#emile's baby face in the bottom left breaks my whole heart

[hythlodaes]

we are not who we once were

heavensward / present

[tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors]

Do the boys ever think about getting kids in the future? I feel like they all would have worried but also be for it?? (Oddly enough I think Virgil or Logan would be the most chill about getting a kid)

Winterbloom

Deepin the heart of the forest, there is a witch-hazel tree, hollow andhuge.Ithas not bloomed in a very, very long time.

Pairing:romantic LAMP, background remile, background Thomas/Heart “Harley” (from the shorts), a whole mess of platonic family dynamics

Wordcount: 4810

Warnings:the usual things irt Virgil and Logan’s immortality and everybodyelse’s Lack Thereof but that’s about it – this is mostly fluff

Notes:part of the expanded universe of Love and Other Fairytales, takingplace about ten years after the end of the main storyline (so thehumans + Logan are all late twenties, essentially)

from these prompts as well:

“I was wondering maybe we could see the uncle babes for the firsttime? Like when Thomas has a kid? And Virgil being all soft and notknowing how to hold a baby and when he does????? Just falls infucking love???? My heart can’t take it god” from @thiamuniverse (this is not… quite exact, feel free to send it again)

and

“Soin Grandmother, May makes a quip about grandchildren. Do the boysever consider having kids,or is that something they’re content toleave to Thomas?” from a nonnie

contains gratuitous shorts characters

—

Virgil woke up tosomeone tapping him on the nose. He wrinkled his face, grumbling.

Someone laughed.

“Rise and Shine,Sleeping Beauty,”

“Too early,”Virgil said, gruff.

“Agreed,” camethe uncharacteristically petulant voice of Patton, his breath puffingagainst Virgil’s neck.

Roman laughed again,and pressed a kiss to Virgil’s temple that made him finally blinkhis eyes open.

Roman was alreadydressed, and smiling down at the two of them still in bed, entirelytoo awake for the hour and making Virgil’s heart do things alsotoo much for the time of day.

“Wealready let you sleep in,” said Roman fondly, “Logan’s madebreakfast, and if you let it get cold you’ll hurt his feelings,”

Virgilgroaned.

Romanhuffed a little.

“Doyou even remember what day it is?”

Virgilgroaned even louder.

“Ican not be expected toremember things like mortalcalendar dates before nineo’clock,”

Romansighed even louder.

“It’sDean’s birthday,Virgil,”

Pattonwent rigid immediately.

“Hisfirst birthday with Remy and Emile?” Roman continued.

Pattonshot out of bed faster than Virgil had ever seen him move.Virgil sat up a little slower, though he did feel slightly sheepish.

“Oh,oh, oh!” exclaimed Patton, grabbing the first shirt he saw out ofthe drawers and pulling it on over his bare chest. Virgil wasn’tquite sure, but it was either his or Roman’s from how it hung offhim.

“Gottamake the cake, you said Logan made breakfast, did he use up theeggs?”

“Havewe ever managed to use up eggs in this house?” said Roman dryly,leaning down obligingly when Patton tugged on his collar for a kiss.Patton darted over to give one to Virgil too, and then bolted out ofthe room before Virgil could really react.

Romansat on the edge of their bed, smiling softly.

“Goodenough reason to get up?” he teased.

Virgilleaned in a little, and Romantilted his head up automatically.

Thekiss was short, but there was nothing perfunctory about it, even ifRoman responded to Virgil nipping gently at his bottom lip by pullingback and giving him an unimpressed look.

“Wehave a nine-year-old’s birthday party to be atbynoon. Up, Mr. Lord of TheForest,”

“I’mgetting up,” said Virgil, “Will you make them save me somebreakfast?”

“Nopromises,” smirked Roman, swooping in to kiss him again and thenfollowing Patton out of the room.

Fifteenminutes later, Virgil was making his way to the kitchen. He saw May,in her wheelchairby the front window, and detoured in that direction to greet her.

“Goodmorning, Oma,” hesaid quietly.

“Mornin,’”she grunted.

“Doyou need anything? I’m going to the kitchen,”

“Younot to hover like a helicopter parent,for one,” she said.

“Who’shovering?” he said, grinning at her, “Fine, sulk at the window,crone,”

Shesnorted, but she really didn’t seem to want anything, so Virgil letit be.

