#defending gabriels honor

[kidokear]

Peak Gabv1el development (for me, at least) is when someone calls V1 an object and it's Gabriel who go off on this someone, like, he will not allow anyone to entertain that notion. This angle will defend V1's autonomy and sentience with his life.

I think it's sweet and it's a great way to show how far their relationship and bond (romantic or platonic) has gone. Gabriel going from calling them a thing to not letting anyone to call them that and even taking offence (probably more than them) to someone thinking of them like that? How can I not love this? He's the king of fast character development. XD

[p4nishers]

the reason i could never exist in the good omens universe is that God would have to hold me back from the scruff of my neck like a fussy cat if gabriel ever shit talked aziraphale infront of me

[recursivetransformarray]

actually I think I've had enough, if you call Gabriel things like pathetic or a crybaby I'm just blocking you

[gejo333]

Art credit goes to @kit-and-wolfe ! Thank you for fulfilling my wish to see Miguel in a wedding suit!🥹🥰💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

An Unexpected Match XIII

DBF/DILF Miguel O’Hara x female reader

18+ Warning

Pt.1 Pt.14

Summary: The months of preparation for the big day!💐💍🔔

Only three chapters left of “ An Unexpected Match!” (Not including this chapter)

Enjoy🥰

Wc: 15.6k

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When you and Miguel arrived from Miami, your family, friends, and future in-laws met you in the backyard for a surprise engagement party.

You were both happy and shocked that Stephanie and Gabriel could quickly pull something spectacular. Yet again, it was Stephanie and Gabriel. If they wanted something done, they'd get it done. Of course, you weren't surprised that your parents weren't attending. Probably because you didn't tell them that Miguel had proposed to you. Despite all the drama, you still wanted to share the news of your happiness. But you were smart to know they wouldn't be happy. 

Jack had told you that they found out about your news from your Instagram and were not pleased, saying, like a broken record player, that you were too young and that Miguel was too old for you. Of course, you smiled when Stephanie added that Jack defended your relationship with Miguel and said that he cared for your happiness and thought Miguel was a good man for you. 

You chuckled from the memory when Liam approached the four of you, 'Now that you're going to be my future brother-in-law, can I test drive your Aston Martin?' As soon as the words came out of his mouth, you and Jack scolded your childish younger brother. God, you were glad you weren't a sophomore in college anymore. Of course, Miguel, being the gentleman he is, agreed as long as you or he were in the car. And, of course, you didn't help but brag to Liam that you had driven it before, to which his reaction was priceless. 

You sat at a cafe basking in the warmth of the almost-summer sun, scrolling through wedding catalogs.

"Damn, I knew wedding planning was a lot, but I didn't think it was this detailed! Like why is everything individually priced! And way overpriced! I saw this same napkin set for $5 at Target, and this is $30 for two?!" Stephanie stressed as she quickly flipped the pages of her catalog. "God, I wish I snagged a billionaire. But my heart is for your brother." Stephanie dramatically places the back of her hand on her forehead before moving it over her heart. You only rolled your eyes and chuckled at your best friend's childish antics. 

"I still don't 100% understand when you're so amazing, and he's just, well... Jack. But I am happy for both of you. I can't wait till he proposes so we can legally be sisters." You waved the waitress's attention to the check, which they saw and nodded.

"Honestly, I don't think I want to get married now that I have realized how much debt my dream wedding will make me." Stephanie gasped as she saw another overly-priced item. "Do you know your budget?"

"Funny thing is, there is no budget. Miguel won't let me pay for any of it, and there is no limit.  I want to help pay for it too, but he refuses to let me, which is frustrating, to say the least." You sigh as you place your card down on the bill. 

" I love that the only issue you have with your fiancé is that he wants to pay for everything." Stephanie chuckled as she finished her coffee, to which you sent her a light glare. 

" Steph, you know how I am. I don't want to be some dependent trophy wife. I want to contribute to the expenses. But enough about that. I invited you for coffee because I want you to be my maid of honor." You hold her hands as you smile brightly at her.

"I'd be honored to be your main wingwoman at the wedding. You can count on me!" Stephanie squeezed your hands as she returned your smile. "I will also take on the role of wedding planner! Only I know what your dream wedding is, not some overly-priced, stuck-up designer." 

"If you're up for the task, Miguel and I would love the help." After saying your goodbyes, you plan to see each other to start brainstorming themes for the wedding. You head back home, welcomed by your happy six-year-old daughter. 

"Mama, you're back!" Gabi ran up and gave you a bear hug. You smiled lovingly at her as you leaned down to return the hug. The smile on your face disappeared when you noticed a cut on her arm. 

"Baby bug, what happened here? Are you okay?" You check her arm to get a better look at it. It already had a scab, which meant it happened hours ago, most likely at school. 

"I fell during P.E. and scraped my arm when it happened. But I was a big girl, and I didn't cry." Gabi smiled, proud of her statement. You comb some of her fly-away curls behind her ear as you give her another hug, kissing the top of her forehead. "Oh, sweetie, that sounds horrible. It's okay to cry when you get hurt. There is nothing wrong in that."

"I know, but I didn't want to cry in front of the boys because they would make fun of me." Gabi's lips quivered slightly, pouting. 

"Well, if they ever make fun of you for crying, tell them you don't care what they think. And you shouldn't care what others think about you, Gabi. Just be your amazing, sweet self. But hey, if they still are giving you trouble, we'll have Papa scare them off. Cause no one upsets our baby bug." Placing one last kiss on her head, you let her go as she smiles brightly at you before running back to her playroom.

You smile before heading towards the office where your fiancé spends most of his time when he's not with you or Gabi. You notice the door slightly cracked open, signaling he wasn't too busy. As the new CEO of a mega-corporation, you were surprised by how much time he still gets to be with you and Gabi. 

You gently knock on the door to alert your presence before walking in. 

"Cariño? How was coffee with Stephanie?" Miguel called out, still focused on his various computer screens. You walk up behind him as you wrap your arms around his shoulders from behind, resting your head on his shoulder. With one hand, Miguel entangles his fingers with yours and kisses your knuckles near your engagement ring. Half-focused on work. Half-focused on you.

"It was nice. I asked her to be my maid of honor, which she was happy to accept. She is also going to help plan the wedding. Her sense of taste is way better than any wedding planner that I looked at."

"She did do a really good job with the engagement party," Miguel added. 

"She did. I have always trusted her taste in design and decor. Have you talked to Gabe about being your best man?" You chuckled at his slight pout from your last words.

"I just haven't had the patience for his energy lately. And he won't leave me alone when I ask him." Miguel sighed as he leaned his head against yours, and you kissed his cheek sweetly. 

"Well, it's better to rip off the bandaid than leave it. Plus, you know he's been waiting for you to ask. On a different note, can we discuss something more seriously?" 

Your change in tone brought his full attention as he guided you to the front of his chair, both serious and curious brown eyes looking up at you. You smile as you straddle his lap and comb a few stray-away curls from his face. You always loved it when he had his glasses on. 

"Don't worry, honey. It's nothing bad. I just wanted to talk about expenses."

"What about them?" Miguel's hands rested on your hips, gently brushing his fingers against your clothing. 

"I want to be more a part of it. I want to help chip in. Like for our wedding, the house, and Gabi." 

"Like I've said before, Hermosa, save your money. You know I can easily take care of everything."

"I know you can, Miguel, but I want to contribute. Please let me help pay for things. I don't want to be financially dependent on you. I love you and can't wait to be your wife in a few months, but I will not be a trophy wife. So please, for my sake, let me help pitch in." You tried your best to give him a serious gaze without wanting to melt into his strong and warm embrace. 

A small sigh escaped his lips before he smiled. "It's hard to say no to you. Alright. You can help pay for Gabi's soccer things and groceries."

"And half the wedding."

"No."

"A quarter?"

"How about just the cake."

"Cake and flowers?"

"Fine. You have a deal, mi amor, if I can have a kiss." Miguel smirked, pinching your hip.

"Well, you can have a kiss anytime you want and as many times as you want." You smile, leaning in as your lips meet his in a soft and sweet kiss. "Here's another one," you say before placing another kiss on his lips, "and another because I love you." 

The kisses formed into a slightly heated make-out session as sweet kisses were placed on lips, necks, and light squeezes and touches. However, the enjoyable moment paused as you both heard light footsteps descending the hallway. You get off Miguel's lap and ensure you still look presentable. A few seconds later, barged in your daughter wearing a plastic tiara with pink gems and a matching tutu on her soccer uniform. 

"How cute do you look, baby bug. You look like a princess."

"I'm the soccer fairy princess. And I am inviting you and Papa to my royal tea party." Gabi handed you, and Miguel slips of paper with colorful drawings and writing. Of course, knowing your handwriting, you could tell she tried to spell out 'Momma's tea party invitation.'

"We would be honored to attend, Princesa." Miguel smiled as he got up from his chair, stretching to relieve the tension in his muscles from sitting too long. Would you like to be carried to your palace?" 

"Yes, please!" Gabi cheered in excitement before he picked her up with one arm. With his available hand, he entangled his fingers with yours as he led his family to the royal tea party upstairs.

.....

10 months before the wedding

"We're here!" Cheered Gabi from her car seat. You chuckle from her excitement as you exit the driver's side and unbuckle her from the car seat. Of course, as soon as she is out of the car, she runs to the car parked in front with a wild woman standing. 

"Auntie Steph!"

"Hi there, girlie! Are you here to help your Mama out with choosing a dress?" Stephanie smiled as she leaned down to hug Gabi, who happily reciprocated the gesture. 

"Yeah! But I promised her not to tell what the dress looks like even though Papa asked me to." 

"Oh, I see. Is Mr. O'Hara already getting impatient to make you Mrs. O'Hara?" Stephanie chuckled as she grinned at you, to which you replied with a smile and a playful roll of your eyes. 

As you entered, you were met by more of your wedding party, including a few more college friends as your bridesmaids and Conchata, Miguel's mother. You had met her only a few times, the last time at the engagement party. Ever since the beginning of your relationship with Miguel, you knew he wasn't close to his mother. Still, she was a good grandmother to Gabi and really sweet to you. When Miguel introduced you to her, she was overly excited to meet you, saying she was happy her son had found a nice woman. Even though she and Miguel weren't that close, it was nice to know that at least one parent approved of your relationship.  You had invited her to your wedding dress appointment because she always had wanted to be a part of the bridal process but never thought she would be able to since she only has sons. 

"Hola y/n! Que tal mi hija?" Conchata smiled as she hugged you, to which you happily returned. (Hi y/n! How are you, my daughter?)

"Hola Conchata. Bien. Estoy muy emocionado." (Hi Conchata. Good. I am very excited.)

"Me alegro. ¡No puedo esperar a verte probar vestidos! Asegúrate de que ese hijo mío no te deje embarazada antes de la boda. Lo era y odiaba que no pudiera caber en mi vestido."

(I'm glad. I can not wait to see you try dresses! Make sure that a son of mine does not get you pregnant before the wedding. I was, and I hated that I could not fit into my dress.)

"No te preocupes. No habrá noticias de futuros bebés hasta después de que se haya celebrado la boda." (Don't worry. There will be no news of future babies until after the wedding has happened). You chuckle at your future mother-in-law's words. You knew Miguel would say otherwise. 

He would be happy if you had told him you were pregnant today. Thankfully birth control prevented that from happening no matter how many times he tried overpowering the drug by staying inside you for hours after an intense amount of time fucking you. Lately, you have been falling asleep in bed with him deep inside you. 

Of course, your smile faded slightly when you saw your mother sitting next to your bridesmaids. She stood up with an awkward smile as she hugged you. "I'm shocked I was invited, especially since you didn't tell me you were engaged." 

"Well, every daughter wants their mom to be part of their wedding preparations, including dress shopping, despite your behavior." 

"My behavior? I'm telling you that what you are doing is a mistake.

"My son is not a mistake. And neither is this relationship. They are perfect for each other." Argued Conchata.

"Sarah, just be happy for her. Okay?" Steph touched your mother's shoulder, hoping to reason with her. 

"Let's just get on with this," your mother scoffed as she returned to her spot. You took a deep breath to calm your anger. You would try on wedding dresses; this is supposed to be a happy occasion. 

The bridal dress concierge walked towards your group. "Good afternoon, ladies. Now, who might be the bride?" 

"My mama is!" Gabi happily hugged you, and you chuckled as you looked down at her with a loving smile and gently caressed her head. 

"I am." 

"Lovely! Follow me right this way, Ms. L/n." The woman said warmly before walking into the bridal boutique with you, Gabi, and everyone else following behind. 

"Everyone can sit here while I take our lovely bride to the fitting room. The dresses you chose online are already in there for you. Please follow me." 

Before you leave, you turn to face Gabi, "I'll be in the dressing room, baby bug. Come in if you need me. Aunt Steph and Abuela will look after you." You kiss the top of her head before following the woman to the fitting room.

You had goosebumps on your skin, as you couldn't contain your excitement when you saw the dresses hanging up in the dressing room. 

Of course, no one told you how hard it was to get into a wedding dress. You only thought jean shopping was a nightmare. You sighed in contentment after finally getting the first dress on. This was going to be a workout. You look at the dress in the mirror, smiling as if you were happy with how it looked on you. But you knew it wasn't The dress. 

"Are you ready to show everyone?" said the concierge lady, her eyes meeting yours with a smile in the mirror. You nodded happily as you walked out of the fitting room and into the private sitting area. 

Your smile faded for the second time today when you noticed one person missing. Your face said it all as Stephanie answered your question before you even asked.

"She left. We tried to convince her to stay. But she wouldn't listen." Her words made your heart snap in two. You never would have thought you wouldn't be close to your parents anymore. That when your big day arrived, they wouldn't be there every step of the way. Guess you really saw their true selves. You tried your best to keep a smile as you stepped on the small stage to see the dress. 

"I think you look beautiful in this dress." One of your bridesmaid's friends said.

"You'll look gorgeous, mama!"

"Sexy as always, but I can tell this isn't your dress." Added Stephanie with a small smile. You knew she could see right through your barely believable act. 

"Yeah, I agree. I think I'll go try on the next dress." You say before heading back to the dressing room. Once you were back in the dressing room, out of the dress and in the provided robe, you collapsed onto the cushioned seat in tears. 

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry that happened to you. Is there anything we can do?" The sales clerk passed you a box of tissues, and you gladly accepted, not wanting to ruin your makeup. 

"Thank you."

"I'll be right back to get you water." The woman left as you continued to sit there to calm down your tears. 

You didn't realize how long you were in the dressing room until you heard Gabi's voice from the sitting room before hearing familiar large footsteps approaching you. A light knock was heard, followed by one of your many loving nicknames as Miguel walked in, the concern becoming more apparent when he saw your distressed state. 

"Miguel? What are you doing here?" You try to wipe away your tears and hide them, not wanting to have him worry about you.

"My mother called me, saying Sarah walked out, and you were heartbroken." Miguel kneeled before you as he brushed your hair away from your face. When he noticed your tear-stained cheeks, his blood began to boil. How dare that woman make you cry? It broke his heart to see you upset. 

He stood up and sat down beside you before grabbing you and making you straddle his lap. He placed butterfly kisses on your face and neck, something Miguel always knew would make you smile.

When he saw your beautiful smile reappearing, he placed one last kiss on your lips before he stopped to meet your beautiful gaze.

"Need any more of my love to wipe away those tears, cariño?" Miguel lightly chuckled as he used his finger to wipe away your last tears. You smiled as you gently shook your head before leaning in to kiss his lips. 

"Hey, you know the place where you wanted to have the wedding?" Miguel brushed your hair behind your shoulders, trying to hide a large smile on his face.

"Yeah. It would have been so amazing to get married there in Portugal. But I can't wait three years to marry you." You caress his face, trying to memorize all the lovely details.

"Well, I was going to tell you later tonight, but it's better now. I got that venue for our date."

Your breath caught in your throat as new tears appeared. Happy tears threaten to spill. "Oh, Miggy. I thought it was impossible to get it." 

"I might have pulled a few strings." He chuckled at your cute reaction as he wiped away your tears. 

You peppered his face with kisses before placing one on his lips. "Thank you for being so sweet. For loving me. Sometimes, I don't deserve to have someone as amazing as you."

