#pairing: Gabe/Jill

[spurgie-cousin]

I feel it was arranged in the sense that Bri found Nurie first and got to know the family through her, and was Jill’s perfect combination of flattering and submissive and it was decided to pair him up with the next available son, which was Sam (since I think Phillip was going through his issues around the time that Bri started traveling with Nurie and Nathan, Tim was already engaged and Gabe was still too young)

There was also speculation that Nathan and Nurie’s church was like 2-3 hours from where Bri lived when she started going there, so it was assumed that she intentionally sought them out to get closer to the Rod family. That’s probably also a little bit of where my ‘arranged courtship’ feelings come from. He might actually really like her (wouldn’t know it from their photoshoot) but I think they were heavily pushed together by Jill and Bri herself.

Also I think what really raised the eyebrows and red flags for people was the age and world experience gap. What would make a 25 year old secular college graduate want to hitch up with a freshly 20 year old recent graduate of fundie homeschool, who clearly had a different upbringing and lives several states away?

Kind of like I said in the last answer, I agree that this and all the marriages were probably set up in some way by Jill and David, and I mostly think that's because the pool of Acceptable Marriage Candidates for any of the Rodrigues kids is very, very small. And I'm sure Nurie is aware of whatever level of bigotry makes someone acceptable to marry into their family, seeing as she's done it before lol, so I also don't disagree that she's the one that made Jill and David aware of Brianne initially.

And I'm not saying anything definitely about Brianne's character bc honestly she seems weird as hell, although I will add that based on the reddit AMA her childhood friend did she grew up Catholic, not secular like a lot of people think, and apparently with very controlling parents. Personally, I just haven't seen any evidence that she's anything but a weird fundie Baptist convert.

I also don't know for sure where she lived at the time she started attending Nathan's church, I thought I'd heard she was in the area but who knows if that's true. But I'd also argue that, if I were an IBLP flavored fundie Christian convert, a Keller family-run church might be a bigger draw than anything the Rods have going on.......at 25 she is certainly among the generation who might've watched those Duggar reruns, which featured the Kellers (incl Nathan occasionally) waaaaay more than they ever did the Rods (I think we saw them in the crowd for a wedding, once). So if you're in a fanatical fundie mindset, the Kellers are honestly more fundie "royalty" by a long shot, but as a woman it's not like you could hangout with Nathan and his fam alone, so you get close to his wife, meet her family when they come visit a few times a year etc, etc.

Genuinely I'm not trying to stand up for Brianne lol, I'm ngl it's just bugging me that they're have been sooooo many similar fundie relationships with the genders reversed, even with the age gap and life circumstances of one of the spouses, but nobody really gets all conspiratorial like they (mostly reddit tbh) are doing with this relationship. It just feels like a lot of people might be making an exception because Samuel is conventionally hot and Brianne is older and a woman.

[gacmediadaily]

Carlos PenaVega and Alexa PenaVega will lead Great American Family‘s “Love at the Kettle,” set to debut as part of the network’s Christmas lineup at the end of 2024. “Love at the Kettle” (working title), written by Horace Priester, is executive produced by Mario Lopez, Mark Roberts and the PenaVegas; it is directed by Brian Herzlinger.

The pair will play high school friends who reunite at the holidays as she returns home and enlists him to help her write a song to win back her ex.

Per the press release, “As the two reunite for the first time in a decade, they embark on a Christmas journey down memory lane, and soon realize true love may be closer than they thought. The heart of the movie centers on Jack’s role with The Salvation Army, and Bella soon finds herself inspired by his devotion and passion to a life of doing the most good. Filled with charming original music and its share of twists and turns, ‘Love At the Kettle’ demonstrates the importance of never losing sight of the ones who matter the most.”

“We are so excited about Love at the Kettle because it represents everything Carlos and I love about Christmas and the holiday season. We want to be a light in this industry and to offer families positive, uplifting and faith-filled stories,” says Alexa. Carlos adds, “We also feel fortunate to have worked with The Salvation Army for a number of years, and we look forward to representing the authentic goodness behind the brand and mission.”

Great Amerian Media president and CEO Bill Abbott adds, “The PenaVegas are about faith, family, compassion, and love. With Alexa and Carlos starring in and co-executive producing with Mario Lopez a story that celebrates faith, Christmas, and one of the most beloved charitable organizations in America, The Salvation Army — it is guaranteed to be a winning moment for our viewers.”

Additionally, “Great American Christmas in July” will kick off on the first of the month on both the network and streaming on Great American Pure Flix with 24/7 holiday movies, royal movie marathons and faith-filled stories.

Movies will air featuring Candace Cameron Bure, Danica McKellar, Jill Wagner, Chad Michael Murray, Jen Lilley, Lori Loughlin, Trevor Donovan, Laura Osnes, Merritt Patterson, Paul Greene, Cameron Mathison, Jennie Garth, Christopher Russell and more. This year’s event includes encores of “My Christmas Hero,” “A Christmas Blessing,” “A Paris Christmas Waltz,” “A Royal Date for Christmas,” “Christmas Keepsake,” “‘Twas the Text Before Christmas,” “A Dash of Christmas,” “Christmas on Windmill Way,” “Destined 2: Christmas Once More” and “Meet Me Under the Mistletoe.”

On Great American Pure Flix, viewers can stream “Peppermint & Postcards,” starring Ella Cannon and Christopher Russell on July 1, “Bringing Christmas Home,” starring Jill Wagner and Paul Greene on July 4, “My Christmas Hero,” starring Candace Cameron Bure and Gabe Hogan on July 4, “Designing Christmas,” starring Susie Abromeit and Liam McIntyre on July 11, and “Sunrise in Heaven,” starring Caylee Cowan, Travis Burns and Corbin Bernsen on July 11.

[gvbejvmes]

Task: Family Tree

Rating: PG

Characters: Gabe and Nattie

Mentioned relationships: Gabe/Jill, Gabe/Nancy, Gabe/Johnny, Dusty/Jill

Gabe was sprawled across the the couch, his worn copy of Catch-22 propped on his chest as he read. Natalie was sitting on the floor near him, doing her homework on the coffee table (whatever it was that passed for homework for a first grader these days). “Uncle Gabe,” she murmured out after awhile. He slid a bookmark into his book and set it off to the side before sitting up. Every time she used that tone of voice, he knew they were going to have a long conversation. He loved it though. It was always interesting to have long conversations with little kids - they saw the world in a way that always inspired him. “Hmm?”

She turned to look at him. “We’re supposed to write about our families and my teacher gave us a sheet, but mine doesn’t work on the sheet.” She all but huffed out, sighing dramatically. After crawling onto the couch with him, she showed Gabe her assignment sheet. “See! There’s a spot to write out my mom and dad’s names.” She showed him where she’d already neatly printed their names. “And then there’s a spot to write step parents so I wrote your name, too.” She showed him the paper again. “And siblings so I wrote Cordy and DJ and Juliet. But I don’t know how to put everyone else.”

Pressing his lips together, Gabe scrubbed his hand over his mouth. “That does sound like a problem.” He agreed before rummaging around in the side table for one of his sketchbooks and a pencil. “Let’s see if we can fix that.” He sketched out a tree, and handed it over to Nattie. “Okay, let’s write your name at the bottom of the tree.” He waited until she did it before continuing on. “Now draw a little line. Good. Let’s write your mom and dad's names there.”

He looked at her and work and leaned over with another pencil to make her line a little darker. “Okay, let’s do some dashes next to your mom’s name.” He coached out.

Nattie nodded excitedly. “Then we write your name, right?” She asked, getting what Gabe was having her do. “And then I’m gonna draw a line like mine but under your name and two of them cuz you have two kids.” She stuck her tongue out as she focused on her task. “And then I’m gonna draw x’s and put Aunt Satan’s name there cuz she’s Cordy and DJ’s mommy, right?”

It took everything in Gabe not to start laughing. “Your teacher might be scared if you put Aunt Satan. The girls’ mom’s name is Nancy.” He told her, grinning as Nattie erased the name she originally wrote and printed out ‘Nanci.’ He did chuckle slightly. “It’s with a ‘Y’.” He correctly kindly.

She nodded and fixed it. “So you have two kids with her and Cordy has Bella.” She drew a line under Cordelia’s name and wrote Bella.  “And you have Juliet with Uncle Johnny.” She said very seriously as she drew a line of x’s and wrote Johnny’s name. Then she drew a line between their names and started writing Juliet’s name, giving up after Juli. “Now, how do I put that you and Daddy are cousins…” She mused out loud. “And that we’re cousins, too.”

Gabe blinked for a moment as he stared at the tree. “Hey, Nat. Are you gonna put Juliet’s mommy’s name, too?” He asked, brows crinkling together as he tried to remember what it was. It’s not like he met the woman, but he was sure he knew it.

“I did.” Nattie told him, looking at Gabe like he was a moron. “There’s Johnny, and then there’s you. Like the penguins from that book. You got a baby and you raised it. Johnny’s definitely the daddy which makes you the mommy.” She frowned at her tree. “Now… how should I draw you and Daddy’s line.”

Gabe blinked. “Nat… you know that’s not how that works, right? Gay couples aren’t just given babies.”

Natalie rolled her eyes. “Well, yeah, the big bird from Dumbo brings everyone babies. Isn’t that how Cordy got hers?” She asked curiously. “Isn’t that why you and mommy practice for my brother or sister with the door locked? ‘Cause there’s a special test the big bird makes you take before you get a baby?”

“What?” He blinked again as he tried to figure out how to respond to that. “Uh… No?” He questioned, having no clue what to say. “Uh, let’s do squiggly lines for cousins.” He said instead before looking over at one of the dogs and mouthing ‘what the fuck?’

[felix-sullivan]

a(n incomplete) list of our plots, compiled in order of what storylines we’ll prioritise & focus on. every storyline may involve as many different characters, pairings & conversations as we please, but the context & content of the conversations should ideally directly relate to the storyline in question for the duration of the plot event.

––– the order is as follows

1. lucas adoption ––

current status ––– following a fight at school, geraldine kane was called into the principle’s office to talk about her son’s involvement in the altercation. joyce foster, who has long since developed motherly feelings for lucas, has now come to the definite decision to adopt him –  to give him a steady family even after he turns 18 and because she is convinced geraldine & john kane should have no legal authority over lucas. while initially met with some resistance from her husband, george foster, the two have since agreed to bring the idea up to the family and eventually start the adoption process. of course, they didn’t want to blindside lucas, so joyce has told him about their plan just a few days ago – something lucas now has to process by himself. and with other people. the fact that his uncle weston taylor is now out of prison might change everything, anyway.

possible conversations ––– lucas & maeve. lucas & benji. lucas & wes. benji & tammi. tammi & cari. wes & piper. cari & roman. joyce & lucas. george & benji. &more.

2. tom & jill ––

current status ––– now that almost all their children are all grown up and out of the house, jill & tom sullivan have made a decision. they know they don’t want any more children, so tom agreed to a vasectomy as an alternative to hormonal or barrier contraception. only a few months after the procedure, jill noticed changes that she first attributed to menopause – a thought that scared her. though the reality of the situation ended up being the even scarier thought. she’s pregnant. 24 years after her first and 16 years after her last pregnancy. before she had even worked up the courage to tell tom, he had already found the positive pregnancy test. and there was only one possible explanation in his mind – jill cheated on him. she denies it, he’s too hurt and proud to listen. so their relationship has been on ice and the athmosphere in the whole sullivan house has been rather frigid too for a few weeks now. he doesn’t sleep in their bed anymore, drowns himself in work & jill thinks she just needs to give him time. but time doesn’t heal all wounds, especially not when he pretty much ignores her existence alltogether.

possible conversations –––  jill & clarissa. tom & john. tom & danny. jill & roman. tom & felix. roman & felix. roman & cari. felix & noah. felix & chris. &more.

