#i wanna wrap her up in a big blanket and swaddle her for a bit

[remyfire]

Margaret moments that make me tender

[braidlottie]

NOTHING’S GONNA HURT YOU, BABY.

pairing: lottie matthews x gn!reader

summary: lottie comforts you after a nightmare.

wc: baby fic 723 :(

tags: h/c (hurt/comfort), you live with lottie at sunshine honey, mommy!lottie sneak?!, lottie is super duper sweet to reader as always :3

title inspired by nothing’s gonna hurt you baby by cigarettes after sex

“somebody’s ready for bed, i see,” lottie smiled as you slipped into bed, wearing your new pajama set she bought for you. you rested your head against her shoulder, covering your mouth as you yawned. “such a sleepy little one. you had a big day, didn’t you?”

you and lottie and the rest of the adults went out for a nice friendly outing, staying out later than usual. going to ihop, and the fair, even driving out of your local area for a game of mini golf (that shauna suggested of course). you had so much fun, you wished you could redo the day all over again.

nodding, you snuggled into lottie’s pillow, feeling so warm and comfortable already under the white duvet. “aren’t you going to work in your office?”

“just for a bit. you think you’ll still be awake when i’m back?”

“nuh-uh.” you slurred. lottie just chuckled, grabbing her laptop, her glasses and patted your leg. she slipped on one of her kaftans that was hanging up in the closet. “that’s okay if you aren’t, sweetheart. i’ll be twenty minutes. tops.” she kissed you twice, once the nose and the lips before walking down the hall to her office.

the night got quieter and quieter at the compound, until nothing but the swaying of the trees from the wind was heard. you tried to wait up for lottie, so you put on a movie but unfortunately fell asleep within the first minutes.

***

“please, let her go, please! don’t-”

“shut. up.” you heard a man’s voice behind you. he walked over to lottie, pushing her down to the floor. she grunted and sighed, looking back at you with a bloody lip. “it’s gonna be okay-” she was cut off by the man kicking her in the face. you screamed, trying to get out of the ropes that restrained you down to a chair. “stop! stop hurting her, please!” the man pulled his pistol out from the back of his jeans, pointing it at lottie’s head and cocking it back-

“baby? baby, hey,” you were shaken away by lottie. when you were fully aware of where you were, you looked at her, she was completely unscathed, not even a single drop of blood from her lips. you didn’t even realize you were crying until you felt lottie’s hand on your cheek, wiping your tears away.

“i heard you shouting from down the hall, sweetheart. did you have a nightmare?” you nodded at the question, letting out a sob when you remembered the awful scenario. you rubbed your teary eyes against the fuzzy blanket you were swaddled in. “oh, little one,” she held out her arms for you.

“c’mere.” she helped you sit up, her hands under your arms. she pulled you into her chest, feeling your tears already soaking into her robe. she wrapped you up in the blanket tighter, planting a sweet kiss on your temple. “do you mind telling me what happened in your nightmare, baby?”

“there was a man, ‘n he was hurting you but i couldn’t stop him, ‘nd- and he was gonna shoot you, but i couldn’t stop him because-” you sobbed and lottie’s heart broke, your words fast and jumbled, along with your hoarse voice.

“we’re safe, angel, okay? it must’ve felt real at the time, but it’s not. what’s real is just me and you right now. he’s not gonna get us, i promise. mommy’s here, baby.” lottie brushed your fresh set of tears away, your cries making an abrupt stop at what lottie called herself. “there you go. you’re okay, honey.”

you felt her pull away, but heard the bedside lamp click on soon after, lighting up the room. lottie knew you didn’t like the dark that much, she just didn’t want you to be more scared than you already were.

“i’m scared to go to sleep again.” you nuzzled closer to her, trying to fight the sleep you were scared to succumb to. “you don’t have to, sweetheart. you wanna walk down to the kitchen with me? mommy’ll make you some tea, cocoa. anything you want, my baby.”

“cocoa.” you whispered, wiping your nose on your sleeve. lottie smiled, picking an eyelash off by the corner of your eye. “yeah? there’s my little one. c’mon,” she grabbed your hand, helping you out of bed.

[thelampisaflashlight]

Blanketed

[A sudden change in weather leaves Dew feeling ill.] Below the cut.

It starts with a general feeling of malaise, something Dew could easily blame on the weather; There’s a storm brewing above the abbey, but the dense clouds have yet to burst, leaving the air charged and... 

Heavy.

He feels sluggish, like someone has tied weights to his... everything.

His joints are stiff, and he feels cold.

Colder than he’s felt in a long time, but the others are starting to look at him funny the more blankets he pulls from the basket beside the couch where he’s been sitting practically since he woke up that very morning.

He glares back at them, shivering, ready to snap with the headache building behind his eyes, but he doesn’t have the energy to get up, let alone yell.

Aether finally stands up and presses the back of his hand to his forehead when he goes for a fifth layer, tutting under his breath before asking one of the others to grab the thermometer from the bathroom.

Dew narrows his eyes at him, but doesn’t put up a fuss when Cumulus returns and holds it in front of his face.

With a huff, Dew opens his mouth and lets her stick the device under his tongue.

Now, it’s normal for Dew to run a little hot, he is a fire ghoul after all, but from the looks on his friends’ faces when the thermometer beeps, he is, perhaps, a bit too hot even for him.

He doesn’t hear the exact number, too busy tunneling back under the blankets, rolling over to face the back of the couch, but before he can settle in, he feels arms sliding underneath his frame and pulling him up.

He wriggles awkwardly and manages to poke his head free of the blankets, only to make eye contact with Swiss, who’s cradling him against his chest and shoulder.

Dew makes an agitated, croaky noise at him and hisses.

“You stop that.” the multi ghoul chastises, smacking his butt through the blankets, making a dull “thwap” sound, “You need a nap.”

His tail swishes irritably.

“You need a nap.” he mocks, grumbling as Swiss bounces him slightly, trying to get a better grip on his body.

“You’re full of a lot of piss and vinegar for someone who’s basically swaddled up like a big ol’ baby.” Swiss sighs, patting his back.

“I wouldn’t have to be if it weren’t so damned cold in here!” Dew whines, admittedly feeling a bit better now that Swiss is actively soothing him.

“Buddy...”

Dew groans.

“You’re sweating like crazy, you know that, right?” Swiss asks, “It can’t be comfortable being wrapped up like this.”

Dew buries his face in Swiss’ shoulder, mumbling to himself.

“What’s that?”

“I said this is bullshit!” Dew practically shouts in Swiss’ ear, “I’m a fire ghoul! I’m not supposed to get fevers- Call Satan, I wanna have words-”

Swiss snorts.

Fuckin’ snorts!

“It’s not fucking funny!”

Swiss resumes patting his back, “I know, I know, buddy... Just, it happens, people get sick.”

“I-”

“Yes, even you.”

“I don’t want to be sick.” Dew grumbles, “It’s stupid human bullshit.”

“Spoiler alert bubs, your body is a stupid human body.” Swiss says, “You might be an ultra cool ghoul, but your vessel can still get sick.”

Dew groans again, propping his chin up on Swiss’ shoulder, locking eyes with Aether.

“You can fix this shit, right?” he asks, and Aether gives him a small smile, but shakes his head.

“I can ease the symptoms a bit, but if I can’t ‘fix’ being sick, Dew.” Aether explains, “I could make you some soup though? You want some soup?”

Dew considers this for a moment.

“...Can I have those fish crackers with my soup?”

“Of course.”

“...Sick.”

[shemarmooresfedora]

Rebuilding Family

Summary: Y/N and Spencer were college sweethearts at Cal-Tech but once Spencer got accepted to the FBI Academy, he ended things deciding it was not fair to make Y/N wait for him. When they meet again years later, he discovers something unexpected.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Warnings: a teeny bit of angst (resolved)

A/N: hi, loves! i will be changing updates to this to once a week because i would like to get my final other WIP out that has been sitting in my drive forever and i have graduation stuff. ALSO, i hit 400 followers!!! thank you thank you <3 here is the celebration!

Masterlist

Chapter 32

“Okay, everyone ready?” Spencer asked.

“Yep,” you smiled, grabbing Jo’s hand, “Just let me get a picture first.”

You pulled your phone out of your pocket and faced it towards Spencer, “Smile!”

Spencer turned sideways so both babies would be visible in the photo. He was wearing one of those double baby carriers so Ophelia was strapped to his back while Ollie was up front.

You all walked out of the room and down to the parking garage while passing nurses and visitors would ‘aw’ at the adorable family that had just practically doubled in size.

“Honey, can you put Jo in her booster seat in the middle first?” Spencer asked.

“Yep, up you go, Baby J,” you helped her into her new booster seat.

On both sides of Jo were now two newborn baby car seats so she could keep the twins entertained on the car ride.

You unstrapped Ophelia from off of Spencer’s back and littered her with kisses, already missing her in your arms. You buckled her in securely as Spencer did the same to Ollie on the other side.

Spencer got in the driver’s side and you got in the passenger seat. You both turned around to look at all your little kids in the back row.

Spencer turned to look at you with a huge grin, “We’re going to need a bigger car.”

“Spencer Reid, I am not driving a mini van,” you gave him a quick peck.

“Fine, I’ll just have to steal one of the FBI’s many SUVs,” he joked.

Jo switched her attention between both babies during the car ride, giving you and Spencer a play-by-play of everything they did.

“Ophelia is trying to squirm out of her blanket so I’m tucking her back in,” she stated.

“Thank you, Princess,” Spencer smiled, rubbing soft circles on your thigh as he drove.

“Ollie’s little hat is almost falling off so I am going to put it back on.”

“Thank you, baby, you are being such a good big sister,” you complimented her.

Once Spencer pulled into the driveway, Spencer grabbed Ollie and you grabbed Ophelia out of their respective seats.

“I’ll come back for the bags in the back,” Spencer said as he walked up to open the front door.

“I wanna hold her please,” Jo made grabby hands up at you with Ophelia in your arms.

“You can hold her when you are sitting, Baby J,” you assured her, patting her head.

Jo followed you up to the nursery, Spencer’s old bedroom. You had the cribs and other basics set up but you didn’t decorate because you were hoping to be moving soon. You and Spencer put an offer down on the house near JJ and Will’s and were waiting to hear back.

“The babies are going to take a nap right now and we are going to have lunch so say night night,” you lifted Jo up to give the babies a kiss before their nap.

Spencer placed Ollie in the crib with Ophelia, “I read up on co-bedding in one of the pediatric magazines at the hospital and if the twins are small enough, having them sleep together in the same crib can provide benefits including regulating body temperatures and sleep cycles, plus it soothes them.”

You and Jo gave the babies kisses and then you grabbed the baby monitor and switched it on.

“You coming, love?” you placed your hand on Spencer’s shoulder.

“One second,” he whispered, his eyes not leaving the two twins cuddled up together in one crib, “They’re just too perfect.”

-

You awoke to find Spencer in the rocking chair in your room in between the two bassinets. You had their cribs set up in the nursery for naps but they would do most of their sleeping in here with you guys until they were a few months old.

“What’s wrong? Are they hungry again?” you whispered, rubbing your eyes as you sat up.

“No, love. You can go back to bed. Ophelia was getting a little fussy which made Ollie fussy too but I think they just wanted some tummy time,” Spencer smiled softly as he had both the babies pressed to his chest.

“You are the best dad ever,” you blew him a kiss before resting your head back on the pillow.

You were lulled back to sleep by the quaint creaking of the rocking chair and Spencer’s loving whispers to the babies.

-

“Where’s Daddy?” Jo asked as you served her a bowl of oatmeal.

“He’s changing the twins. He’ll be down in a bit,” you assured her as you sat down across from her.

You watched Jo push around her oatmeal a little but not really eat any, looking up to the stairs frequently to see if her Daddy was coming down.

Spencer finally entered the kitchen with the twins, “Love, do you want to take Ollie?”

You opened your arms and accepted Ollie into your arms, “Hi, my little one!”

“Sorry it took so long. I was trying to get them properly swaddled but this princess right here was trying to escape,” Spencer grinned at the baby in front of him.

Jo pushed her still-full bowl of oatmeal towards the center of the table and scooched out of her chair, stomping slightly up the stairs.

When you heard her bedroom door close, you turned to Spencer with a disappointed look.

“Spencer, I know the twins are very exciting but you have to remember you have 3 kids, not 2. You hadn’t even said good morning to her yet.”

“I was going to!” Spencer insisted.

“And you called Ophelia ‘Princess’. That’s your nickname for Jo,” you pointed out.

Spencer sighed, he hadn’t even realized he had done that. He placed Ophelia in her bouncer seat and reheated Jo’s oatmeal. He even placed blueberries on top in the shape of a smiley face before heading upstairs.

Spencer knocked gently on the door. His guilt increased tenfold when he heard the little sniffles coming from inside.

“Jo, I know you’re mad at me and you have every right to be but may I please come in?” Spencer asked through the door.

He heard the sound of light footsteps and a teary-eyed Jo opened the door. Spencer immediately knelt to her level and set the bowl down on the floor.

“Jo, I am so sorry I made you feel forgotten because I got too wrapped in trying to take care of the twins. I promise it will never happen again. You are my only Princess, Jo. We’ll give Ophelia a different nickname.”

“I forgive you, Daddy,” Jo hugged Spencer.

“After you finish breakfast, we can do whatever you want today, Princess,” Spencer smiled.

Jo beamed as she scooped a bite of oatmeal into her mouth.

-

You knocked on Jo’s bedroom door where you heard whispers and scuffling of footsteps.

“What’s the password?” you heard Jo announce in a deep voice.

You looked down at the construction paper invitation with lots of glitter glue that was slipped under your bedroom door.

“Sunflower.”

The door opened, revealing a mini table with pillows all around it as seats. Jo’s tea set that Penelope had gotten her was beautifully arranged on the table along with little finger sandwiches and cookies.

“Oh my, how did I get so lucky to be invited to this exclusive tea party?” you smiled, “I know the invitation said ‘dress fancy’ so I hope this sundress is suitable.”

You gave Jo a little curtsy before entering. You had Ollie wrapped in a cloth baby bjorn around your front because he was taking a little nap but Ophelia was wide awake in your arms.

“You look like a Queen, Mommy!” Jo did a little twirl for you in her ruffle dress with strawberries all over it.

“So do you, my little Princess,” you smiled back.

Spencer was already seated on the floor in a full suit like he would wear to work. He shaved and slicked back his hair.

“Ah, I see the King has already arrived,” you chuckled, bending down to give him a kiss.

“Indeed, my lovely wife. I brought the bouncers up for the babies to sit in,” Spencer informed you.

You placed Ophelia in hers but kept Ollie in the bjorn because you didn’t want to disrupt his peaceful slumber.

Jo poured you all tea and Spencer added a little bit of sugar and honey to the tea cups.

“Do the babies want tea?” Jo asked, still holding her tea kettle.

“The babies can’t have tea just yet but thank you for offering,” you smiled, gently picking your cup up.

“Pinky’s up, Daddy!” Jo instructed.

It was rather comical to watch Spencer try to hold the tiny porcelain tea cup in his large hands.

“The tea is absolutely exquisite, Princess Josephine. I believe I will have one of these gourmet peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to go with it,” you smiled.

-

“I’m exhausted. Mommy needs a nap like the twins and Jo,” you chuckled as you fell back on the bed after putting the sleeping twins in their bassinets.

“Are you sure you don’t need a shower first?” Spencer questioned.

You looked at him and quirked an eyebrow.

“What? You know what your sundresses do to me,” Spencer whined.

“I guess I have a little energy left,” you grinned, grabbing his hand as you tip-toed to the bathroom to not wake the twins.

A/N: another reason i need to push the updates back is because i am going camping next week (i wish spencer could protect me from any bears)!

taglist (just ask to be added or removed!): @samuel-de-champagne-problems @g0lden-cth @spencerreid9 @averyhotchner @coldlilheart @k-k0129 @ickleronniekinsemotionalrange @harrystylesandthegoobs @cmily @jswessie187 @rem-ariiana @hoodpankow @doctorreiding @reidsfish

[adminbryantsaki]

Hizashi Yamada x F! Reader.