"You have it all wrong, Hermosa. It's me who doesn't deserve a goddess like you. You have changed my world. You made me see all the good things. You made me feel loved for who I am and not what I am. I love you."

"I love you too." 

You stayed in each other's arms for a few more minutes before you heard the rumble of his voice. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm much better. Thank you." Your eyes widen when you realize the time of day. "Miguel, did you come here from work? Oh my god, I'm so sorry that I disturbed your day. You probably have way more important things to deal with than coming across the city to console me." You get off his lap, a blush coming across your cheeks when you realize underneath your robe were only your panties. 

"Mi Amor, I would drop any of my work stuff to be with you. Family is always number one to me. And why did you leave my lap." Miguel pouted as he tried to bring you back. 

"Miguel, I know what you're trying to do. Not happening here. Not in public." You chuckled as you got out of his grasping radius. He stood up from the chair as he walked over towards you. You walked backward until your back hit the wall. He tilted your head as he leaned down to whisper into your ear. 

"It never stopped us before. And you look so good in only a silk robe."  Miguel's hand went inside your robe, lowering towards your sensitive lips.

Your arms wrapped around his neck as you felt two of his fingers slide past your underwear and enter your now aching hole. 

But of course, as soon as it began, it ended as you both heard your daughter running out of Stephanie's grasp and towards your dressing room. 

Miguel sighed as he rested his forehead against yours, removing his fingers from you and licking them to remove any trace of you from his fingers before kissing your lips. 

"She's been doing that a lot lately." Miguel huffed.

"It's alright. She's only six and wants to be with us whenever she can. We only get so many years of that." You caress his cheek, placing one last kiss on his lips before leaving your sandwiched spot between the wall and your fiancé, knowing he probably wouldn't be able to control himself if you didn't. 

" I know mi amor. I just love having my alone time with you." Miguel hugged you from behind as he kissed your neck, breathing in your scent. 

"And I love it too. But if we don't separate now, our baby daughter will need therapy." You chuckled as you left his hold, rewrapping your robe to better cover yourself. 

Within seconds, Gabi opens the curtain, followed by Stephanie, who gives you and Miguel an apologetic look. "This girl is fast." 

"¿Qué está pasando, princesa?" (What's going on, Princess?) Miguel chuckled as he picked her up.

"Abuela asked me to check on you and Mama to ensure you weren't playing around. What does she mean?" Gabi smiled as she began to play with her dad's curly hair. You went on Miguel's other side; he instinctively wrapped his free arm around your hips. You gently bumped her nose, making her giggle as you said, "Nothing happened, baby bug."

"But why were you two in here for so long?"

"I was consoling Mama because she was sad. And don't listen to what your Abuela said. She should have thought about her words first before saying that." 

The three of you left the dressing room and into the private showing area, where everyone awaited you. People came up to help console you, the bride, but you smiled, assuring them that you were alright. 

Miguel set Gabi down. Gabi then ran to your legs for a hug, which you happily accepted and returned. Your gaze goes to Miguel and Conchata, who bicker quietly in Spanish.  

You couldn't hear all of it but could make out most of it. 

"Por qué le dirías a Gabi que tú y yo estábamos 'jugando', no le digas que no entiende y que es demasiado joven para saberlo de todos modos'?"(Why would you tell Gabi that y/n and I were 'playing around? Don't tell her that. She  doesn't understand and she is too young to know anyways.)

"Bueno, ¿estaban ustedes dos 'jugando' allí?"(Well, were you two 'playing around' back there?)

"no, y ese no es el punto de esta conversación"

(no, and that is not the point of this conversation.)

"No lo niego del todo, hijo mío. ¿Qué diría Dios?"(I am not fully denying it, my son. What would God say?)

"No hablo de esto contigo. Eso es privado entre mi prometido y yo."(I am not talking about this with you. That's private between me and my fiance.) Miguel's watch buzzed, meaning he was getting a call from work; he looked down and glared at his wrist. "Tengo que tomar este." (I have to take this.)

"Peter, this better be an emergency." He said before he walked outside the store.

Gabi squeezed her tiny hand in yours, jumping up and down in excitement. "Mama, can we look at more dresses. I saw a really pretty one in that room." 

"Of course! Show me where it is." Gabi leads you to one of the rooms filled with various long white gowns. After a few minutes of looking, she points out the dress, to which you happily take it out. Just from the hangar, you think it is beautiful. 

"This one is gorgeous, Gabi. You have great taste. I'll go bring it to the room to try on next."

After looking through more dresses and grabbing some, you were ready to return to the dressing room. Miguel also walked back inside, looking frustrated. Of course, as soon as your eyes met his, his demeanor softened, and he smiled lovingly at you. You walked up to him, caressing his cheek. 

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes, just a few annoyances have come up at work. I need to get back to them so they don't do anything stupid. I'll see you this evening." Miguel kissed you, which you happily returned before he hugged Gabi goodbye and walked out the door.

After trying on almost all the dresses, Gabi picked out the last one. Tears prick the corners of your eyes when you see yourself in the mirror as a smile graces your lips.

"This is it. This is the one."

......

8 months before the wedding

"Here are the invitations and the lists for where they go." You slide over the different 'Save the Date' wedding invitations to the postman.

"I love the design of the cards. Very elegant."  The man smiled as he happily took the invitations and address list. 

The bell to the door entrance rang, signifying someone had entered. The person who had entered walked up right next to you, his hand on your lower back. 

"Everything all done here, Hermosa?" 

"Yep. Just finished now. Was Gabi able to make it to soccer practice?" 

"She did. Jumped out herself and ran straight to the field where her friends and coach were." He chuckled.

"Aw, she's growing up too fast. She did that the other day when I took her to her friend's house for her play date. Let's get her favorite takeout for tonight. " 

"That sounds like a good idea." A buzz came from Miguel's watch, and he saw Jess's name pop up. "I'm sorry cariño. I have to take this call." Miguel kissed the top of your head. 

"No worries. See you outside." You gave his hand a love squeeze before he left to answer the call. 

"Everything is all set. One thing I just have to say.  Damn girl, you really snatched up a fine man." The man winked at you as he fanned his hand against his face. 

"He sure is an amazing man. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him." 

You left the post office with a smile on your face. You saw Miguel in the driver's side of his car, still on the phone. You quietly entered the passenger side, trying not to disturb his call. 

A few minutes later, his call ended, and he sighed. 

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just the same everyday stress I have to handle." You place your hand on his knee as you lean towards him and kiss his neck before whispering, "How about when we get back home I can help relieve some of that stress."

Miguel's eyes widened, and a smirk rested on his lips. Instead of driving straight home, Miguel turned the car into an indoor parking garage. It was an underground garage that goes quite deep into the Earth. 

As soon as you reached the lowest levels where no car were in sight, you turned to look at him, confused by the sudden detour. "What are we doing here?" You chuckle as you see him park in the corner. When he turned off the car, he moved the seat back. 

"Come here, cariño." He gently patted his lap. With a smile, you exited the car and went over to his side, where he opened the door for you. You easily get on his lap as you wrap your arms around his neck, capturing your lips with his. One of his hands trailed down from your back to your ass, squeezing your cheek while closing the door. You gasp, letting his tongue slip past your lips. The door is now closed, and his now other free hand goes to your ass. He pushes you closer against him as your tongues explore the familiar parts of each other's mouths. 

Miguel grunts as he feels you rub yourself on his hardened crotch. Too impatient, he moves you slightly back, unbuckles his belt, and unzips his pants before taking out his glorious thick cock.  

"Guess you couldn't wait to get to the bedroom." You giggle when you see him send you a playful glare as his lips mark your neck with kisses and love bites. 

"You were teasing me all day. You're lucky I didn't do anything at the store when we registered for gifts." Miguel's lips kissed up to your ear as he lowered the straps of your tank top, revealing your uncaged breasts. "You know I can't last minutes without being nestled deep inside your walls when you act like that."

You chuckled at his needy words as he brought his lips towards yours into a heated kiss as you unbuttoned his shirt. You slowly dragged your hand down his chiseled tan chest before your hand wrapped around his cock. 

"I swear. Your wish would be to be inside me 24/7." You chuckle against his neck as you kiss his sweet spot. 

Miguel groaned impatiently as he lifted you and not so gently guided himself inside of you; a gasp from your lips as your reaction and a beautiful sound Miguel would never get sick of.

 "Well, that wish will come true for two weeks after we tie the knot." He takes your chin, reddish-brown eyes staring down at you as he begins moving you on his cock. "And you'll officially become Mrs. O'Hara." He begins to quicken his pace, to which you even have to give him the full reins as his right-hand grasps your waist to give you the level of satisfaction you both desire. You never felt self-conscious about your riding skills, never with Miguel. He always knew when to say the right words and touch you in the right places. 

Of course, whenever you did feel a little subconscious about it, Miguel would just whisper in your ear, "A beautiful woman like you shouldn't have to pleasure a man but to have him pleasure you." 

From his sultry words in your ear to the cosmic pleasure ravaging your insides, you felt your knot come and release in an instant. 

Your euphoric high made your walls squeeze tightly around his cock. With the way he's been trying to paw down his boner all day long, he didn't mind releasing himself inside you so quick as long as he knew your needs were satisfied.

Miguel kisses your brow as you gently lean into his touch, both catching your breath. 

"I guess we need to head back to the house," Miguel murmured against your brow.

You look up at him with a suggestive grin as you brush back some strands of hair sticking to his forehead before caressing his cheek. "I think we can spare a bit more time." 

Miguel's grin widened, agreeing, "Be careful what you wish for, cariño." Miguel purred in your ear as he pulled the side handle of this seat, which made the car seat go all the way down.

.....

4 months before the wedding

You woke up at 4:45 am when your eyes finally adjusted to the light of your phone, seeing the time. You groaned out loud, annoyed with yourself for waking up so early. You never were an early morning riser, the opposite of your fiancé, who you know was downstairs in the home gym doing his morning workout routine. 

You were impressed by his strict early morning regimen. No matter how tired he was the day before, he always woke up at 4 am. He worked out until 6, took a shower, and was back in bed by 7 before you woke up at 8. 

However, this morning, you were awake. Maybe it was the nerves and pre-wedding jitters as the clock for your wedding was ticking closer to the date each day. Being too impatient to wait for Miguel to finish his workout, you decided to bother him. Of course, in his words, you never bothered him as he always loved you being in his company, embraced in his arms. 

Before heading to the basement gym, you put on pajama shorts and a tank top. You leaned against the doorway, admiring how your fiancé's muscles flexed as he lifted dumbbells. 

"Like what you see, Hermosa?" Miguel chuckled as he turned around. You bite your lower lip as you gaze over his sweaty physique. Your core grew tighter as you saw his biceps flex from the weights. 

"Mhm, maybe a little bit." You walk towards him, trying to hide your smile, but fail when you see his bright smile. You place your hands on his chest, gently moving them to his shoulders to rest. 

Miguel set his weights on the bench before returning to the same spot. Your eyes widen slightly in surprise when you feel his hands cupping your ass and pulling you closer. 

"Only a little? Will this change your answer?" His lips met yours in a sweet, loving kiss. "Though I'm happy to see you up early this morning, why are you awake now? Is everything okay?"

He cupped your face, concern growing in his eyes. 

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about me. I just woke up feeling nauseous and couldn't fall asleep, so I thought to come down here to keep you company."

"Are you still feeling nauseous?" 

"Yeah, but I probably just need to eat something."

"I'm sorry cariño. I'll go make you something."Miguel began to lead you both upstairs. You stopped, pausing his movements. 

"You don't have to do that. I'll grab something while you finish your workout." You tried to move from him, but before you could comprehend what was happening, all you could see was Miguel's tight ass in his workout shorts as you were now hauled over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. 

"Miggy. What are you doing?" You laughed as he began to climb the stairs to the first floor. 

When you arrived at the kitchen, he placed you on the counter and gathered the ingredients to make you an omelet. 

"You always come first to me. I can skip a workout to feed my fiancé."

When he stood close to you to chop vegetables, you leaned over to kiss his cheek in appreciation. 

You suddenly need to throw up when you smell the eggs on the pan. 

"I'll be right back." You hid your pale face with a smile as you headed back up to the master bathroom to empty your guts. Not hearing Miguel's footsteps behind you meant he bought your bluff, to your relief. 

When you began to feel better, a thought passed your mind, and you suddenly felt sick again. 

Flushing the toilet and turning on the faucet, you lean your upper body against the sink. You slowly sink your body to the ground in front of the cabinet. Opening the doors, you grab the box for wandering thoughts like the one now currently plaguing your mind. 

As you were anxiously waiting for the haunting test on the sink, you lifted your top to reveal your stomach in the mirror. You took an intake of breath without exhaling as you realized the very subtle baby bump. You quickly went to the test, eyes wide, as you saw the positive mark.

You go back to the kitchen downstairs and see Miguel just plating the food. 

"Your food is ready."

"Thank you for making this for me, honey. But I lost my appetite because...well...this." You show him the pregnancy test. 

Miguel sits down on the stool, staring at the test in shock. He looks back up at you, a smile spreading across his lips. He shoots up from his seat and twirls you around excitedly before kissing you. 

"I know it's a lot sooner than you wanted. But I promise to be there every step of the way." 

"Honestly, after my accident and almost losing my chance to ever have kids. I'm completely fine with having one now."

"I'm assuming you held that information for a reason?" He chuckled.

"Of course I did. The second you found out I wanted to have kids, I don't think we would ever leave our bedroom until I was pregnant." You laughed. 

"You're not wrong on that, mi amor." 

You laugh with your fiancé as you are about to give him a sweet, loving kiss to celebrate your little discovery. However, your body says otherwise as you feel a wave of nausea hit you as you race back to the bathroom, followed by Miguel. 

The nausea only grew worse throughout the day. It wasn't helpful that the final tasting menu and your hair and makeup trial were today. Despite Miguel reassuring you that he could reschedule those events, you refused, as you were hell-bent on your wedding plans not being delayed.

Instead of you adventuring outside, Miguel made a few calls and could move everything to the house simultaneously. 

"So why the sudden location change?" Hummed Stephanie as she leaned on the kitchen counter, sampling one of the dinner choices for the wedding reception. You had called her over this morning asking for her opinion, which she was more than happy to do. However, when she saw your sickly-looking skin tone and your constant need to excuse yourself with Miguel looking anxious every time questions were raised in your best friend's mind. 

"It's supposed to rain all day today."

"Haven't see cloudless rain before. Must be something new." 

"Gabi was sick, so we needed to stay home with her." 

"Mama, I'm not sick." Gabi looks up at you, confused from the kitchen stool she was sitting next to you drawing. 

You look back to Stephanie with a nervous smile as she narrows her eyes at you. 

"Hermosa, I don't think you can hide it much longer," Miguel added.

"Oh, I could tell something was up when I first saw you today." 

You sigh as you look at Miguel, who is trying his best to hide his amusement. You look at your daughter, who is happily coloring. "Baby bug, would you like to tell Auntie Steph the big news?" 

Gabi smiled brightly as she held up the picture she was drawing. It was her, Miguel, and you with a round belly. 

"I'm going to be a big sister!"

Stephanie's eyes widen in surprise before she goes straight to hug you.

"That's amazing! Ahh, I'm going to be an aunt again! Congratulations, you too!"

You happily hug her back. " Of course, you can tell Jack. But is it possible for you and him to keep it a secret? Just until after the wedding. I don't think Miguel and I could handle the extra annoyances from the in-laws if they knew." 

"I totally understand Jack and I's lips are sealed."  Stephanie zipped her lips and tossed the invisible key away. "Now, do we all agree neither dish is perfect for your guys' reception?" Stephanie pushed the plate away.

"I've been waiting for someone else to say it," Miguel added as he dumped the food in the trash.

"From the smell of it, I can agree." Your nausea gets the better of you as you rush back up to the bathroom, followed by a worried and doting Miguel. 

Stephanie chuckled as she watched the couple rush up the stairs. "Your parents are adorable. Aren't they, Gabi?"

"Yeah! Am I adorable, too?"

"You are the most adorable." Stephanie booed Gabi's nose, making her giggle. 

.....