3. vicky & cory ––

current status ––– vicky owens most likely thought that the day she’d see cory langley again would never come – which would have probably been for the best for everyone. but she did see him again, one afternoon, in a walmart. 17 years had passed since they last saw each other. and even though they parted in a fight that was never resolved for either of them back then, they agreed to catch up over a cup of coffee at vicky’s house. vicky’s son, noah owens aged 16, came home while cory was still over and as he was beginning to do the maths, he realised that this kid was most likely his. he left that afternoon utterly dumfounded, trying to put the pieces together. only once he was back home did it start to really sink in – he most likely has a kid. cory went back to vicky’s house a few days later, shaking with anger, and loudly demanded answers. only after he’d already started screaming at her did vicky confirm to him in a small voice, ‘he’s yours.’ noah and his boyfriend, liam caldwell-moore, stepped in once they heard the raised voices, telling the rather threatening seeming man to get away from a crying vicky without having any context of the conversation. cory now knows this life changing secret that vicky has done her all to keep sealed tight over the past 17 years, while noah remains clueless

possible conversations ––– noah & liam. cory & noah. noah & felix. vicky & cory. &more.

4. lance & the hughes ––

current status ––– lance hughes’ situation is continuing to quietly deteriorate. after his overdose nearly a year ago he was clean for a few months, but fell into a major lethargic depressive episode. when the shock of it wore off a little and marisol & john hughes loosened their reigns on him, it didn’t take long for him to find himself going back to the drugs. he’s become a good liar, a better liar, knows exactly what people like his parents and bella bennett want to hear from him. he tells her he still smokes from time to time but that’s it – nothing else.

possible conversations ––– marisol & john. marisol & jill. marisol & lance. john & tom. john & piper. lance & bella. lance & charlie. piper & wes. bella & maddie. &more.

5. gabe & ana ––

current status ––– gabe thompson and ana caldwell-moore had been sleeping together again for months behind avery caldwell-moore’s back before it started to blow up in their faces. carelessly, they were caught in the act by ana’s son, liam caldwell-moore, a couple weeks ago. he has since been refusing to talk to ana or gabe, internally battling with himself about whether he should be the one to tell his mother, avery caldwell-moore, who knows something is up but is being kept in the dark about it. ana, feeling ashamed, has also been avoiding gabe while trying to fix things at home, though he wasn’t really having any of it – he confessed to her that he wants to give the two of them a try now and asked ana to break up with her wife. ana wasn’t ready to sacrifice her family – though things might look different once she finds out that she’s currently pregnant.

possible conversations ––– gabe & ana. ana & avery. ana & liam. liam & noah. liam & hazel. liam & zara. &more.

6. maddie & dom ––

current status ––– now that their little nova has finally come into the world, things have been quite different for maddie carmichael & dom parrish. they’re now full time parents living with dom’s parents, clay & vivian parrish. maddie barely even goes into the city to see her own dad, jesse carmichael, these days. clay and vivian help out where they can, something vivian especially is happy to do because it means she can keep an eye on her son too – she’s not too thrilled about his plans to drop out of school or even them getting married. those are things that are up for discussion between maddie and dom, though they don’t always see eye to eye on those topics either. however, vivian brought up the idea of buying a place for the young parents to raise their family to clay not too long ago.

possible conversations ––– vivian & clay. vivian & dom. clay & jesse. maddie & bella. maddie & vicky. dom & nick. maddie & hazel. &more.

7. jordyn & naoki ––

current status ––– n/a.

possible conversations ––– jordyn & caleb. jordyn & khloe. naoki & tristan. tristan & matthew. eric & khloe. ted & eric. ted & tristan. &more.

8. the bennett family ––

current status ––– danny bennett came back a changed man – and his family is starting to have to pay the price for it. his helplessness is making him rude and ungrateful to his wife, clarissa bennett, who has been trying her hardest to be understanding but is slowly starting to lose her patience too. especially because there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to danny’s mood swings anymore. he’ll lash out over the smallest things, refuses therapy, drowns himself in mindless activities and even goes as far as being stricter with his children, bella & nancy bennett, than usual – anything that will give him some semblence of control.

possible conversation ––– danny & clarissa. danny & bella. danny & nancy. clarissa & jill. danny & tom. bella & maddie. bella & lance. nancy & dani. &more.

9. lennon & sasha & levi ––

current status ––– n/a

possible conversations ––– sasha & levi. lennon & sasha. toni & sasha. mona & levi. mona & lennon. sebastian & levi.

[winchestergirl-13]

The One

Prompt: “You're The One That I Want” from Grease

Pairing: Gabriel x Reader

Word Count: 2,033

A/N: Fourth and final part is now up! This part is for @sis-tafics 8K Musical Challenge. Jill, I hope you got a chance to read the other three parts and that everyone liked them. This is mostly fluff and just to remind everyone, you don’t have to change yourself just to make someone like you more. Being yourself is sometimes all you need. If you have to change to make someone like you, they don’t deserve you then. At least, that’s what I believe. Anyways, I hope you all liked this little series.

Summary: Grease meets High School Musical meets Supernatural in a four part series. Mordern day settings (HSM), but set to the songs from Grease. Each song is used by one or both characters to set the theme and story. This one is for the challenge itself.

Part One Part Two Part Three

* * *

Winter break was torture for Gabriel and (Y/N) as well. As soon as school started back up, Gabriel tried out for baseball and actually made the cut. The T-Birds were shocked to say the least, but weren't too surprised as he did have a killer fast ball. That didn't seem to matter for a while. Homecoming was coming up and (Y/N) ended up going with her friend Benny while Gabriel went by himself. It hurt to see her dancing with someone else, but he knew that he had to find a way to make it right.

One day, the volleyball team had to practice outside as the gym was being waxed. As they were running around the track to warm up before practice, the baseball team was on the other side of the tracks getting ready for the game that night. That's when Gabriel saw (Y/N). As she turned the corner, he made his way over to the fence separating the two fields and called her over.

“(Y/N)! Hey, can I talk to you?”

She was shocked to see him out in the field of all places. She thought about just ignoring him and keep going, but realized that pretending he wasn't there wasn't going to work anymore. So (Y/N) stopped and made her way to him.

“What do you want, Gabriel? More over, why are you out here of all places?”

He just smiled; she was finally talking to him again. “I joined the baseball team. And I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I never meant for that night to end the way it did. I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know you are. I got your messages...I just couldn't bring myself to reply because it did hurt. But I realized that holding onto that feeling wouldn't make things better,” she sighed, looking away for a moment before looking back at him, “I'm sorry too, Gabriel. I should've given you the chance to explain.”

“No, no. You don't have to apologize. You were right to walk away from me. Look, I know I don't deserve it, but I hope you can find it within yourself to forgive me.”

Before she could respond, she heard her coach yell over, “(L/N), get your butt back on the track!” Right as Gabriel's coach shouted, “Shurley! You can talk to your girlfriend later! Get back in the game!”

They looked at each other and gave a small laugh. (Y/N) leaned over the fence and placed a small kiss on his cheek. “I forgive you, Gabriel.” And then she took off, catching up again with her teammates. Gabriel grinned and gave a small “whoop” before getting back to the game. Maybe things will work out.

* * *

School was coming to a close in a few weeks and while The T-Birds and The Pink Ladies were friends, there were still moments where they tried to out-do the other. Most times it was Gabriel and Dean. And this time, it was a race down a deserted street and back to where they started. The Impala versus a T-bird. Both groups and school mates and random people who may or may not have gone to their school showed up to watch it. It wasn't like they were racing for pink slips or anything; more like a “my horse is bigger than your house” kind of thing. The two of them were trying to prove whose car was the best.

“There's no way your T-bird is going to beat my Baby,” Dean boasted with a prideful smirk.

“We'll see about that, Winchester. We'll see,” Gabriel replied, a matching smirk on his face. While everyone was watching them get into their cars and prepare to race off, (Y/N) was watching from a distance. Her and Gabriel have made up, but it still felt like something was missing.

“Is it me? What's missing here?” she asked herself as she watched Meg stand in between the cars and wave her scarf up and then down. Then they were off.

The T-bird and the Impala were equally matched, one then the other pulling ahead, but neither could get ahead of the other. Until they passed about a quarter of a mile before the turn back around and Dean was getting ahead. Gabriel cursed and tried to push his car faster, but the power behind the T-bird was nothing compared to the power and speed of the Impala.

Once they turned around, Dean took off and stayed ahead of Gabriel the rest of the way. He tried catching up once, but fell behind again. The cars came to a screeching halt at the start/finish line, Dean ahead by half a car length or more. Both drivers got out of their cars and Gabriel begrudgingly handed over fifty dollars.

“You win, Winchester,” he sighed, but a smirk was playing on his lips. He wasn't too upset about it.

“Told ya, nobody can beat Baby,” Dean stated, pocketing the money before thumping Gabe on the back. As the onlookers congratulated them about a great race, Charlie came over to (Y/N) and was squealing with excitement.

“Did you see that?! That was so awesome!”

“Yeah I saw Charlie. It was impressive,” she replied, looking past her friend to Gabriel before giving a sigh.

“Hey, what's wrong honey?” Charlie asked, worried something was happening between them again.

“Nothing's wrong. At least I don't think there's anything wrong. I just...” she stopped herself, the words not coming forth.

“Just what?”

With a sigh, she replied, “I feel like something's missing between me and Gabe. I'm happy things are working out between us, but it feels like something is missing. But I don't know what.” As soon as the words left her lips, she could see Charlie's brain working to find a solution. And she knew when it came to her; her whole face lit up with excitement.

“I think I know just what to do!” And with that, Charlie grabbed (Y/N) by the hand and proceeded to drag her over to her car with Dorothy following behind them. None of them noticed Gabriel watching with confusion, but figured he could ask her about it later.

* * *

It was the final day of school, graduation was tomorrow, and things were looking up. Everyone agreed to meet up at the school carnival they put on every year for the last day. Gabriel found the T-Birds rather easily; their leather jackets standing out among the crowds.

“Well looky here, boys! Gabe's got a Letterman jacket!” Garth exclaimed, crowding around their leader.

“Yeah I do,” he stated proudly.

“Wow. (Y/N) must mean a lot to you,” Castiel mentioned, looking at his cousin with awe. He was glad that Gabriel finally got his girl back.

“Yeah, she does. I wanna do good by her, and this was to prove to her that I can change.”

“Are you sure about that Gabe?” Sam questioned, tapping his shoulder and turning him to face where he was looking, all wide-eyed.

Gabriel turned against his will and cried, “What are you talking--(Y/N)?!” There standing in front of him, was his girlfriend (Y/N); dressed in dark blue jeans, a black fitted off-the-shoulder top, motorcycle boots and a leather jacket that said “Pink Ladies” in pink writing on the back. Her hair was done up in curls, laying loose over her shoulders with complimenting smoky eyes and red lips.

“Like what you see, Gabriel?” she smirked, pulling on the lollipop sticking out of her mouth. Gabriel was stumbling over his words, trying to find the right words. “You-you...wow. Why....?”

“What's the matter, sugar? Cat got your tongue?” she replied with a  little sass, batting her eyes at him.

Gabriel just shimmed out of his jacket while stating,

“I got chills,

They're multiplying

And I'm losing control

'Cause the power you're supplying,

It's electrifying!” as he fell over dramatically in front of her. (Y/N) pulled the lollipop from her mouth and tossed it away before walking right in front of him as he shifted to kneel in front of her.

“You better shape up

'Cause I need a man,

And my heart is set on you.” she started backing away from him, looking over her shoulder as he followed.

“You better shape up

You better understand

To my heart I must be true.” she turned on him, poking a finger in his chest.

