soon, you’re sitting side by side, your shoulders touching.

“So,” you say, trying to lighten the mood. “What about you? Any secret passions outside of racing?”

Max chuckles. “Nothing as impressive as astrophysics, I’m afraid. But I do enjoy sim racing in my spare time.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Isn’t that just more racing?”

“Hey, it’s completely different,” Max protests with a grin. “In sim racing, I can drive any car on any track. Even ones that don’t exist in real life.”

“Okay, okay,” you concede, laughing. “Tell me more about it.”

As Max launches into an explanation of his favorite sim racing setups, you find yourself relaxing more and more. The conversation flows easily, punctuated by laughter and playful debates.

Without really noticing, you both shift positions throughout the night. Max leans back against the headboard, and you mirror him. Your shoulders are pressed together, and you can feel the warmth radiating from his body.

“... and that’s why I think pineapple absolutely belongs on pizza,” Max finishes, looking at you expectantly.

You shake your head, grinning. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this from a world champion. Your taste buds clearly can’t be trusted.”

“Oh, come on,” Max laughs, nudging your shoulder with his. “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”

“I have tried it,” you insist. “It’s an abomination.”

Max clutches his chest in mock offense. “You wound me, Y/N. And here I thought we were becoming friends.”

The word ‘friends’ sends an odd pang through your chest. Is that what this is? It feels like more, somehow.

As if reading your thoughts, Max’s expression softens. He reaches out, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. The gesture is so gentle, so intimate, that it takes your breath away.

“Y/N,” he says softly. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

You swallow hard, your heart racing. “Me too,” you whisper.

There’s a moment of charged silence, and then Max is leaning in. You meet him halfway, your lips meeting in a soft, tentative kiss.

It’s brief, just a fleeting press of lips, but it sends sparks shooting through your entire body. When you pull back, Max is looking at you with a mixture of wonder and uncertainty.

“Was that okay?” He asks, his voice husky.

You nod, not trusting yourself to speak. Instead, you lean in again, capturing his lips in another kiss. This one is deeper, more assured. Max’s hand comes up to cup your cheek, and you melt into his touch.

When you finally break apart, you’re both slightly breathless. Max rests his forehead against yours, a smile playing at his lips.

“I’ve wanted to do that all night,” he admits.

You laugh softly. “Even when I was insulting your pizza preferences?”

“Especially then,” Max grins. “You’re cute when you’re indignant.”

You swat at his arm playfully, but you can’t keep the smile off your face. For the first time all day, you feel truly happy.

As the night wears on, you and Max continue to talk, trading stories and stealing kisses. Gradually, your positions shift again. Max lies down, and you curl up against his side, your head resting on his chest. His arm wraps around you, holding you close.

“Y/N?” Max says softly, his fingers tracing patterns on your arm.

“Hmm?” you mumble, feeling drowsy and content.

“Happy birthday,” he says. “I know it didn’t start out great, but I hope it got better.”

You tilt your head up to look at him, a warm smile spreading across your face. “It did,” you assure him. “Thanks to you.”

Max kisses your forehead gently. “Get some sleep,” he murmurs. “We can figure everything else out in the morning.”

As you drift off to sleep, wrapped in Max’s arms, you can’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, this birthday wasn’t so bad after all. In fact, it might just be the start of something wonderful.

***

The early morning sunlight filters through the curtains, casting a warm glow across the room. You stir slowly, awareness creeping in as you feel a strong arm wrapped around your waist. For a moment, confusion sets in before the events of the previous night come rushing back.

You’re in Max Verstappen’s bed. And Max Verstappen is currently spooning you.

A smile tugs at your lips as you nestle back into his warmth, not quite ready to face the day. But fate, it seems, has other plans.

A sharp knock at the door jolts both of you awake. Max groans, burying his face in your hair.

“Room service?” You mumble, still half-asleep.

Max shakes his head, his voice gravelly with sleep. “Didn’t order any.”

The knock comes again, more insistent this time. With a sigh, Max untangles himself from you and slides out of bed.

“I’ll get it,” he says, running a hand through his disheveled hair. “You stay here.”

You nod, pulling the covers up to your chin and watching as Max pads to the door in his t-shirt and sweatpants. He opens it a crack, peering out.

“Can I help you?” He asks, confusion evident in his tone.

There’s a muffled response, and then Max is stepping back, opening the door wider. A hotel staff member enters, carrying an enormous bouquet of red roses.

“Delivery for Y/N Leclerc,” the staff member announces, looking around the room.

You sit up in bed, eyes wide. “That’s ... that’s me.”

The staff member nods, moving to set the bouquet on a nearby table. “Sign here, please,” he says, holding out a clipboard.

Still bewildered, you climb out of bed and make your way over, scrawling your signature on the form. The staff member thanks you and exits, leaving you and Max staring at the ostentatious display of flowers.

“Well,” Max says after a moment, “I guess your brother remembered after all.”

You let out a rueful laugh, shaking your head. “Yeah, I guess he did.”

Max frowns, noting the lack of enthusiasm in your voice. “Aren’t you happy about it?”

