#mama Ady

[fallstaticexit]

This was fun 🤭 I also realize the way I view their height doesn’t always translate in game esp with poses so this was pretty cool to see for myself

LINK for anyone wanting to try this out!

[beast-of-mosss]

I don't remember what I originally follopwed you for, and honestly thats fine. I'm along for the ride. But the last little while you seem to have been into a show/something with a character named Madara. And me, being heavily into the Naruto anime, keep thinking you mean Madara Uchiha and so when you post the most random crap tagged with Madara I get. SO SO. Confused. lmao.

Love your blog tho. Just had to share because every time it happens I get highly confused, concerned, then realize we arent thinking of the same character and have to have a laugh.

BWUWHWIQJEJEHEH!!! EHSKQLIREJQUJEUEUE

WDYM? THESE GUYS ARE THE SAME CHARACTER???

[realmflora]

Also not-Cheros, expect Adi to adopt you guys as well when you meet them. Heads up.

"What."

"That doesn't sound like a bad thing...?"

"That is. What."

-----

// Meanwhile, out in inazuma.. //

"......???????"

[eye-cri]

Zeuma call that zoo wee mama

[adisbiblikal]

New Music - Adis Biblikal - Dear Mama

If you are currently embarking on this journey of grief or know someone who has recently lost their mom or a maternal figure, let this song serve as a balm to help soothe the pain and usher you or a friend towards healing. While words can never truly express the sacred relationship between a mother and her child.

[heyidkyay]

And I'm petrified of being alone, now |

Part Eighteen

Matty Healy x reader

Summary: She’s just trying to get by, really. What with being a single parent to her four year old son whilst simultaneously trying to kick start a successful career as a radio presenter. She’s got everything she’s ever wanted though, friends close by, a mum who’s merely a phone call away, and of course her baby boy. What else is there to wish for? But then, it’s not long before her relatively normal life gets upended and turned on its head, and she’s suddenly forced to deal with situations she’s never even thought to imagine.

What happens when one mention of a certain controversial singer on her show sends a flood of unexpected challenges her way? 

Authors Note: Hey!! Finally here with another part! This one took a while to write but it's here now. Hoping you enjoy it:)

> Last update: look back here if you'd like!

Masterlist

He’d been pacing on the phone for quite a while now.

Back and forth up the long and narrow pavement sat outside of the small cafe we’d chosen just off the highstreet. His feet skimmed the curb every few steps, I noted, his brow furrowed and lips pursed too whenever he rattled something back to whoever it was on the other end.

“Eggy, mama?”

I blinked at the sudden voice, tearing my eyes away from the window and Matty, and back over to where my food-happy toddler sat in the adjoining highchair.

With a fond smile, I shook my head at his proffered bit of hard boiled egg. 

See, Matty had fancied a couple of soldiers when we’d first walked in, forgetting all about his earlier promises of bacon, and Teddy had unsurprisingly followed his lead. Looking down at his plate now, I was pleasantly pleased to find that he’d eaten the majority of it.

“I’m okay, Teds. Thank you though.” I told him, wiping a few breadcrumbs from his cheek with a napkin before tickling the underneath of his chin, “You’re such a sweet boy, you know?”

He bared his teeth at me in a giant grin, “Very much, ta.”

Chuckling lightly at his silly reply, I shook my head once more, “Back at it with the ta, are we?”

Teddy replied with only a stern nod and a wrinkle of his mouth, then dug back into his breakfast again, content to just watch Matty and the few cars that passed by the window.

It was a strange concept for me to wrap my head around- the whole Teddy and Matty thing, I mean. 

Teddy had always been an affectionate kid, a bit shy with newcomers and strangers at times, but his heart was huge and he had a lot of love to go around. Still, with that being said, the dynamic he’d struck up with the curly headed singer was unlike anything I’d ever witnessed from him before. 

With Adi, Teddy was always perfectly content to find new extremes and test them. Pushing boundaries and buttons simply because Ads was the biggest pushover known to man- at least when it came to him. 

Each moment Adi spent with Teddy she always ended up looking spent by the time she was about to head home, almost like he’d gone and dragged her through a circus tent full of performers and animals alike. 

Then there was Finn. Finn had been a constant presence in Teddy’s life since the day he was born, he was my best friend and was always there to lend a helping hand whenever I needed it. The two of them were close in their own way, Teds felt comfortable with Finn, he didn’t question his authority or throw a fit when the man put his foot down, but whenever I was around the pair of them together Teddy made it quite clear that Finn was the third wheel amongst the lot of us. 

Which was funny in its own way, I supposed, because I knew how Teddy looked at me. I was his mum, sure, but I was also his dad, too. Merely in the sense that Teds had never looked to anyone else to fill that role for him, I was what he had been given and I was all that he needed.

Yes, there had been the odd question or two when Teddy had finally started to understand films and tv shows, and again when he had started nursery school and seen all of the other kids with their mums and dads. But he had taken my honest answers on the chin and shrugged off any other prompts I’d had for him afterwards, as though he was perfectly untroubled by it all and the fact that he only had a single parent.

Then again, a few of the kids in his class faced similar problems.

Oliviette had only ever really known her dad, since her mum had sadly passed when she’d been too little to remember. Tury’s father worked in the military, or something of the sort, and was divorced from their other father. He went away for long stretches at a time and had only ever come to pick them up once in all the time that we’d been in attendance.

Zara was another young mum like me, we’d bonded over that fact a couple weeks into the school year when a few of the other parents had wondered over the whereabouts of our partners and then turned up their noses at us when they’d received their answer. 

Which led me straight back on over to my anxieties about Teddy, and how he might come to soon view Matty. As well as the question on whether Matty could even handle being seen in that sort of light, or if he’d run swiftly for the hills with his tail tucked between his legs.

These worries had started up quite quickly after seeing those articles we’d faced earlier in the week, which had only added fuel to the fire for me. Some of the headlines still haunted me and my waking thoughts, in truth. They flashed through my mind on a giant billboard sort of screen, visible for all to see.

JUNKIE ROCKSTAR TURNED FAMILY MAN!

A NEW LINE DRAWN FOR HEALY?

THE 1975 SINGER AND HIS HIDDEN FAMILY..

It was both a startling and terrifying experience to suddenly start considering the opinions and views of the entire world around you, which now appeared to be watching us under a microscope, reading into each and every move not just Matty and I made, but Teddy now too.

It was ultimately why I had run and hidden when it had all come out, choosing to avoid the whole situation at hand rather than face it head on and be met with a plethora of questions I hadn’t yet thought about.

But then Matty just had to have gone and sent me that fucking demo.

I’d been all but putty in his hands after that really. 

And the very thought of not just the previous night, but this morning too, had me flushing in the middle of the cafe Matty had taken us out to. ‘My treat,’ He’d said, and it had all felt so natural. Him being in my bed, in my shower, in my house, around my kid.

I heaved a heavy sigh before picking up my mug of tea, wrinkling my nose in distaste when I found it had gone cold. It made me wonder just how long I had been lost in thought.

That question was answered for me though when Matty came strolling back over, the crease in his brow there and then gone when he took to his seat once more and caught eyes with Teddy. He flashed the boy a bright smile, “Enjoyin’ that, monster?”

Grimly, Teddy opened his mouth up wide to show Matty just how much he had enjoyed his breakfast and laughed when Matty mimicked the expression, the man leaning in close enough that Teddy could only laugh giddily.

“Made a big enough mess of it.” I commented with a soft smile. 

Even with all my fretting I still couldn’t get over the way Matty treated my son and how Teddy responded to him in turn. It was incredibly surreal.

When I’d first gotten pregnant and decided to go it alone all those years ago, I thought that had been it for me. That there was no way any person, let alone anyone in Matty’s position, would just come along and be able to deal with the fact that I had a child. This whole other being that would always fall above everything else.

But here that somebody was.

Sat with my toddler, looking at him almost the exact same way I did. With such adoration and emotion. 

The sight made my heart both lurch and crumble all at once.

I pulled myself out of my head once more with that thought and tuned back in to find our waitress making her way over again. She was a sturdy looking woman, not much older than my mum if I had to guess, and had taken more than liking to the messy toddler she’d been shafted with early this morning, “Anything else I can get for you, lovelies?”

I opened my mouth to tell her that we were fine, seeing as though Teddy was all but finished, just chewing on a few pieces of buttered bread, and my sandwich was merely straggling bits of crust now. 

“Would be great if you could get us another round of drinks to go?” Matty piped up before I could answer her, circling a finger between the two of us. “Cheers.”

The waitress dipped her head at him and flashed a warm smile my way, “One tea and a strong flat white coming your way then.”

I was surprised that she’d recalled our order so easily, since I’d noted earlier that there were a few other patrons she’d been serving, and so I thanked her gratefully with another smile before she walked away, arms laden with a few of our used plates. 