(I don’t own Hizashi. Horikoshi Kōhei does)

(A/N: I am so excited! This is my first time participating in the BNHarem server collab. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!))

Go here for more fics!

TW: Oral sex, bondage, sex talk, roommates, eavesdropping.

Word count: 4,361 words.

You just came home after a long shift at work and saw the red light outside your roommate’s recording studio, as he was on the air. You smiled softly and went to your bedroom to get changed out of your work’s uniform. You closed the door behind you after you got changed and you headed over to his recording studio. When you first moved in with the pro hero, you were curious as to what he did during his show. He let you into his studio one afternoon to show you around. You were amazed with all the buttons, lights and switches that were used to operate the studio. That afternoon during his recording session, he let you sit in and watch him work. He even let you help him pick a list of music to play. Since you had such a good taste in music, he decided to let you pick music for his shows. Today was one of those days. You knocked on the door to the studio before opening the door and slipping in and closing the door behind you. He looked in your direction before talking into the mic before switching it off and turning to face you.

“Hey there, Y/N. Rough shift?” He asked as he noticed your tired expression. You nodded and went to sit on the couch he kept in the studio for himself or his friend Aizawa when he came over.  You laid down on the couch and pulled a blanket over your body. You closed your eyes as you listened to your roommate continue on with his show. You eventually fell asleep on the couch as Hizashi finished up his show. His voiced always had a way to soothe you into slumber. He looked back in your direction after he turned the microphone off for the night and smiled. He left his recording studio and went to make himself a cup of tea. He went to the living room couch and sat down. He turned the T.V. on and watched a show. A few hours passed before you came out of his recording studio, sleepy and wrapped up in the blanket.

“Hizashi? How long was I asleep?” You ask in a groggy voice.

“About two hours. Work must’ve worn you out.” He said looking over to you. He patted the seat next to him. You walked over and sat next to him

“What are you watching?” You asked.

“Some Spanish telenovela.” He said as he set his hand down, extremely close to your thigh.

“Do you even understand what is going on?” A familiar deep voice sounded from behind the couch. You turned to see your roommate’s friend and pro hero Shouta Aizawa approaching the couch with a bowl of popcorn. Having Shouta over was pretty normal since he and Hizashi were friends since high school

“Can’t you see that one of the guys cheated on his wife? He was sneaking around with a different woman than the one he married. There was a big episode a few weeks ago where he got married to her. The poor girl… she deserves better.” The blonde said as his friend sat down on the other side of him and put the bowl between them.

“I see… What do you think is going on now?” Shouta asked as he turned his tired eyes to the screen.

“The guy is sneaking around his wife while she is at home doing all the housework, paying the bills, and getting a hot dinner on the table right as he comes through the door. All the while he will ‘work late’ on the nights she wants to do something special because she wants to still be with him. The dude is cheating on you!” Hizashi said the last part a little louder as the girl was denying the fact that her husband could be cheating on her. You winced a little as you didn’t expect the loud noise so suddenly. Hizashi looked over at you with an apologetic look in his emerald eyes.

“Sorry about that, listener. Are you ok now?” He asked as he brushed back a stray strand of hair. This small gesture caused you to blush a bright shade of pink. You nodded in response and turned your eyes back to the show.

“That’s not good. One of the girl’s brothers just pulled a gun on the cheating husband.” Shouta said as one of the characters was holding the husband at gunpoint. Hizashi looked at the screen and his eyes widened. He spoked up as he began to create a dialogue for the show.

“How dare you sneak around with that tramp! You know my sister was good to you. Making dinner for you every night. You do not appreciate her!” Soon the sound of a gunshot sounded from the T.V.  causing you to screech a little while you pressed into Hizashi. He again looked at you. He gently kissed your head and put an arm around you. Shouta looked over at the both of you and smiled softly.

“I should get going. I have an early morning.” The darker haired man said and stood up from the couch.  He showed himself out while closing the door behind him. He only lived next door to the both of you. Once he was gone, Hizashi turned the T.V. off and turned to you.

“You sure you’re ok? You let out a little shriek there when the gun sounded.” He said and rubbed your back.

“I’ll be ok. It just startled me a bit.” You said looking into his eyes that were filled with concern.

“As long as you’re ok.” He said, now looking down.  You leaned forward, still swaddled in the blanket from the recording studio and kissed his cheek. This caught him off guard. He looked back at you.

“What was that for?” He asked.

“To help you get your mind off worrying about me.” You said as you stood up, only to get pulled back down by his large piano hands.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked as a sly smirk spread across the hero’s lips.

“I was gonna go to bed. Still sleepy.” You responded as the blush on your face grew deeper by the moment. You laid down on the couch and stared at the ceiling.

“If you’re tired then go to bed. I won’t stop you.” He said as he resisted kissing you full on the lips right there. You groaned before positioning yourself in an upright position. He looked over and smiled softly at your cute form all swaddled up in the blanket. He pulled a little of the blanket back and kissed your cheek.

“Goodnight, Y/N. I have tomorrow morning off if you wanna hang out.” He said pulling away. You nodded and stood up. You proceeded to almost skip to your room in excitement. That night you could barely sleep a wink. Did Hizashi, the amazing Pro hero who had an amazing voice actually have a crush on you? You stared at the ceiling in disbelief. Then again, he did kiss you on the cheek, make sure you were ok after you jumped with the gunshot, and was genuinely worried about you the days you went straight to bed after work. After tossing and turning for hours you got up and went back out to the living room to find said roommate still watching the telenovela.

“Hizashi Yamada, do you have a crush on me?” You asked as you stood in front of the T.V. His green eyes looked up at you after he paused the show.

“Yes, I have feelings for you.” He said as his eyes flicked up to meet yours.

“For how long have you liked me?” You asked. Your heart was in your throat as you waited for his answer.

“Ever since you moved in.” He said, still making eye contact with you. You felt something tugging at you to move closer to him. You walked over and he reached his arms out to pull you into his lap.

“Has it really been that long?” You asked him. You had moved in a few months ago. You wished that he would’ve said something sooner.

“Yeah, it has been. I didn’t know if you had a significant other or not. I found out when we went out for drinks with the other teachers and you were talking with Midnight. I overheard you telling her that you were single.”  He responded. “I didn’t want to step in if you already had a boyfriend.” His eyes stared back at yours deeply.

“Thank you, Hizashi.” You told him. You really did love him but you didn’t know how to say it.

“So, do you like me like that or not?” He asked as his hands rested on your hips. You thought for a moment. Your face blushed deep red.

“I do like you… no… I love you.” You confessed while looking back at him. A blush grew on your face and a wide grin spread across the voice hero’s face. He hugged you tightly.

“I love you too, so much, princess.” He said smiling. He slid his hands up to cradle the base of your head.  He pulled you into a gentle kiss.  You melted into the kiss and put your arms around his neck. After pulling away for air, Hizashi pulled your legs around his waist and he stood up.  

“Your room or mine?” He responded as he put his hair up in a bun. You thought for a moment.

“Yours. Mine’s a mess right now as I’m rearranging it.” You said looking down. He put a finger under your chin and lifted your head to make you look at him.

“That’s ok. We can go to mine.” He said and carried you to his room. He opened the door and let you look around. There was a simple metal bed frame with a mattress on it. There was a desk and a dresser. On his desk was a small lamp, his laptop, some stacks of cds, and a decent set of speakers that were attached to the laptop. Next to the bed was a simple nightstand with another lamp and a phone charger. He set you down on his bed and kissed your head.

“You get comfortable. I’m gonna set up some music. There’s a box of toys and lube under the bed if you wanna pick stuff out.” He said as he sat down at the desk and turned his laptop on. You nodded while still blushing. Music began to fill the room as you leaned over and found a plain cardboard box.  You pulled it out to find vibrators, cuffs, rope, a collar, and a funnel with a tube taped to it. You blushed and grabbed the rope. You laid back down with the rope next to you. Hizashi looked back at you.

“I see you picked the rope. I’ll be right back ok, listener?” He said before leaving the room. You laid flat on his bed. You rolled over to inhale the scent of leather, citrus, and cinnamon that was embedded into his sheets. You relaxed a bit. You couldn’t believe that he… no the both of you were gonna do this. He came back into the room carrying a couple bottles of water.  

“You ok, babygirl? Did ya fall asleep?” He asked as he walked over and set the food on the nightstand. He placed a hand on your shoulder and you looked at him with a bright red face.

“Sorry. I like the scent of your pillow.” You responded. He smiled.

“I brought some food we can use.” He told you. You looked at the nightstand. He was pulling out his box of condoms. You blushed hard and stared at them.

“I have some other ones in the bathroom.” He said as he looked at you.

“No… I just wanna take it easy. This will be my first time in a while.” You told him. You tried to hide the fact that you were nervous, he could sense it though.

“How about I tell you what I’m going to do, each step, throughout the whole thing?” He asked as he kissed your head and stood up.  You were about to speak when he pulled his shirt off to show his toned torso. He had various scars and a tattoo that went across his back, spreading over his shoulders. The tattoo looked like wings that covered his shoulders and went over his chest. You stared at the tattoo as it mesmerized you and caused you to drool a bit. He looked back and chuckled. He knew what he was doing by taking his shirt off.

‘So cute.’ He thought as he sat across from you and stroked your cheek. You snapped out of your trance and looked away for a moment while your face turned beet red.

“Yeah, that sound’s perfect.” You said as your eyes wandered down to his hands to see the tattoos on his fingers. They were bands of intricate patterns similar to rings. You smiled. He moved up and pulled your legs around his waist. He nuzzled your neck.

“You smell so good, princess.” He told you before he kissed your neck. ‘Her scent is amazing. I can’t get enough of it.’ He thought to himself as he bit down on your neck which got a moan out of you. He smirked and licked your soft skin. You moaned into his neck.

“Can we sit up?” You asked. He pulled back and nodded. He sat up with you in his lap. You got settled and pressed into him. You took a deep breath and looked up at him, blushing hard, looking back down again. He smiled and patted your head.  

“How are we gonna go about this?” You asked him as you traced the feathers of his tattoo

“Well, the good thing to do is to have a safe word.” He said as he looked down at you.  

“What should it be?” You asked him.

“How about bass clef?” He suggested. You nodded and smiled.

“Ok. I need you to take your clothes off.” He instructed as a sly grin spread across his face at the idea of finally being able to see those curves you kept hidden with your baggy clothes.

“How far down do I need to strip?” You asked nervously. You hated the way your body looked. There was so much you would want to change with your body.

“All of it,” He told you as he slid a hand under the hem of your shirt. “Unless you are hiding something that you’d not want me to see.” He told you in a firmer tone. You looked up at him still nervous.

“I’m not hiding anything.” You said even though you had stretch marks and chub on your body that you would have wanted to hide, you decided that he should be able to see it.  He is your boyfriend now.

“Then strip. Show me that lovely body.” He instructed. He couldn’t wait to see the obvious thick thighs, butt, and cute, yet soft tummy you had. You had shown it the few times you wore yoga pants around the apartment on your days off. You sat up with your back to him and pulled your shirt off.  You had some acne on your back, stretch marks on the lower part of your back and hips, you also had some chub on your thighs and stomach. He smirked and pulled you closer to kiss your neck again. He wrapped one of his arms around your waist. He had you pressed into his chest.

“You look amazing. Every part of you is amazing.” He told you as he ran his hands up and down your thighs. He peppered your neck with kisses.  He was praising you. You loved the attention.

“What’s next?” You asked. He hummed and had you lean forward a bit so he could look at you.

“Now we are gonna continue taking your clothes off. Next is your bra.” He said as he looked at the garment and tugged playfully at the strap that ran over your shoulders.  You nodded and he undid the hooks at the back and helped you pull it off. There were faint red lines indented into your skin. The blonde frowned and rubbed where the lines were with his fingers.

“Don’t wear your bra’s so tight. I don’t like seeing the indents in your skin.” He said to you in your ear. You hummed and sighed.

“Alright.” You responded. He kissed your cheek and put his hands on the soft flesh of your stomach.

‘So soft. Her skin all over is so soft, dare I think it’s an addiction and I’m hooked?’ He thought as he hovered over her neck.

“What’s next?” Your voice broke his trance. He looked down at your pants and hummed deeply in his chest.

“Next is your pants. For this, I’d like for you to lay down. But first, give me your wrists.” He instructed as he tugged at the fabric of your sweats.

“Do you want me to turn around or stay where I am?” You asked.

“Stay where you are, princess.” He said as he reached for the black rope that you had picked out. You held your wrists out in front of you and he brought the rope in front of you. He leaned into you so he could see what he was doing. He tied your wrists up as he spoke to you softly.

“Is that too tight? I’ll loosen the rope so it doesn’t hurt.” He adjusted the rope as needed until you were comfortable. He finished the tying with a nice bow. He smiled at his work and kissed your cheek.

“There, all nicely tied up. Now, do you remember the safe word?” He asked as he slid you off his lap gently.

“Yes. It’s bass clef.” You recalled.  

“Good job. Now, lay down on your back for me.” He said soothingly. He helped you lay down carefully so you wouldn’t hit your head on his headboard. His eyes were fixed on yours. You looked so pretty laying there. He wanted to take this moment in and embed the picture of you in his memory. You whined a bit and shifted your hips. He noticed and looked at you.

“What’s wrong, princess?” He asked as he spread your legs so he could move between them. He was hovering dangerously close to your private area.

“Nothing.” You said as you were clearly lying. He gripped your jaw and looked into your eyes.

“Tell me now.” He told you in a firm tone.

“I want you so badly.” You just about moaned out. He smirked and kissed your stomach as it was the nearest thing to him. He made eye contact with you and moved to your hip. He bit into the soft flesh while he activated his quirk and hummed gently. You moaned quietly and shifted under him. He held your hips still. You huffed and stayed still.

“Good girl.” He told you. He smiled. You looked amazing, so pretty, so edible.  

“I’m going to pull your pants and underwear off now.” He told you as he pulled your sweats and underwear down. By then you were already wet and soaking your underwear.

“My, my, someone’s aroused already~.” He mused. He put his fingers in his mouth to coat them in his saliva. He pulled them out and rubbed your clit. You moaned and shifted your hips under his firm grip impatiently. He smirked. “Stay still. You’ll get your reward soon enough.” He told you and slid a finger into your wet entrance. This earned him a moan that sounded like sweet music to his ears. He smirked and pumped his fingers in and out of you. You managed to cover your mouth with your bound wrists. He stopped the stimulation that he was giving you and looked up at you.

“Uncover your mouth.” He ordered. You hesitated and he pulled his fingers out a little bit.  You whined and moved your hands down. He put his fingers back in.

“Good job.” He told you and began to eat you out. You moaned loudly. He activated his quirk which was like a built-in vibrator. This stimulation sent you to another planet. Your head was foggy and you let out a stream of moans that caused him to go faster and suck harder. He pulled his fingers out and slid his tongue in. You gasped and arched your back a bit. He stopped until you relaxed then resumed eating you out. You were loving this stimulation as it was a new experience for you and as you got to experience your roommate’s skilled mouth. He looked up at you and pulled away for air.

“How are you feeling, princess?” He asked as he panted. You could only manage a moan. You nodded yes to tell him that you were ok.

“That’s good, love.” He said as he went back to sucking and biting your lower region. He groaned and hummed louder against your dripping hole. You cried out his name and he growled against your private area.

“Beg for my cock, princess.” He said in a deep, lust filled voice. You blushed harder and made eye contact with the man. There was a lump in your throat before you let out a quiet moan. He put a cupped hand behind his ear.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.” He spoke. You looked at him and spoke a bit louder.

“I want you to fill me up inside. I want you to fuck me senseless. Please. You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this.” You confessed while keeping eye contact with him.

“I am happy to hear that, princess.” He sat up and grabbed a condom from his nightstand and ripped it open with his teeth. You blushed and dared to look down at his pierced member. He slid the rubber protection over his erection and poked the head into your dripping entrance. You moaned out and gripped the sheets as you felt the balls of his Jacob’s ladder piercing pop gently into your wet heat.  

“So vocal tonight, I didn’t know you were so needy~.” He hummed as he pulled one thigh around his waist and the other over his shoulder as he slid his full length into you. He grinned as you sucked in your breath and arched your back a little.

