#my plan was to put him in av*wed when it comes out but honestly he's clicking with st*rdew v*lley quite a bit

[bragganhyl]

ngl I'm starting to feel like I'm more attached to Berci the cringefail farmer than I ever did when he was my Tav whoops

[supernaturallyobsessedchic]

Emergency! Part 1

Part 1 – Plane Crash

Summary: Dean and Cas are partners at Fire Station 51’s paramedic squad and are responding to their first of many. A plane crashes into an apartment complex, multiple fire stations respond to put out the fire and rescue any victims trapped. But RN, Y/N Y/L/N, happens to live in the very complex involved in the plane crash. Though unharmed, she commits her time to aid and assist in the victims coming out of the building and the plane. The rescue turns sideways on Dean when a beam drops onto Dean, damaging his oxygen tank, he quickly turns into a victim as he quickly succumbs to smoke inhalation and becomes Y/N’s patient.

Warnings: Mild angst (relationship), slight language, fluff?

Square: Firefighter!AU ( @supernatural-jackles​ Tell me a story Bingo)

Word Count: 1,784

Mobile Masterlist

Series Masterlist

A/N: DOA = Dead on Arrival. Y/L/N = Your last name. But I hope you guys enjoy!

~

She got up at her usual time of 5am to be at the hospital by 6:30am.

Not much of a coffee drinker, she just got her a mug filling up with soda, the soda being her caffeine for the day.

She got into her scrubs, grabbing her nametag, pens and her personal notepad.

Ready to hit the road before traffic begins to pick up on the freeway in Los Angeles, she grabs her wallet, phone and keys she locks up to leave for her day at work as a Registered Nurse at Rampart emergency hospital.

Just as she got to the street to her car, there was a loud noise growing louder. She looked in the direction of the noise to see a plane, crash landing into her own apartment complex.

Ducking beside her car at the impact of the plane she was also thankful for her timing.

Quickly she dials 9-1-1.

Dean got up at his usual time of 4 in the morning to begin his 24-hour shift at the station.

Dean is a paramedic and squad member at station 51.

He pulled his truck into the parking lot, still trying to wake up.

His partner was already there.

“Cas, do you ever sleep man?” Dean asked.

“Slept on the couch again.”

“Are you and Hannah okay?”

“No, we had a big fight again last night. I don’t know what I can do for her anymore.” Cas says, defeated.

“Just end things man, you need sleep, and you need some peace of mind. I got room at my house for a roommate if you need a place.”

“Thanks Dean, but I already had plans of ending things with Hannah, last night was just the nail in the coffin of yet another failed relationship.”

“She failed it man, you did nothing wrong.” Dean encouraged.

“Thanks man.”

Dean offered a kind smile and a pat on Cas’s shoulder.

“Ready for another long shift?” Cas asks.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, my dad here yet?”

“Yeah, he’s in the office why?”

“Wonder if he got the invite to Sam and Jess’s wedding.”

“Bought damn time that kid popped the question honestly.”

“I know, he and Jess dated for what seemed like forever.”

“You really think they’re still sore at each other, I mean John of all people should know he can’t control what his kids want to do.”

“Yeah, I don’t know, that’s why I was gonna ask if he got it.”

Cas nods.

“I saw you put in for a three-day weekend, what’s going on?”

“Just wanting to take a trip out to the campgrounds outside of town to the family cabin, Dad says the deck could use some work and I was gonna kill two birds with one stone. Camp out and help dad fix up the deck.”

“That sounds cool.”

The fire stations alarm sounded.

“Truck 27, squad 27, engine 47, squad 47, Engine 51, squad 51, structure fire at Purgatory Apartments 1366 south Millard Ave.”

“Lots of trucks and engines responding, must be big.” Cas states. Jumping into action.

“Must be.” Dean says running to the squad truck, jumping into the driver seat, Cas jumping into the passenger.

Dean turned the keys in the ignition, roaring the Ford Truck to life, and turning on the lights and siren. Heading out onto the road, with the firetruck, Engine 51 following behind.

 “This is RN Y/N Y/L/N, I have multiple victims at 1366 Millard Ave. A plane crashed. 3 already DOA, I need help right away.” She says into the phone.

“We’re working on it; we already have multiple firestations responding to your location. Just keep aiding in the victims as best as you can Ms. Y/L/N.” dispatch for 9-1-1 says.

She continued chest compressions on a victim and did 2 rescue breaths. And checked his pulse, still no change.

She sat her phone off of her shoulder and on the ground, so she could focus on reviving the victim.

One more attempt at cpr, she checks his pulse, still no change. Placing his hands over his chest, she says a silent prayer.

“I’m sorry.” She tells the people watching over her as she worked.

“Where is your help?” a lady asked furiously.

“They’re on the way, LA Is a large ass city, and you know how traffic is in this town.” She says.

She was already frustrated with the losses she didn’t need an attitude from anyone.

The sound of wailing sirens in the distance brought relieve to the nurse as she worked tirelessly on the victims.

Engine and squad 27 and 47 being the first on the scene.

“There are people trapped in the buildings, and there were about 45 passengers on this flight. 4 are DOA so far.” Y/N stated to the captain of the two fire stations as they approached her.

“Alright, I’ll send my guys in.” Captain of station 27 stated.

“I’ll let the other stations as they come in to assist.” Captain of station 47 stated.

Another fire engine’s siren wailed as it approached.

The men jumping into action.

“Winchester!” the captain of station 47 shouts as he approached engine 51.

“What do we got?”

“Unknown number of victims trapped in the complex, 45 passengers or so from the plane. 4 of them were DOA. Oh, and she’s a nurse, thought I’d mention that she could help us out.”

“Right,” John Winchester, captain of station 51 agreed.

“Alright guys, we got to work fast, there are people trapped in these two buildings, we need to clear them out. Tran, get the engine ready so we can use the hose. Gabe, and Michael, work on the fire with the other stations, Benny, Raph, and Charlie, aide the paramedics, either from 27, 47 or Dean and Cas, we need to save as many as we can, alright?”

“Yes sir.”

“Get to it.”

Everyone went to where they were instructed to. Dean and Cas got their equipment from their truck and went into one of the buildings, full fire fighter gear.

“Dean!” John called out.

Dean stops, giving John his attention.

“Be safe in there son.”

“I will dad. Don’t worry.” He says, running in.

There were a good handful of people able to move and get to safety on their own, and another handful Dean and Cas had to carry out of the building.

One woman, sprained ankle from trying to escape hastily, as Cas carried her out she nearly flew out of the man’s arms.

“My daughter, she’s in her room!” she cries out.

“I’ll get her, Cas, get her out of here.”

Cas nods, doing as told.

Dean inspected the rooms, finding a seven-year-old girl, hiding beside her bed covered in a wet blanket.

“Hey, I’m Dean, I’m gonna get you out of here.”

The girls nods.

Dean kept a protective arm around her as they exited her room.

A beam creaked, and gave way above Dean, hitting his back.

He heard a loud pop, like a large pop can exploding.

He found it hard to breathe through his oxygen mask.

Taking off his mask and tank he saw rupture in his tank.

“Shit.” He hissed.

His lungs were quickly taken over by the smoke, he started coughing immediately.

He noticed the girl was already gone.

He tried to get up to hurry and save himself but he felt a sharp pain in the back of his leg.

He looked behind him, he saw the beam pinning him down by his leg.

Overcome by the coughing, his world began to turn black.

 Y/N finished placing a splint on the womans ankle when a child ran up to her and the group of firemen.

“Jamie! Baby!” her mother cried out, holding her arms out to her daughter.

“Mommy!” she cried.

“Where’s Dean?” Cas asked.

“A beam fell down and knocked him down. He’s stuck.” She says.

Without another word exchanged Cas took off to the apartment they rescued the woman.

The fire was slowly getting under control and it was easier to see inside the apartments. Cas was able to spot Dean out in the apartment easily.

He laid on his stomach, still and unmoving. Cas can see the beam pinning against Dean’s thigh.

He saw the beam was not supporting much of anything. He ran out, seeing Michael carrying an axe.

“Mikey, I need that!” Cas shouted.

“What’s up?”

“Dean’s stuck.”

Michael ran towards Cas and he saw Dean, inspected the beam. Saw the same as Cas, the beam not being much of importance to the structure, he begins working on breaking the beam in half.

The wood was badly damaged by the fire, he was able to break it in three strong hits.

Once he was free, Cas picked Dean up and carried him out over his shoulder fireman carry style.

Once he reached the nurse, she prepared an area she could work on Dean.

“Is he breathing?”

“He didn’t have his mask on, the tank was damaged.” Cas answered.

“More than likely smoke inhalation, lay him here and I’ll start working on him.

He did as told, laying him flat on his back.

She checked his pulse, and breathing, matching up to the fireman’s statements. And began chest compressions.

After 35 chest compressions she gave 2 rescue breaths. And checked his breathing, he’s breathing but it was shallow.

She placed on an oxygen mask over his mouth.

After ten minutes or so of the mask being on him, he began having a coughing fit as the air returned back to his lungs.

“He’s gonna be okay but we need to get him to the hospital, need to check out that leg.” Y/N said.

The men and women of station 51 nodded, agreeing with the nurse.

 Later that night as she made her rounds, she walked into Dean’s room.

“Good evening Mr. Winchester, how are you feeling today?”

“Sore.”

“That’s expected having a beam pin your leg down, and the smoke inhalation.”

“You saved my life, thank you, Miss….”

“Y/N, Y/N Y/L/N. And it’s no big deal, all part of the job.”

“Right, saving people.”

“The family business.”

“You’re family work here?”

“Yeah, my mom was head nurse at this very hospital, and my dad was a neurologist here. I was basically born and raised here.”

“Nice, my dad’s captain of station 51.”

“Awesome. But other than that, no pain at the moment, you don’t need anything?”

“No, just a number.”

She smirked, with a nod.

Writing on her notepad, her number. She ripped the paper out, handing it to him.

“Call me sometime, Winchester.”

He held the paper, unable to hide the wide grin.

“Definitely will.” He says as she walks out, continuing her shift.

~

Are you excited yet? I’m posting as I write this, probably a bad idea, but story of my life. Like what I got so far? Let me know, ask, reblog. Feedback is fuel. :3

~

Dean girls:

@pandazombie69​, @luci-in-trenchcoats​, @supernatural-jackles​, @becs-bunker​, @jayankles​, @mlovesstories​, @winchesters-favorite-girl​, @jeaniespiehs20​, @akshi8278​, @lyarr24​

~

Copying and reposting someone else’s content is plagiarism and illegal. This work is property of supernaturallyobsessedchic. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher. An electronic reference link to the original posted work may be provided for purposes of promotion or assistance of publication by the readers discretion, if proper credits are given to the author in the re-post. 3/18/2021

[hockeylvr59]

A Christmas Bride || Cale Makar

Requested: [ ] yes [x] no

Authors Note: I mentioned a Christmas wedding..so here’s a Christmas wedding. Shoutout to everyone who helped with details like nicknames, the dress, and everything else and to those ladies who let me use their names for bridesmaids. See ‘tagged/037′ for inspiration post and first dance song. 

Warnings: I honestly don’t think there’s anything here I need to warn you about. 

