#i put together the bassinet and washed all the little tiny baby clothes

[thefabulousfab-3]

Being 9 months pregnant is the worst actually.

[k-evans-reads]

Plus One

A Higher Love One Shot

Summary: Chris and Nickie share a quiet moment together, in the aftermath of a crazy few days.

Pairing: Chris Evans x OFC Nickie Morrison

By: @k-evans-writes and @ourfinest-hour

We do NOT give permission for our works to be reuploaded, translated, or reposted on any other site. Our work is our own.

Word Count: 1,337

Warnings: None.

Previous l  Writing Masterlist l  Higher Love Masterlist | Extensions Masterlist

November 21st, 2021

8 months married

Chris reached into the laundry basket, pulling the dirty laundry out and throwing them into the washing machine as he yawned loudly, reaching blindly for the gentle detergent and pouring it over the clothes before he turned the washing machine on. He took a moment to stretch, relishing in the near-silence of the house, something that had been rare for the last week, before he yawned again, reaching for the basket of clean onesies as he turned towards the hall and shut the door to the laundry room behind him.

As he stepped into the small living room off their kitchen, his eyes quickly found the swaddled baby in the bassinet near the couch. He always felt like his heart skipped a beat when he saw that tiny little boy, his whole heart completely captivated by the baby he’d only known for a week but who he’d been anticipating for so long. Chris felt like he was melting each and every time he looked at that baby, at their baby, their Tyler Harrison Evans. They’d spent most of the week in bed with him, bonding and doing skin to skin- which they’d quickly learned was Ty’s favorite thing, next to eating- and getting to hear him put his lungs to the test when he was displeased, which seemed to be about forty percent of their time together so far. But they were doing it, despite feeling wildly unprepared and ready, and they were learning how to do it together. Chris had run to flip the wash while Nickie was going to lay down for a nap, having just gotten Ty to settle as well, but when he took his eyes off of the sleeping baby to look at his wife, who had said she’d be sleeping, Chris wasn’t happy.

She was sitting on the floor, her hair pulled back in a ponytail that was half falling out, one of Chris’ old shirts on her that had a stain of god knows what on it, and bags underneath her brown eyes. Chris leaned his hip against the doorway, looking down at her and stated quietly, “You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

Her eyes didn’t move off of the baby, her breath catching as she whispered, “I know but-”

“No buts, I said I was going to watch him,” he murmured, placing the laundry basket down gently on the rug. He walked over towards Nickie, sitting down next to her. “You really need to get some sleep, honey.”

“Chris… I just love him,” Nickie breathed, tears spilling down her cheeks freely and silently as she watched him as he slept. He understood why she was doing this, he’d spent many nights laying in their bed or sitting in the rocking chair, just holding Ty as he slept contently in his arms. He didn’t know how he and Nic both were fine with it ever just being the two of them, how they ever lived without this newborn. He was everything to them, from the tiny rolls on his arms, to the soft brown hair on his head, to the blue eyes, and long lashes. Chris was secretly hoping that Ty’s eyes would darken to Nickie’s brown, but he knew she was hoping for the opposite. So far, her desire for a mini-Chris had come true, from both Ty’s long frame to his desire to be around Nickie almost constantly. “I just don’t understand how I love him so much.”

“I know sweetheart,” he agreed, feeling his own heart clench at the mere thought of Tyler. He couldn’t imagine how Nickie felt, being the one to have created him, and now feeling all these emotions while still very hormonal and recovering.

She sniffled quietly, rubbing her eyes furtively. “How the hell am I going to be a mom? How can I possibly do this?”

“Well if you don’t get any sleep then it’s going to be really fuckin’ hard,” he retorted, grinning when she rolled her eyes immediately.

“You’re still a brat, you know that?”

“Yep,” he agreed, kissing the top of her head softly. “But you’re already an incredible mom. Seeing you bring our baby into this world and how you’ve cared for him already proves how ready you are for this.”

“I just love him. Even though all he does right now is cry, poop and sleep, I adore him so much,” she said as a fond smile crossed her face, her finger lightly tracing the crown of his head, feeling the soft and thin hair covering it.

“Me too,” Chris whispered, watching Nickie’s finger travel over Ty. “Look at those squishy little cheeks.”

“He always gets that one arm out of his swaddle, I just tucked it back in while you were doing laundry,” she said as the fond smile remained on her face, looking at the pudgy arm on Ty’s stomach. “He likes to put his arm on his stomach like you do when you sleep.”

Chris kissed Nickie’s cheek this time before he gently moved Ty’s arm back into his Star Wars swaddle so it’d stay warm, chuckling quietly as Ty’s brows furrowed and he groaned in his sleep. Across the room, Dodger picked his head up and watched them for a moment before he settled down again, while Obi, who was sleeping on the other side of the bassinet, didn’t even move. “Ma is so obsessed with that picture you sent yesterday of Ty and I sleeping next to each other in the same sleeping position.”

“I got my wish of having a mini you,” Nickie grinned, leaning back and finally turning to look at Chris.

He laughed quietly again before he shook his head, confessing, “Not sure if that’s a good thing or not.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s a great thing,” Nickie smiled before she smirked, “Although he’s already loud like you are and his screaming is pretty intense.”

“At least he’s been eating well so that keeps him happy for a while. He’s like his mom in that way, give him a snack and he’s happy,” Chris chuckled, remembering the immediate screams if they didn’t instantly feed Ty as soon as he was hungry. There wasn’t a doubt that he was their kid with a set of lungs like that.

Nickie settled into Chris’ side, his arm draping across her shoulders as they leaned on the couch cushions behind them. Tilting her head to the side and looking through the mesh side of the bassinet, she whispered, “He’s still mostly all you. I couldn’t believe seeing those baby pictures of you compared to Ty. You two really are twins.”

“Nah, this little guy is way cuter.”

“Yeah, you’re right, I made a good one.”

“Hey, I helped a little bit too,” Chris laughed, looking down at the wild mess of Nickie’s hair as she shook with silent laughter.

“I guess, but I did all the hard work. All you had to do was fuck me,” she muttered, Chris having to stop himself before he could laugh loudly, not wanting to risk waking up the baby.

“And deal with your insane pregnancy hormones,” he muttered good-naturedly, pausing before he sarcastically added, “Well I guess it wasn’t that different than normal though.”

She looked up at him as her jaw dropped. “I pushed a baby out of my body. A huge baby, I might add. Your nine pound baby! You are not allowed to make fun of me right now, not until I’m healed,” she said, jamming a finger into his chest as a playful glimmer in her eyes, which had been missing for the last week of pure recovery, learning, and exhaustion.

“Fair enough,” Chris agreed, a soft smile on his face as his eyes danced between Ty and Nickie.

“He was worth it though,” Nickie sighed easily, leaning her head against his chest again as she gently placed her hand over Ty’s stomach, feeling him breathe deeply. “I love this precious little guy.”

“Our little Ty Ty,” Chris agreed softly, kissing Nickie’s head again.

A/N: We can't wait for you to read more about Ty Ty! He's been named now for almost two years which is CRAZY! His middle name comes from the Morrison family's tradition of actor middle names (Nickie's is Bette after Bette Davis and Jordan's is Grace after Grace Kelly!), so he is named by two Star War fans after Harrison Ford!

We love this kid so much and cannot wait to share more about him & the Evans family's craziness!

[sisterspooky1013]

Only One Choice, Part 2, Chapter 23

Read it here on AO3 / Tagging @today-in-fic

It doesn’t feel real until she sees the flutter on the ultrasound, the grey and white pixels flashing erratically confirming a healthy ten-week pregnancy. The doctor gives them a due date of September 17th, and she explains to Mulder repeatedly that the due date is only an estimate, that the baby will most likely arrive sometime in the two weeks before or after that day. Nonetheless, he prints little numbers in the corner of each date on the calendar, counting down.

She is lucky to experience very little nausea, but the time saved clinging to the toilet is instead allocated to bursting into tears at every tiny inconvenience. Mulder comforts her with a confused expression when she cries because she can’t find a Tupperware lid that fits, or her latte has too much foam, or she realizes she can no longer see her toes. She cries because she’s crying, because she feels out of touch with her own body and thrown off by her own emotions. They marvel at the growth of her belly as well as her breasts, which are even more sensitive than they were before. Her libido kicks into overdrive at the same time that she becomes incredibly self conscious about her protruding belly, her fuller face, her swelling feet. This leads to more tears as she grapples with both wanting desperately to be touched and not wanting him to look at her.

He tells her each day how beautiful she is, her hair growing longer and thicker, her skin glowing, her rounding belly housing the perfect little life that they created together. When he’s home, he rubs her feet every night, fetches her countless glasses of water and then helps tow her out of the bed so she can pee ten times in the night. When he’s on the road with Monica, he calls three times a day, asks Missy and her mother to go by and check on her, calls in dinner to be delivered so she doesn't have to cook. As her due date nears, he stops going on out-of-town cases, needing to be close enough to be by her side immediately when she goes into labor. He will not risk missing the birth of his child.

The apartment becomes cramped with a bassinet, changing table, pack n play, and various other baby gadgets. They consider moving, but the idea is too overwhelming for Scully so they decide to stay put until the baby becomes mobile and they really need more space. Mulder breaks the lease on his apartment and moves his fish tank into the living room, putting the rest of his furniture in storage until they buy a house. Priscilla breaks in all the baby gear, sleeping in the car seat and jumping into the swing, covering the tiny onesies with her black fur and making Scully cry yet again. Mulder refuses to let her scoop the litter box, even though she insists it’s safe if she wears gloves and washes her hands afterward. Other tasks she’s forbidden to complete include cleaning the toilet, carrying in the groceries and hauling laundry to the washing machine. When he’s on the road, she misses him as much as she is relieved to be able to be independent, not much caring for being treated as though she’s made of glass.

For the majority of her pregnancy, Scully insists that she doesn’t want to know the sex of the baby, that she wants to be surprised. Mulder respects her decision, even though he would personally like to know, and they create two lists of potential baby names, Scully crossing off “Lisa Marie'' each time Mulder tries to add it to the “girl” column. When she reaches 39 weeks, her pelvis widening as the baby drops into the birth canal, she is so miserable that she has a change of heart, needing to feel connected to this thing that is destroying her body and stealing her sleep. They call the doctor together on a Thursday afternoon as Scully sits on the couch in tears, having woken that morning to find angry red stretch marks marring her previously lily-white belly. When Mulder relays the doctor’s message that the baby is a girl, she sobs harder, and he’s not sure whether it’s because she’s happy or disappointed.

She wakes him at 3:00 am on September 21st, the irregular Braxton-Hicks contractions she’s been feeling for weeks having taken up a predictable cadence, now ten minutes apart almost on the dot. He starts rushing around, scrambling for her hospital bag and his shoes, and now it is her turn to provide comfort, to let him know there’s plenty of time. She doesn’t want to go to the hospital until the contractions are five minutes apart, and so they wait. The progression to nine minutes, then eight, then seven is alarmingly fast, and by the time she agrees that they should head to the hospital she’s starting to feel pressure low in her pelvis. Mulder drives too fast, the streets thankfully still quiet in the early morning, and she is wheeled into labor and delivery with not enough time for an epidural, much to her lament.

Molly Katherine Mulder has blue eyes and a dark shock of nearly-black hair. She barely cries at her entrance to the world, instead searching the room with a curious gaze, squeezing her daddy’s finger with an impressively strong grip and latching like a pro. They are able to go home the following day, Scully wincing as she moves gingerly from the bed to the couch, rinsing her tender stitches with a bottle of warm water and bleeding through entire packages of overnight maxi pads in a day.

Mulder takes off work for two weeks and they spend blissful days curled up in bed with the baby nestled between them as Priscilla curiously sniffs around her, licking her hair with a rough tongue and making them laugh. Each time Scully wakes at night to nurse, Mulder insists she go back to sleep while he changes the baby and walks her around the quiet apartment until she is asleep, singing softly and lulling them both.

When Mulder returns to work, Scully insists that he get a full night's sleep and let her wake up with Molly, reasoning that she can take naps during the day. She does not, of course, take naps during the day. Instead she tries to keep the apartment clean, the clothes washed, the diapers taken out to the dumpster, the litter box scooped. She does too much, and he sees it each day as she grows more and more weary, more and more defeated, the bags under her eyes deepening in color and her mouth rarely hosting a smile. He begs her to let him do more, to ask less of herself, but she is stubborn and strong-willed, the very things he loves about her now keeping her from properly taking care of herself.

They struggle through sleep-deprived arguments over who left the breast milk out on the counter all night, why it matters if he changes the baby on the floor instead of the changing table, why Scully doesn’t want to supplement with formula so he can take some of the night feedings. Her doctor releases her as medically clear to have sex after six weeks and she cries as she tells him that she doesn’t feel ready, that she can’t imagine anything worse than sex right now, and he holds her as he tells her that he doesn’t care, that she should take as much time as she needs, that he can wait.

They struggle, and they thrive. Moments of absolute unadulterated joy are punctuated by intense despair and overwhelm. The gain of a family against the loss of a life where you could pick up and go, stay out until 2:00 am and make love in the middle of the day. They are happy, and they are stressed, and they face it together.

On a Saturday in December, Mulder wakes early and takes care of every conceivable task in the house; the laundry, the dishes, cleaning the bathroom, scooping the litter, buying the groceries. He checks every item off Scully’s to-do list and then takes Molly for a long drive, leaving Scully alone with nothing to do in hopes that she will rest for once. When they return from their excursion, he creeps into the quiet apartment with a sleeping baby in his arms and sets her in the bassinet by the couch. At first he thinks maybe Scully has gone out, but he finds her in bed asleep with soaking wet hair, Priscilla curled up behind her knees. He watches her for a bit, affection clutching at his chest, then changes into sweats and kicks Priscilla out so he can snuggle up behind Scully. It feels so infrequent that they just lay like this anymore; one of them is always about to get up with the baby, about to get ready for work, or doesn’t want to be touched after a tiny person has clung to them all day. He pulls in a deep breath, smelling her lavender bubble bath and feeling the rise and fall of her ribs against his chest. He doesn’t want to disturb her, but he can’t resist pressing a tiny kiss to the side of her neck.

“Mmmm,” she hums in response, twisting her body around so they are face to face.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he whispers.

“It’s okay. Where’s Molly?”

“She’s asleep in the living room.”

She sighs and snuggles closer to him, pressing her forehead into his chest and pushing one of her legs between his.

“This feels nice,” she says contentedly, and he brushes his hand softly up and down her back.

“How are you feeling?” he asks.

“Tired. Frumpy. Like I haven’t put on real clothes or a stitch of makeup in three months,” she laments.

“Well, I’ll give you tired,” he says softly, “but I can’t agree on frumpy. I think you look very beautiful.”

She scoffs against his chest.

“You don’t have to placate me, Mulder. I know I’m a mess.”

“Maybe so, but you’re my mess,” he retorts, pushing his fingers into her hair to gently scratch her scalp.

She tilts her head up to look at him, appraising his face with a skeptical eye.

“Is this what you thought it was going to be like?” she asks, her tone open and vulnerable.

“I don’t know,” he answers honestly, “I guess I didn’t really know what to expect.”

She sighs. “I just wish I knew when I might start to feel like myself again,” she says sadly. “I can’t help but feel like you’re not getting what you signed up for.”

“What do you mean?” he asks with a concerned frown.

He sees her eyes growing glassy, dampening with impending tears. “I mean the woman you asked out in the autopsy bay isn’t the one you’re with now,” she whispers, swallowing against the lump in her throat.

“That’s not even a little bit true,” he implores, cradling the back of her head with his hand. “You are everything you were then, and more. I’m amazed by you every day.”

She closes her eyes, a tear rolling across the bridge of her nose. He feels his chest ache; the need to make her understand is overwhelming.

“Hey,” he says, pulling the blankets back, “come here.”

He pulls her into a sitting position and slides off the bed, towing her along with him to sit on the edge of the mattress. He kneels on the floor between her knees, his hands on her hips.

“If you think for one second that I want to be with anyone but you, you’re fucking insane. I don’t care if you wear giant milk-stained T-shirts and have spit up in your hair for the rest of our lives, Scully. You’re it for me, okay?”

She pulls in a shuddering breath and wipes at her eyes, but won’t look at him.

“Stay here,” he commands, and disappears into the bathroom for a moment. When he comes back, he returns to his post kneeling at her feet.

“We knew this was going to be hard,” he says tenderly, holding one of her hands in his. “You said it yourself before Molly was born, that it would be the hardest time in our lives, and that we’d be at our worst. And I’m telling you that if this is your worst, sign me up, okay? It hasn’t changed how I feel about you.”

He holds up his other hand, a diamond ring perched between his thumb and forefinger.

“If you’re not ready to say yes yet, that’s okay, but I need you to know that I still want to marry you, Scully. I’ll wait forever if that’s what you need, but there hasn’t been a single day since I asked that I haven’t still meant it.”

Her tears have stopped, though her eyes are still wet and the tip of her nose is red. She looks from him to the ring and back, her eyebrows stitched in contemplation.

“I didn’t hear you ask me a question,” she says quietly, and he picks up on the slightest lilt of playfulness in her voice, which makes him break out into a smile.

“Dana Katherine Scully, love of my life, mother of my child, will you marry me?”

She smiles then, and he thinks his heart may burst right out of his chest.

“Yes, I’ll marry you,” she answers, and he takes her left hand, slipping the ring on her finger.

She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him repeatedly, soft pecks devolving into lingering smooches as he shifts up slightly, pushing her back gently to recline on the bed. He moves over her, kissing along her jaw and down her neck, not going any further, not wanting to rush her.

She brings her hands to his hips, letting the tips of her fingers slip under the waist of his sweatpants, and his cock stirs. It’s been so, so, long, and he wants her desperately, but not until she’s ready. She pushes her hand down the front of his pants, gripping him as he grows hard under her touch. It’s overwhelming in the best way; he feels like a teenager being touched for the first time.

“I wanna have sex,” she breathes into his ear, the words rushing out quickly as though she’s afraid she might change her mind if she waits too long to say them.

He pulls back to look at her. “Are you sure?” he asks, and she nods, bringing her palm to his cheek before glancing at the ring on her finger and smiling.