You sigh, reaching out to touch one of the velvety petals. “It’s just ... I’ve told Charles a hundred times that I don’t like roses. They’re not my favorite flower. But every time he needs to apologize or wants to do something nice, it’s always roses.”

“Oh,” Max says softly, understanding dawning on his face. “So it’s less about you and more about what he thinks you should like.”

You nod, a lump forming in your throat. “Exactly. It’s like he doesn’t really listen, you know? He just does what he thinks is right without considering what I actually want.”

Max moves closer, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you against his side. “That must be frustrating,” he says gently.

You lean into him, grateful for the support. “It is. And I know I should be grateful. It’s a beautiful bouquet, and he’s trying. But ...”

“But it’s not what you want,” Max finishes for you. “And that matters.”

You look up at him, surprised by how well he understands. “Yeah, exactly.”

Max turns to face you fully, his blue eyes serious. “Y/N, listen to me. It’s okay to be upset about this. It’s okay to want your family to actually listen to you and consider your feelings.”

You bite your lip, tears threatening to spill over. “But they’re trying now. Shouldn’t I just forgive them and move on?”

Max shakes his head firmly. “No. You don’t have to forgive them right away just because they made a grand gesture. It’s okay to make them work for your forgiveness.”

“Really?” You ask, your voice small.

“Really,” Max assures you. “They hurt you, Y/N. They forgot your birthday and made you feel invisible. One bouquet of flowers — flowers you don’t even like — doesn’t erase that.”

You nod slowly, processing his words. “So what do I do?”

Max runs a hand through his hair, thinking. “Well, what do you want to do? How do you feel?”

You take a deep breath, considering. “Honestly? I’m not ready to see them yet. I know I’ll have to face them eventually, but right now ... I just can’t.”

“Then don’t,” Max says simply. “Take the time you need. They can wait.”

A weight lifts off your shoulders at his words. “You don’t think that’s selfish?”

Max cups your face in his hands, his gaze intense. “It’s not selfish to prioritize your own feelings and well-being. You matter, Y/N. Your feelings matter.”

Tears spill over then, and Max pulls you into a tight embrace. You bury your face in his chest, letting out all the hurt and frustration you’ve been holding in.

“Shh,” Max soothes, rubbing your back. “It’s okay. Let it out.”

After a few minutes, your sobs subside. You pull back slightly, wiping at your eyes. “Sorry,” you mumble. “I got your shirt all wet.”

Max chuckles, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “I think I’ll survive. Feel better?”

You nod, offering him a watery smile. “Yeah, actually. Thanks.”

“Anytime,” Max says softly. Then, a mischievous glint enters his eye. “So, what should we do with the roses? I vote we throw them off the balcony and watch them scatter in the wind.”

You laugh, the sound bubbling up from deep in your chest. “As tempting as that is, I don’t think hotel management would appreciate it.”

Max shrugs, grinning. “Their loss. We could always donate them to a hospital or something. Brighten someone else’s day.”

“That’s ... actually a really good idea,” you say, impressed. “We could do that.”

Max beams, clearly pleased with himself. “See? I’m not just a pretty face and fast driver.”

You roll your eyes fondly, but can’t suppress your smile. “Careful, Verstappen. Your ego’s showing.”

“You love it,” he teases, pulling you close again.

As you stand there in his arms, surrounded by the cloying scent of roses you don’t even like, you’re struck by how safe you feel. How understood.

“Max?” You say softly.

“Hmm?”

You pull back slightly to meet his gaze. “Thank you. For everything. For making my birthday special, for listening to me, for ... just being here.”

Max’s expression softens, a tender smile playing at his lips. “You don’t have to thank me for that. I ... I care about you, Y/N. A lot.”

Your heart skips a beat at his words. “I care about you too,” you admit.

For a moment, you just stare at each other, the air charged with unspoken emotions. Then, slowly, Max leans in. His lips meet yours in a soft, sweet kiss that makes your toes curl.

When you break apart, you’re both slightly breathless. Max rests his forehead against yours, his thumb tracing circles on your cheek.

“So,” he says, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. “What happens now?”

You take a deep breath, considering. “Honestly? I’m not sure. This is all happening so fast, and with everything going on with my family ...”

Max nods, understanding in his eyes. “We can take it slow,” he assures you. “There’s no rush.”

Relief washes over you. “Thank you,” you say softly. “I do want this — us. I just need some time to figure everything out.”

“We’ve got all the time in the world,” Max says, pressing a gentle kiss to your nose. “For now, how about we get some breakfast? I’m starving.”

You laugh, grateful for the shift in mood. “Breakfast sounds perfect. But maybe we should change first? I’m not sure I want to face the paparazzi in yesterday’s clothes.”

Max grins, a mischievous glint in his eye. “I don’t know, I think you look pretty good in my t-shirt.”

You glance down, realizing for the first time that you’re indeed wearing one of Max’s shirts. A blush creeps up your cheeks. “When did that happen?”

“You got cold in the middle of the night,” Max explains, looking far too pleased with himself. “I offered you my shirt. You were very insistent that it was the most comfortable thing you’d ever worn.”