“You like that? Take a moment to adjust.” He reassured you in a soothing tone as he ran a hand up and down your thigh to rest on your butt. You adjusted after a few moments and shifted your hips a little to tell him that you were ready. He smirked and began to thrust into you at a slow pace. He kissed the thigh over his shoulder and bit into the soft flesh while using his quirk. You whined more and bucked your hips. He smiled and sped up his thrusts.

“You like that, don’t you, princess?” He said and licked the tender flesh around the bite on your thigh. This earned him another sweet moan that he committed to his memory. He sped up a little more and went harder in his motions. You moaned a sweet symphony for him and he milked out every moment. He slowed his pace a bit which caused you to whimper.

“Hizashi…” You moaned weakly.

“What’s wrong, Princess? I can feel you tightening. It feels good doesn’t it~?” He hummed. The Jacob’s ladder on the underside of his member felt amazing on the silken walls of your dripping heat.  You moaned and clenched around his pierced member. He groaned, quickening his pace to speed up and bring the both of you closer to orgasming. He growled deep in his chest as his lips made contact with your thigh. He made your skin vibrate down to your core. This jolt of stimulation sent you over the edge and clamping down on his cock, releasing the knot of pleasure that had built up in the pit of your stomach. He pulled out of you and slid the used condom off, throwing it in the trash can. He reached across you and got one of the bottles of water and took the cap off. He sat you up and made sure you drank. “There you go, drink up, princess. You did so good, I’m so proud of you.” He told you as you gulped down the water and pulled away to nuzzle into him. He set the bottle down on the nightstand and reached for the unopened one for himself.

“You were amazing, baby girl.” He praised you. He kissed your head and took a drink of water.

“You tasted good too.” He said as he took the rope off your wrists and rubbed them with some lotion he had in the nightstand. You blushed a little and looked away from him. He smiled and laid out next to you. “Is there anything I can get you?” He asked. You were still trying to relax your heart as it was pumping heard from your climax. You steadied your breathing and looked to him.

“Nothing. I’m ok for now. Just tired. Is it ok if I sleep here with you?” You asked him. He nodded and kissed your temple.

“You can sleep here any time, princess.” He said as he slid under the covers and pulled you under with him, holding you close. You pressed into his chest and he wrapped his arms around you like a blanket of protection. He rubbed your back as he hummed to lull you to sleep. You fell into the cozy warmth of sleep in the arms of your boyfriend.

Little did the both of you know, that on the other side of the wall, your neighbor, Shouta had been listening to the both of you and had jerked off to the sounds.

 The End?

[illfoandillfie]

I’d love a platonically blurb ab them applying to foster/adopt kids 🥺

i love you for this request but also it made me very soft and emo and how dare you

It ended up being a little less about them actually applying and more just them deciding they wanted to adopt or foster and discussing their options because i can't read but perhaps i could do an actual fic later about the process involved and them meeting their kid and stuff?? idk...dad ben makes me 🥺🥺🥺

Anyway, here's the second last blurb in my Platonically event!

Words: 1,683

Warnings: Nothing much really, discussions about children including pregnancy, adoption and fostering, a little mention of sex but nothing explicit.

“I wanna be a dad.”  You weren’t surprised to hear Ben say it. You’d seen the signs. There was the way he’d befriended and doted on the adorable toddler who’d played his daughter on a TV project. Every day he’d come home and his face would light up as he talked about her – how she babbled little kid nonsense at him all day and how they’d played silly games sitting on the floor of the set while the cameras were set up around them. You’d almost expected him to bring up the possibility of having kids then but he’d surprised you and not mentioned it. You could tell he was thinking about it though which made you think about it too. It made sense to at least discuss it and see where you both stood now that you’d been in the QPR for a while and knew that it worked and that you made a good team. You asked about it one night while you were washing the dishes and Ben was drying them. “Do you ever think about kids? Like having one?” “Yeah, sometimes,” he said, bumping your shoulder gently with his, but the conversation didn’t go any further than that.

It wasn’t until about three months later that you heard him say it. It took one of his mates having a baby with his wife for Ben to bring it up. You’d gone over a couple of weeks after they left the hospital, gifts in hand (a cute little spotty onesie and soft toy elephant that he hopefully wouldn't grow out of as quickly as he would his clothes). It was a lovely afternoon, catching up with the new parents and meeting brand new baby Bertie who just stared at everyone who cooed over him. You each had a turn holding Bertie too, marvelling at how anything could have such tiny hands and such big brown eyes. Ben happened to be handed the bundle of blankets that Bertie was swaddled in as the baby began to fall asleep. He didn’t mind though. When the new father asked if he should take Bertie and put him in his crib Ben waved him off. He said he didn’t mind sitting there a little longer to make sure Bertie really had dropped off. The parents didn’t argue, a little relieved that they were able to take a break and just relax. Both of them excused themselves for a moment to get some more food and use the bathroom which left you and Ben and the sleeping Bertie alone together. Quietly you stepped towards the armchair Ben was in, sitting on the arm so you could run your fingers through his hair. “I wanna be a dad.” Ben glanced up at you as he said it, and you could see how much he meant it. “Let’s talk about it tonight,” you reached out to stroke Bertie’s pudgy cheek as Ben lent his head against your side, his attention turning back to the baby.

Neither of you mentioned it on the drive home. In fact you both specifically avoided mentioning it, though not from fear of what might be said but rather just wanting to make sure you had adequate time to go over it without rushing. Once you were inside, shoes kicked off and the kettle on, you opened the discussion.  “So....a baby?” Ben nodded, as he settled into the couch, body angled towards you, “I’ve been thinking about it for a bit, it’s not just because of this afternoon but that did help. I really want kids and I think I’m at a place where I feel ready to. Is that...is that okay?” “It’s wonderful Ben. Honestly, I’ve kinda been waiting for this conversation for a while. I’ve seen you interact with kids and I knew it wouldn’t be long before you wanted your own.” He laughed and inclined his head in amused agreement, “So does that mean you like the idea?” “Yeah I do.” “Really? Just that I know you weren’t really sure about it when we first decided to be partners.” “I might not’ve been then, but I am now.”  “What changed?” “Well...you, obviously.” “Me?” He seemed surprised. “Look, before we got together I couldn’t imagine being in a relationship that didn’t make me feel at least a little uncomfortable. I figured I’d be single forever and I was okay with that. I’d considered just having a kid on my own – sperm donor or whatever – but that seemed like a really hard thing to do and I wasn’t sure I’d ever want it bad enough to do that. But then you showed me that it was possible to be in a partnership that felt good and, I don’t know, I started thinking about the possibility of having a family with you, and the more I thought about it the more I liked the idea.” Ben smiled as if he was trying not to look as pleased with your answer as he felt, “So we’re doing this then? For real?” “Yeah I think so. Weird.” “Bit weird.” There was a pause as you both just sat with the knowledge that you were planning a future together, that you both wanted to go ahead with it. You never would have guessed you’d get to that point with anyone.

Ben was the one to break the moment, “How would you want to...I mean how should we...How do you feel about being pregnant?” You bit your lip in thought, “I’m not sure. Honestly, it still kinda freaks me out.” “That’s understandable.” “I mean, if it was a dealbreaker for you then I would. I’m not entirely against the idea of carrying our baby and it would mean we’d get to do the fun part of making it.” “We do the fun part a lot as is,” Ben laughed, “But it’s actually something I thought about a lot.” “The fun part? That doesn’t surprise me.” “No, the you being preggers part,” he said exasperatedly, “I knew you weren’t super keen on the whole thing so I got thinking about whether or not it really mattered to me and I don’t think it does. I think I could be just as happy with a kid that came from someone else. And,” he paused as if giving you time to prepare for what he was about to say, “I might have looked into our options for adopting or fostering.” “You did?” “Mmhmm. It’s kinda complicated so we shouldn’t rush into anything and we should probably contact some agencies to ask questions and stuff.” “How complicated are we talking?” “Well, basically, if we want to adopt I think we have to put our names down with an agency and then there’s an interview process and if they think we’re suitable candidates then they’ll put our names in the system and find us a kid. And I guess it depends on the age bracket you’re looking for. I think if we wanted a newborn we’d be more likely to get one through adoption but it might still take a while whereas older kids are a little easier to find, so that’s something we need to consider.” “What about fostering?” “It sounds even more complicated. Like adoption you put your name down and go through an evaluation process but then there’s a few different options. There’s short term fostering where we’d look after kids for a couple of weeks or months while plans for their futures are finalised. Then there’s long term fostering which is usually for kids who can’t go back home but don’t want to be adopted out of their birth families and they mostly stay with you until they’re adults. Emergency fostering is another option which is a few nights or weeks at most but it’s for kids who need to be moved quickly and you don’t always get a lot of warning about them coming to you. And like, there’s possibilities to end up adopting the kid or kids you foster depending on what they want and how it goes.” You puffed your cheeks up with air and slowly blew it out, head swimming with the sudden influx of information, “That does sound complicated.” “Yeah. We’ll really have to consider out options and decide what sort of family we want to have. I think reading about adoption and fostering made me want to do it more though. Cause like...” he paused as he tried to find the right words, “These kids are out there without good homes and I really believe we could give them that.” You noted Ben was getting a little misty eyed, blinking more rapidly to hold back the emotion, so you tried to make him laugh by nudging him and calling him a sap. But you loved seeing how much he cared.  It worked a little as he chuckled softly and shrugged, “Look, either way – adopting or fostering – it's probably not going to be easy. There’s challenges involved in fostering for sure – kids with trauma we won’t be able to understand, kids who are grieving the loss of their birth families or who’ve had bad experiences with other foster carers and who struggle to trust anyone. And the kids who are up for adoption might not have the same problems, especially if they’re younger but, I don’t know, I think finding out you were put up for adoption would leave its own scars. Issues with abandonment and things like that. So I think we have to be really, really sure before we put our names down anywhere. But I also think we could properly help someone doing it, maybe more than one someone. So, if you’re up for it then so am I.” “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” “What are you thinking?” More pros and cons lists?” You both

laughed at that but Ben grabbed your arm, encouraging you to leave your seat and sit on his lap instead. He wrapped his arms around your waist and tilted his head up for a kiss which you gladly gave.  “I’m really happy we’re talking about this,” He almost whispered, squeezing you a little tighter. “Me too. I guess we should start by going through all our options and seeing which ones would suit us best.” "I've got some websites bookmarked and a few documents downloaded so why don't I go get my laptop and you make us a drink and we'll start working through it, okay?" "Okay,"

[writemarvelousthings]

Let It Snow.

PAIRING: Reader x Bucky

WORD COUNT: 1.6k

WARNINGS: A little tiny bit of angst if you squint but mostly fluff, and Bucy hating the cold. 

A/N: This is for @arawynn​ ‘s Festive Winter Wonderland Writing Challenge!  There are still lots of prompts and scenarios left if anyone is interested you should defiantly check it out! My prompt was “Everything is ready for an afternoon in front of the fireplace”  And a big thank you to @bucky-plums-barnes​ and @abovethesmokestacks​ for beta reading and pointing out things I missed! Would be lost without those girls! I hope you all enjoy and it puts you in the Christmas mood x 

Gif, not mine. 

The cold seeps in slow and undetectable at first, the falling leaves are the first clue. Crunching crisp leaves turn into sludge. One wrong misstep could send your ankle rolling unnaturally and your heart rate skyrocketing. The cold nips at your nose and cheeks, it makes you shudder stepping out into the elements, large coats and woollen hats appear in the streets as people move more quickly, desperate to find a place of warmth. Then suddenly, all at once. The snows arrive and the world is bathed in a pristine white glow that brings the promise of YuleTide and once again Bucky is reminded how much he hates the cold.

Sam rips into him, howling at how such an imposing man could look like a petulant child swaddled in jumpers and scarves that cover the bottom half of his face his ice blue eyes rivalling the icicles that shine in the low morning sunlight. He tries to hide his discomfort from you, but you can see right through him.

You notice the way he favours his left shoulder in the mornings, the cold stabbing at the torn and reassembled muscle to steel. Not even Shuri’s genius with vibranium can fix seventy years of damaging scar tissue, you know it will be something Bucky will carry with him always. Just like how the cold brings back flashes of old memories, a fast-moving train. Steve screaming, cold sterilised rooms Hydra kept him in during his years of “service”. The memories don't keep him awake at night like they used to, but the cold always brings them back, how ironic that the Winter Soldier despises the very season he’s named after.

On this particular day morning arrives as usual, sunrise bathing the room in soft pink and orange hues. It catches the dust particles floating through the air before disappearing into the shadows, you smile softly, snuggling into the large heat source next to you. Tilting your chin upwards, you watch the sleeping man. There was a time you’d be the one waking up to him looking down at you, ice blue eyes crinkling at the edges as he gives you a soft smile only reserved for you. It’s a smile that sends a thousand fireflies bursting in your chest.

He’s on his back, one arm curled around your waist, the black vibranium tucked under his pillow beneath his head. His plump lips opened slightly, he’s relaxed. Open and vulnerable in your presence, it makes you reach out to trace the curve of his nose. The light touch makes him follow you, turning his head towards your smiling face.

“Good morning handsome.”

“Morning, sugar.”

Soft kisses press against your palm and wrist, sleeping snuffling noises akin to a puppy fall from his lips make you chuckle.

“You got that meeting in an hour.” you remind him gently, your fingers finding home against his skull. You scratch against it lightly as Bucky starts purring in earnest.

“But it’s nice and warm here, don’t wanna get up. Too cold.” To prove a point he tucks his toes behind your calves. The freezing offending toes in question make you squeak, donkey kicking back in retaliation you try and wiggle your way out of his grip. Bucky pouts grabbing at you gently.

“Why are you running from me, pretty girl, you wanna break this old man’s heart?”

You roll your eyes shifting quickly to straddle his waist, leaning down to kiss him soundly on the lips. “I’d never dream of it, but Sam might break something if you’re late again. You’re debriefing Peter and Carol remember,” you try not to grin at Bucky's expense as he groans pulling a pillow over his face.

“Come on, the sooner you get up, the sooner you can come back to the fun activity I’ve got planned for us.” You watch as the pillow is flung off his head, hands instantly on your hips as he gazes up at you through thick black lashes.

“Pretty sure we already did a fun activity last night… twice.” Despite fully remembering said fun activity, his words still manage to make you blush as you slap his hands off your hips springing off him with as much grace you can muster at eight in the morning.

“Up and at 'em, Sarge, the day is dawning.” You wander into the bathroom away from Bucky's soft groaning, the cold already settling in his bones.

~~

Bucky often wonders what his life would have been like if he never fell off that damn train. If he made it back home after the war if Steve never crashed the plane into the glacier. Would they have settled back in Brooklyn, would he have found a pretty dame that could have handled all the trauma he had gone through. Probably not, he doesn’t like to think about that too much. Because that world didn’t have you, or the small apartment you both shared in Brooklyn (at least the idea of settling in Brooklyn still stuck, just like the damn snow under his boots) The white offensive substance crunched merrily underfoot as he stomped up the steps to the apartment building. The cold he felt this morning still clung to his insides like frost, he still didn’t feel any warmer as he trundled into the lobby of the building. Stomping and shaking the snow off him like a dog, hair hanging limply against his cheeks, he really needed to start wearing that beanie you got him last week. Going through the mundane checklist of opening the mailbox, he relishes in the normality. Especially after reprimanding two superhumans about how-

“Just because you’re indestructible and can shoot webs out of god knows where you can not Instagram live a mission.”

With a handful of what he assumes is more Christmas cards, he thumps heavily up the stairs, no doubt to the irritation of Ms Jenkins on the second floor. Miserable woman, Bucky couldn’t recall a time where he has seen her smile.  

“I'm home,” he calls through the familiar space as he shoulder opens the door, instant warmth floods through his damp coat, his skin tingling sharply.

Shrugging off the offending damn coat, he hangs it by your bright red one, the woollen material a bright contrast to his black. He smiles as he recalls your comment as you pull it out from the depths of your wardrobe.

“Red is such a festive colour! Everyone should have a Christmas coat, James, it should be the law.”