“Nothing left

Nothing left for me to do” Gabriel almost promised in some way as they headed for the fun house.

“You're the one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, the one I need Oh, yes, indeed” they sang in time with one another as they danced their way up the stairs and into the fun house. “If you're filled With affection You're too shy to convey,” (Y/N) smirked, crooking a finger at Gabriel to come closer, which he did. “Meditate in my direction Feel your way” she laughed as he “fell” back in awe before turning to follow as she continued waling through the fun house. “I better shape up 'Cause you need a man” he vowed, taking her hand and pulled her close before gently pushing her back as they made their way up a ramp. “I need a man Who can keep me satisfied” (Y/N) stated, hooking her finger under his chin before tapping his nose playfully. “I better shape up If I'm gonna prove” he started as they met on a walkway. “You better prove That my faith is justified” she confirmed as she hooked her arms around his neck. “Are you sure?” he needed to know if this is what she wanted. “Yes I'm sure down deep inside” she replied, pecking his cheek before continuing on through the fun house, leaving him to catch up with her. “You're the one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, the one I need Oh, yes, indeed” they sang and danced together as they worked their way through the mazes and onto the “shake shack”, where their friends were waiting outside.

“You're the one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, the one I need Oh, yes, indeed” they continued outside, Gabriel picking her up and spun her around before setting her on her feet only to twirl her into his arms. They continued dancing, their friends following their lead.

“You're the one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, the one I need Oh, yes, indeed” they all laughed and held onto each other when they were done having fun. Everything was working out finally.

“Aw! They made up!” Kate gushed to Garth as they looked at the happy couple.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Eileen spoke up, “what's going to happen after high school?” They all looked at each other and realized she was right.

“Yeah, she's right,” Jo stated. “What if we never see each other again?”

“I wouldn't worry to much about that,” (Y/N) replied, leaning into Gabriel's embrace.

“She's right. Knowing us, we ain't going to drift that far apart. I mean, come on, we're the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies. There's nothing that can keep us apart,” Gabriel stated. Everyone knew he was right. There was nothing in this world that would keep them away from each other. They all had each other's numbers, they all knew where each of them were going after high school, there was no way they wouldn't see each other again.

The two groups spent the rest of the day at the carnival, just enjoying each other's presence and remembering all the good times at school. Whatever lies ahead of them, one thing was for sure, they weren't going to be afraid of a little challenge here and there. Not if they had each other, whether actually there or in spirit. This life is theirs to make something out of; no one said they had to do it alone.

* * *

So that’s the end of this little Grease meets HSM meets Supernatural series. I hope you all liked it and that I did good. I’ve written using songs before but not in this way. Hope you had fun and if you think I should do something like this again, let me know!

[duggardata]

At–A–Glance:  Who Was In Each Duggar and Bates Bridal Party?

Let’s talk Duggar and Bates bridal parties!  For this Post, ‘bridal party’ is defined to include the Best Man, the Maid (and/or Matron) of Honor (MOH), groomsmen (GMs), bridesmaids (BMs), flower girls, and ring bearer.  Ushers don’t count, nor do the couple’s parents—unless they’re also BMs or GMs.  When counting BMs and GMs, the MOH is a bridesmaid, and the Best Man is a groomsman.

After the jump!

FYI—Stay tuned for a follow–up to this Post, calculating the typical bridal party size (for Duggars or Bateses), and a bunch of other analysis!  (At the request of several Anons...  Sorry it’s taken so long!  Had to do research.)

Duggar Bridal Parties—Joe (2017) to Josh (2008)

Joe + Kendra   |   September 8, 2017

Kendra’s MOH was her younger sister, Lauren Caldwell, while Joe’s Best Man was his younger brother, Josiah Duggar.  Kendra’s 11 Bridesmaids included—

Her Mother   Christina Caldwell

Her Sister   Lauren Caldwell*

7 Sisters–In–Law  (SILs)   Jana, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joy, Hannie, Jenni

1 BIL’s Spouse   Anna Duggar

1 Friend   Rachel Pas______ (?)  (Unsure of Name)

... while Joe’s 11 Groomsmen included—

8 Brothers   Josh, J.D., Josiah,* Jed, Jer, Jason, James, Justin

2 Friends   Trace Bates, Peter Query

+ 1 Unknown

Kendra’s little sister, Olivia Caldwell, served as the Flower Girl, and her younger brothers, Nathan and Timothy Caldwell, served as the 2 Ring Bearers.  All told, Joe + Kendra’s wedding featured a Bridal Party of 26.

Joy–Anna + Austin   |   May 26, 2017

Joy's MOH was her long–time sister mom, Jill Duggar.  Austin’s Best Man was his brother–in–law, Bobby Ballinger, Jr.   Joy’s 12 Bridesmaids included—

6 Sisters   Jana, Jill,* Jessa, Jinger, Johannah, and Jennifer

2 SILs   Anna Duggar, Meagan (Forsyth) Ballinger

1 Future SIL   Kendra Caldwell 

2 Friends   Carlin Bates, Sierra Jo Dominguez, Heidi Query

Meanwhile, with y’all’s help, here’s a list of Austin’s 12 Groomsmen—

His Grandfather   Edwin Forsyth

3 BILs   J.D. Duggar, Bobby Ballinger, Jr. (Sister Meagan’s Husband),* Nick Tunstill (Half–Sister Rachael’s Husband) 

7 Friends   Nate Paine (Chad’s Brother), Aaron Patton, Andrew Patton, Peter Query, Logan Smith, Josiah Stangl, Jacob Wilson  

+ 1 Unknown

The Forsyths’ Flower Girl was Austin’s niece, Allove Tunstill.  From the photo above, the younger boy in the dark suit looks like he’s a Ring Bearer—but I’m not sure, and I don’t know who he is, or how he’s related to the couple.  (Sorry!)   Anyway, when all’s said and done, the Forsyths had a Bridal Party of 25.

Jinger + Jeremy   |   November 5, 2016

Unsurprisingly, Jinger's MOH was her sister, Jessa.  Meanwhile, Jeremy’s Best Man was his brother, Charles Vuolo.  Jinger had 10 Bridesmaids, including—

5 Sisters   Jana, Jill, Jessa,* Joy, Johannah

2 SILs   Anna Duggar, Valerie Vuolo

3 Friends   Jennifer Hartono, Kenzie Peters, Rebekah Kelly

Sadly, Duggar Data has no idea who any of Jeremy’s 10 Groomsmen are, with the exception of—

His Brother   Charles Vuolo

1 BIL   John David Duggar

1 SIL’s Spouse   Ben Seewald

2 Friends   James Song, Josue Soto

+ 5 Unknown  

Miracle Child Josie Duggar was the Vuolos’ Flower Girl, while the Ring Bearer  was Jinger’s nephew, Josh + Anna’s son, Michael J. Duggar.  Ultimately, Jinger + Jeremy had a Bridal Party of 22.

Jessa + Benjamin   |   November 1, 2014

Jessa’s sister, Jinger, served as her MOH.  Ben’s good friend, Dylan McMahan, served as his Best Man.  Jessa had 11 Bridesmaids, including—

4 Sisters   Jana, Jill, Jinger,* Joy–Anna

3 SILs   Jessica Seewald, Danielle Seewald, Michelle Seewald

4 Friends   Jennifer Hartono, Amara Query, Anna Hackel, Peyton Weiss

So far, Jessa + Ben are the only Duggar or Bates pair to have unequal numbers or BMs and GMs.  Ben had 10 Groomsmen, including—

His Brother   Ethan Seewald

His Cousin   Russ Seewald

2 BILs   Josiah Duggar, Joseph Duggar

6 Friends   Dylan McMahan,* Dan Robinson, Jake Hendrix, Kolton Kulis, Rob Flowers, Ryan Schofield

Jessa + Ben had 2 Flower Girls—Jordyn Duggar, Jessa’s little sister, and Faith Seewald, Ben’s little sister.  Ben’s little brother, Thomas Seewald, was the Ring Bearer.  In the end, the Seewalds had a Bridal Party of 24.

Jill + Derick   |   June 21, 2014

Jill’s MOH was her eldest sister, Jana.  Derick’s Best Man was his younger (and only) brother, Daniel Dillard.  Jill’s 6 Bridesmaids included—

5 Sisters   Jana,* Jill, Jinger, Joy–Anna, and Johannah

1 SIL   Anna Duggar

... while Dericks 6 Groomsmen included—

His Brother   Daniel Dillard*

His Cousin   Tony Dillard   

2 BILs   J.D. Duggar, Joseph Duggar

2 Friends   Stephen Jones, Madison McCalmon

Perhaps making up for a lack of BMs and GMs, the Dillards had 4 Flower Girls—Jill’s sisters, Jenni, Jordyn, and Josie; and her niece, Josh + Anna’s daughter, Mackynzie.  Finally, they had 2 Ring Bearers—Jill’s youngest brother, Jackson; and Jill’s nephew, Josh + Anna’s first son, Michael.  Ultimately, Jill + Derick had a Bridal Party of 18.

Joshua + Anna   |   September 26, 2008

Duggar Data is 95% Sure that Anna’s MOH was her sister, Priscilla Keller.  As for the Best Man...  Based on the photo, I think it was J.D.  (He is directly next to Josh, despite being shorter than the next GM in line.)  Here’s a list of Anna’s 10 Bridesmaids—

4 Sisters   Esther, Rebekah, Priscilla,* Susanna

5 SILs   Jana, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joy–Anna

+ 1 Unknown

... and Josh’s 10 Groomsmen—

7 Brothers   J.D.,* Joseph, Josiah, Jed, Jer, Jason, James

1 BIL   Joshua MacDonald   

+ 2 Unknown

Per Josh (at ~5:55), his youngest brothers, Justin and Jackson, were the 2 Ring Bearers, and his then–youngest sisters, Johanna and Jennifer, served as their 2 Flower Girls.  Overall, it was a Bridal Party of 24.

Bates Bridal Parties—Tori (2017) to Erin (2013)

Tori + Bobby   |   December 16, 2017

When Tori married Bobby, 2 MOHs stood by her side—Carlin Bates (Maid) and Erin (Bates) Paine (Matron).  As for Bobby, he chose just 1 Best Man—his best friend, Kelton Balka, who also happens to be Josie’s boyfriend.  Tori had a total of 10 Bridesmaids, including—

6 Sisters   Erin,* Michaela, Alyssa, Carlin,* Josie, Katie

2 SILs   Whitney (Perkins) Bates, Katherine Smith (Bobby’s Sister?)

2 Friends   Devonna Killin, Abby Paine (Chad Paine’s Sister)

...and Bobby had 10 Groomsmen, namely—

4 BILs   Zach, Lawson, Nathan, and Trace Bates

1 SIL’s Spouse   Chad Paine 

5 Friends   Kelton Balka (Josie’s BF),* Evan Stewart (Carlin’s BF), Dillon Richards, Johnathan Rasmussen, Samuel Fuller    

The Smiths’ also had 3 Flower Girls—Tori’s sister Callie; Tori’s cousin, Charlotte Bates; and Grace Renner, who Duggar Data doesn’t recognize.  The Smiths had 3 Ring Bearers—Judson and Jeb Bates, plus a little boy I’ve not seen before, Cole Renner.  All in all, the Smiths’ had a Bridal Party of 26.

Michaela + Brandon   |   August 15, 2015

At Michaela’s request, her mother (Kelly Jo Bates) served as her MOH.  As for Brandon, I wasn’t able to identify his Best Man.  Michaela’s 8 Bridesmaids, all family members except one, included—

Her Mother   Kelly Jo Bates*

3 Sisters   Erin Paine (Not MOH, Despite Tan Dress), Alyssa Webster, Tori Bates

3 SILs   Angie Keilen, Becky Keilen, Christy Keilen

1 Friend   Jana Duggar (!)

... meanwhile, Brandons 8 Groomsmen included—

2 Brothers   Brent and Craig Keilen

2 BILs   Lawson Bates, Trace Bates

4 Friends   Andy Warner, Gabe Cleator, Kelly Dornik, Nate Paine (Chad Paine’s Brother)

Also, they had 3 Flower Girls—Addallee, Ellie, and Callie Bates—each of whom is Michaela’s younger sister.  Finally, Michaela’s little brother, Judson Bates, was the Ring Bearer.  Overall, the Keilens had a Bridal Party of 20.