You groan, burying your face in your hands. “Oh god. Please tell me I didn’t say anything else embarrassing.”

Max laughs, gently prying your hands away from your face. “Nothing too bad. Though you did mention something about my waist being ‘unfairly perfect’. Your words, not mine.”

“Kill me now,” you mutter, but you can’t help the smile tugging at your lips.

Max pulls you close, pressing a kiss to your temple. “Never. I’m rather fond of you, embarrassing sleep talk and all.”

As you stand there in Max’s arms, the morning sun warming your skin and the scent of roses filling the air, you can’t help but feel a sense of hope. Yes, there’s still a lot to figure out — with your family, with Max, with your future. But for the first time in a long time, you feel like you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

And that, you think, is the best birthday gift of all.

***

The private terminal of Milan Malpensa Airport buzzes with activity as the Leclerc family waits to board their chartered jet. Charles paces back and forth, his phone clutched tightly in his hand, eyes darting to the entrance every few seconds.

“Charles, honey, please sit down,” his mother, Pascale, says gently. “You’re making me nervous.”

Charles shakes his head, running a hand through his hair for what must be the hundredth time. “I can’t, Maman. Where is she? She should be here by now.”

Lorenzo exchanges a worried glance with Arthur. “Maybe she got held up in traffic?” He suggests, though his tone lacks conviction.

“For three hours?” Charles snaps, immediately regretting his harsh tone. “Sorry, I just ... I’m worried.”

Arthur stands up, placing a comforting hand on Charles’ shoulder. “We all are. But Y/N’s an adult. She can take care of herself.”

Charles lets out a frustrated sigh. “I know that. But after yesterday ... we really messed up.”

“We did,” Pascale agrees softly, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “But we’ll make it right. We just need to talk to her.”

“If she ever shows up,” Charles mutters, resuming his pacing.

The minutes tick by agonizingly slow. Charles alternates between checking his phone and staring out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of you arriving. But the parking lot remains stubbornly devoid of your presence.

Finally, a staff member approaches the family. “Mr. Leclerc? The jet is ready for boarding. We need to depart soon to maintain our flight slot.”

Charles feels panic rising in his chest. “No, we can’t leave yet. My sister isn’t here.”

The staff member looks uncomfortable. “I understand, sir, but we have a schedule to keep. Perhaps your sister could take a commercial flight?”

“Absolutely not,” Charles says firmly. “We’re not leaving without her.”

Lorenzo steps in, ever the diplomat. “Is there any way we could delay for just a bit longer? It’s really important that we wait for our sister.”

The staff member hesitates, then nods. “I’ll see what I can do. But please understand, we can’t hold the slot indefinitely.”

As the employee walks away, Charles resumes his pacing with renewed vigor.

“This isn’t like her,” he mutters. “She wouldn’t just disappear without telling us.”

Arthur bites his lip, looking guilty. “Maybe ... maybe she’s still upset about yesterday?”

Charles stops in his tracks, turning to face his younger brother. “What do you mean?”

Arthur shifts uncomfortably. “Well, we did forget her birthday. And then when we remembered, we didn’t exactly handle it well. Those roses you sent? Y/N hates roses.”

Charles feels like he’s been punched in the gut. “She ... what? No, she loves roses. I always get her roses.”

“Because you always get her roses,” Lorenzo chimes in, realization dawning on his face. “Not because she actually likes them.”

Charles slumps into a nearby chair, head in his hands. “How did I not know that? What kind of brother am I?”

Pascale moves to sit beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “We’ve all made mistakes. But we can fix this. We just need to talk to her.”

“If she’ll even talk to us,” Charles mumbles.

Just then, his phone buzzes. Charles nearly drops it in his haste to check the notification, hope flaring in his chest. But it’s not from you.

“It’s Max,” he says, frowning in confusion.

“Verstappen?” Arthur asks, leaning over to peek at the screen. “What does he want?”

Charles opens the message, his eyes widening as he reads it aloud:

“Y/N is with me. She’s safe and we’re flying back to Monaco together. She needs some space right now. Give her time.”

The silence that follows is deafening. Charles reads and rereads the message, trying to process what it means.

“She’s with Max?” Lorenzo finally says, breaking the silence. “Since when are they even friends?”

Charles shakes his head, still staring at his phone. “I don’t know. I ... I saw him last night. He knew where she was, but I thought it was just a spontaneous thing.”

“Well, at least we know she’s safe,” Pascale says, always trying to find the silver lining. “That’s the most important thing.”

But Charles can’t shake the feeling of unease settling in his stomach. “Why didn’t she come to us? Why Max, of all people?”

Arthur places a hand on Charles’ shoulder. “Maybe because he was there when we weren’t,” he says softly.

The words hit Charles like a physical blow. He knows Arthur is right, but it doesn’t make it any easier to hear.

“So what do we do now?” Lorenzo asks, looking around at his family.

Charles takes a deep breath, trying to calm the storm of emotions raging inside him. “We do what Max said. We give her time.”

“But for how long?” Pascale asks, worry evident in her voice. “She’s our little girl. We can’t just leave her alone.”