2 months before the wedding

"Everything looks good and healthy." The Doctor smiles as she helps wipe up the gel on your stomach. 

"How far along am I?"  

"You're three months along. Now, make sure to follow all these instructions." The Doctor handed you the paper, which you happily accepted before handing it to Miguel, knowing he would be more responsible for not losing it. 

"Do you have any questions?"

You chuckled when you saw Miguel take out his list of questions, which he had been writing down for the past few weeks since you had scheduled the Doctor's visit. 

Even though you have a daughter, neither of you have gone through the pregnancy process, making him act like a first-time and nervous father.

After letting Miguel ask questions for another 30 minutes, it was time to go. Bless the Doctor's heart for being so patient. Even your bladder couldn't handle it, leaving the room twice. 

You both get in the car as Miguel drives you to the bridal boutique. Ever since you both found out that you were pregnant, Miguel has been a little bit overprotective, if you were putting it nicely. 

Despite being the CEO of Alchemex, he was able to go to work only two times a week. And despite being dotting before, he is at your beck and call, whether that be driving you somewhere since he has been too nervous to let you drive while pregnant despite you telling him you were fine or getting you a glass of water every time you were thirsty. 

Miguel placed his free hand on top of yours, intertwining his fingers with yours. He glanced over at you with a heartfelt smile. 

"Are you still good to head to city hall after your appointment?" 

"Of course. I'm glad to be out of the house a lot today. I feel like I've been cooped up all week." You smiled back at him as you placed your other hand on your small baby bump. 

"Just double-checking Hermosa. I know the morning sickness has improved, but I wanted to ensure you were okay with being at city hall for a bit. Even with the expedited appointment, we might still be waiting." 

"I never thought you had to apply for a marriage permit." Your cheeks tinted pink out of embarrassment. 

Miguel chuckled as he lifted your hand intertwined in his and kissed your knuckles. 

"Don't feel embarrassed, mi amor. You're 22. I doubt you were thinking of getting married anytime soon." Miguel's fingers gently fidgeted with your engagement ring.

You chuckled as you squeezed his hand out of love. "Well, before us, I definitely wouldn't have imagined being a pregnant mother of a six-year-old getting ready to be married in two months to the love of my life." You look over at him as you take in his appearance. "And I wouldn't want it any other way." 

"I love you," he lovingly looked over at you. You leaned towards his seat and kissed his cheek.

"I love you too, Miggy."

After some time in the bridal shop, you say your goodbyes and leave to see your fiancé in the car working. You were relieved that the dress fit with plenty more wiggle room for when your stomach gets bigger. You were thankful for the bridal store's kindness for the sudden change so close to your wedding. You guessed it didn't help that you had told them as soon as you found out about your pregnancy, and maybe because of the extra sum given to have it done. 

Around 20 minutes later, you arrive at City Hall. When you get to the right floor for marriage permits, you internally groan when you see the long line going around the corner and down the hall. You hear Miguel sigh, which makes you smile, knowing he feels the same way. 

Another 20 minutes passed, feeling more like an eternity with your swollen feet, and the line barely moved. You felt Miguel wrap an arm around your waist as he brought you in front of him. He leaned against the wall before moving you to lean against him. 

"Lean on me, cariño," Miguel whispered in your ear. 

You look up at him: "Are you sure? You must tired, too."

He smiled lovingly down at you, brushing some of your hair behind your ear. "I'm perfectly fine. You're carrying our child. You must be tired from standing. Lean on me to relieve the stress in your back." 

You smile up at him as you get on your toes to give him a quick kiss and thank you before you wrap your arms around his waist, hugging him as you lean your head on his chest. You sigh in relief as leaning against him relieves some of your soreness. 

"Thank you, honey." You say against his chest. Your heart flutters when you hear the vibration of his chuckle before you feel him kiss the top of your head. 

"Anything for you, mi amor." 

Another 20 minutes went by, and it was beginning to become mentally painful to see how slow the line was going. 

"There you are, Mr. O'Hara." A man walking by stopped in front of the two of you, making you turn around. 

"Yes?" Miguel spoke.

"I've been searching the halls for you. I'm going to get you and Ms. L/n your marriage permit. I apologize for the delay. When the security checked you in, they should have sent you straight to me. Please follow me this way." The man gestured for you and Miguel to follow him. 

You look up to Miguel as you shrug your shoulders before following the government official. 

You enter an office that would be deemed very nice for a government-paid room. You sit and smile as tears threaten to spill from the relief you feel in your feet and lower back. 

"You know, for someone of my standing, maybe you should have been waiting at the check-in to bring us to your office and not depend on a security guard to do your job. Instead, my pregnant fiancé and I had to wait in line for almost an hour in an unconditioned building. You're lucky she didn't faint from the heat." Miguel's tone became serious, with an obvious tone of anger. 

Your fiancé's death glare alone could send someone into an early grave. Should you be scared? Maybe. But all you felt was how hot he looked doing it. 

"My deepest apologies, Mr. O'Hara. I can waive the fee for the permit." The official swallowed nothing, and his nerves were evident on his face. 

"That's not needed. I'll pay for it. Just do better for the next couple." 

"O-of course, sir." 

Thankfully, after a speedy process through all the paperwork, most likely from Miguel's glare going straight into the official's soul. 

"Bring this to the ceremony, sign it, and mail it in for it to be registered afterward. And that's it for here. Once again, I apologize for the earlier inconvenience. If you need anything from us, please don't hesitate to contact me. Here is my personal phone number." The man hands Miguel a paper with his number. "Have a lovely evening."

You and Miguel stood up from your seats to your dissatisfaction as Miguel led you out of the office. Once you left the building, Miguel sighed in relief. 

You turned around and placed your hands on his chest. 

"You were very impressive in there, Mr. O'Hara."

He placed his hands on your hips as he grinned down at you. "I try my best, Mrs. O'Hara." He leaned down for a kiss, but he stopped by your finger. 

"Not yet, your Mrs." You winked at him with a smile as you walked out of his grasp and towards the car. Miguel chuckled deeply from behind you. 

"I love it when you feisty Hermosa." 

.....

1 month before the wedding 

You mindlessly stared at the white wall as you lay in bed. You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to stop the tears as you felt another wave of pain in your abdomen. 

You heard voices from outside the bedroom door. 

"How was she today?" Miguel spoke in a whisper. 

"Nothing new. She's been in bed beside the few times she needed to use the restroom too well. You know. She still hasn't eaten anything. I'm worried about her. She won't listen to anything I say. Maybe you can get through to her today." Spoke Stephanie.

"Thank you for watching her and Gabi while I dealt with that emergency at work." 

"Of course. You know I would do anything for her. How have you been managing?" 

"It's been a hard two weeks. But I'm more worried for her. It breaks my heart to have her go through this. If I ever see that bitch Sofia... I probably would end up in prison myself for what I would do."

"Fortunately, she has been behind bars for a long time. I'll let you go in there. I'll help finish the seating chart and the remaining small details that still need to be done."

"Thank you for all the extra help you and Jack have been doing for the wedding. It means a lot to both of us."

You heard Stephanie say goodbye before you heard the door to your bedroom open. As the bed dipped, you felt arms wrap around you. 

You closed your eyes to pretend to fall asleep, not wanting to talk. 

Two weeks ago:

You stood in front of a corkboard with circles organized according to importance. You stared at the board for hours, figuring out where to place your parents. 

"Urgh. Should I place them at the main family table? I don't really want to interact with them. If they even decide to come to the wedding." You mumble to yourself out loud. You look down at Gabi lying on the ground, watching her favorite morning cartoons. You smiled at how adorable your daughter was.

"Hey, baby bug. Where should my parents sit at the wedding?"

Gabi stood up and walked right up next to you with her usual happy smile. You passed her your parents' little name tags as she took them and went to the board. On her tiptoes, she put your parents' name tags at the main family table. 

"When I have my wedding, I want you and Papa to sit right next to me." You smile as you see her go on her tiptoes to put the name tags in the right place on the board. Over the course of the time you've lived here, you've seen her grow so much already. You knew she would get some of her father's height from how tall she was now at 7.

"Perfect! Do you want to help with the gift bags?" 

Gabi's eyes sparked with excitement as she jumped up and down towards the dining room table. You chuckled as you followed behind her. After a few minutes of showing her what went into each bag and seeing her do one, you left her on her own while you went to the kitchen to make you and her lunch. 

You felt something unusual in your abdomen. Your hand went to your round belly, a smile coming to your lips when you thought it was the baby kicking for the first time. That happy smile quickly turned as you felt another sensation, but it was a sharp pain. Your hand clenched your stomach as the pain kept on coming. A wet patch forms between your legs, but when you look down, your eyes widen to see blood drip from your thighs to the floor. 

You grunted in pain as it became worse, making you collapse to the ground before you could grab your phone. 

"No, no, no, no." You cried out loud in pain. This couldn't be happening. On that day, Miguel had to go to work. 

"Mama?"  Gabi walked into the kitchen. When she saw you lying on the floor in pain, you saw her face scrunch up as you saw her tears start to fall. She runs up to you as she kneels beside you. 

"Mama! You're bleeding! Are you hurt?" Gabi cried, scared for you. 

You gain enough strength to caress her face to try and soothe her. "I'll be alright, sweetheart. But something is not right with your brother or sister. Can...can..you...can you get my phone?"

Gabi nodded as she stood up and went to the kitchen counter. Getting on her tippy toes, she grabbed the phone. When she had it, she came back to your side and handed it to you. 

You start to feel your vision go in and out.

"Sweetie, you remember how we taught how to dial the phone?"

"Yeah." 

"Mama is having a hard time with her vision. Can you press 911 and then the green button for me?"

"Okay." You heard her sniffling as you tried to console her and let her know everything would be alright. 

You last heard a knock on the door before everything went black. 

You groaned as you awoke from what seemed like a deep slumber. You feel your hand in another's grip tightening slightly when you move your arm a little.

"Mi Amor?" Your fingers gently brushed against your cheek as you smiled, leaning into the warmth. 

"Miguel?" You start to notice your surroundings in a hospital. Once again... you sit up suddenly but are met with a stinging pain in your lower abdomen as you cry out in pain. 

"Y/n, don't strain yourself so soon. You have lost a lot of blood." Miguel sits on the bed next to you as he brings you into his loving embrace. You look at him and notice his tear-stained face and tired red eyes. You place your hands on his face, concerned about why your fiancé was so upset. 

The pain in your stomach and your fiancé's distressed face made tears fall down as you realized what had happened. 

"The baby...they're gone?" Even though you knew the answer, you hoped Miguel would reassure you. Instead, the pained look in his eyes worsened as he brought your head into the crook of his neck. 

"I'm so sorry."

You cried in his arms for the remainder of the Night until you passed out from exhaustion. Not once did Miguel leave your side as he stayed in the bed with you, consoling your broken heart. 

Nurses came in every hour to check your vitals and ask if you needed anything. It wasn't until morning that you woke up to see the Doctor walk in—the same one from the last time you were here.

That morning took a piece of your heart away when the Doctor explained to you and Miguel the cause of the miscarriage. Ever since your car accident and almost losing your uterus, it has become not the most suitable place for a baby to grow, and it would be very hard for you to carry out a full-term pregnancy. Pretty much tells you that you couldn't have kids. At least, that is how you took the news. 

"Y/n, please talk to me. You haven't left the bedroom in two weeks and barely eaten anything. It's breaking my heart to see you like this." Miguel whispered in your ear as he kissed the side of your head. 

You turn yourself to face him as you look up at him. You could see the bags under his eyes and how tired he looked. You knew he was grieving as much as you were, but still being strong to keep everything together, unlike you, who broke apart.

 

"Maybe you should marry someone who can give you and Gabi the family you deserve." You say barely above a whisper.

You feel strong hands on your face as he lifts your chin to look at him. Brown eyes are now serious.

" y/n, don't ever say something like that again. You are the only woman I love and want to marry and have a family with. No one else. And you know that is not true about your inability to have kids. You still can have children. We just have a few extra obstacles, and that's all."

"But what if I can't."

"Even if we never have a baby, we still have that little girl who loves and idolizes you more than her favorite sport. More than the world. Even more than me." He chuckled, which made you crack a small smile. He added: "We still have our little Princess and will always have her. And just having you and Gabi in my life is more than enough. I couldn't see my life without either one of you."

"I couldn't live without you and Gabi either. I think having little family outings and focusing on planning the wedding will help make life normal again." 

Miguel leaned down as he placed a sweet and loving kiss on your lips before smiling, "I couldn't agree more."

.....

The Night before the wedding

After a relaxing day of shopping and lounging at the pool with your bridesmaids, you're glad to be heading back to your room to rest and prepare for your big day tomorrow. 

Instead of heading to the elevators, Stephanie directs you to the bar area. Heading to the bar, she sits down, followed by you right next to her. 

"Two glasses of champagne, please." Stephanie smiled at the bartenders, who nodded with a smile at her request. 

You look at her in surprise that she ordered you a glass. " Steph, I'm not sure I'm ready to drink yet. I haven't had a drop since before finding out I was pregnant."

"I know it's only been a month since you lost the baby, but it's the night before your wedding. The champagne is barely alcohol. Plus you shouldn't have anything else so you can look your best tomorrow. But honestly. You could look like a train wreck, and Miguel would still think you are the most gorgeous woman on Earth."

You smile as you look at the glass handed to you. "You're not wrong there. You know this is the first time I feel completely fine talking about the miscarriage." You smiled. The bartender arrives with the glasses. Stephanie lifted hers towards you. Taking a deep breath, you smile as you pick it up and clink your glass with hers. "To the start of a new chapter." Stephanie smiled before taking a sip. You smiled, " To a new chapter." Before taking a sip. 

You noticed the time as you were chatting away about memories from your childhood or college. 

"Oh shoot, I guess I need to head to bed if I want to get at least a full night's rest."

"Good idea. You definitely won't be getting any during your honeymoon," Stephanie winked as she took another sip of her drink. "Oh, I have something to give you," Stephanie said as she grabbed a medium-sized box from one of her shopping bags. 

"Oh, Stephanie, you didn't have to do that. With everything you've done with planning the wedding. That's been an amazing gift."

"Of course, girlie. Anything for my BFF. Then let this be your post-wedding gift. I'll let you open it in private." Stephanie grinned before gently pushing the box to you on the counter. 

You narrowed your eyes at your best friend, wondering what she was up to before flashing her a smile. 

After saying your goodbyes, you made it to your bedroom. You sighed as you entered a quiet room. There is no sign of a warm, deep voice greeting you or a giggling voice in front of the T.V. in the other room before small footsteps come running towards you for a hug. You and Miguel wanted to be in a suite together as a family. But Conchata insisted you were in separate rooms. Even separate floors. You both agreed only because she stopped breathing down Miguel's back.

You sit on the bed, too big for one, and glance at the box Stephanie gave you. Grabbing it and setting it on your lap, you take the top off the box. Your cheeks go bright red once you lift the tissue paper. A card is placed on the intricate white silk lace lingerie. 

A little something to spice up the wedding night. It's not like the two of you need it, though; - ) 

-Steph😘

Your eyes widen as you lift the piece of clothing.

"How in the hell do you get this on?"

You notice another card fall out. Setting the lingerie back in the box, you leaned down to pick it up. 

Knowing you: Here are instructions on how to put it on.

You roll your eyes as you set the instructions on the bed. 

You were in the bathroom suite, trying to put these strings on your body right. You stopped midway as you looked at yourself and then at the photo, knowing you had already messed up. 

"How the fuck do I put this on?" You growled to yourself. 

You heard a faint knock on your door. Quickly getting out of it, "At least it's easy to take off."

Back in your comfy lounge, you head to the door, where you hear another faint knock, this time a deep voice followed by a young one. 

You smile as you open the door and see Miguel and Gabi looking very tan from being at the beach all day. While your bridesmaids whisked you away, Miguel and Gabi spent the day together. Although you love spending time with Steph and all your old friends, you would have liked to spend all day at the beach sitting beside Miguel while watching Gabi making sand castles or collecting shells nearby. 

"Mama!" Gabi ran in as she hugged you. You happily picked her up and kissed the top of her forehead. 

Miguel followed behind her as he closed the door. 

"Hola, Hermosa." Miguel smiled as he brought you close and gave you a sweet kiss on the lips. 