Alyssa + John   |   May 24, 2014

Breaking with tradition, Alyssa didn’t choose a sister as her MOH—instead, she chose her sister–in–law, Tori Webster.  (Confusing!  Two Toris!)  Brandon wasn’t so rebellious; his Best Man was his brother, Jordan Webster.

Alyssa had 8 Bridesmaids, consisting of—

3 Sisters   Michaela Bates (Keilen), Erin Paine, Tori Bates (Smith) 

3 SILs   Whitney Bates, Tori Webster,* Elizabeth Miller  (John’s Sister)

2 Friends   Andrea Warren, Bethany Chavez

... while John had 8 Groomsmen, namely—

3 Brothers   Jordan,* Brent, and David Webster

2 BILs   Nathan Bates, Joe Miller

1 Cousin (?)   Jonathan Webster  (Not A Sibling; Cousin is A Guess)

2 Friends   Lewis Albright, Luke Brigham

Alyssa’s little sisters, Addie and Ellie Bates, were the 2 Flower Girls, while her little brother, Judson Bates, was the Ring Bearer.  All told, the Websters had a Bridal Party of 19.     

Zach + Whitney (Perkins) Bates   |   December 14, 2013

Whitney stood at the altar with her cousin (?), Makayla Ray, as her MOH.  For his Best Man, Zach chose his friend, Andy Leftwich.  (Interesting he didn’t go with a sibling!)  Whitney’s 6 Bridesmaids included—

1 Sister   Nakota Owens

3 SILs   Alyssa Bates (Webster), Josie Bates, Katie Bates

1 Cousin (?)   Makayla Ray*

1 Friend   Carrie Blackwell

... while Zach’s 6 Groomsmen included—

4 Brothers   Lawson, Warden, Isaiah, Jackson

2 Friends   Andy Leftwich,* John David Duggar

The Bates–Perkins's 3 Flower Girls included Whitney’s adoptive sisters—Ella, Sadie, and Bella Owens.  Finally, Whitney’s brother—Phillip Owens—was Zach + Whit’s Ring Bearer.  Overall, they had a Bridal Party of 16.

Erin + Chad Paine   |   November 2, 2013

For her MOH, Erin picked her sister, Tori Bates.  For his Best Man, Chad chose his friend, Jordan Webster—who is now Alyssa (Bates) Webster’s BIL.  Erin’s 5 Bridesmaids included—

3 Sisters   Alyssa, Tori,* Carlin

1 SIL   Abby Paine

1 Friend   Becky Keilen (Michaela’s Future SIL)   

... and Chad’s 5 Groomsmen included—

3 Brothers   Thomas, Nate, and Joey Paine   

1 BIL   Zach Bates

1 Friend   Jordan Webster* (Alyssa’s Future BIL)

The Flower Girl was Erin’s sister, Callie–Anna Bates, and the Ring Bearer was Chad’s brother, Johnny Paine.  Overall, the Paines had a Bridal Party of 12.

Wow, that was long!  I’ll be following this Post up with an analysis of the typical number of Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, etc., so stay tuned for that!

[kentonramsey]

Ella Emhoff Brought Brooklyn To Inauguration Day & It Was Perfect

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 20: Cole Emhoff (L) and Ella Emhoff, the stepchildren of Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris arrive for the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. During today’s inauguration ceremony Joe Biden becomes the 46th president of the United States. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

While all eyes were understandably trained on the looks of Jill Biden, Kamala Harris, and Michelle Obama, Second Daughter Ella Emhoff was taking her place as one of the White House’s new style icons. Vice President Kamala Harris’ step daughter wore a black face mask, wide-collar blouse, and gorgeous, embellished Miu Miu knit coat on Inauguration Day. Emhoff also sported the Loeffler Randall Bobbie Headband over her curly-haired centre parting. And in rocking this particularly stand out outfit, she brought a little Brooklyn energy to this day.

This may be the first time some of us are hearing about her, but a cursory look on Twitter and TikTok will show that a growing number of young people are taking style notes from Ella Emhoff, who is in her last year of school at Parsons.

Emhoff is every bit the New York fashion studentL She lives in Bushwick, loves eclectic knitwear (that she makes herself!), and prefers more environmentally friendly slow fashion. Even before the inauguration, she was poised to shake up the often traditional Washington D.C. style with her unabashedly artsy taste. And it’s about time! Someone had to inject the Capitol with some colour and individuality. 

During the momentous ceremony, Twitter lit up with fans of Emhoff’s style. In the least-divided vote we’ve seen this entire election, it seems like the internet unanimously decided that the Second Daughter is officially the coolest person to enter the White House.

what brooklyn once was // what brooklyn has become pic.twitter.com/J5GCgJZISp

— p.e. moskowitz (cool and normal) (@_pem_pem) January 20, 2021

Kamala Harris’ step daughter Ella Emhoff wearing Thom Browne & an embellished coat. Let me tell you, I am excited for the next 4 years! pic.twitter.com/lHgkHiKQLN

— hautelemode (@hautelemess) January 20, 2021

i have to stan ella emhoff, style icon pic.twitter.com/kknwBqfHfX

— gabe bergado (@gabebergado) January 20, 2021

As an artsy teen, I feel the need to note how much Ella Emhoff’s representation means to us pic.twitter.com/nwOiT7ezmI

— Elliot 🦋 (@ElliotOpp) January 20, 2021

With her burgeoning taste-maker status growing, many speculated about what she would wear today. Even Emhoff floated some pretty unexpected options for the usually staid fashion event. In a November interview with Garage, Emhoff said she was considering wearing a handmade knit suit on the big day. “I want to, but like I was saying before, my style and my practice are so different, but I think I might have to just make an exception for such a momentous occasion, I think it does require a pretty momentous outfit,” she said. 

In the weeks leading up to the inauguration, Emhoff has reportedly kept her mind on her senior thesis and growing her own knitwear brand. Oh, and learning how to tattoo, revealing that she’s already given herself a few stick and poke pieces. Recently, she hosted a raffle for a pair of her Rainbow Brite-inspired knit pants. All of the proceeds went to a mutual aid fund For The Gworls, which raises money for rent and gender affirmation surgery for Black trans people. 

With any luck, this will just be the first of many iconic looks from Emhoff that we will be looking to recreate over the next four years.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Ella Emhoff Might Knit Her Own Inauguration Look

Doug Emhoff Is The Ultimate Instagram Husband

Who You Should Know From Kamala Harris' Family

Ella Emhoff Brought Brooklyn To Inauguration Day & It Was Perfect published first on https://mariakistler.tumblr.com/

[belletristbooks]

WINNING ENTRY

"This ending literally brought me to tears. It felt to me like the writer deeply understood Lucy and how she thinks and acts, and stylistically this piece made me feel like I was reading an epilogue that flowed seamlessly from the end of the book. I was really impressed with the writing, and loved how the author brought back the kaleidoscope from The Light We Lost and echoed lines and thoughts that existed in The Light We Lost. The interactions between the kids and between Lucy and the kids felt so real to me, too. I really, really loved this one." - The Light We Lost author, Jill Santopolo.

"Bench" by: Kelsey Winter @Kwinter916

Sometimes objects seem like they’ve witnessed history. The park bench I’m sitting on is covered in different color ink. Blue smiley faces, Green and pink squiggly line, but most importantly names paired together with a heart surrounding them. Past lovers have spent their time holding hands on this bench, piling legs on top of laps, sneaking kisses when no one is looking. They loved each other so much they solidified it by drawing their names for everyone to see. This bench has seen so much.

“Momma!” I peel my eyes from the seat of the bench. “Robbie, you need to keep your hat on or you’ll lose it.” I say grabbing his blue beanie from his hand, and set it on his curly haired-head.

“Momma, Liam took my kaleidoscope.”

“Liam,” I say in a mother tone that took many years to perfect. He’s standing far away with his arms crossed, but he rolls his eyes and groans. He runs over to us, his face in a grimace. “You know it’s not nice to take things.”

“Sorry.” He plops the kaleidoscope in Robbie’s hands and runs back to the jungle gym that is crawling with other kids. “Hey buddy,” I grab Robbie’s wrist before he can chase after his brother. “Why don’t you let me hold onto that so you don’t lose it.” “But…” His lip quivers.

“I promise to keep it safe.” I smile at him, and he smiles right back. His dimple appears in the same spot it always did. People always say that my kids look just like me, but only I can see that Robbie is an exact replica of you, Gabe. You would have loved standing next to him. Seeing his face light up with his words just like yours. How he takes a moment to process things, before reevaluating the situation. The way his curls flop in his eyes when he runs. He is you. I let go of his hand, and he is quick to get to the other kids. I rotate the kaleidoscope in my hands and let my eyes close for just a brief moment.

There I was twenty-three, crisscrossed in our living room surrounded by photographs of you and your mother. Your smile illuminating the room, your laugh filling my ears, your dimple so prominent. You were my binary star then, and just like that you were gone. That night in the living room with the kaleidoscope photos is a memory I can easily slip back into. Are you in heaven lying on your back with your mom staring at the different colors strung from the sky? Is there a heaven Gabe? I’d like to think that’s where you are. I try to think of a different memory every day. I conjure every detail: what you were wearing, how you smelled, your hair wet, my wrinkled shirt. Anything to keep you alive in my memory. But years have passed, and I’ve run out of memories for us. It doesn’t feel fair to make up new ones. Made up memories leave me disappointed, so I stick with real ones.

I open my eyes to see my kids playing together. One of them binds me to you forever, and that idea makes me smile. We’re tethered together, can you feel it still Gabe? Robbie was my road less travelled. You were the road I wish I travelled.

Darren didn’t understand me in that way. Darren still doesn’t see me as more than a mother. I wrote an episode for It Takes A Galaxy a year after you were gone. It’s about losing a loved one. Darren didn’t think I should be introducing death so early to kids, but he doesn’t understand losing someone is just as confusing to adults as it is to children. I’m still confused by it, Gabe. Darren doesn’t know about Robbie, but there are moments when I drop the kids at his apartment, and he will watch Robbie with careful eyes. I didn’t tell him, but I’m scared that deep down he senses it. I loved Darren, there will always be a part of me that does. But you opened something inside me that last day we spent spiraled together. I pushed the feelings away for the first three years of Robbie’s life. The more he grew, the more you shined through him. Now, my kids are enough for me. I am enough for me.

I dig through my bag and find a black Sharpie that was hidden under old receipts and straw wrappers. I rest the kaleidoscope in my lap, and pull off the cap from the marker. Sometimes I find myself waiting for my phone to light up with your name on the screen, or for one of your pictures to appear in the New York Times. It’s ridiculous isn’t it. I draw a heart where the seat of the bench meets the back rest. I write a curly “LC” on one side and next to that I write a “GS.” This bench doesn’t seem complete unless it has the story of Lucy and Gabe. Here lies our history, our story, your legacy. I put the cap back on the marker and throw it in my bag. I stare at our initials. After all these years, your initials still look right next to mine.

“Kids!” I call out and the three of them come running. I scan each to make sure they have everything. They are huffing from running across the playground. My eyes stop on Robbie. His nose is running a bit, but his smile is there, just like always. “Let’s go home,” I say. Sometimes I catch myself staring at Robbie for a moment too long. I remember us sometimes so hard, that I feel myself crumbling. I’m there, with you, your finger traced my bottom lip, while your other one was lost in my hair. But when I come out of my mind, and I always do, I see my kids and their smiling faces. I see me and I see you, and I can keep going.