“You didn’t have to,” I said to Matty shortly after, then dipped my chin down towards my remaining cup, “But thank you anyway, this had gone cold.”

Matty rolled his eyes, a gesture he was rather prone to using whenever he thought I was being unnecessary, but then shuffled over to settle more comfortably in the seat opposite me, leaving his phone to rest on the table between us.

“Sorry I was long, but after management, Jamie rang.” He confessed to me, and that scowl of his appeared for a split second or two before disappearing completely when he glanced back over at Teds, who was now playing with his food rather than eating it. 

It was almost automatic the way Matty moved to steal the backpack hanging off the arm of the chair perched beside him, pulling out a few of the baby wipes I usually kept there before beginning to clean up Teddy’s face and hands. 

I could only stare on in utter bewilderment, watching it all play out even whilst Matty continued to speak to me, clearly none the wiser to the way my brain had just short circuited at his actions.

“Anyway, they’re on it- or so they’ve said. But I know this whole thing is just a charade to them, yeah? Management, I mean. Not J. ‘Cause he’s already said that he’s trying to keep them from going too extreme with the whole clean up, claiming that they appeared to be warming up to the idea of me becomin’ this ‘changed man’ or some shite.” Matty scoffed with a roll of his eyes at the very thought, then pulled a face for Teddy who admonished him for his use of a ‘bad word’, and cleared away some of the mess that had been created whilst he’d been gone.

I swallowed thickly at the sight, thankful for the moment of reverie I was gifted when our waitress shuffled back on over, two to-go cups in hand as well as the bill.

“Ah, are we all clean then?” She cooed down at Teddy, moving to grab the last of what remained at our table to take back to the kitchen with her. 

Her expression brightened when Teddy not only shot her a mischievous grin, but also wiggled his fingers up to show her just how clean they were. Matty snorted.

The woman peered between the two of us afterwards, plates tucked into the crook of her elbow whilst both of our previous mugs sat cradled in the other. “You’re a lucky pair, he’s absolutely golden.”

My pulse spiked at her words, or rather what she’d interpreted our little excursion as, but before I could think to offer an explanation, or anything rather, she was already shuffling away again. Teddy batting a hand at her back in goodbye.

My gaze slowly drifted away from her retreating form and over to where Matty was now slouched, but he didn’t seem to have noticed her words, or perhaps he just didn’t care. Still, I blinked slowly at him, “Did you hear that? Did you hear what she just said?”

He pulled his eyes away from a now babbling Teddy and shrugged slowly, “Yeah?”

Yeah??

Sorry, come again? 

Had I actually heard him right?

I almost choked on the force of my next inhale. “That’s it? Just- yeah?”

Matty stared back at me, expression almost blank- calculating, in truth. As though he was trying to determine which of his next words had the ability to set me off even further. I sort of hated that.

“What do you want me to say?” He asked me slowly, elbows moving up onto the table’s top and pressing against it to lean in closer to me. 

His eyes never left my own, and it was then that I noticed the sturdy wall behind them that I thought had crumbled between us so long ago. He was wary now, building it back up again in hopes that I wouldn’t wound him- anymore than you already had, my mind unhelpfully supplied.

I licked at my lower lip, mostly in thought but also because my throat had suddenly gone dry at the very reminder.

It had been necessary, I told myself. Space and time, that was all that we had needed, and look at us now!

Look at us…

“I just,” I murmured, swallowing thickly whilst still staring into those hardened eyes which remained locked on mine, “It doesn’t bother you at all?”

That steely look softened when he snorted and the bricks in that wall of his began to chisel away at themselves once more. 

Matty slumped and I watched on as his gaze flickered back over to my son, who was now much more interested in the straps of his highchair rather than either of us. 

“Why would it?” 

Matty’s words were as gentle as his tone and his smile was just as sweet, and all I could think about in that moment was the abating panic I felt and the sudden need I had for him.

Shouldn’t it? I wanted to press, it would bother a hundred other men. What makes you so different?

He glanced back at me then with a languid turn of his head, “Guess it just makes me feel worth something, even if it’s a mistake on her part.”

Matty must’ve seen the way my face fell so quickly at his words because he chuckled lowly and then gifted me a small but pivotal smile. He reached out to toy with the hand I’d been resting on the table, fingertips trailing over whitened knuckles. 

“I’m just being honest, alright? He’s a good kid, anyone can see that. I mean she did, din’t she? And then, there’s you, Squeaks.” He dragged that last bit out, flipping my hand over so that he could trace the lines of my palm with the tips of his fingers. “You’re something else.”

I frowned slightly at his words, a little puzzled. Matty only laughed at the face I must’ve made before he finally took my hand wholly in his, thumb brushing over my ever rising pulse.

“If she reckons I could land someone like you long enough to have one of these little ones running round, well… Just makes me picture it, 'is all.”

I could feel the contents of my stomach whirl at his given answer and tightened my hold on Matty’s hand by a fraction, needing the certainty that he was in fact real. That what he had said was very much real too.

“Squeaks?” Matty pressed after a short while. I figured I must've been quiet too long for him to prompt an actual reaction from me. Either that, or he’d gotten bored of my gaping gob far too quickly.

I attempted to swallow around the hardened lump in my throat, but it was difficult. “Yeah, just-” I struggled to fathom the mere idea that he had thought about me in any scenario at all beyond the past six months we had shared. “You’ve actually thought about that?”

Matty rolled his eyes at me, and although his smile was warm, it held a fragment of uncertainty to it that told me all I needed to know.

“I’m getting old, darlin’. Normal to think about that kind of shit, ain’t it?”

That was a very Matty thing to say and my rapid pulse slowed a tad because of it, giving my poor pounding heart a break.

“Yeah, but with me, Matty.” I felt the need to stress, because it was only yesterday that everything had come to a head between us. It made me question how long he’d been holding off on me- had he been waiting, is that what this was? Had he been trying to get over whatever he felt for me? If so, what had changed his mind, or forced his hand?

He simply chuckled and shrugged, like it was no big deal.

“Yeah with you, Mouse.” Matty confirmed, squeezing my hand once more before letting go completely and swiftly getting up out of his seat to unclip Teddy from his highchair. “Wanna go pay with me then, little man?” He asked Teds and it was only when Teddy had been swept up into Matty’s awaiting arms and Matty had looked over at me to tell me he was going up to the till that I realised he had used my kid to escape the current conversation at hand.

I shook my head in disbelief and tried to steel myself into something a little more put together once he had left, instead of choosing the imminent breakdown my mind was rooting for. I couldn’t lose my shit with all these people around to bear witness. Because I could do that later, couldn’t I? In the comfort of my own home. Right now I just needed to…

Fuck, I could not actually believe that Matty had pictured a future with me. A. fucking. future. 

One that was ours.

The same stupid man that had told me time and time again that he would get headaches simply from thinking of the next few days to come, that he hadn't seen much of a life for himself the older he’d gotten. Even with all the money and the fame. 

My stomach was swarming again, just like it had done when I’d heard the demo for the first time.

I wondered, briefly, whether those butterflies of mine were instead moths merely looking for any source of warmth they could find, and if Matty could really be exactly that. My little bit of warmth.

“You coming then, Squeaks?”

I glanced up again to find Matty now grinning down at me, Teddy still bouncing happily on his hip and the spiderman backpack thrown halfheartedly over his right shoulder. 

I gaped for a split second at the picture they painted and then nodded, smiling up at this maddening man with all the warmth I could possibly muster. Hoping that somehow, someday, that little dream of his came true.

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

–

It had probably been one of the most content mornings Matty had had in a long time.

He knew that for a fact, but still felt stunted by it all the same.

It had been years since he’d woken up without the immediate dread, or the itching need for a fix that even now sometimes still jilted him awake. And the night previous? Well, he’d gone to bed thinking of tomorrow, hadn't he? 

Stupidly, he wondered what his mum might make of that. If she’d be surprised, wary even. Or maybe just happy for him.

He’d been gifted some precious time and some precious people and he did not want to waste a single second of it. Although that could have hardly been avoided, what with the way management were constantly up his arse, hounding him incessantly about everything under the fucking sun.

The three of them had set off for food not long after he’d had a lapful of sleepy mouse first thing, they’d danced around one another whilst getting dressed, Matty watching as she brushed her hair and then catching her eye when he had attempted to wrangle an overenthusiastic toddler into his coat and boots. 

Matty had walked hand in hand with Teddy all the way to his car, letting the kid jump his way down the few short steps from the house and up into the car seat he’d borrowed from Adam a week or so after Christmas. Mouse had snorted at his shitty parking job, then granted them a full blown crackle when she’d torn a parking ticket from his front window screen only to have found a real unfortunate note from an unhappy neighbour beneath it.

Apparently Matty had to work on his spontaneity if he didn’t want to end up falling out with the bloke who lived two doors down from her. Even as he winced, he reckoned the guy was still a fucking nobhead.