They move slowly, though still with a sense of urgency that a baby sleeping in the next room brings. He pushes her shirt up and she lets him take it off, then slips the yoga pants off her hips, leaving her in basic black cotton briefs. He sees the hesitancy in her eyes as he looks at her body, now softer than it was before Molly, curvy in different places, purple streaks running from below her belly button to disappear under her panties.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmurs, kissing her chest, her breasts, her belly, running his tongue along the grooves of her stretch marks. He loops his thumbs under the waist of her panties and tugs them down slowly, quickly undressing before he rejoins her in the bed.

“Tell me if anything hurts, okay?” he asks with a serious expression, and she nods, letting her legs fall open as he settles between them. He lines himself up with her entrance and pushes in achingly slowly, watching her face raptly. Her mouth opens slightly, and she takes in a sharp little breath. He’s about to ask her if it hurts when she closes her eyes and her mouth drops open further as she breathes out “oh,” in a way that he knows means pleasure, not pain. When he’s all the way in, their hip bones pressed together tightly, he stills and kisses her for a while, feeling like he could melt into a puddle for how good everything feels. His heart, his mind, his body, he is all wrapped up in her and it’s exactly where he wants to be.

He begins to move, and she responds with an arch of her back and a little gasp, her hands clutching at his shoulders. Little by little, he increases his pace until he knows he won’t last much longer.

“What do you need?” he asks, and she brings her hand to her breast.

He dips his head, flicking at the hardened bud of her nipple, and feels her clench around him. He plays with the level of pressure, licking and sucking, pleasantly surprised that she is enjoying it even as her breasts have taken on a purely functional role these last few months.

She pulls in a huge breath, arching her back and pressing her head into the mattress and he groans as he feels her tighten around him. She emits a single piercing cry when she comes, stifling it with an arm slung across her mouth. He pours into her, burying his face in her neck, clinging to her like a life raft. She is, in fact, all he needs to survive.

Resting half his weight on the mattress beside her, he stays inside as they both come down, panting and smiling, brushing hands over each other’s skin, reconnecting.

“Ah!” Molly yells from the living room, and Mulder laughs.

“You’re being summoned,” Scully says with a tender smile.

He withdraws from her, handing her his T-shirt to clean up while he slips on his sweatpants and retrieves Molly from her bassinet.

“Guess what, Goose?” he says, using his special nickname for her, “Mommy and Daddy are getting married.”

“AH!” She squeals, flapping her arms.

[the-pontiac-bandit]

If you're still answering tortall prompts, how about Raoul + family?

wow why NOT write 2000 words of blatant, shameless fluff about families you make for yourself??? inspired by this quote from tammy: “[Raoul and Buri] have glorious sex under trees, in tents, in lakes…. In carriages. I think at some point they’ll probably adopt. By the time they’re attached Buri’s getting a little old to have any of her own. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of orphans around.”

As Raoul stretched out, trying to make himself comfortable in his too-hard, too-small desk chair, he savored the warm feeling filling his chest and threatening to spill out and take physical form in front of him. In the midst of the most head-spinning, headache-inducing, sleep-sapping, joy-filled week he’d ever experienced, he’d had precious little time to slow down and simply exist within his new reality. He thought to close his eyes, the better to feel everything, but they only stayed shut for a moment before they forced themselves back open. He couldn’t stop looking at the scene in front of him for long.

Buri lounged cross-legged on their bed, far more relaxed than he had been at any point this week. Kel sat next to her, her back straight and her long legs carefully hanging off one side so as not to get dust from the practice courts on their bedding. Both had just returned from a full morning of training, sweaty despite a change of clothes and coated in dust despite a thorough washing, courtesy of a long, hot summer that had refused to give them rain.

Between them was the baby.

His son, he reminded himself. He thought the words a few extra times, even mouthing them once, as he had a thousand times in the last five days, as if forming them on his lips might make them feel more real.

None of this felt real to him yet. He supposed most people had nine months to get used to the idea before seven pounds of screaming chaos turned their lives upside down. He’d had exactly fifty-three days—he’d counted on Tuesday—so he supposed he still had some catching up to do. His mind was still reeling from the conversation that had led them here, and he wasn’t sure yet that he’d ever catch up.

He’d been sitting in this chair and pretending to read reports while mostly thinking about his right knee, which had been bothering him despite Duke Baird’s best efforts. He wasn’t sure why he remembered so specifically, since his days were nearly as certain to contain aches and bruises as they were to contain a sunrise. Buri had returned from a meeting with Thayet and Onua, although really, the word meeting conferred far too much dignity on what was more likely a combination of trick riding and palace gossip. They’d settled into the evening routine they’d shared for nearly a decade, working in comfortable silence with candles lit between them.

“Do you want children?” she’d asked, breaking the quiet spell of paperwork that gripped their nights.

“I think it’s a little late for that,” he’d replied with a snort.

She’d thrown a pillow at him. He had caught it and thrown it back without even looking up from the thick stack of papers in his lap, with a rude hand gesture following behind.

“You know what I meant. Did you want children? Before?”

Something in her voice had shifted. He’d finally looked up to find her eyes already trained on him. Her face had been so unexpectedly earnest that he’d actually taken a pause, had slowed the speed of their consistently paced banter, to think.

“I suppose I hadn’t given it much thought. There were friends, and then there was drinking, and then there was the Own, and then there was you,” he’d told her with a shrug. “I do like children, but I’m perfectly happy where I am.”

She’d chewed on her lip for a moment. He remembered being surprised by that. After nearly thirty years of friendship, she rarely took the time to think before she spoke with him anymore.

“Spit it out.”

“Do you want children?”

“And we’re back to the start,” he’d said with a grin.

“I spat it out. Now you answer it.”

“Hypothetically, sure, I’d enjoy a child. Now can I ask why you’re asking at all?”

“I’ve been thinking,” she’d started. She’d paused for a moment, holding her breath as though she was trying to decide whether she should speak at all. And then she’d let it all spill out at once. “I’ve been thinking it might be nice to have one. A child, I mean.”

She’d held up a hand and made a face before Raoul could even begin to formulate a joke about her monthlies or her aching hips or what they might do to make that happen. “Not like that. Thayet was telling us today about homes they’re opening in Corus, for children without parents. We were thinking about the children we traveled with back in Sarain, when Alanna found us all those years ago. Gods, it was terrifying, having Thayet and an infant to protect, especially when Thayet was ready to throw her life away for the infant. And I started thinking—we have money, and safety, and love, and there are all these children who have none of those things, and—”

She’d been speaking faster and faster, but she’d cut herself off abruptly at the look on Raoul’s face. “Never mind, you can forget—”

Raoul had smiled back at her, straightening up in his chair and marking his spot in the report on his lap before putting it aside. “So you want a child.”

The weeks that followed had been ones filled with paperwork and inquiries at the palace records about the process of appointing a common-born heir to a noble house and at the magistrate’s about drawing up paperwork for adoption. There had been careful planning and hushed discussions with only their closest friends about the best way to proceed. Buri had insisted on an older child, maybe eight or nine, saying that the few diapers she’d changed on the road to Rachia were enough for a lifetime.

Instead, five days ago, Buri had entered their rooms carrying a squalling mess of blankets with an air of forced nonchalance that had told him immediately what she’d done. Instead of clarifying, or teasing her, or asking if it was the smallest eight-year-old he’d ever seen, he’d simply held his arms out. While Buri had supplied endless explanations about Thayet ambushing her with a baby, he’d stared at the squirming mess of baby in his lap, blankets already coming undone, absolutely entranced.  

“He’s tiny,” he’d commented. His voice sounded like it was coming from someone else’s body. The baby was only just too large for him to hold in one hand, although he’d never try to prove it. The fragility of the life sitting in his lap was overwhelming.

“His mother died yesterday. Childbed fever, caught too late to help. The priestesses at the Goddess’ Temple were worried he might need more than the homes could give.”

Raoul had nodded, only half listening. The baby’s eyes were screwed shut while he wailed. His fine hair was dark, his skin tanned like that of the Bazhir babies Raoul had seen in his year in the Great Southern Desert. One of the baby’s hands had broken free of its blanket. It had waved in the air, keeping pace with his cries, which were far louder than he’d have believed such a tiny body could produce. He’d intercepted the hand with one finger and then watched in wonder as the baby had grasped it.

“Does he have a name?”

“Pathom,” she’d answered definitively, before belatedly remembering that names were the sort of thing parents might choose together. “That is, if—”

“Pathom of Goldenlake,” he’d cut her off with a smile.

The days that followed had been a blur. Thayet had found a wet-nurse and supplied an endless stream of goods that they’d have never known a baby required. Alanna had ridden in from Pirate’s Swoop at full speed to pronounce in a gruff voice that the infant was in perfect health. Gary had gifted them a bassinet and more blankets than any human child could possibly need. Dom had found a way to convert a standard-issue burnoose into an excellent baby sling, while Evin had given them a congratulatory note from George, who complained that Alanna had left before he could finish writing, and a cheerful promise that he’d never touch a soiled diaper. Onua had given them a set of unimaginably soft stuffed ponies, perfect replicas of the horses that roamed the highlands of Sarain where she and Buri had learned to ride.

Kel, away on business with Second Company at the Gallan border, had to wait almost a full week to learn she had a new godsson. He’d met the company when they’d arrived back at the palace long past dark the night before. They’d groomed Hoshi and Sparrow together while he thanked the gods for perhaps the hundredth time that her “testy pony” had finally found his way out of the Own stables and into a pleasant retirement.

Finally, when the last of the men had trudged towards the barracks and a well-earned nights’ sleep, she’d turned to him.

“Well?”

“There’s someone important I want you to meet,” he’d said, shoving his hands in his pockets with a smile that was equal parts nervous and eager.

“Sir, I’ve already met your wife.”

Raoul had let out a hearty chuckle. “But you haven’t met my son.”

Kel had frozen. Her face fell back into perfect stillness, the way it did when her mind was working its fastest.

After a second that felt like an eternity, she replied, “Sir, I saw Buri five weeks ago. If you’re telling me you’ve managed to grow a baby since then—”

“We didn’t, but someone else did. We adopted him from the Temple after his mother died in childbirth.”

Understanding flashed in Kel’s eyes while her face broke into a rare broad grin. She’d wrapped her arms around him in a fast, tight hug accompanied by enthusiastic congratulations that had gone suddenly silent in surprise when he’d added, a wicked glint in his eyes, “You really should come by tomorrow to meet your godsson.”

Buri had intercepted Kel on the practice courts the following morning with the dual goals of keeping her own skills sharp and ensuring that Kel would not be too polite to visit. And so now, he watched as Kel bounced his son with the brisk certainty of someone who had held a baby a thousand times. He could hear her cooing quietly at Pathom, softening her consonants while she told him all about forest campaigns in hill country. He knew he should ask her to speak up—if she was going to give her report verbally, she could at least give it at a volume he could hear—but he found he wasn’t particularly interested in the intricacies of the Second’s bowstring supplies. Buri made eye contact with him behind Kel’s back, laughter in her eyes. Buri could laugh if she wanted, but he was taking notes on Kel’s tactics. He would have sworn this was the quietest he’d heard his son in the entirety of his hundred-and-twenty-odd hours in the palace.

As his son stared wide-eyed at his former squire, Raoul was reminded of a comment he’d heard as they’d left Turomot’s offices the other day with paperwork making Pathom officially their own. “Well, that feckless Goldenlake dolt’s managed to start a family, even if it was too late to do the thing properly,” the Lord of Genlith had muttered at their backs as they’d left. Buri had elbowed him and whispered a quick “Feckless? I’ll show him feckless,” but her heart wasn’t in it. Before she’d even finished the thought, her eyes were back on Pathom, squirming against her chest in the burnoose that bound him to her.

And now, Raoul watched his son, passed between his wife and the woman who had been like his daughter long before any papers said he was a father. Stuffed Saren ponies lined the shelf above an intricately carved bassinet filled with beautifully embroidered blankets. A protection charm had been pulled from Alanna’s packs to hang at the head, while twin leather circles bearing the insignias of the Riders and the Own, no doubt carefully cut by mischievous commanders from the saddle packs of some unprepared trainees, was secured carefully at the foot. Raoul had to smile for a moment at Genlith’s ignorance—he’d begun his family right on time.

[nogreatillusion]

Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Giving Birth

-- Zippers are preferable to snaps and both are certainly better than buttons, but don't let people make you feel bad if you want to buy a couple of impractical, beautiful baby things that they'll only wear once. -- A friend (a doctor!) DID tell me that most people hate their baby for the first two weeks, a thoroughly un-researched fact which shocked my grandmother but gave me an enormous sense of relief before my baby was born as I was finally able to unburden myself from the fear that I might fail to live up to the overwhelmingly prevalent idea that all mothers will immediately fall madly in love from the moment their child is born and stay that way. -- Don't waste your money on expensive diapers. They will all leak sometimes and that's life. Buy the cheap ones. Same goes for wipes. They're all the same. -- If you are planning to breastfeed, buy lots of very comfortable bras and then buy at least two more than you think you need. You will be unshowered, covered in milk, and behind on laundry for at least a couple of months. Clean, comfortable bras are a gift. -- If you get a clogged milk duct, it will feel like a little lump in your breast and you can massage it out using a vibrator. Do this ASAP to prevent mastitis. -- I think bottle warmers might be a scam. -- You can breastfeed lying down. It might work better, and it will certainly be easier on your back. -- Babies can just wear pajamas or onesies all the time for their first year of life. You don't need "outfits," or separates, unless you want them. No one will notice or care. -- Don't forget to brush your teeth and go to bed like a normal person sometimes. It took me 3 days to remember this. It feels insane to "go to bed" when you're getting up every two to three hours. Do it anyway. -- You're going to hallucinate due to lack of sleep and intense anxiety about falling asleep with the baby. You will imagine that the baby is lost in the sheets until your husband insists for the third time that the baby is in the bassinet. This will go on for months and it will always feel terrible. -- Pick a few good TV shows with a lot of seasons to watch the first month. You're going to be spending a lot of time on the couch. Like a lot. -- Formula smells incredibly bad and it is shockingly expensive. It can also be a lifesaver. -- You can keep track of feedings and diaper changes and baby sleep on a little handwritten spreadsheet to report to your pediatrician like a good parent, but this might also drive you slowly insane until your child's doctor has to remind you that you're raising a child, not running a hospital and really, you can stop. Please don't do this to yourself. -- Socks are for suckers. If it's cold out, buy footie everything for as long as you can possibly get away with it. -- None of the expensive eczema lotions or body washes will make any difference for your baby’s sensitive skin, but you can buy them anyway if it makes you feel better to do something. It will probably get better on its own when they get older and you've long since given up on the fancy creams. -- Buy the adult diapers for postpartum bleeding. -- You can use your baby's desitin on your own butt if things are beginning to chafe down there. -- Be prepared that breastfeeding might be a two person job for at least the first few weeks. It's complicated and difficult for many women, and having a partner there to help juggle and keep the baby (and you!) awake might be necessary! -- You don't really have to master swaddling. It's fine. I'm convinced that birthing classes devote time to this technique solely because it makes you feel like you're in control of something. You're not and you can buy sleep sacks that do the same thing, but better. -- Plain old spaghetti strap tank tops that you can slip an arm/boob out of work just as well as expensive, ugly nursing tops. — You don’t need the $900 stroller. I promise you. Spend your money on the nicest rocking chair you can find, if you have the space. You will be spending a lot of time there. -- Read the sleep books before the baby is born. Take notes. Make a plan. You will not have the energy for this later. -- Stop googling things about SIDS after 10 PM. Turn off your phone. Stop it!! -- If your partner has time off work for a while, a really good time to nap is when people come over to see the baby. You don't have to "host," you don't have to be "on," you can ask them to leave whenever you want. Let your partner handle it. The rules of politeness no longer apply. -- Don't expect to feel like you have it together for at least 2 months. The first 2 months are a blur. By 4 months, you'll finally be hitting your stride. Be patient with yourself. -- You do not have to let people visit you in the hospital before you've taken a shower and put on the cute pajamas you brought. You are going to feel like you were hit by a car and that no one seems to notice or care. You don't have to let people visit you in the hospital at all, actually. It's entirely up to you, as much as your parents may disagree. -- Crying is normal. For both of you. -- It can be really hard to get a newborn baby into a carseat for the first time. Make sure your partner helps handle this before going to get the car or you may find yourself in tears, squatting painfully in front of the car seat on the hospital floor, trying desperately to maneuver a tiny little person who is still curled up like a snail. -- Bring so many snacks to the hospital. Bring an entire duffle bag of snacks. No one else has to know what's in there. -- Buy the big burp cloths. Buy a lot of them. Keep them handy in every room of your house. — Do not buy that goddamn Snoo. -- It's ok and necessary to put your baby down. You will want places to set the baby down in each room of your home. Swings, snuggle pillows, playmats, bouncers, baskets, bassinets, whatever. It's up to you, but try to keep one spot to put them down in each room that you spend a lot of time in. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy. A blanket on the floor works in a pinch! -- When it comes to feeding, buy the bibs that can go in the dishwasher and a highchair that can be entirely wiped clean. -- You're going to clip the baby's finger with the tiny nail clippers. It will be awful. You will all survive. -- Get the breast shields with the silicone edges for pumping. Pumping sucks and anything you can do to make it slightly more comfortable is worth it. — A certain percentage of baby crying is unrelated to needing milk, sleep, or a diaper change. Sometimes babies just cry! They’re like people and they have moods! Remind yourself of this when you’re losing your mind trying to figure out what you’ve forgotten to try. You can just pretend they are a very small friend who needs to cry for a bit, and be a soothing presence while they work through it. -- Reusable nursing breast pads are more comfortable and absorbent than the disposable kind, and will keep you from feeling nervous about leaking every time you leave the house. -- It's ok to leave the baby in a safe place to go to the bathroom. The first time you have to do this, it will be terrifying. -- Don't expect the suction bowls to stay put. Your baby is strong and not an idiot. -- You might need more changing pad covers than you think you do. -- The baby milestone books exist to make you feel either superior or terrified. It's ok not to read them. Your baby will roll over when they roll over. Please stop worrying. -- The first few times you watch the youtube video of someone masterfully wrapping their baby in a fabric sling, you will decide it is impossible. It's not, and you'll get better at it with practice, though you may always feel like you're not *quite* doing it right. This is a metaphor for all of motherhood.