Word Count: 6,914 (~250 of which is a reading attributed to its author as mentioned)

~~~~~~

Sitting in the passenger seat of the SUV your fiance was driving, you took in the city lights of Calgary as they slowly disappeared into the rearview mirror. It was three days before Christmas and the Avs had just defeated the Flames on the road. Cale’s parents had left you behind to wait for their son, declaring that they would see you at home soon. When Cale appeared from behind the locker room doors, he was all smiles. With his arms wrapped around you, he’d kissed you softly and then asked if you wanted to go for a drive with him. 

“Well, you’re kinda my ride so I guess so…” You’d teased, leaning against Cale’s side as he took your hand and guided you to where the second car his parents had driven was parked. You had no idea where you were going, but you trusted that Cale did and just relaxed, his hand in yours over the center console as he drove, Christmas carols playing on the radio. 

You’d been on the road for about an hour when you saw Cale glancing over at you. 

“Hey sweetheart, do you trust me?” He asked. You made a face because of course you did, but you were confused as to why he was asking. 

“You know I do…” You simply replied. It was only then that Cale released your hand for a moment, opening one of the many small compartments in the vehicle to pull out something which he dropped onto your lap. 

“Put this on for me?” He requested and when you picked up the item you realized it was a blindfold. 

“Cale?” You murmured, even more confused now as to what was going on. 

“Just trust me and put it on okay?” He insisted. “I promise it’ll all make sense soon and that nothing is going to happen to you.” And because you trusted Cale with everything, you complied, pulling the blindfold over your eyes before leaning against the door again. Moments later Cale reached for your hand and you sat in darkness with him rubbing patterns over your palm just softly singing to the carols playing. About eight songs later you felt the vehicle stop and Cale squeezed your hand in his. 

“Go ahead and unbuckle and sit up.” He instructed. “But don’t touch the blindfold. I promise we’re almost there.” He added. You followed his directions as the sound of his car door slammed shut and then a blast of cold air hit you as your door opened. “Alright, sweetheart...come here.” Cale breathed, offering a hand out to help you from the car and onto your feet. Two more car doors slammed before his hand was taking yours again. 

“Alright. Just come with me. I promise I won’t let you trip. Just a short walk and then I swear you can take the blindfold off.” You were beyond confused and anxious, but the feeling of his hand was soothing as he indeed started guiding your steps. It was a little more than a short walk, but that was only a minor point and after three doors, an elevator ride, and just a few minutes, you were finally stopping, Cale’s hand falling to your hip. 

“Can I take this off now?” You pleaded softly and Cale’s chuckle filled your ears before his fingers drifted up to pull it off of your face. 

“Yes, but just look at me.” He teased, his features appearing across your vision in the dim space. 

“Where are we...what the hell is going on Cale?” You inquired next and Cale ran his fingers across the back of his neck before handing you a wrapped box. 

“Open this...it will explain everything,” Cale promised, his hands cupping your cheeks to pull you in for a kiss that you melted into, your brain swimming. “But I gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Stealing one more kiss, Cale moved back through the door that was behind him, as you called his name trying to understand. 

Left alone, you panicked and immediately reached for a light switch. When the lights turned on and you turned around you couldn’t help but gasp. In front of you, off to the left was a jacuzzi tub and a few more steps into the room revealed a king-size bed tucked behind a dividing wall to the right. 

Running your fingers through your hair you made your way over to the bed and plopped down. Remembering the box in your other hand that Cale said would explain everything, you looked at it, quickly pulling off the envelope attached to the top. Inside was a letter and you felt yourself holding your breath as you started to read Cale’s familiar handwriting.

Y/N,

I’m pretty sure it was on our first date that I learned just how much you love Christmastime. And it wasn’t long after that before your friends and family were telling me about how you’ve always dreamed of a Christmas wedding. Watching you light up this time of year is one of my favorite things about you. 

I know being with me isn’t always easy, I know what my career has caused you to give up, will cause you to give up in the future. Yet through it all, you’ve stayed right by my side. I can’t express to you how much that means to me. 

When I proposed, I promised to make all of your dreams come true if you’d just let me make you my wife. 

But since that day I’ve watched you struggle. I’ve seen the pressure of supporting me and taking care of our home weigh on you. I’ve seen the tears you cry when the media is critical of my play or when people who have no business in our personal life butt in on social media. And I’ve seen you struggle to pick a date, decide on a venue for our wedding. In order to make things easier on me, you’ve been trying to wrap your head around a summer wedding, even though we both know that’s not what you want. 

So...without me rambling too much...I know you have questions. Likely, where am I and what the hell is going on? 

Where are you? The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta. 

What the hell is going on? Open the box now. 

Tossing the wrapping paper to the floor, you opened the box, pulling out a cotton robe from the tissue paper. Turning it over, you held it up, the words ‘Mrs. Makar’ staring back at you in a forest green script. Under that, in a similar deep red script, was ‘12.23.20’, and suddenly swallowing was a lot harder. Picking the letter up again you continued reading, tears forming quickly and streaming down your cheeks. 

I took note of tonight’s game against Calgary on the road from the moment the schedule was released. And it stayed in the back of my mind until that night at Gabe’s where Mel and Courtney grilled you about wedding planning and you came home and cried yourself to sleep. 

Y/N...it absolutely killed me to know that planning our wedding, one of the happiest days of our lives, was making you so upset. If you’ll recall, the next morning I told you to take a break and that it would all work out. 

That morning, I called my mom and your mom on the way to the rink and told them that I wanted to make this particular dream of yours come true. With both our families on board and a very limited date window I started making some calls and with a name drop or five, some luck, and a LOT of hard work, here we are. 

I suppose I should briefly apologize for my slight manipulation of you with insisting you go dress shopping, come up with your half of the guest list, and taste cakes with me but I hope all of that will be quickly forgiven when you see the results of my efforts. 

I love you Y/N and all I’ve ever wanted was to see you happy because from that first day on UMASS’s campus that’s all you’ve ever made me. 

So relax. Everything is taken care of. You just sit back and enjoy. 

Anxious and extremely excited,

Your soon-to-be husband

P.S. Text your mom when you pull yourself together so she can bring you your bag. 

P.P.S. Shower tonight. Breakfast will be brought at 7:30 with your hair and makeup artists arriving around 8:15. 

Cale was truly the absolute best guy on the planet and it all still felt completely surreal. Just yesterday you were stressing over how you were going to get through Christmas with everyone asking about wedding plans and now..now tomorrow you were actually getting married. 

A quick text to your mom and she was there, wrapping her arms around you after setting your bag on the bed. You hadn’t expected to see her until Cale’s first road trip after the holidays when you had plans to fly home and have a belated Christmas with your family. 

“This is really happening?” You found yourself questioning, still unable to shake the shock you were feeling. 

“Yeah, baby girl.” Your mom assured you. “You found yourself a pretty incredible man who would literally give you the moon if you asked for it.” Once again you were blown away by the weight of Cale’s love and though your eyes still watered, your smile was quickly growing. 

After your mom caught you up to date with a few more details, ones Cale’s letter hadn’t provided, she bid you goodnight and told you that she would be back for breakfast in the morning, urging you to try and get some sleep. 

Keeping in mind Cale’s advice to shower tonight, you quickly but carefully ran through an extensive beauty routine in the shower. Since you were still too anxious to sleep, you only quickly dried your body before moving to the jacuzzi tub. Tucked into the warm water with jets soothing your muscles you texted Cale, unable to help yourself. 

You’re insane and incredible and I love you so much. Also...I can’t wait for you to see the dress. xoxo Your Bride. 

You weren’t expecting a response, so you set your phone aside and just tried to relax knowing that morning was already creeping up on you. Feeling your skin start to prune, you finally climbed out, dried off, and crawled into bed. Though your mind wouldn’t stop racing, you did eventually drift off. 

___

The sound of your alarm going off pulled you from sleep and it took you a moment to remember where you were. Suddenly it hit you that you were getting married today and wave after wave of nerves crashed over you. It was an excited nervous but one that almost left you feeling dizzy all the same. 

Pulling yourself out of bed, you threw on some sweats, just in time for a knock to sound at your door. Moving over to it, you saw that it was your mom and you let her in, hugging her again. 

“Did you get any sleep?” She inquired a warm but nervous smile on her face as well. 

“A little.” You replied. “My mind won’t stop racing though.” You admitted. 

“You’re worried about all of the details…” Your mom mused. “I’m sure Cale’s note already told you this but relax and just enjoy your wedding day baby, Cale has everything under control and he didn’t forget anything. I have never seen a man so detail-oriented regarding his wedding before.” She laughed and it made you giggle as you fell even more in love with him. 

Any further discussion of your nerves was interrupted by the door again and this time it was in fact breakfast. Within minutes of its arrival, your best friends and bridesmaids arrived and wrapped you up in so many hugs, their joy infectious. Catching up with them over breakfast made your heart flutter because it had been too long since you’d seen them. 

“We need to find us men like Cale.” Your college roommate, Rachel, mused a wistful look in her eyes. 

“Good luck with that. He’s kind of one of a kind.” You smiled. “But I mean I can introduce you to his teammates, I think you’d get along well with Andre.” You teased, sending her a wink. 

Breakfast had included mimosas, which was working wonders to take the edge off of your anxiety, causing you to be your usual open and bubbly self. As you finished breakfast your bridesmaids disappeared to grab their own robes to change into as well as to grab their dresses. While they were gone you slipped into your robe as well, your mom already starting to tear up at that sight alone. 

As your bridesmaids returned, dress bags in hand, the hairstylist and makeup artist arrived. They both got to work on your mom, and you turned to your bridesmaids a curious look on your face. 

“So...I know I didn’t pick these dresses. Do I at least get to see them?” You asked. Each of your bridesmaids zipped open the dress bags revealing different style dresses in the same dark forest green color. 

“Cale suggested the color to us and then told us to use our best judgment.” Your childhood best friend, Anne, explained. “We think he was right on point but what do you think?” 

“I think I’m going to have some pretty hot bridesmaids to set up with my hubby’s teammates.” You joked. “I don’t know anything really about this wedding but I’m sure they’ll be perfect.” You added, taking a deep breath to calm the next wave of nerves. 

For the next few hours, you bs’ed with your girls while each, in turn, got their hair and makeup done. At some point, a photographer and a videographer arrived popping in and out of the suite. Before long it was your turn to sit in the chair, and when a mirror was handed to you when they were done, you almost burst into tears at the woman staring back at you, hardly believing that it was yourself. 

“Wow…” You whispered, letting out a shaky breath. 

“Cale isn’t going to know what hit him.” Your best friend from your major, Moni, declared. 

“Yeah...you look smoking hot Y/N.” Rachel agreed. It felt like everything was a blur as you finished eating a quick snack before watching your bridesmaids slip into their dresses. When your mother returned, Cale’s mom was with her, both dressed and ready to go. 

“Oh, sweetheart....you look stunning.” Cale’s mom declared, pulling you into a hug. “He’s gonna lose it. He’s fully admitted he’s sure he’s going to cry.” She laughed. 

“Should we get you dressed?” Your mom inquired and with the photographer and videographer on standby, they helped you into your dress, settling the straps onto your shoulders before zipping you in. It fit like a glove and your friends all gasped, having not seen it before. 

“Y/N…” They murmured, each having tears form in their eyes. 

“You aren’t allowed to cry or I’ll cry.” You chastised, feeling yourself get emotional. This was the day you’d been waiting your entire life for and so many different emotions were swirling through you. Taking a sip of water, you tried to calm your racing heart as you carefully sat on the edge of one of the chairs in the room. Fanning yourself, you saw Laura grab two small boxes, handing them to you with a smile before she took the seat across from you. 

“Cale sent the top one, says it’s your something new and blue. The other is from me and it’s your something borrowed.” Laura explained. Your mom quickly came over with the necklace Cale had given you last Christmas, an eight-sided snowflake so that you would always have a piece of him, or at least his jersey number, with you. 

“Cale suggested this as your something old.” She declared, fastening it around your neck. Opening the box Cale had sent, you couldn’t help but laugh. Inside was a blue and maroon colorado avalanche garter. 

“Oh boy.” You breathed. “Yeah, I guess that works.” Your expression caused everyone else in the room to laugh as you shook your head, working the garter onto your leg. “If this is the only inclusion of the avs besides as guests, I suppose I should be happy.” You teased, dropping your dress back down to hide the garter. Finally, you took the box that Laura had brought and opened it to reveal a diamond tennis bracelet, worn with age. 

“That was my mother’s, she gave it to me when Cale was born, and I plan to give it to you someday.” She expressed. “But I think you should borrow it for today because it just feels right.” Leaning over, you wrapped her in a hug as you thanked her. 

“I hope you know how grateful I am for the man you birthed and raised.” You murmured, trying not to cry. “He is...he is everything I ever could have asked for and I know so much of that is because of you.” 

“Oh honey, you’ve taken the man I raised and made him an even better man. I am so grateful to be able to call you my daughter.” This moment with your mother-in-law was so special and you had to take another sip of water to pull yourself back together. “Now I’m gonna go check on my son because I think it’s time for your dad to come see you. We’ll see you downstairs.” Her words were full of excitement as you hugged her and she squeezed your hands before leaving the room, taking a load full of things belonging to your bridesmaids with her. 

Your grandmother made her way up to the room just before your dad and when she arrived she immediately started crying at how beautiful you look. By the time your dad knocked on the door, you were just trying to keep distracted so you wouldn’t start crying, telling stories about dates with Cale and how you knew he was the one almost right away. You hadn’t expected your dad to cry, but he did get a little emotional as he wrapped you in his arms. With all of these moments captured in photos and videos you knew you would certainly fully cry over them in the future. 

As the clock ticked closer to the ceremony time, you felt more nerves roll over you in waves, slowly becoming overwhelming. Looking at your mom and dad you let out a shaky sob. 

“I...I know Cale doesn’t want to see me before...but I...I need to at least hold his hand for a moment...please?” You requested, now noticing that your hands were shaking. You weren’t getting cold feet, that certainly wasn’t what you were feeling, it was all just so much emotion in such a short amount of time. 

Nodding, your mom reached for her phone and stepped into the hall. After a minute she returned and motioned for you to follow her, your bare feet padding down the hall until you reached an alcove. 

“Cale is on his way up.” She assured you, kissing your head before stepping away to give you some privacy. Nodding, you just focused your breathing until footsteps approached from the hall to your right. 

“Hey, sunshine, what’s up...you’re not getting cold feet on me are you?” The sound of Cale’s voice was music to your ears and you reached a hand out around the corner. 

“No...no cold feet.” You promised. “I just…” You started but paused feeling Cale’s hand lace in yours. “I...I needed this.” 

“Mom says I’m going to lose it when I see you.” Cale breathed. “I’m so excited to finally marry you.” His words in combination with the feeling of his hand around yours, soon had you feeling like yourself again, some of the overwhelming emotions lessening. 

“So I told Rachel I’d set her up with Burky.” You chatted, loving the sound of Cale’s laugh in reaction to your words. 

“I’m sure he’ll have no complaints about that,” Cale replied. “You okay now?” He whispered. “Or do you need a hug because I can just close my eyes.” He offered. 

“I will never turn down a hug from you.” You said smiling. “But I am better now…” You added. 

“Come here then. Quick hug and then scurry along because we’ve got a wedding to get to.” His voice was happy and light as he pulled you around the corner and into his arms, his eyes closed. The hug was quick but settled all of your remaining nerves and when you pulled away you stretched to press a kiss to his rosy cheeks. As you scurried down the hall you noticed the red splotch on his face and called back. 

“Take a rag to your cheek. I love you!” 

Letting yourself back into your room, you noticed that it was basically cleaned out of everything from getting ready. 

“Better?” Your mom asked though it was clearly visible on your face that you were. 

Nodding you moved to slip your heels on, ready to get the show on the road. Now that you had pushed back all of the excess emotions, you were bouncing in excitement and you couldn’t be told fast enough that it was time to head downstairs. When you got there, you were handed a bouquet of red roses and greenery. From the hallway outside the venue, you could hear music playing and you hugged your mom one more time, wiping at her tears before handing her off to Gabe who was escorting her to her seat.

“He’s gonna lose his mind when he sees you Y/N.” Gabe winked. “You look incredibly beautiful.” 

Cale’s mom was being escorted by Matt Calvert and once both mothers had been taken to their seats, it was time for your bridesmaids to make their way down the aisle. Left alone with just your dad you let out a deep breath. 

“Are you ready for this?” He questioned and you immediately nodded your head. 

“I’ve been ready since the moment I met him.” Wrapping your arm around your dad’s, you took one more steadying breath as the music changed. Then the doors opened again and for a split second your mind took in how beautiful the venue was before you turned and were facing a crowd of smiling faces, Cale all the way at the end. Pacing yourself, you walked toward him, his face the only thing you could really focus on. He was crying, just like he’d said he would, and you blinked back tears of your own. When your dad handed you off, you squeezed Cale’s hand, giggling softly when he murmured to the officiant that he needed a moment. 

Once Cale had pulled himself together, you proceeded, his hand now holding yours more firmly as he stared at you with nothing but affection and love. 

“Today we are gathered here to witness and bless the marriage of Y/N and Cale.” You were half-listening and couldn’t help but focus on Cale as he mouthed a ‘wow’  in your direction. 

“Who has the honor to present Y/N to be married?” Your father answered that he and your mother do and hearing his voice you glanced over at him with a reassuring smile. Moni reached over to take your bouquet from you and with two hands free, you held both of Cale’s, smiling up at him. 

“Now close friends and family tell me that this day was only a matter of time from the moment Y/N and Cale bumped into each other on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I’m told that right away both secretly expressed that it was the best first date they’d ever been on and that they could see this relationship being one that lasts.” You could remember your first date like it was yesterday and you remembered even then having never felt like you just clicked with someone the way you did with Cale. 

“Speaking with Cale I can see the amount of love and affection he holds for Y/N. I’m sure most of you are in the loop but Cale is the one that planned this entire thing in order to give Y/N the wedding she always dreamed of but was willing to give up to marry him. His teammates tell me the effort included a lot of time on the phone while on the road and even some missed team dinners.” Some chuckles went up in the crowd from the direction of Cale’s teammates and you smiled because you loved that rowdy bunch so much. 

“And though I haven’t gotten the privilege to speak with Y/N...I can see now in the way she looks at him that all of that love and affection is returned. And while I’m sure that there’s more that could be said about the two people standing in front of me I’m pretty sure they’d both like me to just get on with things.” The whole space filled with laughter and you nodded your head like ‘yeah kinda’ as you continued to smile over at Cale. 

“After speaking with Cale, I searched for a reading that seemed fitting of the relationship with Y/N that he described. In the end, I decided on “Blessing for a Marriage” by James Dillet Freeman.” Your officiant paused before launching into the reading. 

“May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding.