“She’s not alone, Maman,” Charles says, surprised by the steadiness in his voice. “She’s with Max. And as much as it pains me to admit it, I think ... I think she might be better off with him right now.”

The family falls silent again, each lost in their own thoughts. The weight of their collective mistake hangs heavy in the air.

Finally, Charles stands up, squaring his shoulders. “We should board the jet. There’s nothing more we can do here.”

As they gather their belongings and make their way to the plane, Charles can’t help but replay Max’s message in his head. You’re with Max. You’re safe. You need space.

He tries to imagine you and Max together, and finds that he can’t. What could have happened in the span of one day to bring you two together? And more importantly, what had driven you away from your own family?

As he settles into his seat on the jet, Charles makes a silent promise to himself and to you. He’ll give you the space you need, but he won’t give up. He’ll find a way to make things right, to be the brother you deserve.

The jet takes off, carrying the Leclerc family back to Monaco. But for Charles, it feels like they’re leaving a piece of themselves behind in Milan. A piece that, he fears, might be harder to reclaim than he ever imagined.

Meanwhile, across the airport, you and Max are boarding his private jet. The contrast between the two scenes couldn’t be more stark.

“You okay?” Max asks softly as you settle into your seat.

You nod, offering him a small smile. “Yeah, I think so. Thanks for ... well, everything.”

Max reaches over, giving your hand a gentle squeeze. “Anytime. You know that.”

As the jet prepares for takeoff, you can’t help but think about your family. Are they worried? Angry? Do they even care?

“Max?” You say, your voice barely above a whisper.

“Hmm?”

You turn to look at him, vulnerability shining in your eyes. “Did I do the right thing? Leaving without talking to them?”

Max considers your question carefully before answering. “I think you did what you needed to do for yourself. And that’s never wrong.”

His words settle over you like a warm blanket, easing some of the tension in your shoulders.

“Thank you,” you murmur. “For understanding. For not pushing me to do what everyone else thinks I should do.”

Max smiles, a soft, genuine expression that makes your heart flutter. “That’s what ... friends are for, right?”

There’s a hesitation in his voice, a question in his eyes that makes you wonder if ‘friends’ is really the right word for what’s developing between you.

As the jet takes off, carrying you away from Milan and the chaos of the past day, you find yourself feeling something you haven’t felt in a long time: hope. Hope for a future where you’re seen, heard, and valued for who you are.

And as you glance at Max, his profile illuminated by the setting sun streaming through the window, you can’t help but wonder if he might be a bigger part of that future than you ever imagined.

The jet climbs higher, leaving the ground and all its complications behind. For now, at least, you’re free. Free to breathe, to think, to feel without the weight of expectations pressing down on you.

You close your eyes, letting out a long breath. Whatever comes next, you know one thing for certain: things will never be the same again. And maybe, just maybe, that’s exactly what you need.

***

The sun is setting over Monaco, shining warmly through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Max’s penthouse apartment. You’re curled up on the plush sofa, a book in your lap, trying to lose yourself in the pages. But your mind keeps wandering, replaying the events of the past couple of days.

Max emerges from the kitchen, two steaming mugs in hand. “Thought you might need this,” he says, offering you one.

You smile gratefully, inhaling the rich aroma of hot chocolate. “Thanks. You didn’t have to.”

He shrugs, settling down beside you. “I wanted to. How’re you holding up?”

You’re about to answer when the doorbell rings. Max frowns, glancing at his watch. “I’m not expecting anyone. Are you?”

You shake your head, a knot of anxiety forming in your stomach. Could it be your family? Are they here to confront you?

Max squeezes your hand reassuringly before getting up to answer the door. You hear muffled voices, then the sound of something heavy being dragged across the floor.

“Um, Y/N?” Max calls. “I think you might want to see this.”

Curiosity overcoming your apprehension, you make your way to the foyer. Your jaw drops at the sight that greets you.

The entire space is filled with bags. Not just any bags, but the kind that comes from the most exclusive boutiques in Monaco. Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Chanel — the logos stare back at you from every direction.

“What ... what is all this?” You stammer, looking to Max for explanation.

He hands you a small envelope. “This came with it. It’s addressed to you.”

With trembling fingers, you open the envelope and unfold the note inside. You’d recognize that handwriting anywhere.

Y/N,

I know I messed up. We all did. I’m so sorry for forgetting your birthday and for not being the brother you deserve. I hope these gifts can begin to make up for it. Please come home. We miss you.

Love,

Charles

You read the note twice, then a third time, disbelief turning to anger with each pass.

“He’s got to be kidding,” you mutter, crumpling the paper in your fist.

Max steps closer, concern etched on his face. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

You let out a bitter laugh. “This,” you say, gesturing at the sea of designer bags, “is my brother’s idea of an apology. He thinks he can just ... buy me back with expensive gifts.”

Understanding dawns on Max’s face. “Ah. And I’m guessing that’s not going to work?”

“Not even close,” you say, shaking your head. “God, it’s like he doesn’t know me at all. I’m not one of his girlfriends who can be placated with a shopping spree.”