[myhockeyworld87]

Nervous Regrets - Tyler Seguin - Part 32

Word Count: 2,259

POV: Reader

Warnings: None, I’m as shocked as you are...haha 

Nervous Regrets Masterlist

Baby Jace was home exactly one hour before your phone started ringing off the hook. First, it was your parents, to see if you'd all made it home ok. Next, it was your brothers, who were trying to figure out when they could come up for their first glimpse of their new nephew. After that it was Jenna, then Anna, all planning on visiting as well. Tyler's phone was no different, his mom and sisters finalized plans to be there in three days, right before Tyler was leaving for a road trip. His mom had generously offered to stay with you that first away trip, and you grateful for her offer.

 You'd just finished plating the takeout food Tyler had ordered for lunch when you heard Jace's soft cries from the bassinet. Tyler picked him up, cradling him in his arms to quiet his crying; only Jace wasn't having any of it. "Babe, what am I doing wrong?"

 Looking over at the kitchen clock, you noted the time before answering him back. "Nothing hun, I think he's hungry. See if he'll suck on your finger?"

 Tyler did as you asked and sure enough, your son tried to feed off your husband's finger. "I'm sorry bud, you're not going to get anything there."

 You washed your hands, before going over and taking the baby from him. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

 "Where are you going?" Tyler took the plates and set them down at the kitchen table for you both.

 "I was just going to take him to the nursery to feed him."

 "Babe, this is our house, you can feed him anywhere." Of course, you knew this. You just weren't sure if Tyler would be comfortable with you doing it at the kitchen table, this was literally unchartered territory for you both.

 "Are you sure it's not going to be awkward…I mean sitting here and stuff." Jace was still crying so you needed to make a decision soon.

 Tyler came over placed his hands on your shoulders and steered you over to the table. "Sit, and feed our child." He dropped a kiss to your head before taking his seat beside you. "The only thing I'm going to be is jealous."

 "Tyler." You scolded him, as you slid your shirt off, then brought Jace up to eat.

 "What? Your boobs are one of my favorite things, along with about a million other things about you." He fed you a bite off your plate before taking one himself. "But don't worry, I know everything's off-limits for a bit. Which is why I'm jealous of this little guy." He grabbed Jace's foot, running his thumb back and forth across it for a second, before resuming his meal. You took bites here and there while Jace ate as well, and you realized this was your first official family meal together.

 As soon as Jace finished, you burped him and he fell fast asleep. "Here (Y/N), I'll take him while you finish."

 "Are you sure? You should be taking a nap before the game tonight."

 "I don't think I'm going?" He said the words so casually as he sat back down, snuggling Jace into his chest.

 "I'm sorry what did you just say?" You had literally almost spit your food out, at his declaration.

 "Monty said with everything that happened with Jace's birth he'd understand if I wanted to take a couple extra days off. I'm thinking that I should, especially since my mom won't be here to help out for a few days."

 You finished the bite that you had in your mouth before saying, "Ty, it's literally like five hours that you'll be gone. You should just go and get back into things." When he didn't say anything you kept going. "Besides, you've already been to practice, just think of this as an extended one."

 He sighed out in frustration, and Jace whimpered a bit before falling back to sleep. "That was the most miserable three hours of my life." You went to say more, but he continued. "And before you start it's not like I'm never going back or something. I just want a little extra time with you and Jace."

 "We'll be here when you get home. In fact, we are just going to sit on the couch and watch daddy. Aren't we sweet pea?" You rubbed the side of the baby's cheek. "We really want to see daddy score a goal tonight too."

 "Ugh…I hate my job sometimes."

 "No you don't; you just finally found something you love more than hockey." You dropped a quick kiss on his lips than grabbed the empty plates.

 "You're wrong you know." He called after you, and you gave him a questioning look because you knew he loved Jace way more than hockey. "Jace isn't the only thing I love more than playing. You are, and I've loved you for a while."

 "Well, I stand corrected then, but you still love the sport. So you're going to tonight's game if Jace and I have to drag you there." You put the last plate in the dishwasher, then walked back over to Tyler. "So how about we make you a deal. This little guy right here and I will take a nap with you, so you can have some quality time with the both of us before you leave for the arena."

 "Do I have a choice?"

 "Not really. Now let's go sleep before this little one wakes up." The three of you headed into the bedroom, where Tyler proceeded to put Jace back in his bassinet, then take off his shirt before taking Jace's sleeper off of him. He picked the baby back up, then laid down on the bed, laying your sleeping child on his chest. You had to smile to yourself, for Tyler took any chance that he got to have Jace next to his skin. He covered Jace up with a blanket and kissed his sweet little head, before tucking you into his side. You could get used to times like these.

 You laid there resting comfortably, unable to sleep as you watched your two handsome boys nap. Tyler's snored softly, and you began to wonder if Jace would end up inheriting that little trait. You caressed his little head, noticing the slight curl his fine baby hair had. Jace was definitely going to have the same mop of curls as his father had. You got so absorbed in your newborn son, that you didn't notice how time got away from you. It was Jace's cry that woke both you and Tyler up before the alarm went off.

 Tyler was still groggy from sleep, but you managed to make out his garbled. "I think he needs to be changed." You checked Jace's diaper and had to agree.

 "Here I'll take him. Go back to sleep, you have at least another half hour to sleep." Jace's cries got louder, and you took him over to the changing table you had in your bedroom. As soon as you had the wet diaper off, he quieted back down, his eyes opening wide and just taking everything in. "Hi sweet boy, are you awake?" You ran your finger down his belly and you swore he gave a small smile. "Oh, and you're such a happy baby; aren't you?" You looked around for a clean sleeper but hadn't had a chance to bring any into your room yet, so you decided to take Jace to the nursery.

 "Babe, where are you going?"

 "To get Jace some clothes. We'll be right back."

 Tyler rolled off the bed, standing next to you then. He dropped a kiss on Jace's head, before placing one on your lips. "I'll go get some." He was out the bedroom door before you could even think about it. Even though Jace was less than seventy-two hours old, Tyler had jumped at every chance to help take care of him. Not that you thought he wouldn't, but you had to admit you were surprised when he offered to change his diaper the first time in the hospital. "Here ya go." Tyler handed over the Star's onesie his family had got Jace, with matching bottoms. "Thought he should be dressed appropriately to cheer me on tonight."

 You changed him into the outfit and you had to admit, he looked absolutely adorable; a miniature of your husband. "Ty, can you hand me my phone. I need pictures of this."

 He already had his phone in his hand, snapping away. "One step ahead of you." He took a couple more photos. "Oh wait, we forgot your lid bud." He placed the tiny beanie on Jace's head, and just when you thought he couldn't get any cuter he did.

 "Here give me your phone. I want some with the two of you." Tyler picked up his son, and you clicked away; each photo cuter than the last. You could've taken pictures of them all night, but you knew Tyler had a game to get ready for. "Ok, I think I have enough. Now, give me back my baby."

 "Your baby, huh?" He commented holding Jace a bit closer if that was even possible. "I believe he's half mine as well."

 "Ugh, you know what I mean. You're being a baby hog." You made grabby hands hoping he'd hand over Jace.

 "If I am it's only because you had him the last nine months. Well, eight I suppose since he decided to make an early entrance." He finally relinquished Jace over. "Your only getting him now because you're making me go to work. Do you want me to get you something for dinner before I leave?"

 "Nah I'm ok. I'll make something in a bit." He kissed you both then headed to the en suite to get ready. Less than an hour later, he was dressed in one of your favorite suits all set to leave.

 "Are you sure you don't need me to stay?" You knew he was stalling, and that if you even hinted for that you wanted him there, he would not be going to the game.

 "I'm sure that Jace and I will be fine. Now go score one for your son." Leaning in, you kissed him for good luck as he pulled both you and the baby close into his side.

 "You're sure?" He asked one more time.

 "Yes, Ty, I'm sure." His hand was caressing Jace's cheek, as the baby just looked up with wide eyes. "Tell daddy buh-bye and that you'll see him in a bit."

 "Bye bud, I'll see you in a bit. Don't do anything important while I'm gone." He kissed Jace, holding onto him a little longer. "I'll see you soon. If you need anything at all, just call the staff and I'll come right home."

 "I know, but we'll be fine. Now go." You practically pushed him out the door. "Love you."

 "Love you too." He called finally closing the door, leaving just you and Jace together. You put Jace in his bouncer seat on the island as you made yourself some dinner. By the time you got done, he was fast asleep. He was still sleeping by the time the game started, but you were going to leave that part out when you told Tyler. Midway through the first, he woke up hungry, so you fed him while you watched the game.

 It was late in the second when Tyler scored a goal, against the Preds. You yelled, startling poor Jace. You were definitely going to have to change the way you celebrated from now on. For the rest of the game, you held Jace, while Gerry had his head on your lap, and Cash and Marshall kept guard at your feet. Even though the Stars fell, you were still excited that Tyler scored a goal on the first game that Jace technically watched.

 You kept the station on and watched the post-game interviews, knowing that Tyler would probably be asked about his baby boy. Which of course ended up being the second question. "So, Tyler how do you like being a new dad?"

 "It's literally the best feeling in the world, even better than winning the cup."

 "We heard it was quite a dramatic birth."

 He chuckled lightly before answering. "Yeah, Jace, that's my son, decided to come a bit early. My wife ended up having him in our kitchen. It was absolutely insane but she was a Rockstar." Oh my god, had Tyler just called you his wife? You were pretty sure he did. Your only hope right now was that no one would catch his slip.

 "How are your wife and son doing?"

 Ugh, so much for no one noticing. "They're great. They're at home now watching." God love Tyler, he didn't even seem to flinch when the man asked about 'his wife.' He probably didn't even realize he slipped up.

 "So when did you two get married?"

 Tyler looked like a deer in the headlights as everything started to click into place. "Um…well…"

 "I think it's time we let the new dad get home to his family, huh guys." Jamie came in and saved the day, while Tyler scooted out from in front of the cameras. It was too late though, your secret was out. It would be only a matter of time before your phone was ringing off the hook. All you could do was switch it to vibrate and pray neither of your family's were watching that.  

[atths--twice]

Onto the next story n their year of firsts: how to handle the unexpected. 

2/15

Beyond Exhaustion 

Mulder and Scully, in the aftermath of the birth of the baby, deal with being new parents and being exhausted all the time.

Some days it was easy and some days it was harder than she remembered. There were two of them now, where before it was mainly just her, but there were still days where Scully was ready to scream.

For the most part Faith was a good baby: eating, sleeping, pooping and peeing just as she should be. Some days though, Mulder and Scully were both exhausted, staring at each other from across the table, their eyes heavy, hair messy, both not smelling their best.

“I’m so tired. How is it possible to be this tired? We ran on little to no fuel for years, but this Scully…” He shook his head, running a hand through his hair and then down his jaw. “Did I shower yesterday? The day before?” He sniffed at himself and shook his head. “Nope.”

“Mulder, I hate to do this to you, but we are almost out of diapers. I can’t go, she’s going to need to eat soon,” Scully said, feeling the ache in her breasts. He looked at her with empty eyes that reflected her own, and he sighed deeply. “I’m so sorry.”

He nodded, pushing himself up on his elbows, then his hands as he bent over the table, before stretching with another sigh as he straightened up. Grabbing his keys, he walked to the door, lifting his coat from the hook and slipping his arms inside.

“Mulder, you’re in your pajamas,” she said with a heavy sigh as she rubbed her face and took her hair from the ponytail and put it up again, crossing her arms onto the table.

“I don’t give even the smallest of shits,” he said quietly and walked out the door.

She put her head down on her arms, eyes closing and sleep pressing heavily upon her as she sighed. She could smell herself and it was definitely not good. Sweat, worry, and lack of sleep was not a great aroma.

A cry pierced the air and she wanted to cry as her breasts responded to the sound. Knowing it would only get worse, she stood up in much the same fashion Mulder did; by sheer force. Dragging her feet, she walked up the stairs and into their room to the bassinet.

The dark head was moving as she cried, her body squirming inside of the tightly wrapped blanket. Scully sighed as she watched Faith's little mouth open, crying for her next meal.

Tired beyond anything she had ever felt, she still smiled as she picked her up, shushing her as she rocked her close. “It’s okay sweet pea, I’m here. I know, I know. Shhh it’s okay.” She quieted, her eyes opening and looking at Scully. “You’re hungry, I know. Let’s go take care of that.”

She walked to the bed and grabbed her nursing pillow, situating it to the best possible position, before she lifted her shirt to feed her. As soon as Faith latched on, they both sighed. Closing her eyes, Scully rubbed her tiny head, letting the short strands of hair run through her fingers like satin.

Letting her nurse for a few minutes, she then switched sides. Before latching on, Scully heard her grunt at the same time she felt her fill her diaper. “Oh my God,” she whispered. Another grunt and she knew it was going further than the diaper would hold.

Debating between her screaming for lack of a full belly or because of the forced complete outfit change, she opted to let Faith eat while she tried no to breath through her nose, with full knowledge that she might be holding more shit than human at the moment.

As she latched on, she grunted again, and Scully closed her eyes. “How? How do you have that much inside of you?” Scully all but cried, as Faith began to nurse in earnest. Catching a whiff of the diaper explosion, she did cry, knowing when she was finished she would be facing a horrible mess.

Taking her from her breast a few minutes later, she shook her head as she looked down at her. She needed to be burped or she would cry. But knowing, feeling, and smelling what she would be holding and thus patting further into Faith's skin, she moved from the bed and stood in the middle of the room.

“I don’t know what to do,” she cried, exhausted tears running down her face. The door opened and closed downstairs and she cried harder; Mulder was back. She was no longer alone.

“Scully?” He called softly up the stairs and then he was in the doorway staring at her, a box of diapers in his hands.

“She’s filthy,” she cried and Mulder stood there frozen. “She's filled her diaper and she needs to burp. Welcome back to the goddamn chaos. Now fucking help me.” She sobbed, smelling the stench of the baby, knowing she was being overly rude, but unable to stop it.

The box of diapers dropped to the floor and he walked over to her, gently taking Faith and guiding Scully to the bathroom. Crying from them both filled the room as he turned on the shower, the baby on his shoulder, and she could see the mess seeping through the blanket which caused her to cry harder.

He took a towel from the rack and laid it on the floor, placing the baby on top. He stepped to Scully and helped her undress before guiding her into the shower. She stepped inside and the warmth of the water made her cry harder. She could hear him dealing with the mess, remaining calm and quieting the baby.

Scully stood there for what felt like forever, the warm water doing wonders to bring her back to sanity. She washed her hair, her body, staying under the water as it washed away her sadness and woke her up.

Turning the water off, she stepped out and found the room empty, as she wrapped a towel around herself. She dried off and slid on some loose comfortable clothes. Using the towel to wring out her hair, she ran a brush through it and then pulled it back in a ponytail. Leaving the towel on the tub to find Mulder and apologize for her outburst, she walked out of the bathroom.

Not finding them in Faith's bedroom, she went downstairs and heard them in the dining room. On the table, he had her in the baby tub, washing her and speaking softly as he did. There was no evidence of the soiled blanket, clothes, or towel; he must have put them in the wash.

Seeing him performing a task that usually took both of them to accomplish, she began to cry. Her love for him filled her in a way it never had before. He was just as tired as she was, had dragged himself out to get more diapers, and had come home to a hysterical crying woman as she held their shit covered child. Then without hesitation or an argument, he took over, caring for her and then the baby.

He looked up as he heard her sniff and gave her a smile. “Well, it was bad, but nothing we couldn’t handle, right my love?” He looked at the baby and smiled as she squirmed around. “That was the worst so far, and I mean the worst. I will need a Silkwood scrub down after this, but hey, what do you do?”

Stepping closer to him, she touched his back as she wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Scully, you have nothing to apologize for, not one bit.”

“I yelled-”

“Not the first time and won’t be the last. Can you get the towel ready?”

She laid out the soft yellow towel and he lifted the baby from the tub, placing her upon it. Scully wrapped her and lifted her, looking at him with tears in her eyes as she shook her head.

“I’ve got it from here. You go shower, Mulder.” He shook his head and took the baby from her, gesturing with his chin to head upstairs. She walked and he followed her into the nursery where they worked together to get her diapered and dressed.

Once she was wrapped in a clean blanket, Mulder handed her to Scully and smiled, pulling them both close to him. “We are both exhausted and the shit literally hit the fan today. But, Scully, you don’t need to apologize for shouting, swearing, or hating me at times. You brought her into this world, you… you made me a father again. You want to scream and cry, I’m right here.”

She cried into his chest as she held the baby close to her chest. The three of them could have been the only people in the world and she would not have cared. All that mattered was him and this tiny bundle that had turned their lives upside down.

“Thank you,” she whispered and he hummed. Pulling back, he looked into her eyes and smiled. She closed her eyes briefly and then smiled at him. “About that shower you mentioned?” He laughed softly and nodded.

Together they walked into the bedroom and Scully sat on the bed, nursing the baby once more, burping her when she had finished. Wrapping her up and moving to lay down in bed, she whispered how much she loved her and how sorry she was for her tears and frustration.

The bathroom door opened and the scent of a freshly washed Mulder filled the room. She closed her eyes, letting the scent wash over her. The bed dipped as he laid down beside her, the scent now closer, calming her tired mind and body.

“I almost forgot what it felt like to be clean. To smell good, Scully? It’s like a concept I remember, but can’t quite grasp,” he whispered, sighing heavily. His hand found her hip and rested there, his breathing beginning to even out.

The baby sighed and Scully opened her eyes, watching her yawn, her head falling to the side as her eyes closed. She looked at Mulder, his mouth open, already asleep. Smiling, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The three of them lay together, clean and content as they slept.

For now anyway…

[docholligay]

"I have a 25 page document of snippets" 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

I APPRECIATE YOU THINKING THIS IS ANYTHING WORTH CARING ABOUT. It is not, I assure you, as it is mostly one offs, jokes, or highly indulgent BS, but assuming that WOULD be something you are into, a fewq of them are behind the cut (Its mostly overwatch, because most SM things, I assume people care about. SM things are in bold, for those looking for that.) 

“I feel like I should be drinking champagne and wearing a dress cut a little too high in a room full of men who don’t appreciate me”

*******

"I gave you sunscreen before the hike." Pharah was unmoved as she walked to the fridge. 