“I swear that’s the last time I’m letting Sam put Danvers and the Parker kid on missions again. They cause more havoc than they stop, I swear to…”

The words die on his throat faster than the Central Park lake freezing over in January. The living room, which had looked relatively normal this morning, was now what can only be described as an explosion of Christmas. Fairy lights strung along each wall and shelving. Small ornaments stood proud on the mantle, the familiar sight of the pine tree towered in the corner of the room like a festive sentinel standing guard looking over the room, but what makes Bucky's heart simultaneously melt and expand is the pile of pillows and blankets in the middle of the room. His eyes gaze around the room till he finds you, stood by the tree, fuzzy socks on your feet as you push the sleeves of his grey hoodie up your arms.

“Help a girl will you, Sarge?” The grin that spreads across your lips is slow and sweet like molasses. Innocently holding out the glistening star towards him, Bucky toes off his boots and strides towards you, curling the black and gold arm around you as he takes the star gently out of your hand.

“You going to let me do the honours, sweetheart?”

“Wouldn’t feel like Christmas if you didn’t.”

He feels your wrap your arms around his waist as he leans upwards to place the twinkling star atop the tree, warm hands slide under his shirt, leaving a burning trail against his skin that shoots down to the very nucleus of his cells.

“Perfect,” you whisper into his shoulder as you both stand back looking at the tree, your hands rub small circles on his lower back as you feel him drop his lips to the top of your head.

“You really are.”

“I was talking about the tree, you old sap.” You poke his side for good measure only to be pulled back into his embrace.

“Well, everything’s ready for an afternoon in front of the fireplace. Go get changed then meet me back here.” You give his ass a light tap as you push him gently towards your bedroom.

“Alright, alright, woman, can’t a man enjoy holding his sweetheart in his arms for a few moments?”

You knew his words were empty, especially with the bright grin radiating from him. With a spring in his step, he makes quick work of changing into the soft grey sweatpants and red sweatshirt laid out on the bed. Eager to be back in your arms and under the soft blankets, the cold winds whipping against the windows, but Bucky can’t find a reason to pay them any mind. Not when you’re sitting pretty in front of the fire, two steaming cups in each hand, no doubt with It’s A Wonderful Life queued up on the tv. He doesn’t think of the seventy years spent cold, alone and in pain. He’d walk through the worst blizzard till his toes were purple and his nose frostbitten to hell if it meant you would be at the end waiting for him, with all the warmth in the world to thaw him out, calling him back home.

[morphituu]

Milagro

Chapter 16: The Hidden Race

Ch: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15

“Okay okay,” Nick cleared his throat, shimmying his shoulders before taking Callie’s small hands in his and leaning forward to press their foreheads together.

Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh- but as soon as he caught sight of the grin she fought, he was following it with a loud snort and a barely contained smile.

“I can’t do it,” he whined while pressing his face into his palms. “You keep making faces,”

“I’m not making anything, it’s just my face!” Callie defended.

“It looks funny!”

Her eyes narrowed. “My face is funny looking?”

“Yeah cuz you keep making faces,”

“Might I suggest,” the photographer interjected, raising his hand. “We try a different position?”

The couple looked at him, Callie’s global stomach in Nick’s hands where she was perched in his lap before the silky backdrop that had been set up in their living room for the maternity photos they all had been struggling through the past hour.

“Does he have to keep looking at my funny face?” Callie mouthed off, ignoring the roll of Nick’s eyes.

“Nope!” the young man stood with his impressive camera in hand, smoothing down his slacks.

She looked to Nick skeptically who in turn appeared willing, and he carefully hoisted her up once she slid back from his lap.

“This is better,” Nick spoke against her stomach, his arm hung loosely over her side and their thighs stacked as the photographer fluffed the plush comforter around the pair.

Callie wiggled this way and that, asking Nick to stuff part of the blanket under her for support when his other arm alone didn’t offer enough. Finally they punched enough pillows into submission and layered enough blankets for the sunlight coming through the window to cast over them beautifully in the late afternoon.

“Okay, y’all ready?” the young man asked as he ascended a ladder, secretly pleased with himself for setting up such a picturesque moment so hastily.

“Ready,” Callie exhaled with a final wiggle deeper into the bedding.

His hold on the camera adjusted as he peered through the viewfinder, twisting the lens delicately. “Okay Nick, let’s have you put your hand back on her thigh?”

Nick listened, the vibrant red of the roses across her hip and thigh striking against his dark, mottled skin.

“And Callie, your hand over your stomach?”

Just as she’d done so, Nick pressed a secret, tender kiss to the top of her stomach when Leo nudged, lost in the moment and forgetful of the camera looming overhead.

“Just like that, don’t move!” the photographer instructed, squinting through the viewfinder and his camera clicking rapidly in a flurry of shots.

The arm under his head shifted, and Nick purred when her hand stroked the back of his head, craning his neck back to press his head under her chin.

“You two are very photogenic,”

Nick scoffed. “You mean she’s photogenic,”

“You have a very nice side profile,” he emphasized, curled over the ladder to take advantage of more extreme angles.

Callie caught the beginnings of a blush, tapping his carved cheek until he chuffed. “I told you you were pretty,” she whispered.

The flat glare she met once he looked up stirred a giggle, but he maneuvered his head back down in time for the photographer to take another round of pictures, directing their hands and even managing to get one of them looking at each other before the giggle fits returned.

“Alright, give it about two weeks and I’ll call when they’re ready.” The young man smiled, handing over the receipt and business card to Nick as he was walked to the front door.

Callie gave her most convincing smile until the door was closed, and then her arms dropped, a deep breath falling past her lips as she waddled to the couch. In record time the tights she’d slipped on to remain presentable after the shoot had finished were pushed down her legs, then the tanktop that felt like spanx against her hot skin was tossed off to leave her in the bralette and panties, and remembered this time to flip on the ceiling fan before lowering herself slowly into the couch, her body melting into the cushions.

Nick came back around to spot her taking in deep breaths and exhaling slowly, her eyes slid shut and brows furrowed in discomfort.

“Cramps?” he leaned on his hands against the armrest to gaze down at her.

“Hot flash and angry kicks,” she groaned, looking at him through one eye she could barely manage to keep open.

“Want the AC on?”

“Nooo,” she lamented. “Even with it on they still suck,”

Nick squatted beside the arm rest, his chin atop his folded arm while one of his wide palms rested where Leo shoved, keeping his amused smile at bay while she so clearly struggled through the discomforts of late pregnancy.

“Are you gonna be okay?” he asked in concern.

“Oh yeah. My ass is staying planted here the better part of the day,” Callie grinned, wincing when Leo tried standing. “Come talk to your son so he stops punishing me,” she groaned, arching back into the cushions.

Nick eagerly crawled around the couch and kneeled between her thighs although she protested against the heat of his body, pressing his cheek to her round stomach.

“Leonardo Makar, you listen,” he started, a solid kick pushing against his chin. “You don’t have much longer until you can come out and stretch those legs, but you need to take it easy on your mama. You’re gonna end up bursting from her stomach like an alien if you keep it up,”

“That’s horrifying,” she chuckled.

“Just a little bit longer mausan boausan,” he kissed, rubbing his cheek there.

“And then you can carry him,”

“I’ll never put him down,”

“Until your arms get tired,” she giggled. With his arms wrapped securely around her waist and gazing up at her big caramel eyes with his chin atop her stomach, it gave her the chance to canvas the deep tiredness in his eyes, and how they started to slide shut when she dragged her nails across his scalp.

“They’re getting worse,” she mumbled, but he only shook his head.

“They’re just back is all,” he corrected.

“You know you can talk to me about them, so they’re not stuck up here,” she tapped his temple.

“No. I don’t want to talk about them,” he groaned, hiding his face.

“You wake up screaming, baby,”

“And then I see you and I’m fine,”

“Nick,”

He reluctantly looked up again, knowing there was no escaping when she held his face, but why would he want to when her thumbs stroking under his eyes was so lulling?

“Talk to me,” she begged quietly.

He barely shook his head. “You don’t wanna know what I dream about,”

“I do if it means some piece of mind for you,”

He shrugged before standing. “I’m okay. I have more important things to worry about,”

“Like what?”

“Learning how to swaddle,” he grinned cheekily before walking into their room, leaving her to stretch across the couch with a defeated sigh.

The terrors that gripped him in his sleep had worsened since the time they’d first developed, but his refusal to seek any more help after what he called ‘useless therapy’ and sleeping medication that drowned him enough to slumber through a few morning alarms was the battle that needed to be fought first. There wasn’t any use scheduling appointments or showing the options until he was actually willing.

“Nick! Nick!” she tried screaming over his roars, his thrashing arms flinging into her stomach and chest as she fought to still him. A hard blow landed against her cheek sent her back into the sheets, tears springing to her eyes when the throbbing started to crawl across her face. She kicked back from him when his legs thrashed, but this couldn’t go on.

One of his wild kicks came deathly close to her stomach, but when he’d twisted onto side, she dared the chance to throw herself over him and sit over his stomach.

“Nick!” she yelled, grabbing for his face, but his sharp teeth grazed her palm, slicing easily through her skin. Callie flinched back, blood already pooling in her grasp, but she bit back the anxiousness firing to every end of her body to raise her unscathed hand and swing it against his cheek.

Nick’s eyes flew open, the last of a forlorn holler choked down as he acclimated to his surroundings.

His wide, reflective eyes bounced around in the dark until they landed on her above, the pair panting, dazed, and trembling.

He gazed up at her past the hair tousled before her face, about to ask what had happened, when he tasted the blood on his teeth. He flinched back from his own fingers once he touched his lips, looking back to her frantically.

“What did I do?” he breathed, sliding from beneath her.

“It’s okay-”

“Show me,” he demanded, reaching to turn on the lamp. She angled her chin down to hide her cheek that was still ringing, but Nick had already seen the deep red that would bleed purple and green soon enough. He angled her jaw, his face sorrowing.

“What did I-” he gasped, the fresh spice of her blood bringing him to her palm.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” she pulled her bloody hand back, but his tired eyes were brimming with hot tears and unspoken apologies, his ragged breaths quickening.

“I’m- I’m so sorry,” he hiccuped, grabbing the sheet to press against her hand. “I’m so so sorry-”

“It wasn’t your fault,” she had his face again, her brows lined with determination, and although the pain was creeping into her eye, their gazes locked. following his head when he tried looking away in shame.

Nick’s head shook the farther it dropped, his shoulders shaking.

“Baby it’s okay,” she implored, trying to sit him upright, but he was already sobbing silently.

Callie surrounded his wide shoulders as best she could, echoing to him that all was well, but he was too far gone in his own guilt, not to mention the vivid nightmares still playing on loop in his mind.

Nick had lost himself in the memory as he stared at the disheveled bed; embarrassment was what reigned supreme over him now, but if he thought on it long enough, the guilt could blind him.

Callie was right, something needed to be done before it was Leo he ended up swinging into, but Nick couldn’t bring himself to even whisper the horrible images that played before him as he slumbered. He felt if he spoke of them and the way they made his stomach roil at just the mention of them, it would give them greater strength, if that was even possible.

“Get your foot out of there!” he heard Callie lament, and a grin cracked across his face.

Maybe Leo would be the solution, he pondered as he pulled on his shoes.

With the troubling thoughts pushed to the back of his mind to deal with another time, he came out into the living room again to find her moving objects across the kitchen bar around, but this had been the third time this week she’d found a new way to arrange the cups that held their pens and loose change, and now incense burners were perched at each end.

Nick watched over her shoulder as he grabbed his keys from the hook, his brows perking up when she placed her hands on her hips with a low puff and turned to look up at him.

“Restless?”

“I’m losing my mind, honestly,” she started swaying side to side when Leo spun. “And he keeps kicking me in the ribs,” she whined, pushing down on her stomach.

“We should set up the glider so you can relax while you rock him,”

“I was gonna call your mom to ask if she’d come help me with that today, actually,”

Nick’s ears twitched, his lips pulling into a straight line. “Don’t mention the house hunting,”

“You haven’t told her yet?” Callie griped, and he shook his head stiffly. “Do you not want to anymore?”

“No I do, but it’s a long stressful process and I’m just-”

“Tired all the time?” she interjected, lightly smacking his side when he lolled his head back to avoid her perceptive eyes. When she waited stubbornly, he looked down to her, eventually nodding.

“Gimmee a kiss,” she desired, stood on her tippy-toes to meet him halfway once dipping down to capture her mouth. She moaned appreciatively when he placed small repetitive pecks there, holding her small face and chuckling when her eyes fluttered drowsily.

“I gotta go,” he groused, resting a firm kiss on her cheek. “I love you,”

“You can’t avoid the topic forever,” she fought, but received a playful chuff in return, stepping towards the door with a final graze across her stomach.

He knew, and took her pleas seriously, but staring at her cheek that was bruised beneath the cover-up caused a wide stir of emotions he couldn’t take to work that day.

“I’ll figure something out, okay?” he tried reassuring, but her nod was still stiff, her mein anxious.

“Be safe,” she pouted, stirring a grin from Nick.

“Always am.” With that he left, leaving Callie to waddle back to the couch for a quick nap as he loaded into his truck.

↠

It wasn’t until he was walking through the back doors of the precinct did Nick realize that his bag was much lighter than usual because he’d forgotten the lunch Callie had packed for him, and when he turned down the hall towards the lockers his shoulder clipped the wall, further aggravating his already testy state of mind.

It was only the early afternoon and his sleep deprivation was catching up to him, his hands clumsily punching the buttons for an energy drink at the vending machine outside the lockers. The human ones were tame compared to the Orkish selection they conveniently never refilled, but it was the best he had to hopefully keep him going the rest of the day.

The drink was thrown back in a few mighty gulps, the can crushed in his fist before tossing it away as he wound his way through the lockers until coming up on Sergey who was already half dressed in his uniform.

“Lagging it today old man,” he teased, removing the ring gauges from his ears to fit the solid ones in.

“Shut up,” Nick yawned.

Sergey glanced over while Nick sluggishly pulled his pullover off. His brows curled in curiosity.

“Already feeling the sleepless nights before Leo is here?”

Nick eyed him; should I tell him? “Gettin’ it in before he gets here,” he smirked sleepily.

That was a lie. His exhaustion had all but muted his sex drive.

“You hound,” Sergey’s nose scrunched, his own smirk playing. Although Nicks excuse was false, Sergey and Dura were in fact squeezing in as much time as possible before Mariak was born, which wasn’t much farther than Leo’s own due date.

“Hey Jakoby,”

Nick turned mid pull of his undershirt down his body to find Tuvets, a heavyset officer he’d not really interacted with much waddling towards him, his uniform unbuttoned and beer belly hanging over his belt. He withheld a shudder; gotta cut back on the drinking.

“You handing these out?” Tuvets smiled, a bit winded. Handed over was the baby shower invites Nick had been passing around very choosingly, so the fact he had one was unsettling. Never did he think to give him one.

“Why do you have this?” Nick questioned, placing it in his locker despite the officer keeping his palm up for it’s return.

“Ahh, I saw it in Campos’s locker and took a look,” he laughed, waving off the invasion of privacy that Nick clearly disliked. “Being a little stingy with those invites, aren’t ya?”

Nick growled below his breath. “I don’t talk to many people here,” he decided to go with, flatly that was. He even kept his face in his locker to show how little he wanted to interact, but these kinds of people just didn’t understand social cues.

“Maybe if you tried talking to other people besides the string-bean once in a while,”

“Fuck you, Tuvets,” Sergey called from behind, flattening the velcro of his vest along his sides.

“Ah take a chill pill,” he waved him off. “I’m just saying, people think you’re a little… snobby the way you don’t try t’talk to anyone,” he went on, leaning closer despite Nick reclining.

“Oh that’s it?” Nick replied sarcastically.

“See like that! Try smiling once in a while too,” he beamed, his stained teeth making his stomach roil, not to mention the permanent beer breath many others leaned far away from if they were unlucky enough to be pinned by an unwanted conversation.

Nick chose not to answer, instead just nodding and going about buttoning up his shirt.

He knew Tuvets was lingering, but didn’t know why. He hoped if he stayed silent he’d finally get the hint and waddle off, but when the round man leaned back against the lockers, Nick dreaded knowing it meant he still wanted to talk.