He’d driven down a couple of backroads, letting the radio play and rolling his eyes fondly whenever Squeaks deigned it necessary to comment on his driving- “It needs work, Matty. I mean, you almost took out three of those bollards!” “Ah, a bus! Bus, Matty! Bus!” “Are you actually aiming to kill us, or do you just reckon you're the next 007?”

Matty had managed to get them all there in one piece, like he knew he would, and led the two of them all the way to this odd-spot cafe he’d found a couple months prior.

It was a simple dive, tucked quietly away amongst the noise of London, and was almost always chock-full of white haired pensioners or folk who didn’t much care to note who he was.

They’d sat down, Matty taking his first chance to ask for one of them highchairs he typically saw little kids sat in at restaurants, and then they’d ordered; Mouse getting what she deemed was her morning usual, whilst Teddy had mimicked his own request.

It had been cute, Matty had to admit. Especially when Squeaks had shot her son a dubious look, stating that he hadn’t tried it before, what with her being too scared she’d plague him with salmonella or something of the sort from how shoddy her attention was with the passing of time. Matty promised to teach her.

The little tyke seemed to have enjoyed it though, all but ravishing the yolks from their casing and munching on the sliced bread til it had either disappeared or simply gone soggy.

The only interruption they had faced was the unexpected call from his management team, and then Jamie’s which had followed not a minute after.

It had been a right nightmare. 

In fact, the whole of last week had been a total disaster. His team had been on his case the minute those articles had all been released, Twitter threads spiralling out of control and fans losing their minds over whether or not it was all fake or not.

And Matty, Matty had tried and failed not to let it get the best of him, but with that and the loss of Squeaks and Teddy, who had retreated almost entirely from his life. It had left him with a wound big enough for him to question everything. 

Matty shook his head then, a shit attempt at ridding himself free from his neverending train of thought, and looked up with a soft smile when Mouse wandered back into the living room and handed him a brew.

He’d never been overly gone on tea, to be honest- coffee worked wonders and with hours like his, it was now a necessity. But hers? He could never say no to, which was rapidly becoming a habit now. So much so, in fact, that he’d noticed himself wanting one at the oddest times of the day; down at the studio, in a meeting, the middle of the night…

Yeah that last one had been fucking strange. Half three in the morning and he’d been up puttering around his kitchen unable to sleep once the idea had taken root in his head and settled. Hadn’t been half as good as this though, Matty sighed thoughtfully as he sipped away. 

“So…”

His eyes immediately flickered back up to meet her, sitting all pretty on the end of the couch, an arms width away. “So.” Matty mimicked, raising his eyebrows then smirking at the way she shuffled in her seat and tried to hide her growing smile.

“We should talk.”

That smirk of his slipped right off.

He coughed slightly to clear his throat, but mostly to buy himself some more time, and then decided to get it on over with, pushing his brew onto the coffee table so that he could better face her. “Right, okay.”

She was chewing on her lip, a habit she seemed to have had ever since he’d first known her, but one which continued to drive him half mad. Even more so now that he knew what it fucking felt like to have her under him.

His tongue swiped his bottom lip instinctively at the reminder of it.

“You said it too,” Mouse reminded him, sounding almost accusatory. 

He had, but even so, it was still fucking awkward to just talk about shit. Couldn’t they skip to the good bit? Where he slowly took her apart piece by piece on the sofa she’d have to pass by day in and day out. A constant reminder of him even when he wasn't there.

“Matty.”

Matty blinked out of his daze at the call of his name and his eyes shot upwards to find her looking back at him with a furrowed brow.

“We don’t have to talk right this second, but I’d prefer if we did.” She told him with a slight shrug, eyes flickering away from him and across the room almost nervously. “‘Cause, at least I’d know where we stand, you know?”

Pursing his lips slightly, Matty tilted his head at her, “What’s that meant to mean?”

She shrugged again, sheepish almost, which wasn’t much like her. “Just, you’ve grown on me, Matty. I wouldn’t want to fuck up our.. friendship  over something like this.”

Matty knew what she was getting at there and it did hurt a little bit to think that she reckoned he’d fuck up what they’d built, what she’d given him, for a quick shag or whatever it was she’d filled her head with. 

But still, he gave her an impish grin once he’d shuffled his way a little closer, throwing an arm over the back of the settee. “Awh you finally admitting that we’re friends, Squeaks?” He teased and laughed when her foot flew out to toe his side.

“Bit more than that since yesterday.” Mouse murmured, giving him a snide smile before she released a heavy breath and settled her own mug down alongside his own on the tabletop. “But yes, we’re fucking friends, Matthew.”

Matty’s nose wrinkled but he didn’t comment on the use of his full name, instead stretching his fingers out to toy with the leg she had pressed against the back of the sofa. He lifted his eyes to watch her, saw how her own gaze rested on his hand and her knee.

“Good. Only took you, what? Six months.” He ragged but the smile he wore was pleased, dopey even. Stupid enough that he knew if one of his mates turned up and caught sight of it they’d probably rinse him to bits, claim he looked a right tit. But Matty couldn’t bring himself to care. Not then.

She rolled her eyes, but he noted how she was smiling now too.

“I’ve always thought you were fit, you know?”

A laugh escaped her then, brash and unforgiving. Matty would’ve been wounded had he not known her as well as he did. So instead he simply chose to flick her knee in harmless rebuke. “Don’t be a twat. You said you wanted to talk and I am. You’re fucking fit, Squeaks. Don’t let nobody tell you otherwise.”

She merely shook her head at him, the smallest smile limning that pretty mouth of hers.

“I’m being serious.” Matty tapped her knee twice with his fingertip, wanting her attention, “I wouldn’t lie to you, you know that.”

He recalled one of their earlier conversations and hoped that she somehow remembered, ‘I was raised by liars, can't stand lies.’ 

She licked at the corner of her mouth, eyes trained on him as though she was searching for something in his expression, but ultimately nodded when she didn’t appear to find it. 

“Anyway,” Matty smirked, leaning his head against his shoulder and continuing to hold her eyes, “Yeah, so I walked in expecting the usual. Some yappy older bird, who reckoned she was above me and all my fucking shit. Or maybe even someone who’d break and fall back on what they’d said once they were stood facing me. But nah, just you.”

“Just me.” She chuckled in that easy lilt of hers that he’d always found so soothing. In truth, he could actually recall asking her question after question in those first few weeks after they’d met just wanting to hear her talk.

Matty dragged out a hum, “You don’t even know. As soon as you walked out I was on you like a hawk, I swear. Just watching as you walked over, could hardly take my eyes off your legs.”

She snorted, “My legs?”

With a grin, Matty caught her ankle with his free hand and dragged her leg into his lap. “Fucking killer.” He told her honestly, letting himself have this moment to trail his fingertips up and over her thigh. “Then you looked at me with those eyes,” Matty’s own shot up to find them once more and shook his head slightly, “Made me dizzy having your full focus. Never seen a pair so intense, like they’d been struck by lighting or something.”

She rolled those pretty eyes of hers then and Matty pinched her leg, “I’m being serious, Squeaks. One of my favourite things about you.”

Thankfully she glanced back over at him then, her cheeks a tad bit pink but her smile bright. “I like yours too, you sap.” Matty's expression must’ve given way to how he felt about that because she was all too quick to add, “Don’t get cocky about it.”

He chuckled, liking the fact she knew him too well, and finally let his hand rest on her upper leg, though his thumb continued to rub gentle circles into the curve just above her knee. “I obviously felt something, Squeaks. Why the fuck else would I show up outside your studio only days later?”

“‘Cause you’re a stalker?” She teased but had relaxed further into the settee, stretching her other leg out to join the one he held. 

Matty ran his fingers up the underside of her foot in retaliation to that comment, “Brave.”

She snickered, “Thought you were just ‘in the area’?” 

Matty bit back a grin at her use of his earlier words, remembering how he’d been brimming with nerves whilst waiting outside for someone to show.

“I was,” He sniffed, and was pleased when she simply laughed. “But the truth? I couldn’t stop fucking thinking about you.”

Her cheeks hollowed themselves out as she tried to dampen the growing grin that threatened to overwhelm her face. It broke his heart a bit to know she struggled believing him, that no one else had ever gone far enough to drill the fact that she was fucking beautiful into that thick head of hers, but Matty was nothing if not stubborn and he’d strive to always tell her just how gorgeous he thought she was.

“What was it with that girl then?” She mentioned and Matty immediately frowned, confused as to what she was even going on about. “Your ex.”

Matty felt himself blink, mind reeling as he tried to remember what the hell she was referencing, but then it hit him. “Oh, ohh!” Then he chuckled, unable to help it really, and couldn’t seem to prevent the way it then dissolved into a slightly uncontrollable fit of laughter.

She levelled him with a hearty scowl and went to remove her legs from his lap, obviously none too pleased about being laughed at, but Matty stopped her just before she could.