Bythe time he got to the kitchen, Patton was already wiping down thecounters. There was a plate at the table, but every thing else wasput away, and Logan was shutting the loaded dishwasher.

“Isee you have arrived just in time to avoid cleaning, dear,” saidLogan without turning around.

Virgilsmiled sheepishly, coming up behind Logan and nuzzling his neck.

“Mybad,” he said, “I’ll make dinner,”

“Itisincredibly amusing you seem to think you are volunteering,” saidLogan, and Virgilcould feel him smiling.

“Nope!”said Patton, inserting himself between them and wagging his finger atVirgil, “Kitchen is a smooch-free zone until further notice, lasttime you made me burn the cupcakes,”

“Pat,”said Virgil, exasperated.

“Don’t‘Pat’ me, honey, no kisses in the kitchen till the cakes done,”

“Eatquickly, then,” Logan told Virgil, nodding toward the plate, “Youhave not properly kissedme good morning, and I find myself irritated by the imbalance,”

Pattonwavered. After a moment, he sighed.

“Well,okay,” he said, “Good morning kisses are different,”

“Ido not believethere is any functional difference between a kiss experienced in themorning versus-”

Virgilcut his youngest husband off with a propergood morningkiss, but Logan didn’t seem all that upset about it, so he figuredit was fine.

—

“Hey,Verge, can you holdBrianforaminutethanks!”

Andthen Thomas was bolting off to break up what looked like some kind ofpinata-bat based altercation, and Virgil was holding aninfant.

Helooked around for Thomas’s husband, Harley, but he didn’t see himanywhere, so Virgil found a lawnchair to settle in for theforeseeable future.

“Hello,”he said. Brian didn’t sayhello back, because he waseight months old and long wayfrom talking, though he did let out a very enthusiastic stream ofbabbled nonsense that Virgil obliginglynodded along to.

“Wellyou certainly soundlike you know what you’re talking about,” he said.

“Ofcourse he does!” came Patton’s bright face as he lunged overVirgil’s shoulder and pressed a whole smattering of tiny kisses allover Brian’s face, “He’s the smartest baby there ever was,aren’t you? Are you having fun with Uncle V?”

Brianmade even more enthusiastic noises, reaching up his arms and grabbingfor Patton, who cooed in response and plucked him out of Virgil’sgrasp without so much as a by-your-leave.

“Where’dyour daddies go?” he cooed, “Where’d they go, left you allalone, didn’t they?”

“Hey!”said Virgil.

Pattonlooked down at him, a teasing expression on his face, and Virgilrolled his eyes as he stood from his chair.

Hewrapped his arms around them both, setting his head on top ofPatton’s.

“Ido have some kid skills, you know,” he said dryly, “I’m a great uncle. Took careof Trudi all the time, and she wasfine,”

Pattongrinned up at him.

“Ofcourse you do, honey, I’m only picking,” he giggled.

Briantwisted in Patton’s grip, looking around and still mumbling. Pattonwatched him with an expression of adoration that was becomingfamiliar but that Virgil still didn’t quite know what to do about.

“Thereyou are!”

Pattonstartled, and then gave Harley a grin.

“Hereto rescue him from Uncle Squad?” he said, as Brian squealed andlunged for his father.

“Ifanybody needs rescued it’s Thomas,”Harley grumped, taking himfrom Patton, “I walk awayfor ten minutes-”

“Hewas helping Emile break up some bickering kids,” said Virgilfairly, “Though I, uh- don’t have any clue where he went afterthat,”

“Right,”sighed Harley, “Well, thanks for watching B. If you do see Thomaslet him know I’m looking for him,”

Heturned, encouraging Brian to wave over his shoulder as he walkedaway, and Brian did. Patton waved back.

Patton’sface went a little tense around the edges, still smiling at Brian butwith something melancholy just underneath the surface.

Thatwas familiar too.

Butwhen Patton turned back, beaming up at Virgil and looking just thesame as he always did. Virgil swallowed the question.

Itseemed he did that a lot, these days.

—

Itwas a week later when Virgil finally managed to work up the nerve toconfront Patton.

Hewas making dinner, and Virgil stood in the doorway for a good tenminutes before he could bring himself to speak.

“Pat?”he said hesitantly.

Pattonjumped, turning with his hand pressed to his chest.

“Jeezycreezy, sweetheart, you gave me a bit of a startle,”

Virgilhunched in on himself a little.