May you always need one another — not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you to know your fullness. A mountain needs a valley to be complete. The valley does not make the mountain less, but more.

And the valley is more a valley because it has a mountain towering over it. So let it be with you and you. May you need one another, but not out of weakness. May you want one another, but not out of lack.

May you entice one another, but not compel one another. May you embrace one another, but not out encircle one another. May you succeed in all-important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces.

May you look for things to praise, often say, “I love you!” and take no notice of small faults. If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take the first step back.

May you enter into the mystery that is the awareness of one another’s presence — no more physical than spiritual, warm and near when you are side by side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms or even distant cities.

May you have happiness, and may you find it making one another happy. May you have love, and may you find it loving one another.”

By the end, the feeling of Cale’s fingers brushing patterns on your palm was all you could focus on. Lost in thought, you just watched him until he started speaking. 

“I love you, Y/N(Full). You are my best friend.” Hearing the sound of his voice, you realized that he was repeating after your officiant one sentence at a time. “Today I give myself to you in marriage. I promise to encourage and inspire you, to laugh with you, and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggle. I promise to love you in good times and in bad, when life seems easy and when it seems hard, when our love is simple, and when it is an effort. I promise to cherish you and to always hold you in the highest regard. These things I give to you today, and all the days of our life.” As he finished, he squeezed your hand and you let out a deep breath. 

Repeating the same vows to Cale you laughed at using his full name ‘Cale Douglas Makar’ and then swallowed down the lump in your throat as you attempted not to cry as you continued. Once you’d shared your vows, your officiant asked for the rings and you watched as Cale’s brother handed them over. 

This time, they started with you and you took Cale’s left hand into yours sliding on his wedding band. 

“With this ring, I thee wed.” You stated confidently. Cale struggled just a bit to slide your ring on and you giggled as he spoke those six life-changing words as well. 

“Well...we’ve made it through the vows, you’ve exchanged rings, so I suppose there’s just one thing left to do.” You officiant declared, causing Cale’s teammates and friends to start hooting and hollering. “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Go ahead and kiss your bride.” Your officiant spoke over the cheers and as soon as he finished, Cale’s arms slipped around your waist and he leaned down to kiss you breathless. 

“It is my honor to present to you, Mr. & Mrs. Cale Makar.” Taking your flowers back you walked back down the aisle with Cale, leaning against his chest as he kissed you once you were back in the hall. 

“So this is what I could have seen earlier if I agreed to a first look huh?” He inquired, spinning you around so that he could take in all angles of the dress. 

“Mmhmm.” You agreed, your arm wrapped around his as you smiled up at him contentedly. “But I’m kind of glad you didn’t.” You admitted. 

“Me too.” He clarified. “But you’re so gorgeous.” He murmured, stealing one more kiss. 

While your guests hit the cocktail hour, you, Cale, your immediate families and the wedding party headed to have photos taken. Your jaw ached from smiling, but every time Cale looked at you, you couldn’t help but feel your smile grow. You were his wife. You were going to get to spend the rest of your life with him. 

Thankfully, as your stomach started to growl, the photographer announced that you were done with photos. You had to make a quick detour with Cale to sign the marriage certificate but after that, you returned to the same ballroom following your bridesmaids and groomsmen inside as once again all of your friends and family went nuts. You settled into your personal table with Cale and immediately reached for the glass of water, taking a long sip. As you waited for food to be brought out, you leaned into your husband’s side, your hand resting on his knee. 

“So how did I do?” He whispered in your ear and for the first time you took a true look around the venue. There was a Christmas tree on either end of the room in front of the large windows and every balcony was strung with lit greenery. The tables were draped with white, red, or green cloth and the centerpieces were either red roses or poinsettias. It was absolutely beautiful and screamed Christmas. 

“I’d say this is probably the equivalent of scoring a hattrick.” You replied, pressing a kiss to his jaw. Cale kissed your head in return and the two of you sat watching as your friends and family mingled as food started to come out of the kitchens. Sipping at your wine, you devoured the delicious food quickly, more hungry than you had realized. When your plate was empty you watched as Cale picked his up and used his fork to transfer his mashed potatoes to your plate. 

“I had a heavy breakfast and lunch.” He insisted between bites. “Go ahead I know you’re still hungry.” Nodding, you quickly finished off the additional food your husband had provided you before snuggling back into his side to digest. Now that they had noticed you were finished eating, Cale’s teammates, particularly Gabe and EJ, got obnoxious with the glass taps trying to get you to kiss. You complied the first half dozen times but then just rolled your eyes and glared, enjoying just being tucked into your husband’s side. 

After Cale’s brother gave a speech, your three bridesmaids tag-teamed one, and soon it was time for the first dance. Cale took your hand and led you onto the dance floor as Sam Smith’s version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas began to play. 

“Now you’re just outdoing yourself.” You whispered pecking Cale’s lips as he swayed you back and forth. This...this was everything you had ever dreamed of right here. “And I don’t think I’ve mentioned it but you look very very sexy today.” Almost immediately, Cale’s cheeks took on a deep flush and you giggled running your hands down his chest. “I love how easily I affect you.” You grinned, squealing softly as he dipped you as the song came to a close. 

“You’re a brat.” He mumbled, kissing you again gently before handing you off to your father for the father-daughter dance. Wrapped in your daddy’s arms he asked about you being happy and you couldn’t help it when your smile grew even wider. 

“I’m so so happy.” You assured him. “You know Cale has always been good to me, good for me.” He nodded, agreeing that he knew that but wanting to make sure you knew that you were always his little girl. As you turned slightly, you saw Gabe dancing with Linnea by their table and immediately your brain dashed to the idea of Cale dancing with your daughter someday. You were both young and not ready for kids just yet but sometime in the semi-distant future, you were certain he’d be an amazing dad. Kissing your dad’s cheek as the song ended, you watched Cale drag his mom onto the floor for their dance. While he danced, you stopped to hug your mom before making your way over to Gabe, Mel, and Linnea.  

Immediately Linnea reached for you and though Mel tried to discourage her, you eagerly reached for the toddler. 

“She’s fine Mel.” You insisted. “Thanks for sticking around in town to be here today.” You were sure this was only the first of many times that that phrase would leave your mouth in the next few hours. 

“Like we would have missed it. Cale has been talking about it non-stop for months. We all wanted to see what he was able to pull off.” Gabe smirked. 

“Eh, just his bride’s dream wedding..no big deal.” You declared grinning. 

“Plus now we can all chirp him for months for crying when he saw you,” Gabe added and immediately Mel smacked his head as the two of you in unison responded. 

“No, you will not, Gabriel Landeskog.” Gabe threw his hands up in defense and chuckled softly. The DJ announced that this next dance would start with just the wedding party, then family could join in and by the end everyone else and you bounced Linnea on your hip, looking to where Cale was already working to get Z’s daughter to dance with him. 

“I’m stealing your daughter, you can have her back at the end of this song.” You announced, cooing at Linnea who was enamored with you. Making your way onto the dance floor, you rocked Linnea around, making her laugh. Cale was doing the same with Sophie and when the two of you met up in the middle of the floor you smiled at each other, your shared look communicating the same thing. Someday.

The next few hours were a blur of mingling and dancing, though you certainly did more of the latter while Cale did the former. There were moments that stood out in your head though. First, you remembered how hard you laughed when you introduced Rachel to Andre and saw the expression on his face. You’d threatened him not to break her heart and while you weren’t certain it would be a long term thing, it certainly seemed like they would both at least have a good night tonight. 

Second, you remembered cutting the cake and the rush of heat that ran through you as you licked the icing off of Cale’s fingers as he fed you. You’d both been nice, neither smashing it into the other’s face like Cale’s teammates had been egging you to do all night. Then he’d held you as you shared a full piece making your way from table to table to talk to people that you hadn’t yet. You weren’t so worried about your immediate families, your grandma mentioning that Cale’s family had invited everyone to stay through Christmas to do one big family thing. But teammates, friends, you wanted to make sure you stopped and told each of them how much you appreciated them being here given that it was so close to the holiday. 

Finally, you remembered being pulled onto the dance floor by Matt Calvert. Not only had he and Courtney opened up their home to Cale, but they had also opened it to you, allowing you to spend time with him during a period where everything was changing so quickly that your relationship very easily could have cracked. In addition to that, Courtney had been a lifeline in helping you navigate your way through the life of a better half. 

“You know...when Cale first mentioned you, I had my reservations,” Matt admitted. “But then I met you and I immediately knew it wouldn’t be long before we were standing here. The two of you complement each other so well. I truly don’t think he could have found a better match.” Hugging him, you expressed silently how much those words meant to you. As you continued to dance, you watched Cale with Courtney, his cheeks flushed from alcohol and the day as a whole. To their right, Moni was dancing with Matt Nieto and you giggled to yourself as your eyes went wide. Over by the tables, Josty, who had caught the garter, was chatting up Anne, who had caught your bouquet, making her laugh probably by saying something completely ridiculous because he’d had quite a few drinks today. And though deep down you already knew it, today had proven one thing. You belonged in Cale’s world just as much as he belonged in yours. The two of you just blended seamlessly and it was probably one of the most important reasons as to why it just worked. 

Like your feet had tired hours ago, eventually, the rest of you started to tire as well and you tucked yourself into Cale’s side, leaning against him. 

“Should we make our rounds and say goodnight?” Cale whispered softly in your ear and when you nodded, he started to guide you around the room. Soon, you had said goodnight to pretty much everyone who was left and then Cale grabbed your shoes, walking you up to your suite. 

Popping the door open, Cale lifted you bridal style and carried you over the doorstep, setting you down gently on the bed. 

“Today was perfect, but I’m exhausted.” You breathed, already feeling like you just wanted to melt into the mattress. As much as you wanted to consummate your marriage you just weren’t sure you had the energy. Cale paced around the room for a few minutes and when you finally pulled yourself to sit up, you saw that he had changed into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and was walking toward you with a makeup wipe in his hand. 

“Let’s just get you ready for bed.” He proclaimed, gently wiping as much of the makeup off of you as he could so that washing your face would be easier. “We have all the time in the world.” He continued. “So let’s just get some sleep and then maybe we can take advantage of that jacuzzi in the morning since checkout isn’t until noon.” 

“I like the sound of that.” You murmured, sitting still as Cale worked to take down your hair so that you could actually sleep on it. When all of that was done he pulled you to your feet, helped you out of your dress, and then into one of his t-shirts. Pulling him close you kissed him, your lips melding together lazily. “I love you. Thanks for everything today.” Your words were muffled against his lips but Cale groaned softly at them all the same. 

“You deserve all of it. I can’t believe you’re my wife.” There was a glint in his eyes that you loved so much and you wrapped your arms around his waist. 

“Believe it buddy...because I fully expect you to make love to me after we get some sleep.” 

“Tomorrow...for the rest of our lives...whatever you want is all yours.” He agreed. 

“How about we start with some cuddles and go from there?” Tucked into Cale’s arms, you felt your body settle and start drifting off to sleep. 

Though you’d received a lot of Christmas presents in life, you were 100% sure that being married to Cale was forever going to be the best Christmas gift you could have ever received. 

[hobeymakar]

Touch | C. Makar

Words: 2,218

A/N: Title for this one is from the song Touch by Little Mix. This one takes place during the current COVID-19 crisis and the current uncertainty of next season.

Warnings: Explicit language, sexual content, mentions of alcohol use

-

You're in the living room of the Denver apartment, trying to remain as quiet as possible as Cale is setting up his video for the NHL Awards. Being a finalist for the Calder is huge and you're beyond proud of him. Whether he wins or loses, you know this won't define his career and he's gonna achieve bigger and better things in his career.

He's set up right in front of the balcony door and sitting down and waiting to be invited to the video call by the league.

"Good luck baby and no matter what you're always a winner in my book," you inform him, blowing him a kiss.

"Thanks baby," he smiles, blowing a kiss back.

You turn your attention back to your phone and try to calm down your own nerves. It's possible you might be more nervous than he is about this award presentation.

The time eventually comes for the award presentation and Cale's name gets called and he gets brought into the video call. You internally scream in excitement and can't help but message your friends and family that your boyfriend is a Calder Trophy winner.

He gives his acceptance speech, managing to be cuter and more humble than he's ever been. He answers the questions Gretzky has for him and then gets off the video call as they have to move on to the next award.

As soon as he ends the call and moves the stuff out of the way, you jump on him.

"I'm so proud of you baby! You worked so hard for this and you deserve it!" you cry out, kissing his cheeks to watch them become even more red.

"Thank you, baby. I couldn't do it without you supporting me every step of the way," he smiles, kissing your forehead.

"Alright, go call your family while I make dinner," you say, letting him go.

You walk to the kitchen and start working on something special for him. It's the offseason so he's allowed a little more leeway on what he can eat, as long as he doesn't go overboard and eat too much food that interferes with his nutrition plan. You hear him on facetime with his family and you honestly couldn't be prouder of your fiance.

You start playing your music softly on your phone as you prepare the meal for the two of you. After a while, he comes out of the room and smells the food being made.

"Smells great in here babe," he smiles, sneaking up from behind you and snaking his arms around your waist. "What are you making?"

"It's a surprise. So why don't you go play some warzone or something and I'll call you out when the food is ready," you suggest, wanting him to be surprised.

"But I wanna stay out here with you," he protests with a pouty face.

"Alright you big baby, you can stay here," you giggle.

He sits down on the stool on the kitchen island and decides to recount his entire conversation with his parents and his brother.

"Is Taylor back on the ice yet?" you ask, referring to his little brother who's entering his final year of junior with the Brooks Bandits.

"I mean he's been skating but they still haven't announced when the season is gonna start and you know that he won't be playing at UMass until next year," he explains.

"Tell him I said to keep his chin up and that he's gonna have his season eventually," you reply.

The conversation switches to your family and how they're doing. The song Best Part by H.E.R. & Daniel Caesar comes on.

"That's our song," he smiles, recognizing the intro.

"You remember that?" you ask, cringing internally.

"As if I could ever forget you drunkenly telling me this is gonna be our wedding song and how I'm gonna need to know all the words," he teases, getting up from the seat.

"Oh my god, I thought you forgot about that! I didn't actually mean that!" you groan in embarrassment, as he takes your hand in his.

"Drunken words are sober thoughts, baby," he teases, swaying you to the beat of the song.

He starts singing along to the song, shocking you.

"You actually learned the song?" you ask in shock.

"You told me I had to and it's an easy song to learn anyway," he adds sheepishly.

There's no way you can love him more than you do, and yet he finds ways to make you love him more every day. Honestly, how the hell did you end up so lucky to have him in your life?

The song eventually ends and he walks back to the stool while you turn your attention back to the food.

The song Touch by Little Mix comes on and you dance along to the song, while he laughs at your moves.

"Hey, why are you laughing?!? I'm a phenomenal dancer!" you defend yourself.

"Babe, it's just funny to see you dancing while cooking," he replies, letting out a couple chuckles.

"Like your moves are better!" you scoff, shooting him a look.

"I never said mine were better," he argues back, a small smirk on his lips.

"You're lucky I love you," you reply, shaking your head.

He can be a little shit sometimes, but he's your little shit and you wouldn't change it for the world.

After 20 minutes, dinner is ready and you set up the dining table nicely.

"Thanks babe for all of this," he smiles, taking in the dinner setup.

"You're welcome. It's the least I could do for you. I know we normally would've been in Vegas with your family celebrating, but I figured this is the least I could do. 2020 is all about rolling with the punches," you explain.

"I don't know how I would've made it through everything this year without you," he confesses.

"I know. I'm pretty amazing," you tease, a lil smirk on your face.

You settle into small talk as you eat and after a while, you both finish eating. You both clean up the table and put away the leftovers. You load the dishwasher as Cale sets up to play warzone with Taylor in the living room.

"Babe, I'm gonna take a shower," you inform him.

You go to the room and grab your things to shower. You get into the bathroom and put your music  on shuffle. You get undressed and into the shower, washing your body and hair thoroughly. You dry yourself off thoroughly and go through your self-care routine. You then go into the room and change into a new set of underwear, an Avs Cale jersey, and UMass Minutemen sweatpants. You go to the bathroom and blowdry your hair. You then come out to see Cale still playing warzone with a headset on.

You walk over to the couch and sit beside him and he barely even notices, hyper focused on the game. You take out your phone and take a video of the game and caption it with "ready to be ignored all night" and send it to your friends, who laugh at you and tell you to just leave him alone.

You try to entertain yourself by scrolling through your social media feeds, but even that gets boring after 20 minutes. You snuggle into his side and see he doesn't even move, still focused on playing.

You decide to just let him have his fun, since it's his night anyway and go to the kitchen to bake, since it always manages to put a smile on your face. You decide making a cake will be the best thing for you and it'll kill a couple hours. So you get all the ingredients out and get to work. You put your music back on and get focused on the baking. You put the cake in the oven and start working on putting the frosting in the pipers to be able to write on the cake. Once the cake comes out of the oven, Cale comes out to the kitchen.

"You finished playing?" you ask him, as he walks up to you.

"You're wearing my jersey," he points out, kissing you.

"Yeah you would've noticed it earlier if you weren't so busy playing with Taylor," you tease, getting the pipers ready.

"Well I already finished playing for the night," he assures you.

"Good. I like Taylor, but not when he's stealing my boyfriend away from me," you tease.

"Are you seriously making a cake for me?" he asks.

"Yes! Like I said, I feel bad that this wasn't the celebration we would've normally had. So I wanna make it up to you as much as possible," you inform him.

"I know but you don't have to do all this," he assures you.

"I know, but I want to," you smile back. "Now if you excuse me, I have a cake to decorate and I can't have any distractions."

You carefully frost the cake in Avs colors. You also carefully write "Congrats on the Calder Trophy Cale" on the cake, as well as "#8" and "Let's go Avs!" You draw little hockey sticks on the sides. All your frosting decorations are also in Avs colors, continuing the theme. You also get ice cream out and scoop them into bowls. You then set the dining table up and take pictures of Cale with the cake in front of it. You post it on your social media with the caption "Congrats on your Calder Trophy baby! Wish we could've been in Vegas to celebrate it with loved ones, but celebrating at home alone is pretty special too!" You also send it to his family with the caption "tried to make his night as special as possible for him, but we both wish you guys were here!"

You cut the cake and you two start eating it with the ice cream, trying to make the most out of the situation.