RUNNER UP

"It was so cool to see Lucy and Gabe's son come to life as a college student, the exact same age that Lucy and Gabe were when they met. And as I read this one, I could imagine a child who combined the essence of Lucy and Gabe and then added his own twist to the mix becoming a screenwriter and going to UCLA and thinking and speaking exactly the way he did. I also loved seeing that Kate and Lucy still maintained their close relationship, that Lucy's kids had found love--and Darren had, too. Stylistically, I liked how the author used the back-and-forth, sliding-into-memories aspect of The Light We Lost as the structure for this piece, along with the plot echo of loved ones flying long distance to be at someone's bedside. I like how the author used Lucy as the "you" in this one, too, almost as a response to the final chapter of the book where Lucy uses her unborn child as the "you." - The Light We Lost author, Jill Santopolo.

"What You Never Said" by: Bethany Sampson @sampsonbee

Violet was the one who called me. She was on the phone, quietly breathing, crying. It was weird, because we usually can’t get her to stop talking, but with the exception of her sniffling, she was silent. And I knew, I just knew, it was you. I didn’t make Violet say it. I don’t even think Violet could’ve made herself say it. Kate beeped in, and I told Violet I’d be there as soon as I could, and then I switched over. Maggie was beside me, all wide, glassy eyes and bitten lips and destroyed fingernails, and so I went into the bathroom to talk to Kate, shutting the door tight behind me. I guess I was expecting Kate to tell me about you, to fill in the spaces Violet had left blank. Instead, she told me about him. The phone call from Violet had fucked up my night—my brain—in all sorts of ways, but it was the news from Kate that really did me in. Kate said you’d always planned to tell me when I turned eighteen, but then I chose UCLA, and she said you were afraid this would make me never come home again. But I know, Mom. And I’m still here.

I took the Red-Eye, but I couldn’t sleep. Maggie was curled up beside me, and maybe normally I would’ve cared that she was squeezing my hand to a point of near-breakage, but instead it kept me from feeling like I could float away completely. I was going to read, was going to do something other than think about you and think about him, but I couldn’t be the asshole using his overhead light, illuminating an otherwise dark plane. So I took out my laptop, and even though I meant to open up my script, to incorporate my professor’s latest feedback into the story—I think you’d really like this one—I opened up Google instead, typing each letter of his name until a series of photos appeared. I had to scroll through a lot, you know, until I found one of him, instead of just taken by him. I had to scroll past photos of a younger you and a broken world and a more hopeful tomorrow that’s only now coming. And then there he was. It sort of freaked me out a bit. Because I look like him. Everyone’s always said I look like you, I guess because I never looked like Dad. (Should I be calling him Darren now? It feels too strange to call him Darren now.) I want to be mad at you, but all I could think—all I can think—is how it must break your heart every time you look at me and see him.

Maggie is freaking out a little. No. She’s freaking out a lot, which I guess is only a little more than usual. If there’s no other reason to come back, Mom, please let it be for Maggie. I mean, God, not that you need or even want to know this right now—or ever, I guess—but we were about to have sex for the first time—and I mean really JUST about—when Violet called. Maggie read this article that said couples who wait sixty days to have sex are like a million percent more likely to stay together. It was just after one on Day Sixty when Violet called. It'd only been just after midnight when Maggie had shown up at my door. Gorgeous and nervous, though strangely a lot less nervous than usual. And when she kissed me, it was like I was the thing in life she was most certain about. I want you to know her, Mom. So you can see we’re both in this. Even when it’s hard. Even when it’s work. It’s weird, because when Maggie was little, she used to have this imaginary friend named Gabe. And I know it’s just a coincidence, but you can’t be three months away from an undergraduate degree in film, and still believe that coincidences are just coincidences. In the movies, everything is fate. She had this weird life. Maggie, I mean. Or not weird, I guess. But hard. And not like love hard. But really hard. Shitty parents, mostly. And eventually she was adopted by the super not-shitty Greg and Leanne—you’d like them—but back then, she was alone. Had too many thoughts and no one to share them with. So, she imagined a boy named Gabe, and he listened to her problems, and he made her feel less alone. We were babysitting her foster sister, Riley, this past winter, and a nativity movie was playing idly in the background. When the angel, Gabriel, appeared, Maggie told me about her Gabe. Do you remember the Christmas after I transferred to St. Jude’s Prep, Mom? I was cast as Gabriel in the Christmas pageant. You got all weird, saying I should’ve stuck with secular public schools, and when you brought it up to Dad, he got all mad, told you he knew what this was really about. I didn’t get it. I was only seven, and what was wrong with angels? But I guess I get it now—your Gabe was also an angel. I told this story to Maggie that night. We were still only just friends, but already I wanted her to know everything. I told her how that day felt like the beginning of the end, how you and Dad were separated by the next Christmas, divorced by the one after that. I don’t talk about the divorce a lot. Not even with Violet and Liam. I guess because if I talked about it, I’d have to ask why it always seemed like Dad liked me less, resented me most. I guess, spoiler alert, because I wasn’t his. But he pretended I was, and you pretended I was, and I’m not sure I really get it. Maybe before you divorced it made sense to keep it a secret, but afterward? Unless you did it for me. Unless you both did it for me. Because you wanted me to have a dad? Because you didn’t want me to be left out from trips to Disney World with Liam and Violet, or miss out on the second Christmas at Dad and Ella’s, or summers spent in the Hamptons? And I’m grateful. I really am. But I guess, also, I still did feel left out. Like I never quite fit in. Because even if you pretended, even if Dad pretended, it was still always just a game of pretend. And it would’ve been nice to know why.

We’re all here now. Liam and Ryan, Violet and Annie Junior the Third. Have you met New Annie yet? She’s still in that yappy puppy stage, but she’s so fucking cute that I know when we get back to LA, Maggie’s going to try and con me into a trip to the animal shelter. And honestly, it probably won’t even require all that much conning. You’ve met Ryan though, right? Liam is so upside-down-in-love, I keep forgetting that they haven’t actually been together forever. But it’s nice. To see Liam this way. Happy. Even Dad and Ella are here. Their hands clasped together tightly, like they’re knotted in a joint prayer.

I started sobbing, somewhere between LA and NYC, twenty-thousand feet above the world. Maggie’s eyes stayed closed, but she squeezed me tighter, and it just kept hitting me—overoverover and over again—that you might be gone. That you soon could be gone. When I finally calmed down a bit, I went back online and found this site dedicated to Gabe’s photos, and I started scrolling through them. They were beautiful. Really fucking beautiful. And the thing that makes me most sad about all of this is that he never got the chance to see that things got a bit better. I mean, they got worse, too. But now they’re finally getter better. There’s hope. Real, visceral hope. And he could’ve documented the hell out of it. Do you remember that script I wrote freshman year? The shitty one about the werewolf? I keep thinking of that screenplay. How, beside my shit grade, my professor wrote, “Never lose your feverish hopefulness.” I don’t know. I was offended at the time, thinking I’d written an Oscar-worthy screenplay, and he was essentially calling me naïve. But I saw that photo of you, the one Gabe took of you asleep on the couch, still hugging your laptop and a script. I saw that, and I got it.

Wanting things, being hopeful for them, maybe even being a bit naïve—it’s not a bad thing. In fact, it kind of feels like the only thing.

We’re all here, in this too white, too bright, room. And we’re surrounding you, squeezing hands together, whispering prayers, finally all fitting in together. And we’re holding onto something, Mom. It’s hope, and light. And it’s you.

[bydesireepore]

Best Books to Read During a Flight

Long-haul flights can be brutal, and one of the things that we’d want to do during these back-breaking journeys is to keep ourselves entertained. Long-haul flights can also be treated as an opportunity to “disconnect” from our social media accounts and just focus on yourself for the next few hours.

  One way to keep ourselves mentally refreshed and entertained is by reading. A great book is the perfect company during a flight as it helps pass time while at the same time nurture our knowledge.

  Grab a copy of one of these good-read books and pack it in your carry-on for your next flight.

  Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Attachments is about co-workers Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder who’re constantly trading gossip about their relationships over work email. Enter Lincoln, the company’s new tech guy who’s tasked to basically read other people’s emails. When he stumbles upon Beth’s and Jennifer’s emails, he becomes curious and somehow finds himself falling in love with Beth, whom he hasn’t even met in person yet.

  Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Eleanor Oliphant is an intelligent woman but is lacking appropriate social skills. She has no friends and spends the weekend by having a date with frozen pizza and vodka. Everything changes for the better when she meets Raymond, the deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office and Sammy, an elder gentleman they both save from falling.

  All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin

From the author that gave us Something Borrowed, All We Ever Wanted tells the story of Nina Browning whose perfect life in upscale Nashville turns upside down when a shocking photograph, taken during a drunken moment, spreads like wildfire and causes a scandal.

  An Age of License by Lucy Knisley

An Age of License is a travelogue from author and comic artist Lucy Knisley derived from her experiences during her 2011 European book tour. Through artwork, Lucy graphically portrays her journey; from midnight picnics at the Eiffel Tower, wine tastings paired with blowgun lessons, to romances in cafes and cemeteries, An Age of License will surely inspire you on your future travels.

  The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo

Both seniors, Lucy and Gabe meet at Columbia University. They meet again a year later, which seems like fate telling them something. They were then determined to learn the meaning of life together. But Gabe gets assigned in the Middle East as a photojournalist and Lucy pursues a career in the Big Apple, and a 13-year journey of fate, dreams, disappointments and love follows the two of them as they try to find themselves back in each other’s arms.

  *article can be found here. 

[reapers-carino]

Want

This is a request from the dear @fatedeniedhope : Obviously female s/o doesn't realize that Reaper is interested in her, she been usually a second choice for most ppl. Then actually realize his innuendo actually mean something, cue blushing and stuttering. " I think omega would be a better choice, I'm a beta . I won't be able to satisfy a alpha , I wouldn't know what to do any way." Here’s my swing at it

You fell back hard into the chair in the Talon common’s area, dragging a hand over your face with a heavy sigh. Most days, you were perfectly content and happy being a beta; it granted you a cloak of invisibility from the hyperdominant posturing of Alphas and made it easy for you to communicate and relate to Omegas without either of you feeling pressure to make a move on one another. Today, though, you wished you were anything but. Betas were ‘useful’ to have around, especially in an organization filled to the brim with more Alphas and omegas than anyone could count.

Betas could charm two Alphas into backing down without getting your throat torn out in a display of clashing dominance or cowing from their aggression like an omega might. Being a beta-O, you could approach unpaired omegas in heat and calm them down and get them to the nurse for suppressants or wait with them comfortingly until their Alpha came to retrieve them. You had separated two fights earlier that day, escorted one omega to the medbay and been absolutely assaulted and coated by the pheromones of an omega whose Alpha wouldn’t be back til that evening. An hour long shower late, plus special soap, and you still had a lingering stench of that omega on you from earlier. It would subside given time but it irritated your sense; your nose itching and sneezing every so often. Maybe a bit of holo-vids would take you mind off of it…

“Hey.”

A shiver rolled down your spine and you prayed that he didn’t see it, but the quiet chuckle that sounded from behind you revealed otherwise. You tilted your head all the way back until you caught sight of Reaper, licking your lips unconsciously as you caught sight of him. This was a two-fold rare treat; one, seeing him in completely casual wear and two, being the focus of his attention if his eyes travelling over your body was any indicator. He wore a tight black shirt and a pair of sweats that were probably supposed to be loose but clung to his thighs hungrily. You had notices that the Reaper had been paying you special attention as of late, sharing short conversations, asking how you were doing, visiting you when you had a graveyard shift and he was on base.