Patton’sforehead furrowed, worried.

“Honey,what’s wrong?” he said gently.

“Canwe talk?” Virgil blurted, and then immediately wanted to punchhimself in the face.

Pattonraised his eyebrows.

Andthen he turned, clicking off the burner and moving the pan off theheat.

“I’mlistening,” he said seriously, “What’s wrong?”

Virgilbit the inside of his cheek, worrying it.

Betterto do it quick. Just get it over with.

“Doyou want a kid, Patton?” he said quietly.

Pattonrecoiled, just barely. His mouth pinched.

“No,”he said.

Itwas silent for several seconds. Virgil felt distinctly nauseous.

“Togetherfor ten years, married for seven,”he said, a little hysterically, “And this is the first time you’veever lied directly to my face,”

“I’mnot lying,” said Patton, his voice wavering.

“Youthink I can’t tell?”

“Virgil,”said Patton warningly.

“Whywould- why would you lie about that?”

“Virgil,”

“Andyou didn’t- you didn’t even bother to talk to us about it, youjust-”

“Wedid talk about it,”said Patton wetly.

Virgilpaused.

“Ithink I’d remember that,”

Pattonbit his lip.

“Not…we as in- us. We as in… me and Roman,”

Virgilfrowned.

“Whywou- it’s kids,Patton, why- why on earth would you think me and Logan shouldn’t-”

“Whathappens if we adopt a kid, honey?” said Patton desperately.

“I-”Virgil stared at him, incredulous, “We would- we would have a kid?”

“Yeah,”said Patton, his voice thick, “A kid. A kid who’d be yours.You’d be a dad,”

“I’mfamiliar with the process,”

“Andthen a kid who’d be an adult,”said Patton wetly, “A kid who would grow up, and age, and-”

Heshook his head.

Virgilfelt like he’d swallowed molten iron, hotand swirling, acidic in his stomach.

“Meand Roman is one thing,” said Patton, his eyes spilling over,“Logan’s parents, Thomas, evenThomas’s children, butyour children?”

Virgilswallowed.

“Idon’t want anythingthat hurts you,” said Patton, firm and nearly vicious, “Or Logan.Not ever. Nothing isworth that,”

Heshook his head, smiling through the wetness of his eyes.

“MaybeI do want a kid,” said Patton, “But it’s- it’s toomuch. And it’s not likethere’s a lot of fae children up for adoption,”

Pattonwiped his eyes with his wrists.

“Iam sorry I didn’t talk to you, though,” said Patton, “I didn’tmean to. It wasn’t supposed to be a secret really, I guess I just-”

Hesmiled a little wryly.

“Idunno,” he said, “Told myself I’d talk to you later and then hopedyou’d never bring it up? Seems stupid now,”

“It’snot stupid,” croaked Virgil. Virgilknew quite a bit about avoiding conversation topics that upset him.

Likethis exact topic.

Pattonsniffled again, and Virgil crossed the room, drawing Patton into hisarms.

“I’msorry,” he whispered.

Pattonshook his head.

“No,it’s fine, I understand you getting upset. I shouldn’t have lied to you, I know youhate it,”

“No,I-”

Virgilsqueezed him a little tighter, pressing his face into Patton’shair.

“Ican see how much you want them,” he said, strained, “I’m sorryyou- I’m sorry you feel like you can’t,”

Pattonshook his head even harder,pulling back and cupping Virgil’s face.

“Notyour fault,” he said firmly, “Nothing to apologize for,”

Hewasn’t lying, that time.

Didn’tstop him from being wrong.

—

Virgilwinced as Logan none-to-gently pulled yet another plant from theground.

“Areyou supposed to yank them like that?” he said before he couldreally stop himself.

“Areyou the Seelie?” snapped Logan.

Virgilwinced again, and Logan deflated.

“I’msorry,” he said quietly, “That was… needlessly aggressive,”

Virgilgave him a sad smile. Logan swallowed, snipping off the stemfrom the bulb and placing itin the basket next to him. He discarded the excess in the bucket onhis other side, beforeremoving his gardening gloves even though Virgil knew very well therewere more bulbs that needed dug up.

Loganglared at his hands in his lap.

“Couldwe do it?” he asked quietly.

Virgilbit his lip.