"Thank you baby for all of this! I'm so glad I get to have you by my side every step of the way. I love you," he smiles, kissing the ice cream off your lips.

"I love you more baby and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than by your side," you smile back.

You clean up the table and put the leftover cake away before adding the baking stuff to the dishwasher. Once the dishwasher is filled, you turn it on and let it wash everything. You head to the room and hear the shower running, letting you know that he's in the shower. You turn the TV on for background noise and change into one of Cale's old UMass Minutemen shirts with nothing but your underwear underneath. You get back into bed and go on your phone, checking your social media and responding to texts from your friends and family. You get comfortable as you get sucked into watching some trashy reality TV show that you've never seen or heard of before.

Before you know it, Cale walks back to the room still a little wet from the shower and with his towel hanging loosely off his hips. He quickly finishes drying himself off and changes into nothing but boxers. He turns off the ceiling light and turns on the lamp instead.

"What are you watching?" he asks, not recognizing the show.

"I don't know, some trashy ass reality tv show. I just turned on the TV and this was on," you explain.

"Wanna watch a movie?" he asks.

"Sure as long as it isn't something boring or terrible," you reply.

You switch over to Netflix and you let him choose the movie. He makes his selection and you're pleased to see it's not something you would hate. The two of you watch the movie until you fall asleep. 

The next morning, you wake up to Cale's morning wood poking your butt, which isn't necessarily unwelcomed. You turn over and wake him up by pinching his nipple.

"Ow what the fuck?" he groans, opening his eyes.

"Good morning," you kiss him sweetly, like you didn't just pinch his nipple super hard.

"You're a menace," he groans, as you straddle his waist.

"Yeah yeah yeah, you still love me though," you tease.

He kisses you to shut you up and you definitely do shut up. The kisses become more intense and desperate and he starts lifting up your shirt, noticing the Avs colored underwear you have on.

He groans like he just blocked a shot on the PK and he doesn't know if he wants to keep the shirt on or off of you.

"Are you trying to kill me?" he groans.

"Maybe," you giggle, loving the reaction you've gotten out of him.

He eventually makes up his mind and fucks you with the UMass shirt on because he's secretly into seeing his name on you. Afterwards, you two lay in bed and bask in the afterglow. You then get up and put on the UMass shirt again and head off to make him breakfast, as he quickly follows behind you.

Yeah, it wasn't the celebration you planned on having, but you managed to make the most of it, just you two in your own little world, in your Denver apartment.

[camillemontespan]

she wolves [part one: birthright]

My new series! I have taken a few things from TRR such as the Royal Council, which has everyone in it now, and kinda edited them. My teaser for this was really well received and I’m so excited for this. I’m thinking it can be like A Kingdom Divided but epic. 

The start of this is the teaser but there’s more content you won’t have read after. 

Warnings: NSFW

@jovialyouthmusic @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore @sirbeepsalot @moonlightgem7 @pug-bitch @burnsoslow @ibldw-main @notoriouscs @katedrakeohd @emceesynonymroll @emichelle @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @star-spangled-eyes  @drakesensworld @rainbowsinthestorm @stopforamoment @saivilo  @pedudley @gardeningourmet @jlynn12273  @texaskitten30 @msjr0119

Let me know if you want on or off the tag list.

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

Olivia

We bow our heads as the gilded coffin is taken down the aisle of the cathedral. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Penelope wipe a tear from her cheek and roll my eyes.

King Liam is dead.

My childhood friend Liam is dead.

The man I loved, Liam, is dead.

I am the one who should be crying. I am the one who should be inconsolable. But I am Olivia Nevrakis and tears never come easy for me.

The choir begin to sing Ave Maria which was Liam’s favourite hymn, and we all look up again, ready to leave our pews and follow the dead king out to the Rhys family crypt.

I look around at my fellow mourners. There is Drake Walker, the commoner turned Duke, whose face is wet with tears. Drake is the man who never shows emotion - at least not to us. Maybe he does to his wife, Camille, the commoner Duchess, who is now holding his hand, trying to soothe him.

Drake was Liam’s best friend. Although they often didn’t see eye to eye on many things, they were still very close and they would have died for each other.

It’s a shame Drake didn’t get to do that first.

I look at Lady Hana Lee who is delicately wiping a tear from her eye with an embroidered handkerchief. She always looks so perfect and delicate; the kind of woman I would hate to be. That kind of thinking never sat right with me. I was taught to be fearless and hard, ready for impending war. Not holding onto embroidered handkerchiefs.

Kiara, the Duchess of Castelsarreillan, is whispering in French and shaking her  head as the coffin goes past her. She is always quiet but I can tell she is always studying those around her. It’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for.

Countess Madeleine remains stoic as the coffin passes her now. She never wavers. She is like ice, which I would admire, except she is also cold inside and out. I may be ruthless and unable to cry, but I feel emotion strongly - probably more than anyone else. I’m fiercely loyal, I anger easily and I’m quick to hate. Many don’t want to get on my wrong side (wise), but sometimes, I wish people would just take a chance on me and see that I’m not always going to kill them with my favourite dagger.

Ugh, something about funerals makes me sentimental.

Or should that be weddings?

Liam forgot that about me. For too long, he neglected our friendship and ignored my advice. I could see him heading down the same path as his father and I tried so hard to help him stay in the light and out of the darkness. But he didn’t listen.

He pushed me into the arms of his brother.

I look at Leo now. Tall, tanned and golden Leo. His green eyes, usually so happy and vibrant, are filled with pain. I know what he is thinking. That should be me in there.

But Liam is gone and nobody can bring him back.  The throne lies dormant;  Leo will have to take up the mantle. He used to be King until he abdicated, fleeing his responsibility, determined to never be trapped by it again. But he has to be the King now. He has to.

Who else can possibly rule otherwise?

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

Once Liam is interred in the crypt, the other funeral attendees turn to leave. I stay. I can't leave Leo who is standing hopelessly, his shoulders slumped, as he continues to stare hollow eyed at his brothers resting place.

Silently, I move to stand beside him and rest my hand on his shoulder.

'I failed him,' Leo croaks, his voice thick from crying. 'I could see him going down a dark route and I tried to stop him but it didn't work. I wasn't there at the very end. I wasn't there to save him.'

'He was found in his bed, Leo,' I whisper. 'You couldn't have saved him even if you tried.' I'm trying to be supportive and positive.  But Leo doesn't know I suspect foul play.

Leo clenches his fists and turns to look at me. His face is distraught. 'I will always remember finding my brother,' he says, his voice low. 'I will remember his pale face, his unseeing eyes and the smell of vanilla.'

I frown. 'Vanilla?'

'He had been burning vanilla candles before he died,' Leo says bitterly. 'Police think he wanted an ambient send off.'

This is the first time Leo has mentioned finding Liam dead. For the past week, Leo has been like a zombie, going through the motions. This is the first time he's opened up to me and already, this information doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel right because I don't believe this is innocent. Sure, people die in their sleep all the time. But he was only 28 years old. He was healthy. Maybe he had a defect but the cynicism in me thinks this runs deeper. I don't think this was suicide.

Looking at Leo's haunted face, I suddenly realise that he thinks the same as me.

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

Camille

Drake is withdrawn when we get home to the Manor. I ache to hold him, to tell him it'll be okay but I also know my husband. When he is feeling like this, he wants to be left alone.

But I still try. While he sits outside on the balcony of our bedroom, I bring him a glass of whiskey. As he sips the drink, I remake the bed with fresh sheets because nothing makes me feel better more than fresh sheets and soft pillows. It just works. I hope Drake will also think that.

Drake sees me smooth down the duvet cover and he abandons his glass to join me in the bedroom. Silently, he gets under the covers and beckons for me to lie beside him.

Drake is such a strong person. Honestly, I think he's the strongest person I know. His father died when he was fourteen, his sister left and soon after that, his mother abandoned him. He was left alone in the world. He had nobody but Liam and even that wasn't the best conciliation prize. But Drake kept going, surviving court and putting up with being the only commoner in a room full of titles. His walls were built like a fortress around him and they were so high, nobody could scale them.

Nobody could scale them because they didn't make the effort to. But I did.

I love him so much. He is my moody, sarcastic marshmallow. Hard on the outside, soft on the inside.

Right now, he is broken. He has lost his best friend. He feels lost.

Gently, I curl up into him and kiss his cheek. His fingers graze my shoulder and he looks at me with his brown eyes. 'Promise you'll never leave me,' he murmurs.

I roll over so I am on top of him. His hands hold onto my hips and he's looking at me like I'm the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. Drake always looks at me like that. He is so good at making a woman feel special, like she's the only one.

'I promise I'm never leaving you,' I tell him fiercely. 'You're my husband and I love you. I'm here for you.'

Drake pulls me into him and our mouths crash together. He tastes of whiskey. His strong arms wrap around me, pressing me into him and I can feel his arousal against me.

'I want you,' he croaks. 'Please.'

I'll never deny him. I could never.

We undress, Drake tugging at my clothes, so desperate to get his hands on me. I pull aside my thong and he pulls down his jeans and boxers. Slowly, I lower myself onto him and feel his girth fill me up entirely. He always feels so good.

'Never leave me,' he grounds out, his fingernails digging into my hips as he pushes into me.

'I won't,' I whisper, rolling my hips against his own, taking him in deeper and further.

'I love you,' he murmurs. His eyes lock on mine and I lean down to kiss him hard. I wish I could inhale all of his pain and make him lighter. I wish I could protect him from the darkness of this world.

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

Olivia

Leo holds an emergency meeting with the Royal Council the following day. Not one for responsibility, the fact that Leo is taking control is a big deal and kinda sexy. Just saying.

The Royal Council was established by Liam when he first became King two years ago. Its members are myself, Camille, Drake, Penelope, Hana, Kiara and Duke Maxwell. Our goal was to support the King in his plans for Cordonia and work together to make the country strong and prosperous.

But now there is no King to support and Liam's chair sits empty. Even Leo won't touch it. He sits beside me instead. 

I can see Madeleine eyeing him. She had been engaged to him years ago but he broke it off when he abdicated. She was so close to becoming Queen and marrying the love of her life until the rug was swept out from under her feet and Leo abandoned his duty, his fiancee and his country. He left for a few years until he came back, wanting to make amends to his brother. Madeleine’s never gotten over it but it's not like she lost entirely - he still fucks her occasionally. I don't mind since we have an open relationship which is entirely normal by Cordonian standards. But I know that if he was forced to choose one of us, he would choose me.

I challenge him. I don't take any of his shit and he loves that. It refreshing for him and he does the same to me. Meanwhile, Madeleine rolls over and offers herself up to him, begging for attention because she is desperate and has no dignity.

Leo clears his throat. 'So,' he begins. 'The country is in a state of upheaval right now. Everything is uncertain. I've called this meeting to discuss options for what we can do.'

We all blink at him in confusion. Drake is the first to speak. 'Um.. Leo? We thought you would take the throne.'

Leo stares at him, his face paling. 'What?'

'Because you're the King's brother?' Drake attempts. 'You know, Royal blood?'

Leo's fingers are gripping the table, turning white against the wood. I can see the panic on his face as he digests what Drake has just said. I have no idea why Leo wasn't expecting this to be the first thing we have discussed. It's realistic, it's obvious. Of course he should be crowned again.

But clearly, Leo doesn't want this. He is shaking. 'No,' he says. 'I can't.'

Madeleine's mouth drops open, wide enough to catch flies. 'But Leo!' she cries. 'You're the only one in the Rhys line! You have to take the throne! It's in your blood! You cat just shrug off this responsibility. For God's sake, it's your birthright!'

'Madeleine, I said no!' Leo shouts, his voice echoing around the room like thunder. Penelope winces and Kiara bows her head. He stands up, his body shaking as he tries to find the right words. 'I can't do it! I saw what the crown did to my brother! It destroyed him! He became a tyrant like our father and I swore I would never have the crown taint me. I saw what power does and I didn't want it. I can't take the responsibility, I can't bear the weight of Cordonia on my shoulders. So don't you dare tell me what I can and can't do because you are not the queen! You do not have permission to guide me or steer my thoughts! Are we clear?'

The room is silent. Madeleine looks like she wants to throttle him from the humiliation he has caused her. She overstepped and the usually happy, laidback Leo roared like the lion he actually is inside.

Maxwell coughs awkwardly. 'Okay so.. What else then?'

Leo sits down and puts his head in his hands. I reach out to curl a lock of his golden hair around my finger, my eyes fixed on Madeleine as I do so. She looks at me with jealousy and venom.

'We could always form a Republic..' Penelope suggests quietly. We all stare at her in shock. Leo exhales and his hands curl into fists. 'Please don't suggest something like dissolving the fucking monarchy in front of me ever again, Penelope, he grinds out. Penelope sinks down in her seat, clearly regretting her stupid suggestion.

'How can we appoint someone as a king when there is nobody else with royal blood?' Hana asks. 'It doesn't make sense.'

'You can put someone on the throne,' I tell her. 'It's easy.'

She looks so bewildered but I don't blame her. Nobody would think it was easy to place someone on the throne but it actually is. All you need is a claimant who has support and money behind him and enough unrest in the country to make appointing them seem like a good idea.

'We need a ruler,' Camille says, taking over. She looks so serious. 'Perhaps Bertrand? He is very close to the crown -'

'Ha! King Bertrand!' Maxwell laughs. 'My brother is so not suited to be a king. Definitely not.'

'I can't imagine curtsying to him,' Madeleine says dryly, examining her fingernails. 'The horror.'

'And I certainly won't do it if your thinking that,' Maxwell continues. Madeleine let's out a hollow laugh. 'Believe me, Beaumont, nobody was thinking that.'

'Drake, what about you?' Kiara asks him, smiling softly.

Drake looks like a deer caught in headlights at the suggestion. In fact, everyone does. Drake Walker as King? Jesus Christ.

'I appreciate the thought, Kiara,' he tells her delicately, 'but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to pass.'

Kiara shrugs and Camille giggles at the thought of Drake being the ruler of all of Cordonia.

'Well, we're out of men,' Hana says. 'So, back to square one.'

I look around the table and see that each woman sat around it has the same look in her eyes. The beginning of an idea that seems preposterous but if there is no other option..

'What about a Queen?' Madeleine asks, saying what we are all thinking. 'One of us.'

Leo shakes his head. 'Cordonia is too traditional, I don't think the people would want only a queen -'

'I think anything is better than Liam,' Madeleine bites back, her chin raised defiantly. 'He brought Cordonia into the ground. He made our soil into a bloodbath. Anything is better than him.'

'That is my brother you speak of,' Leo hisses.

'Dead brother,' Madeleine corrects him. 'Dead.'

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

Camille

Drake, Maxwell and I wander through the palace courtyard to get to our waiting car which is taking us back to Valtoria. We are silent after the meeting.

Maxwell breaks the silence. 'Camille, you could be Queen.'

I bite my lip. The thought did occur to me when Madeleine suggested it. Every woman at that table thought about it. But I know it would be ridiculous.

I am American. I am noble only by title which was bestowed to me as a gift from Liam before he turned dark.

I have no right to the highest position in the country.

I tell Maxwell so and I see relief wash over Drake's features. He hate nobility. He hates court. If he had his way, he would take me away to his family ranch in Texas where we could just be normal.

'But you would be so good!' Maxwell tries to persuade me. 'You were a commoner before so you understand the people. Valtoria loves you as their Duchess and can vouch for you. You care about the country and it people. You can raise Cordonia up-'

'Maxwell, she's not doing it,' Drake interrupts. He turns to look at me steadily. 'You're not doing it, right?'

I paste an artificial smile on my face. 'No, I'm not.'

But Maxwell's words stay with me.

[slothgiirl]

Shadowplay (alex turner x reader)

Ottoman's was the only coffee shop you were willing to splurge on. 

Their coffee a delight even without all the milk and sugar you could add when you needed a kick to keep up. There had been a rush of orders this week and even after waking up past noon today you still felt tired. 

As per usual, there was a line. People sitting around, working on their laptops. An old man reading the papers.  A woman in a sleek suit typing quickly on her phone as she waited for her order. 

The bells chimed and you couldn't help but glance over at the man who walked in. Clad in black fitted jeans, a leather jacket despite the turn in weather over a crisp white shirt and shiny leather boots. Hair gelled back with what looked like a whole tub of gel. 

With a confident swagger he took his place in line behind you. He was undeniably attractive. But you were more interested in getting your cuppa and getting all your errands done for the day than anything else.

The next few people in line went up. You were probably going to go for your usual. With just a splash of oat milk. 

Two people made a bee line for the man behind you. An incredibly beautiful woman, the type that become influencers on instagram, who got free drinks at bars. She had a golden glow and her hand in the man next to her.

"Al," she greets him, hugging him with ease. She's loud and you can't help but overhear them as you scroll through the sales page on net a porter. "It's so good to see you."

"Arielle," the man behind you greets stiffly, not leaning into the hug at all. You can't see his eyes from behind his aviators. "Didn't 'spect to see you here."

"Just a weekend trip really," she tells him, "the wedding plannings been crazy."

"Aaah, yes. The wedding. Congrats 'bout that again." 

Arielle doesn't seem to sense any of his discomfort, too caught up in her own happiness. Probably an ex boyfriend then. 

You're not even trying to pretend not to listen anymore, their drama better than anything on the telly since downtown abbey ended. 

The man at the til calls up, "next in line." 

You're about to go up when the man behind you throws an arm around your neck, pulling you into his side and smiling down at you as he tells Arielle, "gonna order. Wait for us?"

Arielle smiles at you warmly, "of course Al just don't take to long."

And before you can say anything he's pulling you along forward to order. "I'll 'ave a earl grey creme and whatever the lady wants." His loose hold is the only reason I don't move away instantly. 

Al turns to you, a devilishly confident smile on his lips, the type people promising a good time and more trouble than their worth give, as he asks, "please go along with it for a couple of minutes?"

Not wanting to bother the man at the register by taking forever you add, "and a cafe au lait with oat milk." Before looking back at Al as he finally lets go and slides his card, "and what's in it for me?" 

He chuckles, "the coffee."

"Least you could do."

"Listening in on people's conversations is very rude love," Al says, wagging his finger playfully.

You snort. "Maybe you shouldn't have those conversations in public if you don't want people to overhear."

"It's just a couple of minutes love." His deep voice smooth as you both move to wait for your order. 

"All right," you nod, letting yourself be charmed by him. 

"I'm Alex."

You introduce yourself as well, finding it funny that everything seems to be going in the wrong order with you both. 

"So," Arielle asks, joining you both along with her fiancé. "Who's this Al?" She's light and genuine and you think it would be all to easy to be friends with her. 

"My girlfriend," Alex replies back casually, as if remarking on the weather. You roll your eyes at him. He's a terrible actor or maybe he's just that much of an arse. 

"That enthusiasm," you tease, putting your arm through his, "it's too much."

Alex shakes his head, smiling. 

"Are you two going to make it too my wedding," Arielle asks, "it's in Palm springs. Just a few hours from yours."

So he doesn't live in the city despite his accent and we won't ever have to talk about this again. It's a relief. Lets you ease up from whatever this was. It said something about Alex, despite his confident demeanor that he didn't want to be alone while his ex got married. 

"We shall see," he says noncommintantly. 

"Got to get going," she adds, "hope we can get lunch before I go back to LA or when we're in LA."

Alex looks like he would rather die than do either one of those things, so you answer for him. "Love too but maybe this weekends a little short notice." 