Max winces. “Ouch. Has he done this before?”

You nod, sinking down onto the nearest clear spot on the floor. “Every time he messes up with a girl, it’s the same routine. Flowers, jewelry, designer clothes. And it usually works, because the girls he dates ... well, they tend to be into that kind of thing.”

Max sits down beside you, his shoulder brushing against yours. “But you’re not.”

“No,” you confirm. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate nice things. But that’s not what this is about. It’s about him actually listening to me, actually seeing me as a person and not just ... his kid sister who can be bought off.”

Max is quiet for a moment, then says softly, “You know, it’s okay to be angry about this. You don’t have to pretend it doesn’t hurt.”

His words break something open inside you. Tears well up in your eyes, spilling over before you can stop them. “I just ... I thought he knew me better than this. I thought they all did.”

Max wraps an arm around your shoulders, pulling you close. You lean into him, letting the tears fall freely now.

“It’s like they don’t even see me,” you choke out between sobs. “They see this idea of who they think I should be, but not ... not who I actually am.”

Max rubs soothing circles on your back, letting you cry it out. When your sobs finally subside, he hands you a tissue.

“Feel better?” He asks gently.

You nod, wiping your eyes. “A little. Sorry for breaking down on you like that.”

Max shakes his head firmly. “Don’t apologize. That’s what I’m here for.”

You offer him a watery smile, then turn back to survey the mountain of bags. “So ... what do I do with all this?”

Max considers for a moment. “Well, what do you want to do?”

You bite your lip, thinking. “Honestly? I want to send it all back. Show him that he can’t just throw money at the problem and expect it to go away.”

Max nods approvingly. “I think that’s a great idea. It sends a clear message.”

“You don’t think it’s too harsh?” You ask, a hint of uncertainty creeping into your voice.

“Not at all,” Max assures you. “You’re standing up for yourself, setting boundaries. That’s important.”

Emboldened by his support, you start rifling through the bags, curiosity getting the better of you. “I wonder what he even bought ... oh.”

You pull out a small velvet box, opening it to reveal a delicate tennis bracelet. The diamonds catch the light, sparkling brilliantly.

“Wow,” Max breathes, leaning in for a closer look. “That’s ... that’s something.”

You nod, mesmerized by the way the bracelet shimmers. “It’s beautiful,” you admit softly.

Max watches you carefully. “You like it,” he observes.

You sigh, closing the box with a snap. “It doesn’t matter. It’s going back with everything else.”

“Why?” Max asks, genuine curiosity in his voice. “If you like it, why not keep it?”

You look at him, surprised. “But ... I thought you said sending it all back was a good idea?”

Max shrugs. “It is. But that doesn’t mean you can’t keep one thing if it genuinely makes you happy. You’re allowed to like nice things, Y/N. That doesn’t invalidate your feelings about the situation.”

You turn the box over in your hands, considering. “I don’t know ... wouldn’t keeping anything send the wrong message?”

“I think,” Max says slowly, “that the message you send depends more on what you say than what you keep or don’t keep. If you like the bracelet, keep it. But make sure Charles understands that a pretty piece of jewelry doesn’t fix the underlying issues.”

You nod, his words resonating with you. “You’re right. I’ll keep the bracelet ... but everything else goes back.”

As you start sorting through the bags, separating out what will be returned, you can’t help but laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Max asks, a smile tugging at his lips.

You hold up the bracelet box. “I was just thinking ... it would be a shame to let something this pretty go to waste, right?”

Max chuckles, shaking his head. “Absolutely. It’s practically your duty to keep it. For the sake of the bracelet, of course.”

“Of course,” you agree, giggling. “I’m being completely selfless here.”

As you continue to sort through the gifts, occasionally showing Max particularly outrageous items (“A fur coat? In Monaco?”), you feel a weight lifting from your shoulders. For the first time since this whole ordeal began, you feel like you’re taking control of the situation.

“You know,” you say, folding a designer dress back into its bag, “I think I need to have a real conversation with Charles. With all of them, really.”

Max nods encouragingly. “I think that’s a great idea. What do you want to say?”

You take a deep breath, organizing your thoughts. “I want them to understand that I’m my own person, with my own dreams and desires. That I need them to see me, really see me, not just as Charles Leclerc’s little sister or as an extension of the family name.”

“That sounds perfect,” Max says softly. “You deserve to be seen for who you are.”

You smile at him, a rush of warmth flooding your chest. “Thank you. For everything. I don’t know how I would have gotten through this without you.”

Max reaches out, taking your hand in his. “You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. But I’m glad I could help.”

As you sit there, surrounded by discarded luxury goods, your hand in Max’s, you feel a sense of peace settling over you. You know the road ahead won’t be easy — confronting your family, establishing new boundaries, figuring out exactly where you stand with Max — but for the first time in a long time, you feel ready to face it all.

You slip on the tennis bracelet, admiring the way it catches the light. It’s beautiful, yes, but it’s also a reminder. A reminder that you’re worth more than grand gestures and expensive gifts. You’re worth being truly seen, truly heard, truly understood.