"Well SOME OF US keep all the melanin in our bloody bodies in a few dots on our faces, love, and that's the 'ole of it." Tracer slathered aloe on her back. 

"This sounds like a personal problem" 

**************

“You SHOT ME, Jesse!” She pointed her pistol at him. 

He put up his hand. ‘And you’re right to be mad about that--” 

“Oh, get stuffed!” 

She sounded insulted, as if he had stolen her lunch from the company fridge rather than nearly killed her. It was like fighting with a sibling, bickering with her, who should be near his age but looked the same as he’d last known her, the same as she’d always looked. A sister nagging at her brother.

******************

Rei crossed her arms in some flavor of disapproval as she looked down the row of bassinets, the brightness of the room that was generally her friend annoying to her here. It was no good to her when EVERYTHING was white, when EVERYTHING was bright. It was just as bad as everything being dark, with the added flavor of wrongness sour in her mouth. In the dark, things could be warm, things could be quiet, and things could be safe, but things were only bright white to be bleached clean, black covered things, but white washed them away. 

She looked down at the tiny baby, here in this palace to nothing. 

"You have to get better," She looked around briefly for a chair, quick enough that no one would notice the effort, and, since she could not find one quickly she did not try and longer. Standing was better for the seriousness of her speech, anyhow. "Because your sister likes Mina better. I have to be someone's favorite. And since I'll be your favorite, you are going to be the most successful and strongest kid this hospital has ever seen."

*************

“We’ve got Oscar VIctor Echo Romeo Whisky Alfa Tango Charlie Tango Hotel on site, please advise.” 

Tracer stared at him flatly. “Yeah, and while they’re advising you, tell them we can Sierra Papa Echo Lima Lima.” 

He looked at her like she had cracked some code, the note of surprise on his face both marked and insulting. 

“I’m a bloody pilot!” She tossed her hands into the air. “I was raised by pilots!” 

He nodded and walked away, mumbling into his radio again. 

“Tracer--” 

“Me first picture book was the bloody phonetic alphabet!”

“I do not think anyone doubts--” 

She paused, hands on her hips, and took on a curious expression, the rage of the moment giving way to a chipper sort of memory just as quickly. “Thought me name was spelt Lima Echo November Alfa till I was five, I did.”

**********

Mercy kept a few simple things at the side of her bed, and Tracer looked through them. A notebook with a pen tucked into the spiral. A few letters from Montana. A brown leather book with gold writing on the cover in Hebrew and German. Of course it would be German. Why wouldn’t it be? A blue book, Hebrew on the cover, which Tracer almost tossed to the side until she noted the English at the very bottom of it.

“Tryin to bloody well read this thing! And it’s backwards!” 

“I certainly hope it doesn’t matter, Ang. Barooch ataw adoughnay, elohinu melech ‘a olam--” 

“I don’t think that’s right.” Winston put a cloth on Mercy’s head. 

“Well, if anyone else would like to be an authority on the Jewish religion, I welcome the ‘elp.” She looiked back at the book, “This bloody unit ‘as the diversity of a 90’s cartoon”

************

Ana wheeled around

“I understand, Fareeha. I wasn't there for you! Get a therapist. Work it out. You think my mother was there for me?” 

************

“Have you lost your fucking lesbian mind? Haruka, talk about shit that will get you kicked out, fuck, THAT SHIT WILL GET YOU KICKED OUT! Not her! She will never have to pay for it!” Minako crouched down in front of her and forced Haruka to look at her, “Girls like her do not pay for that shit, Haruka. We do. They will split us up.”  

Haruka shook her head. “We’ll get kicked out together, if we do, and when Michiru graduates--”  

“You fucking!” Mina exploded to her feet, pulling at her hair, “You’re not an adult! You think social services isn’t gonna put you in some shithole? You think some shithole’s gonna keep us together?” She whirled back and looked at Haruka. “They will split us up, Ruka. You keep parading this in broad daylight, and they will split us up.”  

Haruka got up, taking a deep breath, her eyes shining and wet.  

“I’m really tired of being ashamed, of,” she took another deep breath, “everything that I am. I’m not smart, and I’m not, girly, and everyone’s telling me I’m not, you know,” she took a deep breath, staring at the ceiling, and for a moment there was nothing but the sound of her breathing. “God made me like I am. I know that.”  

“Church policy doesn’t dead in what God made, I don’t think.”

********

Fareeha Amari looked over the office, empty now, save for two desks, one in each corner of the room, across from each other as they had been from the day they were hauled up the stairs. A sleek, metal desk of military manufacture, flawlessly painted in a firm grey, and an old, wooden desk, the varnish worn thin in places, a crack running down the side of it, drawer pulls mismatched. They had sat across from each other, like that, since the day she and Tracer had hauled both of them up the stairs, into that smelly, yellowing office above the chip shop. 

The one she was now leaving. 

She had put it off for far too long, she knew. She should have moved them shortly after the Siege of London, when people had begun to join them. It became silly a year after that, when her office was here and the rest of the offices were on the opposite end of the city. But she had not wanted to leave. The other office was so far, and Tracer could never have managed to show up even the little she did. 

After Tracer died, it would have seemed a betrayal. 

She never would have wanted this, Parvati had reminded her, taking her cousin’s office chair as her own, a box of tin airplanes on the seat, in fact, she told you so. More than once. 

************

“I would do anything, for your Mutti.” 

Avital would hear some version of this many times over her life. When she was older, it would strike her that there was no sense of drama in it, no grand gesture. It was simply a fact, like any other Pharah might say in passing. The sun rose in the east. The tide came in. She would do anything for Mercy.

**********

“I am the snake biting my own ankle. I am the pillar of salt. I am peering beyond my shoulder even as I walk forward through the thorns of my own mistakes, trapped in amber and timeless.”

*************

Haruka sat on the couch, staring straight ahead. 

“I have a dad.” 

“I mean it seemed pretty statistically likely.” Mina crossed her arms and leaned against the couch. 

“MInako.” Michiru quietly twitched her eyebrow. 

“Sorry. But like, yeah.” Mina looked at Haruka. “You want me to go get him? He’ll probably get lost going back to the hotel.” 

“Yes. No.” she continued to stare. “I don’t know.” 

[avengerscompound]

The Tower: Unexpected, 13

The Tower: Unexpected An Avengers Fanfic

Series Masterlist Previous //

Pairing:  Avengers x ofc, Bruce Banner x Bucky Barnes x Clint Barton x Wanda Maximoff x Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff x Tony Stark x Thor x Sam Wilson x OFC (Elly Cooper)

Word Count: 1910

Warnings:  smut (orgy, oral sex, vaginal sex), pregnancy

Synopsis: A little over 2 years after moving into the Avengers Tower, Elly finds herself pregnant against the odds.  While some are excited, others are terrified, and pregnancy that none expected to happen causes rifts through the group and threatens to end the relationship.  

Author’s Note:  Written with my little dumpling @fanficwriter013

Chapter 13: Shopping for Twins

The plans were put in place to move.  Tony bought land up in Esopus that sat right on the Hudson.  We saw it via google maps but he was pretty determined that we weren’t allowed to see it in person until it was done.  What we did know was that there was going to be a new state of the art facility for the Avengers.  It would have hangers and landing pads for the jets, labs and offices, gyms and rooms for weapons and combat training.  As well as conference rooms, living quarters and all the other trappings for what was essentially a privately run military installation.  We would be getting a house a little off from it, surrounded by trees and right by the water.

It was exciting to think we were all going to live together like an actual family and not just a bunch of people who were dating and happened to live in the same building.  It was going to be a big change and one that would take some getting used to but I was ready for it.

Now that the house was under construction, I was no longer worried about not having a place for the babies to go.  Things were more certain and I felt more ready for them and what having them meant for us as a group.

Except for the fact that we weren’t at all ready for them.  We had no baby clothes.  No furniture.  No diapers or bottles or wraps.  I was 26 weeks pregnant and we weren’t prepared to actually have babies at home with us in any way, shape or form.

So Tony took Wanda and I to Maddison Avenue to shop for baby supplies.  We wandered through the cribs when I stopped at two that seemed to clip together to form a sort of double crib.  It was a light, cream, stained timber and I ran my fingers over the sleighed ends.

“Twin cribs?  I didn't know these were a thing.”

Wanda came up beside me and picked up the card that described it.  “You didn’t?  They have lots of things for twins.”

I smiled and wrapped my arm around her waist and leaned my cheek on her head.  Of course, my little lost twin would know all about what was available for twins these days.  She’d probably been researching since she found out I was pregnant with twins.  “Do we get one of these?”  I asked.  “They're so big.”

“We could always have one built,”  Tony said.  “Design it how we want.  But this will fit in the nursery just fine.”

“What if they don’t like sleeping next to each other?”   I asked.

“It splits apart,”  Wanda said, moving to the side of it. “See there are, clips here and here.  Then it’s just two cribs.” 

“Yeah, that could work.  So this one then?”  I asked.

“Yep, and if it doesn’t work.  I’ll just make something.”  Tony said grabbing the price ticket from it.

“Of course you could,”  I said nudging him.  I took my list out and my eyes flicked over them.  “Okay, so change table next to match this.  The question is, are we getting one with the bath built-in?”

Tony shook his head.  “No, I’m designing the room to have a deep sink installed.  Easier that way.”

We went over to where the change tables were and selected one that was long and had lots of drawers and had that similar rough-looking washed paint look.  Tony also grabbed the ticket for the most expensive cot mattresses.  On the way to look at the bassinets, I stopped at the rockers and sat in a gorgeous winged backed one.  “I didn’t even consider something like this.  I want this.”

Tony chuckled.  “If you’d let the designer do this you wouldn’t need to consider everything.  It would all be there ready for you.”

I wrinkled my nose.  “Tony.”

“Yeah, Tony.”  Wanda agreed which made Tony break down into laughter.

“Alright, rocker.  Ottoman.  Which fabric?”  He said tossing the swatches in my lap.  I picked a vintage rose color that I thought would match the style of the chair.  We then moved on to the bassinets and Wanda let out a squeak almost immediately.

“Elly!  Can we get the one that looks like a basket!”  She said, almost skipping over to it.  “It has so many colors for the fabric.  We can get pink and blue.  Or white with pink stripes and white with blue stripes.  And they have wheels so we can wheel them into the room with us if they are being hard to settle.”

She was so excited and looked so happy there was no way I could say no to her.  Tony grabbed the ticket for those too and we moved on to the strollers.

I looked over the different types they had for twins.  There were ones that were side-by-side and ones that stacked them one on top of the other.  There were classic ones with four wheels and jogging ones with three.

“Okay.  Here's the question, is it better to stack them and be streamlined or have them side-by-side and take up the whole sidewalk?”  I asked.

“Side-by-side,”  Tony said with no hesitation at all.

“Jogging one I guess,”  I said, thinking about all the runners in our family.  I chuckled thinking about Steve zooming past Sam while he was pushing the twins.  “You think they go fast enough for Steve and Buck?”

Tony thought about it for a moment.  “I'll have to make one. Or special wheels.”

“So don't even buy a stroller?  Or buy one and you alter it?”  I asked.

Tony nodded as he came to a decision.  “I should probably just make it.  They'll need bug guards.”

“Okay.  Let's do it that way.”  I said with a laugh, before looking at my list.  “Diaper Genie, car seats, slings, diapers, wraps, wipes, bottles.  Those are the things that just the best thing is what we want.  Then it's basically clothes and toys.”

We each grabbed a shopping cart and started just putting the best of the medium items in.  Tony getting car seats and bottles.  Wanda baby slings and the cutest and prettiest muslin wraps she could find.  Me grabbing everything else.  We met back in the center of the store.  “Just clothes and toys now and this place has none of that.”

“Okay, I’ll pay and organize this to be delivered and we can drive up Maddison until we find something else.  A little Ralph Lauren for kids.”  Tony said.

We went to the counter and waited as Tony organized and paid for everything.  When he was done we went back out to the Lotus that Tony had parked out front.  I let Wanda into the back and then got in.  “We’re going to need to need to get a minivan or something,”  I said.

Tony looked at me in shock.  “You shut your dirty mouth.  Never say that word again.”

“Minivan?”  I asked.

“Elly!  That’s blasphemy!”

Wanda and I broke down into giggles while Tony glared at us and pulled the sportscar out.  He drove a little way down the street and pulled up at the front of a boutique childrenswear shop.  We all got out and went in.  I grabbed Wanda by the shoulders and looked into her eyes.  “Now the fun stuff,”  I said shaking her.

“Cute little outfits?”  She squealed.

“Yes and toys,”  I said, grinning.  “Let's see if they have little Armani suits to match Tony.”

“Not here,”  Tony said.

“Somewhere?  They exist?”  I asked.

“Of course, but not here.   We’ll get him one.”

“Nice.  You know what they do have?”  I asked him.

“Here?”  He asked.

“That was rhetorical because the answer is …”  I moved down the rack beside Tony and held up an Iron Man onesie.  He frowned at me.  “No?  Cap instead?”  I asked holding up a little Captain America one.

“Those aren't authorized.”  He said furrowing his brow and coming over to me.

I took a look at the label.  “Really?”

“I'm pretty sure,”  Tony said taking it off me and looking at the label.  “Yeah, these aren’t ours.  That’s going to be a problem.”  He took a photo of the label and texted it to someone before putting it back.  “Don’t be buying Avengers’ shit anyway.  We have it in the gift-shop.”

“Fine,”  I huffed.

“Elly.  Little shoes!”  Wanda said poking me which made me perk right back up again.

“Oh, yes.  Shall we?”  I said, and Wanda nodded.  “Alright.  I’m gonna go this way.  You go that way.  Call me,”  I said tapping my head.  “When you find something extra cute and hold it up and I’ll do the same.”

“Okay, let’s do it,”  Wanda said.

We all separated, grabbing baskets and throwing things into them.  Tony wandered the racks, occasionally taking something off and hanging it over his arm as he watched us go completely crazy buying baby clothes and toys.  I’d look at him sometimes and he looked so content.  It was funny to think that just a month ago he’d been hiding from this completely.  I think part of it wasn’t just the babies either.  I think he liked that I was finally just letting him buy stuff, which was easier for me here because it wasn’t for me.

By the time we were done, we had around six baskets full of plush toys, stacking rings, baby mobiles, onesies, little dresses, outfits, and tiny shoes.  “This should do until they're 21 right?”

“Maybe for a year.”  Wanda teased.

“I guess that's pretty good,”  I said and leaned against Tony.  “Alright.  Let's pay. I need to get off my feet.  This was fun but holy crap does carrying two babies hurt your back.”

“Okay, checking out,”  Tony said, taking things off us.  “Why don’t you go wait in the car?”

“You sure?”  I asked.

He waved me off and I kissed his cheek before heading out to the car with Wanda.  She once again had to be let in the back and by the time I was in my seat I sighed in relief.  “You happy?”  I asked.

“Of course.”

I hummed.  “Me too.  I don't know why but... Feels really real now we have things.  I can't wait to have the nursery set up.”

She giggled.  “It still has to be built yet.”

“I know I know,”  I said.  “Did you see how small that stuff was? They're gonna be preemie too.  So teeny tiny.”

Wanda sat up like she’d been shocked.  “Did we get the preemie diapers?”

“Yes,”  I said giggling.  I looked at my stomach and caressed my hand over it.  “That's what I grabbed and then some just regular ones in case these guys are super soldiers and just come out normal-sized.”

“Okay, good. Good to be prepared.”  Wanda said, relaxing again.

“Yeah.”  I agreed.  “What if only one is and one is tiny and the other is huge?”

“Well, we'll take care of them equally.”

“What if one is Bruce's and it hulks out of its diapers?”

“We'll deal with it.”

I giggled.  “So calm about everything.”

She shrugged.  “I have to be.”

I turned in my seat as best I could and looked back at her.  “Why?”

“I want them.”  She said and rubbed my arm.  “We've done the shopping, we've had the appointments. We're doing everything right. There's going to be nothing that can stop us.”

// NEXT

[sebseyesandbuckysthighs]

Three Soldiers and a Baby | Part Seven

summary: Three handsome bachelors find their day to day operations disrupted when an unexpected new roommate (who comes complete with a diaper and a pacifier) shows up at their doorstep. How will they deal with this new and baffling responsibility without losing their minds or killing each other in the process?

pairings: Bucky x Reader (eventual) featuring Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson

warnings: none, just make-believe goodness

a/n: Part seven is here! It makes me so happy that so many of you have been reading and liking my little domestic Avengers series. It’s just one big fluff piece that’s totally unrealistic and huge on the fanservice cause that’s what we deserve, alright!? So yeah, I hope you enjoy this part too, you lovely people. You deserve all the fluff! ❤

*warning to mobile users, the “keep reading” tab may not work so apologies in advance*

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 |

| previously |

“So this is for real then?” Sam said just as they put Ellie to sleep in her bassinet for hopefully the last time before morning. “This is really happening?”

“Looks that way, pal,” Steve confirmed. “I don’t think anyone is coming to get this little girl.”

Sam nodded solemnly, the full gravity of the situation still bearing it’s burden down on him. “We gotta tell someone, man. We can’t do this ourselves.”

He didn’t even consider thinking about it, Steve was not about to risk anyone else getting involved with this. “We can’t Sam. This is on us. At least for now. When Bucky gets back–”

“He’s a dead man?” Sam interrupted.

“Among other things, yeah pretty much.”

———————————————————————

The first night passed with, thankfully, no incident. There was a harrowing moment at one point in the night as a siren echoed through the open terrace window. The sound instantly woke Sam and Steve from their spot on the couches, forcing them to jump into action and try to dull the noise before it woke the baby. In the end, they had nothing to worry about as the siren passed and the soothing sounds of Ellie’s quiet breathing kept to a steady slumbering rhythm. They barely slept for the rest of the night after that.

That next morning, the boys realized that they would have to figure something out in terms of explaining their absences to the team back at the Compound. Now that they had moved away on their own, they typically were not expected to return everyday for training, but there would be weekly meetings that they must attend. The next one wasn’t for a few more days, but they weren’t expecting Bucky to be back for quite awhile and it wasn’t like they could just hire a babysitter. Sam and Steve took time to strategize while they fed Ellie her breakfast. 