"Oh okay." She looks genuinely disappointed. They both leave and the barista calls your order out. Alex grabs them both. 

"Thank you love. Really saved my arse."

"It would've been easier just to tell the truth," you note. Lies got all tangled up quickly. 

He shrugs, "a lot less fun though." Alex finally takes off his aviators. It's frankly unfair. His wide brown eyes only adding to his already well formed features. A softness to them that ruins the idea that he's a debonair devil the way he fronts. 

"What are you going to do when she asks?"

"Lie."

"So she's your," You raise a brow.

"Ex. She wanted to get married and I-," he fiddled with the ring around his finger, a silver garish thing that he pulls off through sheer confidence, "I didn't want to."

"To marry her or get married at all?""

Her. . .both?" He pouts, looking into your eyes. 

"And what? You don't want to look like the loser in the breakup or are you actually regretting not marrying her." 

Alex runs a hand through his hair, ruinning the carefully done style. "No. I don't regret breaking up with her. I just. . .I guess I'm feeling particularly old today," he jokes. 

You shake your head. "Honestly I've been feeling old since I finished school." 

"So what about you love? Any boyfriends that I should worry about?"

Laughing, you explain, "not but it's me you should be worried about. Did years of krav maga."

"Really," Alex says, looking your small form over. You might have a full figure, but you also have lots of toned muscle. 

"Yeah. My dad was very into martial arts. Boxing was more his thing though. What about you Alex? Arielle said you lived in LA?"

Alex takes his time to answer, dipping from his drink. Looking thoughtfully around before replying. "I do have a place there."

"But?"

"But I'm currently staying in London. Thought a change of scenery might be nice."

"Are you like a drug dealer or something," you ask unable to help yourself. London was expensive. Let alone having a place in Los Angeles too. "Or some trust fund posh kid?"

Alex laughs, almost choking on his tea. Rubbing his nose bride, before looking over at you and laughing again. "Neither. I promise love. I'm a musician."

"So a rich kid," you state, "all the musicians I know are broke."

"A successful musician," he amends. 

"Like Beyoncé?"

"Not quite," Alex says shyly. It makes you even more curious, having to wrestle this information out of him. "What do you do for a living love?"

"I'm a tailor. Mostly do handmade stuff. I always liked sewing. Even as a kid. In college I made my clothes a lot of the times and sometimes had to stitch things up throughout the day." It had been embarrassing to have a seam unravel during class. 

"Tailors make the world go round," Alex notes, "Though the fittings are annoying, the results are undeniable." He puffs out his chest and straightens out his leather jacket. 

You laugh at his faux posh face, one you know very well from work. It took a certain type of customer to afford suits starting at 2000 pounds. "Most people ask if people really still need tailors what with poshmark and h&m."

We finish our drinks, easily going back and forth. Alex is charming and sweet. The lull between his responses worth it, his voice holding the same quality as a good dark chocolate and just as addicting. 

He tells you about LA, a place you've never been too. About music, going off on tangents about instruments and records you've never heard off and will be googling as soon as you get home. 

It's easy to fall into conversation with him. Telling him about your small family. Your sister still in uni. Your parents down by the coast. The amount of work you currently have, and all the ridiculous request you get from your customers. "I'm all for making people look as fit as they want me too and having clothes that make them feel good but there's a limit. No cut will make you loose ten stone. Of have you suddenly look twenty years younger."

"I admire your ability to but up with all those posh fookers."

"I do too. Not that everyone's bad. There's also business people that are more middle class but a good suit is everything. Counts for more than having twent my prada ones."

"Well," he states, finally leaning back and ending the magic of the afternoon, reality coming flooding back because you both have things to do and he's still just a stranger, "it's been lovely talking to you darling but I'm afraid I already made plans for tonight." 

"And I have errands to run before lazying about all day tomorrow." You might still make it to the bank if you rush. Hail a cab. 

"You've been the best fake girlfriend I could ask for."

"How many have you had Alex," you tease him, watching the heat rise to his cheeks. Feeling emboldened, you give him your number, scribbling it out on napkin, "in case you ever need a fake girlfriend. I hear it's much easier than a real one. Not that you look like you have any trouble getting women."

He smiles, looking over at you in amazement, as if he's not sure your real. That he'd been lucky to run into a woman like you while getting coffee. It was too entente of a gaze for you to hold for long. 

You look away, feeling surprised at yourself. It wasn't like you to hand out your number. But you hoped that you might see him again. That it wasn't just a one off. 

"See you around love." 

[mirkwoodshewolf]

A family torn apart; Queen x reader

Okay wow guys. I’m just gonna tell you right now, I hope you enjoyed the last Brian May oneshot fic I posted up because this is gonna have some SERIOUS angst in here so that’s one other reason why I posted that fic a few days ago before this next part of Rock Angel.

So expect strong language, PURE ANGST, some fluff, and insults. 

Okay so I will leave it as that and let you all enjoy this and just in case, I have some tissues for you all. Trust me, you’re going to need them.

Taglist *open*:

@mr-badguymercury

@onebigfangirlworld

@phantom-fangirl-stuff

@labessieisallama

@starswin

@dj-lowkey

@isabella-bby

@naturalswifty89

@alexfayer

@5sos-wdw

__________________________________________________________

*March 22nd, 1984*

I was walking through the studio along with Jack as we headed up to Miami’s office.  Once we reached it I knocked on the door and we both heard his voice say.

“Come in.” I opened the door and I said as I peeked in through the door.

“Hey Jim, hope we didn’t come at a bad time.”

“None at all darling come in, I was just reorganizing some things for the lads and I just got done settling your stuff.” I walked into his office and Jack soon followed behind me.  Jim acknowledged my fiancée and Jack greeted Jim back with a handshake.  We both took our seats and Jim said. “What can I do for you both?” Jack and I exchanged looks and I couldn’t help the smile coming across my face as Jack proceeded.

“Well Jim. As you know after the tour ended last month (y/n) and I have been busy planning the wedding before her next recording deal by around the fall. We figured we needed to have the wedding as soon as possible so, we finally picked a date and location and we’ve made all the invitations.”

“All morning Jack and I have been going door to door of everyone I knew in England of who I would like to see at the wedding. Hand delivering their letters personally just so that I would be sure they wouldn’t get lost in the mail transaction. So,” I explained as I took out from my purse a small white envelope with a salmon pink tie wrapped around it and a traditional wax seal.

I handed it over to Jim and he took it from me and untied the ribbon and broke the seal and fully opened the envelope to reveal a beautifully designed wedding invitation that read.

You’ve been cordially invited.

And when he opened it up it would read as followed;

To the Wedding of Jack and (Y/n) Kline

Date: July 12th, 1984

Location: Kline Family Ranch. 50421 Jackson Av. Lebanon, Kansas 66952. USA

Reservations by, May 20th, 1984.

“We’d really appreciate it if you could come to the wedding Jim.” Jack said.  Jim looked at us and he said.

“No other artist would think to invite their managers to their weddings.”

“Yeah most would, however every artist isn’t the Rock Angel. Jim without you….and I really do mean this, none of this would be possible. It’s because of you Jack and I met each other. Had it not been for you accepting my application as your intern, I’d still be a college student still grieving over a broken heart because of her stupid wanker of an ex. I would never have gone to that club, and Jack would never have saved me. If anyone deserves to be at our wedding, it’s you Jim Beach.”

He may not have known it or maybe he did but I could see tears forming in Jim’s eyes right there behind his desk.  He blinked away the tears trying to compose himself and he said as we reached out for each other’s hands.

“I’ll clear my calendar for the big day.”

“Thank you Jim.” I said.  I stood up and walked around his desk to give him a big, warm hug. He hugged me back and I pecked his cheek and now Jack and I left his office to now visit the next four boys that still needed invites.

We piled back in the car and I told Louis the address of where we needed to go next.  As we drove Jack said to me.

“So what music video are the guys filming again?”

“It’s for a new song that Deacy wrote. I think it’s called Break free or something along those lines.”

“Now you sure we should hand deliver these invitations specifically to the guys?”

“Yes. I want to make sure that they don’t get lost or tampered with. Especially by a certain snake in the grass that’s been a thorn in my side for years.” I muttered the last part to myself teeth gritted. “Trust me darling, plus it’s been awhile since we’ve seen the guys. After all I flew with you to America to approve of the scenery of your family farm for the wedding once the tour was done.”

“I swear it’s like you love those boys more than me.” Jack teased.

“Oh and what about you and Deacy hmm? You both always got cozy with each other after bass practice hmm? Hmm?” Jack pulled me close and lightly tickled my sides which made me shriek and laugh.  As quick as he made the attack, he stopped and I turned to face him and we both leaned into each other and kissed.

When we finally arrived at Limehouse studio and got the approval from security knowing of my business of being there, Jack and I were allowed inside the studio and were escorted to the set. There were people in black and white cow patterned leotards so I began thinking that whatever it was that they were shooting, it’d be interesting.

“Can I get up now? What is happening?” I heard Roger’s voice nearby and when Jack and I finally arrived around to the main set, I almost died laughing right then and there.

The set was like a 1950’s style living room and lying on the couch were Roger who was curled into Deacy’s lap while Brian was sitting behind Deacy almost lying across the top of the couch.  But that’s not why it was so hilarious, what was hilarious was that they were all done up in drag.

Brian was wearing a red robe and I could see peeking out of it a pink nightgown. He had fake curlers in his hair along with the pinkest and fluffiest bunny slippers I have ever seen.  Deacy was all done up as a grumpy granny, sorta reminded me of my grandma (God rest her soul).  A grey wig, an all-black attire and I could clearly see the granny makeup all over his face.  

And oh my god Roger—he was done up as this sext school girl with the black pantyhose, short black skirt, and white shirt with a pink and yellow stripped tie.  He had a wavy blonde wig with two black and white spotted bowties as well as a sunhat.

Hell he looked so convincing, I thought that he wasn’t even a part of this music video.

“No you can’t.” Deacy’s voice said as he started rocking and cradling Roger like a baby.  All three of them were laughing and just having a blast with this as Brian then said.

“I wanna be in it.”

“Get off me!” Deacy cried out.  I came around behind them and said.

“How rude of me to forget. Jack my love I have neglected to introduce the rest of my family.” The three of them turned our way and I couldn’t help the wide smile on my face.  I tried to hold in my laughs as I came up and said as I stood by Brian. “This is my aunt Brianna.” I then moved over to John and took his hat off his head and placed it on top of mine, “My lovely granny Jane, and of course the trouble maker of the family. My beautiful yet dangerous cousin Rogerina.”

“Hi Jack.” They all greeted like the girls they were dressed as.  And I could tell by Jack’s wide open mouth, he was shocked.

“Close your mouth please Jack we are not a codfish.” Deacy lectured him like a real granny would.  Jack immediately closed his mouth and I awed at him and said as I walked up to him and put my arms around his neck and pecked his cheek.

“Aww don’t you worry sweetie. It’s all just a bit of fun, you’ll get used to it. Now tell them they look pretty less you want to hurt their feelings.”  He stammered for a while till I gave him a light nudge in the ribs and he finally spat out.

“You all look g-great!”

“Thank you Jack.” Said Brian.

“I don’t think he means it. Just great, come on I’m the sexy one of the family. I deserve my spotlight!” Roger proclaimed out.

“Oi! Don’t go stealing my man you slut!” I teased at Roger.

“Please, I am sooo out of his league.” Roger bragged as he tossed aside the right part of his hair.  I rolled my eyes playfully at him and said getting serious now.

“Okay I have to ask; whose idea was it to dress in drag?” Immediately both Deacy and Bri pointed to Roger who was still lying across Deacy’s lap.  I let out a laugh and Roger said.

“What? It’s a good idea!”

“But as Coronation street? Serious? That show is for old people. No one even watches that show anymore. No one will get it except for the grannies that still watch the show.”  He rolled his eyes at me and I continued, “Besides all that, you all really do look fantastic. Especially you Rog, you look so convincing I honestly thought you weren’t even here. Why must you be more beautiful than me?”

“Aww lovey~” Roger stood up and took me away from Jack and wrapped his arms around me swaying me from side to side.  “You know that out of the two of us, you are the fairest of them all. Don’t you agree Jack?”

“No question about it.” He answered.

“See? You don’t have to worry about a thing love, now let me hear you say it.”

“I’m beautiful.” I muttered in a whisper.

“I’m sorry what was that?” Roger said.

“I’m beautiful.”

“Speak up love, I still can’t here you. If you don’t admit that you are the most gorgeous girl in the world then I’ll make you say it.”

Before I could even respond, I was attacked by wet, frantic kisses.  I let out a cry as I tried to get away from Roger but he held an ironclad grip on my as he kept covering my right cheek with kisses.  And if I tried to turn away, he’d switch sides and soon my left cheek was attacked by kisses.

“Okay! Okay I’m beautiful you happy!?” I finally surrendered.

“Yes, and don’t you ever forget it.” Roger said as he leaned his head against mine and pecked my temple.  When he finally let me go, I took notice that his lip gloss was now smeared and I said.

“Oh great now the makeup department’s gonna be pissed.”

“Ahh don’t worry about it, you were worth it.” He said as he lovingly bopped my nose making me smile and shake my head.

“Not that we’re not happy to see you both here for this surprise visit but why have you both come here? I thought you all still had wedding plans to handle?” asked Brian.

“We’ve gotten most of the big things taken care of. But (y/n) thought it would be best to hand deliver these personally to everyone she knows.” I then finally took out the three invitations for Brian, Deacy and Rog.

I handed them each their individual invitations and they opened it up and they all read it.

“So soon?” said Brian.

“Well you know the life or a Rockstar Bri. Album, tour, album, tour, press interviews, concerts. By the start of the Autumn I’ll be booked solid for over a year. So Jack and I made the decision to get it over with before we run out of time. Besides we’re not making it too big, just really close friends and family members only and you all have seen the farm last Christmas, it’s a perfect spot for a wedding.”

“I do have to say it was beautiful. I think it’ll be perfect.” Said Deacy. I smiled and said.

“Hey, do any of you know where Fred is, I have to give him his invitation and I want to ask you four something.”

“Well he was over by his makeup stand getting undressed. But I’d be careful if I were you (y/n). He…..he’s been a bit…..” Brian tried to explain.

“No need, I heard about that freak out at the last press conference you guys had. Roger please tell me that…..he’s not here.”

“If I did I’d be lying and you know I can never lie to you.” I sighed deeply and muttered.

“Okay,” I turned towards the makeup chairs and I said to Jack. “You just stay here with the guys, I’ll deal with this.”

“You sure?” I nodded and pecked him on the lips and walked towards Freddie.  When I saw him sitting in his makeup chair I knocked at the empty table beside him and said.

“Knock, knock.” Freddie turned towards me and his eyes sparked up as he said.

“(Y/n) my Rock Angel.” He stood up and we both kissed each other’s cheeks and he asked me, “How’s the wedding preparations coming along dear? Have you picked out your dress yet?”

“Not yet Fred, I haven’t even picked my bridesmaids yet. We’re just getting the big stuff done before all that other minor details.”

“Well I’m sure the wedding will be lovely, when’s the big day?”

“Actually—”

“Freddie we should be….” we both turned and there stood Paul.  The split second he saw me, his body tensed up and he strained out my name. “(Y/n).”

“Prenter.” I softly sneered his name as I crossed my arms over my chest.

“I thought you were in America?”

“Oh I was. I came for some business that aren’t meant for roaches but I guess you can never truly get rid of them, can you?” All with Roger’s help all those years ago, I finally was able to not take any of Paul’s crap.

After the humiliation he did to me by revealing my family secret, he’s taught me the best way to poke at Paul Prenter is to show him the inner lioness strength I’ve always had in me.  Make him feel like the prey.

“Well that’s just grand news.” He said trying to ignore my jab at him.  I quirked my brow at him and said to Fred.

“Anyways I wanted to give you your official invitation.”

“You could’ve given it to me, you know I would’ve passed the message along.” Paul piped in.  I turned towards Paul and glared at him and said.

“I’m sure you would’ve but I don’t trust my mail to trash.” I dug through my purse and handed Freddie the last invitation I had.  Freddie himself took it and opened it up and read it.

“Ohh I absolutely love it darling, their farm was so beautiful it’s the perfect spot for the wedding!”

“I think so too. Now come with me I have an announcement for you and the lads.”

“Oh my god you’re pregnant!”

“What no! We haven’t even said the I do’s Freddie.”

“Doesn’t matter. With the way Jack looks at you I’d assume you two crazy kiddies have already done the deed before the big day.” I rolled my eyes and said as I took Freddie’s hand.

“C’mon you let’s get to the others.” I led him away and Paul called out.

“Can’t it wa—”

“Nope!” I interrupted him.  We finally came up to the guys and immediately Roger shot up and said.

“Did I just hear Freddie say you’re pregnant?!”

“No! Rog it’s not true. Nothing’s happened yet.” I said to him.

“Alright, because Jack I swear if you knocked her up before the wedding, I’ll kill you.”

“Okay, okay calm down papa lion, no need to get aggressive just yet.” Deacy said as he placed a hand to his shoulder.

“Okay. Now that all my boys are together, will you all please sit down?” They all gathered around the couch as Jack and I stood close together. “Guys, as you probably know the tradition of the bride is to walk down the aisle with her father. And since the accident I—I don’t really have a legal family member to walk with me. Which is why I wanted to ask you, all of you…..if you four would be willing to walk me down the aisle and give me away to Jack?”

My boys looked at me in shock and Freddie said.

“I promised myself I wouldn’t cry when the day would come when you’d ask that.” Jack and I laughed softly and that’s when Brian spoke up.

“We’d be honored (y/n).”

“You can count on us.” Said Deacy with a warm smile. I then turned to Roger and said his name softly.  He silently stood up and walked towards me.  He cupped my face in his hands before finally embracing me as tight as he could.

“Of course darling. I’m so happy you asked us.” Once again he pecked all over my face with kisses which made me laugh. When he finally stopped with a soft kiss to the tip of my nose, he turned to Jack and said. “Jack Kline, you better take care of this woman because if you don’t I will steal her back and take her away from that wedding.”

“Don’t worry Roger, the day I stop loving (y/n) is the day that hell freezes over.”

It was at that moment I thought everything would be okay.  The wedding was scheduled, the invitations had been sent out, the location all set up.  I wished that things could’ve stayed that happy, I didn’t need anymore stress because of all the wedding preparations.

But as we know, real life doesn’t work like that. It’s always a shit show and it will always knock you off your feet just when you think things are going well.

It was just a couple weeks after Queen had released their Music video “I want to break free”, but in America MTV had banned their music video because of the drag idea.  Jack who was back home getting things settled at his place while I had some business in England to take care had called and told me of what had happened.

So without even thinking I drove off the Freddie’s place at Garden Lodge on my bike and it was there I saw two cars.  My best guess is that the whole band was together talking about this.  I almost felt like I was intruding on the band’s private discussion about their work.

But first and foremost they are my boys, not Queen to me and I felt like I had the right to be there to show some support. So parking my bike next to Deacy’s Volvo, I set my helmet in the compartment and walked up to the door and rang it.

Opening it up was the last person I ever wanted to see. Paul.

“(Y/n).” he sneered my name.

“Paul, can I see the guys?”

“Oh I’m sorry (y/n) but this is a band discussion they’re having right now. They have no time for you.”

“Hold it Prenter!” Roger’s voice soon echoed through the house.  Soon coming into the frame was Roger as he said. “Hey love,”

“Hey. I—heard about what happened with the video.”

“Yeah it happens what else can you do. Come on in.”

“But she’s not a member of the band.” Paul piped in as Roger allowed me inside.

“If you’re allowed to be involved with our meetings, then so is she. She’s just as much a part of Queen as anyone else.” Roger said as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and guided me toward the dining room.