And as you look at Max, his blue eyes warm with understanding and something that might be more, you think that maybe, just maybe, you’ve found someone who sees you for exactly who you are.

***

The afternoon sun beats down on the streets of Monaco as Charles leans against his Ferrari, fidgeting nervously. He’s parked across from the International University of Monaco, his eyes fixed on the entrance. Students stream in and out, but none of them are the one he’s looking for.

He checks his watch for what must be the hundredth time. Your last class should be ending any minute now. Charles takes a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. He’s rehearsed what he wants to say a thousand times, but now that the moment is approaching, all his carefully prepared words seem to evaporate.

A group of students emerges from the building, laughing and chatting. Charles straightens up, his eyes scanning the crowd. And then he sees you.

You’re walking with a couple of friends, your bag slung over your shoulder, a smile on your face. For a moment, Charles is struck by how ... normal you look. How at ease. It’s a stark contrast to the tense family dinners and stilted conversations of recent months.

Before he can second-guess himself, Charles pushes off from his car and starts walking towards you. He sees the exact moment you spot him — your smile falters, your steps slow.

“Y/N!” He calls out, waving awkwardly.

Your friends notice him too, their eyes widening in recognition. You say something to them that Charles can’t hear, and they nod, casting curious glances between you and your brother as they walk away.

Charles reaches you, stopping a few feet away, suddenly unsure of himself. “Hey,” he says softly.

“Charles,” you reply, your voice carefully neutral. “What are you doing here?”

He runs a hand through his hair, a nervous habit he’s never been able to shake. “I ... I wanted to talk to you. In person. You haven’t been answering my calls or texts, and I just ... I needed to see you.”

You sigh, adjusting the strap of your bag. “I’ve been busy with classes. And I needed some space.”

“I know,” Charles says quickly. “I know, and I’m sorry for ambushing you like this. I just ... can we talk? Please?”

You glance around, noticing the curious stares from passing students. “Not here,” you say finally. “There’s a café around the corner. We can talk there.”

Charles nods eagerly, relief washing over him. “Yes, of course. Whatever you want.”

You lead the way to the café, a small, cozy place tucked away from the main streets. As you settle into a booth in the back, Charles can’t help but wonder how often you come here, how many parts of your life he knows nothing about.

A waitress approaches, and you order your usual — an iced latte with an extra shot. Charles fumbles with the menu before ordering a simple espresso.

An awkward silence falls over the table as you wait for your drinks. Charles fidgets with a napkin, trying to find the right words to begin.

“So,” you say finally, your tone clipped. “You wanted to talk. Talk.”

Charles takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he blurts out. “I’m so, so sorry, Y/N. For forgetting your birthday, for not being there for you, for ... for everything.”

You raise an eyebrow, your expression unreadable. “Is that it?”

Charles blinks, thrown off balance. “I ... what do you mean?”

“I mean,” you say, leaning forward slightly, “is that all you have to say? You’re sorry?”

Charles feels a flash of frustration. “What else do you want me to say? I messed up, I know that. I’m trying to make it right.”

The waitress returns with your drinks, and you take a long sip of your latte before responding. “Charles, this isn’t just about my birthday. This is about years of feeling invisible, of being overshadowed, of not being seen for who I am.”

Charles feels like he’s been punched in the gut. “What? Y/N, I ... I had no idea you felt that way.”

You let out a bitter laugh. “That’s kind of the point, Charles. You didn’t know because you never asked. None of you did.”

Charles sits back, his mind reeling. “I ... I don’t understand. We’ve always been close. At least, I thought we were.”

“We were,” you agree softly. “When we were kids. But as you got more and more successful, it was like ... like I faded into the background. Everything became about you, about your career.”

Charles feels tears pricking at his eyes. “Y/N, I never meant for that to happen. I love you. You’re my little sister.”

“I know you love me,” you say, your voice gentler now. “But loving someone and seeing them are two different things.”

Charles nods slowly, realization dawning. “The gifts,” he says. “That’s why you sent them back. Because I was trying to fix things without actually understanding what was wrong.”

“Exactly,” you confirm. “Charles, I don’t need expensive clothes or jewelry. I need my brother. The one who used to listen to me ramble about constellations for hours, who’d sneak me extra dessert when Maman wasn’t looking.”

Charles reaches across the table, hesitating for a moment before taking your hand. To his relief, you don’t pull away. “I want to be that brother again,” he says earnestly. “Tell me how. Please.”

You take a deep breath, considering. “Well, for starters, you could ask me about my life. My studies, my friends, my dreams. And actually listen to the answers.”

Charles nods eagerly. “Yes, of course. Tell me everything. What are you studying? How are your classes going?”

A small smile tugs at your lips. “I’m majoring in Astrophysics, remember? This semester I’m taking a course on Stellar Evolution that’s absolutely fascinating. We’re learning about the life cycles of stars, from their formation to their eventual death.”

As you continue talking, passion lighting up your eyes, Charles feels a mix of pride and shame wash over him. Pride in your intelligence and enthusiasm, shame that he’s missed out on so much of your life.