“No, no, Squeaks. Babe, you’ve got it all wrong.” He attempted to console even with his still amused smile, leaning in closer now, his hands settled on her calves. “That was just for the press! Management team reckoned it would be good to rebuild my image, and I wasn't long out of rehab. She and I always looked good together but fought like fucking cat and-”

He stopped short and she snorted, “Mouse?”

Matty squinted his eyes mockingly, “Yes, dickhead. But no, it was all fake. Was only with her fifteen minutes before she swanned off to a photoshoot or something. Harldy even fucking remember it.” He paused then, “Hang on, is that- Is that why you went all quiet on me back then? That time before I ran into you at that bar?”

The way she evaded his gaze told him all he needed to know and then he was laughing again.

“Shut up, you absolute prick.” She huffed after a minute or so, having grown fed up with being his main source of amusement, and swatted him with her foot in hopes it would get him to follow the order. 

God, he’d never seen her look so embarrassed. 

“It’s not funny. You never mentioned it either, so what was I supposed to think!”

“Uh, not that?” He suggested, still chuckling away but actively trying to get it under control, sort of. “I’m sorry!” He laughed again when she kicked him, “Honest! But the thought didn’t even cross my mind. And we were hardly even mates then!”

She looked chastised, “We were mates!”

He levelled her with a look.

She held out for a bit before she finally huffed, “Fine, it was rocky but even so.”

Matty snorted, “No, you know what? I sort of like this side of you.” He teased, wrapping his hands around both her ankles and tugging. “Suits you.”

She sent him a well deserving glare, which was fair, before she dug her heel into his upper thigh, far too close to his dick for his liking, and sat herself back up again. “You’re such a twat.”

“So I've been told.” He sang, though he then rubbed at his tender leg with a wry grimace, “Shit, remind me not to actually piss you off.”

Squeaks shot him a grin and relaxed back into their earlier position. 

Her phone went off then and Matty watched on as she manoeuvred herself awkwardly around on the sofa to grab it from her back pocket without getting up. He raised a brow at her triumphant grin but she just looked down at the notification she’d gotten.

“Everything alright?”

She hummed, typing something off before looking back up at him and tucking the phone away again. “Just Finn, says he’s back home tomorrow and wants to see us.”

Right… the infamous Finn Matty had yet to actually meet.

“Where’s he been?” He asked, toying with the cuff of her jean leg.

“New York!” And the smile that she’d answered with told Matty a thousand things, “He had an auction up there or something, then ended up staying a few extra days to meet with this elusive client.”

“Shady.” He commented with a humoured smile, one he hoped would conceal his insecurities around the whole situation. 

He’d heard a lot about Mouse’s best mate, and these worries weren’t just down to the fact that he’d yet to meet the bloke, but also because Finn seemed to be such a big figure in not just hers, but Teddy’s lives. He’d been away a lot in recent months and Matty wondered over whether his presence would throw a spanner into the works once he was finally let back into the fold. 

“Very much so,” Mouse laughed, none the wiser to the chaos consuming his mind, “But I’m excited to see him, it’ll be good.”

Matty merely hummed.

She must’ve sensed some apprehension in it because she turned to tilt her head at him, playing with her fingers now. “Would-” She paused and Matty looked up to wait her out, she inhaled after a moment and then let the breath go, “Would you want to meet him? Or is that, I dunno, too fast?”

His forehead pinched and he shook his head. “No, not too fast.” He deemed, though he could’ve just lied and put off meeting the bloke for as long as he possibly could.

“I mean, we don’t have to put it in writing or anything.” Squeaks was quick to reply, “He’ll be around for a few weeks now, so we can just, I don’t know, work something out soon. Like meet at a cafe, a bar, the studio… here?”

She seemed to be spiralling a bit and although it was cute, Matty felt the need to save her, “Love, it’s fine. Whatever makes you comfortable. You’ve met the guys, and they love you, so-” He put his brave face on, “So I’m sure Finn will love me too. Yeah?”

He was met with a rapid nod, one that should’ve quelled his fears but only seemed to heighten them instead.

“So we’re doing this then?”

Matty blinked and lifted his chin to find her watching him again, that soft smile of hers back in its rightful place, looking pleased with how it had all turned out.

“What, meeting your mate?” He questioned her, having figured that much had been obvious, but then she was rolling her eyes at him again. 

“No, I meant- me and you.”

Oh.

Oh, he was grinning properly now. Like a massive twat, yeah, but how could he not? When she sat there looking all lovely and asking him if they could be something. 

“Me and you sounds good.” Matty murmured around the strength of his smile, fingertips diving beneath the hem of her jeans to tap the jut of her ankle bone.

He would've been embarrassed about it but he reckoned his grin was mimicked on her face and was all the more glad for it. Because he’d seen her smile and he’d seen laugh, but this grin. It was something else.

It wasn’t a difficult decision, his next move. Because before Matty could even contemplate it, he was all but throwing himself up the other end of the settee to cradle her head between his arms and catch her mouth with his.

She kissed him back with almost as much excitement, the pair of them smiling and laughing giddily at the stupidity and utter prospect of it all.

“Got you trapped now.” Matty breathed into the space between them not long after, eyes boring into her own. He hadn't been lying earlier when he’d claimed that they were one of his favourite things about her.

She barked out a laugh, hands falling away from where they’d been holding his neck to cover her face. “Was that a mouse joke?” She asked him through the gaps in her fingers, shaking her head at him.

Matty hadn’t really thought too much about his words, but thinking back he couldn’t stop himself from laughing too, bowing his shoulders to chuckle into the crook of her neck. “Fuck, I guess so.”

Her arms wrapped themselves around him again and so he nipped at the edge of her jaw, grinning like a fucking idiot.

[st4rsnf1cs]

Fox w/ a Baby

Pairing(s): Commander Fox x Fem!Reader

Summary: Commander Fox has a baby, here's a taste of what it's like!

Genre: Mostly fluff, SOME ANGST.

Word Count: 940 (bullet points)

Warnings: Pregnant reader, birth (but no description), kinda secret relationship, kinda distant parent? ITS NOT ON PURPOSE 😭

A/N: Literally love this au it's so cute.

- When Fox found out you were pregnant he had two emotions: “OH MAKER,” and “OH SHIT.”

- He hugged you with so much emotion and passion, yes you guys have always wanted a child but you guys didn't know it was happening now!

- There was only one other person Fox was more loyal to than the GAR, that person being you. Because you were pregnant he was on full protection mode. He was usually more chill, letting you do your own thing but now he was protecting you like you were more important than the emperor.

- Fox was VERY STRICT he’s was a freak and made sure you ate the right food and didn't do anything that was bad for the baby.

- “Fox I’m fine!” You half yelled to him as you continued to lift weights. “No! You know intense exercise is bad for the baby!” You huffed putting the weights down, “maybe *you* should be the one carrying this baby.” You poked him in the chest sarcastically, all you got was a huff and an eye roll from the commander.

- You guys told very few of your pregnancy because Fox worked closely to the Emperor. It got lonely sometimes during your pregnancy because he was constantly working.

- “You're never here Fox!” You gripped your leg firmly, tears welling up and blurring your vision. “Cyare-” You cut Fox off, “no, I done with your excuses, I’m tired, I’m in pain…” You trailed of and you finally looked up. Fox had his head down staring at his feet. His shoulders were tense and he started to huff. You wiped your tears and slowly hoisted yourself up from the chair. As you approached Fox there was a glimmer to his cheek, your eyes softened. “Y/n…I’m doing the best I can, I do want to be there for you and our child but everything is pulling me in different directions,” Fox muttered out. You pressed your hand to his cheek wiping away his tears, you heart broke. You have never seen the man cry so this must be devastating for him. “Oh honey…I’m sorry.” You lifted his face gently, his eyes filled with regret and sadness. “I know you're trying, I just got upset I’m sorry there's a lot happening right now for the both of us,” Fox pressed his face into the crook of your neck and hugged you gently, you reciprocated the embrace. “Only a couple more months and the baby will be born.” He sniffled into you, “I love you Y/n.” Your eyes began to feel warm as tears dared to drop, “I love you too Fox.”

- It was kind of an angsty pregnancy but the two of you were strong. Because being friends with Senator Amidala had it’s perks you gave birth on her home planet of Naboo. Padmé and Fox where there for your birth.

- You and Fox had a beautiful baby boy. Only a few Jedi knew like Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Adi Gallia. They gave you gifts and obviously swore to secrecy.

- If you think Fox was already sleep deprived already? It just got A LOT worse. The two of you barely slept at times where all three of you were together. Fox had bags but goddamn they had grown. He was often the one to put the baby back to sleep because he felt bad he was gone, you gladly accepted it.

- The baby's first word was “mama.” Although Fox was ecstatic, he was kind of sad because it reminded him that he was away a lot. “Honey baby’s tend to grow closer to thier mothers, don't take it personally.”