There I saw the rest of the boys.  Freddie was standing by his grand fireplace, Brian was on the couch in front of the large wooden desk, and Deacy was on the other couch right in front of the door.  Bri and Deacy welcomed me in a soft chorus of hello’s while Freddie’s posture showed that he was beyond peeved.

“Hey guys.” I greeted them.

“Have a seat love.” Roger said as he gestured towards the couch that Deacy was on.  I walked over and Deacy moved some of the pillows aside and I got comfortable while Roger went back to sit in the empty chair that stood between the two ends of the couches.

“As I was saying it’s America. The puritans in public, perverts in private.” Brian said.

“I’m never touring in the US again.” Freddie snapped out before scoffing out, “And I’m the one being blamed for it. Not you dear whose idea I believe it was to dress up in drag. Nor you, not even you who wrote the bloody thing.” He said pointing out to Roger for the idea, then to Brian and finally Deacy who wrote the song. “No, crazy cross dressing Freddie. Freddie the Freak, Freddie the Fag.” He said as he moved from the fireplace to the grand window behind his desk.

As he now stood by the window he turned towards the guys and said.

“I’m tired of touring aren’t you? Album tour album tour. I want to do something different.”

“We’re a band that’s what bands do. Album, tour. Album, tour.” Brian said before Freddie interrupted him and turned his back on us.

“Well I need a break. I’m sick of it.”

“What are you saying Freddie?” asked Deacy. He said not a word but lit himself a cigarette.  It was silent for god knows how long before Freddie finally spoke up.

“I’ve signed a deal. With CBS records.”

“You’ve done what?” asked Roger in shock.

“Without telling us.” Stated Brian.

“What kind of deal?” asked Deacy.

“Look I’m not saying we won’t ever record or tour again. Queen will go on. But I—I need to do something different, do you know what I mean? I-I-I need to grow. What’s the song, fly away?” Deacy knowing what he was meaning said to Freddie.

“Spread my wings and fly away.”

“Spread my wings and fly away.” Freddie said in a light ‘that’s it’ kind of tone.

“So you’re doing a solo album?” I finally spoke up.

“Two actually. Back to back. More than the work you’ve put into your own work.” Paul said to me who was sitting in the corner like the shadow he’s always been.

“Talk to my daughter like that again, and I’ll throw you out the bloody window!” Roger sneered.

Now while Roger did try to work on some solo works, at least he told the guys in advance but in the end he said it wasn’t the same without the guys.  He said the other band he did try to get wasn’t quite right just yet so he dropped the solo deal and stayed along with Queen.

“But that’s years Freddie. I mean….that’ll take years.” Deacy tried to reason with him.

“Ye have little faith.” Freddie boasted softly.

“I just I don’t believe this.” Roger said as he faced Freddie. “How much?” We all looked at him and he just stared back at us for a brief second before turning away going back to his smoke. “What did they pay you?!” Roger demanded again.  We all waited for Freddie to answer but he didn’t. Finally Roger stood up and snapped, “I wanna know how much they paid you!”

“Four million dollars!” Freddie exclaimed as he turned back around to face Roger.

Oh God…… I brushed through my hair not imagining how much money that was.  The boys and I couldn’t believe this.

“That’s more than any Queen deal.” Hell it’s more than any Rock Angel deal, and I get half of what Queen gets.

“Look the routine is killing us, I mean you all must want a break from all the arguments. Whose song gets on the album. Whose songs the single? Who wrote what? Who gets the bigger slice of the royalties, what’s on the B-side all of it. You must need a break.” Freddie tried to reason with the guys.

While it is true that even back then I have seen first hand of their arguments, hell I nearly got a beer glass thrown at me by a drunk Freddie once, but it was the fights that brought them together and still made them the best band in the world.  They’re family, my family.

“Freddie. We’re a family.” Brian said but Freddie snapped, his voice choked up and I swore I thought I could see tears in his eyes.

“No we’re not! We’re not a family. You’ve got families. Children! Wives! A fiancé! What have I got?!”

“You’ve got four million dollars perhaps you can buy yourself a family.” Deacy’s solemn quick wit spoke up.  Freddie turned his back on us as he said.

“I won’t compromise my vision any longer.” Is he for real here? Roger who was now standing behind me after all of this said.

“Compromise? Are you joking? You were working at Heathrow before we gave you a chance!” It was then Freddie turned around and said as he came around towards us pointing directly at Roger.

“And without me….you’d—you’d be a dentist. Drumming 12-8 times blues at the weekend at the Crown and Anchor. And you,” he then gestured and looked down at Brian as he continued in a mocked praised tone before finally ending it bluntly, “Well, you would be Dr. Brian May. Author of a fascinating dissertation on the cosmos….that no one ever reads.” He then turned his attention to Deacy and what he had said to him, hurt me the most, “And Deacy, for the life of me…..nothing comes to mind.” Deacy who tried to brush his pain aside said proudly but I could hear the pain in his voice.

“I studied electrical engineering. Does that meet your standard?”

“It’s perfect.” Scoffed Freddie. He doused out his cigarette in the ashtray on the table in front of Deacy and I.  Just before he left I finally had enough of this crap so I stood up and grabbed his arm and said.

“Freddie, this isn’t you! You’re not thinking clearly. Paul’s done something to you, why can’t you see that?! He’s pulling you away from what’s right in front of you with lies.” Freddie then turned to me and took back his arm and said in fake praise.

“And you, (Y/n) (m/n) (l/n).” He held onto my biceps tightly and shook me a couple of times as he said my name.  I pushed his hands off me as he continued, “The Rock Angel, wouldn’t have even existed without me. Everything you’ve become, was because of me. I got you up on that stage, not you. You’ve always needed someone to back you up because you couldn’t fight your own battles. You always need someone to do your dirty work for you, don’t you? The true snake in the grass of Queen was you. Everything you are is because of us. If not for us, you’d probably be a failed music teacher with a cheating boyfriend because she was too foolish to realize that no one could love her like she wanted to. You may think you’re a lioness, but deep down you will always be that shy, scared, little orphan—”

Breathing sharply, my chest rising heavily and hearing him say the exact words my aunt would say to me everyday for years. But it was when he called me an orphan that a loud slap echoed through the room. Tears stung in my eyes but I refused to cry in front of him.

“If that’s how you really thought of me? Then why the hell would you give me a chance?” Freddie rubbed his cheek and said before staring me down.

“Call it pity.” He stated bluntly.  My body tensed up and I sneered at him.

“I don’t even know why I looked up to you in the first place. Goodbye Freddie Mercury, I hope that you are struck down in the worst possible way. And I swear to god I better not see you in my life again. Consider your wedding invitation invalid. And if you do show up, I’ll kill you myself.” With that I trudged out of his house and got on my bike without my helmet this time and raced back to my house.

The second I got home, I burst through my door and threw my helmet aside and my breathing was shallow and frantic, almost as if I were having an asthma attack.

I walked through my hallways to see all my vinyl posters of both Queen and one of our combined albums. We’ve made  I stood in front of a poster that had both Freddie and I together with mics in our hands looking like two singers in their element.

I leaned up against the other wall and bent forward choking on my breaths before I suddenly snapped.

I punched the poster breaking the glass covering as I let out the most furious scream.  I punched the poster a couple more times before taking it off the wall and slamming it down to the ground destroying it.

I then moved to the next one which was of Queen’s Greatest hits vol.1.  I picked that poster up and destroyed that as well.  I punched, kicked did whatever I could to release all the anger I had inside me. Hell I even punched and kicked the walls themselves, and I guess I must’ve punched one part of the wall so hard that it actually made a dent in the foundation.

I don’t know how long I was at it for, but soon all 12 of my vinyl glass posters were destroyed, glass completely covered the floor of the entire hallway and I was at the end, my right hand bleeding profusely and trembling, my toes aching probably because I might have broken a toe or two.  I probably looked like a rapid animal that had just gotten done with its tantrum and was now a trembling shadow in the corner.  Soon I blacked out.

*3rd Person POV*

After (y/n) had left Garden Lodge, Brian, Roger and Deacy were almost about to go off on Freddie for what he had said to (y/n). Never did they think he’d say the things that they’ve heard not to mention actually witness what her aunt has said to her for most of her life.  But Freddie brushed it off like it was nothing and continued to walk out.

“You just killed Queen. And I swear I’ll make you regret for what you just said to her.” Roger said as he turned towards Freddie.

“Oh give it a kiss one day, she might wake up.” Freddie simply stated.

“You need us Freddie. More than you know.” Brian said.

“I don’t need anyone.” He said as he didn’t look his bandmates in the eye.  And with that Freddie walked away.  Paul followed behind and placed his hand on Roger’s shoulder almost trying to comfort him but Roger immediately brushed his hand away as the three members of Queen just sat there.

“Come on, let’s go check on our girl.” Said Deacy. Brian and Roger agreed and soon the three of them left Fred’s house and piling in their cars.  Roger went into the passenger seat of Brian’s car and Deacy went into his Volvo and the two cars pulled out of Freddie’s place and took off for (y/n)’s.

When they arrived, they first noticed that the door was still wide opened.  This made them all panic as their parental instincts kicked in as the three of them raced across the front yard, up the stairs and into her house.

“(Y/n)?” Roger called out.

“(Y/n) are you here? I’ll check her studio downstairs.” Brian said.

“I’ll take the hallway.” Said Deacy.

“I’ll take the upstairs, she might be in her room.” The three of them split up and stared checking everywhere in order to find her.  Then when Deacy finally arrived at the hallway where she kept all her poster boards and records hanging, the first thing he saw was the trail of glass.  He raced towards the entrance of the hallway and there he found (y/n) lying there on the floor surrounded by glass.

But what scared him the most was the blood he could see not only from some of the glass on the floor, but from her hands.

“Brian! Brian Roger!! Get over here I’ve found her!!” Immediately you could hear the thunder of footsteps racing towards Deacy and the second they saw her they were both shocked.

“Oh my god.” Brian said in shock.

“Jesus Christ (y/n)! (Y/n)!” Roger was the first to race down the hall.  Glass crunching underneath his shoes as he raced to his daughter.  Fear and anxiety gnawed at him every second as it felt like eternity just to reach her.  When he finally knelt down in front of her, he brushed away the madded hair from her face and quickly checked her pulse, fearing that the blood from her hands was too much and that she could be dead.

Fortunately he felt a strong pulse.

“Oh thank god, she’s still alive.”

“Probably just passed out, but her hands do look bad. I’ll call a doctor and have them come over and take a look at her.” Said Deacy as he and Brian now stood behind him.  Deacy left to find her house phone meanwhile Brian carefully picked (y/n) up and he and Roger looked at each other worriedly and walked out of the hallway.

Upstairs in her room, a doctor was bandaging up her hands after cleaning up the blood and taking out the small pieces of glass that were actually stuck in her hands.  In total for both hands, she had only 4 pieces of glass in her hands, the rest were because of scratches and bruises from punching the walls.

Deacy, Brian and Roger stood by the door worried out of their minds as the doctor finished up.  As he walked up to the three band members Brian asked.

“Will she be okay doctor?”

“Amazingly there were only 4 glass pieces in her hands, they weren’t very large pieces but they weren’t exactly pebble sized. But her hands will be okay, given time and rest.” The boys sighed in huge relief and Deacy said.

“We appreciate you coming Doctor.”

“Anytime, just apply this ointment to her hands every four hours, keep them bandaged for about a week or two and hopefully the scars should be gone.” The doctor said as he held out a medium sized tube of antiseptic ointment.

“Thank you.” Thanked Brian.  The doctor nodded and then left the household.  The boys all stood around and just watched as (y/n) continued to be unconscious but thankfully still alive.

“I can’t believe he said those things to her. He knew hell we all witnessed to what she had to go through with her aunt! How could he say those things to her!?” Roger snapped.

“Roger we’re not any happier than you are but we can’t focus on that right now. She needs us, now more than ever. Who knows what’s going on in her mind right now.” Brian tried to calm him down.

“I’ll get in touch with Jack later on and tell him everything that’s going on. Maybe we can fly him out here and he can help us out with her.” Deacy said.

“Yeah I’ll even pay for the flight. For now let’s just let her sleep and hopefully she’ll wake up soon.” Said Brian.  Reluctantly the boys left the master bedroom and they both waited downstairs and Deacy called Jack up hoping that he hadn’t already gone to bed.

*My POV*

I was tossing and turning as my breathing was heavy.  I moaned in agony as I could hear voices in my head.

I was surrounded in darkness running and running in nothing but an empty blackness.  I could hear the voices of my aunt, uncle, Adam and Paul all mocking me.  Telling me that I wasn’t worth it.

‘You’re a disgrace to this family!’

‘Why must you always be so clingy?’

‘You’re useless!’

‘We never should’ve taken pity on you.’ It was then I saw four silhouettes just ahead of me.  As I got closer, it turned out that the four men standing before me with their backs turned were the four members of Queen.

‘Guys? Guys please make them stop! I….I can’t deal with this anymore, please help me.’ Freddie was the first to turn around and he said.

‘Why should we help a spoiled orphan like you?’ It was then Brian turned around and said.

‘You’re always whining about everything. Frankly it’s starting to get annoying. You’re not very subtle when it comes to your clinginess.’ I couldn’t believe it.

Even Brian was agreeing with Freddie.

‘No, no please Deacy, Rog please tell me you guys will help me.’

‘I agree with Freddie. Why should we help you? You’re always coming to us with your teenage drama. I don’t see how we ever put up with you all these years.’ Deacy said in the cold tone that he rarely used unless he really hated someone or needed to be sarcastic towards the press.

No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! This can’t be happening.  I suddenly felt myself sinking into the floor and that’s when Roger finally turned around and I begged to him.

‘Please Roger. Please don’t do this to me.’

‘Why should I? I don’t get why I ever called you my daughter. Your father’s not proud of you, he never was. And neither was I.’ Soon darkness overcame me as I felt myself drowning in what almost seemed like water or goo.  I could barely breathe as the voices of Queen kept throwing backlashes and insults my way.

“No….no! Please! Please stop it! Help me…..help me!”

“(Y/n). (Y/n) wake up!” I suddenly shot up and soon standing over me on my bed was Brian. “It’s okay, it’s okay you’re okay.” I was panting hysterically and I said.

“B-Brian?”

“Yes, it’s me. You were having a nightmare……” before he could even finish I tackled him in a hug and wept into his shoulder.

“It was awful! My aunt, uncle, Adam and Paul were taunting me and then you guys….you guys started telling me how useless I was. How I was too clingy and calling me an orphan and….”

“Hey, hey.” He tried to soothe me but my sobbed rambling continued.

“I never meant to be clingy I just thought I finally had a family that I could call my own but I guess I was wrong. Soon you guys will grow tired of me too, as will Jack and I’ll be all alone again. Just like I’ve always been ever since I was 8 years old.”

“That is never going to happen, okay (Y/n), hey look at me darling.” I tried to look away but Brian had his hand under my chin and he cupped under my chin gingerly and slowly turned my head around to look up at him.  “You are never, ever, ever going to be alone again. Okay? Jack he loves you beyond reason and doubt. He was willing to come to the biggest rock group in the world just to ask for our permission to marry you. Other lads probably wouldn’t have done that and just asked you right then and there. As for Roger, Deacy and myself. You couldn’t be anymore wrong. We would never grow tired of you.”

“Yes you will.” I whined out.

“No we won’t.” He assured me as his thumbs wiped away my tears.

“Yes you will because Freddie made it clear of how he felt. So what’s to stop you three from doing the same?” I let out a sob as I said, “But before you do I just want to thank you. For always being the voice of reason to me for so long.” Brian shook his head and brought my head above his heart as he held me tightly.

I sniffled as he said to me.

“You’re talking nonsense darling. You are loved. You are loved by us, you are a sister and daughter to us. Freddie he—he was a total prick for saying those things to you. And whatever it was that we said in your dream, was false. Okay please look into my eyes and tell me if I’m lying to you.” I looked up at him and saw the tears filling up in his eyes as they looked down at my sadly but still held the strength and love he’d always shown me.

I leaned against his chest again as I sniffled while Brian wrapped his arms around me stroking down my hair and rubbing my back in soothing circles.

“I’m sorry Bri, I’m so sorry.”

“No, no, no, no, no. You have nothing to apologize for love, okay? Nothing.” I choked out a sob as I clung onto his shirt tighter and he held onto my tighter.  He kissed the crown of my head and I heard him say, “Do you want me to call Deacy and Roger up here?”

“Later, I just—I need my Brian right now.” I whimpered out as I looked up at him with my sad, teary eyes.  I practically looked like a sobbing child, but that didn’t stop Brian. He placed his head on top of mine, his curls gently tickling my face as he said.

“I’m here love, I’m right here. Your Brian is here, and he always will be.” I felt him kiss all over my head as he never once loosened his embrace on me.

As I lay there in Brian’s arms, he softly sung ‘39 to me.  A song that I would sometimes ask him to sing when it was just to two of us because that song for some reason always brought me comfort.  As he softly kept singing the words softly to me, my eyes soon drooped once more as exhaustion finally took over me from all the crying.

My body relaxed and I finally felt at peace with Brian’s singing.

[themoonandotherslikeit]

What the Rain Can’t Wash Away- Chapter 5

*FINAL PIECE IN THE LOOK IN HER EYES TRILOGY*

Sixteen years after Lucifer rose, and Dean lost his wife he finds himself with a teenager, a Nephilim, an angel, and his brother living out a Full House rerun with some seriously dark undertones. How will he be able to raise his daughter, fight monsters, and deal with the loss of the love of his life? Sometimes moving on is the hardest part, but with the Winchester’s there’s always something harder around the corner. Isn’t there?

Chapter Five, Adventures in Babysitting

Dean

Two days ago

The mansion loomed under a dark, threatening sky. Thunder boomed in the distance making the whole thing real fuckin dramatic. "Why is it always stormy when we are about to do something dangerous?"

"We live in the Midwest, man," Sam said with a laugh. "Crazy weather is just kinda a given."

I shrugged. "Yeah, you got a point." I rubbed my hands together before pulling out my gun. "Alright what's the game plan? Go in guns blazin?"

"Maybe I should go in and see if I can find it myself," Castiel said quietly.

I eyed him. "Why do you get to have all the fun?"

"Because I am an angel of the lord."

"Of Chuck come on, Cas. Enough. We go in as a family or not at all."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Okay, You take the back entrance, Cas and I will get the perimeter. But, listen man, don't make me have to go home and tell your daughter that you bit the dust."

I groaned. "Fine, fine. I'll be careful. Look, got my gun." I waved it. "My holy water is in my pocket, silver blade in my boot, I even got some sweet iron knuckles... I'm ready for anything. Let's get it."

We nodded, and I slowly crept my way around the mansion. I kept my eyes peeled for movement, but honestly it was all pretty quiet. The only sound was the wind whistling.

I climbed the stone steps to the back door, and tentatively reached for the brass knob. It turned easily.

"Dean Winchester! Let me out! You really think this is going to work? You're a hairless monkey. Nothing more than Gods mistake."

It was endless screaming inside my head. Michael, in my own fucking voice. He strangely sounded like my father.

He was so distracting. The screaming. The banging. The scratching against the door. It was so distracting that I wasn't concerned that the big house that supposedly had an Arsenal kept the back door unlocked. I was so distracted that I didn't hear the creak of the wood behind me. I didn't hear the step. There was just a swift pain, and then blackness.

  Ella

 We stopped to fill up the bike. I bent down on a stretch to touch my toes. My back cracked in response. "God that feels good."

"You look really sexy doing that," Claire said.

I eyed her from between my legs. "Take a picture, it lasts longer."

"You got it, sweet cheeks." She grinned, before turning back to the pump.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Dad again. The rings echoed in my bad like a bad pop song that was played way too damn much. You've reached Dean. You know what to do. Beep.

"Hey Dad. It's me. I haven't heard from you in a few days, so I'm coming after you. I know you're gonna be pissed, but guess what? I'm pissed, too. This is what family does. We come after each other. So I'll see you soon, and I hope you're okay." Click.

"We will find them, Ellie," Jack said, taking off his helmet. His hair was sticking up all crazy, and I leaned in to tussle it back.

"I know we will."