"Hi, you two. I thought I wouldn't get to see you both until tomorrow. I've missed you all day," you say as you walk to the sofa with Gabi and sit down with her on your lap. Miguel follows as he sits right next to you. 

"We missed you too! Especially Papa. He kept saying how much he missed you and wished you were with us."

"Can I not have any secrets kept from your mother?" He chuckled as he picked her up from your lap and tickled her. 

"Nope!" She squealed in laughter. "Mama, help me!" 

"Did you say tickle you too? Okay." You laugh as you also begin to tickle her. 

"No, mama, I said help me!" Gabi giggled as she tried to get away from the both of you. 

After a few minutes, you finally give your daughter her freedom, and she immediately hops off the couch and away from our reach. 

"Mama! I have a present for you! Papa, where's Mama's present?" Gabi said as she sat in between you and Miguel.

"A present? For me?" Your smile widens as Miguel hands her a rectangular envelope. 

"Here you go." Gabi smiled.

You look at the envelope as you see hearts drawn all over and in Gabi's handwriting:

To: Mama

Love: Gabi♥️

"I hope you like it." She smiled as she kept jumping up and down in her seat, and Miguel lifted her to his lap to stop.

"Aw, I bet I will, baby bug. I like anything you get me."

"But this present is extra special."

"Oh?" You gently open the envelope, careful not to tear it, and take out a folded paper. 

Opening it up, you read the first few lines—it was a government form. Tears began to brim the corner of your eyes as you read the first word at the top of the paper: adoption.

You looked at Gabi as tears began to spill. A wide smile made its way to your lips as you wrapped your arms around Gabi, brought her to your lap, and gave her a big hug. 

"Aw, Gabi. This is the best gift you could ever give me. Thank you." 

"I'm happy you love it, mama." Gabi smiled as she wrapped her arms around your neck. 

Miguel smiled as he brought you both to his side. 

"I guess the gift I have for you might not compare."

You turned to look at him, surprised by his words. 

"You got me something else?" 

" I did. But you can't know what it is until the morning. Are you fine with waking up really early?" Your smile widens from his mysterious words. You lean up to kiss his cheek. 

"I can't wait. Do you know what it is, Gabi?"

Gabi giggled as she covered her mouth and shook her head before she said, "I can't tell you. I pinky promised Papa." 

You brushed her hair behind her ears as you gave her a hug. "Oh, alright. I guess I'll just have to wait until morning then."

You all ended up getting cozy as a family on the bed, all in pajamas. Gabi sat between your legs as she watched the family-friendly movie on the T.V. while you braided her hair. 

"Pass me your other hair tie, sweetie." Gabi took the blue scrunchie with the charm of a soccer ball and handed it to you. "Thank you. Annnnd All done!"

Gabi looked at her two braids with a smile on her face as she turned around and gave you another hug. You lifted her to the covers and said, " Okay, it's time to go to sleep. We all have a big day tomorrow."

"Aww, do we have to? The movie isn't over."

Miguel pulls the covers over her to get her settled. "You can watch it from right here. And yes, we do. All three of us have to be up super early. Good Night, princesa." Miguel kisses the top of her head before turning off the light. 

As soon as the lights were off, your eyes suddenly felt heavy, and you fell asleep surrounded by the love of your life and your baby daughter. 

You awoke to the sound of an alarm. It was 4:30 am, and it was still nighttime outside. You got out of bed and went to freshen up in the bathroom. When you walked in, you saw Miguel holding a familiar piece of paper in his hand. You blushed as you snatched it out of his hands. 

"You aren't meant to see that until later today." Your reddened cheeks said it all as Miguel saw the box on the counter. You move in front of it, knowing what he was thinking. 

Miguel chuckled, "And what is it that I can't see until then?" His voice is still low from just waking up. He walks right up to you, putting his arms on both sides, trapping you between him and the counter. 

"Trust me. You will want to wait on this one." 

"I can't wait."

You smiled as he lifted your chin, leaning down to kiss your lips with a sweet, long kiss. 

"We're getting married today." 

"Maybe a lot sooner than you think. I have something for you in the closet." Miguel lets you free from your intimate trap as you go to the closet. You gasp as you see a beautiful, long white silk sundress with a low back and a few accessories. 

When you were finally dressed, including your hair and makeup, you walked back into the main area of the suite. You smiled as you saw Miguel wearing a nice dress shirt and pants. 

"Mama, look at my dress!"

You saw Gabi in a beautiful light blue dress, matching her father's shirt. 

"You look beautiful, baby bug." You pick her up as you twirl her around. 

"You look really, really pretty, Mama. You too, Papa!" Gabi smiled in your arms. Miguel placed a hand on your lower bare back, sending a spark up your spine. 

"We better get going. The boat is waiting for us." Your fiancé's words piqued your interest, and you looked up at him with a smile and a curious look.

"A boat?"

"You'll see soon enough, cariño." Miguel chuckled as he led you out of the hotel and to a car, the driver waiting for all of you. 

After a 10-minute drive, you were at the beach. You felt a beautiful peace, as the only thing you could hear was the beautiful song of the ocean. 

(Play here if you want😊)

Miguel took your hand in his, giving you a love squeeze. "You're going to love this, Mama!" Gabi smiled as she was skipping slightly ahead of the two of you. A few minutes walk on the beach on a dock before you saw a gorgeous small yacht decorated with hanging lights and music.

"Miguel, this...this is beautiful. What is it for?"

You both followed Gabi as she was already boarding the boat. When you got on the boat, you gasped at how beautiful everything was up close. The front of the boat was decorated with your favorite flowers, and the petals made a path to a small white pergola with a person standing underneath. 

The boat began to move on the water as you marveled at the beauty of The Algarve of Portugal from the water. 

"Now, can I know what the rest of this wonderful surprise is?"

Miguel turned to you with the happiest and most loving smile, his eyes showing just as much. He took both your hands in his.

"I know that the last month has been stressful. And not only the miscarriage but the stress of everyone a part of the wedding. I could see the stress and sadness in your eyes during the rehearsal with your parents and the annoyance of some of your bridesmaids. I know everything we have planned will be beautiful, and I can't wait to see you walk down that aisle later today and pour out all my love to you in front of everyone. But this is just for us. No loud noise. Let's get married right here. Let's have a memory of today that only the three of us will keep close to our hearts. I love you so much, Y/n L/n, that I want to marry you twice. Will you do me the honor?" 

You wrap your arms around his neck as you get on your toes—easier since you are wearing heels—and kiss him sweetly, giving your answer. 

You spent time in each other's arms, watching the moon begin to dip behind the horizon while watching Gabi play around the boat. 

"Hermosa." You can hear the smile in Miguel's voice as he gently calls out to you, waking you from your slight slumber. You were so cozy sitting beside him, keeping warm from the ocean breeze, that you dozed off on his shoulder. 

"It's time." You look ahead to this beautiful natural archway. When you look carefully, you see that it makes a heart shape. 

Miguel leads you to the pergola, where the official is with Gabi ahead, throwing more petals. He leaned towards you, his lips by your ear. 

"Locals say that if you kiss the one you love under this archway just as the sun rises and lights it up, the couple's souls will be connected forever."

Just as the sun begins to peak over the horizon, bringing the bright colors of the world, the official begins. Despite the beauty of nature around you, you can only look into the eyes of the man you love with your whole being. 

After the official says the words that bind you and Miguel forever, sunlight lands on the archway, and Miguel puts his hand behind your head and kisses you with all the love he has for you as you do for him. 

"I love you, Miguel O'Hara."

"I love you too, Y/n O'Hara." 

You spend the rest of the early morning having a celebratory breakfast as a family on the boat before returning to the hotel. Miguel takes you back to your room and places one last kiss on your lips. 

"I'll see you at the altar." He winked at you with a smile before he and Gabi returned to their designated room. 

After resting and bathing again, you heard a knock on your door, and a group of women were exchanging their words on the other side. 

You open the door in a robe. "Good morning, everyone." You smile happily. Miguel was right. This morning, all your stress and worries for today disappeared, as you already got what you wanted from today.

After you and everyone were ready, you looked at yourself in the mirror. Tears well up in the corner of your eyes at how beautiful you looked. The dress your amazing baby daughter had picked out. The white gown was covered in a beautiful lace hat that hugged your figure perfectly to the ground, and the middle end of the dress was a bit see-through. The lace formed your shoulders, arms,  and chest just as the neckline dipped to show some of your cleavage. Your favorite part was the beautiful long and wide dress skirt hanging from your hips that covered the sides and back of your dress as it trailed down to the ground, along with a gorgeous soft white veil that went to the floor being held by a beautiful diamond encrusted headband as your hair flowed around your shoulders pulled back a little at the top to reveal more of you face.  

"Hey, no ruining my makeup masterpiece." Stephanie chuckled as she handed you a tissue. "But you look stunning. Miguel is totally going to tear up on that altar." 

You chuckled, as you had only seen your now secretly husband tear up a few times, so you weren't sure if he would in front of a lot of people.

 

Everyone walked out of the room and headed outside to the car. You smiled as you saw your father exit the driver's side of a beautiful silver-white vintage Rolls Royce. 

He walked up to you with a smile on his face. Only a few days ago, when everyone arrived in The Algarve, your father regretted everything that was said and done. He finally realizes how much you and Miguel mean to each other. It was when you had the miscarriage. He was the one who got you to the hospital as he was planning on visiting you that day to apologize. When he called Miguel and met him at the hospital, he saw all his anger for his friend dissolve and saw how much Miguel loved you. 

Of course, after that apology, you told him it would take some time to fully forgive him, but you were happy that the process was starting. Well, at least for one parent. You had asked him to escort you to church and walk you down the aisle, which he was more than happy to do. 

"You look beautiful." He said, which made you smile. 

"She didn't come and see me." You said to him.

"She's at the church. It wasn't smart for you to have seen her.”

"Do you think she'll ever come around?" You looked up to your father, hoping for a reassuring reply. " Let's get you to that church."

As the car takes you to the cliff where the church is, you smile as you see the locals congratulating you from the streets. When the car comes to a stop, your heart feels like it's beating in your chest, and butterflies begin to fly in your stomach. 

Your father gets out before going to the back, where he opens the door and helps you out. Stephanie and your other bridesmaids, who were in the car behind you, came up to you to make sure everything looked right before walking the remaining feet away to the church entrance. 

You saw Conchata and Gabi outside the entrance waiting for you. 

"Mama!" Gabi ran to you as you happily leaned down to hug her. "You look like a beautiful princess!" She added.

"Aw, thank you, baby bug. You also look like a beautiful princess in your flower girl dress." You did love her dress; it was a light pink silk dress, and the skirt puffed out a bit with tulle underneath. She wore her hair in a bun wrapped with a braid with diamonds on a pink headband. Similar to yours. 

"You look beautiful, my daughter." Conchata hugged you.

"Thank you, Conchata."

Conchata left to go inside to take her seat. And that's when the music began to play. The bridesmaids and their partners began to go in, with Jack and Stephanie being the last ones to go. Jack gave you a hug, saying, "You look amazing, y/n."

"Thanks, Jack."

You took a deep breath, clutching your bouquet tighter as you started to feel the nerves growing. 

"Just look at Miguel and no one else when you enter. It helps with the nerves." Your father smiled as he offered you his arm. You happily put your arms through his. "Thanks, Dad."

The main chorus begins to play, hinting that you should enter. You took another deep breath before you and your father entered the church. You marveled at the beauty of the interior, as it was all wood with flowers that matched your bouquet, which was placed perfectly on the ends of the pews and the altar. You saw Stephanie and Jack up there looking at you joyfully. You saw Gabriel standing on the other side with Gabi right before him. 

Your eyes finally land on reddish-brown as your heart grows bigger. Your smile widens as you keep them on him. You finally reach the altar steps as Miguel walks down to receive you. Your father takes your hand and places it in Miguel's. "Take care of her now. Which I know you've been doing. Thank you." Your father says to Miguel with a smile. Miguel looks at you and replies to your father, "I will."

As Miguel leads you up the altar, he leans toward you and whispers, " You look so beautiful. When I saw you walk down that aisle, it felt like I was falling in love with you for the first time."

You give his hand a love squeeze. "I felt the same too." You notice that tears are threatening to spill from his eyes. 

"Oh, Miguel." You gently wipe a tear from his face. 

"I can't help it, mi amor. You're just so beautiful."

The officiator began the ceremony. It felt like time was still going on, as you could only look at Miguel. Before you knew it, the officiator asked for the vows.

"Miguel, I am so happy that you swept me away from that random guy at the bar all those years ago in Miami. I'm so happy the universe reunited us to have that weekend not be the only time spent together. I am so happy and grateful to be a part of your family. I am so grateful to be loved by you and our daughter, and to you for bringing her into my life. The time I have spent with you has been the happiest days of my life, and I can't wait to continue having more happy years as your wife." You wipe away the tears falling down your face. Miguel moves closer to you, helps wipe away the tears, and smiles lovingly at you. 

"Y/n, mi amor. My sun and universe. When our eyes met across the bar, I knew you would be someone special to me. You have made my soul complete since you came back into my life. Every smile and laugh of yours makes my heart glow. I've been so lucky to wake up beside you every morning and be the person you see first thing every morning. I can't wait to do that every morning for the rest of my life." His words brought your tears back, which made both of you chuckle as he helped you again wipe them away. 

You looked up at him again as you put his wedding band on his finger, and he looked at you with so much love and desire putting on yours.

After a few more words were said by the officiator.

The words you've been waiting for...

"You may kiss the bride." Miguel grinned as he took your waist, brought you close, and kissed you. You placed your hand on his face to bring him closer, and tears ran down both your cheeks and his. 

"I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Cheers erupted from the pews as you and Miguel forced yourself to end the kiss. You walked down the aisle hand in hand out of the church, followed by everyone else.

After taking many photos with the hired photographer and getting dressed in reception attire, which was your gown minus the detachable wide skirt and veil, you kept the headband as a gift from Miguel. You loved how it looked in your hair. 

The reception was going off amazing. Everyone was happy, most likely because it was an open bar. You smiled as you gazed out into the ocean. The reception was on the beach under a gorgeous white and blue tent decorated to the nines with hardwood flooring and beautiful crystal chandeliers. 

You felt a hand placed on your own, turning your attention to your husband. Your brows furrowed when you saw concern in his eyes. 

"Is everything okay?" You smile as you give his hand a love squeeze. 

"Everything is perfect, cariño. I was wondering if you were okay? You haven't touched your food yet. Do you feel ill? Do u want me to have them get you something else?" 

You smile as you lean towards him and kiss his cheek, whispering, "I'm super happy. I'm just reminiscing about this morning." You lean back slightly to see Miguel's eyes fill with love. 

"I'm glad you liked the gift." Miguel caressed your face, took your chin, and kissed you. 

"I loved it. It was beyond perfect. And it made the rest of today so much easier." 

You hear a wine glass chime directing everyone's attention to the live band, where Stephanie and Gabriel now stood. 

"Hi, everyone; we hope you have been having a fantastic time." Stephanie smiled as she lifted her drink, causing the people around her to clap and cheer. 

"As the maid of honor, I must come up here and talk about my bestie, Y/n. And this speech has not been seen by her, so I'm sorry if I embarrass you a little. But it's all out of love." Stephanie blows you an air kiss, which you laugh as you catch it and blow a kiss to her. 

"I have known Y/n since we played little league soccer at 4. We sat on the grassy field, munching on the grass while the other kids ran around with the ball in their hands. And that's when two troublemakers became inseparable. Going on adventures for hours, flirting with older boys, and getting into mischief at the neighborhood barbecues. And god, we were worse when we finally got our driver's license. But that made the adventures even more exciting. Especially that trip to Miami. I found a hookup to get over an ex and you found love. When I saw you and Miguel together for the first time at that breakfast, I knew it was something special. Maybe neither of you knew it at the time. But the way you looked at each other wasn't just lust; it was love. And oh my god. When you came to our room the day of our departure, you left before he woke up. I swear I wanted to strangle you for how ridiculous you were for doing that. When we arrived at that neighborhood barbecue after returning from Europe, we were sleep-deprived and saw Miguel again. I knew you two were fated to be together. And I'm so happy to have gotten to know you, Miguel, and Gabi. I'm thrilled and happy to take the role of the fun Auntie. Congratulations again to Miguel And Y/n O'Hara." Stephanie raised her champagne glass as everyone clapped and cheered. When Stephanie left the stage, you walked over to her and gave her a hug as you wiped away the happy tears.