“That sounds incredible,” he says when you pause for breath. “I had no idea you were studying something so complex. You must be really good at it.”

You shrug, a hint of your old shyness creeping in. “I do okay. It’s challenging, but I love it.”

“I’m sure you do more than okay,” Charles insists. “You’ve always been the smartest one in the family.”

You laugh softly. “I don’t know about that. But ... thanks, Charles. It means a lot to hear you say that.”

Charles squeezes your hand. “I mean it. And I want to hear more. About your classes, your friends, everything. I’ve missed so much, and I want to make up for it.”

You nod, a cautious hope in your eyes. “I’d like that. But Charles, it can’t just be today. This has to be a continuous thing. I need to know that you’re genuinely interested in my life, not just when you’re trying to make amends.”

“Absolutely,” Charles agrees immediately. “What if we set up a regular call? Once a week, we can catch up properly. No distractions, no racing talk unless you want to. Just us.”

A genuine smile spreads across your face. “I’d really like that.”

Charles feels a weight lifting from his shoulders. It’s not fixed, not completely, but it’s a start. “There’s something else,” he says, suddenly remembering. “Max ... are you and Max ...”

You blush slightly, looking down at your latte. “We’re ... figuring things out. He’s been really supportive through all of this.”

Charles nods, pushing down the instinctive surge of protectiveness. “He’s a good guy. If he makes you happy, then I’m happy for you.”

You look up, surprise evident in your eyes. “Really? You’re not going to go all overprotective big brother on me?”

Charles chuckles. “Oh, I’m sure I’ll have my moments. But Y/N, you’re an adult. You can make your own choices. I trust you.”

Tears well up in your eyes. “Thank you. That ... that means more than you know.”

As you both finish your drinks, the conversation flows more easily. Charles asks about your friends, your hobbies outside of studying. You tell him about the astronomy club you’ve joined, the research project you’re hoping to get involved with next semester.

When it’s time to leave, Charles stands up, hesitating for a moment before opening his arms. “Can I ...”

You nod, stepping into his embrace. Charles holds you tight, realizing how long it’s been since he’s really hugged you like this.

“I love you, little sister,” he murmurs into your hair. “And I promise, I’m going to do better.”

You squeeze him back. “I love you too, big brother. And ... I’m willing to give you the chance to prove it.”

As you part ways outside the café, Charles heading back to his car and you towards your apartment, there’s a lightness in the air that wasn’t there before. It’s not perfect, not yet. There are still conversations to be had, bridges to be rebuilt. But for the first time in a long time, there’s hope.

Charles watches you walk away, a mix of emotions swirling in his chest. Pride in the amazing person you’ve become, regret for the time he’s missed, determination to be the brother you deserve.

He pulls out his phone, creating a new reminder: Call Y/N — every Sunday, 7 PM.

It’s a small step, but it’s a start. And as he drives home, Charles finds himself looking forward to getting to know his little sister all over again.

***

The auditorium of the International University of Monaco buzzes with excitement as proud families and friends gather to celebrate the graduating class. In the front row, an unusually high-profile group draws curious glances and whispered conversations.

Charles fidgets in his seat, craning his neck to scan the sea of graduates. “Do you see her?” He asks, nudging his older brother.

Lorenzo chuckles, placing a calming hand on Charles’ shoulder. “Relax. She’ll be here. Alphabetical order, remember?”

On Charles’ other side, Arthur rolls his eyes fondly. “You’d think he was the one graduating, the way he’s acting.”

“Can you blame him?” Max chimes in from the end of the row, a warm smile on his face. “It’s a big day.”

Pascale, seated between Lorenzo and Arthur, dabs at her eyes with a tissue. “My baby girl, graduating university. I can hardly believe it.”

Max reaches across to pat her hand. “She’s amazing, Pascale. You should be very proud.”

Charles turns to Max, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Look at you, all calm and collected. I remember when you were a nervous wreck asking her out for the first time.”

Max blushes slightly, but grins. “Hey, your sister is intimidating. All that brainpower.”

“Shh!” Arthur hisses suddenly. “I think it’s starting!”

The auditorium falls silent as the ceremony begins. The family watches with rapt attention as the graduates file in, searching for that familiar face among the sea of caps and gowns.

And then, there you are. Your eyes scan the crowd until they land on your family, a bright smile spreading across your face as you wave discreetly.

“There she is!” Charles whisper-shouts, practically bouncing in his seat.

Lorenzo chuckles. “We see her. Try to contain yourself, yeah?”

The ceremony progresses, with speeches from the valedictorian and various dignitaries. Charles fidgets impatiently, earning amused glances from his family and Max.

Finally, the moment arrives. “Y/N Leclerc,” the announcer calls.

Charles jumps to his feet, letting out a whoop that echoes through the auditorium. “That’s my sister!” He shouts, drawing startled looks from nearby attendees.

Lorenzo and Arthur quickly join in, their cheers mixing with Charles’. Max and Pascale stand too, clapping enthusiastically.

You walk across the stage, accepting your diploma with a graceful nod. As you turn to face the audience, your eyes lock with your family’s, and your composed expression breaks into a radiant smile.