But you had already quelled any hope he had any real interest in you...He was just being...polite, definitely polite. Even now, it was more than likely he was smelling the leftover vestiges of that random omega’s pheromones. Another thing to add to the ever growing list of reasons why you hated being a beta, you would never be as appealing as an omega, especially to an apex alpha like Reaper. Standing up with a sigh, you turned on your heel and forced a respectful, yet kind smile to your face.

“Hi there”, you said simply, suddenly feeling shy as you pushed a lock of hair behind your ear. His gaze was eating you up, probably because of scent you mind reminded you to crush the rise of hope that threatened to bubble up again. “Uh...how’re you?”

“Good”, he said in that low, rumbling tone of his that made you shiver again, this time not even trying to hide it. You were pinned in place as you watched the taller man dip his head down towards the side of your neck where your scent glands were and taking a deep breath. You watched him, hands balling into unsure fists at your side as you watched his scarred feature crinkle in confusion. He pulled back but didn’t stand all the way up, hovering over you slightly, the occasional tendril of smoke floating off of him. His lips twitched downward ever so slightly into a frown. “You smell different.”

“Oh”, you said quickly, lightly pulling at your shirt with a mirthless laugh and a shrug. You glanced back his way, seeing that he was still studying you with those blood red eyes of his. There were times that you wished that he wasn’t a man of such few words and expressions, the neutral scowl he had only twitching up and down every so often. It’s probably because your scent was throwing off the ‘tantalizing’ smell of someone else’s heat. “Was a referee and therapist today, y’know Jill of all trades. Seems that I can’t get Janikowski’s pheromones offa me but hey, what can you do?”

“I could help you with that.”

Gabe stood back to full height, this time a small smirk tugging at his lips as you stared up at him before you started laughing. You snorted once before dissolving into a set of giggles, shaking your head slightly and giving the Alpha a humored smirk. It was kind of him to joke with you at least a little bit, although a part of your mind loved the idea of him holding you, nuzzling you, absolutely drenching you in his heady scent. Your face burned as you shook your head again, more to dispel those thoughts and the creeping blush.

“Oh haha”, you said with a snort, even going so far as to lightly touch his shoulder, boldness accompanying your mild incredulity. “What’re you gonna do, scent me til it all goes away?”

“Exactly”, he said with a smirk, taking half a step closer to you as your jaw dropped. “You going to object?”

“Wh-What”, you stammered, tripping over your words, mouth opening and closing in shock as your face began to burn. You tried to laugh but the sound that came out of your mouth sounded more choked as your mind tried to calculate what he was saying. “Y-y-you scent m-me? Hahaha...y-you’re...you’re serious?”

This is the closest you had ever been to seeing a smile on Reaper’s face as the scared man chuckled, muscular arms crossed over his chest as he watched you. He was absolutely eating this up.

“Don’t tell me you wouldn’t like it”, he answered back, confident energy rolling off of him and hitting you squarely in the chest, knocking out what remained of pheromones. Sandalwood, spice and something heavier that made your tongue feel thick in your mouth, unable to talk. He leaned forward and took a half sniff, chuckling gruffly in his throat. “You smell like you’d want nothing more.”

This had to be a joke, right? Like, he couldn’t really overlook all the other, much more attractive omegas this base had to offer.

“Haha”, you forced out weakly, feeling like you might swoon at his smirk, his energy. “Wouldn’t an omega be a better choice? If you hadn’t noticed, I am a beta. I ha-haven’t been in a heat in like eight months...I won’t be able to satisfy an alpha. Not in the same way way an ‘o’ would, y’know... H-Hell, I wouldn’t know what to do anyway!”

Your hand jumped up to your mouth as you realized you had said too much, revealing that you had never laid with an alpha before. It felt like your face had been engulfed in an inferno, although your heart tugged as you saw another small smirk cross his lips as his hand reached out and grabbed your chin gently.

“Don’t worry mamita”, he stated simply, tilting your face from side to side to soak up more of your appearance. “I like you and I’d be more than happy to teach you.”

[itsfinancethings]

November 21, 2019 at 09:27PM

The weather outside may be getting frightful, but romantic holiday movies are delightful. Let’s face it, even the bad ones can really hit the spot. This holiday season brings new movies to watch on streaming services like Netflix and Disney+, cable networks like Hallmark and Lifetime, and a few releases you can catch in theaters.

Here are the best Christmas rom-coms coming out this season.

Last Christmas

Picture this: Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding in leading roles, Bridesmaids director Paul Feig at the helm, a story by Emma Thompson and a soundtrack of George Michael music. Last Christmas is the kind of Christmas movie you put on your wishlist for Santa. Clarke plays Kate, an aspiring singer who has recently recovered from an illness and just can’t seem to get her life together. While working as an elf in a London Christmas shop (with Golding’s Crazy Rich Asians co-star, Michelle Yeoh, as her boss), she meets Tom (Golding) and things finally start to go right. But there’s one catch — he keeps disappearing. With romance, mystery, Michael’s “Last Christmas” on repeat and Daenarys singing your favorite carols, you’ll want to get the popcorn ready for this one.

How to watch:

Last Christmas is currently playing in theaters.

Noelle

The North Pole gets an upgrade with an A-List Hollywood cast in Noelle, one of the first original films to drop on Disney’s new streaming service. Noelle (Anna Kendrick) loves Christmas, but her big brother Nick (Bill Hader) isn’t as enthusiastic. When Nick disappears just before it’s his turn to take the reins (and the reindeer) from his father and become Santa, it’s up to Noelle to — you guessed it! — save Christmas. Billy Eichner and Shirley MacLaine also make appearances in this movie from the screenwriter of Miss Congeniality.

How to watch:

Noelle is now available to stream on Disney+.

Let It Snow

Based on the 2008 book by John Green, Lauren Myracle and Maureen Johnson, Let It Snow sees a brutal snowstorm descend on a small Midwestern town, leading to some extreme Christmas Eve shenanigans by a group of high school seniors. A “stranded pop star” and a “mysterious woman covered in tin foil” spur the night’s events, as the teens’ romantic lives begin to collide. Your new holiday friend group includes Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold), Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man: Homecoming) and Shameik Moore (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse).

How to watch:

Let It Snow is now streaming on Netflix.

Holiday in the Wild

Holiday in the Wild is literally a movie wherein Rob Lowe and Charlotte from Sex and the City fall in love while nursing a baby elephant back to health, so it’s safe to say this one is unmissable. Kristin Davis plays Kate, a New York City mom whose husband unexpectedly leaves her just before a scheduled vacation together. Kate heads to Zambia for a trip on her own, and while there she meets Lowe’s Derek, a pilot with a wealth of knowledge about saving orphaned elephants. Kate and Derek travel together through Christmas, proving that not all holiday films require snow and hot chocolate.

How to watch:

Holiday in the Wild is now streaming on Netflix.

The Knight Before Christmas

Vanessa Hudgens is back and better than ever as the Christmas queen of Netflix. While it’s not the sequel to The Princess Switch we’ve all been waiting for (fear not, the streamer recently announced that one is coming in 2020), The Knight Before Christmas has magic, romance and comedy in a snowy, suburban setting. Hudgens plays Brooke, a cynical science teacher, whose world goes absolutely bonkers when she meets a knight (Josh Whitehouse) who was transported to present-day Ohio by a medieval sorceress. Will Sir Cole fall in love with Brooke and stay in 2019 Ohio, or will he return to his centuries-old kingdom?

How to watch:

Stream The Knight Before Christmas on Netflix starting Nov. 21.

Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses

Chemistry abounds when Abbey (Jill Wagner), an interior designer, is hired to decorate Nick’s (Matthew Davis) mansion. Nick is a cranky businessman who hates Christmas — he describes the town’s Christmas tree lighting as “the annual tradition of shutting down the entire town just to plug in a tree” — but Abbey’s holiday cheer may be starting to grow on him. Davis famously played the villain in Legally Blonde, but trust that he also makes a fine romantic lead.

How to watch:

Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses premiered on Hallmark in November and will air again on Nov. 22 at 10:03 p.m. E.T.

Merry and Bright

Jodie Sweetin (formerly known as Stephanie Tanner on Full House) plays Cate, a candy cane company executive who develops a close bond with Gabe (Andrew Walker), a consultant who is trying to improve the company’s business practices before Christmas. Their romance begins with an awkward misunderstanding (as Cate thinks her mom sent Gabe in as a set-up, before realizing he is really her colleague), but things get merrier from there.

How to watch:

Merry and Bright premiered on Hallmark in November and will air again on Nov. 24 at 10:03 p.m. E.T.

Holiday Rush

Romany Malco (A Million Little Things) stars as a widowed DJ whose affluent life takes a turn just before the holiday season. Rush needs to learn how to handle his four kids before Christmas, while crafting a plan to return to the radio. Co-starring Sonequa Martin-Green, presumably as Rush’s new love interest, Holiday Rush rounds out Netflix’s romantic comedy offerings this season.

How to watch:

Holiday Rush is available to stream on Netflix starting Nov. 28.

Merry Liddle Christmas

Paul Archuleta—FilmMagicKelly Rowland attends the “It’s A Wonderful Lifetime” Holiday Party at STK Los Angeles on October 22, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.

Singer and former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland makes her television producing debut with Merry Liddle Christmas, which is loosely inspired by a “Christmas catastrophe” from her own life. Rowland plays Jacquie, a tech entrepreneur who is struggling to get her dysfunctional family together for the holidays. Though the chic video she had planned to film on Christmas may not go as planned, Jacquie starts to fall for her neighbor.

How to watch:

Merry Liddle Christmas premieres on Lifetime on Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. E.T.

A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby

Christmas movie lovers remember 2017’s A Christmas Prince, which depicts a journalist (with some questionable ethics) falling in love with the prince of fictional Aldovia, and last year’s sequel in which the pair officially married. Now, the series becomes a trilogy and the duo becomes a trio, as A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby hits Netflix in December. Amber (Rose McIver) is now a queen, and she and her husband, King Richard (Ben Lamb), are expecting their first child. In classic A Christmas Prince fashion, an important document goes missing, threatening the kingdom’s safety — and it’s up to Amber to fix it (before Christmas, of course).

How to watch:

Find A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby on Netflix on Dec. 5.

A Christmas Love Story

A Christmas love story is just what you’ll find in this aptly-titled Hallmark movie. Broadway legend Kristin Chenoweth joins the network’s class of holiday stars playing the role of a youth choir director. While not much information has been revealed about the film’s plot, the teaser trailer makes one thing clear: Chenoweth’s character will very likely fall in love with a man played by Scott Wolf as she prepares for the choir’s Christmas Eve show. The movie has not been marketed as a musical, so we can only pray that the Tony winner blesses our holiday season with any and all Christmas songs.

How to watch:

A Christmas Love Story airs on Hallmark on Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. E.T.

[kyoulove]

2018 Reading List!

Happy New Year! Welcome to my amazing, spectacular 2018 Reading List!

Last year I started making a running tbr in March. MARCH. So by mid-December when I actually sat down to hammer out a list, I had so many to choose from. I decided to do another list of 80, since that seems to be what I’ve done for a while, so why change!

This year there is a heavy emphasis on books I own and can get from the library, with a handful of rereads, preorders and just a couple I might have to special order. I can’t wait!

I am also going to do a reading challenge this year - every month going to the library and picking an unknown book and giving it a shot! I’m pretty excited about the challenge, it sounds fun and doable.

As the year goes on, I will put check marks on the covers as I read them, like previous years. Feel free to check out my reviews on goodreads! As always, I reserve the right to change my mind about books, or get distracted by new and shiny books as they release. :D

Here they are!