Jack frowned, like he was annoyed with my hands in his hair and he batted me away. "The Winchesters are the strongest men I know, they will be okay."

"They're going to be mad that we came, if they're okay," I said crossing my arms.

"They will," Jack agreed before unexpectedly pulling me into a hug. "But they will be happy to see you. They always are. You make things better, Ellie. There's no sense in being scared or worried when you're around. You're like sunshine."

"He's right, ya know," Claire said with a smile. "Now what do you think, Winchester's? Ready to roll."

"Yup," Jack and I agreed together before sliding our helmets back on.

I'm coming, Dad. Hold on tight. Don't give up just yet. I'm coming.

  Dean

 "Dean, wake up."

Her hands were on my cheeks, soft, and gentle, just like I remembered.

"Baby, open your eyes. Oh my god, Sam! He isn't waking up, can I get some help over here?"

My eyes fluttered open, I'd recognize that voice anywhere. "Ave?"

"Hey, hi... yes it's me," she breathed, holding my face in her hands "Hi."

"Hi back," I whispered before frowning. "You can't be here." I could hear Sam's words echoing in my head Poughkeepsie.

"I am here."

"You can't be. You died.. I held you when you died."

"You've been poisoned, Dean."

"What?"

"Djinn poison,” she said, standing on her tip toes to break me free from the restraints that had me hanging from the ceiling. "It took you. Think you were having a bad trip."

"What?"

"We really need to get you to the hospital," she said before unlatching my restraints. I fell to my knees with a loud thump. "Can you stand?" She crouched in front of me.

I looked at my hands. There was no age in them. I flexed my fingers. They didn't ache. What the fuck?

"Hey! Earth to Winchester!" Ava said, alarmed. "Come on, before it comes back."

I met her blue eyes. If it was real, we couldn't just run. "We need to take it down, Ave."

She rolled her eyes. "Come on, stubborn ass. Stop arguing. Sam's got it."

I gripped her shoulders, stopping her from turning away from me. "Ava, I want this to be real. I do, but you died. Djinn don't give out bad acid trips. They want you to stick around inside your head while they suck you dry, so why would I want to stay in a world without you?"

She smiled back at me gently, one I'd seen a hundred times before. The blue of her eyes seemed to almost change color in front of me. They softened and she smiled a bit. "Dean, for you, you'd always question something good. I think they gave you something bad because it was more believable," she said quietly. "But can we talk about this when we are no longer in mortal danger?"

"Ava, did you get him? We've got company!"

"Yeah, I got him!" She yelled back to Sam before meeting my eyes. "I do have you, right? You're here? You're okay."

I looked myself over. I felt like shit and my muscles were sore from being strung up, but yeah. "Yeah. I'm here. Let's go."

I let her swing my arm over her shoulder and we went out to the car. She leaned me against it and patted down my pockets, looking for the keys.

"Woah, Sweetheart, now maybe isn't the right time." I grinned lamely, still feeling the weight of her death as if it were real.

She rolled her eyes again with a gentle laugh. "I need the keys, Dean Winchester. We can do some of that later." She slid her hand into my pocket, and a little too close to the inside of my thigh before she pulled out the keys. "Bingo."

"Tease."

"Shut up." She countered before putting me into the passenger seat. "Sams got his own car. I'm taking you to the ER."

"Come on, Ave. I just need a beer, and I'll be good." I said, resting my hand on her thigh as she started the car.

"Respectfully, it isn't up to you," she said, eyeing her thigh before she pulled out of the parking lot. "So," she said quietly, glancing at me. "What'd you see?"

"Other than you dying?" I laughed weakly. "Sixteen fucking years without you."

"Wow, really? That's a long time, Dean." Her eyebrows came together. "You sure you still like me, after all of that?"

"Yeah!" I said a little too quickly. "Of course I do. What kind of question is that?"

She shrugged, idling at an intersection. "Anything weird happen in that sixteen years?"

"Well," I laughed. "Nel was dating Biker Barbie."

"Who?"

"Claire? Oh shit, um.. in my head she was Castiel's vessel's daughter."

Ava raised an eyebrow. "And who is the other person?"

"What?"

"You said that Nel is dating Biker Barbie... who is Nel?"

My blood ran cold, and suddenly my mouth felt really fucking dry. I stared at Ava. Really looked at her, from the top of her head, down her long curls, her arms, and down to the tips of her fingers. There was no wedding ring.

"Dean, you good?" She asked, her eyes wide. We were still stopped at the light despite the green signal to go.

"Uh... yeah. Shit. Sorry. What month is it?"

"March." She laughed, raising her eyebrow. "You sure you're okay? You're kind of freaking me out."

"I don't know," I admitted, feeling a hole in my stomach. She couldn't be in my imagination. I held her in my arms. I watched her grow up.

"So, who is Nel?"

We never broke up. She never got an anti possession tattoo. We never risked it. She never got pregnant. She never died. I never went to Hell.

My head was spinning.

"In my Djinn dream... she was... she was our daughter," I said, looking at my lap. It was too fucking early to tell her that. To tell her that I married her. That she fucked Sam. That she died not once, but twice in my arms. That I couldn't save her.

"We had a daughter?"

"Yeah."

I jumped when she busted up into laughter. "I'm sorry, but that's insane. Right?"

"Is it?"

"We're hunters, Dean. From what I can tell they aren't exactly the parenting type."

No kidding. I sighed. "Dunno, it ended up working out okay. She had a good life."

"You're not like, asking me to bare your children, are you?" She asked, alarmed, as we pulled into the hospital.

"No," I said quickly. "You're right. I've seen it play out." There was blood in our baby's mouth. I could stop that future from happening. I could stop Ava from dying. If she was never with Lacey and the baby she wouldn't have died in that church. My heart squeezed at the thought. "No kids in the cards for us."

"Okay, good," she said, sounding relieved. "We are just.. this is good. What we have." She reached out and touched my cheek with her open palm. "I'm not ready to share you. Sharing you with Sam is bad enough." She smiled widely.

I know the feeling. I sighed again. "Let's get me checked out so I can have a fucking beer. I'm exhausted."

  Ella

 It was storming when we arrived at the large mansion. "So this is it, huh?" I asked, swinging my legs over the side of the bike.

"Looks like it," Claire said, gesturing to the Impala that was parked outside of the gate.

"No one bothered to even move it," I said quietly, my stomach clenching. That wasn't a good sign.

"Here," Claire said, handing me a weapon.

"What's the plan?" Jack asked, staring at Claire and I, as if we would have all the answers.

I had none. I had expected him to call by now. At this point I just hoped he was alive.

"I think we should check out the perimeter, and then see the best way in. If he's as dangerous as Cas said, then he may have traps," Claire said, her eyes already scanning the property.

"Do you think we should split up?"

Claire pressed her lips together in a tight line. "Honestly, El... I don't think you two should go at all, but we are kind of low on back up right now."

I reached for her hand and squeezed it. "I'll be careful," I promised. "But you can't bench me on this, he's my Dad. He's all I've got left."

She reached up, taking my face in her hands. "And you're all I've got. So don't go getting hurt, or I'll kill you."

"Got it," I said, pressing my lips to hers. It was a promise. I couldn't let anything happen to me, because I knew what it felt like to lose someone, and I loved Claire. I couldn't do that to her, not again.

I turned to Jack. "You be careful, too, little brother. We have a kitten to get home, too. We would both miss you if something happened."

He nodded vigilantly. "I will stay alive."

"Good." I smiled, and with one more look, the three of us dissipated.

I watched Claire creep around the side of the house, and I made my way to the back. The wet soil squished under my boots. My weapon felt heavy in my hands. I could feel the weight of all of it. Of the possibilities of what I would find inside.

I closed my eyes. Come on, Dad. Where are you?

My eyes shot open, and I examined the windows on the side of the house. What are the chances? I asked myself, as I slid my finger under the window. I pushed up slowly and it creaked open. I grinned widely, and grabbed either side of the screen, popping it out of place. Idiots always leave their windows unlocked.

I slid my leg into the window and ducked inside, closing the window behind me. I didn't need to let anyone know that there was something off. The house felt eerily quiet, and my stomach dropped. I moved through the house with quiet feet on the plush carpet, unknowingly leaving wet footprints in my wake.

If I was a creepy collector, where would I keep my possessions? My eyes scanned the living room filled with old, dusty furniture. There were large bookshelves covering the walls that reminded me of the ones in the bunker. I ran my fingers along the spines. The whole house felt a little too put together, despite the layer of dust that settled on every free surface.

Every free surface but one.

I ran my fingers along the coffee table, pulling them back to find not a speck of dust on my pale pink skin. "Bingo," I said quietly, pushing the table out of the way. I got down on my knees, shoving my gun in the back of my pants. I rolled the area rug away, to expose an old wooden trap door. So fucking predictable bad guy behavior. I rolled my eyes and slowly opened the heavy trap door.

I squinted down into the hole. There were old wooden stairs leading down into absolute blackness. What we do for family. I shook my head, getting out my gun and flashlight. My right hand rested on my left as my flashlight lit my way down the stairs, my gun pointed ahead of me.

In, out, in, out, in, out.

I tried to breathe, my finger resting on the trigger. I didn't want to scare and accidentally shoot someone, or something I shouldn't. My foot rested on the stone floor at the bottom of the long staircase, exposing a strangely high ceiling, and a large echoing room. I squinted in the darkness and let my flashlight scan the room. It looked void of people, and there was a pull string in the center of the ceiling that I assumed was connected to a hanging light bulb.

I reached forward and tugged gently. The lights flickered on to expose an open room. I blinked a few times, my eyes adjusting to the artificial light. "Holy shit." I whispered. There were dozens of shelves covered in magical items, and weapons. I walked along the edge of the room, wondering how they were organized. We thought the bunker had a lot, but this was a gold mine.

The pearl.

I perked up almost immediately, and I quickly scanned the room looking for anything that could fit that description. There were spell books, knives, body parts in jars, but I didn't see any pearls.

My eyes landed on a glass case in the corner. I caught the gleam off a hanging necklace, and I immediately ran to it. There were enchanted earrings, rings, necklaces, and in the center was a perfectly round white pearl resting on a palm sided satin pillow.

My fingers curled around the knob on the door just to find it locked. I glanced around again, just to make sure I wasn't being watched, and I shrugged out of my leather coat. I wrapped it around my arm, to keep myself from being cut and to muffle the sound, and jabbed my elbow through the glass. I reached in, wrapping it in a tissue from my jacket, and pocketed the pearl. He will not have come here for nothing.

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply a few times. Come on, Dad.

"Doc gave you a clear bill of health."

"Thank god. I need a beer."

"You and me both, babe."

My eyes shot open. Dad?

  Dean

 "Dad?"

I looked around, my arm swung over Ava's shoulder as we walked out of the hospital.

"Sam said he will meet us at the bar. Djinn is taken care of,” Ava said, glancing at her phone.

"Huh? Oh. Right."

"You sure you're good?"

I looked down at Ava. Her big blue eyes reflected the full moon. I tapped under her chin with my index finger. "Yeah, I'm good." I smiled. "How far is the bar? Let's walk."

She grinned widely. "You want to walk? You have brain damage for sure, Winchester."

"That's rude, Langston," I said bumping her with my hip. It felt weird not calling her Winchester. Felt weird that she wasn't my wife, even though I guess she never was.

"I'm a rude person, what can I say?" She wrapped her arms around me and reached up to kiss me.

I leaned down to meet her halfway. I forgot, in my time under, how short she really was. I ran my thumb across her jaw.

"Dad? Can you hear me?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Did you hear something?"

"No." Ava laughed, reaching up to touch my forehead. "Don't make me put you on bed rest."

"Will you be there?" I grinned at her. "Because if so... I definitely need some medical attention." I wiggled my eyebrows at her and she hit my chest playfully.

"Dad you have to listen to me!"

I turned behind me and squinted. A vague shape stood under the streetlight, but as I tried to make it out the light blinked out. "That's... uh.."

"What?" Ava turned.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "I think I'm seein shit. You may be right, maybe I've still got some Djinn juice in my system. Maybe we should skip the beer."

"You got it big guy." She rested her hand on my chest, directly over my heart.

"Dad! Ugh! Dean Winchester!"

"Okay I really heard it this time."

"Heard what?"

"My name." I squinted into the darkness, and like a fucking truck hit me I felt it. Hands on my shoulders from in front of me. A gentle shake. I looked down and saw nothing. "The fuck..."

"Listen to me! God you can't be dead.. come on.. I can hear you!"

I frowned. The voice sounded familiar, I just couldn't quite grasp it. "Who's there?"

"Dean? You're freaking me out..." Ava reached for my hand, but I ignored her stepping toward the street light. I glanced up and almost as if I willed it, the light flickered on, exposing a short girl in a leather jacket.

Her hair was mine. Her lips. The terror painted on her young face. Her name danced to my lips before I could even wonder who she was. "Eleanor?"

"You're safe," she said breathlessly before running and jumping directly into my arms.

"Hey.. how are you...?"

I blinked a few times.

It was a lie. It was all a lie. I buried my face in her hair, unsure of which reality was going to slip through my fingers at any given moment. Unsure of which one I wanted to.

—————

Chapter Six, Dream a Little Dream of You

Get caught up!

Tag list:

@deans-baby-momma

@xjamiedennettx

@linki-locks11

@sonnierae26

[meenasmoon]

We Need A Little Christmas

The moment Johnny opened the door he was met by an eager Meena clad in an apron and covered randomly in flour and various unidentified substances, “Did they say they’ll come?”

He pretended to pout and dramatically swept his fiance into his arms, “All ya care abaht is my family now. Ya got no time fer lil old me. No kiss at the door, and no cookies.”

Meena just laughed in response and wrapped her arms around her gorilla, planting a big kiss on his cheek, much to his frustration. “Ya missed.”

Meena giggled and placed another kiss on his cheek, this time closer to his lips which were currently pulled into a pout, “Miss again love.”

She place a tiny kiss on the corner of his mouth and Johnny impatiently turned his head to capture her teasing lips in a sweet kiss. Meena smiled into their kiss and relaxed into his embrace, neither of them caring that she was probably transferring her cooking mess all over him. When she finally pulled away he gave her a cheeky wink that sent her into giggles again.

“So are they coming?” She asked again, effectively killing the moment that had settled between them. Johnny was about to tease her again but he caught the worried look in her eyes and gave in, capturing her hand and giving it a little squeeze.

“Of course they’re comin’ love. They’re all excited too.” He watched her entire face light up as she clapped her hands excitedly and rushed into the kitchen, rambling about all of the dishes that she had planned for their holiday meal in a few hours. She was halfway through preparing most of them and as Johnny stepped into their kitchen he stood gaping at the mess while Meena bustled around and sang happy Christmas songs to herself.

When Johnny had sufficiently recovered from the shock of seeing the mess that was their kitchen he leaned against the doorway to watch the woman he loved as she worked. Ever since she had come up with the idea to have his family over for Christmas this year, he had been silently apprehensive. His father and uncles had been finally released from prison this month and had slowly been settling back into normal life at the garage that Johnny had been running since they had been arrested. His apprehension came from the fact that his family hadn’t really celebrated Christmas beyond a small tree and a few presents since his mother had died. Meena, however, had insisted that they just needed some Christmas spirit in their lives and had gone all out for their Christmas.

To prepare he had been tasked with decorating their small house with lights while she decorated the inside and made dinner. He had come in earlier that day from setting up lights to find Meena frantically worrying about inviting his family over. He had volunteered to invite them over in person and drop off some paperwork for the garage and she had shooed him off with a thermos of ‘Christmas coffee’.

Once Johnny had gotten to the garage he had been enthusiastically greeted by his father and uncles and they had talked idly about business until Johnny finally brought the topic up. His family had seemed happy to receive the invite and Johnny was eager to tell his father about his upcoming wedding that night but now as he saw how intricately Meena had decorated the house and the size of the meal she was planning, his was afraid that it wouldn’t turn out to be the perfect family Christmas that she was obviously expecting.

Johnny banished his worries with the decision that he would help Meena make everything perfect and hope for the best, after all no one could resist Meena when she was in such a cheery mood. It was positively infectious. He let a soft smile spread over his face and captured Meena as she bustled past him and danced her playfully around the kitchen to the tune of Jingle Bell Rock that chimed from the kitchen radio. Meena let out a happy laugh and let his spin her around their kitchen, neither of them really doing anything specific besides swaying and spinning. They didn’t need specific dance moves to make the moment perfect.

“ ‘ave I told ya ‘ow much I love ya today?” Johnny suddenly asked and Meena’s cheeks grew slightly redder as she leaned her head on Johnny shoulder and let him sway her back and forth.

“Yes, but I could always use a reminder.” She whispered and Johnny smiled gently down at her, leaning forward to whisper in her ear.

“I love you Meena.” He whispered and he heard her hum out a reply. They stayed in their loose dance for a few more minutes before the beeping oven shattered their little love bubble. Meena practically jumped away from him and ran to the oven to rescue the tray of cookies from the mouth of the beast. She turned away from the tray to put in another one and Johnny saw his chance, darting forward and snatching a hot cookie off of the tray so he could shove it into his mouth. With the other tray safely baking Meena glared as best she could at her adorable fiance as he tried to act innocent and chew the fresh cookie at the same time.

“Johnny Bannerton. These cookies are for our guests.” She scolded him but he just winked and ran out of the kitchen and away from danger. He hid in the living room, admiring the elegant Christmas tree covered in a mix of their ornaments and the decorations that had been spread around the room. He honestly had no idea how she managed to do so much in so little time, and eventually he came to the conclusion that she must have some kind of Christmas magic.

A few hours later Johnny was watching a Miracle on 34th Street in the living room while Meena put the finishing touches on dinner. She had made him change into the ugly Christmas sweater that her Grandmother had made him and he was pleasantly surprised by how soft and comfortable it was. There was a loud knock on the door and Johnny leapt from the couch, hurrying out into the hall so he could intercept his family before Meena got to them, but he was too late.

She was opening the door, clothed in her own handmade sweater, an excited smile on her face. His father and uncles were awkwardly standing on the front step, cradling a bottle of wine that was obviously meant as a gift. He watched Meena eagerly accept it and usher them inside and out of the cold weather. They shed their winter clothes as Meena admired the wine and excused herself to put it into the fridge to chill. Johnny saw his chance and swept in to greet his family.

“’Ey dad. Uncle Barry. Uncle Stan.” He gave them each a hug and Big Daddy nodded towards the kitchen where Meena had disappeared to.

“She’s quite a ball o’ energy tha’ one.” He said but it was with a smile so Johnny tok it as a good thing.

“She’s usually a lot calmer but all of yas comin’ fer Christmas ‘as ‘er all excited.” Big Daddy chuckled but any reply he was going to give was cut off by Meena reappearing, armed with a tray of eggnog and her fresh baked cookies. Johnny watched in absolute amazement as his Uncles swarmed her and eagerly accepted her offerings. He had expected Uncle Barry to dive for the cookies seeing as he had the biggest sweet tooth in the family but stoic Uncle Stan gleefully drinking eggnog and raining praises down on a blushing Meena was the farthest thing from what he had expected.

“Th-thank you!” Meena finally got out in between words and gave both gorillas a sunny smile, “I thought you guys could enjoy this and some Christmas movies while I finish dinner.”

Big Daddy accepted his own glass of eggnog and a couple cookies off of the tray before fixing Meena with one of the softest smiles Johnny had ever seen on his father’s expressive face. Big Daddy had been raised in the mob and had been a hard, loud, passionate man since as long as Johnny could remember. The only other time he had seen his father smile like that had been when his mother was alive. He felt a jolt go through his chest and his heart swelled when he realized that this was Big Daddy’s way of making Meena feel welcome in their family. It was an encouraging sign for their engagement announcement.

“Thank ya fer this Meena. Do ya need any ‘elp in the kitchen?” Big Daddy offered and Meena’s smile got bigger if that was even possible at this point.