Charles, caught up in the moment, continues cheering even after you’ve left the stage. “That’s right! Astrophysicist in the house! Watch out, universe!”

Max, noticing the irritated glances from other families, reaches over and claps a hand over Charles’ mouth. “Okay, Charlie, I think she heard you,” he says, laughter in his voice.

Max feels something wet against his palm and jerks his hand away.

“Ugh, gross!” Max yelps, wiping it on his pants. “What are you, five?”

Charles grins unrepentantly. “You started it.”

Pascale sighs, shaking her head. “Boys, please. This is Y/N’s big day. Try to act like adults.”

“Sorry, Maman,” Charles mumbles, properly chastised.

As the ceremony concludes, the family makes their way outside, eagerly scanning the crowd for you.

“There!” Arthur calls out, pointing.

You’re making your way towards them, diploma in hand, your face glowing with happiness. Max reaches you first, sweeping you into a tight hug.

“Congratulations, liefje,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to your temple. “I’m so proud of you.”

You beam up at him, about to respond when Charles practically tackles you both.

“My sister, the genius!” He crows, lifting you off your feet and spinning you around. “I always knew you’d take over the world someday.”

You laugh, hugging him back just as fiercely. “Put me down, you goof! You’re making a scene.”

“Let him have his moment,” Lorenzo says, stepping in for his own hug once Charles releases you. “It’s not every day your little sister graduates top of her class in Astrophysics.”

Arthur’s turn comes next, his hug gentler but no less heartfelt. “Congrats. You’ve officially made the rest of us look like underachievers.”

Finally, you turn to your mother, who’s openly crying now. “Oh, my darling,” she says, cupping your face in her hands. “I’m so, so proud of you.”

You feel tears welling up in your own eyes as you embrace her. “Thanks, Maman. For everything.”

As you pull back, wiping at your eyes, Charles slings an arm around your shoulders. “So, what’s next? Going to discover a new planet? Name a star after your favorite man?”

You roll your eyes fondly. “First of all, I still have to get through graduate school. And second, bold of you to assume you’re my favorite.”

“Ouch,” Charles clutches his chest in mock pain. “After all we’ve been through?”

Max chuckles, wrapping an arm around your waist. “Face it, Leclerc. I’ve got you beat in the favorite department.”

Charles narrows his eyes playfully. “Is that a challenge, Verstappen?”

“Boys, boys,” you interject, laughing. “There’s plenty of me to go around. Now, how about we get out of here? I’m starving, and I believe someone promised me a celebration dinner.”

“Ah, yes!” Pascale says, clapping her hands together. “I’ve made reservations at La Maree. Your favorite, chérie.”

As the family starts to move towards the parking lot, Max hangs back, tugging gently on your hand. “Hold on a sec,” he says softly. “I want to give you something.”

Curious, you turn to face him. Max reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small velvet box.

Your eyes widen. “Max ...”

He opens the box, revealing a delicate necklace. A small white gold star pendant hangs from the chain, a tiny diamond twinkling at its center.

“I know it’s not much compared to your usual study subjects,” Max says, a hint of nervousness in his voice. “But I thought ... well, you’re my star, Y/N. My brilliant, beautiful star.”

Tears well up in your eyes again as Max fastens the necklace around your neck. “It’s perfect,” you whisper. “I love it. I love you.”

Max’s face breaks into a radiant smile. “I love you too,” he says, before leaning in to capture your lips in a tender kiss.

You melt into the kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck as his hands settle on your waist. For a moment, the world fades away, and it’s just the two of you.

The spell is broken by an exaggerated gagging sound. You break apart to see Charles pretending to retch, while Lorenzo and Arthur laugh.

You break apart, laughing. “Real mature, Charles,” you call back.

Charles grins, unrepentant. “Hey, someone’s got to keep an eye on you crazy kids.”

Max rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “Your brother, the chaperone,” he mutters.

You giggle, taking Max’s hand as you rejoin your family. “Don’t worry,” you whisper conspiratorially. “We’ll ditch him at the restaurant.”

As you all pile into the waiting cars, the air buzzing with excitement and plans for the evening, you can’t help but feel overwhelmed with happiness. A year ago, you never would have imagined this scene — your family truly seeing and celebrating you, a wonderful man by your side who loves and supports you, and a bright future ahead in a field you’re passionate about.

The cars pull away from the university, carrying you towards your celebration dinner. As you watch the familiar streets of Monaco roll by, you find yourself filled with an incredible sense of anticipation. This isn’t just the end of your university journey — it’s the beginning of something new and exciting.

You glance around the car — at Charles and Arthur bickering good-naturedly in the back seat, at your mother chatting happily with Lorenzo who’s driving, and finally at Max beside you, his hand warm in yours. Your family, in all its chaotic, loving glory.

“Hey,” Max says softly, noticing your pensive expression. “You okay?”

You smile, squeezing his hand. “More than okay. I’m perfect.”

And as the car winds its way through the streets of Monaco, towards a future bright with possibility, you know that it’s true. You’re exactly where you’re meant to be, surrounded by love, with the stars stretching out endlessly before you.