" Now, the speech my brother has been waiting for." Gabriel chuckled as he winked at Miguel. Miguel face palmed, and he swore in Spanish under his breath. You laughed lightly as you wrapped your arm around his and rested your head on his shoulder. 

"Miguel, you have been the best big brother and man this world could ever have. For as long as I can remember, you have always been there to help and support me and anyone who needed it. I know you always wished for someone to be there for you even though it was hard with your position; you didn't know who to trust. But I'm so happy you found someone who lights up your day. Y/n, thank you so much for filling that missing piece of him. You two will have many happy years together because you were meant for each other. To the happy couple." 

Once again, everyone clapped and cheered, and when Gabriel sat down next to Miguel, he hugged him in thanks. 

"Mama?" You and Miguel looked to see your daughter standing between both your chairs.

"Hi, baby bug. Are you having fun with the other kids?"

"Yeah! I'm happy that you and Papa found each other and that became my mom. You're the best mom in the whole wide world." 

"Aw, Gabi. I'm so happy and grateful to be your mom. You're the best daughter in the world." You have her sit on your lap as you hug her. 

"I love you, mama." Gabi hugs you tighter.

"I love you too, my baby bug."

As the day turned into the night with food, drinks, and dancing with your husband and daughter, plus your favorite part when you and Miguel cut the cake, you both put frosting on Gabi's nose as she had done to the both of you.

It was time for you and Miguel to go to the airport to catch your flight to your honeymoon. However, Miguel kept the destination a secret from you. After saying goodbyes, especially to Gabi, as she was returning to Nueva York with Gabriel as you wouldn't see her for two weeks.

You sat in Miguel's lap as the driver took you two to the jet. You both talked about today's highlights. 

When you arrived inside the jet, you noticed the stark difference between the one you usually take and this one. There were only a few seats and then a wall with a door. Was it storage? You were surprised when the air host walked you both to the back of the plane and opened that door, revealing a large master bedroom with a full-size bed. The air host said to press the call button if you two needed anything before leaving and closing the door behind them.

You were so stunned by seeing a literal bedroom and full-size bathroom on a plane that you were slightly started when you felt Miguel's arms wrap around your middle, bringing you against him as he kissed your neck. 

"A little surprised, mi amor?" Miguel chuckled. You turned around to face him and wrapped your arms around his neck as you kissed him. 

"Just a little. Never would have thought I would be in a bedroom in the sky." 

"Well, let me make it worth your while." Miguel's lips met yours with passion and desire. He quickly turned you back around to unzip your dress. As it fell to the ground, he looked at what you were wearing underneath. 

"Was this my surprise from earlier today?" Miguel pulled you closer to him by your hips.

"It is. Like it?" You grin up at him.

"Oh, I love it." Miguel lifts you up and gently tosses you on the bed. He quickly takes his clothes off, leaving nothing to the imagination as he climbs on top of you.

He placed a sweet kiss on your lips before making his way down your neck and breasts, giving each nipple its deserved attention with his mouth, down to your stomach before he made it between your legs. You jilted up a soft moan coming out of you when you felt him nip your inner thigh. 

"I love it when your body reacts like that whenever I touch you." He mumbled against your thigh right before his lips met your clit. Your fingers immediately went through his hair as every sensation made you grip his hair and make his mouth work faster. 

You felt the jet's engine as it began moving, further increasing your pleasure. Your core tightened as you felt Miguel's tongue enter inside you. 

Your mind was half in reality, half on a euphoric high. Thighs tighten around his head as you come undone for the second time just from his tongue alone. 

Miguel lifted his body and positioned himself between you. He hovered over you, placing kisses along your neck to your ear and whispering, " I'm so lucky to have such a beautiful woman to call my wife."

Your hands go to his face as you bring his lips to yours, needing to taste him. He licked your lips, wanting to explore your mouth. You gasp as you feel his tongue enter your mouth while he fully thrusts himself into you. 

You instinctively wrap your legs around his waist as he begins his quick and swift pace inside of you.

"Miguel." You cry out as you claw at his back.

"Fuck you feel so good around my cock." Miguel growled as his pace grew faster, making you feel your core tighten again. 

He grabbed your hips and lifted you to his lap, giving him a new angle to fuck you in, making the tip of his cock hit in just the right place repeatedly. You cried out loud as you reached your high again. 

Your hands claw against his back as you have your arms wrapped around his neck as your head falls lazily to the side, letting him mark your neck with love bites. 

Going after your third orgasm, your cunt began to feel overstimulated as he continued to fuck you at the same rough pace. 

"God, it feels so good." You mewled out loud. Miguel leaned forward as he kissed your lips. 

"Only the best for you, Hermosa," He whispered.

Miguel continued to slam into you as his cock twitched, almost at its peak. You moaned out loud as you squeezed around him from your fourth orgasm. The sudden tightness around his cock makes him groan as he spills deep inside you, coating your walls white.

Your upper body lay on his lap in a sweaty state as Miguel continued to thrust inside you, becoming more sloppy as he came down from his sexual high. He kissed your brow, your nose, and then your lips. 

"I love you so much." He mumbled against your lips. He laid you down on the duvet as he laid next to you, brushing your hair away from your face. 

"I love you too, Miggy." You smile lovingly at him as you kiss his chin and lips. "I have another small surprise for you." 

Miguel looked at you with a curious grin, waiting to hear what you had to say. 

"I stopped taking my birth control. I still want to try to have a baby." 

You can tell your words made his day even more amazing. You knew after your miscarriage the thought of having another baby might be a while away. But ever since the miscarriage, the thought of having a baby became stronger with you. 

"You really mean that cariño?" 

You happily nodded with a smile. " I do." 

Miguel placed butterfly kisses all over your face before hovering over you. You look down and an imaginary sweat mark falls down your face as you see him fully erect again. He brought your open legs against him, smiling. 

"Ready for round two?"

———————————————————————-

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[deancaspinefest]

Books, Pies, and Roommates

Author: seidenapfel | Artist: Kit Shay

Posting on Sunday March 17

Everything seemed so easy when Castiel landed a job in Lawrence as a literature professor at Kansas University. He even found a place to stay with his cousin in Topeka, less than thirty miles away. But the daily commute quickly gets on his nerves and he begins looking for a little room in town. When he finally lucks out on a house, it comes with a catch. His mysterious landlord/housemate works and lives in Topeka during the week, and will only be in Lawrence for the weekend while Castiel is back at his cousin’s to honor a promise he made. When Dean walks into his favorite pie shop, the new sales assistant takes his breath away. Steve is gorgeous, and part of the owner’s family. Dean doesn’t even mind that Steve picks up Gabriel’s stupid moniker for him. After all, Deano has one syllable more, and Dean will do anything to hear Steve’s voice just a little bit longer. Though, as breathtaking Steve might be, he isn't Angel. If only Dean's book-loving best friend for over a decade weren't a mystery in himself — a guy who Dean has only met online, but who has slowly taken his heart away. And it seems that Dean isn't alone in his feelings. When the lines blur and fantasies merge three guys into one, disappointment and heartbreak seem to be inevitable.

Keep reading for a sneak preview!

“Dude! You did what?”

“I found you a new roommate,” Sam explained and Dean knew his brother was rolling his eyes. “As you asked me to.”

“Yeah, I heard you,” Dean muttered. “And well, I did, but duh? Did you take the first one that came along?

The silence at the other end of the line was enough of an answer.

“Seriously? The first one? You pick the first Tom, Dick, and Harry that walks into my home?” Dean couldn’t believe it. “You didn’t even—”

“His name is Castiel. And he’s nice,” Sam cut in, defending himself.

Nice?

Before Dean could interrupt him, Sam continued, “So, get this, Castiel is actually in the same predicament as you are. He lives in Topeka, but teaches at KU and he’s already fed up with his daily commute to campus.”

“Castiel? What a mouthful of a name is that?” Dean grumbled.

“As far as I know it’s the name of an angel,” his brother answered calmly, taking none of Dean’s shit.

“Angel?” Dean huffed while another Angel came to his mind. Shaking his head to clear the thought away, he went on, “You telling me the guy is some religious weirdo?”

Sam laughed and Dean could literally hear another eye roll. “Don’t worry. I don’t think that should be a problem. Quite the contrary. He seemed very interested in our library. Or, more precisely, /your/ part of the library.”

Dean huffed. “That’s most of it anyway, dude.”

Groaning, Sam ignored him and went on. “I don’t think he realized how obvious he was when he skimmed through the titles of your collection of gay pulp.”

“Hey, it ain’t gay pulp, not all of it,” Dean protested.

“Pulp, romance, literature — whatever. You can’t deny it’s kinda gay.”

Dean laughed before teasing, “Just kinda?” Even though his brother couldn’t see him, he wiggled his brows.

“How would I know? I haven’t even touched half of it,” Sam backpedaled and Dean laughed even louder. “Somehow I need to keep my sanity,” his brother shot back. Then it hit Dean. “Wait, you showed this guy, this—”

“Castiel,” Sam offered helpfully.

“Whatever,” Dean snapped. “You showed him the library?”

“Dean, he lives there now. Of course, I showed him around. Besides, how do you think I should have hidden the shelves in the living room? You’re not very subtle with your interests.”

Subtle? Dammit, it was his home, for fuck’s sake. “Still, the library? And you let him stay? Alone at home?”

“Yes, because that’s what happens when you rent your house, dude.” Dean could see his brother’s bitchface in his mind. “Do I need to remind you that you were the one who asked me to take care of the viewings?”

“Goddammit, Sammy,” Dean grouched. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath before giving in, “Yeah. Sorry. I did. But that didn’t mean that you decide who lives with me.”

“I don’t know. He just seemed… perfect.”

(continue reading on Ao3 on Sunday March 17)

[vidavalor]

Hello dear,

Sweets are on me this time. Ginger hot chocolate?

Very interested in your opinion about this: What exactly do you think Crowley suddenly realizes after his conversation with Nina? It seems impossible to me that he realizes that he is in love…

♥️♥️♥️

Hi @margotmignard-blog! Hope you're having a good day today. :) Ginger hot chocolate!!! Do you know that I've somehow never had one of those? You've inspired me to try it this week. Thanks for the ask.

Imho, Crowley doesn't realize he's in love with Aziraphale when Nina's peppering him with questions about his and Aziraphale's relationship-- he's known that forever. He realizes he might want to consider again whether or not he should tell Aziraphale that he's in love with him using the whole real 'love' word itself here. That was actually what I think he was considering doing here, if Aziraphale had said yes to getting a glass and having a little date with him:

If you look at the scene with Nina and Crowley, Crowley actually admits to loving Aziraphale in which of her questions he chooses to respond to and how he responds, all of which proves he already knows he is at that point. In only really addressing the "bit on the side" bit, Crowley says that Aziraphale is "far too pure of heart" to be anybody's bit on the side, which is defending Aziraphale's honor from the accusation of him being willing to have an affair with someone in a committed relationship (very gentlemanly of Crowley :)) but is also at the same time admitting that he loves his pure of heart angel Aziraphale by describing him this way.

The irony of the conversation is that here's Crowley, right-- sweet, romantic Crowley-- who has spent the past week trying get Nina and Maggie together and doling out free love advice to everyone from Muriel to Shax lol and he and Aziraphale have been in love for millennia and use every word under the sun to describe what they are-- except for any of the words that Nina has just said... all of which are typical words for romantic relationships lol. In 2.06, Crowley is hesitating to say "couple" and turns into Merriam-Webster to speak around it-- "a team; a group of the two of us". Language is everything in Crowley and Aziraphale's insular world and it's not like they don't know how they feel about one another. They both know they're in love with one another. They use words around it because they've always been only a matter of time away from potentially losing one another forever.

That's even worse after S1 than it was before because at least back then they knew that they had "about 6,000 years" until Armageddon but after S1, Armageddon: Round Two could show up anytime. It could be tomorrow, it could be next month, it could be ten years later. They don't know. Their best source of information is Shax, who doesn't know that much and whom Crowley wisely doesn't really trust. It is hard to build a future when you're waiting for the world to end, right? Aziraphale is shown to be so on edge over it that his 1827 trauma has been triggered and he thinks every time he sees Crowley could be the last time he ever sees him-- but he's still terrified of just asking Crowley to stay because he's afraid to lose him if they were to get caught or when this all ends, which could be any day. So they're stuck running in neutral a little while trying to move forward together.

They're doing their bests by one another. Aziraphale's apology dance for his half of their argument in 2.01 is our car/our bookshop. It's to try to suggest that if they really want a life together, they both have to stop making unilateral decisions and make decisions together. During the week, to help Gabriel and Maggie, they both get pushed out onto Whickber Street a bit more and their relationship is reflected back to them by the shopkeepers. The Crowley and Nina "bit on the side" conversation, imo, causes Crowley to think about Aziraphale's our car/our bookshop moves during the week-- the way Aziraphale's really been trying hard to have it be their life and how he seems a little more ready for it than he has been in the past-- and it gives Crowley pause. Part of the humor of this moment is that Crowley can talk about love all day long when it's in reference to other people-- "just gotta get Nina to do the love thing with Maggie", asking Muriel if she's interested in learning more about "humans falling in love", etc.-- and enjoys doing so in front of Aziraphale as like a way of kind of skirting around the edges of the rules of their language and their relationship but get him considering again just saying "I love you" and this is about as far as he can get it out of his mouth lol:

He repeats "love" to himself a bit after Nina says "love lives" because he's struck by how easy it was for her to say it. Here he and Aziraphale are, in love for thousands of years, running around trying to matchmake the humans, and they've never said this. Crowley and Aziraphale are Earth's longest-running love affair. They are ridiculously old lol and so is their love but the coffee shop human in her late '30s has more experience with saying "I love you" than these two semi-immortal, supernatural beings who have been mad for one another since before the literal beginning of time do lol.

Cupid over here has never confessed he's in love before and Nina's words, plus the events of the week of S2-- namely, Aziraphale's actions during them-- lead him to think maybe he could and should make that fantasy into a reality. He's spent the week doling out solid love advice and matchmaking everyone else and now Nina is making him realize that he needed some himself as well.

Other people's love lives always seem more straightforward than our own is what Nina says and she's (rightly) shading Crowley a little bit for messing about in her and Maggie's love lives but she's also just expressing a bit of disappointment, in the sense that she really likes Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship. She wants what they have, which is why she was asking a million questions of Crowley. Ironically, Crowley and Aziraphale come up with plans to try to get Maggie and Nina together but what really does it is Nina just seeing them together and being like they are fucking adorable-- that's what I want. Both Crowley and Aziraphale are a little successful but fail at it a bit-- the vavoom is a partial success and so is the dance-- but it's really just *them* that helps Nina to see that it's Maggie that she wants.

Nina knows she's a Crowley and she's charmed by Crowley's faux-long-suffering thing with Aziraphale, how he follows him around and dotes on him, flirts with him, calls him "angel" and their sweet banter and how completely besotted they are with one another. Crowley's a snarky, jaded bastard like how Nina herself can be-- he radiates 'have been hurt, will bite, tread carefully'-- but he's also just as soft as Nina also really is underneath and she can tell that. She can see how he trusts Aziraphale enough that he's able to be unguarded with him, which is something Nina doesn't have with Lindsay but thinks she could have with Maggie. Nina can see the peace in it for Crowley that he himself expressed to Aziraphale earlier in S2 and she wants that for herself so she's asking Crowley a million questions to figure out how to emulate it. What are Crowley and Aziraphale? Nina needs to know because she thinks Maggie could be her Aziraphale and she feels a bit lost and needs a path. What she finds out is that Crowley doesn't have words she can understand for it.