- That day and from now on Fox made his mission to have the baby say “dada.” He looked like an adorable fool saying it the baby and it made you giggle. “What are you giggling at?” You sealed you lips, “nothing…”

- As the baby grew up more Fox became a control freak. He is definitely the kind of father to be worried all the time. It’s his job to worry, not only because he’s a dad but because he’s a guard.

- You knew that if you wanted too you could leave Fox with the baby and they would both be fine. One time you came home from a well deserved girls night out, and Fox and the baby were fast asleep. The baby drooling on Fox’s chest as Fox sleeps on his back. It was the cutest thing ever.

- Fox also loves explaining complicated topics that the baby wouldn't even understand. For example: Fox is teaching your child how to properly put on trooper armor at the age of 3. Fox being (of course) the lovely model.

- As your son began to grow he started to intensely look like his father. “He looks like me.” You chuckled, “yeah baby's are *supposed* to look like their parents.” However Fox and really any other clone had no idea considering he was grown in a tube.

- Right when your kid hit age 5, Fox began teaching him how to fight. Considering your kid has Fett genes he was thrilled. It was fun bonding time for them.

- If you can't cook that's ok because Fox is probably worse and couldn't cook to save his life. So when you tell him he has to cook dinner because you’ll be gone, he almost blows up the apartment. Sweat dripping down his face, eyebrows furrowed. Apron on a little too tight. Luckily for Fox, your guy’s kid will eat pretty much anything so he wasn't complaining.

[lunaetiicsaystuff]

DAYLIGHT

part 1 , part 2

lando norris x fem!oc

( yes, its gonna be a series and yes, i guess this is my comeback on tumblr)

summary: Adaezela Samu and Lando Norris have called each other their best friends for as long as they can both remember, until one of them decides to deal with the raising tension between them.

landonorris

liked by carlossainz55 , mclaren , georgerussell63 , and 735,372 others...

crazy girl broke in and stole food from f1 driver Lando Norris, please send help

adaezelasamu at least shes not martha level of crazy, you should be grateful

⤷landonorris im very much happy with this crazy girl

alex_albon weird, it also happened to me but the crazy girl was different 🤔

⤷landonorris then it must be a common thing, better lock the doors guys

⤷lilymhe ahahaha you are so funny

⤷adaezelasamu come here wifey, I'll defend us both 👩🏾‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏻

⤷lilymhe my hero 💗💖💘💓💕💖💓

lilymhe wow send her my address i want her to break in my house too

⤷adaezelasamu OMW

⤷landonorris lily stop stealing MY best friend 😐😐

user1 its the way alex was talking about lily, his gf, and lando just went "it happens to all of us ig 🙂" as if adaezela was his gf lmaoo

user2 SHE LOOKS SO GOOD HOW

user3 she has such pretty smile omg 🥹

carlossainz55 what did you cook ada

⤷adaezelasamu some appetizers and then a pasta cacio and pepe, of course everything was great as usual

⤷carlossainz55 you will have to prepare us something one day

⤷landonorris nope she only cooks for me and herself actually 😁😁

⤷adaezelasamu not true, stop lying 😁😁😁

⤷landonorris you just broke my heart 😁😁😁😁

⤷adaezelasamu i dont care 😁😁😁😁😁

⤷carlossainz55 you two are so dumb i swear

georgerussell63 carmen says hi!

⤷adaezelasamu tell her i say that I miss her!!!! 💞💞💞💞💞💞

⤷landonorris why are you all so affectionate with my ady 😕😕

⤷georgerussell63 jealous much?

⤷landonorris yes she was my best friend first

⤷adaezelasamu lando, there is plenty of me to share between carmen, lily and you

⤷landonorris no comment

user4 shes very pretty, how long have then been together?

⤷user5 never, they are TECHNICALLY childhood best friends but everyone can see they basically in love with each others

⤷user4 oh

user6 the way lando is jealous of how much attention the others are giving to her lmfao 😭😭

⤷user7 its the way he's always saying MY best friend, MY ady , man is whipped

user8 lando could you please win the next grand prix? thank you 🧡🧡🧡🧡

user9 i missed seeing adaezela

more...

adaezelasamu

liked by landonorris , lnfour, charles_leclerc, lilymhe and 219,678 others...

somebody tell this man to let me go home PLEASE

landonorris NOOOO

landonorris LET ME BOTHER YOU FOREVERRRR

user1 oh to be adaezela, complaining about lando norris wanting to be with you 24/7

⤷user2 FR like pass him to me if you dont want him 😭😭

user3 mama y papa

landonorris she doesn't want to leave anymore 🤪🤪

⤷adaezelasamu you literally gaslighted me because you were sCaReD or wtv

⤷landonorris YOU DONT KNOW WHAT SHE COULD DO

⤷adaezelasamu POLICE OFFICERS ARE LITERALLY OUTSIDE OF MY HOUSE TO PREVENT HER FROM DOING WEIRD SHIT??

⤷landonorris yeah but what if 😕

⤷adaezelasamu there you go, making me feel bad again

⤷landonorris 😕😕😕😕😕😕😕

⤷adaezelasamu FINE ill sleep here

⤷user4 honestly what the fuck is fuck is happening?? like police officers outside of Adaezela'a house? lando being scared for her??

lilymhe babe call me plsss🙂

⤷adaezelasamu yes ma'am 🫡

user5 what kind of life are these two living like wtf 😭😭

carlossainz55 what is happening

⤷landonorris ill call you carlos dw

⤷user6 so not even lily or carlos knows what's going on??

charles_leclerc how is he even sleeping there

⤷landonorris talent

⤷adaezelasamu hes just weird charles dont ask questions

⤷user7 PLSSSS ADAEZELA 😭😭

user8 couple goals honestly

⤷user9 exactly, i want what these bitches have 😭

user10 what is happening??? I hope both of them are ok cause wtf

⤷adaezelasamu guys dont worry, both me and lando are fine! we just had an encounter with a crazy fan

[small-world-au]

“Well, it’s still the afternoon! So, we can have a baking lesson today!”

Sora adjust his basket as he smiled at the other.

“Alright! Let’s-!!!”

Before finishing his sentence, a piece of a newspaper flew on his face.

He took the paper off to see the topic. His eyes widened as he saw the headline of the paper that read:

Murder at the huchers mansion.

Young girl woke up to the sight of her mother’s bloody corpse this morning. The killer remains unidentified as the police are currently searching for any clues of the incident.

Based of the current information, it appears the killer had managed to enter the premises undetected, almost as if they were familiar to the area. A witness who prefers to remain anonymous, has claimed to have seen a possible suspect heading towards the same direction. He then heard the sound of someone running away from the mansion.

Authorities had tried to ask the young girl for any details of the suspect appearance or if she knew them personally, hasn’t able to give much information out due to her traumatic experience.

Sora dropped the paper in shock…

Murder??? But…how??? If his memory serves correctly, shouldn’t they’ve had any bodyguards since they were lootbags…this was all too confusing.

“What a SICK person! Who would DO that in front of a little girl?!? I understand that you dislike your family greatly olí, believe me, I do! But your poor sister! I don’t know what I would do if this happened to Dessie…what a sick MONSTER!”

“I’ll have to warn my abuelita and doña Mari to make sure the mansion IS LOCKED UP TIGHTLY! Oh Diosito…pobre nena…”

Sora grabbed the paper from the floor, rolling it into a scroll and placed it in his basket.

“We have to warn the others…tell everyone to be at my shelter at 5pm!”

“You are staying with me until they catch the monster! And since Zaria is staying with maple…”

He grabs Oli’s hand as they make it back to his shelter.

“BOO!”

They grab you shoulders, shaking you a bit. Did- did they just prank you?! But hey, at least they’re ok! And for a sweet new fit!

They laugh, smiling deviously.

“Did I scare ya?”

—@ask-olive-huchers

Sora jumps a bit, but calms down once he see it was just Olive.

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you!” He says as he took the other into a small hug.

“Where have you been?! Me and Stone looked everywhere for you since you didn’t show up for your baking lesson today!”

Sora then took a step back to see the other’s new fit. It was very new and very nice!

“Oh! Lovely outfit! But where were you???”

[ask-olive-huchers]

~“Blood, sweat, and fear.”~

(( a Ramshackle OC story!))

Warning: this story covers some dark and possibly triggering topics

note: this takes place after Bailey gifts upon a Pocket knife for Olive.

Olive thanks Bailey for the Pocket knife, embarrassingly messing up and almost calling him big brother. They were sure he wouldn’t have minded it, anyway. But they were scared to admit it. They wander off, imagining the possibilities with this small but powerful weapon. They flick open the blade, once again looking at their reflection. They smile sinisterly, Letting a small chuckle slip out.