“Hey uh… can I ask you something?”

There it is. “Hm?” Nick mumbled. Maybe if I ignored him he’d leave...

Tuvets glanced around them, leaning farther in. “Why’d you choose a human?”

Both his ears and eyes flickered in confusion. “What?”

“I mean, why didn’t you… y’know,” he rocked his hips. “With an Orc instead of a human?”

“How is that any of your business?” Nick snapped, his voice rising.

“It’s not, it’s just something most of us can’t figure out,” he tried to act innocent, but Nick knew it was either a weird kink of his or more bigoted nature coming forth. “I don’t mean anything offensive. Just can’t figure out why you didn’t stick with Orcs,”

“I don’t know- when you met your wife did you consciously tell yourself you only wanted human?” Nick retorted.

“Well no but-”

“No buts. It’s the same thing,” he made his tone final, his hardened expression hopefully conveying that he wanted nothing more to do with this conversation as he turned back to his locker.

The small breath of silence nearly convinced Nick that he’d gotten the point and would wander away, that was until he spoke again.

“But you had to have known having a halfling was wrong,”

Even Sergey’s head snapped to attention when that floated through the locker room, but Nick was already fuming, his pupils pin-sized and back straightening as a more combative side started to cloak over him.

“What the fuck does that mean?” he growled, his voice rippling.

Tuvets side-stepped uncomfortably. “It’s just something that you don’t do, you know? They’re not appropriate-”

“But pale faces can fuck their cousins and siblings?” Nick boomed.

“That’s a far leap-”

“Farther than spitting shit that has no evidence to back it up?” Nick snarled, angrily stepping towards him.

“Forget it Nick, c’mon-” Sergey tried pulling him back, but he pulled his burly arms from his grip roughly.

“Jakoby chill, I’m sure your halfling will be fine-”

“His name is Leo!” Nick shouted, right in Tuvets’s face now who flinched away from the thundering voice and sharp teeth bared at him. “I’ll skin you alive if you ever mention him again you disgusting sack of shit.” Nick finished, his chuff forceful enough that it blew spit in Tuvets’s face.

At last Sergey managed to pull Nick away, silencing the low Orkish mutters he still emitted while his eyes kept steady on Tuvets.

“I didn’t mean anything by it, brother,” Tuvets grinned, but Sergey’s hand on his chest stopped him from getting to Nick again.

Although Sergey felt the same annoyance that was meager compared to Nick’s fury, he pleaded with his softer golden eyes for him to just walk away before his iron built partner turned him into a pile of ground meat. There was a second more of resistance, but a final, gentle push against his chest had the sphere shaped man shaking his head and walking away, leaving the two Orcs with eyes on them from all directions.

“You’ve all got nothing better to do?” Sergey snapped, waiting until most of them had returned to their own private conversations to turn back to Nick who had his vest on now, pulling the side flaps roughly about himself.

“Lat mir?” he asked, and with a long exhale, Nick nodded, his vision that had bled over clearing up.

Sergey patted his shoulder firmly, moving back to his locker. He knew offering any words of consolation would only be poking the beast. Even if he could ease some of his friends anger, it would do nothing to calm the inevitable heartache when people would still find something wrong with his halfling son, but he would be lying if he said he hadn’t wondered the same thing about Nick. Having known who he was even before he joined the force, it struck him as odd that he’d choose to couple with the race that so despised him, and furthermore breed knowing the stigma surrounding halflings.

The harassment he’d received alone from joining the LAPD and filing his own tusks had nearly been enough to make him step back from his decision, and he was blooded. Nick had come into it with the whole world against him; absolutely no one to show any real faith in him, and here he was playing with fire again.

It never made him think differently of the man he’d come to respect and look up to, but the questions still floated about in his mind on occasion.

Why would he choose to make his life more difficult than it already is?

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Nick grumbled once finished, buckling his utility belt in place before stalking out of the locker room.

Sergey followed quickly, still fixing his collar as they made their way to the morning briefing.

↠

“Are you sure you got it?” Dinara called, staring intently down at the two slender pieces of wood she was securing together.

“Yep!” Callie grunted from down the hall. The soft scraping of an object of substantial weight prompted Dinara to look away from her task at hand, but it wasn’t until she spotted Callie from the corner of her eyes hunched over and inching backwards did she start to rise from the floor.

“Whaav ayh laat- Calista, put that down!” she exclaimed, hurrying over to move Callie away from the colossal metal tool box she’d resorted to dragging down the hall from the laundry room.

“I only have a few more feet!” she fought breathlessly, but Dinara already had it in hand to carry into Leo’s room. “Nevermind, you clearly got it,”

“Thought an old woman like me could not handle this?”

“You’re the same size as me, I thought it would tip you over,” she shrugged.

“I carry one of these around with me when I work,” she exhaled as she sat again, offering an upturned palm to help lower a global Callie down next to her.

“Is what you needed in here?” she asked, returning to organizing the screws and washers into neat piles.

“He should, Oleg would scold him if he didn’t have- here it is,” Dinara smiled, holding up an allen wrench. “I can’t believe they didn’t include one,”

“Let’s demand a refund so we can buy you one,” Callie smiled deviously only to receive a playful roll of her eyes in return. “I mean, I can only assume we’ll be visiting more with Leo, so you’ll need one too,”

“And when you have more,” she placed the constructed base down, looking over her glasses. “I’ll have everything still,”

Callie was still, trying not to convey that she too had been in love with the idea of having a mini-nation of her own, but knew realistically this was probably her only time.

“You’ll need a bigger home than this,”

Callie dropped the cushion she’d been moving, fumbling to pick it up.

Dinara observed silently, smirking to herself as she spun the allen wrench. “Am I wrong for assuming you’d want more?”

“No, no no. I’ve always wanted a big family, I just don’t know if I can make anymore, mentally or physically,” Callie explained briefly, her grin folding into a playful frown.

Dinara nodded thoughtfully. “This little boy has taken a lot out of you, hasn’t he?”

“Nothing I wouldn’t mind giving up,” she assured. “But getting to this point was just… turbulent,”

“I hear that,” she nodded whilst starting to align the next part of the frame.

Callie had already gnawed her inner lip raw when she out of habit pulled her lips to the side, and she couldn’t bounce her leg the way she was perched on the floor. There was nowhere for this nervousness to go, until-

“We wanna look at bigger houses first,” Callie near blurted, but now she could see Nick’s tired eyes staring down at his phone when his mother would inevitably call to try setting this idea in motion.

Fuck.

“How long has this been decided?” Dinara questioned inquisitively.

“Jus’like’acoupleweeks?” Callie babbled, shoulders pulling up and in.

The first time Callie had caught Dinara staring at Nick the way she now did to her, she at last discovered just where Nick had developed the flat stare that often made her laugh, including now when she cut off a hard snort upon looking back to Dinara.

“I just closed on a three bedroom, I could’ve stalled,”

“I think it has to do with schedules, more than anything,” Callie tried covering.

“Is he working more?” his mother asked, her hands slowing.

“No,” Callie cleared her throat. “He just comes home exhausted so doing anything around that is tricky,”

“Why’s he so tired? You should be the one napping all the time,” Dinara cracked, standing to assemble higher pieces.

Callie had to stop herself from spitting it out like a red hot coal. There were no more avenues to turn down in hopes of convincing Nick to seek help once again for the nightmares that ruled his dreams, and the thought of consulting his parents had come to the forefront of her mind, but she didn’t want to break his trust after promising she wouldn’t since the first time those years ago the nightmares had manifested.

But did he see how he was torturing himself the longer he denied help? Surely not like she did.

“Did Nick ever have nightmares when he was little?” she asked cautiously, looking up to meet Dinara’s alarmed eyes.

“They’re starting again,” she replied definitively, an old heartache blooming after laying long dormant.

That blind sided Callie. “So he’s had them?” she asked, suddenly facing a monster instead of it’s shadow.

Dinara looked down at her hands fiddling with the screwdriver; an old habit that had died since Callie had stepped into Nick’s life.

“They first started when he was six, when he wasn’t telling us about the other boys at school that had singled him out,” she spoke sadly, coming to sit beside Callie with her back against the dresser. “It started as words but exploded into a couple fresh bruises a week. The school was useless, the other parents said it was boys being boys despite not knowing how my son begged every morning not to go anymore,”

“What happened?” Callie asked wide-eyed, her hand on her chest.

“Oleg started teaching him how to defend himself, but that only resulted in worse fights. Ukmall shifted from a smiling boy, to sad to an angry one so quickly- I can’t imagine how his heart must’ve hurt,”

Dinara’s head shook at the grim recollections; how badly she wanted to help her son but couldn’t make it past his walls.

“And during it all, he’d wake up screaming from the nightmares. Before Nick was,” she tensed her arms, grunting to display strength and momentarily lifting Callie’s sorrows. “He was a scrawny little teen, but it took all of Oleg to hold him down one night he woke up kicking and swinging,”

“It went on for that long?”

“Until he graduated, really. In college, he kept his head down and that was enough to keep people away for the most part, but Jirak if that boy didn’t fight our help every step of the way. No medication, no counseling, no even talking about it! He always told me ‘Ma, I can handle it’ and I’d…” she stopped to breathe, her warm sunflower eyes staring ahead as she steadied that tremble in her voice.

Callie had already been tearing, the imaginings of a child Nick learning at such an open hearted, innocent age that the world hated him for who he was, even before hate could be taught to him.

“I’d hold him when he finally woke up and tell him that holding in the fear was poisoning him. That even if he didn’t like it, he had to take medicine to cure the sickness,”

“And he listened?” Callie sniffled, using the bottom of her old sleeping shirt to wipe her misty cheeks.

Dinara nodded, also dabbing under her glasses. “It wasn’t much but the talking he did seemed to do the trick. Nick has always been one to keep things in here,” she motioned towards her chest. “But he forgets that everything has a limit,”

Callie agreed; it was a relief to know that maybe they weren’t destined to have sleepless nights, or risk what she didn’t have the heart to use as leverage against him: harming Leo.

“What’s on his mind then?” his mother asked having returned to the task at hand after composing herself.

“If he’d tell me he wouldn’t be punching me at 2 am,” Callie murmured a little bitterly.

“He’ll break soon. Exhaustion makes people weak, but I hope it’s sorted before he flings Leo into a wall,”

Callie shuddered, visibly disturbed by such a possibility; a stark one that had real grounds to stand on.

A sharp cramp rang up her stomach, pinching her eyes shut and starting a tight side to side shifting of her foot. Since the nights of screaming has started, her days had only been filled with cramps that made her stop in her tracks.

Her doctor had only needed a passing glance at Callie’s tired shoulders and jittering hands to recognize the stress that was coming off her in waves, but simply telling her to ‘avoid the stressors’ meant avoiding Nick, something she didn’t want to do at all.

“You better not pop before I have this, God forsaken piece ro ukhiav done.” Dinara snarled from behind her slim tusks and although her stomach was taut with a stinging cramp Callie laughed.

↠

It had been peaceful the better part of their late start to the day. Although the heat was steadily rising in LA, it didn’t seem enough to start the usual ‘summer rumble’ they faced yearly, but the two Orcs that sat in the old, beaten cruiser knew soon enough they’d be sweating off their body weight during chases and stand-offs. It would be best to soak in this downtime, but two high-strung and hormone driven Orcs would soon tire of the silence.

Nick had also chosen this particularly quiet street specifically for that reason: there was never any traffic. Maybe a double parking ticket every once in a blue moon, but all that was here were old homes with older inhabitants that stayed well below the speed limits. With that he didn’t feel the pressing need to keep his eyes up and alert and instead dragged them down at least ten different articles he’d devoured in the past hour, all of them detailing the stigma that was halflings.

The morphs, the disorders that sometimes came with them, the rarity of certain races crossing over; then he started getting into the numbers, more troubling, the few recorded births of halflings, but the high number of suicides and murders amongst them, that being mostly in teens, even some in adolescence.

“Amongst this hidden race of outcasts lies a startling epidemic of secret families, sometimes secret half-siblings, that officials are now warning of, and I quote, ‘A growing problem that we urge you to prevent. Stay well within your race not only to avoid the deadly disorders these children are born with, but the life of cruelty you’ll be putting your offspring through-“

He chucked his phone into the center console, rubbing his tired eyes with the heels of his palms.

“You alright?” Sergey asked around the Orkish jerky he’d been chewing on.

There was a pause before Nick nodded, dropping his hands and looking out to the street.

Sergey stuffed his own phone away. “Are you thinking about Leo?” He didn’t really need an answer. Since they’d left the precinct Nick had been either quiet or impatient, throwing objects around the car or snapping at the smallest of things, but who could blame him? His son was already receiving the harassment most kids had a chance at avoiding until their later years.

“I know I’m not one that’s good with words and I can’t begin to understand what you’re feeling, but if you need to vent, I’m here,” Sergey offered, but Nick didn’t acknowledge him. His knee was bouncing, and surely his mind was racing, but he remained composed.

The young Orc didn’t take offense to it and turned back to take his phone out when Nick spoke.

“I feel like I fucked up my own kids life,”

Sergey looked at him in dismay. “How?”

Nick sighed, his head bouncing back against the seat. “How could I bring a child into a world that hates halflings more than Orcs? What the fuck was I thinking?”

“You… you regret…?”

“No!” Nick snapped, glaring. “I…” he trailed off, choosing his words carefully. “I wanted nothing more than to give Callie a family and I’m- I’m so excited, but if anything happens to him, it’ll be my fault,”

“No it won’t, you can’t blame yourself for other people's cruelty,” Sergey urged, but Nick shook his head.

“If Callie’d had a human baby this wouldn’t even be an issue. What’ll it do to her if Leo doesn’t make it past high school?” he mumbled despondently.

“Have you talked to her about it?”

“No. I don’t wanna burden her,”

“Don’t be stupid. You wanna have halflings together in this world but you won’t talk to her about it?” Sergey rattled off, chuffing back just as heatedly when Nick fired one at him. “Say it out loud again and see how dumb it sounds,”

Nick’s face was twisted in annoyance, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it because it really did sound stupid. He’d gone and used that same, empty, dangerous excuse twice in his time with Callie and it had almost resulted in her life ending, yet here he was again.

“You’re burdening her by not telling her,”

“Shut up already,” Nick mumbled.

More silence passed between them with Nick tugging at a frayed string on his uniform and Sergey observing the roads around them.

You’re burdening her by not telling her.

I thought I was saving her heartache. “She’s been nothing but happy when all she was before Leo was sad. I didn’t wanna take that away from her,”

Sergey nodded in understanding. “Do you think it would’ve changed her mind about being a mom to a halfling?”

“Never. I watch her look at the ultrasounds and Leo’s kicks in a way she’s never looked at me before. Nothing could change that,”

“Then what’s stopping you?”

It wasn’t even a question he needed to ask himself at that point. “Me. I keep reading stuff about halflings and the suicides and- and did you know there isn’t even an accurate number that makes up a percentage of halflings? They’re born in homes in secret because of the backlash they face. It’s like they’re excluded from basic rights,”

“I mean, yeah, that’s grim but wouldn’t you do everything in your power to make sure Leo didn’t meet that same fate?”

“That’s a rhetorical question,”

“I think it’s one you need to ask yourself as a reminder,” Sergey said derisively. “What good does worrying do for a future you can prevent?”

Nick opened his mouth to speak, but… it was true. How many times had he told Callie to think in the now, not the upcoming?

“At least you know your heart is in the right place. Now you just need to get that weird shaped head there,” Sergey beamed until Nick punched his arm forcefully. “You know I knew a halfling once,”

Nick’s ears flickered. “Yeah?”

Sergey nodded. “He was a Brezzik mix, and I’ll admit he was straight out of a horror film but he was one of the smartest people I knew, and quiet. He had like two friends in high school but would still interact like anyone else if they gave him the chance,”

“Did he…?” Nick asked, his finger pointing to his temple like a gun.

“I thought he did cuz after high school he up and vanished, but a couple years later I saw him in a grocery store with one of the same friends, just doing their thing like anyone else,”

“Just a normal guy?”

“Aren’t we all?”