It's not that he doesn't have words at all. He and Aziraphale have words-- have all the words but for the traditional ones. They love words. They mess around with language constantly and have for thousands of years, speaking a language that only they really speak. What is missing, though, are the words that they're afraid to say. What they said to each other at The Ritz at the end of S1 ("little bit of a good person"/"bastard worth knowing") was "I love you" in a roundabout way. Crowley has obliquely referred to himself and Aziraphale as humans in love but in an indirect way. Aziraphale has come just as close, maybe even closer-- he covertly referred to him and Crowley together as lovely in 1.01. But we know they haven't ever just said I'm in love with you or I love you because Crowley nearly hyperventilates just trying to say "couple" in 2.06 and admits that they've spent their existence pretending that they aren't one. Maybe a little less so "the last few years", as he says, but if Crowley can't say "couple", neither of them have ever called it "love" aloud directly before. That is what I think Crowley is thinking about when he repeats "love" to himself at the end of that conversation with Nina.

He thinks about how when he looked over at Aziraphale just a couple of days ago when he was doing that whole queer 'humans in love' dark joke about the police force that, even though Crowley was speaking to Muriel, was meant just for Aziraphale, that Aziraphale looked very into hearing Crowley refer-- even a little obliquely-- to their relationship in a way that aligned it with love.

That and Aziraphale's our car/our bookshop and everything the past week makes Crowley think maybe he should say the love thing and it's ridiculous in a way and he knows it, right? It's not like it's going to be breaking news to Aziraphale. They have been in love for thousands of years lol. They know it's love. They're long past any notion of wondering if it really is love in a way like the humans feel, if they're capable of it, all of that. All of that is bullshit anyway-- they've known all along, whether or not they were ready at different times to admit it to themselves. But saying it, when language is everything in their relationship, is still a huge deal and it's become even more of a thing since they've gone so long without doing so.

He and Aziraphale are both spooked a little by Gabriel showing up naked and memory-wiped-- it feels foreboding. If Gabriel can fall, the end of days seem to be circling closer again, so they're both going a little faster out of anxiety a bit so Crowley apparently decides he's going to tell Aziraphale right away and then has to think of how to do it. The next time we see Crowley-- minutes after the conversation with Nina-- he seems to have come up with a plan. He does always like a good plan. He'd probably rather do it in the bookshop but it takes a bit of the romance out of it to have to send Gabriel with a hot chocolate to his room for a bit for it lol and Crowley's thought of a better plan anyway-- Marguerite's.

They probably really do owe Justine the purchase of an expensive bottle of 1938 wine in exchange for her putting up with Aziraphale's French earlier lol but, more importantly, just look at the place, yeah? It's all romantic and lovely-- the ivy and the lights and the roses. It's French in the sense of their everything-French-is-romantic thing. It's a gorgeous little date spot and Crowley whistles Aziraphale over and tries for cool and does he want a glass? and Aziraphale, you absolute fool lol. You went for this place, closed, and The Metatron but you should have gone for it open, right here, and said yes to a glass and let Crowley tell you he's in love with you... The irony, of course, is that Aziraphale is working on his own romantic gesture in this moment and just doesn't want Crowley to know about it yet. The ball is really for Crowley-- the whole thing is to dance with Crowley. It's to take our car/our bookshop into we're having a ball.

Odds are solid that this Aziraphale above here was going to ask Crowley after the ball to stay and to stop leaving at night before everything went to hell and he went missing for the entire night and then the epic disaster that was the next morning happened but Crowley knows none of that back in the scene at Marguerite's and Aziraphale doesn't share it because he's planning for it to be later so the conversation at the restaurant goes quite differently.

Aziraphale not wanting to sit and have a glass of wine with Crowley leaves him disappointed. He makes such a pretty picture, though, and he looks upset, so Aziraphale does sit to talk with him. He tries to get Crowley to wait for him inside the bookshop and the "you like waiting inside" is both flirty and ridiculously married. It's a continuation of the bookshop-is-Aziraphale sexual innuendo but it's also like "sweetheart, why don't you go take a nap?" in tone, which makes the idea that Crowley is trying to confess love here all the darkly funnier as here's Aziraphale with a line that implies Crowley is just frequently in the bookshop when Aziraphale is out doing errands, etc., and they're all but living with one another now. They're married but forgot to say "I love you."

Crowley winds up telling Aziraphale that he was up all night with anxiety over Gabriel and that becomes the conversation topic, with Crowley still thinking about how maybe the timing isn't right for this after all-- maybe it's already too late-- because they're going to be distracted by Gabriel and Heaven and Hell and Armageddon and there might not be any 'after' after all of that. As they're talking, Crowley's dialogue (the way he talks about anxiety over Gabriel and then steers it towards the "smitten" flirting) indicates he might be thinking about the afternoon he wanted instead that maybe isn't really possible in the moment: Aziraphale sitting there, not having to look over his shoulder, having a glass of wine in the romantic restaurant with him, talking and flirting a bit and Crowley thinks that he could have gotten up the nerve to say it, if that had happened. You know he was rehearsing it in his head a little until he spotted Aziraphale and called him over. Instead, it lives underneath the flirtation when Aziraphale suggests he just talk to Gabriel and Crowley uses their love of wordplay and their language to set up the conversation so that Aziraphale will wind up saying "smitten" back to him.

'Smite' is in the same realm as 'wily' and 'thwart' in their language-- a word that has a dramatic, dark, religious meaning but also another, equal meaning related to love and/or sex. (Crowley, who totally wrote Aziraphale's entry in the guide to angels thing that Furfur had, wrote that Aziraphale was a known "demon-smiter", showing that the use of that word for them predates this scene in S2.) "To smite" is one of the rare verbs in English that has two, different past tenses, depending on which meaning of the word a person is using. Crowley flirts with Aziraphale by pretending that he can't remember the correct past tense of 'smite'-- but which one is correct depends entirely on the intended meaning.

"If Gabriel smites you, you've been... smited? smote?" Crowley starts.

'Smited' isn't a word at all and indicates that Crowley is flirting and does genuinely know the answer to the question. 'Smote' is the past tense of 'smite'-- if the intended meaning is in reference to being attacked with the righteous fury of an angel. Aziraphale teases Crowley in return by saying that the past tense of Gabriel smiting someone would be that his target is now "smitten, I believe"-- meaning, now a bit in love. This is both a play on the fact that Gabriel did try to smite both Crowley and Aziraphale in S1 but now it seems to have boomeranged back because, since the arrival of Jim, Gabriel is basically smitten with the two of them-- he's just a big marshmallow who hearts his new friends lol. It's also, though, really more of a joke on Crowley's unwillingness to try to talk with Gabriel, which Aziraphale has been trying to facilitate the whole week, because he knows that Crowley and Gabriel actually have a lot in common and could be good at helping one another through the similar traumas they've been through. He's joking that if Gabriel smites Crowley, as he tried to in S1, then the end result is that Crowley will wind up "smitten", not "smote", which is to gently tease Crowley about how Crowley is secretly big-hearted and warm and they both know he's going to wind up befriending Gabriel. It's also a joke on the fact that they both know that Crowley finds Gabriel attractive, which is part of the reason why Crowley takes the bottle of wine with him from the table when he goes to talk to Gabriel. Alcohol is sex in Ineffable Husbands Speak so if Aziraphale was going to leave Crowley to drink alone but now joke about how hot Crowley thinks Gabriel is while encouraging him to go to talk to him, then Crowley's taking the wine to Gabriel out of flirty spite lol. (And will drink it himself because he really just only has eyes for Aziraphale, as they both know.)

The end result of the wordplay set up, though, is one Aziraphale sees coming a mile away and indulges. He could have said "smote" but he knew Crowley was angling to hear "smitten", which is a word they've used to talk around how they feel about each other by using it in its Biblical euphemistic way while knowing they mean it in the "strongly attracted" definition. It's still not saying love, per se, and it's not the moment Crowley wanted but it was a sweet one anyway because Aziraphale's tone and expression indicated not just the teasing him over Gabriel but the fact that he is smitten with Crowley himself. It was meant to be Crowley telling Aziraphale that he's in love with him and it wound up being Aziraphale reminding Crowley of his feelings for him in their language.

In S3, though, you must allow him to tell you how ardently he admires and loves you, Aziraphale... (just with the second Pride & Prejudice proposal ending, please)...

[nothingtherefornow]

Potential Date and theory about Miraculous World London : at the edge of time

So it's been pretty much confirmed that the new miraculous special wouldn't come out before autumn 2024 T_T Probably the same date Miraculous World Paris got released in 2023 : November 26th T^T

For me That's still too long waiting until the release.

That's why I'll have to kill time by making some shorts theories about this special.

First, I'm convinced that this special will take place during the ellipse between the moment when Gabriel made a wish and the ending with the Adrinette kissing, the poster above pretty much shows clues about that, just like it confirm Lila's big involvement and role in this special, as well as the confirmation that Marinette will team up with young Bunnix and not the adult one. Adult Bunnix may be the one to give Marinette her own time miraculous as well as the ladybug earings received either by Master Fu from the past or the future Ladybug, after Marinette got her earings stolen by Lila.

Now there's something I'm the most curious about this special : Why London ?

If this is an adventure across time to reveal who discover Ladybug's secret indentity and how did they stale her miraculous, why does this special must take place in London and not Paris ?

My theory is that Lila won't just will not just become the new ladybug and ruin the reputation of the old one, she will arrange for all of Paris to be against Marinette, potentially by framing her as the new villain armed with the butterfly miraculous. Which is entirely within Lila's reach, since with the butterfly miraculous in her possession it would be enough for her to akumatize innocent victim and then save the day by pretending to be a heroine with the ladybug miraculous she stole.

But with the power of the butterfly, Lila can akumatize herself, and nothing would be easier than bringing back Volpina or Infox, and create an illusion showing the new butterfly villain detransform into Marinette. With all of Paris wrongly mistaking her for a super-villain, Marinette would be forced to flee to London in the company of Bunnix or even Luka and Su-han who all know that Marinette was Ladybug (Alya would stay in Paris for Nino and to try to defend Marinette's honor I will go further, perhaps it is even Felix who, as a resident of London knowing that Marinette = Ladybug, will offer the young girl a roof under which to hide. So instead of revealing to Adrien that Marinette = Ladybug to ruin their relationship, Lila will make the young girl look like a new villain, and Adrien will not be fooled because he knows his sweetheart well (we'll see what will be the excuse to put Chat Noir aside during this special)

Traduction for my fellow french :

Il a donc presque été confirmé que le nouvel épisode spécial de Miraculous ne sortira pas avant automne 2024 T_T Probablement pour la même date que le special Paris en 2023 : le 26 Novembre T^T

Pour moi, c'est encore trop long comme attente pour cette date de sortie. C'est pourquoi je vais devoir tuer le temps en faisant quelques petites théories sur ce prochain spécial Londre.

Premièrement, je suis convaincu que ce spécial aura lieu pendant l'éllipse entre le moment où Gabriel fait son vœu et la fin de la saison 5 avec le baiser Adrinette, l'affiche poster ci-dessus montre à peu près des indices à ce sujet, tout en confirmant la grande implication et le rôle de Lila. dans ce spécial, ainsi que la confirmation que Marinette fera équipe avec le jeune Bunnix et non avec a Bunnix adulte. Bunnix adulte est peut-être d'ailleurs celle qui donnera à Marinette son propre miraculeux du lapin ainsi que les boucles d'oreilles d ela coccinnelle reçues soit par un Maître Fu du passé, soit en rovenance de la Ladybug du futur, après que Marinette se soit fait voler ses boucles d'oreilles par Lila.

Maintenant, il y a quelque chose qui m'intéresse le plus dans cette spéciale : pourquoi l'histoire doit-elle se dérouler à Londres ? S'il s'agit d'une aventure visant à percer à jour l'identité de la personne ayant découvert l'identité secrète de Ladybug et comment cette personne s'y ait prise pour lui voler son miraculeux, pourquoi ce spéciale doit-il avoir lieu à Londres et non à Paris ?

Ma théorie est que Lila ne se contentera pas juste de devenir la nouvelle ladybug et de ruiner la réputation de l'ancienne, elle s'arrangera pour que tout Paris soit contre Marinette, potentiellement en la faisant passer pour la nouvelle villaine armée du miraculous du papillon. Ce qui est tout à fait à la portée de Lila, puisqu'avec le miraculous du papillon en sa possession il lui suffirait d'akumatiser d'innocentes victimes pour ensuite sauver le jour en se faisant passer pour une héroïne avec le miraculous de la cossinnelle qu'elle aura voler. Mais avec le pouvoir du papillong, Lila peut s'akumatiser elle-même, rien de plus facile que de fire revenir Volpina ou Infox, et créer une illusion montrant la nouvelle villaine papillon se detransformée en Marinette.

Avec tout Paris la prenant à tord pour une super-villaine, Marinette serait forcée de fuir à Londre en compagnie de Bunnix voir même de Luka et Su-han qui savent tous que Marinette était Ladybug (Alya resterait à Paris pour Nino et pour tenter de défendre l'honneur de Marinette. Je vais aller plus loin, peut-être même que c'est Felix qui, en tant que résident de Londre sachant que Marinette = Ladybug, offrira à la jeune fille un toit sous lequel se cacher

Donc au lieu de révéler à Adrien que Marinette = Ladybug pour ruiner leur relation, Lila fera passer la jeune fille pour une nouvelle méchante, et Adrien ne se fera pas dupé car connaissant bien sa dulcinée (à voir donc qu'elle sera l'excuse pour mettre Chat Noir de côté durant ce spécial)

[im-out-of-it]

PSA: RANT ABOUT CORDELIA AND HOW SHES A TERRIBLE SISTER TO ALASTAIR

it astounds me all of the occasions that Alastair has told Cordelia how much he cares and loves her but I never see the same effort back. AND YES IM MAKING ANOTHER POST ABOUT IT

I see Alastair telling her of how he ensured she had the childhood he didn’t get, how he doesn’t trust James and Matthew and doesn’t want to see Cordelia get hurt, how he will support her endeavors whether her future is with James or Matthew, how he hides her sword because she really believed wayland the smith thought she was special (I’m sorry but that’s funny), how he defended cordelia after she ran off to Paris with Matthew, how Alastair didn’t want Cortana to choose her because then danger would follow her, and just how he’s there for her every single day-

and she’s got the audacity to say or think “wow we wouldn’t be here a year ago, he’s changed so much” CAN WE STOP WITH THIS

there’s a part that Thomas says (and I seriously hate that he’s the one to say it) how the past Alastair wouldn’t research paladins to save his sister like Alastair has never been the problem here. I fully believe he is the best brother to her. (I’d kill for this kind of brother) maybe he was stealthy about it in the past and didn’t want to be like “oh hey sis, by the way our father is a drunk and bastard and I’m always cleaning up his messes” like I don’t think she actually fully acknowledges all he has done for her

I’m not saying she needs to constantly thank Alastair but I don’t ever see her being grateful about what he does for her. when Charles is wounded (I don’t see why the bastard couldn’t die), Matthew basically tells Alastair to go to him. and Cordelia is like that’s so big of you Matthew!!!!!! I’m sorry but are we just going to ignore the way charles treated your brother? she seems to have zero concern about this. when Charles tries talking to Alastair, Cordelia tries to leave but Alastair keeps a grip on her. I think there’s only once when she tells Charles to leave Alastair alone but barely.

when Cordelia returns from Paris, it’s all about how she feels. mind you, Alastair feels he can’t have Thomas and yet that isn’t ever processed because how awful for Alastair to have a pov!!!!!!! he shows his support and wow Cordelia is shocked her brother supports her!!!!!!!!

she tells the merry thieves basically that they can continue to be rude to Alastair the day after her wedding. there’s no support there. when Thomas makes a remark about Alastair being awful (which to be fair, he is still trying to process what Alastair did but we don’t actually gain access to his thoughts so the writing doesn’t pay off in the end.), Cordelia says “I know you don’t like Alastair but he is my brother” and that’s it.

Alastair is gaining no support from Cordelia whatsoever. her every thought is about James. at least in chain of gold, she was wanting family honor and helping her family but right after that, it was all about James. and this is why I don’t like her character arc and I don’t like her after chain of gold. she’s extremely selfish and I don’t ever see her support Alastair. just mentioning Thomas and how they all know he was following Thomas isn’t being supportive. I think her worst crime was spying on Alastair and then staying there. no wonder he doesn’t trust you then.