Olive retracts the blade to its original form, tucking it back into their pockets. They found themself strolling around the hidden parts of Ramshackle. Ok, hidden is a bit of an overstatement. It was more of the under-appreciated areas.

_________________________________________

After a while, they walk down a dim Street. A single Street light that flickered constantly. Olive shivers a bit from the unresponsive buildings. They had forgotten how creepy it was at night around here.

Within a sudden turn of events, Olive stops and looks up. They stare the some-what nice mansion. A bit too flashy, if you ask them. I mean- what’s the point of having a giant row of stairs just to enter the front door? Pathetic, really.

They turn to the side of the house, quickly and quietly dashing to the gate on the side.

They climb on the gate, struggling not to tumble backwards. Olive grabs the nearest window, slowly opening it. They made as little noise as they could, trying not to awaken the bastards inside.

After clumsily stumbling onto the hard wood floor, they found themselves in the hallway.

their hallway.

’where the hell is that bitch’s room?’

They start quietly opening the doors. There had to be at least 9 doors on the upper floor of their this house. After opening like, 7 of them- they finally find the room.

A women lied asleep, nested comfortably in the soft mattress. But that was the only thing nested on the bed. 3 empty bottles of what seems to be different varieties of liquor. As they approached closer, they saw the black streaks of shitty mascara making it way down her cheeks. But dried too quickly to finish the race, they assumed.

Olive gently grabbed the women’s face, rotating it to face them.

the woman begins to wake up, her eyes fluttering. She looked at this mysterious figure upon her, squinting a bit.

“Calvin..?” She whispered, sitting up within a couple minutes. Clearly, she was extremely drunk and very hung-over. The woman hugs the figure she claimed to be “Calvin”

she hugged the somewhat disordered figure, crying a bit more. She had thought..she’d thought he was dead.

She shook, but. Something felt..off. She wasn’t sure what it was, until they spoke.

“I’d say that im sorry, but..that wouldn’t be entirely true.”

The women was stunned to hear a voice that wasn’t her beloved. It wasn’t..was it?

“Oliv-“

Splat.

…

There was a thud. A loud one, too. The hardwood was being flooded in pools of red liquid. It spread everywhere. Her Pearl white nightgown was now an ugly red. Then, another splat is heard. Followed by another, and another, and another. Blood was practically gushing from her entire body.

Olive did a final stomp on their mothers head, causing it to bleed a bit more. They wipe the blood off their face, Once again putting their weapon away. I guess it was a murder weapon now, huh? Oh how the tables have turned..

Oh how the tables have turned..indeed.

the door to the bedroom creaks, letting a small bit of light to squeeze in. There’s a tiny bit of breathing to go with it. Olive was facing the opposite direction, but they knew damn well who it was.

Which is the whole reason they did this whole mess.

“Mama? Are you awake, too?”

A small voice called out, making its way inside the room. Adi walked over to what remained of her mother, kneeling down to look at her. Olive moved, wanting to watch this flame burn. Like a fire in the forest, it escalated quickly.

“Mom? Are you awake?” She repeated, staring at her mothers lifeless eyes. Something felt warm. And a bit..wet? She removed one of her hands, to see that-..

..it was drenched in blood.

Her whole body tensed up, as she shook uncontrollably. She somehow managed to dropper her mothers head, despite being frozen in terror. Her eyes swelled with tears, and with every blink started a new race of Which would fall first. She didn’t know what to do. She was only 9 years old, after all. This would cause a LOT of emotional trauma in the future..

Olive stood over and watched with a sinister grin. Gathering up some uncalled for and twisted things to say.

“Must hurt, hm?”

They say, leaning on a near-by wall.

“Seeing The people you look up to, just..bail. After all you’ve done to prove your worth something.”

They slowly walk back over to their little sister, lowering down to her level.

They watch in satisfaction as her tears continuously gushed from her eyes. They could see the complete and utter horror darting around on her face.

“but, hey. You haven’t lost everything.”

They close in, moving a strand of her hair so they could get the message across clearly.

“there’s always the orphanage~”

With a devilish smile, Olive stood up. They yoinked the knife out of their pocket and slid it towards the door. They slip out the window, as a final scream of terror is heard.

As much as that knife worked, it wasn’t really what they were looking for. No, no, no. They wanted something more..

destructive.

((ANDDDD HERES SOME TAGS TO TRAUMATIZE YOU GUYS AS WELL<333))

@ask-sora-aguilar @baileythebean @thesmokerblogs @rebootgrimm @thesilliestofallqueers

@vv4loe @ask-jasper-cameron @sunshineoframshackle

YAAAAYYY…

[ultrameganicolaokay]

Roxxon Presents: Thor by Al Ewing and Greg Land. Variant cover by Adi Granov. Out in April.

"From the pages of IMMORTAL THOR – the ROXXON AGE OF COMIXX BEGINS!

In his secret identity as A.I. spokesguru CHAD HAMMER, the son of Odin knows Mama Gaea is a TOP PRIORITY for heroes AND for business!

But when a group of insane environmental activists take "saving the Earth" TOO FAR, it's time to show them the wisdom on BOTH sides – AS THOR!

But WHICH God of Evil is prompting the kids to rebel? Could it be… LOKI, GOD OF EVIL???

Featuring an all-star cast of heroes! MINOTAUR! EXECUTIONER! ENCHANTRESS! And the THOR-TRUCK!

This is the story of THE ROXXIN' THOR… and it's a VITAL part of the "ABSOLUTE ABSOLUTION" MEGA-EVENT!"

[fallstaticexit]

Siblings are siblings no matter what age they are.

Prev / Next

Mateo: (using sign language) Eat?

Lyric: I know baby, it’s almost done. Good job using sign to let me know, Mateo!

Lyric: *snorts* Uncle Light Skin finally returning my call.

Mel: Don’t yell. I know I’ve been slacking with reaching out.

Lyric: Now I know where your kids get it from. Am I the only one in this family who knows how a phone works?

Mel: It’s just, I’ve been b-

Lyric: And you better not give me the ‘I’ve been busy’ excuse; we’re all busy, Mr. Showtime. Just call your sister. That’s all.

Lyric: So, what’s going on? Looks like you made it back to Sulani. How’s that going? How’s Loren and Maeve?

Mel: *sighs* Long story. We’re leaving a little earlier than planned. Going to see Adie, Ri, and dad.

Lyric: Did something happen?

Mel: I’ll tell you about it later...

Lyric: Are you sure, Mel?

Mel: I’m sure, sis.

Lyric: You know how I used to have visions when we were kids? Mom said they were just hyperactive dreams, but I saw things, and you and Sonny always believed me.

Mel: Yeah, I remember.

Lyric: I was with our grandmothers this time. All of them. They want us all to be together, Mel. I don’t think we’re supposed to be spread out all over the world and apart for so long.

Mel: I think in a perfect world, we could make that happen.

Lyric: Then why don’t we? Hell, Olive lives in the same city as me and I see her maybe every few months?

Mel: Hold on, Sonny’s calling.

Sonny: Mel- *static* can you hear me? *barking* *snarling*

Mel: Bro, what the hell? Are you doing wolf stuff? Just call me back!

Sonny: What? *howling* *more static*

Mel: *laughs* Henford’s service is so ass, Sonny. How did you survive 20 plus years out there?

Sonny: See, that’s the difference between me and you, City Boy. All I need is wide, open country. That’s the secret to not having patchy facial hair, by the way.

Mel: Yeah, alright. Tell your mama that.

Sonny: Come on man...don’t talk about moms...

Mel: Hold on, I’m gonna add Lyr to the call.

Mel: Look who’s here.

Sonny: Sup, big sis!

Lyric: Woooow, hey stranger! Why do you look so mangy?

Sonny: Sun’s settin’. That’s when me and the pack get to work. Caught a bloodsucker on our property, so I got the boys tearin’ it to shreds now.

Lyric: ...ew.

Lyric: Weeeell, since we’re all here, now I can finally ask—which one of yall narrow asses be telling mom my business?

Sonny: I mean...I might of mentioned things. Mama calls everyday- she get’s lonely...

Mel: Sonny!

Lyric: I knew it!

Mel: Come on, man. That’s like sibling code 101!

Sonny: Well, shit! Maybe it’s the wolf in me that gave me this undying loyalty to my own mama...

Lyric: No, it’s the brat in you, mama’s boy.

Mel: *laughs* Lyr, remember when Sonny was like 6 and he would snitch on everything we did unless it included him?

Lyric: Mhm. And he use to cry when we wouldn’t. He still does.

Sonny: Come on, yall…

[juliarpratiwi]

Minggu siang bibi drop seperti kondisi awal, padahal semalamnya sudah banyak berkembang baik. Buru-buru saya telepon Ai supaya datang ke RS, karena menelepon keluarga yang lain juga tidak memungkinkan sebab hari itu Adi (Anak bungsu Mang Herman) menikah.