“Youhave more experience on the subject. Though you do not have toanswer, if- if it is too much,”

Virgilleft the bench swing, crossing the grass between them to sitnext to Logan and cup his face.

“Beloved,”he said brokenly, “I already don’t know if we can do it. WithBrian, I-”

Loganflinched,squeezing his eyes shut.

“Iwasn’t there when they buried Trudi,” said Virgil, “I don’t-I don’t know how I would’ve reacted,”

Helaughed bitterly.

“Notwell, that’s for damn sure,”

“Idid not even notice,”said Logan, a littlebitingly, “You saw, andRoman knew, but I didn’t even-”

“You-”said Virgil, kissing Logan briefly on the forehead, “-areso excited to be an uncle I sometimes catch you casting sunbeams likethe world’s happiest lightbulb,”

Logansnorted.

Virgilpulled him forward, and Logan ducked his head under Virgil’s chin.He left his hands in his lap, one of them picking at the rubber bandon his opposite wrist.

“Virgil?”

“Hmm?”

Virgilfelt Logan swallow.

“Absentof the obvious flaw,” he said thickly, “Do youwant a child?”

Virgilbit his cheek. He thought of tossing Trudi inthe air, and letting herteeth on his fingers, and making shapes in silk between his handsfor Brian until B put his chubby little fingers right through themand waved his arms, covered in trails of silver.

“Youknow,” he said, “I don’t think I realized until I knew wecouldn’t. But, um… yeah. Yeah, I do,”

Loganjust barely trembled in Virgil’s arms.

“Me,too,” he said weakly.

Virgilflinched, and cupped the back of Logan’s head to press his faceinto Virgil’s neck.

Aroundthem, silent and unnoticed, the shadows beneath the flower bedsrippled.

—

Virgilwoke up to cold air behind him, which was decidedly bizarre, becausehe knew for a fact Roman had been on that side when he’d gone tosleep.

Slowly,so as to not wake Patton as he pulled himself out of his grip, herolled over.

Romanwas standing in the window, looking haggard and slightly nauseous.

“Roman?”Virgil said quietly.

Romanstartled, turning, and for a moment he smiled in a way Virgil hadn’tseen in years, brittle and too-perfect. Virgil’s stomach twisted,but it was only a second before Roman winced, shook himself, andreached out his hands.

Virgiltucked the blanket around Patton and crossed the room. Roman wrappedhis arms around Virgil’s waist immediately, hiding his face inVirgil’s neck.

“Howare you?” Virgil whispered.

“Mostly…”Roman muttered, hesitating, “Mostly confused. Been a while,”

“What’swas it?”

“Therewas-” Roman swallowed,pressing his forehead to Virgil’s throat.

“Thetwo me’s,” said Roman, “They were fighting,”

Virgilnodded.

“You’rejust one you,” he said, “Just Roman, night or day,”

Romannodded.

Virgilconsidered telling him – but he didn’t know what to say.

Thiswas the third consecutive night Virgil had been woken up by one ofhis husbands nightmares.

Thefirst had been Logan – trapped at a full moon revel, and returningto a ghost town collapsingfrom age. A creature had been hiding in the ruins, but he hadn’tfound it. He’d woken up to Virgil gently murmuring, because Loganhad dug his nails into Virgil’s arms and wouldn’t let go.

Thesecond, Patton. He’d been singing in the dream and couldn’t stop,and the longer he did the closer the shadows figures around him hadgotten, until he’d woken up and nearly screamed because Virgil’sblack hairhad been in his face.

Romanslept so still, even in nightmares; if he hadn’t left the blanketopen behind him Virgil might not even have known, and could pass itoff as coincidence.

Itcould still be coincidence– but it was enough to make Virgil feel on edge.

ButRoman was just barely shaking. And they ought to all be awake for it,when… if he brought it up.

Soinstead, Virgil led him back to bed, and fellinto a fitful, restless sleep..

—

TheSaturday that dawned thefirst day of Autumn wassomething of a holiday, if not in the celebratory sense.

Loganalways woke up with a headache, and it was one of the few days heconsistently allowed himself to sleep in to a truly unreasonablehour. He responded to Pattongetting up for his shift at the bakery, Roman getting up to makecoffee and breakfast,and Virgil getting up to get dressed and go make sure the transitionbetween the Summer and Autumn courts didn’t end in bloodshed with theexact same petulant grunt and demand for a kiss.