I’m just saying that Alastair has always been there for Cordelia even if it was in quiet and she never seems grateful for him, or the fact Kit died for her. I love that Alastair has Thomas now and I believe he has Gideon, gabriel, Sophie, Eugenia, Cecily and they would make him feel accepted. Gabriel and Gideon had their childhood taken away by a toxic father as well- Cecily as well, and we know Sophie went through it. I feel that they would support and give Alastair the love and support he needs because he certainly doesn’t get any from his sister

and concluding, this is why the book should’ve focused on Alastair. he’s more interesting and I hate that we don’t get his thoughts and he never actually grieves his childhood and gets to process anything

[monochromatictoad]

To be fair to LoS2, Konami kind of fucked MercurySteam over with the deadline on that one. They got rushed into finishing it, which left a lot to be desired. However, they did what they could and tried to end the story the best way they could in that time frame. Remember, LoS2 got released eight months before Silent Hill PT came out in the online stores. That sounds like a large time frame between games, but with how extensive PT was, Kojima was already spread between projects. So they pretty much lost their main leader for the project, and David Cox could only do so much with giving them the resources they needed.

However, I need to play the Metroid games they made, but I'm not super knowledgeable of Metroid's story, so maybe I'll learn that first before playing.

You know, this whole thing on bad creators and strangely loyal fans reminds me of something I read in the LoS artbook. Apparently, MercurySteam and David Cox received so much hate and death threats for LoS, they genuinely thought Konami was going to drop them from the project. However, when they returned to the studio, Konami actually green lit them for two more games, MoF and LoS2, because LoS1 wound up being (and still is) the best selling game in the entire Castlevania franchise, selling between 1.77 to 2 million copies worldwide.

While making LoS1, they tried so hard to make it for both experienced and new fans, they studied the fandom memes and theories, I think they said they even brushed up on the older games. When they first pitched the idea, they even tried to keep it to the original formula, only to be told to do something different.

My issue is that, you have creators who are flaunting just how much they hate the original work, while somehow being praised and having loyal fans, but when you have creators who wanted to capture the essence of the original, but change some stuff to make the story unique to them, they get hated and sent death threats instead.

Sorry bout the rant, but this has been eating at me for a while.

This sounds like the complete opposite experience of the Devil May Cry reboot, where the people in charge were absolutely brimming with resentment for the mainline games.

Unlike LoS, DmC:R was a commercial failure. Whatcha know :^)

From what I've seen, I can honestly tell that the MS devs really respected the main series. They mixed up every element they could, but overall the story, whether one likes it or not, is very aware that it's its own thing and it's not trying to surpass the source material. It's a shame that they got that vitriolic reception :\ I understand that reboots are seen with suspicion at first, but not to this degree.

[anxresi]

…Thomas Astruc really is a nasty piece of work, isn’t he?

This post is about how he reacts to criticism online, and what motivates him to reply.

Not to mention, a shout-out to his ‘defenders’ who somehow think they owe the man a lifelong debt of gratitude.

Don’t worry, I’m sure he’s more than ably been compensated for producing the idea that led to this behemoth of a show (before he ran it down to the ground, that is).

So he finally admits it… he’s writing at the level of a 5 year old. The truth outs at last!

Here’s another one…

How would we get the idea you ‘hate’ Chloe?

You mean like: engaging in the most heinous character assassination I’ve EVER seen regarding her development over S4-5, giving us the waste-of-bland-space Zoe who everyone in the in-show universe constantly praises to further spite her fans and responding to almost EVERY individual who criticizes your treatment of her online, while ignoring most other messages?

Hmm, I wonder where we could’ve got the impression from you don’t like her very much… 🤔

It’s got to the stage now where he reacts so aggressively and urgently to anyone who produces the slight WHIFF of criticism, that it makes me think he has something to hide. Like for example, directly interfering in her character arc?

Anyway, he does that classic thing every bad liar does… Deny everything, then get so abusive with their angry response to try and frighten the poor OP into never raising the issue ever again.

He doesn’t have to even reply to anyone, but when he does it always seems to be the ‘haterz’ he engages with than the devotees who grovel at his feet. Almost like he enjoys the confrontations. Very strange.

Oh, but don’t worry. All those young fans he ignores still turn up to ‘defend’ this grown-ass 46 year old man from the vicious assault of a couple of teens rightfully asking questions of his terrible writing. decisions. NEWSFLASH: he’s not gonna give you mindless sycophants a job, you know. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

In fact, all these ‘brave’ internet white knights defending him on Twitter… you do realize you massively outnumber the Chloe fans, don’t you?

It was a personal choice Thomas made to highlight the only two negative questions he got about her that day to his hundreds of thousands of followers, as if to make out this kind of ‘trolling’ is commonplace.

It’s not, and picking on the couple of Chloe fans willing to speak up ain’t an ‘honorable’ thing. He couldn’t give a hoot about you in reality, you’re just interchangeable tools in his ginormous ego trap.

Hope you enjoy the taste of his boots. Wise up, and see him for what he is, would be my genuine advice.

P.S The other topic that seems to heavily occupy him judging by his posts is the ‘Climate Emergency’ which of course very important and explains the ‘New World’ we see after Gabriel’s wish we see at the end of S5.

Personally, I think they laid it on a bit thick with the whole ‘let’s get rid of all cars, no litter anywhere, waterways and trees everywhere you look, no more teachers at school so set your own lessons’ message, but whatever.

My point is, I bet he lives a jet-setting lifestyle where he travels around the world a lot, in terms of income he’s gotta be in the top 10% bracket and I can’t seem to find anything online about him being a vegetarian or inviting homeless people to stay at the mansion he doubt calls his place of residence.

So could it be… this ‘progressive’ outlook is another attempt by a middle-aged man to ‘get down wiv da kids’ from someone who’s willing to talk the talk but not make any concrete sacrifices in his own privileged life that might help halt environmental decline? Id wager he uses a lot more resources than the average person he lectures to, so what is he doing himself to prevent ‘global Armageddon’?

From the available evidence, not a lot. Could it be… he’s an attention-seeking self-congratulatory sanctimonious hypocrite who’s life ethos is ‘Do as I say, but not as I do’?

Probably.

[methed-up-marxist]

"The Revolutionary Stewards championed the direct involvement of workers in the administrative apparatus, drawing on their experience as labor organizers. They criticized the Spartacists for their alienation from the working masses and for their insurrectionist tendencies. At the same time, both the communists and the Revolutionary Stewards perceived the anarchists as politically inexperienced utopians. The anarchists, for their part, were champions of federalism and formulated a strong critique of what they saw as the centralist tendencies of the Spartacists and of the Revolutionary Stewards’ focus on the factory workers of the big cities. Despite these tensions, however, the different radical factions never hesitated in defending and honoring each other in the face of social democratic and bourgeois attacks. Landauer [an anarchist], for example, gave the Munich eulogy to Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg after they were murdered in January 1919. Mühsam [another anarchist] called Luxemburg “the flame of the revolution” in an obituary published in his journal Kain" -Kuhn, Gabriel (2012) All Power to the Councils! A Documentary History of the German Revolution of 1918-1919

[jortschronicles]

The Don Marcus Project - a costuming diary

At Vindheim's first Accademia della Spada, the tournament for Princess Octavia's champion was held. My brother white scarf, Master Marcus von Furth, WSA was chosen as HSH's personal champion to be sicced on her foes and to defend her good name and honor. Several years ago, when Marcus was chosen to be Deanna I's champion, she approached my wife to make him one new suit so he could better look the role. That she did, and in addition a second hand silk suit (seen below) we had bought hoping it would fit me did not, but it sure did fit our boy!

(I'm still mad about that suit not fitting me, I'm OBSESSED)

This time, Marcus approached me about making 1 new suit and 2 extra doublets to help him better look the part and to accommodate his sick new gains! Ah, the joys of working out and eating sufficient protein. All your old stuff no longer fits right, and specifically in the difficult areas to let out and take in. Marcus's preferred style of doublet is almost more of a jerkin, with little sleeve puffs as seen in his old doublet and in Don Gabriel de la Cueva y Giron Duke of Albuquerque by Giovanni Battista Moroni (Moroni my beloved <3333) as seen below. Obviously, the heat of Ansteorra contributes to certain styling decisions and the removal of the full length doublet between the undershirt and the puff-sleeved doublet.

The time had come for my second attempt to figure out the barra system and pattern drafting method featured in Matthew Gnagy's The Modern Maker. For those of you who haven't yet used it, it is genius and intuitive in how counterintuitive it can feel. Gnagy walks even an intermediate (begrudgingly) sewist through a historical pattern drafting method that relies on the tendency of the human body to be proportional in certain measurements to the bust, waist, hip, and height. It makes an incredibly good first draft which, for the doublet I'm working on myself concurrently, only took one pass. In defense of the mockup for Marcus, I was figuring it out as I went, okay?

I used multiple colors of sharpies to keep my brain from melting as I went, starting with a fine pointed light pink as a "sketching" sharpie and frequently clarifying lines with an orange or blue sharpie. I did run into issues where my math failed me and had to insert extra fabric, as seen above, but who knew what chaos those simple insertions would portend....

Behold, the frankendoublet. The result of me screwing up and miscalculating in some places, learning after the first try on that the wearer had gained 2 inches of bicep and almost 3 inches of chest and back muscle in the months since I'd last measured him, and in confirming his preference for a more modern, long-torsoed garment than the higher waistline seen in late period. I swear there was a method to this madness, but it gives a few of my apprentice siblings headaches looking at it and I don't blame them. I transferred the pattern to paper, and we were off to the races!

A quick interjection about the fabric choices: we are both in the middle of financial tight spots, so as much as I'd like to work with natural materials (that don't melt by campfires at the very least) we agreed to opt for 1 silvery-blue shot silk-look polyester doublet, 1 crimson shot silk-look polyester doublet, and 1 royal blue polycotton striped brocade full suit, all intended to be interchangable for a variety of outfits. I bought 2 yards for each of the doublets and 3 yards for the pants, rocking out at $40 flat for the self fabric. While not ideal for breathability and late night campfires, right now it's hard to beat costs like that. The silvery-blue can be seen for the remainder of this post as I chose to use it for the first doublet.

In one full day's work I have managed to chalk and cut out the full doublet from the self and the lining (a slate blue linen I pulled from stash) and used approximately 1.6 yards of each. Behold my selection of pattern weights, including a remote, a basket hilt, 3 bottles of paint, most of a block of wax, some drill blocks, sticky notes, and a can of coke I was putting off drinking so it could continue to serve as a pattern weight.

By the end of day 1 of sewing I had assembled the full body and sleeves and begun pinning the collar. This is my first suit lined doublet so I am definitely taking things a little slower than usual. Thus far all the seams have been machine sewn aside from the finishing on the sleeve cuff. After some extra thought considering biceps and the volume of fabric, I patterned the bicep cuffs to have approximately 2 inches of excess cuff to hide within the seam to be easily let out if further size changes do occur. At this point I left the cuffs open for one more fitting before seaming them closed. By the end of the night I also finished the strip of waist eyelets, sewn on linen canvas provided by Asa inn blindi, so in the future pants can be pointed to this doublet. By this time, however, I was a little too dangerously sleepy to be trusted with a sewing machine so with the collar pinned I ended for the night.

The next day saw the attaching of the collar, the reopening of the shoulder seam to "zhuzh" more of the length of the back into the shoulder to accommodate the natural volume of shoulder muscles and to make the collar fall correctly. The eyelet strip was first sewn to the seam allowance of the waist line, after which the seam allowance + eyelet strip was pressed to the body and stitched down securely. After that, some lovely hand dyed wool twill tape was donated by Asa in blinda to cover and protect the raw edges along the waist line.

Rather than the strip of silk taffeta Gnagy recommends the tailor tacks in to the left side to reinforce the buttonholes, I ironed in a strip of fusible interfacing as reinforcement.

Glamor shot of the interfacing being sewn in by hand. My hand seams are getting a wee bit straighter.

In absence of the much sturdier taffeta Gnagy recommends for both trimming and reinforcement, I used scraps of a much lighter weight silvery-gray silk fished out of Asa's scraps, like a raccoon through a trash can. This does not provide the same structural benefit as the taffeta trimming, but it does introduce a little extra "pop" to the colors imho.

Then I tackled my first-ever hand sewn buttonholes. I opted for 3 strands of DMC 930 cotton embroidery floss on the final project after testing with buttonhole thread, all 6 strands, and 2 strands.

And finally, some glamor shots of the completed garment. From left to right, the "secret ease" on the bicep meant to make adjustments for more muscle growth easier to accommodate, the collar lining sewn in, and the final garment waiting in my office to be handed to the recipient at Coronation.

Overall, I think we're both very pleased with the results. Master Marcus retained his full (and simply absurd) range of motion on and off the field, the garment is machine washable, and it is a lovely color on him. The combined power of the ladies of our Princess's household has convinced him to let me raise the waistline on doublet 2 a whole two inches, which I am very excited about.

What did I learn?

The barra method is not nearly as terrifying to manage as I think it is, as long as you trust the process

Multiple colors of sharpies are a game changer.

I'm actually faster at hand-sewing buttonholes than I am at machine sewing them, because I get so anxious about sewing them by machine.

Suit-lined garments are SO much easier to do seam finishing on, it's absolutely night and day.

I think I want to make an entire doublet of silk taffeta. This is a problem. I need money and confidence to do so.

What's next?

Update the 14th C English clothing powerpoint to what I currently use for classes

I am currently making an Elizabethan suit for Darien de Shameless with my apprentice sibling Asa in blinda, with aims of finishing it for Queens Champion

I am currently making an Elizabethan-ish suit for Viscount Micauley Morison ahead of Winter Crown (but cheating on the pants so he has one pair of breezy breeches). The construction is largely the same to this one, so if I make a post about it it probably won't include an entire construction diary. Just some glamor shots.

I am making Rus for Dona Halldora Hrafnsdottir, but I keep getting distracted on which Navershnik I want to finish first.

I am looking forward to making some new and improved Rus for myself and Centurion Runa Bjarki ahead of the Crown/Coronet season, with an eye towards moving us to more accurate pieces.

I need to do a Shift Weekend where I just churn out shifts, chemises, and rubakhas

[tippedarrows]

Oh, dunno if that's what people call a crack ship, but.. one dude is dead, other has like -20 popularity, so it makes sense why I've never seen this ship anywhere before.. I'm talking about Gabriel X Fred! Your honor, just look at them! Two "dad-friends", both have other chaotic freinds who almost destroyed the world, both are very caring and gentle and I'm pretty sure it'll be the most sweet relationship ever. Fred helping Gabriel during his "I lied about EnderDragon, I'm literally nothing now, I don't deserve any love yall give to me" and Fred then "No, you're still a good warrior, you help people, you're doing such a greate job, darling" while hugging him tightly. Or other way around when Fred worries that his "I know he can do better" led to Romeo almost destroing everything they ever created together, and Gabriel telling him it's not his fault and he shouldn't take resposibility for Romeo actoins. Can't stop thinking about all the times they'll help and take care of each other. I can speak about them all day, but I think you're already tired from reading it, srry! Just happy to tell someone about my lil ship<3

Wait... actually?

Wait wait hold on guys let them cook. You're telling me not only are they both cute, but they're also WHOLESOME????

Okay okay. I love hearing this so much please talk more!!! Omfg. Thinking about Gabriel and Fred travelling together or something and Gabriel keeps showing off and throwing himself in front of Fred to defend him and Fred stands there with his arms crossed like " does he have any idea I could level this town... but it's okay I'm a pacifist so I'll let him do it for me. " The Knight in shining dumbness, and his Admin boyfriend that is essentially the reason he's such a good warrior.

I'm sorry they're adorable.

Gabriel, over the top," You're not responsible for Romeo's actions, and you never were. It's called being a good friend, My Dear! Fear not, for each of your worries I'll pepper you in each of my divine kisses. "

Fred, smiling at Gabriel all soft with his eyebrows pinched together and sighing, " Oh, Gabe. Don't worry about yourself, either. I'm here if you need anything. "

Gabriel, who has never been the one to be GIVEN comfort, " Ha okay yyes. ges okayii loove yiew... ghhhg"

[cherubchoirs]

So, how V2 got involved when our lovely rotting Michael had met it in Lust City.