In the short time that they’d all been together, Steve was grateful to find out that Ellie was a pretty well-behaved baby. She smiled and laughed a lot, cried only until she was given what she needed and slept through her naps without so much fussing. Even though she was teething, not even that seemed to bother her too much. She was just a happy baby. Although he worried for her, Steve was incredibly impressed with Ellie’s mother for raising such a sweet little girl all on her own. Whatever it was that made her decide that the only thing she could do was leave the little girl with her, essentially, estranged father must have been severe. He only wished that the woman was safe and would soon be able to reunite with her daughter. Her family. Another small part of Steve hoped that maybe the father would be a part of that family too. 

“What plans did you cancel tonight?” Steve asked Sam on the third afternoon spent with Ellie in their lives. 

“Dinner date with my lady.” Sam replied as he spoon fed Ellie some kind of fruit mush. “What about you?”

“Nat and I had tickets to see a show with Wanda and Viz.”

“How long are we gonna be able to keep this up?” Sam asked, not taking his eyes off of Ellie. “Good girl, El. Taste good don’t it?”

Steve smiled at the giggle that burst from Ellie’s green goo covered lips and cheeks. No matter how much of a messed up situation it was, it was never enough to make Steve forget how beautiful of a baby Ellie was. 

“Yeah well no wonder she’s beautiful. She looks more like her mama than she does Barnes.” Sam would say in those moments when he caught Steve staring.

“She has Bucky’s eyes though.” Steve would stare into them, mesmerized by the beautiful blue orbs the little girl had to match her father’s. Bucky’s gonna fall in love with her at first sight I bet, Steve would think. 

The next night they had just put Ellie to bed and were folding the bit of laundry they did of the clothes they bought for her earlier that day. Because as Sam said, the girl needed a bigger wardrobe. It amazed both men how expensive babies were, but when they saw Ellie in the new onesie they chose for her, they couldn’t help but forgive her. It wasn’t an easy job by any means, but together Sam and Steve were able to juggle their responsibilities with Ellie and learn more about raising a baby along the way. This wasn’t something either of them was planning on doing for the rest of their lives, but for now they would just have to make do and help however they could.

By the fourth day, they started seeing more of Ellie’s adorable personality come to light. She laughed at practically everything Sam did and would stop crying the moment Steve picked her up and rocked her gently. At one point in the day Sam checked in at the compound to get an update on Bucky’s mission. Unfortunately he couldn’t find out much aside from the fact that the estimated time of completion for this particular mission shouldn’t be for another week or two apparently.

“By Friday we have to let the other guys know, Steve. We can’t keep this between us for that long without someone getting suspicious.” Sam said as they bathed Ellie that night Tuesday night. “The last thing we need is the Avengers coming to break down our door and seeing us with a child. Imagine the questions.” Sam shuddered.

“I know, I know.” Steve agreed as he gently washed Ellie’s face with a soft cloth. The girl was a bit of a messy eater. “Just two more days until the meeting. Maybe we’ll hear from Bucky before then and figure something out.”

Sam laughed humorlessly. “Oh yeah, that’ll go over well. Tell Barnes about his offspring over the phone while he’s away on a dangerous mission.” He tickled Ellie under the chin. “What do you think, kiddo? Should we call your pops and tell him about you? The fool that he is, he might not even come home if he finds out about her.”

Steve frowned and grabbed a towel to wrap Ellie in now that they were done rinsing her off. He wouldn’t admit it just yet but this was Steve’s favorite part of the day. When he got to hold Ellie close to him and feel her little heart beating through her tiny chest. Still amazed that his best friend had helped in creating a life, and a precious one at that. Even if he didn’t know it just yet.

“Bucky wouldn’t do that, Sam, and you know it.” Steve wrapped Ellie up and kissed her forehead. “The second he finds out about her, he’s not going to want to let her go.”

“And he won’t have to if we don’t find some way to find her mother. Any luck with that yet?” Sam asked as he drained the large sink that they used as a makeshift tub for Ellie. She was still tiny enough to fit in there comfortably. 

Steve shook his head while he cradled Ellie in his arms, rocking her back and forth as she bumbled in baby talk. “Unfortunately nothing. She doesn’t have any sort of social media presence. I don’t want to risk pulling up the mission file from two years ago either, just in case that rings any bells with the team. We’ll just have to wait for Buck to get home so he can hopefully fill in some blanks.”

As much as it bugged him to admit, Sam knew that Steve was right and they would just have to wait for Bucky to get back. The team would get suspicious, but as long as one of them showed up to that meeting on Friday the better off they’d be.

“Alright, gimme the kid so I can change her.” Sam said with outstretched arms, but Steve pulled away ever so slightly.

“No it’s alright, I got this. You can go get her bottle ready, though.” Steve smiled down at Ellie. “We’re gonna go get changed into our pjs. Isn’t that right, sweet girl. Time to get ready for bed.” He cooed at the little bundle in his arms, practically feeling his heart burst when she wrapped her tiny digits around his one finger. Sam watched on as Steve continued to gawk at Ellie with a big goofy loving grin on his face and couldn’t help but do the same. The little girl had effortlessly found her way into each of their hearts and held on with a tight grip. Barnes was doomed, Sam thought.

That night, like every other night this week, Sam and Steve each took up a couch in the living room while Ellie’s bassinet was rested atop the large coffee table. At first they argued over whether or not they should set her up in Bucky’s room while they stayed in their own, but that didn’t work out as both men would constantly get up in the night to check on her. Having her sleep in one of their rooms wasn’t an option either as they both argued over who’s room she would stay in. The living room was the final option and it seemed to be working out okay so far. Sam was just thankful that the men had the foresight to buy really comfortable couches. 

It was past midnight when a click stirred Steve from his sleep. He thought perhaps Ellie had woken up and was fussing around in her bassinet, but when he looked over she was still sound asleep. He thought perhaps it was Sam’s light snores that woke him, but they hadn’t before and when he heard the click again he knew something was off. He tossed a pillow at Sam to wake him, gently of course, and just as he did something crashed at the front hallway. Sam was awake just as Steve leapt to grab his shield from beside the couch. Both were on high alert as to who the hell could have broken into their apartment. They both circled in front of Ellie protectively, moving forward inch by inch until suddenly all the lights went on. Steve threw his shield toward the door and instead of it knocking out whoever dared to trespass into their home, a metal hand caught it with a deafening clang.

“What the hell?” The deep sharp register of a man’s voice yelled out in the night.

“Bucky?” whispered Steve just as Sam growled, “Barnes!”

The three men stared each other down as the threat of danger faded away and heart rates returned to somewhat normal levels. Before anyone could say another word, though, there was a soft huff heard from the living room just before a wailing cry pierced into the night.

Bucky’s eyes widened dramatically and his skin paled slightly. “What the hell is that?”

———————————————————————

a/n: Well hot dang, look who’s finally home! None other than the man of the hour himself, Mr James B. Barnes! About freaking time and with that iconic line to top it. Oh, and don’t we just wish that all babies were as wonderful and too good to be true as Ellie? That’s why we write fiction, people. To fix reality with fiction is what we’re here for, dangit!

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Feedback is always appreciated, leave it here!

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part six << part seven >> part eight

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Series Masterlist

Full Masterlist

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tags: 

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[justjessame]

A Little Ass and A Lotta Sass Chapter 33:  Loosey Goosey?  Shower Time and the Quest to Make Negan See That Babies Don't Need Added Incentive to Be Assholes.

We woke up early with our little princess the next morning. While I sat at the table, giving her breakfast, Negan made the two of us ours. He was whistling as he cooked, and I was shaking my head at how completely carefree he looked and sounded. Mornings, without the distraction of reminding me how worthwhile being awake was, tended to drag by for me. But for my husband? It was like he hit reset and was raring to go.

He set my plate down in front of me as my little Pooh Bear finished hers. He held his hands out with a huge smile and took her from me. Letting me tuck into my meal as he took his time to coax a burp out of her tiny mouth and took care of her spit up like he’d been doing it all his life. Then after a bit of a cuddle, he lay her down in her bassinet, and she didn’t let out a peep of frustration.

Negan looked at me in surprise and I smiled around the bite I’d just taken. Told ya so, ran through my mind as he grabbed his own plate and joined me. He smiled at me as he started to eat and I felt a clench low in my belly. I knew that smile. I knew the darkening in his eyes. Fuck. He was VERY hungry, and I had no doubt that his breakfast wasn’t going to be nearly filling enough for him.

“We’ll head down to the infirmary after our shower.” Our shower? Dear fucking Lord. We hadn’t showered together since we brought our angel home. One stayed dry while the other showered with her, then we’d hand off. Fuck.

I glanced over at the bassinet, wondering if I could cock block my own husband with our infant daughter.

“We can give her a bath in the sink first.” Shit. He really could read my damn mind. “What’s wrong, baby girl, scared?”

More like horrified to find out what damage your little girl caused when she came clawing out of me. “Of course not,” I answered, pushing my plate away. “It’s just that, why rush? I mean, we almost ignite when we don’t give in.” I sounded off to myself. “Why get all hot and bothered before we get Dr. Carson’s OK?”

Negan studied me while he ate. And I worked damn hard to not fidget. When he took a drink, his plate finally completely cleared, he stood up and took our plates to the sink. Quiet. He was too fucking quiet. Then, without a word to me, he picked up the baby and crooked his finger to me as he walked back to our bathroom. I closed my eyes to steel myself and followed.

He didn’t speak as he handed her to me in the bathroom. He didn’t say a word as he gathered together her bathing stuff. He didn’t open his mouth while he filled the sink with warm water. He just glanced at me, holding our daughter and raised his eyebrow. Shit, I’d been standing there gaping. I undressed Jade, taking off her still clean diaper and walking closer to Negan. Together we washed our little one, making sure that she was clean and sweet smelling before he wrapped her in her towel and I grabbed the diaper and outfit we’d laid out for her. She was dried by Daddy, and then clothed by Mommy. And her tiny eyes were drooping by the time we finished. Fuck. What a traitor.

“I’m going to bring her bassinet in here, and then we’re taking our shower, Callie.” His voice took on that low darkness that did things to my body, and I felt like I was breathing heavy already.

It felt like my arms were empty of her weight and I was naked before I could add two plus two. And then he was pulling me into our shower, and the warm water was sliding down over me. “Open your eyes, princess.” I did as he tilted my face up to look into his. “Fuck you’re beautiful.” I doubted this. I still had plenty of padding left over from my pregnancy, and I was almost scared to even contemplate what my breasts looked like now that they were basically udders. I didn’t have a chance to voice my doubts because his mouth met mine and I sighed into the feeling.

We’d kissed since bringing Kiara home. Of course we had, but there was always a tint of exhaustion. A bit of a yawn shared between us, but this kiss? This kiss reminded me of all the ways we were combustible. I felt the fire build, running down my entire body and then I was flush against him. Our skin finally touches without a barrier, without our little one between us. And I couldn’t recall why I hadn’t wanted this, to be with him here, in our shower. Returning to our daily routine right now, with his mouth, his tongue reminding me that we were still partners. We were most definitely lovers.

I felt his hands, which had rested on my hips after pulling us tight together, start to tour my body. And then, as his fingers found their way between my legs, a flash reminded me exactly why I had fought against this. He felt me tense up and he pulled his mouth from mine with a question in his eyes. Shit.

How do you tell your husband, the love of your life, the man who you’d die to touch, that you were scared that his offspring may have completely ruined your fucking nether regions? And, if she had, you’d rather fucking die than him touch you and find out, and then the full on repulsion flash on his face and making you die inside?

“Callie, baby what’s wrong?” His voice was so fucking husky still, from his very fucking evident need that was trapped between us. “Sweetheart,” he tilted my head up when I looked down. “Tell me.”

Well, shit. I sighed, and felt tears come to my eyes. What the literal hell? Why the fuck was I so emotional right now? The demon spawn was out of me, so my hormones should be under my own fucking control now. And then it happened. I sobbed and spilled my guts.

Most people who know of, or even who’ve met Negan would assume he’s terrible with emotional and crying women. Well, not so. At least he wasn’t with me. He cradled my body against him as I fucking shared everything. Every fear, every worry. And he held me, listened as I unleashed a torrent of worry, and didn’t interrupt me once.

Once my verbal vomit was over, he was still holding me. He’d turned the water off and he pulled me out of the shower and wrapped me up in a towel. Donning one around his own waist, he scooped me into his arms and carried me back to our bed. Pushing the bassinet just outside the bathroom door. “Negan, you’re going to get the bed all wet,” I warned, when he placed me in the center.

“Do I look like I fucking care about the bed getting wet?” He’d joined me, curving into my side, as I normally did to him. “Why didn’t you tell me, Callie? When you first started worrying?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t want to think about it.” That was more than true. Who wants to imagine that the man they love would end up repulsed by their body after giving birth? No one. “I mean the doctor had to STITCH me up. Doesn’t that fucking scream it’s destroyed? How did her tiny little head rip me?” I rolled my eyes. “Not to mention that I’m fat. I’m still all bloated and gross, and I can’t even fucking believe that you’d WANT to see me naked.”

Negan’s fingers were tracing my face, like he was worshiping my skin. They were creeping down to the towel wrapped around me as his eyes locked on mine. “First of all, Callie, there’s no fucking way that any part of you has been rendered fucking hideous or un-fucking-sexy.” He bit his lip as his eyes roamed down over my towel covered body. “Every single damn inch of you is perfect.” I opened my mouth, but he silenced me with a look. “I mean it. This body,” he pulled open my towel and ran his hand down my length. “This fucking body gave me the greatest goddamn gift I never knew I wanted. It carried our baby, Callie. And you brought her into this fucking world.” He shook his head as though he was in awe of me. He lowered his head and nuzzled into my neck. “I love you, Callie. I love your body. And there’s no fucking way that that’s changed. It never will.”

And then he put actions to his words and used that mouth of his to prove it.

 We made it down to the infirmary after Negan had thoroughly educated me on just how much he still loved my body. Inch by inch of me. Kiara had to be fed again before we left, since her daddy had been a thorough teacher. And then we walked down together, outside of our apartment. I carried KJ. Negan carried Lucille. And we were flanked by two of the most badass looking fairy godmothers I’d ever seen.

The check up went well. I was healed, the stitches had done their job. And our little angel was perfect. As though we had any doubts about that. When we were finished, I was surprised when Negan announced he wanted to take a walk around the Sanctuary. I shrugged and was about to go back to our apartment with Laura. “Princess, I want US to take a walk around.” I wanted so badly to roll my eyes. Jesus, he wanted to show her off. Fucking braggart.

“You aren’t making them kneel to her, Negan.” I said, staring up into his face. “I mean it. The terrible fucking twos are going to be nightmarish enough, let’s not add to her douche baggery too soon, alright?”

I saw a pout cross his face. I fucking knew it. “Fine.” He gritted out. “I mean she’s MY daughter, and they’re MY people, but fine. I won’t have them kneel for her.” And I swear to Christ, I heard him mutter, “Yet.”

[lakritzwolf]

Memories of Love

Written for Flufftober 2019

Fandom: Shadowhunters Pairing: ReyHill Characters: Lorenzo Rey, Andrew Underhill, and their warlock baby Annie Warnings:- Additional tags: Memories, Childhood Memories, childhood keepsakes, ReyHill dads

On AO3

Redecorating and changing or adjusting interior isn’t really a challenge when you’re a warlock. Andrew had expected it, but to actually see Lorenzo change furniture with a snap of his fingers was something entirely different.

And he felt strangely giddy about it all. True, it was Lorenzo’s home, and he had more or less adopted the little warlock baby that was currently asleep in Andrew’s arms, but there was that promise between them, so maybe, someday...

“I will have to rely on your more hands-on experience from here on,” Lorenzo said with a frown, looking at the bassinet made of wicker and white silk decorated with soft pink ribbons.

There was also a chest of drawers for clothes, and shelves for toys and books, but those wouldn’t be used for few years yet. He hadn’t changed the cream-coloured curtains, but added a touch of colour to the walls so they were no longer white but a shade somewhere between pearl and ivory.

“You... might want that changing table in the bathroom,” Andrew said after a moment. “Because sometimes you really need to wash your hands right now.”

Lorenzo gave him a look that was hard to read but that bespoke of no happy thoughts, and left the room. Moments after he had entered the bathroom the changing table vanished.

“Like this?” Lorenzo called out, and Andrew left the nursery too, to check.

“Looks fine to me,” Andrew said. The changing table was set up as close to the sink as possible. “And I mean, it’s not going to be here forever. Three years? Four?” He looked at the tiny baby in his arms. “Five?”

“I have no idea,” Lorenzo said slowly and took a deep breath. “I have never dealt with that sort of thing before, not even in theory.”

“It’s not rocket science,” Andrew said with a smile and stepped closer. “And if all else fails, you can clean her up with a snap of your fingers.” He chuckled. “I’ve certainly wished more than once I could do that.”

“We shall see,” Lorenzo replied, and left the bathroom again to head for the nursery.

It was the room between the upstairs bathroom and the master bedroom, so it was close enough for them to hear when anything was amiss. Andrew had yet to convince Lorenzo of the fact that it was in their very own interest to have Annie sleep in the bedroom with them. Not in their bed, but that’s what the bassinet was for. It had wheels, after all.

After some debating how to go about it Lorenzo caved in and they two of them took a very mundane shopping trip for baby equipment together, with Andrew carrying Annie in the rainbow-coloured sling.

Andrew didn’t comment on it, but every time Lorenzo looked at the baby sleeping with her face resting against Andrew’s chest, his face softened a little more, and in the end there was a smile on his face that Andrew had never seen before. It made his heart melt.

So once again, Andrew bought clothes, and more bottle feeding equipment to complement what he had brought from the Institute, plus a lot of other things like a bathtub and a thermometer.

And in the end, as they were on their way to the checkout, Andrew couldn’t help but stop at the shelf with small plush animals. He picked up the elephant, sighed, and put it down again with a wistful smile. Lorenzo stepped to his side with a questioning hum.

“Nothing,” Andrew said. “I mean...” Then he sighed again. “I bought one of those for Annie back then... but it’s gone now, together with all the other things.”

Lorenzo looked at the elephant, at Andrew, and back at the elephant. And then he took it from the shelf and dropped it into the cart, that soft, little smile on his face that was so entirely new.