Tadi malam kondisi bibi sangaaat jauh membaik, Alhamdulillah. Banyak hal yang bibi ceritakan, sampai pada sebuah obrolan.

"Bibi takut meninggal, takut gak sempet nemenin kamu menikah. Jadi, ada anak kenalannya bibi yang minta dikenalkan. Kamu mau?"

"Bii, aku minta maaf kalau aku jadi salah satu beban yang menjadi stressor untuk bibi. Tapi, untuk urusan kapan aku menikah, bagaimana aku menikah, dengan siapa aku menikah. Bibi gak perlu pikirin itu. InsyaAllah kalau sudah waktunya akupun akan menikah juga."

"Namanya orang tua ya gak mungkin kalau gak mikirin anaknya." Bibi masih juga keukeuh

"Gini, kita kan belum tahu ya dengan siapa aku akan menikah, apa pekerjaan suamiku, dimana ia tinggal. Mungkin, bisa jadi suami aku nanti bakalan bawa aku jauh secara jarak dari bibi dan keluarga. Jadi mungkin ini kesempatan yang Allah kasih, karena setelah menikah mungkin ruang bakti aku akan terbatas." Saya berusaha setenang dan sehati-hati mungkin menjelaskan

"Mumpung bibi masih ada....."

"Bii, dengan apa yang terjadi pada mama, pada bibi. Bolehkan untuk urusan menikah aku jadi lebih hati-hati dan tidak terburu-buru? Doakan saja, doakan selalu. Semoga sebelum takdir itu tiba, aku bisa sabar dan ikhlas menjalani setiap prosesnya. Ya bi? Udah tentang aku jangan banyak dipikirin. Rugi. Bibi malah sakitkan jadinya." Saya akhirnya menangis

"Iyaaa, tapi kan udah sewajarnya bibi mikirin kamu, khawatirin kamu. Sakit bibi itu datang dari Allah, bukan karena mikirin kamu. Bibi ingin nganter kamu sampai menikah, melihat kamu punya anak, membangun keluarga dengan baik."

Aku masih juga menangis, kesal karena keras kepala bibi tidak jauh berbeda dengan mama. Sedih karena kenapa sih aku harus menjadi salah satu sebab itu.

Lalu terbukalah gorden bed

"Selamat malam, lho kenapaaa?"

Dokter cantik nan baik hati itu visit di jadwal malam setelah selesai praktek poli.

Buru-buru menyeka air mata "Gak kenapa-kenapa dokter." Hehe

"Ibuuu, gimana hari ini? Apa yang terasa?"

Ah kan sudah ku duga, aku menjadi salah satu sebabnya. Sakit fisik akibat dari psikologis yang overload menampung beban hati itu memang mengerikan. Meski ada andil dari pola hidup yang kurang baik. Terlebih lagi sudah tertulis sebagai takdir yang harus kami jalani dengan sabar dan ikhlas.

[natteryaktoad]

Chert, Day 86, Part 1

There are some advantages to having a large downstairs bathroom!

Teeny loves this bubble blower!

Seby: Daddy, teach me a nudder your mama song!

Ed: Hmm... I don't know if I know any more...

Ed: Who do you want to invite to your party tomorrow, Seb?

Seby: Cousins!

Teeny: Hi Adie... no, I'd love to talk - aren't you supposed to be asleep, though? ... Okay, yeah, we can talk for ten minutes.

Ed: I'll wait for you upstairs.

Teeny: Or maybe five - it is late, and I am seeing you tomorrow, after all.

Ed and Teeny had leftover woohoo wants from last rotation, which was just as well since the neighbourhood reset meant their energy levels were too high to get any sleep otherwise.

[rivangel]

BRUUUUH!!!!! WHOA MAMA! HUMMINA HUMMIN HUMMINA BAZO00000ING! *eyes pop out* AR000000GA! *jaw drops tounge rolls out* Wo OOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WI DOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF "tounge b tof mouth uncontrollably leaking face and everyt in reach* WURBLWUBRLWURBLRWUBLWURLBI UBRLWBURLWBRUWRLBLWUBLR *tiny cupid she1 arrow through heart* AHHHHHH ME FUF ADY.... *heart in the shape of heart starts beating nard you can see it through shirst* BA-BUM BA-BL

[coochiequeens]

'A woman who falls through the cracks is falling with her children'   

Away from threat of Islamist violence or floods, health risks for pregnant women in Nigeria's refugee camps remain high 

By Adie Vanessa Offiong, CNN Photographs by Taibat Ajiboye for CNN

Editor’s note: This story is part of As Equals, CNN's ongoing series on gender inequality. For information about how the series is funded and more, check out our FAQs.

Abuja, Nigeria (CNN)Aisha Aliyu is eight-months pregnant and sprawled out on a mat in front of her house with four of her children spread around her feet. Two-year-old Hauwa and five-year-old Abba are both crying and tugging at their mother's coffee-colored hijab. She, in response, rolls her eyes and clicks her tongue at them. She looks tired. 

The child Aliyu is carrying is her tenth. The last four were delivered in the Durumi Camp, a place in Nigeria's capital city, Abuja, that she and an estimated more than 3,000 other internally displaced people call home. 

In 2013, Aliyu fled her home in the village of Wala in Nigeria's northeastern Borno State to its capital, Maiduguri. She said her village was attacked and much of it burned down by armed Islamist group, Boko Haram. Two years later, the militant group attacked Maiduguri, forcing Aliyu to again migrate, this time travelling over 856km south to Abuja with her husband and five children.

The now 39-year-old saw having many children as a way of replacing her relatives killed by the insurgents, but reveals she was done after her last pregnancy in 2021 and began using contraceptives. However, she became pregnant again this year. 

Having already borne children in Durumi camp (one of 264 communities for internally dispaced people (IDPs) known to exist across Nigeria as of September 2021), Aliyu was fearful, knowing of the limited resources she would have access to. The farmer's wife had been unable to afford the food and medication she needed to stay healthy, and antenatal services were limited.   

Aisha with five of her children

The space initially set up as a birthing suite at the camp was rudimentary and barely hygienic, explains Liyatu Ayuba, appointed the camp 's Women's Leader by the site's Chairman when she arrived in 2014. She has since handled issues regarding health, food or children on behalf the IDPs.  

"It was a tent that we swept, and I would put a mat or wrapper on the floor for the women to lie down on to give birth," says Ayuba, who for much of the camp's history has been its only birth attendant. Many of the displaced women refer to her as Mama. 

 Ayuba says the tent was a shanty built with corrugated roofing sheets and a sandy floor. If gloves were available, the birth attendant used them and if not, she explains that she covered her hands with polythene bags and cut umbilical cords with a razor blade. 

"I gave birth to three of [my children] with Mama's help on a mat under the shelter," Aliyu tells CNN, referring to the birthing tent. "Mama cut the umbilical cord and bathed the baby."  

In 2019, a non-governmental organization set up the camp's health post where Aliyu's ninth child, Hauwa, was delivered in 2021. The post is a small clinic located inside a repurposed 20ft shipping container, where wooden boards partition the space to create a delivery suite which looks more like a storage space and just about holds a bed, a baby cot, a drip stand, a broken chair, a trolley and empty containers that should contain water. The other half is the consultation room with a table, two chairs, a bed, and a cupboard where medicines and devices are kept.    

Though basic, the clinic at least provides a consultation space that women previously had to make do without and Ayuba is proud to say the camp has not recorded any deaths among mothers or babies under her watch. 

The makeshift delivery room partitioned in the shipping container used as the camp's health post

'No 'special arrangement' for those who are pregnant in Nigeria's camps

Aliyu is one of many internally displaced women bearing children in Nigeria's camps, with some grounds not even housing a health post or shelter for birth, instead needing women to go into labour in their own shelters or that of their birth attendant. 

A 2021 PhD thesis by Fatima Mahmood Jibirilla at Walden University, states that women living in IDP camps in Nigeria "have a higher risk of maternal death than women living in their homes." The author cited a range of factors increasing the risk of maternal and neonatal deaths in these settings, including inadequate prenatal care services and limited family planning programs.  

"There are no special arrangements for pregnant women in IDP and refugee camps [in Nigeria]. There are poor antenatal services that are inadequate to detect and address likely pregnancy-related complications and other signs of poor pregnancy outcomes," the author writes. While there have been no maternal or infant deaths at Durumi on her watch, according to Ayuba, multiple doctors volunteering there and across camps in Abuja corroborated the concerns highlighted in the study to CNN.  

In a country that has long had among the highest maternal mortality rates in the world and has the third highest number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Africa as of the end of 2022, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), the lack of adequate maternal healthcare provision in these camps is a significant concern, one of the doctors told CNN.

The 2022 IDMC figures also show that 4.5m Nigerians were classed as "internally displaced people" as a result of both conflict and natural disasters, with flooding outstripping protracted violence as the main source of displacement. 