Suitors and Sabotage - Cindy Anstey (Apr 2018) || Beartown - Fredrik Backman || His Scandalous Kiss - Sophie Barnes || The Earl’s Complete Surrender - Sophie Barnes || What a Difference a Duke Makes - Lenora Bell (Mar 2018) || You May Kiss the Bride - Lisa Berne || The Accidental Countess - Valerie Bowman || A Natural History of Dragons - Marie Brennan || In Other Lands - Sarah Rees Brennan || Firebrand - Kristen Britain || The Idiot Brain - Dean Burnett || The Diary of a Bookseller - Shaun Bythell || Humans Wanted - Vivian Caethe || Romancing the Werewolf - Gail Carriger || Soulless - Gail Carriger || A Closed and Common Orbit - Becky Chambers || Record of a Spaceborn Few - Becky Chambers (Jun 2018) || Coffee Boy - Austin Chant || Don’t Tempt Me - Loretta Chase || The Heart Forger - Rin Chupeco (Mar 2018)

The Last Namsara - Kristen Ciccarelli || Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules (Aug 2018) || The Governess Game - Tessa Dare (Aug 2018) || Dragon Age Knight Errant - Nunzio DeFilippis || Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores - Bob Eckstein || The Redemption of Althalus - David Eddings || The Best Laid Plans - Terry Fallis || The Making of Home - Judith Flanders || Atlas Obscura - Joshua Foer || Daughter of the Burning City - Amanda Foody || Caraval - Stephanie Garber || Life in a Medieval Castle – Joseph Gies || The Book Jumper - Mechthild Glaser || Get it Together Delilah - Erin Gough || Marry in Scandal - Anne Gracie (Apr 2018) || Never Love a Cowboy - Lorraine Heath || The Reluctant Widow - Georgette Heyer || Duke of Desire - Elizabeth Hoyt || Gork, the Teenage Dragon - Gabe Hudson || Unlearn - Humble the Poet

Fate of the Tearling - Erika Johansen || Illuminae - Amie Kaufman || Jane Austen, the Secret Radical - Helena Kelly || The Diabolic - SJ Kincaid || A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L’Engle || Hunter - Mercedes Lackey || Sawbones - Melissa Lenhardt || The Secret History of Wonder Woman - Jill Lepore || Arabella of Mars - David Levine || Warcross - Marie Lu || Built to Last - David Macaulay || The Subtle art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson || Tower of Thorns - Juliet Marillier || Den of Wolves - Juliet Marillier || All Our Wrong Todays - Elan Mastai || Japanese Homes - Edward Morse || Frogkisser! - Garth Nix || Remedial Rocket Science - Susannah Nix || Akata Witch - Nnedi Okorafor || Binti Home - Nnedi Okorafor

Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett || A Curious Beginning - Deanna Raybourn || Packing for Mars - Mary Roach || It’s Hard Out Here for a Duke - Maya Rodale  || Dangerous Books for Girls - Maya Rodale || Runaways - Rainbow Rowell || Harry Potter - A History of Magic - JK Rowling || Blood, Sweat and Pixels - Jason Schreier || The Abyss Surrounds Us - Emily Skrutskie || Ever the Hunted - Erin Summerill || Just One Damned Thing After Another - Jodi Taylor || The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas || The Prophecy Con - Patrick Weekes || The Paladin Caper - Patrick Weekes || Rat Queens 4 - Kurtis Wiebe || Artemis - Andy Weir || The Elusive Flame - Kathleen Woodiwiss || A Matter of Magic - Patricia Wrede || One True Pairing - Cathy Yardley || The Storied Life of AJ Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin

[gvbejvmes]

Drabble: Sweet Child O’ Mine

Warnings: Mentions of cancer and death. R for language Relationships: Gabe/Johnny, Gabe/Jillynn, Gabe & Georgie, Gabe & Grey Characters: Gabe, Greyson, Georgie, Johnny

There was a tree in Central Park that Gabe liked to go and visit. It was in a secluded area but had a nice clearing and a small stone bench next to it. He couldn’t help but to think that back in the day it must have been a more popular part of the park, but these days he never saw another person hanging out there. He’d found the area not long after he and Johnny had moved to New York. Back then, he hadn’t been very sure what he was going to do with his life. He took a lot of long jogs and walks through the park then, which was how he’d found this particular spot. As soon as he’d found it, he knew this was his ‘Georgie’ spot. 

She’d been cremated, and her ashes had long since been scattered in the Pacific Ocean, but it was nice to have a place where he could go and ‘visit’ his sister. He even left flowers there, and other people who’d found the spot must have assumed it was a memorial to someone who’d died in the park because there was always a vase with fresh flowers in it. These days he hadn’t been coming by as often, so he knew very well that it wasn’t him leaving the flowers. It could have been one of the kids, but it was nice to think that a stranger was visiting Georgie, too.

Some days he went to visit Georgie just because he missed her, and wanted to talk to her. Other days he visited her because he wanted to be alone and there was no better person to be alone with than his sister. Then there were days when he went to visit her because he needed to talk to her, and to tell her something. Today was definitely one of those days where they needed to have a conversation, even if it was only one-sided.

“Hey, G.” Gabe greeted as he approached the tree and picked up the vase of flowers. He laid the old flowers and the fresh flowers he’d brought on the bench before wandering over to another tree to toss the old water on the roots. Bringing the vase back over, he refilled it with fresh water. “Looks like you had a visitor recently. If they weren’t related to me, I hope they were hot.” He teased as he busied himself with arranging the fresh flowers in the vase.

He was quiet for a moment, breathing in the silence before he started talking. “A friend of mine died this week. I mean, I say friend but I guess she really wasn’t a friend. I mean, at least not in the sense you’re probably thinking, but she was important to me. Shit, she reminded me a lot of you actually. I think that if you ever had a kid, she would have been a lot like my friend who just died. I didn’t even know she was sick. I mean, I knew something was going on, and I knew she was in a bad way, but I didn’t realize she was dying. I thought I had more time with her.”

Gabe paused as he set the fresh flowers down and settled himself down on the bench. Almost immediately he started fiddling with the old flowers. He started pulling out the completely wilted ones, and started working on a flower crown with the ones that remained. “The last time I saw her, she tried to tell me how sick she was, but I don’t think I was listening. I don’t think I wanted to hear it. You know how I get, G. Anyway, I got a call the other morning which was totally bizarre. As a parent you sort of fear that you’re going to have to go down to the morgue; you never really think it’s going to happen.

“She used to live with me, you know. My friend, Greyson. Remember that house I had right after I moved out of my and Jay’s house? You remember? Well, it had one of those mother-in-law suites above the garage. Or like, remember the apartment that Fonzie had on Happy Days? It was like that. Anyway, Grey was my one and only tenant. I only lived there for like a year until I got my new place, and she was only with me for maybe 6 months. Anyway, she was a terror. It was like when me and Jay went from living together to suddenly raising a 16 year old.

“I was supposed to be her landlord, but you know how I am. Especially then. The separation had been my choice, but that didn’t mean I’d handled it well. I needed a project, and well, before I knew what happened I’d gone and meddled myself into this young woman’s life. She was CJ’s age. It was hard not to, you know? Before I knew it, shit, she was basically one of my kids. Bella was calling her Aunt G. It broke my fucking heart. That should have been your fucking title. But… I’m getting off course here.

“I sort of adopted her, and she adopted me right back. Somehow I wound up doing all the shit her parents woulda been doing if they hadn’t been back on the west coast. I helped her find a new place when I sold the house. I went with her to make sure the maintenance people weren’t gonna try to fuck with her when they were making repairs on her place. Shit, there was more than a couple of times when I had to haul my ass over there to fix things for her. She was like my fourth daughter.”

He finished the flower crown and laid it at the base of the tree. “Anyway, she died this week. Fucking cancer. Can you believe it? And don’t even fucking start with me about getting me to stop smoking. I don’t wanna have that conversation with you today. She was a fucking kid. And she had me listed as her emergency contact. I was the one who the morgue contacted to identify the body and sign the death certificate.

“I’m glad it was me though. I remember what a mess I was when you died, G. I couldn’t imagine any of those kids she hung out with taking care of any of that shit, not that I would ever wish that on any of them. It’s a lot. I was the one who called her parents. It’s weird calling someone you’ve never met, but who you’ve heard stories about. I’m not sure how they felt about a forty-five year old man calling them because their daughter had him listed as her ‘parent’ at the clinic she’d been going to, but they took it pretty well. I mean, as well as a parent can take it. Out living your kid, shit… I’m only feeling a fraction of it. I can’t imagine feeling the whole thing… I probably wouldn’t survive if it was DJ, or Cordy, or Ali. But again, sorry, G. I’m getting off track.

“I called Justin in the middle of the day to tell him that his daughter had died. I was the one who met him and Bella - his wife, not your great niece, by the way - at the airport and took them to the mortuary I’d asked for Grey to be moved to… It was strange. I mean, there’s nothing exactly normal about a kid dying, but that didn’t change the level of weird. They hugged me. Which… you know how I am about people touching me. I’m like a stripper, I can touch you but I don’t want you touching me without permission.

“I thought they’d be weirded out about me or concerned but they fucking thanked me for taking care of their little girl. Fucking thanked me. Who the fuck does that? They reminded me of my in-laws: out of touch with their child. They didn’t know any of Grey’s friends or anything about her life out here. I had to introduce them to her girlfriend, her not girlfriend? Eh, fuck it - to the little lesbian. I don’t even know if they knew her sexuality was fluid. But parent to parent? It felt awkward as shit. 

“They’re scattering her ashes. I was invited but it’s gonna happen over a bridge and shit. Makes me think too much of standing on that pier in Santa Monica with Dusty and Jay and doing the same thing for you. I can’t fucking do it. So, I came here to talk to you.”

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed deeply. “I didn’t just come here to talk to you. I came here to ask you to do a favor for me. I need you to look out for Grey, okay? I figure you’re in the same place, and she needs a James to look after her, and you need the other half of your G Squared. We both know that I’ve done some shit and we’ll probably never be reunited, but you have Grey now. Take her under your wing, okay? I need you to look out for her because I no longer can.”

He scrubbed his hands over his face, surprised to find that his cheeks were wet. “Thanks, G. I appreciate it.” He wiped the tears from his face, and then stood up from the bench, only to freeze when he saw Johnny leaning against a tree nearby. “Exactly how long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to know that you don’t give yourself enough credit.” His ex-husband replies with a shrug as he pushed himself off the tree, looking out of place in his suit and dress shoes. “Jillynn called me. Said you got some bad news and weren’t returning her calls. Figured you went to talk to Georgie. I haven’t paid my respects to my sister-in-law in a awhile anyway.”

Gabe nodded as he gathered the leftover dying flowers and put them in the plastic bag he’d brought with him for that exact purpose. “It always confuses me when you and Bean are civil with each other. You guys BFFS now?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

His ex rolled his eyes as he wrapped an arm around Gabe’s shoulders. “We’re going to braid each other’s hair next week. C’mon, let’s go get a drink.” 

He tossed the bag into a nearby trash can. “That’s a terrible idea.” Gabe whined out, but still let Johnny lead him away from the copse and back towards the main path. 

“We can go to the steakhouse you like. The one that carries that scotch you like.”

Gabe glanced back towards the trees and blew a kiss in the direction of his sister’s tree before shrugging. “Yeah, okay. I could eat.”

It was quiet as they walked through the park. “You wanna talk about it?” The other man asked.

He shook his head. “Nah, I think I’m all talked out.” 