Andrew stayed overnight for a week, for Lorenzo to get a handle on things like changing and feeding, but then he took a trip to Alicante and his childhood home. His parents had both passed away by now, but his sister and her family now lived there. And while Elisabeth had never been happy about his sexuality, and even less about his current choice of partner, she had never been hostile about it.

It was a little awkward, but after a little small talk Andrew took a road down memory lane. His old room was now the room of his oldest nephew, but he found the chest with keepsakes sitting at the very back end of the attic.

A small locket with a lock of hair, tied together with a blue ribbon. A pair of tiny white shoes. A picture of two hand prints. He dimly remembered making those, and was strangely touched that his mother had kept them. And at the very bottom was the item he had hoped to find.

The knitted off-white blanket was as soft as he remembered, and despite smelling a little stale, Andrew could feel his mother’s presence as he pressed it against his face. She had never judged him. She had never said a single bad word about his troubles with his sexuality, or about the countless times when he hadn’t lived up to his father’s expectations. She had always been a warm and comforting presence in his life, and at this moment, thinking of a baby girl who was his daughter in all but blood, he missed her like he hadn’t missed her in a very long time.

She would have loved Annie like a grandchild.

He spread the blanket out to check for damage the time in the chest might have caused, but it was still as perfect as it had been when his mother had put it here, more than twenty years ago. And along the edge, in a corner, embroidered with blue silk yarn, a single word: Andrew.

Andrew wiped the back of his hand across his eyes as he got up after closing the chest again.

Maybe, like this, Annie would feel something of his mother’s love.

When he showed that blanket to Lorenzo his eyes had softened even more, and a snap of his fingers had removed any stale smell and dust from the knitted fabric, leaving only a faint, floral scent behind.

That night Andrew covered the baby with that blanket, thinking of his mother, her love, and her smile.

“Andrew?” Lorenzo’s voice was a soft whisper. “Are you okay?”

It was only then that Andrew realised he had tears on his cheek, and he sniffed, wiped the tears away with his hand, and told Lorenzo about the history of the blanket, and his thoughts about his mother, and his mother’s love.

Lorenzo put one arm around his shoulders and pulled him close, and snapped his fingers again.

And below his name, embroidered in pink silk yarn and in the very same handwriting, another name appeared: Andromeda.

Andrew closed his eyes and gave up on fighting his tears. “I love you,” he whispered, his voice husky with emotions that were almost too much to handle.

“I love you too,” Lorenzo whispered back, closing both arms around him.

And wrapped in the soft, knitted blanket, Annie smiled in her sleep.

[grootiez]

Candy

“I am Groot!” The tiny twig said excitedly as they approached their hotel room on Terra.

“Groot wants to open the door.” Rocket told Peter.

“Alright, alright.” Peter said as he fumbled with his wallet while he held everyone’s suitcases to find the hotel room keys that resembled credit cards. He put the suitcases down before he handed the excited child one of the room keys.

Groot excitedly swiped the key on the special door lock as Rocket held him high enough so that the tiny Flora Colossus could reach it and open the door.

When they open the door and walk inside, Groot was excited and started to run around the room. Everyone else unpacked their luggage and put their clothes in the drawers. The next discussion was about who was going to sleep where.

“Okay, we have the 3 bedroom Grand Suite, one bedroom has 1 king size bed and the other two have 2 twin size beds.” Peter stated.

“Ew, I don’t want to share a bed with the likes of any of you.” Nebula grumbled. “I’ll take one of the twin beds.”

“I don’t need a big bed to sleep either.” Mantis chimed in. “I’ll sleep in Nebula’s room.”

“Yeah. I’m skinny and I don’t want the big bed either.” Kraglin said. “Plus I’m not feeling so good after the soup they served on the airplane made me motion sick.” He added as he applied a motion sickness patch to his neck. “Last time I’ll eat Terran soup on an airplane ever again...”

Just then, Groot figured out how to open the door to the balcony and was attempting to crawl over the railing.

“GROOT, NO!” Rocket called after the twig as Groot lifted one of his legs over the railing. He then ran over to Groot to pluck him off the balcony as the tree cried bloody murder.

“I’ll share a room with Kraglin to make things easier.” Drax stated.

Alright, then it’s settled.” Peter said as he clapped his together. “Me and Gammy will sleep in the master bedroom with the king size bed.” He added with glee as Rocket walked over with a crying Groot.

“Peter, where are Rocket and Groot supposed to sleep?” Gamora questioned as Rocket handed her Groot in an effort to calm him down. “Hi, sweetie.” She said playfully to Groot as he played with her hair.

Rocket crossed his arms. “Yeah, Star-Munch. What about me and Groot?” He challenged as they walked into the master suite, Gamora still carrying Groot.

“Well, I’m sure that they gave us a spare bed for you to sleep on or the sofa can be pulled out.” Peter surmised as he opened the closet. “And for Groot, I think they supplied a playpen or crib or bassinet for him to sleep in...” He searched the closet. It had nothing for Groot to sleep in. “Alright, lemme call the front desk and see what they can do.” Peter said as he picked up the phone and called housekeeping and as Rocket carried Groot to the bathroom to get him washed before dinner.

Fifteen minutes later, Rocket was done giving Groot a bath and Peter just finished talking to housekeeping.

“Well, Rocket.” Peter took a deep breath as the raccoon sat down with Groot in his arms. “I’ve got good news and bad news. What do you wanna hear first?”

“The good news.” Rocket replied.

“Well, the good news is that they found Groot a bassinet to sleep in.” Peter began. “Bad news is that they don’t have any more beds and the sofa doesn’t fold out into one, so I’m afraid that you’re gonna have to sleep in the bassinet with Groot.”

“WHAT?!?!” Rocket screeched. “Oh, hell no, Star-Munch. I’m not sleeping in a thing meant for babies!”

“I am Groot!” Groot echoed.

“Alright, Groot. You’re not a baby, I’m sorry.” Rocket apologized to Groot. “And neither am I, so you better think of something real quick...” he snarled threateningly.

“Okay, okay!” Peter said. “Look, can’t you two just put up with the bassinet for just tonight and tomorrow I’ll look into getting an air mattress for you guys.”

“Hmm...” Rocket twirled his whiskers as he was deep in thought. This made Peter nervous. “Okay, but you better get us blankets, pillows, and all that other crap that we’ll need.”

“Yes, Rocket.” Peter agreed to his terms as he was about to go out.

“I am Groot.” Groot piped up.

“What the flark do you need earplugs for?” Rocket asks his son.

“I am Groot!” Groot replied.

“I do NOT snore.” Rocket told Groot. “If anybody snores around here it’s you, Groot.” Groot then glared at his father. “Don’t get him earplugs, Quill.” Groot and Rocket then got into a heated argument.

With that, Peter left to go get the mattress for them. When he returned, he found that Rocket and Groot were still fighting. Groot walked away angry as Peter re-entered the hotel room.

“Hey, Groot.” Peter greeted the angry little tree. “Sup, buddy?”

“I am Groot.” Groot huffed as he crossed his arms.

“Still mad at Rocket, huh?” Groot nodded at Peter’s question. “I know how that is, buddy.” Peter then opened up the bag he carried in. “I got you a surprise.” Peter told Groot. “Now, close your eyes. Don’t let me see you peeking.”

Groot closes his eyes excitedly as he held out his hands in anticipation as Peter placed his treat in the tiny tree’s hands.

“Okay... now... OPEN THEM!” Peter instructed as Groot opened his eyes. In front of the twig was two round circles of chocolate with jagged edges.

“I am Groot?” The tiny Flora Colossus inquired.

“They’re Reese’s, Groot. They’re the best Terran candy ever invented.” Peter told the baby. “They’re good, try one.”

“I am Groot.” Groot reminded Peter.

“There ain’t no such thing as diets while you’re on vacation.” Peter said as he placed his hand around Groot. “Plus, I thought that you were mad at Rocket.”

Groot ate one of the Reese’s that Peter gave him. He chewed it into tiny little pieces before swallowing it. He then reached for the other one and ate that one too. He loved how they tasted and savored the sweetness.

“I guess that you like ‘em, then.” Peter acknowledged as Groot let out a tiny little burp followed by a fart.

“Uh, oh, Groot.” Peter said as he picked up the baby and felt that his diaper was wet. He then turned Groot over to discover that his diaper was leaky. “I think that you need a diaper change.”

“I am Groot!” Groot suggested to Peter.

“Yes, Groot.” Peter nodded. “Go get Rocket to change your diaper.” He then placed Groot down and watched the twig toddle his way to where Rocket was.

“GOD DAMN YOU, STAR-MUNCH!” Rocket shouted.—————————————————————————————————

Day 4 of @trashpandaorigins’ (EmilliaGryphon) 13 Days of GOTG Halloween Extravaganza Challenge over on Tumblr. (Day 4: Candy.)—————————————————————————————————

@trashpandaorigins @madness-on-the-milano @captain---rabbit @whoop-whoop-grocket @thejollymilano @mattchewystuff @canuckscot @woozletania @rr4901 @rocket-ringtail-raccoon @janetgenea @vic394 @pineapple-crow—————————————————————————————————

Ao3.

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[tateonnas-blog]

What is Mothers Day to You?

Picture Perfect

Mothers Day for some brings to mind flowers and chocolates and all those warm fuzzy commercials of the picture perfect families with the mom smiling and hugging her kids, and the kids beaming holding up their gifts. Or the commercial where the husband is bringing home the flowers, earrings, or going on a family vacation. Business's love Mothers Day, it's a great marketing strategy and besides who doesn't love a gift on a day dedicated to you? But in all the hustle we can't forget the ones that do not have a mother or don't have a child, invite friends to lunch have a girls dinner the night before and enjoy each others company. If you don't have a mother it's about celebrating the women that stepped up in your life to help fill that role and love you without any obligation. Celebrate each other because that's what it's all about, celebrating the women in your life.  What is mothers day to you? What is it to me you ask? Mothers day is a big boiling pot of all kinds of emotions thrown into a twenty-four-hour rollercoaster where I constantly have to focus on being in the moment and not the past. My mom isn't around anymore not that she passed away it was a choice that she made to leave when I was younger which now as an adult I can come to terms with understanding. A choice that many children have to deal with, unfortunately. Many people are dealing with the painful memories of their mom passing or some just never got the chance to know a mother in their life at all. So for the child part of me, mothers day leaves me feeling a little less than empty.

Being a Mother

Flip the coin and Mothers Day as the Mother part of me to my amazing daughter is more then I can put into words, its a blessing uncomparable to anything else I have experienced in life. I feel like I should be getting her a gift for making me a mother, for teaching me more about myself then I knew was possible, for showing me what I am capable of. Being a mother to me is being a protector, a dietician, a nurse, a teacher, a Sunday school teacher, a friend, a disciplinarian, a chef, and a fashion stylist. Being a mom means to cry and laugh together, to go thru life's bumps and hold onto each other's hand the whole way thru. To teach them self-confidence but to also be humble. To be tough but kind and compassionate to everyone. To love openly, reject hate and to find their talents so they can share them with the world. To love God and trust in their journey, to pray about everything in life good and bad and worry about nothing. It's about teaching your children to have gratitude for all they have. To know they always have someone in their corner and they are never alone. Being a mother is life-changing, it makes you focus on someone other than yourself and watch your heart walk around outside of your body twenty-four seven.

Being a mother is carrying another human inside of you for nine months. It's about ridiculous food cravings and getting kicked by those tiny feet. Then when you come home from the hospital after having your baby to suddenly find you are scared of everything lol. The cleaning products, are they organic? The carpets, did we thoroughly shampoo them? Even the vacuum, is it putting dust in the air? Its when your dog is no longer your baby and everyone that walks thru the door needs to wash their hands before going near the bassinet. It's finding out how to sleep in a rocking chair and listen to a baby monitor. For most of us, its sleep deprivation at its finest and loving every minute of the caffeine-infused days and nights. It's learning what food allergies are and secretly tasting the baby food when your child loves or can't stand something. It's about celebrating when they go to the bathroom, and laughing when they eat lemons and make that classic sour face.

Loving the journey

Then school starts and it about trusting someone else to be a huge influence on your precious child. It's about trying to figure out what to do with the free time you now have. It's about bus drivers and teachers, backpacks and report cards. It's about your child learning new habits that are not yours, about them having new experiences without you and you being excited for them. It's about being scared of strangers and yet kind to everyone. It's about packing your child a healthy balanced lunch then them grabbing a pizza and coke to fit in with their friends and frankly, it just sounds better.

Life goes by so fast. So if all I can say is, as a mother, enjoy every moment, every milestone, take the ups with the downs, and celebrate every success. Please, please don't ever compare yourself and know that your child doesn't care if your make up is perfect or what brand of clothing you are wearing, they just care that your there. Being a mother to me is unconditional love and faith in another human being.

What is Mothers Day to you?

"Mothers Day to me means to celebrate the person who you raised you, and loved you, and taught you to be the amazing mother and person we all are today".  -Robyn

"Mothers Day last year was very special having my baby with me, just being able to hold my two-month-old baby and being able to kiss and love her all day was enough for me" -Adriana

"Mothers Day to me means: spending time with the person who brought you into the world, who took care of you when you were sick, and helped mold and guide you into becoming the person you are today. My mother is very special to me and I am happy to have her and love her with all my heart" -Terri

"My micro-preemie son nursing for the first time on Mothers Day. He came home from the NICU about a week later" -Christie

“Having kids—the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical, responsible human beings—is the biggest job anyone can embark on.” —Maria Shriver

[latchingontoallofyou]

Journey Part 5

Part 5

Jenna wakes up to a text tone coming from her phone. She quickly grabs it, worried something might be wrong. She freaks out when she sees it’s Charlotte but once she actually reads the text she calms down.

C- Your little girl is amazing. After her tough day, all her numbers improved drastically throughout the night. Her oxygen levels are the best yet and we were able to lower the amount coming through her nasal cannula. Her sugar levels seemed to be regulated very well all night. Her feedings went very well. Normal spit up. We didn’t increase them yet. We want to make sure everything stays the same before we increase again. She’s amazing!

J- Oh, that’s such good news! Thank you! We were so worried. We know she is tough but she had a lot going on yesterday. Does anyone have an idea why so much was going wrong yesterday?

C- Because she is a preemie. This happens. That fact that she recovered so quickly is a great sign.

J- Could she have gotten a virus or something to cause all the vomiting?

C- Most likely not. It would have lasted longer. She could have just been tired and couldn’t handle it all yesterday. Or she wasn’t ready for the increase in food or decrease in oxygen. It’s hard to say. But don’t worry about it and embrace this new day. She’s doing great this morning. Go have a nice breakfast or something with Val this morning. You deserve it.

J- Thank you Charlotte. Thank you for all you do for us and our sweet Nyla. Want some Starbucks? I’m thinking we’ll stop there on our way over. I’m not sure I can stay away from her much longer knowing she’s doing so well.

C- Starbucks would be great but I’m about to head out. My shift is just about over. I’ll see you tomorrow when I’m back to day shift.

J- I’ll bring it tomorrow for you then. Thank you again for all you do.

“Jen, what are you doing up? Is everything alright?”

“Good morning, honey. I woke up to a text from Charlotte.”

“Oh no.”

“No, all is good. Nyla improved a lot overnight. She is doing much better today.”

“Well let’s go see her!”

“We will. We can’t go yet. They won’t let us in. How about we go get some Starbucks before we go to the hospital. Oh, and we have to get some tomorrow before we go for Charlotte. I want to give her some after all she’s done for Nyla but her shift is over and she won’t be back until tomorrow morning.”

“Good idea. I think we should get a bunch of coffees for the nurses for today. We can do it tomorrow too.”

“Great idea! Let’s go!”

After stopping to pick up coffees and teas, they head to the hospital together in one car because Val doesn’t have to go to the studio today. Mandy had already told him to not even think about coming in. He happily said ok.

With arms full of drinks, they head up to the NICU. They laugh when they see all of the nurses faces when they see all of the drinks. Once the drinks are on the counter, they all come rushing over and grab themselves a hot drink.

Jenna and Val wash up and head into the NICU and head right over to their sweet girl. She has the least amount of tubes yet. She looks so healthy today. Jenna and Val both open a whole in the incubator lid and reach in and lay hands on Nyla.

“I swear she just smiled at us Val.”

“I think I saw it too.”

“She looks so good.”

“Charlotte said she had a great night.”

“I wish she was out of this thing so I could see her better.”

“Your wish is about to come true. Good morning. I hope you both had as good of a night as she did.”

“We did. Thank you” Val says shaking the doctor’s hand.

“Great. Well Nyla here did fabulous last night. She corrected all that she was struggling with yesterday. The one thing that never dipped was her body temperature. She’s been keeping that regulated all on her own. We are ready to graduate her to an open bassinet.”

“Really?” Jenna says excitedly, looking up from Nyla and right at Dr. Goodwin.

“Yes. She will start off with a little warming blanket underneath her just to not give her body a shock. It will be turned down every half hour until it is completely off. She be swaddled into blankets and we may put her in an outfit…”

“But we didn’t bring any. We didn’t know and…”

“That’s ok. We have extra brand-new outfits here. You can even pick which one you want her to wear until you can bring your own.”

“We don’t have any preemie clothes anyway Jen” Val cuts in saying.

“You’ll want to get some soon. I can’t imagine your tough girl here will need to be here much longer.”

“But she had such a tough day yesterday.”

“That’s just how it goes. She is doing great.”

“What about her diabetes?”

“What about it?”

“We haven’t given any decisions to anyone on her management once we leave the hospital.”

“Right. Her specialist should be coming today. He’ll go over everything with you and you’ll be able to tell him what you would like to do.”

“Oh good” Jenna sighs.

“When do you think she might come home? Like how quickly do we need to get preemie clothes?” Val asks.

“Not sure just yet. We need to see how her feeds progress. She needs to be off the feeding tube before she goes off. She also needs to be fully breathing on her own. That should be soon. Her feedings are coming along but…”

“Not as quickly as her breathing. Yea. She’ll get it. She’s tough. Aren’t you, baby girl?” Jenna says running her thumb across Nyla’s chest.

“She sure is. Would one of you like to come pick an outfit for her?”