The camp nurse, Isa Umar examines a pregnant woman during antenatal session

While there is no national breakdown of IDPs by sex or age, a 2023 report by the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Sector says there are 1,575,741 women and children in the Nigerian states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe alone, making up 74% of the 2,124,053 IDPs in those states. 

Nigeria's total IDP population relies largely on the graces of charitable organizations for its health care, Ayuba and the camp's nurse Isa Umar told CNN. 

'If it happens, I am dead.' The prohibitive costs of care   

Wednesdays are antenatal day in Durumi. When CNN visits, camp nurse Isa Umar, who himself was forced to leave his home due to the insurgency, is in the consultation room using a handheld ultrasound scanner to monitor a baby's growth and a fetoscope to monitor the heartbeat among the expectant mothers coming in. 

Umar measures each pregnant woman's stomach followed by her weight. After they've been seen, women compare notes while sitting on the clinic's veranda, discussing how any of the medicines Umar has prescribed will be paid for.   

The set up is far from adequate. Umar tells CNN: "We don't even have folic acid or anti-malarial medicine to give them. I have to write these for them to go and buy." Malaria is endemic in Nigeria and infections pose various risks during pregnancy, such as premature labour and miscarriage, and folic acid is recommended for those who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, to reduce the risk of certain birth defects. 

But for most of the 64 women recorded in the camp's birth register this year, these costs are prohibitive. Folic acid, for example, costs ₦3,000 ($3.74) for 100 tablets and Aliyu tells CNN she could not possibly have afforded that cost for the duration of her pregnancy. She says she's only been able to take this vital supplement when NGOs have donated them free of charge. Back home in Wala, her N100 ($0.11) hospital card had entitled her to free folic acid as well as other resources while pregnant. 

Getting clean water at the camp is also a challenge, Aliyu shares, explaining that it's a time-consuming, strenuous task requiring her to make several trips daily and is one she can no longer do in the final weeks of her pregnancy. Instead, she now pays for it to be delivered. At its cheapest, enough water to make the family's breakfast of pap (porridge made from ground corn) and other domestic chores for a month costs ₦24,000 ($28.43). Costs can rise by 25% on days when there is no electricity and a generator is needed to work the pumps, or when water sellers must go farther to fetch it.  

With Aisha almost full term, she is no longer able to go to fetch water and now has to pay up to N500 daily for it to be delivered to her home

There are also the costs of giving birth in Abuja that Aliyu didn't have back home.   

To immunize her babies at the camp, the mother of nine has to take them to the nearest government hospital where nurses have certain expectations that fall to the mother, she tells CNN. These include making sure the baby is wearing diapers and bringing various items including cotton wool and baby lotion, which would cost money Aliyu says she doesn't have.  

"In Borno, it was not compulsory to use [diapers] when going to the hospital. We just used our wrappers (a piece of fabric women tied around their waist). But here, the nurses insist that (the babies) must wear diapers and (we must) have an extra one in our bag," Aliyu says. Multiple mothers shared similar concerns with CNN. 

Dr Charles Nzelu, Head of Special Duties at Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Health tells CNN he believes health workers are simply acting in the overall interests of the baby and that a lack of medical skill, experience, and communication is resulting in a lack of understanding about the women living in the IDP camps. "When you come to me as a doctor, I will give you medical advice the way it's supposed to be," he explains. "When you are more experienced, you are flexible (with) the way you relate with patients." He adds that this government, which came into power in May, will work to address issues like these.

"I can't afford treatment. If it happens, I'm dead"Pregnant resident of Durumi Camp in Abuja, Aisha Aliyu

In the meantime, Aliyu says she is struggling to meet all her needs and those of her children. To afford what she can, Aliyu makes and sells wigs and traditional caps worn by men, earning on average ₦10,000 ($12.49) a month.

Money is not her only concern. Aliyu worries about catching malaria and about not being able to produce enough breastmilk because of the poor quality of her diet. Her family survives on staples such as pasta and maize in different forms. 

"I can't afford the treatment" for malaria, says Aliyu. "If it happens, I am dead."

Difficulty fulfilling promises

The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) is responsible for Nigeria's growing number of displaced people. Its commissioner tells CNN that the organization, which was set up in 1989 and has a health budget of N250 million for 2024, has paid for midwives to visit IDP camps to assist in deliveries of babies as frequently as funds allow and has, in some instances, also paid off people's hospital bills. CNN was unable to verify this budget figure provided by the Commission which it said is not yet public.

However, some of the IDPs who have been in Durumi since the informal settlement formed in 2014, say that no midwives sent by the Commission have visited the camp during their time here and that in the past, it has been difficult to get it to fulfil promises they say the Commission made to the camp, such as furnishing the health post with an additional bed, scanning machine, gloves and other health equipment. 

CNN asked the NCFRMI about the services it provides to those in Durumi but did not receive a response prior to publication.

The nurse takes the weight of the pregnant women during antenatal

Within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where Abuja is located, the Territory's Health and Environmental Services is responsible for all health matters including services provided to people in IDP camps, including reproductive care and sexual health services, such as birth control. Dr. Dolapo Fasawe, Mandate Secretary of the FCT Health and Environmental Services, tells CNN that IDP camps in the area have functional clinics supported by area council staff and partners from outside, explaining that they cannot build permanent structures because the camps are meant to be temporary. She adds her belief that "the issue with maternal care in such places is child spacing, not maternal mortality." Birth spacing helps to improve maternal health outcomes as becoming pregnant too soon after giving birth increases the risk of complications. Doctors CNN spoke to also highlighted this as a concern in the camps, and Nigeria more widely.

But many residents of the camp told CNN they had not heard of the FCT Health Services or seen them at the camp and explain that the provision of birth control is again handled by non-profits working in the camps. When Fasawe was informed of this by CNN, she said it was a wakeup call for her department to act promptly. This "has opened our eyes to the need to focus on them," Fasawe says. "We need to (conduct some) outreach asap."

Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Health oversees health for the country (including provisions provided by the Commission). In response to the concerns, the Ministry of Health's Nzelu tells CNN that maternal and child health is a very high priority for government but explains that the Ministry primarily provides policies and guidelines for states, local governments and government agencies to follow and does not typically intervene directly. He said: "As a government, we are still working to make sure that both the state and all these agencies of government that are charged with the direct implementation, do their best to make sure that those inhabitants of IDP camps are well taken care of."

A volunteer doctor brought his own kit to do blood tests at the Durumi camp

'A woman who falls through the cracks is falling with her children'   

African NGO, Pro Health International, has been sending volunteer medical professionals to provide free healthcare services for IDPs across Nigeria for over 12 years. They were last in Durumi in June and describe it as one of the most impoverished IDP camps within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where Abuja is located. 

Pro Health International Founder and Executive Director Dr. Iko Ibanga shared that his team raised the issue of health challenges within IDP camps two years ago with the Minister of Health at the time, Dr. Osagie Ehanire. "We were told it would be looked into, but nothing was done," he says.

Ehanire did not directly respond to CNN about whether Pro Health International raised the issue of health challenges among internally displaced people with him, but the former health minister highlighted the NGO's work as a useful implementer of maternal health services in more recent years, and shared emergency response plans for IDPs that were put in place in the north-east of the country (where Boko Haram is most active) and go back to 2016. He tells CNN: "Women's Health services were prioritized and featured strongly in the programs designed to the needs of internally displaced women." This region does not include Abuja, however, where the Durumi camp is located.

Women at the Durumi IDP camp, sitting on the veranda of the makeshift health post

The 2023 health budget is ₦1.17 trillion ($2.2bn), which is a 42.6% increase since 2022 and the highest percent of the total budget allocated for health. But In Africa's largest economy, this is only 5.7% of the annual budget of ₦20.5 trillion, and is much lower than the 15% of annual budgets all African Union member nations, including Nigeria, pledged in 2001 to spend on "improvement of the health sector".    

According to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, a health post, which is the most basic health care facility, should be able to cater to a population of 500 and have 34 items always available to serve that population. Durumi's health post serves more than 3000 people and has just 10 of these items: a waste bin, scissors, fetoscope, weighing scale, chair, tables, two beds, kidney dishes, and a cupboard, all provided by NGOs according to Ayuba and Umar who say they both manage the facility without a salary.

Nzelu shares that the Ministry of Health is currently conducting a health needs assessment in most of the IDP camps to learn what is and is not lacking to ensure adequate health care services. He tells CNN: "With the budget cycle currently on, it can inform some of the things we are able to get into the budget and hope that the National Assembly gives approval so that we can implement."

Pro-Health International's Ibanga is emphatic about the risks displaced people face during the perinatal period and beyond. "When [a woman] is ill, it affects everything tied to her and her children are the most important things tied to her," he says. "A woman who falls through the cracks is not falling by herself. She is falling with her children." 

This story was edited by Eliza Anyangwe and Meera Senthilingam