Those words stuck with Nick as he flipped them back and forth in his mind. Often he’d thought of himself as the odd one out, and the harassment he’d endured solidified that for years, but what wasn’t normal about himself? What had he done in his life that anyone else wouldn’t? He was where most has trouble getting; a job, a roof he could keep over his head, Callie.

Leo was to be born into a hard world, but the ideal home.

Nick sighed softly, his exhaustion at last finding its end. The ideal home.

He stifled a low whine when he realized that this all could’ve been sorted with Callie’s help if he hadn’t been so stubborn, and in addition came upon the realization that since he’d locked her from his thoughts, she must’ve been stressing as well. And he’d noticed it! Her troubles showed so clearly and the past week she’d been jittery and stressed and in pain, but here he was thinking he was making everything better again by keeping his big mouth shut.

With a louder groan this time, he held his face wondering if any amount of food or gifts or apologies would ever be enough to convince her to marry him at this point.

“Don’t fret, old man. I’m here to help.” Sergey patted his arm affectionately, but coughed when Nick slugged him in the side.

He certainly could’ve reclined his seat and slept right there in his car before the taco shop in a matter of seconds if he wanted, but Nick was determined to get these enchiladas home to Callie in hopes it would pacify her before spilling the dread he’d been carrying.

But would it help when he started apologizing like an idiot?

Nick scoffed. “No.” His thumbs flew across the screen of his phone to text Callie he had the goods and was on his way home before turning the key in the ignition. It was a little unusual she was up so late when lately she’d been conking out by nine, but maybe the earlier promise of food had kept her up.

The drive home was quick through the empty streets as was collecting his belongings and towering bag of food once parked in the driveway.

It was a struggle to disarm the alarm once stepping through the door with his hands full, and it made him wonder how much practice he should be getting in before it was a car seat and diaper bag in hand.

“Baby?” he called out, setting his bags down on the table stacked with laundry piles.

Always he looked down at Pucca’s box besides the TV, her paw print and collar perched neatly beside it.

“Hey girl,” he said lowly, swiping his hand across the top to rid it of the fine layer of dust.

“In here!” Callie’s voice floated from the bathroom, and he padded down the hall once kicking his shoes off to find her comically stretched out in the bath, a knee hooked over the edge and all.

“Are you stuck?” he teased, but she flipped him off.

“Your mom made those spicy pork kebabs today and he’s been bouncing ever since,” she groaned tiredly, moving her bubbly covered hand from her stomach when Nick sat beside the tub to trace his fingertips over her wet skin.

“Think he’s gonna be a runner when he’s older?” Nick asked.

“I think by the time he’s ready to walk he’ll go straight to sprinting,”

He chuckled, simply placing his hands flat. It was becoming easier to feel which part of Leo was nudging. Once learning how to cup his head through her lower belly meant elbows were obvious from knees or feet, sometimes the soft impression of an arm showing.

“How was work?” she asked, reaching to use the back of her knuckles to trace his cheek.

“Uneventful,” he sighed, leaning in her touch. “Didn’t even write a ticket,”

“Easy money,” she grinned.

“Did you two get the glider up?”

“Eventually. I offered my expertise which was nothing at all so your mom did all the work,” Callie laughed, her smile fading when Nick started to doze off with his chin rested on his arm. “You should go to bed,”

“M-mm. I wanna eat,” he said through a closed jaw.

“Don’t wait for me then,”

“M-mm,”

“Mi amore,” she cooed, opening his heavy eyes. “You need all the rest you can get,”

“I get it,”

“Not as much lately,” she approached cautiously. He looked away, his cheek now rested on his arm and exhaling when she dragged her nails across his scalp. His touch still remained on her stomach, but he’d since gone still, his sleeve even dipping into the warm water without his notice. He was so out of it he didn’t even know his jacket was inside out; it was the third time it’d happened in a weeks time.

“You know you can talk to me,” she said softly, but only his eyes opened. “No matter how bad they are, I wanna know so I can help,”

“It’s not the nightmares, baby,” he groaned, rolling his head back to face her. “It’s what’s causing them,”

“Tell me then,” she didn’t mean for it to come out as a plea, but she was desperate to help. Never before had she’d seen him so consumed by his own dark thoughts, barely able to drag himself upright and face another daunting day.

Nick better situated himself beside the tub so he didn’t slip into a slumber while talking, and took a breath. “I feel like I set Leo up to become another statistic,”

Her brows pulled together in confusion. “What do you mean?”

This was a risk telling her; surely she’d find the same articles he came upon and feel- if not worse- the torment he did. “Do you know how rare it is for a halfling to grow into adulthood?”

“Because of the suicides?”

Nick blinked a couple times. “You-”

“Yep, every single one. As soon as I hit twelve weeks I couldn’t stop reading them,”

Nick was taken aback. “You’re not freaking out!?”

“I did for a hot minute, but then I thought of you,” she smiled, even giggling when his ears flicked in confusion. “You’ve had such a tough life that by all means should’ve ended you a long time ago, but you’re here,”

“Because of you,”

“Who was there before me though?” she asked, spinning to also rest her chin on her arm beside his.

“My parents,” he mumbled, and when he brows perked up, it made sense.

“If your parents gave you that same stubbornness that got you to where you are, I want Leo to have it too. It’s our job to protect him, but we also need to teach him to be strong and resilient, and that he can do anything he wants to in life despite being labeled,”

“I wasn’t a halfling though,”

“No, but you’re the first for a lot of things. Leo won’t be the first halfling,”

He stared into her endless eyes, and the serenity they emitted. “The numbers don’t freak you out at all?”

“Nope. I fucking refuse to let him become just another number logged. He’s our son, our boy. He’s gonna grow to be a man and live a fulfilling life, better than ours, and if hate comes with it then so be it, but he’s gonna learn to swing back when life takes swings at him, Nick. He’s gonna be just like you, baby,”

Her forehead came to press against his when he exhaled shakily, closing his eyes to hide the shine of fresh tears. He chuffed to fight off the torrent of emotions, but she only held his face, promising they could do this together, assuring him he wasn’t alone in this fight with his fears.

After a few moments of sly wipes across his eyes and some softer words that finally brought his face back to her so she could kiss him, Nick felt that the crushing weight of fatherhood perched on his shoulders could be lifted over time; all he needed was to build the strength to take on this next chapter of his life, just like any other thing he’d came out of on top.

“Let’s go then,” she sniffled, kissing him again. “I wanna eat,”

“Yeah,” he cleared his throat, standing to help her up and wrap a towel around her sudsy body.

“You know the practice we get in with Leo means we’ll be experts the second time around,” she teased, and his eyes narrowed.

“You talked to her about it today, didn't you?”

“No but she almost cornered me with it, and the bigger house thing,” Callie explained while she went about drying herself off.

“She’s clever. Before you know it we’ll be in a mansion without any money left for food or electricity,”

“We wanted a mansion anyways,” she shrugged, yelping when he pinched her side.

“Don’t even joke about that around her,” he groaned, walking from the bathroom.

Callie paused. “Maybe you should give her a call then, cuz I got her hopes up today,”

Nick spun to face her in alarm. “You said-”

“Ah I’m just fucking with you, let’s eat.” Callie smiled sheepishly, squeezing between him and the doorframe, a loud shriek coming forth when he chuffed behind her ear.

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HELLOOOOO AGAIN MY FRIENDS here i come with a wee lil chapter cuz listen shit will hit the fan soon, emotions stir. there's sadness AND happiness so please be patient with me and thank you to returning readers who've stuck around and anyone new! <3 hope to update again sooner than a month hehehe

[ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes]

Little Gem

Summary: Modern AU Alfie nervously meets his boyfriend’s son for the very first time. 

          Tommy wasn’t much of a sleeper. He didn’t need too many hours of shut-eye to be productive. But he soon knew that the scarce sleep he managed to get would be cut in half very soon.

           It began one May morning when his husband asked, completely out of the blue, about babies. Charlie was turning six that summer and according to Alfie, the house was far too big for just the three of them plus Cyril.

           Tommy requested he get to the point. So Alfie explained that he wanted a baby. He’d raised Charlie since he was about three. Grace had passed away and Tommy began to confide in his business partner about his hurt. Alfie was surprisingly a good person to talk about emotions to. Unlike the rest of his family, the Jewish man was a little franker with his feelings. If he was upset or happy the world was damn well going to know.

           So prolonged business meetings turned into chats which turned into going out to dinner which turned into dinner at each other’s’ homes, which turned into sex. The relationship developed and soon, not soon enough according to Alfie, the two were married. Alfie adopted Charlie and they became a happy family. Charlie adored his papa and often times would gravitate towards him even over Tommy.

           Now, Alfie wanted to raise a baby, from the very beginning this time around. It took some convincing and finding a surrogate. A friend they met from Charlie’s school was more than happy to take on the role and before they knew it, she was pregnant.

           Alfie was thrilled to find out they were having a girl. “A boy and girl, Tommy that’s fucking perfect ain’t it?” He beamed as they put the ultrasound picture up on the refrigerator.

           Now, their daughter was due any day and Tommy was getting in as much sleep as possible in preparation. He wasn’t sure Alfie was quite ready for the sleepless nights, the man slept like a hibernating bear.

           But Tommy wouldn’t be getting any extra sleep that night. At two in the morning, Alfie shook his husband awake.

           “Tom, Tommy, Deb texted me.” He jostled him until the man batted his hands away.

           “What? What?”

           “Deb texted me saying her water broke!” Alfie exclaimed with a hint of joy and absolute terror. “We’ve gotta get the things in the car. Wake up, Charlie!”

           Tommy sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Alfie, if her waters just broke it’ll be hours before the baby actually starts to crown. You’ve put it in the GPS a million times, it only takes us ten minutes to drive to the hospital.” He mumbled. “Get a few more hours of sleep.”

           “I can’t go back to sleep, the fucking baby is coming!” He retorted sharply. “Now get your arse outta bed. I’ll call Polly to come watch Charlie.” He rushed out of the room texting away.

           Tommy yawned and sighed. Sure, he was excited that his daughter was coming, but he’d been around the block before. Grace was in labor with Charlie for over six hours. It was a waiting game and he wasn’t about to show up at the hospital at two in the morning with a frazzled Alfie. It wouldn’t do Deb any good. So, he would try his best to stall.

~~~~~~~~~~

           Two forty-five in the morning and Tommy had managed to keep Alfie from bursting at the seams. He slowly packed the car with all the bits for their newborn while his husband was shouting updates from Deb. Not that any of the updates were different, just timing between contractions.

           Charlie was well awake and still in his pajamas. He wandered back and forth asking Alfie and Tommy when the baby would come.

~~~~~~~~~~

           Three in the morning and Alfie couldn’t stand not being at the hospital for another minute. Polly wasn’t answering as it was the dead of night, so Alfie put some shoes on Charlie, dressed him in a coat and packed him into the car as well.

           “Alfie, we agreed that he would stay here…” Tommy protested when he saw their son half asleep in the car seat.

           “It’ll be sweet, aye?” Alfie frantically double checked that they had everything. “He’ll get to see his baby sister. Don’t you want to see your baby sister, treacle?”

           Charlie yawned and mumbled an incoherent response, his head lolling to the side.

           Tommy sighed. “Can you just wait another half…”

           “No!” Alfie exclaimed and got in the passenger side seat.

           “Alright…” Tommy went to get the car keys. “Here we go then.”

`~~~~~~~~~~~

           It was a wait, although not as long as it had taken Charlie to arrive. Alfie was a nervous wreck in the waiting room and could hardly stay still. Tommy slept in the corner with Charlie in his lap. Eventually, Alfie woke him up and said the baby was crowning and Deb said they could be in the delivery room.

           Tommy left Charlie with a nurse and headed in with his husband. As they agreed, Alfie cut the umbilical cord when Ruby came out.

           Alfie was breathing unevenly as the nurse came out with their cleaned and swaddled daughter. She smiled and gently placed the little bundle in his arms.

           “Fucking hell…” The hardened man was reduced to nothing but tears of joy when he first saw his daughter’s pink face. “Look at you, yeah? Tommy, love, look.”

           Tommy came to stand next to his husband, wrapping an arm around his waist. “Little’un, aye?” He chuckled and reached up to graze his thumb over Ruby’s soft cheek.

           “Dark hair like her daddy.” Alfie choked out a laugh. “Our little gemstone. Our little Ruby.”

~~~~~~~~~~

           Despite the chaotic early morning, the dust settled and things were unimaginably calm at that moment. Alfie and Tommy were fixed on how absolutely perfect she was.

           A few hours after she was born, Charlie was brought into the room. Tommy took his hand and led him over to the bassinette where Ruby was half asleep. “See?”

           Charlie stood on his tiptoes, pressing his face to the plastic side of the bassinette. The little thing wriggled and waved a hand in her swaddle. “Hi.” He said very quietly.

           Alfie smiled and smoothed Charlie’s hair back. “What’d you think, then?” He asked.

           “She’s small.” The little boy shrugged. There wasn’t much else to say.

           Ruby squirmed and started to scrunch up her face in discomfort. Without much prompt, she began to wail. Charlie jumped and pressed his hands over his ears in shock. He wasn’t sure how such a little bit could be so loud.

           Alfie scooped Ruby up and patted her back. “Sh, sh, love, s’alright.”

           Charlie frowned and decided to leave, hands still blocking his ears. Tommy was a little amused but went to follow his son. “Where’ya going?” He asked.

           “She’s so loud,” Charlie whined in protest. “How’d you turn her down?”

           Tommy laughed softly and knelt down. “Not like the TV, Charles, you can’t lower the volume. You can get that loud too, you know.”

           His son looked disinterested. “I’m bored.”

           “Alright, well, your aunt and cousin’ll be here soon,” Tommy promised. “Papa wanted to get pictures of you and Ruby together though. Maybe you could hold her?”

           “No, I don’t wanna.” Charlie shook his head and went to the waiting room to find some toy to tinker with. Tommy sighed. So the sibling uniting wouldn’t be as easy as they assumed.

~~~~~~~~~~

           “Easy, easy.” Alfie cringed at how Tommy lifted the car seat carrier into the car.

           “Oh boy.” Tommy chuckled and buckled the carrier in. “She’s alright, Alfie, I promise.”

           Charlie hopped into the car and got himself buckled into his own seat. He leaned over to peer into the blankets that Ruby was nestled into.

           “Now, Charles.” Tommy leaned over into the backseat. “You’ve got a very important job to do on the way home. Do you want a job?” He asked.

           Charlie perked up. He always loved helping out his dad and papa. “Yeah!”

           “Good lad. I need you to watch after your sister on the drive back. Make sure she’s okay. This is her first car ride. Can I trust you?”

           He nodded eagerly and reached over to place a hand on the car seat.

           Tommy smiled and tousled his son’s hair. “I believe in you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

           On the drive back, Charlie kept his eyes intently fixed on his sister. Every time she moved, he made note of it. When she opened her eyes, her brother smiled and shook one of the toys attached to the carrier in front of her.  

           Halfway home, Tommy slammed on his brakes to avoid a car cutting in front of them.

           “Jesus Christ, Tom!” Alfie snapped and braced himself against the dashboard.

           “Daddy, not good!” Charlie barked at his father.

           Tommy’s eyes widened at the criticism immediately thrown at him. “Sorry, I didn’t want to hit that person, it were their fault!” He protested.

           “Is she alright?” Alfie twisted around in the front seat.

           Charlie nodded. Ruby hadn’t even stirred. “Yeah, papa, she’s alright.”

           Alfie smiled. “Good, thank you, treacle.”

           Tommy checked in the rearview mirror and couldn’t help but smile too as he watched Charlie adjust Ruby’s blankets to cover her little sock-covered feet. Maybe he was too quick to judge. Maybe the two would get along after all.

Masterlist

[shslflamingarrow]

HELLO & SORRY

@youngmoviemaker I was your Ava’s Demon Secret Santa! And I’m late!! I have no excuse other than. I’m a chronic procrastinator. But I wanted to try not to rush this so it didn’t end up too horrible. Anyway, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year!! Here’s a fic about Christmas, even though it’s not Christmas anymore. @theavasdemonsecretsanta

[[MORE]]

It had finally happened somehow. It took years of scraping together pennies from minimum wage jobs and living at home with their parents for longer than was socially acceptable, but now Odin was finally putting down the last box in their new apartment. They’d saved for years just to have enough for the deposit on a one bedroom apartment in California. When they first started dating Ava detailed her dreams of living close to the beach. So Bakersfield wasn’t quite the beachside property of their dreams, but it was closer than it had been before they moved.