“You go Jen” Val says.

“Ok” Jenna says jumping up from the rocker she was sitting in and follows Dr. Goodwin towards a closet just outside the nursery.

She feels like crying when she walks into the closet that is full of baby gear. She hates to think of all the parents that donated these things when they had to leave for good without a baby. Dr. Goodwin shows her to the section of preemie clothes and then leaves her alone to pick one. She searches though all of the tiny clothes, hurting for all the littles ones that did not get to wear the clothes their parents picked out for them. She settles on a pink long sleeve and pants onesie that is a blush pink color with a white floral design. There is even a white flower headband to go along with it but she isn’t sure if she’ll end up putting that on Nyla. She brings it over to Nyla’s area and lays it on the top of the rocker. Dr. Goodwin is there and is writing something in her chart.

“Find one ok?” Dr. Goodwin asks.

“Yes. This ok?” Jenna asks holding it up.

“Perfect. Very cute. She might not tolerate the headband but we can give it a try.”

“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to put it on her but I loved the onesie.”

“Whatever you want to do is fine. Who wants to hold her while we swap out the beds?”

“Val, you hold her. You weren’t here yesterday and…”

“Ok” Val says smiling and takes a seat in the rocker. Jenna kisses his head and stands behind the chair.

A nurse that had just joined them opens the incubator and after moving the little bit of wires on Nyla, she lifts her out brings her over to Val, laying her against his chest.

“Hi baby girl” he whispers before kissing her head. “I missed you so much yesterday. Sorry I couldn’t be here but I’ll be here as long as they’ll let me today. I’m so glad you are doing better today. No more scares like that. Ok?”

The incubator is rolled away and reality hits for both Jenna and Val. Their baby girl, born ahead of time, is actually doing well. She is making great strides. She’s showing her strength in the face of adversity. Their Nyla Greys is taking the next step on this journey called life.

~

As they leave the hospital that night, big smiles are on their faces. Nyla is on the lowest level of the heating blanket and will most likely be off it when they get back to the hospital tomorrow morning. She is back to the feedings that she had moved up to before yesterday’s set back. She required minimal insulin shots.

They talked to her diabetes specialist this afternoon. After he looked at her case and numbers, he recommended getting a Dexcom machine just like they were planning anyway. He took measurements and will have a machine made up. It should arrive within the next week and when it comes he’ll be there to show them how it works and get it set up.

They have decided that they need to celebrate tonight; have that date night they were talking about. As they walk to the car hand in hand, Val can’t get his mind off of Nyla still.

“Hey babe?” Jenna says.

“Yea?”

“I know we said we wanted to have a date night and that usually means dinner, movie, or whatever but would it still count as a date night if we go out shopping for Nyla and then finish up the nursery?”

“I think so. I mean, we’ve never had a date night as parents before so I don’t think there are any rules or guidelines except that you and I are there.”

“Good thing we are following that already. You’re really ok with it though?”

“How about this? How about we go have a nice dinner. No fast food. Then after we eat we go shopping. We need to get some preemie clothes. Then if we aren’t exhausted, we can finish the nursery. If we don’t do that tonight, we can do it tomorrow.”

“That sounds perfect. Thank you.”

“We deserve it.”

“I guess.”

“Where should we eat?”

“Preferably somewhere where we won’t get tons of paparazzi taking pictures of us that will become a story on how ‘The new parents from Dancing with The Stars are leaving their premature daughter at the hospital to enjoy a night out on the town.’ Or even ‘The new parents are stepping out for a needed night out after being with their sick daughter all day.’ The stories they’ll come up with are endless.”

“I know. I know I said no fast food but what if we go to Fratelli’s? Paparazzi never bother us there.”

“Let’s go” Jenna says as they get into their car.

“You sure?”

“Yes. I haven’t eaten there in a while now I want it. It’s the perfect place. Not too far from shopping and no one bothers us there.”

“Alright. Fratelli’s it is.”

After a quick drive to the restaurant, they happily walk in together to one of their favorite places. Their favorite table is open and they take their seat, facing each other. It feels like the first time they’ve really sat and looked at each other’s faces since before Nyla was born. They seem to be either next to each other or one behind the other while looking down at their little girl. It almost feels like when they would come back from tours away from each other. Val almost feels like he’s discovering things about his wife again by just sitting across from her.

“I’ve missed you” Val says.

“I missed you too. Those two days were so hard.”

“They were but I feel like I’ve missed you more than that. I feel like we haven’t spent time with you in so long. I mean I know we’ve been together though every step of this journey but we’ve spend all day focusing on Nyla, and a bit of work for me, and then at night we eat and crash. I’m not really complaining. I just miss you. That’s all.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. You have nothing to be sorry about. We need to focus on Nyla but we need to find time for the two of us.”

“You’re right. We do.”

“I think we should try to have some time each day to sit across from each other like this and talk. Not next to each other. We have to be across because then we are really seeing each other.”

“I like that.”

“Me too. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

~

Having finished dinner, Jenna and Val are now out shopping for clothes for Nyla. Looking at all of the preemie clothes makes it hit home a bit more for each of them how small Nyla really is. She is growly for sure but she’s still so small. Jenna is as happy as can be as she picks out cute onesie and leggings after another. She even picks out a few dresses. Val has picked out a few things but he’s mostly along for the ride.

“Oh Val!”

“What?”

“We are going to have to get her a Halloween costume.”

“We are not taking her out trick or treating. She’s too young.”

“I know but kids come to our door. Plus, we are parents now. We have to take holiday pictures like that. It’s like an unwritten rule.”

“Fine. Just no pumpkin costume. Something different.”

“I agree.”

“We don’t need to buy it tonight.”

“I know I was just saying it out loud so that maybe I’ll actually remember it and if I don’t then you will. Don’t let us forget to get her one.”

“Ok” he laughs.

“I’m serious Valentin!”

“I know you are.”

“I think we are good for now” Jenna says looking at the cart full of clothes. “I mean, I might look online still but this will do for now.”

“Baby, you know she isn’t going to say in preemie clothes forever. She’s growing and will grow out of them soon enough.”

“I know but…”

“She’s our princess and she deserves the best. I know.”

“Plus, we can donate whatever we don’t use back to the hospital.”

“Was there not a lot in the closet?”

“More than there should be. I wanted to cry because I kept thinking about all the babies who were supposed to wear those outfits but didn’t get to. All the parents who left for good without a baby. All those babies who had a short little journey. We are so blessed she is here. It made yesterday seem like nothing.”

“Oh, I can only imagine.”

They head towards the front of the store and then check out. With a bag in each hand, Val follows Jenna out to the car. He puts the bags in the trunk and goes to get into the driver’s seat but when he gets there, Jenna is already in it and buckled in.

“I can tell you are tired so I figured I’d drive.”

“You’re the best wife ever. Thank you” he says, quickly kisses her before going around the front of the car and then climbing into the passenger door. He yawns as he buckles up.

“Sorry.”

“You’ve had a crazy few days. You have every right to be tired.”

“So do you. You’ve been through so much lately and…”

“I am tired but not as much I guess. There is one thing I want to do before we go home and go to bed.”

“What’s that?”

“Ice cream. We have gotten ice cream to end so many of our date nights that I think tonight calls for it as well.”

“I agree.”

“Good because I was going even if you didn’t agree.”

“Oh, the truth comes out. That’s really why you are driving.”

“Maybe…” she says trying not to laugh.

To wake himself up a bit, Val turns their favorite playlist up loud and they rock out to it, singing as loudly as they can for the whole ride. It’s like they are high schoolers again. They decided a long time ago that they would have been that obnoxiously annoying teenage couple if they had known each other then. But they don’t care. They love who they are together and that’s all that matters.

Soon enough they are at their favorite ice cream shop. They are just about the only ones there. There is a teenage couple in one corner, with the girl blushing away as the boy talks to her. She lets out a little giggle that Jenna can just barely hear when the boy moves some hair out of her face. Jenna knows the feeling. She still gets like that most days. It still amazes her that a man like Val could love a girl like her.

Val notices the older couple in the middle of the room. The man clearly has his hand on his wife’s thigh. Her hand is on top of his. With no phones in sight, they are so engaged in conversation that their ice creams are melting all over their hands. He pictures that be him and Jenna down the line.

Val slips his hand into Jenna’s as they look over their ice cream options. She gives his hand a squeeze. Jenna ends up ordering moose tracks and Val gets vanilla peanut butter. They pick a table that is in between the two other couples in the room. Val is facing the older couple and Jenna the younger.

“That’s us over there. Us in the past that didn’t happen. The us if we met in high school. She can’t stop blushing. He is being so gentle and sweet. He’s moving her hair, listening intently to everything she says while staring so hard at her, trying to learn every part of her. She’s acting like she doesn’t want to look at him but she keeps stealing glances and getting caught. That’s us.”

“And these guys are us in the future. Still so in love that they are touching whenever possible. There is nothing more important than the other, so much so that their ice cream is melting all over. They notice each other’s mess and clean it up without seeing their own. He’s still got stars in his eyes when he looks at her. She’s still got the blush. They radiate love all around. That’s going to be us.”

“Past, present and future Valenna all in one room.”

“I can’t wait to bring Nyla here one day. Think she’ll love ice cream as much as we do?” Val asks.

“Yes! I mean, we’ll have to keep an eye on her intake and sugars but I bet she’ll love it.”

“True. I also can’t wait to take her to the studio. I want to show her where we feel back in love. I wish we could go to where it first all started but we can just tell her about that.”

“I want to take her to that hotel room where we found out I was pregnant with her” Jenna smiles.

“That would be great. We should do that one day. Do you remember what number room we were in?”

“409.”

“Don’t forget that” Val laughs.

“Oh, I won’t. I have a picture of the number sign and the address of the hotel. I never wanted to forget.”

“You’re so smart.”

“Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt. We just wanted to say how much you remind us of ourselves when we were first married. The way you look at each other like your worlds revolve around each other. Your love for each other is so evident” the older man says. He and his wife are now standing right next to Jenna and Val’s table.

“We were saying the same things about you. We were saying how much we imagine we will be like you two. Your love is so evident.”

“Why thank you. I’ve got one amazing woman here. She’s such a joy to be married to. How long have you been married?”

“1 and a half years” Jenna says with a smile.

“Aw, newlyweds” the husband says.

“I figured so” the wife says. “We’ve been married for 45 years now. Feels like just yesterday most days.”

“45 years and 5 kids later, we’re still going strong.”

“Wow. 5 kids. We just had our first.”

“Oh, first night out?” the wife asks.

“Kind of. Our daughter Nyla was born at 29 weeks. She’s still in the NICU. We’ve been spending all our time with her. She is improving and we hope she won’t be there for much longer. We realized we needed a night where we don’t go home and eat and crash. We needed a night to reconnect. I’m so glad we did it.”

“Oh bless you. Our oldest son’s son was born at 29 weeks as well. He spent a while in the hospital and had many struggles. Make sure you take time for yourselves. You need to take care of yourselves so you can take care of her.”

“We’re trying.”

“We’re Ted and Wendy by the way” Ted says.

“I’m Val and this is my wife Jenna.”

“It was so nice to meet you both” Wendy says. “Can we take a picture with you? We’d like to pray for you and your daughter and it will be easier if we have your picture to pray over.”

“Of course” Jenna smiles. “We would love that.”

“Young man” Ted calls out, trying to get the attention of the teenage boy a few tables down. The teen looks around confused.

“Yes sir?” the boy says.

“Sorry to bother you but can you take a picture of the 4 of us please.”

“Oh, sure” he says and comes over, taking Ted’s phone that he is holding out. Jenna and Val stand up and gather with Ted and Wendy for a picture.

“Ok, I took a few so you can pick which ones you like.”

“Thank you, young man. Keep treating that young lady right.”

“I will sir.”

“One more of just you two?” Ted asks.

“Sure” Val says pulling Jenna to his side, earning a big smile from her.

“Got it. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Think you can send those to me Ted?”

“Of course. You just add your number in here and I’ll send them to you later.”

“Thank you.”

When Val gives Ted back his phone and hugs for all, Ted and Wendy leave and Jenna and Val get back to their ice cream. When they are about to leave, Jenna reaches into her wallet and pulls out a 20-dollar bill. Val looks at her confused.

“I’m going to give it to them.”

“Well then here” Val says, reaching into his wallet and pulls out another 20. With a smile, Jenna leans in and kisses him after taking the bill.

She walks over to the young couple and place the 20s on the table in. They both look away from each other, look at the money and then up at Jenna.

“You two remind us of younger versions of ourselves. Consider your next date on us” she says and then walks away.

“Thank you” the girl calls out after them.

~

Val wakes up the next morning after having the best night’s sleep since Nyla was born. He actually feels refreshed. Ignoring his phone, Val heads to make breakfast. He whips up some pancakes, eggs, and fruit and brings it upstairs to eat in bed with Jenna. She’s still asleep so he puts the trays for food on the dresser and gently wakes her up.

“Jenna, baby, wake up.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I just made breakfast.”

“Oh, thank you” she smiles.

“You’re welcome. It’s another date night tradition. Breakfast in bed the next morning.”

“Well we didn’t end our date night like we usually do last night so I didn’t think you would make breakfast.”

“That doesn’t matter. Now sit up and I’ll bring it over.”

Jenna sits herself up and leans against the headboard. Val puts her tray on her legs and then grabs his and puts it on his night stand while he climbs back into bed. With nothing on in the background, they eat in silence.

“Thank you, honey. This is delicious as usual.”

“Hey, it one of the only breakfasts I’m good at making.”

“No hotdogs this time” she laughs.

“Shut up. You know you liked it.”

“It was still funny. And then you went and posted it online; that’s just asking for it to be a running joke.”

“I know, not my smartest post.”

“We learn from our mistakes.”

Val just shakes his head knowing that if he says anything else he’ll be encouraging her to continue this conversation that he is very ready to be done. He just takes another bite, a rather big bite, while Jenna laughs at him. He loves hearing that laugh. He misses it.

“Have you heard anything from Mandy?”

“I haven’t checked my phone yet.”

“Val!”

“What? It isn’t my top priority.”

“But that’s your job. You have to see when your call time is.”

“Fine.”

Val reaches for his phone and sees a few other notifications as well as a text from Mandy. He sighs and slides on the text notification so it opens up.

M- Hey Val. Hope all is well. For this week, I have you in only 1 bumper and the opening. They will both be towards the beginning of the show so after you dance them both, you could head out if you want to. Does that sound ok?

V- That sounds great Mandy. Thank you. Nyla is really starting to improve so we’ll be having more meetings with doctors in the days to come that’ll I’ll need to be there for. What time would you like me in today?

M- Oh that’s so good to hear! So strong like her Mommy and Daddy. What would be better for you? A quick session in the morning to learn the bumper or later at night?

“Jenna, would you rather me have a morning call at the studio or night?”

“If you do night I can come with you.”

“Really? You want to go?”

“Yes. I miss everyone.”

“Ok. I’ll tell her night then.”

“Don’t tell her I’m coming.”

“But this would just be a bumper so not everyone will be there. Maybe I can convince her to do the opening dance then.”

“Do it.”

V- Night is probably better. Think we could do the opening though? I’ve got something I want to show everyone and if we do the opening, more people will be there.

M- You got it. I’ll let everyone know. How does 7pm sound?

V- You rock. 7 is great. See you tonight. Let me know if anything changes.

“She said she’ll switch it to opening number rehearsal. I said I have something I want to show everyone.”

“She’s the best.”

“She is. I’m so excited you are coming to the studio tonight. It’s been so weird without you there. It was like the season you took off. That sucked.”

“I know.”

“We should get going soon. She says 7pm so we’ll have to leave the hospital earlier so we can eat and still get there in time.”

“I say we roll in right around 7 so that no one suspects anything or sees me.”

“I think we should plan to be there at like 6:45 at least so we don’t cut into too much of the rehearsal time with all the excitement over you.”

“That’s probably a good idea. We should go now then so we have plenty of time with Nyla today.”

“Go get dressed then.”

~

“You ready Jen?” Val asks as she looks over Nyla sleeping in her bassinet.

“Yea, I guess so. Sorry we are leaving so early today, lovey. We’ll be back early tomorrow. We love you, big girl. Get lots of rest and keep grow. We can hardly wait until you are home with us.” Jenna kisses Nyla’s head and tugs on her little onesie a bit until it lays nicer.

“I love you, Nyla girl. Sweet dreams.” He kisses Nyla and then takes Jenna’s hand and follows her out of the hospital. They feel so much better know that one of their favorite nurses, Ellie is working tonight.

“What do you want to pick up for dinner?” Val asks.

“Can we do fast food tonight?”

“I mean, that’s kinda what I was thinking so…”

“Good. I want In and Out. I want a milk shake. Strawberry.”

“That’s perfect. It’s along the way.”

“Thank you” she smiles at him.

“Who do you think will have the best reaction?”

“Mandy. Or maybe Linds, or Emma. Sharna to probably. Ok, I don’t know. I think they’ll all freak out a bit.”

“Yea, you’re right. Alan’s gonna be excited.”

“Good old Alan” Jenna laughs.

~

Having finished eating their dinner on the drive to the studio, all Jenna and Val have to grab when they get to the studio is Val’s dance bag, Jenna’s purse, and her milkshake that she’s barely touched so far.

“Is it not good” he says motioning to the milkshake.

“It’s fine. I just wanted to safe it for when I watch you guys dance. I’m going to need something to keep me from getting up to join you all. I’m hoping this will help.”

“You can dance with us.”

“No, I can’t. I’m not really cleared for that. Plus, I don’t want to get in the way.”

“You won’t. I bet Mandy will get you to help her choreograph with her.”

“No doubt. I’m not going to the show Monday though.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I need to be with Nyla.”

“I know. Now, come on. Let’s go inside. I think we’ve been sitting in our car for long enough.”

“I’m so excited” she says grabbing her shake and her purse before climbing out of the car. She meets Val at the front of the car and they head inside together, completely ignoring the few paps still outside of the studio.

Have already gotten the text that said what studio they’d be in, Val leads Jenna past the front desk and back to the biggest studio room. The room is empty so they both go and take a seat on the steps in the back of the studio.

“Where is everyone?”

“They’ll be here Jen.”

“I want to go find Mandy.”

“Have patience Jenna. She’ll be here soon.”