Thetransition did go over fairlysmoothly, asfar as violence went –admittedly with some liberally applied glaring – but it took hours.Fae were slow to change; every time the Summer court gave up controlof the forest in the fall, they were expecting it to be withheld fromthe Springs come March. It didn’t seem to make a difference to themthat Virgil was marriedto a Spring.

Virgilunderstood the trepidation, but it made the Summers near impossibleto deal with. He desperately missed the days when he could mostlyleave the Courts to their own devices with the caveat they not harasshumans. He wondered if he was ever going to get them back.

Heexited the hill with the kind of relief usually reserved for peoplegiven stays of execution, and started making his way back toward thehouse so he could take a nap.

Heshould have known it wouldn’t be that easy.

Ashe started moving from the part of the forest that constitutedfairyland into the (very, very slightly) more mundane part,a shadow under a bramble bush suddenly lunged, barring his way.

Virgilstared.

“Whateverit is,” he said, too tired to even care that he was definitelywhining, “Can itplease wait untiltomorrow?”

Theshadow trembled, and Virgil felt Mother tug on his mind, back towardfaerieland but not quite the direction of the hill he’d come from.

Virgilthrew his hands up in frustration, and began to follow the pull.

Motherwasn’t speaking to him, which was just as irritating as it alwayswas. More bizarrely, his sisters were equally silent, and wary, likethey knew something but weren’t mentioning it, which was…decidedly weird behavior.

Hewas deep in the forest now, well past where any human would come, oreven could come,maybe. Virgil wasn’t sure, and he’d never tried to bring Roman orPatton. Even he rarely camehere, if only because he had no reason to, rather than anykind of fear.

Butthe longer he walked, the more familiar the area became – the treesand the paths. He was beginning to feel a lot more nervous than justirritated.

Andthen he broke out of the treeline, and his stomach dropped.

Therewas a witch-hazel tree in the center of the clearing, bigger than anymundane tree could possibly be, huge and achingly familiar. Virgilknew it was hollow, though he couldn’t see from here.

Itwas blooming. Hundred ofyellow blossoms stared back at him.

“No,”he said immediately.

Ashadow pushed at his ankle.

“NO!”he snarled, “No. Notthis. I can’t-”

Anothershove, more insistent, and Virgil felt like the branches were closingin on him like a cage.

Heremembered waking up in the witch-hazel – and he remembered theonly other person who had. He remembered a brother who’d beenanything but. He remembered losing everythingbecause of it.

“Iwon’t,” he said, his throat closing, knowing it didn’t matter,knowing that if she’d brought him here it was already too late-

“Please,”he choked, “Please, I can’t- I can’t do it again, Mother,”

Noshoving this time, and silence. Even his sisters had left. Virgil wasalone.

Thewitch-hazel knocked, twice.

Heshould leave. He should turn around and walk away, and leave whateversibling his mother had tried to build him this time to fend forthemself and leave him in peace.

Therewas a small sound from inside the tree, awhimper, partly curious andpartly scared, and Virgil’s resolve crumbled.

Heclimbed the tree, slowly, like if he put it off long enough theremight be nothing when he looked in. He reached the hollow, took asteadying breath and peered over the side.

Yelloweyes blinked up at him.

Virgilrecoiled, immediately disappearing from the other fae’ssight and pressing his back tothe tree trunk. His breath shudderedout of him, and Virgil bit his tongue so hard he tasted blood.

Whoeverit was, they knocked again on the inside of the tree.

Swallowingthe lump in his throat, Virgil looked back over the side, and got hisfirst proper look at the child.

Hereyes were yellow,though the pupils were round. Her hair resembled nothing so much as abird’s nest, both in color and disarray. She was also much tannerthan Virgil.

Well.At least Virgil had a better track record with sisters.

Thechild wobbled to her feet, looking up at Virgil again, and reachedher arms toward him.

Hisresolve crumbled. He could no more leave her than he could have leftBrian.

Hereached in, grabbing her under the arms, and as he heftedher he realized she was muchsmaller than she ought to be. Or at least, much smaller than he orhis brother had been. They’d been born adolescent - If she’d been human, he would have thoughtthis child couldn’t possible be more than four. Asmall four.

“Hello,”he said.

Sheblinked, silent and staring.She scratched the side of her head, and Virgil nearly flinched whenhe saw her nailswere black and sharp.