He would dismiss it at first then came the thought that he could use it to his advantage to get Gabriel jealous (and off-guard since he wants him back to Heaven) since he is SO competitive like "I have a much better object that is more intelligent than that rust bucket he calls his love lol" but that plan ends up backfiring on him when he started to develop feelings for V2 due to the date he had set up for them.

That is when the "I tried to get the waiter's attention by blinking in morse code" comes to play for V2. Mike will end up questioning himself about this and looks to Raph for help about but Raph already knew and is like "Nope, you are on board of this train now. Take V2 and be in Gabriel's shoes for once" in a gentle yet BLUNT manner to him. He is in for the lonh haul.

SO in love with this anon your mind......especially because i've also 100% had the thought that v2 absolutely thinks it has the superior angel to v1 lmaoooo so imagining the competition on gabe and mike's end is so funny to me too. but in this scenario i keep thinking like. mike's trying to make gabe doubt his relationship in the pettiest way possible, harping on the idea of v1 being not only obsolete as a model but corrupted in its purpose too, which would traditionally strike a chord with angels considering their own natures and commitments. BUT gabe is deconstructing those ideas and he deeply values his personal connection to v1 as well as its incredible capability, so he vehemently argues in its favor. this would of course lead to him pointing out, in no uncertain terms, how v1 bested its replacement multiple times and it can't be ignored that v2 really was just an attempt to grab at a return on investment when priorities changed - v1 was never meant to be replaced, humans just can't stand lost money (statements he would later definitely feel bad about, since v2 is RIGHT THERE and he just said all of this on pure emotion. he would apologize afterward. a lot lol) but those exact criticisms flip a switch in mike's brain since he really, very much connects with v2 being a replacement that was never meant to be and so before he knows it, he's genuinely defending this little robot's honor and getting pissed off on its behalf. in doing so there's an undeniable, deeply personal link he feels with it, something far from typical for mike...which raphael, unfortunately, fully supports lol "raphael, i cannot fall to the same sins as our brother - council me so that i may be delivered from this evil" "this is so good for you michael!!! congratulations!!!!"

[hellishere7980]

IMW Chapter 10

Lady Miracle stared at him, waiting, watching as after a moment, his chest rose. Pained rattling breaths shook his body with the effort it took to make them and his face twisted in pain. It was physical, she could see that in the way his body reacted, but the way his face fell and the sob that left him, she knew he was feeling everything.

But he was still alive.

Movement out of the corner of her eye drew her out of her appraisal of the Agreste patriarch and she saw that it was Duusu and Nooroo. Lady Miracle wondered what it was like for the two Concepts to finally see the man that had used their magic to hurt millions of people being punished after seven long years. To finally re-join their fellow Kwami after a hundred years of being ‘lost’.

They watched every move Agreste made, every twitch and shudder and relished every broken sob and scream of agony that had left him and was still escaping his lips. They were waiting for her, and the realisation gave her an idea.

“detransform.”

Destransforming herself, Tikki appeared in a small ball of light in front of her, hovering almost protectively she glared down at the man who had abused two of her brethren as her aura joined Nooroo, Duusu and Plagg’s as they reunited without words.

Marinette closed her eyes, reaching within her she summoned each of the Kwami and they appeared, one by one, in glowing balls of power and light, their aura’s joining the others and filling the dome as they stared down at Gabriel Agreste with predator-like focus as he whimpered.

Not a single one of the nineteen Kwami moved. But their auras fluctuated and pulsed as they tried to reign in their anger as magic, ancient, dark and dangerous danced through the air, causing Marinette’s hair to stand up and she struggled to not shudder at the feel of overwhelming power.

“Curse him as much as you desire.”

Marinette turned and walked towards the edge of the dome, making a portal as the Kwami stilled. The tension in the observatory snapped with an explosion and she stepped through the portal as screams and other sounds were drawn from Paris’ infamous terrorist. If his screams under her curse were bad, they were nothing compared to that.

Closing the portal behind her, the noise stopped immediately and all that was left was the silence.

It was like a plug was pulled, and all energy she had drained out of her. She couldn’t believe it. It didn’t seem real. After years of battles, struggles, emotional repression and abuse were over.

“We did it.” Marinette whispered in shock, letting her spoken words shift the weight off her shoulders and felt immediately lighter.

For the first time since she picked up the Miraculous of Creation and Fortune, swearing to free Paris from Shadow Moth, Marinette felt free. 

“We won.”

Court Proceedings

“Uhh, B” Tim walked down into the Batcave. “You’re going to want to see this.” he went to the Batcomputer, typed something in, and brought up news coverage of a court case.

The second Bruce read the title his face darkened he said, “call everyone down.”

—

“All rise. Department One of the Supreme Court of Appeals is now in session. Please be seated.”

As everyone in the court took their places, the Judge began to present the case. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Calling the case of the People of Paris, France versus Gabriel Agreste, previously known as ShadowMoth. Are both sides ready?”

“Ready for the People, Your Honor.”

“Ready for the Defence Your Honor”

“Lady Miracle?”

“I’m ready,” the Defender nodded her head. As she walked to the podium, Lady Miracle looked around the courtroom. The case was to be heard in the Palais de Justice. The room looked too clean for the dirty truths that were about to be revealed. Making her walk to the stand painfully short.

She wasn’t the only one asked to testify against Gabriel. Some of the most deadly Akuma victims and the most frequent victims were also present: Ondine, Mr. Ramier, August, who had just turned 2 years old the previous month, etc. Other reporters who had seen multiple battles also stood witness.

They filled the pews of the courtroom and in the back stood the other reporter with their cameras. The cameras that would broadcast the court case to the entire world. Where everyone would know of what went down in Paris. The mayor of Paris and the President of France both agreed to keep the Akuma attacks hidden from the rest of the world. The last thing Paris needed was for the Justice League to come in and mess up what fragile structure they had built. Heaven knows what would've happened if Superman or Batman had come and been akumatized. So instead they blocked the media and moved the JLE headquarters out of Paris to Marseilles.

Once Lady Miracle made it to the podium the Clerk came up to swear her in. “Please stand. Raise your right hand. Do you promise that the testimony you shall give in the case before this court shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

Does it count that the ‘Gods’ already loved her? I mean the kwamis are gods so…?

“I do”

“Please state your name and occupation for the record.”

She gave the clerk a deadpan look because everybody knew who she was and exactly why she was there. But she answered anyway.

“Lady Miracle, Hero, and protector of Paris, France.”

“Thank you. We will now begin the questioning.” As madam walked up to begin questioning, the rest of the world was able to see Lady Miracle for the first time in all of her glory.

She was asked basic questions about the fights, etc.

She ended her testimony by saying- 

“I judged and punished Gabriel according to the laws of the miraculous order and then proceeded to turn him into the authorities so that he may also face judgment in the courts of Paris.” Lady Miracle said her face was hard and showed no emotion. For a while no one spoke, everyone was too busy processing what they had heard.

“Thank you, Lady Miracle” the Judge spoke, finally breaking the silence.

“Am I done?” She asked.

“Yes, unless the Defender has any more questions to ask?”

“None, Your Honor.”

“Then that is all, Lady Miracle. Thank you for your time.”

Lady Miracle stood and made it back to her seat.

“Next,” the judge continued, “ we will hear the testimony of Gabriel Agreste.”

.............

“And what about Marinette?”

“Who?” Gabriel glared at the person who asked him the question.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She was the only person in the Akuma class, besides your son, that you never akumatized.”

“Oh, her,” Gabriel spat, “trust me, my friend, it wasn’t from lack of trying. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was an absolute menace for me. Despite not having powers like that pesky bug and cat she still managed to foil my plans. I tried everything I could to akumatize Marinette. I blacklisted her from multiple fashion houses, hired crooks to scare her and steal, had her fashion website taken down for ‘plagiarism’, I even went as far to make a deal with one of her classmates to make her school life a living hell.” he sneered, “Yet for some reason, that pesky brat managed to contain her emotions enough so my Akuma’s couldn’t possess her.”

“And you’re just going to admit to that?”

“Of course.” he said matter of factly, “My fate has already been sealed. There’s no point keeping any more skeletons in the closet. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was going to be my masterpiece. If I was able to akumatize her I could have gotten Lady Miracle and Chat Noir’s miraculous and I could have—” he was cut off by a series of bubbles escaping from his mouth.

“What was that?” The person off-screen asked horrified.

“That was the annoying curse that—” more bubbles “was placed on me so I don’t reveal too much about the miraculous. Regardless, Mme. Dupain-Cheng remained obnoxiously optimistic for the past six years, or she just blocked off any emotion that I could have manipulated.” Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“O..kay, on to the next question.”

Gabriel Agreste had a week-long court trial that started a week after his revelation. While the length and speed at which the trial began and finished was abnormal, Paris had wanted justice to be served as soon as possible after years of trauma. It was televised throughout France and everyone in the country watched it, many businesses and schools showing it on screen. Compiled by her and handed over to the group of lawyers prosecuting Agreste, it had been easy for Marinette to label everything nicely and put it in a folder to hand over. She already had a portfolio on the man, both Shadow Moth and Gabriel, all she needed to do was add what she had found at Agreste Manor when Ladybug was cursing Gabriel.

Some of the evidence included bribes that had been made too, and accepted by board members of Collège Françoise Dupont. Many staff members had also been bribed, the most notable being Principal Damocles, to ensure the Akuma Class stayed together. Phone calls and text messages between Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancoeur, as well as between Gabriel Agreste and Lila Rossi, about akumatisation plans and Scarlet Swarm ideas. They dated from the day his identity was discovered back to the first Scarlet Swarm years earlier which included conversations about Nathalie being Mayura.

The calls and text messages were backed up by video footage from Agreste Manor’s security system of the three as they brainstormed different powers that akumas could have in future and planned the next Scarlet Swarm. The prosecutors had akuma flight patterns that showed that Agreste Manor was the epicentre and the building remained unharmed during most of the attacks no matter the magnitude.

There were files Gabriel had made on each of the past heroes, labelled by their hero names, holding photographic evidence that he had had stalked them on multiple occasions after their reveal, despite the Temps being thirteen at the time. The only file that wasn’t labelled by their hero name was Marinette’s, and upon closer inspection it was revealed why.

The file had been made before and she was revealed to have been Princess Justice and later Queen Mean and was filled with plans on ways to akumatised her. It was the largest file out of all of them and it showed she had been stalked by the middle-aged man.

It was almost an obsession, his interest in getting her akumatised. On the plans that failed he had jotted little notes how to improve whatever traumatic or upsetting thing he made happen to her that had nearly caused her to become one of his akumas.

It was disturbing and more than a little numbing as Marinette listened and watched footage, read documents and learnt about how obsessed the middle-aged man who had terrorised her city had been with her for years.

Luka, her honorary brother, had held her hand for the duration of the trial, gently rubbing circles on her skin with his thumb. Felix and Kagami muttered about defiling his grave, small and dangerously. Jagged, Zoe and Penny sat in stony silence tapped their legs like they did when they were planning to destroy someone.

[jigglypuff1994]

The Devil Wears Gabriel - Chapter 20

Thomas held up a finger, calling to her, "Ladybug! Wait! I have one more thing to show you before you go!" 

Ladybug mentally screamed, wanting to leave, but she chastised herself knowing if she ignored Astruc after he did her a huge favor, it wouldn't be a good look for her or Adrien. Ladybug sighed, closed her eyes and ran toward the artist, pressing, "I only have a couple more minutes; it has to be quick."

"I'd like to show you my latest creation." Thomas projected as he glided across the gallery and opened a side door. "Please, follow me." He glanced over at Adrien, beckoning him forward, saying, "You, too, Mr. Agreste." 

Ladybug knew she would be cutting the time close in her pursuit back to Gabriel's office. She looked back to Adrien who shrugged his shoulders and half-smiled in a show that he had no idea what the painter had in store for them. 

Astruc led them through the back room filled with covered frames. The corridor was a short walk, thankfully. Standing at the back of the room, Thomas proudly stood next to a two-meter tall, covered frame. When Ladybug and Adrien approached it, Thomas said, proudly, "I present to you, my newest creation. Dedicated to you, Ladybug, our hero of Paris." He smiled widely as he threw the covering off. 

The painting still kept to Astruc's typical contemporary strokes, yet the dramatic elements struck deep within. It was inspiring to the audience. The coloring was magnificent, made of blues and red and swirls of black. Like Mona Lisa's eyes, the painting had tenacity and movement. A life-size depiction of when she became a promising symbol of hope and a beacon of light, to all of Paris, a protector against the evil threatening their home. There, Ladybug stood on the Eiffel Tower, a close-up of her whole body in an immoveable stance, standing atop with a fierceness in her eyes, telling Hawkmoth with not only her words but with her body that she would not back down nor bend to his will. She was there in that moment once again, declaring to all the world that she was there to defend them with everything she had. 

Ladybug was taken aback with emotion. The piece moved her, stirring deep emotions within her: passion, drive, ambition, hope. She imagined this is how Alice felt looking through the looking glass for the first time. 

"So, what do you think?" Astruc asked with anticipation, eagerly awaiting the verdict. "Isn't it marvelous? I think it's jaw-dropping; one of my best yet." 

Jaw-dropping would be an understatement. 

Thomas chuckled after a few moments when Adrien nor Ladybug spoke, saying, "I see you're both speechless." 

As he stepped forward to admire it up close, Adrien spoke with a childlike wonder, "It's breath-taking. You captured the moment perfectly." 

Ladybug's eyes were glued to the painting, trailing the brushstrokes of the Eiffel Tower beams. "It's inspiring." Ladybug spoke in awe, walking forward and following Adrien's lead. 

Astruc beamed with pride at their words. "Wonderful, I'm glad I have your full approval, Ladybug. I was hoping to add this to the heroes' collection at the Louvre soon. Only, I needed your help to name it. Since you're already here, I assumed you wouldn't mind helping out a fellow Parisian citizen such as myself." 

Ladybug blinked and turned toward the painter who made this masterpiece. "You want me to name it?" She asked, gawking at Astruc; a swirl of emotions churned within her; she was touched from the sentiment that the painter wanted her to name his artwork. As a fellow artist herself, it's a great honor. 

"Well, who else better than the hero of Paris, herself?" Astruc beamed. 

Who else indeed...

After a second of thought, it was as though a lucky charm had dropped into her hand, and she had figured out the way to use it. "Chat Noir." She said, quietly. "He should be the one to name it." Stepping closer to the painting, she smiled, softly. Ladybug looked at her eyes in the painting, seeing the determination prevalent in the blue hues. 

Ladybug recalled a conversation Chat Noir and her had a couple months after their first encounter with HawkMoth. It was early in their hero careers; back when they had spent many nights and patrols along the Paris rooftops, joking and talking freely with one another. Unlike the other hangouts, this particular encounter caused a shift in their dynamic; one she had pushed away until she looked into her own looking glass. 

Smiling, she wistfully spoke, "Chat Noir once told me that this was the exact moment he knew nothing could hold us back from defeating Hawkmoth. That he knew without a shadow of a doubt, through thick and thin, he would follow me to the ends of the Earth. That we could do anything as long as we had each other. That we would always be stronger together." 

The memory of this night unburied itself from the depths of her mind, rising from its grave. Chat Noir had set up a beautiful display for her, filled with roses and lit candles atop their rooftop. His eyes alight with affection as he knelt in front of her, extending a single red rose in his hand to present to her and devoting himself to her completely. The sweet smell of the delicate flower caused her stomach to roll. Her heart sank with every word he uttered. The tender moment they were supposed to share together now turning into a heart-shattering point in time. The world tilted on its axis from the immense guilt she felt, knowing she couldn't return his sentiments. 

Ladybug hated herself for rejecting him then; it's why she pushed the memory away and pretended that Chat Noir never confessed his undying love. Denial is her favorite defense mechanism. Perhaps, this is why she had drawn up her defenses, shoved the confession down, smothered the seed of love deep within the dark crevices of her mind, hoping it would never see the light of day. 

Even more so, she hated herself for thinking that he had given up on her after all this time. 

Ladybug swallowed, thickly, holding back her tears. She searched her painted face for answers, whispering, softly, "He told me that he loved me."

Chat Noir still loves me.