“But…”

The door to the studio opens and in walks Mandy. Mandy freezes in the door way, still holding the door. Her jaw drops. When Jenna stands up, Mandy lets go of the door and lets out a squeal.

“You’re here!” Mandy squeals excitedly and rushes over to Jenna, wrapping her in a hug.

“Surprise” Jenna laughs.

“Is this what you wanted to show everyone?” Mandy says as she pulls out of the hug and looks at Val.

“Yes. Like it?”

“I love it! You can help me with this dance!”

Jenna and Val look at each other and start laughing. Mandy looks at them confused.

“What did I miss?”

“We knew you’d say that.”

“Oh my goodness, I can’t believe you are here. How is Nyla?”

“She’s doing great. She had her best day yet. She’s controlling her body temperature all on her own. She’s on the lowest amount of oxygen you can get. Her feedings still need work but she’s getting there. We need her to take all her feedings by bottle before she can come home.”

“That’s so exciting.”

The door opens again and in walks Alan and Gleb, laughing about something only they know. Alan stops laughing as soon as he sees Jenna. A big smile grows on his face. He walks over to Jenna and pulls her into a hug. They’ve always been like siblings.

“What are you doing here?”

“I can to surprise everyone.”

“I miss you around here.”

“I miss being around here.”

“Welcome back Jen. It’s great to see you” Gleb says.

“Thanks Gleb.”

“I could have sworn I heard…” Jenna hears Lindsay saying and then she appears in the room. “Jenna!” both Lindsay and Sharna yell at the same time and come running towards them. She opens her arms to both, happy to hug them both again.

“Hi” Jenna says happily.

“Hi! Oh it’s so good to hug you again” Lindsay says.

“How’s Nyla?” Sharna asks.

“Great. She’s so strong. Want to see pictures?”

“Yes!” everyone says.

[justanoutlawfic]

Scrabble Chapt. 6

Story Summary:  Mary Margaret and David are two best friends who desperately want a baby. One night, over a game of Scrabble, she suggests they have one together.

Chapter Summary: David moves into the loft. Thomas is assisting and makes the process as awkward as possible. 

Also on AO3/FF

David’s eyes flickered open and he felt very hard. There was a sensation on his penis and he realized just what it was…Mary Margaret. A smile fell across his lips and he let out a tiny moan. He could see her head peeking out from under the covers, concentrated on her work. He gripped onto the pillow and felt her tiny kisses mixed in with the sucking. He didn’t want to reach the climax, not yet, he wanted to savor each and every moment. However, his body overrode his heart and he soon came, panting heavily.

 “That’s certainly one way to wake up,” he mumbled.

Mary Margaret shrugged and cuddled up against his chest. “I woke up and was bored.”

“We have a newborn, how could you possibly be bored?”

“He’s out like a light.”

 David looked down at her, taking in every feature. Her green eyes seemed to sparkle in the sunlight that came through the curtains. They matched the ring on her left hand, the very same ring his father had given to his mother. Her cheeks were flushed from her previous activity. Due to breast feeding, she was wearing a loose nightgown. There was evidence of the long nights in the bags under her eyes and her hair hadn’t been washed in a couple of days. It didn’t matter, though. She was beautiful, every inch of her.

 Suddenly, he became aware of the bassinet just a few feet away from the bed. Reaching over, he peered down inside. A chubby newborn laid there, wailing and wiggling about. He reached inside, taking him into his arms and kissing his forehead.

 “So much for sleep,” he muttered.

“Hey, he’s been asleep since 2 and it’s….” Mary Margaret trailed off and she glanced over at their alarm clock. “7.”

“Much better than…”

 Before he could finish the sentence, there were light footsteps outside the door. It was slowly pushed open and all he saw were fluffy swan slippers…

 David’s eyes opened and he looked around the room, realizing where he was. There was no more of that warm, inviting master bedroom. Instead, he was in his mostly empty apartment, boxes taped up and the faintest smell of the Chinese food he had ordered the night before.

 It wasn’t the first time he had dreams of having sex with Mary Margaret. They had been happening ever since Valentine’s Day, the first time they slept together. It wasn’t every night, but at least once a week, he’d wake up feeling sweaty and wet. He hadn’t had a wet dream since junior high and didn’t understand what was going on. It had been one time, to make a baby.

  Yet he still fantasized about it all.

 That was the first time he had dreamt about the baby, though. He chalked that one up to having their first ultrasound the day before. There hadn’t been much, he could barely make out the fetus on the screen, but the heartbeat is what got to him. Mary Margaret was really pregnant with a baby. Their baby.

 A baby boy?

 It was far too early to tell and he didn’t want to get his hopes up. Dreams hardly meant anything. After all, in that dream they were clearly engaged or married. That wasn’t going to happen. They didn’t even live in that house he always seemed to dream about.

 They were about to live together, though.

 They hadn’t been able to move in together as son as she found out she was pregnant. He still had a lease to finish up, which luckily was through at the end of the month. The furniture had been there when he moved in and the landlord offered to sell it to him for a price, but he declined. Mary Margaret’s spare room had a bed and all that. In fact, outside his clothes, he wasn’t bringing much. He had his computer, the collection of movies and books he had accumulated over the year and his degrees. He had pictures from his childhood, before George entered the picture and the few of James before he died. There was only one thing he had of value that he kept with him, no matter what: his mother’s wedding ring.

 Ruth had given it to David on the day she married George. She said it didn’t feel right wearing it, it wouldn’t be fair to Robert. She told him to keep it safe, give it to the woman he loved. Despite being so young, he kept true to his word and protected it with all his might. However, when he got older and James took a turn, he ended up stealing and pawning the ring for drugs. David was furious. The one thing they had left of their mother (and by extension, their father) and he sold it for crack. He was with Kathryn at the time and had been planning on proposing. He had been unable to find the ring, so he bought a different one.

 Shortly after James’ death, one of his old friends came to David and told him that he had found the ring among the possessions of the man who had killed him. He thought he’d like to have it. Kathryn took one look at it, turned her nose up and said she was perfectly fine with her diamond from Gold’s Pawnshop. So, he stuck it in his sock drawer and said they could give it to their child.

 Now the ring was packed away, ready to go into his new sock drawer. One day, he’d present it to his future child and offer it to them. In many ways, he was glad that Kathryn was a jewelry snob. He had nearly lost it for good once, he wasn’t going to let it happen again.

 Pulling himself out of bed, he showered and changed into the one outfit he left out. Just as he was finishing tying up a trash bag, Kenneth and Thomas barged into the apartment. Thomas was wearing a beat up pair of jeans and an old college t-shirt, while Kenneth was still in one of his suits, cane in hand. David had told him not to worry about helping with the move, but he was waved off. Gold was nothing, if not stubborn.

 “Let’s get you moved in with your baby mama,” Thomas said, with a twinkle in his eye.

 Telling their friends about the baby had been a challenge. Obviously, Kenneth and Regina knew about it (and by extension, Belle and Mal, since their partners had told them). They weren’t sure what to expect, but they seemed accepting, on the outside anyway. Mary Margaret and David weren’t stupid. Their friends had questions, they just knew better than to ask them in the moment. Instead, they all just hugged them and had big congratulations. As Ruby brought up co-parenting, she was swiftly interrupted by Ashley, who instead started asking Mary Margaret about what symptoms she was experiencing.

 “Can you not refer to her as that, please?” David asked, with a slight eye roll.

“Sorry.” He paused for a moment and David could tell his friend had something more to say.

“Go on with it.”

Thomas sighed. “Look, I’m happy for you two, I really am. I also think it’s great that you’re going to be living together. I mean, I love Alex, I can’t imagine a day without my little girl…”

“Did your rambling have a point?” Gold asked. “I’m not gonna get any younger.”

He cast a look at the older man before glancing back at David. “Have you thought about what you’re going to tell the baby some day?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Mr. Crabby Pants over here can explain to Bae that sometimes things don’t work out in marriage,” Thomas continued, ignoring Kenneth’s cane poking his leg over the nickname. “What are you going to tell him or her?”

“I…I don’t know,” David admitted, scratching the back of his neck. “I mean, I guess that we both just wanted a family and who better to have a child than with your best friend?”

“And when they ask why Mommy and Daddy aren’t together?”

“You really think they’re not going to be together by the time the baby is old enough to ask this?” Kenneth asked.

“We won’t be,” David said.

“Okay, sure, whatever.”

David resisted the urge to trip him. “Look, I don’t know. Hopefully the baby just won’t question things, to them, it’s just going to be normal.”

“But it’s not normal,” Thomas said. “I’m not saying what you two did is wrong, but look around. Even for co-parenting situations, this isn’t a typical situation.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Now come on, let’s get these boxes into the truck.”

 He purposefully hoisted the heaviest box into Thomas’ arms when the two men stepped forward to start helping.

Mary Margaret flattened out the sheet on the bed, looking around. She had done her best to make the room as much to David’s liking as possible. The bedding was a dark blue and the walls had been stripped of the floral paintings she had purchased when she first moved in. She couldn’t do much about the horrid wallpaper, the stupid landlord refused to let her paint.

 “Anything would be a step up from his last place,” Ashley commented from her spot in the arm chair near the bed. Alexandra was bundled up in her arms, feeding contently. “I mean, it was the literal definition of bachelor pad.”

“He had to find it on short notice,” Mary Margaret reminded her.

Ashley nodded. “Does Kathryn know?”

“Not yet. I do my best to avoid talking to her at all costs.”

“You know you’ll have to tell her eventually, don’t you?”

“I’m more concerned about telling my father.”

Ashley made a face. “Oh yeah, I’d be worried about that too. I don’t think my step-mother knows about Alexandra yet.”

 Mary Margaret nodded sympathetically and settled in the chair next to her. She stared at her friend for a few moments, watching as she burped the baby and smiled down at her as if she was the only person on that Earth. Suddenly, her head snapped up and she beamed.

 “Oh, I meant to tell you! I brought you a baby gift,” she said. “I left it in the car, here, hold Alexandra.”

 Alexandra was put in her arms and Ashley dashed down the stairs. Mary Margaret couldn’t help but chuckle. Ashley had always been a little spacey. She looked down at Alexandra, taking in her different features. She was a few months old, but already it was cleared she favored her mother. The one thing she inherited from her father, was her nose. She adjusted Alex and started bouncing her.

 “Do you think you can be friends with my baby?” She asked. “I’m kind of worried about that. I always had more friends than I knew what to do with, but David said he didn’t really have friends until he moved to Storybrooke. I just think it’d be nice if you and my baby could look out for one another. What do you say?”

 The baby yawned a bit and raised her fist in the air, which made Mary Margaret laugh.

 “I’ll take that as a yes.”

 The door to the loft opened again and Ashley appeared, holding a rather large box. She came up the stairs and set it at Mary Margaret’s feet, taking her daughter back. Slowly, Mary Margaret tore off the paper and lifted the lid. She gasped as she lifted out the blue and white glass mobile. There were clearly hand crafted unicorns hanging from each of the crystals. She slowly touched one, a smile going across her face.

“Ashley, this is beautiful,” she breathed.

“I got two different mobiles at my baby shower.” She shrugged. “This one didn’t really go with the nursery’s theme. I know you don’t know what you’re having yet, but I figured unicorns can work for either.”

Mary Margaret settled it back down into the newspaper and stood up, hugging her friend. “It’s perfect, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” She looked around the room. “Mary Margaret, you know what you’re doing, don’t you?”

“What?”

“The baby, David moving in…you’re a smart woman. You have to know what’s happening here.”

“Ashley…”

“Just…don’t fight anything, okay? You deserve to be happy.”

 Mary Margaret’s mouth fell open. Where the hell had that come from? Normally, it was Ruby who gave the blunt advice. Ashley was the one who nudged her and got her to shut up. The door to the loft opened once again and she could hear the men bickering about something.

 “I…I’m gonna go help the guys,” Mary Margaret stammered. She moved the box to a shelf in the closet and quickly walked downstairs. “You got everything over here in one load?”

“Yup, I didn’t really have much I wanted to bring,” David replied. He examined her face, telling something was off. “You okay?”

“Fine. Here, let me…”

“No,” David waved her off. “You’re pregnant, you’re not helping.”

Mary Margaret arched an eyebrow. “David, I am not sick with the flu. I don’t need to be up in bed all day.”

“I know, but you don’t need to carry any heavy boxes.”

 She rolled her eyes and took the few that Gold was holding, heading up the stairs. Ashley giggled from the bottom, starting to rock a now fussy Alexandra.

“You should know better than to tell Mary Margaret to not do something,” she observed.

 David made a face. She was right. After putting Alexandra down in the playpen she had brought by, Ashley got to work helping them bring in all the boxes.

 The next part was unpacking everything. Mary Margaret was folding up the clothes when she came across the tiny velvet box. Flipping it open, she saw the ring inside. She knew just what it was, she had been with David the day it was returned. Thomas glanced over to ask her if she had any more pegs to hang up a poster and saw it. A smirk fell across his face.

“David, is there something you wanted to ask Mary Margaret?” He asked.

David looked over and paused. “I forgot that was in there,” he said.

“Wanted it to be a surprise, did you?”

“Thomas, can you stop being an asshole for once in your life?” Mary Margaret snapped. After Ashley’s quips, she wasn’t in the mood. Thomas raised his hands in mock defense. “It was his mother’s. He’s saving it for his child.”

Ashley smiled, trying to ease the tension her husband caused. “That’s sweet. It’s such a pretty ring.”

“It matches Mare’s eyes,” Thomas continued, clearly not knowing when to quit.

“It does not,” Mary Margaret lied. It wasn’t like she had thought that when she first saw it.

“Prove it.”

 Mary Margaret glanced over at David and he shrugged, he wanted the banter to end so things could stop being awkward. Taking the ring from the box, she slid it onto the ring finger on her left hand. Gazing down at the ring, she realized she didn’t want to take it off. David was staring at her too, looking from the ring to her. A silence fell over the room as Ashley, Thomas and Gold stared at them. Mary Margaret knew she had to shake it off, she was being crazy, pregnancy hormones getting to her.

 “Yeah, not me at all,” she confirmed, taking it off and putting it back in the box before handing it to David. “I don’t know where you want that.”

 David quickly nodded and fumbled to put it in the sock drawer. Neither of them noticed the look Ashley was giving her husband, a warning to not say anything more.

 The rest of the unpacking went over fairly smoothly. Kenneth managed to ease the tension by mentioning that Belle would be by later with some food. That lead the topic to pregnancy cravings. Mary Margaret didn’t have any yet, it was a bit too soon, but food did taste a little different. Ashley went on to talking about how she could never eat her once favorite lobster bisque because when she was pregnant, the scent of it made her want to gag.

 As promised, Belle came later with some food and both of her boys in tow. Baelfire read stories to the babies while the adults chatted and eventually, everyone drifted out, heading home. Mary Margaret and David were left alone, doing dishes.

 “I wanted to talk to you about my gun,” David said.

Mary Margaret winced. “You know I hate it.”

“I do, but I’m the sheriff, I have to have it. I locked it up in the safe in my closet. It’s one of the newer ones, it has facial recognition and everything,” he explained. “There’s no way the baby would ever be able to access it.”

A grateful smile went across her face. “Thanks.”

“It’s not like I would want them to.” He glanced over at the clock. “I didn’t realize what time it was.”

“Yeah, I should probably head to bed myself.”

 They stood there awkwardly for a minute. How was this supposed to go down? Did she hug him? Kiss his cheek? Eventually, he leaned down, kissing the top of her head.

“Night.”

“Night,” she whispered.

 Watching him go up the stairs, she let out a deep breath. She was going to sleep, with a man in the loft. It wasn’t the first time, Victor had spent the night many times. The only difference was that they shared a bed. David would be upstairs, sleeping. It was so weird and she didn’t understand why. He was her best friend!

 Quickly getting ready for bed, she slipped under the covers and shut her eyes. She just had to get through the first night. After that, things would get easier. Little did she know, her dreams were not going to bring her any comfort.

 Mary Margaret hadn’t wanted to have her party, but Eva had insisted. She promised she’d be out of the hospital and better in no time. It wasn’t the first time that the cancer had brought her in and she was always home within a few days. So, Mary Margaret put on a brave face and played with her friends, chasing them all around.

 The phone kept ringing, no one went to answer it. Leopold had somehow managed to turn the party into a business meeting with a few of his clients. Eventually, he shouted over to Johanna to answer it. She did and a solemn look fell across her face. She walked over to her boss and whispered into his ear. He froze and raced to grab his keys. Mary Margaret was confused, but Johanna assured her everything would be okay and to have some cake.

 The party tapered out and Johanna told Mary Margaret they could go see her mother. She was excited and grabbed her favorite present, a doll her father had given her. She clutched to it, a big smile on her face. She didn’t quite understand why Johanna wasn’t. When they arrived, Johanna spoke with a nurse who wasn’t smiling either.

 “She passed a few minutes ago.”

“Who passed what?” Mary Margaret asked. No one said a word. “Can I see my mommy now?”

 Before anyone could answer, she pushed past the nurse, ignoring Johanna’s pleas for her to come back. She hadn’t seen her mommy all day, she wanted to show her the doll. Pushing the door open, she found her father standing next to her mother’s bed. Her mom looked different, though. Her eyes weren’t open, yet she didn’t appear to be sleeping. She was so young, yet Mary Margaret knew.

 The porcelain doll slipped from her hands and fell to the floor, shattering at her feet as she screamed. Her father’s head snapped up, clearly realizing her presence for the first time.

 “Mary Margaret!”

 Her eyes opened and she found David perched on her bed. She was breathing heavily and tears were coming down her face.

 “You were screaming in your sleep,” he said.

 She didn’t say anything else, there was nothing to say. Instead, the tears fell harder and she began to sob. David pulled her into his arms, rubbing her back soothingly. She buried her head into his shoulder, clinging to him for dear life. The breathing subsided, but her tears didn’t.

 “It was that dream again,” she whispered.

“Oh Mare…”

“I…I don’t want to be alone.” The words escaped her lips before she knew what she was saying. “Please…please don’t leave me.”

 David didn’t have to be asked again. He slid down in the bed, holding her close. Her head rested on his chest and she could hear his even heartbeat.

 “You’re not alone, Mary Margaret,” he whispered. “I promise.”