Great.She came with pointy parts.

Andspeaking pointy parts – her ears were strange. At first he thoughtthey weren’tpointed, but when he looked closer he realized they were, but thetips of them were black, nearly blending into her hair. Like somekind of camouflage to hide the tips.

Sheseemed to have no intention of speaking to him, though she did lookaround herself curiously.

Virgilblew out a long breath.

“Well,”he said, “Offwe go, I guess,”

Andhe made his way back toward the house.

—

Thechild remind silent the whole way, and didn’t move much at allexcept to occasionally glance around her. Mostly she gnawed on thesleeve of the brown dress she wore, and resisted any attempts fromVirgil to stop her.

Loganwas up now, and in the garden. Already the flowers looked slightlyless vibrant, but Logan was nothing if not tenacious. He seemed tohave picked up the chore he left off a few days ago, digging upbulbs.

Heglance over his shoulder with a wave and returned to it, froze, andthen whirled around and stood in one motion.

Virgilgrimaced.

Logantook a step forward, cautious, and after a long pause approached themfully.

“You,um-”

“Yeah,”said Virgil.

Loganwatched the child like it might bite him.

“Shewas in my tree,” said Virgil.

“Ah,”

Andthen in the first real move the child had made since she’d reachedfor Virgil, she lunged.

Logan’shands came up automatically, and he caught her with a short grunt.Virgil very nearly had a heart attack, especially when she startedgrasping with her sharp-tipped fingers, but all she did was makefists in the shoulders of Logan’s shirt and cling until he had herproperly held.

“Um.Hello,” said Logan.

Thechild waved, though she didn’t lift her head from its position onLogan’s shoulder. Thecorner of Logan’s mouth ticked up, barely.

“Hasshe eaten?” he said, sounding a little worried, “She’s… she’svery small,”

Virgilwinced even worse.

“Yeah,about that,” he said, “I was, uh- sorta carnivorous, exclusivelyfor a… very long time, after I was born. So she might…”

Loganwrinkled his nose.

“Iunderstand. But also, to quote Patton – yuck,”

Virgilsnorted.

Loganbrought one hand up, touching the child’s hair with a strangeexpression.

“What?”

“I…have a theory,” Logan muttered, “I will share it when I haveaccrued more data,”

Heturned then, and began to carry the child into the house.

Virgilfollowed, vibrating with nerves, and a significant part of him waswaiting for the child to turn violent. The other part told him he wasbeing stupid, that his brother hadn’t been more than slightlysarcastic for years, and that she weighed maybe thirty pounds anyway.

Neitherpart was very coherent at the moment.

Ithad been a bad day for May, when Virgil had woke up this morning.Monosyllabic and grumpy, she’d waved Roman off angrily when he’dtried to get her to eat, and nearly snarled at Virgil when he’ddone the same.

Butnow she was smiling, looking up from her wheelchair at the child inLogan’s arms.

“Prettygirl,” she croaked, reaching.

Thegirl whined a little, shaking her head and pressing herself closer toLogan. May made an expression that resembled a pouting child morethan a woman in her eighties.

“Mamaw,who are you talking to?” called Roman, his voice coming closer ashe spoke, “Are Logan and Virgil ba-”

Hecame around the corner and stopped dead. Virgil shrugged, helpless.

Romanbeamed immediately.

“Well,hello!” he said, walking towardsthem and already reaching.

Shelurched forward again, exactly like she had with Logan, and when Romangot hold of her she beamed right back at him. Her canines were justas sharp as her nails, and Virgil felt a little lightheaded.

“Lookat you!” cooed Roman, “Anyone care to tell me about our littleguest?”

“Shewas in the witch-hazel,” said Logan bluntly.

Thesmile slipped of Roman’s face immediately. He looked down at thechild, who hadn’t stopped smiling. She had taken Roman’s lefthand, and was tapping curiously on his wedding ring.

“Oh,”he said weakly.

“Iam going to call Patton,” said Logan, subdued.

Whilethey waited for Patton, they learned a variety of things about thelittle girl, in spite of the fact that she still didn’t speak. Shedidn’t like to be put down – any attempt to do so resultedin little whines and at one point her eyes had outrightfilled withtears.

Butshe also wouldn’t go with May, who looked increasingly put out by thisas the hour drew on. She especially didn’t like it when one of them left the room.