He patted a box, labeled in Ava’s blocky handwriting KITCHEN. “W-wanna see if we can f-f-find some dinner?”

“That box is all pots and pans, good luck eating cast iron.” She laughed as he dug through the box to confirm. He supposed they hadn’t had much food to pack for themselves moving out of their family homes.

“W-well...” He scratched his chin. “We co-could order in-n?” Odin knew he had a good thirty bucks kicking around somewhere. No answer came to his question and when he looked up from the boxes to investigate why he saw his girlfriend gazing out the window. It wasn’t much of a view, just the city streets and air pollution.

“I can’t believe it’s already December and there’s no snow,” she said after a few moments.

“It d-d-doesn’t sn-n-now much h-here.” If at all. ‘The snow’ was a destination for Californians. That’s what came with wanting to live near the beach. Or at least, two hours from it.

“I don’t know how it’ll feel like Christmas with no snow.” Christmas had honestly been the last thing on Odin’s mind. They were far too broke now to pull out all the stops on gifts and dinner.

“N-next year we can g-g-go b-back home.” It would always be snowing there in December, and their families would expect to see them for the holidays.

“Where are we going to put the tree?” She asked looking around the living room with boxes stacked in every corner. It looked like more than it really was due to the low ceilings and general cramped space. Odin looked around with her.

“I g-guess...” He pointed to the deepest corner furthest from the door. “Th-there.” It’s away from the kitchen, which isn’t actually a separate room and is instead divided by a metal strip in the ground that separates yellowing carpet from yellowing tile. She stood in the corner as if sizing it up.

“B-but... We p-r-r-robably can’t afford a t-tree this year.” He hated letting her down, and the look on her face dampened significantly to let him know he had done just that.

“You’re right...” She sighed, still standing in the corner to size it up.

“N-next year,” Odin assured her, walking over to pat the top of her head. “Christmas will be p-perfect next year.” A pretty big promise to make considering they wouldn’t have much more money then either if things continue like they had. She nodded though, giving a sniff almost like she’d been crying. The two fell into each other’s embrace, Ava burying her face into his chest like she intended to nest there.

“L-let’s find some c-ca-sh. There’s a s-s-sushi joint w-we passed.” They probably couldn’t afford delivery and sushi but he’d go get it for them.

Digging around in a clothes box, Odin tracked down a twenty dollar bill in the back pocket of his discarded work jeans.

“F-found it.” He held up the crumpled bill triumphantly and at the sound of his voice Ava ceased her own rooting around for spare change.

“I got a dollar twenty-five.” She announces proudly, holding up a crumpled bill that had been through the wash and a dingy quarter. Odin held his hand out for that too.

"You c-can c-c-call and order while I'm w-wa-walking," he told her standing at the door and wrapping himself up in his coat and scarf they'd left on the floor where a coat rack should go. She nodded understanding before hunting down her cell phone. Talking to people gave her anxiety, but she knew Odin had a rougher go of it, especially on the phone he could be hard to make out. So he would go get it and face human interaction face to face while she dealt with the phone call. It seemed to be a pretty fair trade. When he got out the door and down the several flights of stairs (elevator was busted) he realized his coat and scarf were a bit much. The people around him were all bundled and shivering the same, but the weather felt like a crisp spring day back home more than the middle of December. He let the grey hand knit scarf sit open around his neck. It had been his Christmas present from Ava last year. She spent all her free time while he was working the graveyard shift. It was supposed to be a blanket but she decided to stop at scarf and he loved it just the same.

By the time he got to the sushi joint, he was sure Ava had enough time to order. He looked at the cheesy lanterns and fish tank, which felt like any other sushi place he’d been to. Not that there were very many back east. When he saw the plates though he could already tell this was nothing like the sushi at home. Probably having something to do with the fact that this fish was a lot fresher.

“H-h-hello.” Odin coughed, as if that would shake off his stutter. It was always worse in public, when people were new or staring at him. “O-order for A-Ava. Or-or Odin.” The woman behind the counter looked very bewildered by his stammering but checked the tags at her side. She picked one up and looked it over?

“Odin?” She said it more like udon, but he nods. The white receipt paper is slammed down onto a spike with several other receipts before she turns to walk away. He’s left looking at the bowl of mints and toothpick dispenser for a few moments before something catches his eye. Just behind where the woman’s head had been there’s a tiny tree sprouting up on a shelf. It’s growing severely to the left in order to avoid hitting the shelf above it, tilted and awkward. Maybe in need of water but he’s not quite sure.

When the woman comes back with a takeout bag she tells him it’s 15.50. Odin points to the tree behind her.

“H-how much?” Her face looks at him in that same bewildered way as before looking back to where he’s pointing.

“Not for sale.” She shook her head to emphasize the point.

“How much?” He repeats digging in his pockets for the money and handing her all of it. She looks over the money, and he knows it’s probably worth more than six dollars but it’s worth a shot. “P-please?” His intense gaze pierced into her own. She looked around uneasily and Odin couldn’t help but think about how he was about to be banned from the nearest restaurant on their first day in the new apartment.

“Ten more dollars. Come back later.” Her words are short and precise, so unlike his. He claps his hands together once, making to bow like an idiot.

“T-thank you! Th-th-thanks so much!” He ripped the food from her hands so ecstatically she flinched.

"We close at eight o clock!" The bell inside rang as he threw the door open, back into the pseudo cold air.

He didn't return that night, mostly because he couldn't get ten dollars, but it also wouldn't be much of a surprise to Ava if he brought it home with him that minute. Instead, the next day Ava was going to report to her first day on the job. She'd mooned over the idea for months, she'd be working in a stocking warehouse which didn't sound like something young girls mooned over. The part she loved? Not one of her coworkers could speak English, and she couldn't speak Russian. It was the perfect job, with the lowest amount of human interaction possible. Odin wished they were hiring two new staffers, but he was focused on his art. Which meant staying home and drawing commissions for table scraps.

But it was a table scrap that got him back to the sushi place for the tree (and maybe a California roll, which he and Ava had eaten in abundance to celebrate their move.) The same woman stood behind the counter, and Odin wondered if perhaps she was the owner. Or the owner's wife. He'd figure it out in time. He didn't hesitate a second in slamming his card down on the counter, narrowly missing her receipt spike.

"T-tree." He didn't want to waste time mincing words. She gave the same look, and he now knew he would recieve it every time they came. Likely with Ava looking on questioningly at his side. But it was no surprise to her that Odin could be... Abrasive. It was to this woman though. Nonetheless, she turned and grabbed the tiny tree before ringing him up for a large container of rice. He had never punched in his PIN so quickly in his life, usually there was some sort of hesitation in spending. Not for Ava though.

He practically ran home, the tree swaddled in his arms and sheltered by his body. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something shining on a wrought iron rail. Christmas lights. They had wrapped fake tree like garland around the rail and hooked small red Christmas bulbs in it. He looked around for several seconds, determining that no one was really looking at him, before nicking one and sticking it in his jacket pocket. Then he really did run home, tree still safely tucked against him.

They hadn’t unpacked much of anything, and both of them had pretty much no furniture to their name. They’d left two twin beds back home in the room in their parents houses knowing from experience that cramming the both of them on one didn’t work out comfortably. But one thing they had lifted out of Ava’s room was the bookshelves that had belonged to her great grandmother before her. They were real wood and handmade, clearly something better than they could put together from ikea. It stood pressed against a wall near the kitchens entrance. He set the tree there, from one shelf to another so it would continue growing in the way it had. Odin kept the bauble in his pocket, waiting with bated breath where a couch should be for Ava to come home.

It had only been a four hour shift, to get her training done and acquainted with. He didn’t know how much training was possible if there was a language barrier but she actually came home with a smile on her face, ready to gush about her day. He wanted to let her, and he tried to listen, but over her shoulder his brown eyes kept flicking back to the tree with anticipation.

“...So they showed me-, what do you keep looking at?” She turned her head to follow his gaze and stopped dead when she saw the only thing sitting on their shelves. Knowing this was the moment, Odin took her by the waist, pulling her over to the book shelf.

“Y-you were upset we didn’t have a t-tree so I...” he trailed off not sure how to explain his adventure succinctly to her. The noise the comes out of her mouth is so high pitched he wonders if it made the neighbors dog ache.

“It’s so cute and tiny!” She tells him, like he might have missed that part.

“Uh-huh.” Odin reaches into his pocket and offers the ornament to her by the hook. “Wanna p-put the first d-decoration up?” He offered as her small voice gasped.

“Hang on.” His brow furrowed, confused at her not instantly saying yes. He watched her pick the tree up from the spot he’d picked and shuffle across the room to the corner she had stood in the other day.

“Perfect,” she said holding out her hand for the ornament. “We can put our presents under here.” Small tree, small presents, it worked out. He knelt down at her side, handing her the bauble again watching as Ava inspected their warped reflection in the shining red plastic with a smile. She reached forward, hooking it on the lowest branch and sitting back to admire her work.

“It’s like Charlie Brown.” She put her head on Odin’s shoulder, relaxing into him. He hadn’t seen the movie in years, but the image of a sad small tree was an iconic one. He laughed, nodding his head as he reached into the other pocket for his phone.

“We can w-watch it,” he suggested going to find somewhere to watch the movie free and illegally. Ava nodded, hunkering down on her spot with him leaning to see the small screen. He found it for them, and shortly after a blanket that was intended to be a throw. It wrapped tightly around them both, making them look like a lump on the floor in front of their tiny Christmas tree, single bauble, with a thin blanket and a small screen to watch on. It wasn’t much, but already Odin had lived up to the promise of a perfect Christmas.

[green-eyeddragonfanfiction]

Valentine’s Day Countdown: Day 9

Valentine’s Day Countdown Collection

Day 9 of my Valentine’s Day Fanfic Countdown. If you’re interested in seeing your story/ship get written by me, found out more here!

Without any further ado, here are the requests that made today’s cut:

1) Dad!Sam (x Reader) 2) Dad!Bucky x Reader

Anonymous said to green-eyeddragonfanfiction: Sam Wilson taking his daughter (his and the readers child) out for a Valentine’s Day Date because Reader has to work? I’ve seen a lot of cute posts lately about good dads being their child’s first love and how it sets a good example and I can totally see Sam doing this

Pairing: Dad!Sam (x Reader) Warnings: Mentions of PTSD Word Count: ~1,941 A/N: AU where EVERYONE LIVES THROUGH INFINITY WAR AND IS HAPPY Bunckle = Uncle Bucky

“Dad!”

Sam looked up from his mission debriefing as his daughter ran into the room with a bright smile on her face.

When (Y/N) had stated she wanted kids, Sam had been hesitant at first. He didn’t lead a normal life, exactly. Even without all the Avengers stuff, he was ex-military. There was stuff you brought back with you from war, and while Sam constantly tried to work through it, there were still some days where it kicked his ass.

But their daughter- a precocious, mischievous five year old by the name of Sara- turned out to be the light of his life (well, the other light of his life, after you, of course). He loved her from the moment he laid eyes on her tiny form swaddled up in soft blanket in the hospital.

“Hey, sparrow! How’s my favorite girl in the whole wide world?” he said as he scooped her up into his arms.

“It’s Valentine’s Day!” she said with a huge smile.

“It is Valentine’s Day! Did you ask someone at the preschool to be your Valentine?” Sam asked with a smile. He didn’t have to worry about handsy boys or manipulative girls until puberty, at least. Until then, he could let her give chocolates and candies to boys or girls she thought were cute.

Sara giggled. “It’s you, silly!” she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Oh, am I now?” Sam said with a laugh. Kids said the darndest things.

“Mhm!” she hummed.

“Alright, well what do you suppose we do today, then? Zoo? Aquarium? Smithsonian?” he asked playfully, knowing her answer already.

She gasped at the last option. “Smi-son-yan! I wanna see Uncle Steve and Uncle Bucky!” she cheered excitedly.

Sam rolled his eye at the second name, but nodded along anyway. “And then we can pick up mom from work?”

She nodded eagerly. “Yeah! I love picking mommy up from work!” she said excitedly.

Sam chuckled and put her back on the ground. “Alright, sparrow. Go get your coat and then we’ll go.”

She ran up stairs, her laughter ringing out through the halls as she went. Sam chuckled at her exuberance. He gathered up his keys, wallet, and his two phones; one for his personal life and one for the Avengers.

“Daaaaad!” Sara called from upstairs. It didn’t sound urgent. Sam raised an eyebrow in question but hiked up the stairs and went into her room.

He saw the problem immediately. Her head was stuck in the confines of her sweater. She’d somehow managed to begin to shove her head in the sleeve, but couldn’t move anymore to get it out.

He bit back a laugh and walked over to her. “I got it, Sara,” he said reassuringly. With a gentle tug her head popped free. Sam tugged it down over her tiny frame and soothed her now-messy hair. “Ready to go?” he asked with a smile.

“Smi-son-yan!” she yelled in lieu of an answer.

Sam laughed and picked her up. He carried her down the stairs and out the door and locked it securely behind him. “Am I carryin’ you the whole way or are you gonna walk?” he asked with a smirk.

“Carry! Shoulders!” she said excitedly. She liked riding on his shoulders. It made her feel tall and let her see a lot more. She was a regular little bird, always wanting to be high up, just like her dad.

With a huff he hoisted her on top of his shoulders. She didn’t weight much, but she squirmed like the devil. “You know the rules. Hold on, now,” Sam said, trying to sound serious and failing because of the huge smile on his face. His huge hands wrapped securely around her ankles so that, in the event she lost her balance, she wouldn’t go crashing to the ground.

Two small hands placed themselves securely on his head. “Yes, papa.” A pause, then, “Uncle Bucky had more hair to hang on to,” she said. He could practically see the tiny frown on her face as she thought about it.

“Yeah, well, Bunckle needs a haircut,” Sam said dismissively.

“I like Bunckle’s hair! He lets me braid it!” Sara said excitedly.

Sam’s competitive streak flared up, but he tried to fight it. He and Bucky had worked past the worst of their rivalry. Bucky even babysat Sara whenever he and you had date nights. “But does he braid your hair as pretty as I do?” Sam asked playfully.

She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head to hard Sam could feel her entire body shake. “Nope!”

“Didn’t think so,” Sam said with a smirk.

The Smithsonian wasn’t that far from the house, so the walk wasn’t that bad. Driving would have been way more stressful, and Sam wasn’t an Avenger for nothing. Sara might have gotten tired by it if she had walked it, so Sam was almost glad he’d carried her on his shoulder the entire way there. Grumpy kids were the worst.

When she spotted the fountain and the huge grey face of the National Museum of American History, she squealed in excitement. “Put me down! Down down down! Please!” she said eagerly.

Sam laughed. “You gonna run off?” 

“No! Promise!” she said, though Sam was sure she’d forget that promise immediately.

He carefully picked her up off of his shoulders and set her down on the ground. Like he thought, she ran off towards the entrance immediately. As he jogged after her he reminisced fondly about the days when she couldn’t run.

He snatched her right as she was bout to go in the door and pulled her up into his arms.

“Wah! Daaad!” she said with a pout.

Sam ignored the accusing look and took a pamphlet from the greeter at the door. When the woman realized who she was looking at, her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open in shock.

“Y-you- Um- Thank you for- for everything,” she stuttered out. Sara looked from the greeter to Sam in confusion.

Sara didn’t know about Sam’s job yet. You said it’d give her a big head, just like her dad. Sam had tried to argue that second part, but ultimately he saw you were right.

“Just doin’ what I had to,” Sam said humbly, giving the greeter a small smile as he passed through the entrance with Sara in his arms. “Alright, sparrow. Where to first? Captain America exhibit or the First Ladies?” he asked.

“Uncle Steve!” she said excitedly. Sam smiled and set her down and she  raced off towards the Cap exhibit. She had a great sense of direction normally, but she’d been here to many times she knew the museum better than she probably knew their house. 