“No no no. I’ve got it covered. You just relax and enjoy.” She replied and Big Daddy gave her a nod and a smile before following his brothers into the living room where Stan had taken center seat on the couch and was practically glued to the TV screen while Barry was examining his plate of cookies like it was a gift from heaven.

Johnny tried to follow Meena into the kitchen but was promptly kicked out with an affectionate kiss on the cheek and a parting comment, “Johnny go hang out with your family.”

Johnny knew she was just too nice to tell him that she didn’t want him anywhere near food. Years of living on his own with Ash had taught him that he burned everything he touched. He wandered over to the entrance of the living room and paused there for a second to listen in to his family’s conversation.

“Marcus! ‘Ave ya ‘ad one of these cookies?” His Uncle Barry’s words were muffled by the cookies already in his mouth but there was an almost childlike excitement in it, “It’s loike every bite is a taste of ‘eaven!”

Johnny had to hold himself back from joining his father in laughter at this new side of his uncle. His Uncle Stan remained relatively quiet but he was relaxed in a way that Johnny had never seen before. He had taken off his suit jacket and was leaning back against the couch, nearly finished with his first glass of eggnog.

They had lapsed into a comfortable silence so Johnny slipped into the living room and joined his uncle on the couch. Just like when he was younger he was immediately pulled into a headlock and his perfectly styled hair was subsequently ruined by his uncle’s fist giving him a noogie. He laughed and wriggled out of the hold, thankful that he was finally big enough and strong enough to escape on his own. He was so happy, laughing with his family for the first time in the longest time and watching the love of his life easily charm them that he blurted it out.

“Meena and I are gettin’ married.”

The room immediately went silent as they all slowly realized what Johnny had just said. Suddenly all eyes were on Johnny, who felt like shrinking back into the couch under their scrutiny. Johnny looked up uncertainly at his dad, suddenly and irrationally worried that his engagement wouldn’t be accepted by his father and therefore return their relationship to how it was before prison.

Meena chose that moment to return to the room with some more cookies and a pitcher of eggnog for refills. She gave the cookies to Barry who eagerly returned her smile and kissed her hand, making her blush. She moved on to refill Stan’s glass and the taller gorilla returned her gesture with a nod of his head and a tiny smile that only made her blush more. Finally she looked between Big Daddy and Johnny as if suddenly noticing the tension in the room.

“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes...is that okay?” She looked so uncertain that every mammal in the room practically jumped to comfort her. Johnny reached for her and his uncles clamores to praise the food that they had already gotten but it wasn’t until Big Daddy stood and pulled her into a tight hug that they quieted down. Johnny watched in amazement as his dad swallowed Meena up in a hug.

“Daan’t worry abaht timin’ love. Take ya time.” He sounded a little choked up to Johnny and he could swear that he saw a little tear roll down his father’s cheek. When he finally released Meena she gave Johnny a confused look but he just shrugged and gave her a kiss.

“We’ll be in in a minute love.” He whispered against her cheek and Meena gave him a smile before hurrying back into the kitchen. Johnny turned to his father but before he could say anything he was swept up into a crushing hug that he had yet to grow familiar with. After a second of surprise, Johnny wrapped his arms around his dad and faintly felt his uncles join in on the hug.

“I’m real proud of ya son.” Big Daddy whispered in a hoarse voice and Johnny felt himself choke up when the wave of his father’s approval hit him, “She’s perfect for ya.”

Johnny pulled back from the hug and smiled up at his dad, “I know.”

“Let’s go get some supper. I’m starvin’!” Big Daddy declared loudly and the emotional moment faded to the background as they walked into the dining room and found themselves face to face with the largest spread of food that they had ever seen. None of their previous Christmas dinners even came close to the spread that covered every inch of the table and filled the room with heavenly smells. Meena was standing at one end of the table, setting the dish of mashed potatoes on the table when they walked in. As soon as she saw them her face lit up and she shyly gestured to the table.

“Does it look okay?” She asked nervously as she straightened out a dish of seared vegetables. Johnny just gasped at her for a second then hurried over and swept her up into a passionate kiss. Meena let out a squeak of surprise but fell easily into the kiss. They stood locked in their embrace for a minute before Big Daddy finally cleared his throat and brought them back to earth.

Meena was red faced for half the dinner while Johnny directed attention to her food and chatted about the garage with his uncles. As they were nearing the end of the meal and the food was steadily disappearing  Big Daddy stood up and raised his wine glass to the table.

“I just wanna thank Meena fer this lovely meal and fer ‘avin’ us tonight. It’s been awhile since dis family ‘ad a proper Christmas and ya gave us one. We needed a lil Christmas in our lives after these couple years.” He was about to take a sip of his wine when he suddenly smiled and winked at her, “And welcome to the family.”

Meena gaped up at her future father-in-law for a minute before turning to her sheepish fiancé. “You told them without me?!”

Johnny shrugged and kissed her cheek, “Merry Christmas love.”

[kevinmoyer]

Rustic Wedding at Hereford Ranch in Jackson Hole :: Nikki & Rob

Whenever the grandmothers and mothers get involved as matchmakers (and the phrase “Must love dogs” comes up), you know it’s going to be a good story. This sentimental wedding in Jackson Hole is full of so many hilarious and sweet behind-the-scenes details from the bride, from the meaning behind their magical ceremony venue and the arch hand-carved by the bride’s father to everyone’s antics on the dance floor during the reception. It’s always such a treat to get a wedding from Snippet & Ink Select vendor Carrie Patterson, and Nikki and Rob’s darling celebration is undoubtedly one of our favorites. We think it’s best if we let Nikki kick things off, herself…

Rob and I were introduced to each other by our grandmothers and with the help of my mother. My mother (Patti) was visiting her mother/my grandmother (Grandma Pat) in Vero Beach Florida. One day when they were leaving church they ran into Rob’s grandmother (Mary Fran, aka, Violet). My grandmother told Violet that her daughter Patti was visiting from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Violet said she had a grandson that lived in Jackson Hole. At the mention of that my mom’s ears perked up and she asked, “is he single, is he tall, and does he have a dog?” Apparently, those were my top criteria in a partner… Anyway, Violet answered yes to all three. My mom then handed Violet a piece of paper with my name and number on it and told her to have her grandson give me (Nikki) a call. After three weeks of his grandmother (Violet) pestering Rob to call me, he finally relented. Less than a week later we went on our first date…

Photography by Carrie Patterson

The Ceremony

Why did you choose this location for your ceremony? We got married on my (bride’s) family’s cattle ranch, the Jackson Hole Hereford Ranch, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in front of a cabin my great-grandfather built in the 1930s.The cabin and the property it sits on provided the backdrop for four generations of my family’s memories. Some of my greatest childhood memories were made at the cabin, in the creek that runs next to it, and in the woods surrounding it.

When Rob and began dating it became the place we escaped to on the weekends. It’s where we spent hours and days fly-fishing, walking the dogs, hunting for antlers and morel mushrooms, snowshoeing, and the list goes on. The cabin is truly a magical place and one of the most romantic places in all of Jackson if you ask me. Deciding to have our wedding there wasn’t really something we thought or talked about, it was just assumed.

Your ceremony in three words.  Ranch. Outdoor. Catholic. Playful. (Sorry, that was 4.)

How did you go about planning your ceremony? The ceremony was the one part of the wedding where Rob and I took a backseat. Both of our grandmothers (the grandmothers who set us up) are Catholic, and it was important to them that the ceremony was as close to a traditional Catholic ceremony as possible. Luckily they were ok with the ceremony being outside and not in the church – something that was very important to both Rob and myself. Everything we do in Jackson is outdoors, from skiing, to fly-fishing, camping, mountain biking, and so on. Because of this, we wanted the ceremony to take place outside surrounded by all the natural beauty Jackson has to offer. We were also allowed to choose the readings and music and we did our best to make them as lighthearted as we could.

Who officiated your ceremony? How did you choose him/her? Father Beavers officiated the wedding. He was the priest at Our Lady of the Mountains church in Jackson Hole during my (the bride’s) childhood. He was born and raised in Wyoming, is an avid fly-fisherman and hunter and was very supportive of us having the ceremony outside.

Did you include any traditions in your ceremony? The only tradition we really included in the ceremony involved the veil I wore. The veil was a family veil that has been used by women in my family (on my mother’s side) since the 1920s. Every bride that has worn the veil has both her and the groom’s initials and wedding date stitched into the lace.

What was your ceremony music?  Seating of the families: Arioso, Johann Sebastian Bach // Processional of the Wedding Party: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Johann Sebastian Bach / Bride’s Entrance: Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong // Exchange of Vows and Rings: Ave Maria, Laura Turner // Recessional: Little Martha, The Allman Brothers Band

What were your ceremony readings? First Reading: Songs of Songs 2:8-10, 14, 16a; 8:6-7a // Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 33:12 and 18, 20-21, 22, The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord // Second Reading: Colossians 3:12-17 // Matthew 22:35-40 // Prayer of the Faithful

What were your vows like? We chose to use the standard wedding vows.

What was your favorite thing about your wedding ceremony? My favorite thing about the ceremony was getting married underneath the log arch my father made from a tree that had fallen down on our Ranch. He carved an “N” into the left footing of the arch and an “R” into the right one. On the log that hung overhead he carved our wedding “brand” and then flanked it with two elk antlers that we also found on the Ranch.

Our ceremony was supposed to be outdoors with no tent. However, the day we got married was one of the rainiest days of the entire summer. At the last minute we decided to have a tent brought in for the ceremony. And instead of placing it in front of the arch (which would ruin the ambiance and photos) we decided to have it set up next to the ceremony site, just in case there was a chance the weather would clear. This also meant that we might not get married underneath the log arch. All of the benches and chairs were also put under the tent in preparation for the ceremony.

About 15-20 minutes before the ceremony I spotted some blue sky headed our way. I turned to my wedding planner, apologized, and asked if she could instruct the guests to move all of the chairs and benches back in front of the arch. She looked at me like I was insane, and said she wasn’t sure people would help with that. I told her those are Wyoming people out there, I promise they won’t bat an eye at my request and getting married outside, under that arch was one of THE most important things for me today. She went back out and asked all of our able-bodied guests to help move the chairs/benches to the original ceremony site. We have some pretty great photos of our guests (most of them being Robs college buddies) hauling chairs across the field. The next day I apologized to many of them, but they said they loved it. Walking through the muddy field made it feel even more like a Wyoming Ranch Wedding.

Seeing that our window of blue sky was small, the groomsmen, bridesmaids, flower girls and ring bearer booked it over the bridges and to the ceremony site. Father Beavers did his best to talk fast and keep the ceremony moving and after about 20 minutes (or so it felt) we were married and even had about 10 minutes to spare for some family photos.

Is there anything else that you’d like to share about your wedding ceremony? We had one of our closest friends and Rob’s former roommate, Patrick Sheehy do one of our readings. Patrick, aka, BigP is about 6’4” and one of our louder/funnier friends. We thought we would have a little fun with his reading, and like I said, we tried to make our Catholic wedding as lighthearted as possible. So, we had him read the following.

“Hark! my lover—here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Here he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices. My lover speaks; he says to me, “Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come! “O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff, Let me see you, let me hear your voice, For your voice is sweet, and you are lovely. My lover belongs to me and I to him. He says to me: “Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; For stern as death is love, relentless as the nether-world is devotion; its flames are a blazing fire. Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away.”

Rob and I couldn’t look each other in the eyes for a solid 5 minutes after this reading because we were trying our hardest (unsuccessfully) to hold back laughter. We were not alone though, every single one of our friends who knew Pat was laughing so hard they were in tears.

What was the best advice you received as a bride? The best advice I received was “Stay present!!” It’s so easy to get caught up in all the craziness of your wedding planning and especially your wedding day. Take some time to pause and be thankful. Take a moment during the reception to step back, look around, and really take it all in.

What advice do you have for other couples in the midst of planning a wedding? Make it personal. Decide what the three or four most important elements of your wedding day are to you both and work backwards from there. // And just roll with whatever gets thrown at you on your wedding day. August is typically a pretty dry month in Jackson, yet it poured and poured on our wedding day. Shuttles got stuck in the mud, straw had to be brought in to cover the muddy walkways, the bottom of my dress was so muddy it looked almost ombre, and instead of driving away in my great-grandfather’s 1955 Coupe DeVille Cadillac we rode away on an ATV. Instead of thinking our day was ruined by the rain we think of it as being made memorable by it. No one will forget the time their shuttle got stuck and the were carried piggy back to a wedding by their boyfriend/husband.

The Reception

How would you describe your reception? Best. Party. Ever. I couldn’t believe how quickly midnight arrived. The band was great, the beer was flowing, and we were surrounded by our closest friends and family. What more could you ask for? Honestly, I didn’t want the night to end. Everyone was dancing, the energy was contagious, and the love was in the air. There were at least a few dance floor make outs that took place…

Why did you choose this location for your reception? We had the reception across the spring creek from our ceremony. Most people who get married in Jackson choose a location with the Grand Tetons “Tetons” in the background. We both love the Tetons but it was more important for us to get married somewhere that held sentimental value to us. The Jackson Hole Hereford Ranch and the Cabin are a huge piece of my family’s history in Jackson, going all the way back to the 1940s. It’s also the place (land) we fell in love at, and it’s the land we hope to pass on to our (future) children.

What inspired you when you were planning your wedding? We wanted every aspect to feel as personal as possible. We used the cabin itself, the Jackson Hole Hereford Ranch Ranch, and our favorite elements of Jackson Hole to provide us with inspiration. I’m a 5th generation Jackson native so it was important to me and to Rob to pay tribute to my family’s roots in Jackson. We did this in small, subtle ways such as when we used a photo of one of my grandfather’s paintings (by one of our more famous local artists, Archie Teater) on our invitations and place cards.

In addition, we wanted our wedding to be a celebration not just of us, but also a celebration of our friends and family. We wanted to celebrate all those that have been there for us and provided us with so much love and support throughout our lives. Our reception was filled with so much joy, love, and fun that at times it was overwhelming. The whole night was so surreal and humbling.

What type of cake or dessert did you serve? 1) A Reason to Celebrate – A White Cake and Cupcakes with layers of Fresh Raspberries and Champagne Buttercream 2) Espresso Toffee Crunch – Dense Chocolate Cake and Cupcakes with Cowboy Coffee, Espresso Buttercream and Toffee Pieces throughout 3) A Reason to Celebrate (gluten free/dairy free/nut free) White Cake with layers of Fresh Raspberries and Champagne Buttercream

Says bride Nikki, “Me and my sister have a whole host of food allergies and for a while I had accepted I probably wouldn’t be able to have cake I could actually eat at my wedding. But, I was lucky enough to find Ashley from Everything But the Dress who was so so so accommodating of my sister and me. Not only did she make a cake without gluten, eggs, dairy or nuts, but it actually tasted incredible!”

Did you have a signature cocktail? No, but we did have a canoe filled with PBR…

What was your first dance song? Father/daughter or mother/son dance?

First Dance: “Crazy Love.” by Van Morrison Father/Daughter: “Daughter,” Loudon Wainwright III Mother/Son: “What a Wonderful World.” by Louis Armstrong

What was your favorite moment or part of the reception? Boy, just one. That’s impossible. There were so many! The first dance and father/daughter dances and were two of my favorite parts of the whole wedding. // Our first dance was really the first/only moment we had “alone” together the whole night and even week. It was so nice to finally have it be just the two of us without any distractions. It kind of gave us a moment to catch our breath and connect before the party really started. // My dad and I chose to dance to the song, “Daughter,” by Loudon Wainwright III. We came upon it when looking for our song and when we both heard it we couldn’t help but laugh, the lyrics could not have described our relationship more perfectly. My dad is an incredible swing dancer and I like to think the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree… So when it was our turn, and without any practice prior to the wedding, we walked onto the dance floor and crushed it. My dad is my hero and the dance showed how incredibly close and in synch we both are. And when we walked off the dance floor and past Rob as he went to dance with his mother, Rob turned to my dad and said, “Goddammit Robert, how am I supposed to follow that.” My dad and I just smiled and shrugged. // Another favorite moment was the maid of honor and best man speeches, made by my sister and Rob’s brother. They were hilarious and terrifyingly similar. Rob and I are both the oldest children, me with a younger sister and three younger brothers, and Rob with one younger brother. Both speeches touched on the “tough love” and “wisdom” we freely offered our siblings. They had everyone – including us – in tears. // The worm. My sister and I are known for doing the worm at weddings, parties, and even in bars… So naturally we had to do it at my wedding. We tied the bottom of our dresses in knots, threw on a denim button down (the shirts we got ready in) and hopped in the middle of the dance circle to get our worm on.

  Did you include any other traditions in your wedding? My something old was a beaded purse of my Grandmother’s (the one who set me up with Rob), my something new was my shoes/dress, my something borrowed was the family veil I wore, my something blue were Rob’s grandmother’s (the other one who helped set us up) diamond and sapphire earrings he gave me the week before our wedding.

Are there any DIY details you’d like to tell us about? Yes. We wanted as many of the details as possible to reflect us as a couple, the town we fell in love in, and the land that provided the backdrop to our ceremony/wedding. My dad is also an incredible carpenter, so he was able to help add a lot of personal touches throughout the entire wedding. // My dad built the stunning arch we were married under using a fallen pine tree from the Ranch. My dad pealed, stained, carved and assembled the logs and also came up with the design without any help from me. It was a true labor of love and it really made the ceremony feel that much more personal and full of love. // My dad built three corn hole games by hand. They were beautiful works of art and on one set he carved our initials and the date of our wedding. We got to keep that set and we use it at all of our BBQs and summer parties. We had custom corn hole bags made with our wedding “brand” on them. // We made the table numbers and seating cardholders using logs from my parent’s deck they recently tore down. My dad, sister, and I cut stained and painted each one by hand. We also made all of the signs around the ceremony/reception. // The antler chandelier that hung over the dance floor was made using elk antlers collected from the land surrounding the cabin. // The cowhide rug in the seating area was a hide from one of our cows from our ranch. // The morels on one of the appetizers were foraged on the Ranch by Rob, my family, and myself.

If you had it to do over again, is there anything you would do differently? Everything about our wedding was perfect. It may not have all happened according to plan, but it happened how it was supposed to. The only thing I would have done differently was delegate a little better, and to ask for more help, especially the week of the wedding. I was worried about being bossy or needy, so instead I took on way more than I could handle and ended up running myself a bit ragged. I realize now that when people ask what they can do to help, the genuinely want to help you make your wedding the best it can possible be.

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