Finallythey heard tires in the driveway, and a killed engine anduncharacteristically hurried footsteps and then Patton burst throughthe door.

“I’mhere, what’s the emergen-”

Likeall of them, he fell silent the second he saw her.

Unlikethe previous times, the girl reacted immediately, squirming andreaching for him and humming wordlessly.

Patton,wide-eyed, took a single step forward, and then moved all at once tolift her out of Roman’s grip, smiling softly and placing one handon her head.

Shefairly shrieked with delight, and when she turned Patton followed hergaze, until they were both looking at Virgil. Her yellow eyes weresparkling.

Virgil’seyes flicked between the child and Patton – theireyes.

Notyellow. Gold.

“I’mLinda!” she chirped.

Thetwisting of Virgil’s stomach had taken on an entirely differenttone. He hadn’t noticed – he’d been so focused on the fact thatshe existed at all he hadn’t actually lookedat her.

Tannerthan him – the exact sameshade as Roman’sskin. Curly hair, Patton’scurls, but brown, likeLogan’s, and eyes the color of ripe wheat.

“Whatthe fuck,” hechoked.

“Vati,that’s a badword!” she exclaimed, andVirgil felt like the floor had come out from underneath him.

Mother,he thought, What the hell did you do.

“Don’tswear in front of the baby,” said Patton, who was lookingat Linda with stars in his eyes and clearlyalready completely gone.

“Yes,well,” said Logan, “That would confirm the theory, then,”

“Thiswas your theory?” said Virgil, strangled.

“Virgil,”said Logan patiently, “Shelooks like my mother,”

“No,no, she looks like you,”Patton crooned, his eyes filling with tears and his smile so wide itlooked painful.

Loganmade a soft, weak noise.

Romanstood suddenly, crossing the room in three strides and cupping hertiny face in his hands.

“Hello,Princess,” he said, his voice thick, “It’s so nice to meet you,oh-”

Shegrinned at him, her nose scrunching up and Roman made a thrillednoise.

“C’mere,”said Patton, reaching for Logan and Virgil and shaking his handdesperately, “Group hug, c’mon,”

“Grouphug!” Linda cheered, throwing her arms straight up, and Virgil’sheart throbbed and his throat closed up and he was across the roombefore he’d even registered it, showering her face in kisses, whileLogan pressedher tiny fingers to his mouthand Patton and Roman held herbetween them.

Deepin the forest, the witch-hazel shed it’s flowers, a soft rain ofvibrant, shining gold.

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Main

@toujours-fidele @guardian-of-the-bears @patton-loves-coloring @nonbinarynerdbot @cloudchaser7 @lesbian-velociraptor @fall-chemically-atthedisco @alien–puppy @constantly-fatigued @idiotauthor @pinkeasteregg @mantha-has-fallen @v-blue-writer @lucifer-in-my-head @pearls-of-patton @221biotchplease @jungshookaf @sporadiccheesecakecat @greeneggsandham1998 @generalfandomfabulousness @never-saygood-bye @sleepyssnail @moonstone-fox @sos-fandoms @radioactivehelena  @jemthebookworm @runofthemillnb-pan @friedlieb-ferdinand-runge @erlenmeyertrash @flix-net @burningpersonflapsuitcase @whizzie72 @crazyfangirls-stuff @justadamfangirl @holy-anxiety-batman @starrycari  @flamingfawkes @hiddendreamer67 @storytellerofuntoldlegends @animegirlz7 @acoustic-sodapop @magimerlyn @quietwords-loudthoughts @bluebellflames @anxie-teaa @sweet-and-sour-shadowling @edgy-gremlin@theultimatemomfriend @hamilsandersfam

Love and other Fairytales

@cosmic-melodies​ @thisis-theroad-toruin @satanblessi @tom-is-in-a-trashcan @the-skeleton-in-the-potc-ride @ab-artist @levy-the-b00kw0rm @justanotherpurplebutterfly @cefinitely-rolo@agirlinthegalaxy @why-should-i-tell-youu2@tacohippy56900 @awkwardcat @lovelylogans @notall2gether @ravenclawunicorn1 @anxiousandanalytical @potato���justpotato @oddball-wqri @zaisling @puns-and-musicals @somehowsnakesblog @rivervibritannia @airiervessel