Sam walked languidly after her, always sure to keep her in sight. He turned the corner and was shocked to see the exhibit had expanded. The classic exhibit was still there, but it had been added to. Another room sported modern Captain America/Nomad facts and items. Bucky’s Memorial had been taken down and was replaced with a video screen, playing stories from Steve, Peggy, and the Barnes family about Bucky both before and after his “death” in the 40′s.

What shocked him the most, though, was the addition of a replica of his suit... as well as the painting of him behind it.

“Dad! Dad, that’s you!” Sara said excitedly and just a little too loudly as she pointed at the huge mural... because every head in the room turned to look at him. Everyone stopped talking, hissing in hushed whispers until, one by one, they broke out into applause.

Sam held a hand up in acknowledgement, mumbling thank you’s to the crowd, but all he could look at was his little girl, who looked so proud and excited he wanted to cry. She ran to him and he crouched down so he could catch her in his arms. The room aww’d as Sara crashed into him “I have the best dad in the world!” she declared proudly and loudly to the room, drawing laughs and smiles from everyone. Sam chuckled and lifted her up, throwing her in the air once before catching her again. She squealing in delight and the crowd laughed along with the two of them.

“C’mon, sparrow. We still got a lot of exhibits to see,” he said with a smile.

They walked out of the Smithsonian’s gift shop with kid-sized plastic Falcon wings (there had been a very large warning tag that said they wouldn’t actually let you fly, which made Sam laugh). She wore them the entire journey to your office building, making jet noises and pretending to fly through the air from on top of Sam’s shoulders as he ran down the street.

“Mission control to Falcon! Landing zone ahead!” Sam said, pretending to talk through an old school radio, making the static noises and everything.

“I hear ya, mizzin control! Comin’ in for a landing!” she said gleefully as Sam picked her up off of his shoulders and placed her dramatically on the ground.

“Mission control to Falcon! Destination reached successfully!” he said with a smile and held out his fist. Sara tapped it with her own tiny fist, giggling happily.

“What are you two doing?” came a voice from a few feet away.

Sam and Sara looked up to see you standing there, grinning at the two of them and weighed down by a huge briefcase.

“Mommy!” Sara squealed and ran to you, nearly knocking your feet out from under you as she wrapped her tiny arms around your legs with a surprising amount of strength.

“Hey, sparrow,” you said with a smile as you ran your brushed your fingers over her hair. When you noticed the tiny Falcon toy wings attached to her arms, you turned your glare on your husband, but he was already defusing the situation by ducking in to give you a kiss. He took the huge brief case from you and hefted it onto his shoulder.

You smiled into the kiss, but quickly remembered you were supposed to be mad. You broke away and glared at him. “Samuel Thomas Wilson. What are those?” you asked, pointing to the wings.

“Oh, we’re using the whole name, huh? That’s how it’s gonna be?” he asked playfully.

“Oooh, that’s how it’s gonna be,” you said as you crossed your arms. Sara was already distracted by running around, flapping her wings wildly as she waited for the adults to finish their conversation.

Sam laughed and pecked you on the cheek and your hard expression melted a bit. “They updated the Captain America exhibit... Guess who’s immortalized in wax, paint, and detailed costume recreations?” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

“Oh god, there’ll be no living with you now,” you joked good-naturedly.

Sam pretended to pout for a moment before smiling and leaning in to give you a loving, passionate kiss.

“Ewww, gross,” Sara said, dragging your attention from each other. You looked from Sara, then back at each other. You shared a knowing look and Sara seemed to sense she’d made a mistake because she giggle and turned to run away, but you and Sam scooped her up between you and placed a bunch of noisy, messy kisses to her face and head. “Nooo! Mommy! Papa!” she squealed happily, giggling loudly. Eventually the two of you let up, though Sara was still giggling happily.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, my most favorite girls in the whole world,” Sam said, making both you and Sara smile.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Papa!”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Sam.”

Anonymous said to green-eyeddragonfanfiction: Bucky x Reader where he lets you and your baby girl paint his arm and decorate it for Valentine’s Day because he knows how happy it’ll make you guys. ❤️❤️

Pairing: Dad!Bucky x Reader Warnings: Swearing Word Count: ~541 A/N: soft!boi. AU where EVERYONE IS HAPPY AND ALIVE AFTER IW

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

You’d gotten used to living with an ex-assassin, but as soon as you’d had a daughter together, you’d had to a make an adjustment in the opposite direction. Where silence once meant safety, it now meant danger.

You got up from your spot on the couch and began prowling the house. 

“Bucky...?” you asked warily, starting to get worried the longer it was quiet.

“In here,” came Bucky’s soft voice from your daughter Rebecca’s room.

You breathed out a sigh of relief and meandered your way to the doorway, freezing at the sight before you.

Rebecca was practically covered head-to-toe in paint splotches and Bucky’s left arm was pink.

Like, no really. Pink. Hot pink, rose, magenta, fuscia, bubblegum. Little hearts were painted all over in white (although it had mixed with the pink in some places). You were pretty sure you spotted a drawing of what was supposed to be the three of you together holding hands. Not a single inch was left of the shiny black metal you were used to seeing.

“What... what are you two doing?” you asked with a smile. You should be upset that they’d gotten paint everywhere, but it was just too damn adorable for the frown to stick. At least Bucky had had the foresight to tie their hair up.

“Well, it was supposed to be a surprise...” Bucky said guiltily, as though he knew exactly what was going through your mind.

“No looking, mama!” Rebecca said, waving a paintbrush at you angrily. You nearly winced as a huge drop of paint hit your nice wood floor.

Bucky saw the look and gave you a reassuring smile. “Washables, Doll. I may be 101 soon, but I still don’t feel like kicking the bucket yet,” he said with a wink, knowing full well you’d chew his ass out of they got real paint on your floors. “We’ll clean it up.”

You smiled at him and walked over and kneeled down next to them. “I’m just sad you two didn’t invite me! I’ve never painted your Papa’s arm before,” you said mischievously as you sent Rebecca a wink, which sent her into a fit of giggles. “Can I join you?” you asked Rebecca sweetly. Bucky beamed at the two of you.

“Yeah! You can start painting the flowers!” Rebecca said as she handed you a brush and a small tub of washable hot pink paint. 

You smiled and talked happily as the two of you painted away until Bucky’s arm was up to Rebecca’s exacting standards. You couldn’t help but acknowledge how far Bucky had come from when you first met him. Although you always saw the good man under the frosty shell, you were sure he couldn’t ever have imaged being where he was now back then. A wife, a kid, his arm painted pink with hearts, flowers, and vague stick people on Valentine’s Day.

“I love you,” he said to the two of you, making you both pause and look up at him. The tender look in his eyes made your heart flutter in your chest.

“Love you too, Da!” Rebecca said happily.

You leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss to his forehead. “Love you too, Buck.”

[ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes]

Write Me a Lullaby Part 27

Summary: Delilah has been writing to her Penpal for almost six years. She doesn't know his real name and she doesn't know what he does for a living. When she's set to meet him, she's surprised to find out she's been falling in love with Sebastian Stan

Chapter Summary: Luca meets his baby sister for the very first time. Sebastian is sick of the hospital. 

Warnings: Hospitals, fluff, fluff, and more fluff, a little sexual reference at the very end. 

           Luca walked into the hospital room with my doctor. She smiled warmly and let him run up to Sebastian.

           “He’s so big.” My doctor sighed. “It feels like just yesterday we were swaddling him up and handing him to you.” She touched my shoulder.

           “I know.” I felt a wave of nostalgia. “Well, I think we’re stopping at two.” I decided and picked Anamaria up out of her bassinette.

           “That might be a good idea.” She agreed. “Your pregnancies tend to be high risk. The more children you have, the more dangerous it can get.”

           “Well, we’ve got the set now. A boy and a girl.” Sebastian scooped Luca into his arms. “Ready to meet your sister?”

           Luca looked over at the bundle and wrinkled his nose. “No.”

           I laughed a little. “Luca, baby, that’s not very nice. She’s been waiting all this time to meet you.”

           “I don’t wanna.” He buried his face in Sebastian’s neck.

           “Luc, she’s not going away, might as well meet her now.” He chuckled. But our son didn’t budge.

           “Let him warm up to her. Most siblings are a little nervous when it comes to meeting their baby brother or sister.” My doctor assured me. “How are you feeling?”

           “Good, just tired. I feel a lot weaker than after Luca.” I winced as I tried to sit up.

           Sebastian set Luca down and helped me. “How much longer will she have to stay?” He asked. I could tell he was getting sick of the hospital. He just wanted to be home with me, Luca, and our newest addition.

           “Let’s see how the rest of this day goes and assess from there.” My doctor said.

           I nodded. “Thank you,” I said and she left the room.

           Luca wandered around the hospital room, trying to touch things but Sebastian guiding him away.

           “Buddy, you can’t touch any of the machines, they’re helping mama.” He pulled Luca away from the heart rate monitor for the third time.

           “But I wanna see it!” Luca started to whine and stomped his feet.

           “Luca, no.” Sebastian knelt down to scold him. “Other people are trying to sleep in the hospital so we need to have quiet voices.” He hushed.

           “I don’t wanna be here!” He started to cry and flailed his hands.

           “Hey, I’m going to have bunica come and pick you up very soon if you don’t behave.” My husband made sure our son was looking him in the eyes. “You’ll have to go home and you won’t be able to see your baby sister until tomorrow.”

           Luca scrunched up his face in a big pout and started making noises, which I liked to describe as a muffled racecar engine.

           It was always hard to take him seriously when he was making growling noises with his lips tightly pursed. But Sebastian wasn’t laughing like he usually was.

           “Luca Christopher Stan, I’m going to count to three. You better cut out this behavior or you’re going home.”

           Luca glared at him and continued his noises.

           “One…”

           The racecar noises faltered a little but Luca crossed his arms over his chest.

           “Two…”

           Plan two formed in Luca’s head and he ran to me with tears in his eyes. “Mommy!” He cried.

           Sebastian sighed and stood up. “Luca…”

           “It’s okay,” I assured him. “Baby, you need to start behaving or you’re going to have to go home,” I said and stroked his hair back. “So please go sit in that chair for a minute. Daddy will come over with Anamaria if you’re being good.”

           Luca sniffled but it seemed to do the trick. He walked over and climbed up into the soft armchair in the corner of the room.

           Sebastian walked over to me with an exhausted look on his face. “I hate this hospital.” He grumbled.

           “I know.” I reached up with my free hand to touch his cheek. “We’ll be home soon though.” I kissed his forehead. “I put one of Luca’s favorite books in my bag. Why don’t you go read to them?”

           He sighed and smiled. “You’re the best mother.” He murmured.

           “And you’re the best father.” I let him take Anamaria.

           “Alright, are we all out of the grumpies?” Sebastian asked and walked over to the chair.

           Luca wiped his nose and nodded.

           “Good. Let’s read to Anamaria then. She hasn’t had story time yet.” Sebastian got them situated so Luca was sitting on his lap, holding the book open. Sebastian held Anamaria and wrapped an arm around Luca too. “Okay, Luca, this is your baby sister. Anamaria, this is your older brother.”

           Luca peered into the swaddle and studied her face. “Hi.” He said quietly.

           Sebastian smiled and kissed Luca’s hair. “Look at that, we’re all getting along. Now, let’s get this story on the road. Once upon a time…”

-----------

           “Ready?” I whispered and slowly opened the door for Luca, Anamaria, and Rocket. Luca was six and Anamaria was just shy of turning two. “Go get him.” I unleashed the wild kids.  

           They ran into our bedroom and scrambled up onto the bed where Sebastian was still fast asleep.

           “Daddy!” They both shouted as they started jumping on the bed. Rocket got to Sebastian’s face and started to lick him.

           My husband groaned and reached for a pillow to shield himself from the slobbery kisses. “Oh, boy…it’s father’s day already?”

           I laughed and turned off the video and saved it to post later. I walked over to the bed and helped Anamaria down. “Go get daddy his presents,” I said and shooed Rocket away.

           Sebastian set the pillow aside and looked up at me. “You know, it gets better every year.” He sighed.

           “Well, it’ll probably get worse once they start getting bigger.” I giggled and leaned down to peck his cheek.

           “Oh trust me, Luca’s getting up there. This year I thought we were in the middle of an earthquake before they started yelling.”

           “You love it.”

           “Well, it makes me feel like I deserve the presents.” He grinned and brought me closer to kiss him properly.

           “Ew!” Luca and Anamaria returned to find us kissing. “Gross!”

           I laughed and pulled away. “Ew, Sebby, don’t kiss me, that’s gross!” I accused. “Boys have cooties.”

           “Nu-uh! Girls have cooties!” Luca yelled and launched himself back on the bed.

           “That’s right. Girls have cooties.” Sebastian stuck his tongue out at me and cuddled Luca close.

           “Oh well, I guess when I make breakfast in bed it’s going to have a heap of cooties in it.” I sighed and went back to the kitchen.

--------------

           When I returned with the traditional father’s day breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes, strawberries, bacon, and lots of syrup, Luca and Anamaria were talking to Sebastian about their gifts.

           “That’s Rocket, and that’s me, and that’s Luca, and that’s you and mommy. You two are on the moon because I built a rocket and flew you guys up to the moon.” Luca pointed to the drawings on his card.

           Sebastian laughed and nodded. “Awesome, mom and dad have a summer home on the moon?”

           “With a pool!”

           “Sounds fun.” I got cuddled up in the nest of pillows and blankets. I set the tray of food down and handed out napkins first. Usually, post-father’s-day-breakfast meant a whole lot of washing chocolate and syrup stains out of the bedspread. But it was worth it.

           “Mine, mine!” Anamaria shoved a small, wrapped gift towards Sebastian. She gave him a toothy smile.

           “What’s this?” He unwrapped the rock that she had found on a trip to the park. She’d taken a few sharpies and scribbled on a little masterpiece. “Wow! Is this an original Anamaria Stan work?” Sebastian gasped. “Look at the colors, I’ve got to say, baby girl, this is one of the best ones yet.” He kissed her cheek as he reached over to set the rock down on his nightstand. There was already a growing pile of rocks that she had found for him.

           Anamaria grinned and hugged him tightly. Luca reached for his present. “We made this in class.” He said and gave it to Sebastian.

           “Wow, buddy, look at this!” He pulled the small pin that read ‘Best Dad Ever’ in Luca’s scrawling penmanship. “I think I’m going to have to wear this to my next event.” And he would. In fact, he would wear it to many events and always kept it safe with his cufflinks and tie clips. The Internet went into a little bit of a frenzy when they found out Luca had made it for Sebastian.

           Luca beamed proudly. “I used your favorite colors.” He said. “And I learned how to write a big B instead of a little B.”

           “It looks great, buddy, thank you so much.” He hugged him tightly and kissed his forehead.  

           “Mom’s turn?” I raised an eyebrow.

           Sebastian grinned. “Sure.”

           I pulled out a box and a sappy card I’d spent a few days writing. Holidays were always a good time to reflect on how much I loved him.

           Sebastian opened the box after reading the card. Inside was a small photo album he could take with him when he was traveling. It was full of pictures dating back from when we first met to just a few weeks before when Luca turned six. Underneath was an all black tie.

           He looked a little curious. “For a special occasion?” He asked.

           “We’ll talk about it later.” I nodded innocently. “Why don’t you guys go get daddy’s coffee on the kitchen counter.” I’d purposefully left it there so I could have a second to explain my gift.

           Eagerly, Luca, Anamaria, and Rocket all ran to the kitchen. I leaned over to kiss Sebastian softly.

           “Alright, let me know what it’s about.” He murmured when I pulled away.

           “It’s just a little prop for tonight.” I shrugged and batted my eyelashes.

           “Tonight?” He raised an eyebrow.

           “I may or may not have gotten Chris to babysit for tonight.”

           Sebastian groaned. “Oh hell yes.” He smirked. “I think I’m catching your drift now.” He murmured and kissed me again.

(Headcanon: Luca doesn’t actually have a middle name. But since both Chris and Anthony are his godparents, Sebastian interchanges their names to sound more serious. Luca Christopher Stan or Luca Anthony Stan. It’s a dark day when he uses both names. LUCA ANTHONY CHRISTOPHER STAN) 

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