[gvbejvmes]

Drabble: Exes and Ohs

Title: Exes and Ohs Rating: PG-13 Relationships: Gabe/Johnny, Gabe/Jill Brief Summary: A surprise visitor at the agency. Warnings: Unhealthy relationships

Most of the time Gabe stayed in the back of Seeing Eye Investigations, either in his office or in the employees only area in the back of the shop, but every once in awhile he was up front. Usually when Jill wasn’t in, he didn't bother having anyone sit up front - that's what the cameras and alarms were for, but a client was coming in and Gabe didn't like clients coming into an empty front office. Jill was just running late; he knew she would be in shortly, but he wasn't entirely sure when the client, who Delilah had set up the appointment for when she’d been helping out last week, was coming in - other than soon. He was tucked onto a corner of the couch in their little client intake area, drinking a cup of coffee, his laptop balanced on his knees when the front door chimed. His glasses were perched on his nose, and he was so caught up in his  work that he didn't realize that someone had even come into the office at first. "You know, I always did like watching you when you worked. You always put all your effort into your work." Gabe's head whipped up at the very familiar voice, and if his ex-boyfriend, Johnny, hadn't anticipated Gabe's reaction and grabbed the cup, his coffee would have spilled all over his laptop. "Aren't you supposed to be super aware of your environment, Briel?" Johnny mused, sounding amused as always, as he set the coffee down on the side table, and then settled on the coffee table, sitting in front of Gabe. Slamming his laptop shut, Gabe set his computer next to him, and pushed his glasses off his face and up into his hair. "What the fvck are you doing here?" He asked, raising an eyebrow when all Johnny did was hold out his arms and shrug at him. When the small smile worked its way across the other man's face, Gabe swore under his breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're the client." He dead-panned, shaking his head. "Of course. Jill and Charlie know your tricks, but Delilah’s never met you before. She’s heard of you, but never met you. Your business isn't welcome here. You know where the door is." He stood up, but he didn't make it very far before Johnny grabbed his hand. "Briel, five minutes, okay? I don't have a case. I just wanted to check on you, and you don't take my calls. I know how you get when the anniversary of Geor-" Johnny stopped mid-sentence, which meant that Gabe must have clenched his jaw at Johnny's attempt to say Georgie's name. "- of your sister's disappearance. You get obsessed, you don't sleep, you don't take care of yourself." He gave Gabe's hand a squeeze, which was when Gabe realized that his ex was still holding his hand. "I just want to make sure you're being taken care of - that you don't need anything." His words were enough to knock some sense into Gabe. He wrenched his hand out of Johnny's grasp. "I don't need anything from you, other than for you to leave. Things have changed since we split, Jay, and I don't need you. I have someone to take care of me, and you haven't been that person for a long time." Johnny stood up at that, and fixed Gabe with a look he didn't know how to interpret. "Well, that answers that question." He said, tucking his hands into his pockets. "You finally got the balls to tell Her how you felt, good on you." Johnny seemed to be looking past Gabe, but he didn't follow the other man's gaze - he kept his focus on Johnny, as though he didn't trust him enough to look away from him. "You're definitely not as skinny as the last time I saw you. I'm glad she's taking care of you. You deserve to be happy, Briel. Even if it's not with me." 

Before Gabe could formulate a response, Johnny was addressing someone behind them. God, he really was off his game today. How did he not hear the swing-push door open? The hinges on that thing were loud as fvck. "I don't know why I'm telling you this, but don't let him do anything stupid on the 15th, hmm? Last year he wound up in Atlantic City with that stupid gun tattoo on his arm. Look after him for me, would you?" And Gabe didn't need to look behind him to know who he was talking to.   "Me and Bean, we look after each other. It ain't a one way street like it was with me and you. It's not one person needing to take care of the other person all the time. It's a partnership. Something you still don't understand, Jay." He felt himself walking to Jill, even if he didn't feel himself moving. His hand wrapped around hers, of it's own accord and he steeled his jaw and looked at Johnny. "You checked on me; you can go now."

Neither he or Jill said anything after Johnny left, but that wasn't too unusual. He just lead Jill to the couch and pulled her into his arms. She settled against him, running her fingers through his hair. And that was how Delilah found them when she came into the office to see if Gabe wanted to buy her lunch. 

[gvbejvmes]

Drabble: It’s Too Damn Hot

Title: It’s Too Damn Hot Rating: R Relationships: Gabe/Jill Brief Summary: Gabe does not do well in the heat. Warnings: Mentions of homophobia, canon infidelity, mentions of pegging

For someone who grew up in New Mexico, Gabe had never done very well in the heat. When he was a child, he and his younger sister, Georgie, had spent day after day at the pool, swimming their days away to survive the heat. And then came the day where Gabe's father had banned them from going to the pool - the day his father caught him kissing another boy - he had to find other ways to beat the heat. He'd taken to staying in the air conditioning and playing video games or splashing about in his sister's kiddie pool with her.  As he became a teenager, he took to hanging out at the used bookshop that wasn't frequented by too many other people. It was his go-to place to make out with whatever boy he was fooling around with in secret. His girlfriend thought he just liked to hide in the air conditioning during the day, but he was always willing to spend the warm evenings at the drive-in, making out instead of watching the pictures and pretending that his girlfriend could be enough for him. When his kids were little, he spent every day outside with them - splashing through the sprinklers, going down to the pool, and chasing down the ice cream man. Those were the days.

When he moved to New York he had to figure out different ways to beat the heat. Mostly he just avoided going outside if he could help it, but then he'd met his boyfriend Johnny who made him do things. He made him run through splash pads at the park, and picnic under leafy trees while drinking wine out of a thermos. They snuck into movies to bask in the air conditioning, and when the heat got to Gabe too much, he'd talk Gabe into going to the beach on Angel, Gabe's motorcycle. Johnny's arms would be wrapped around him so tight, warm wind would lash at their skin and for a brief couple of minutes, Gabe could stand the heat. And laying in the sand, after frolicking through the waves? Yeah, that was okay, too. 

After Johnny, Gabe had to figure out new ways to beat the heat that didn't invoke memories of his ex. Usually it was okay. He'd read in the air conditioning or take his grandbabe and daughter to the local pool, but this heatwave... It knocked out the power to the block and in the process, severely fvcked up Gabe's AC, which meant he was willing to do anything to cope with this God forsaken heat. And he meant ANYTHING. So his daughter calling him up out of the blue in the middle of a heat wave, he was sort of expecting it. "Please tell me that Mrs. Henderson is being a crazy old bat, and you're not really laying out on the flat part of the roof totally naked, eating ice out of a cooler?"

Gabe blinked from where he was laying on a towel, and waved a hand in the general direction of Mrs. Henderson's house - he was sure she was still watching him. "She has three boys, surely she can handle the sight of a penis for a little bit. And besides I'm laying on my stomach. So really, it's all PG. Would she prefer if I flipped onto my back? I mean, it probably wouldn't be comfortable for me. Bean was over last night and she brought her strap-on and-"

"Dad, don't finish that sentence. Please don't finish that sentence. I don't need to hear about any of that. EVER. And that's not the point. If you don't either put pants on or go into the house, she's gonna call the cops and I can't bail you out today. Can't you just soak in cold water or go to the pool  or the shore like a normal person?" He huffed, and rolled to his knees. "And deal with those crowds? No, thank you." He sighed again as he grabbed the cooler, and lowered himself back through the window. "But tell Mrs. Henderson she can open her prude eyes. I'm going to lay in front of the fan and prop my ass up on a pillow and-" "DAD! I swear to God." Gabe laughed as he settled in front of the fan. "Come over and we'll get ice cream. I'll even put pants on, I promise. Probably."

[gvbejvmes]

Drabble: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Title: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Rating: R Relationships: Gabe/Johnny, Gabe/Jill Brief Summary: Moving is hard. Warnings: attempted sexual assault, improper gun use, Gabe’s potty mouth, implied infidelity 

2009

“There is no way in hell that we can afford this place.” Gabe breathed out as he leaned against Johnny, the other man’s arms wrapped low around Gabe’s waist. “This is a nice neighborhood, Jay. Really really nice, and they’ve probably never even seen a gay couple in real life before, despite living in New York. This is the kind of neighborhood where rich, hetero people move to say they live in the city without actually having to step foot in the city.”  He let his hands rest over Johnny’s. “We can’t move here.”

Johnny rested his chin on Gabe’s shoulder. “You like it though, Briel. Don’t you?” He waited for Gabe’s nod before nuzzling his face into the crook of Gabe’s neck. “I saw you staring at it from the listings the agent sent us. It’s the porch right? And the fact that the house is up off the road?” When Gabe nodded again, Johnny grinned against his neck. “I’m glad I’m a gambling man because I already bought it.”

Gabe froze, letting Johnny’s words sink in. When they finally did, he spun around in Johnny’s arms to get a better look at his boyfriend. “You bought it?” There were so many words running through his head and Gabe didn’t know how to verbalize it out loud. “You bought a million dollar home on a whim because you knew I liked it?” The mere thought of it was unbelievable to him, but he also couldn't help but to find it sickeningly sweet. His marriage had been a sham, but his relationship with Johnny was just him being spoiled (it would take him years to realize that it was possessive behavior to keep Gabe dependent on him). 

A laugh finally bubbled out of his mouth and he wrapped his arms around Johnny’s neck and kissed him soundly on the mouth. “You bought me a house…” He shook his head. “You’re fucking insane, Jay. Insane, but I love you - it. I love it.” He hid his face against the other man’s chest. “You bought me a house…”

2013

It’s been a strange adjustment since Charlie ran away from Nancy and moved to New York. Gabe absolutely loved having her in the house. Sure, she was still a bit jumpy and skittish, but they were rebuilding all the trust that Nancy tore down. The problem was Johnny. His boyfriend had never had children, never wanted children, and had never willingly spent time around a teenager before. They’d been together for almost five years and suddenly Johnny was sharing a house with a teenage girl. He barely got along with George II. And that was a dog. Add a teenager into the mix? Well, it was kind of a weird situation for Gabe. His boyfriend and his daughter fought all the damn time, and all Gabe could do was play mediator.

“She’s alone in her room with a boy.” Gabe and Johnny were curled up on the couch pretending to watch a movie, but really they were making out. Or rather Johnny was trying to make it to third base and Gabe was more focused on the fact that his teenage daughter was upstairs ‘studying’ with a boy. He remembered what ‘studying’ alone with a boy was like. “Maybe I should go check on them to make sure they’re not doing anything.”

Johnny groaned from where he’d been biting at Gabe’s neck. “Am I boring you, sweetcheeks?” He asked, pulling away enough to look at Gabe from where he had him wedged between the arm of the couch and his body. Since Charlie had moved in, they didn’t get a lot of alone time. With Charlie’s depression being what it was and with getting her back to a normal and healthy lifestyle, most of Gabe’s attention went to his daughter, which was not something his boyfriend was used to. At all. “Because you shouldn’t be focused on your daughter being alone with a boy. You should be focused on the fact that you’re alone with your boyfriend for the first time all week and he’s trying to get his hand down your pants.” 

Gabe couldn’t help but to laugh at that. “Sorry, baby. I’m here.” He said as he grabbed Johnny by the neck and pulled him into a kiss. 

THUD.

The two men broke apart and stared up towards the ceiling. “Now I think you need to check on her.” Johnny amended as he rolled off Gabe. “And I need to will this thing to go down.” He made a sweeping gesture towards his lap, which made Gabe roll his eyes.

“I’ll make it up to you later.” Gabe said as he stood up, only to have his pants fall down. “How did you even manage to get my pants unbuttoned? I didn’t even feel you do it.” He said, sounding incredulous. 

Johnny sighed dramatically. “It’s a life skill.” 

Shaking his head, he fixed his pants, and took the stairs two at a time to Charlie’s room - where of course the door was closed. She was probably afraid she’d hear something going on downstairs. Adjusting to a teenager was taking time, okay? She’d walked in on him and Johnny quiet a few times since moving in. 

He didn’t hear anything for a moment, and figured that maybe he was overreacting as always. They were fine. She was in there with her boyfriend. The worst they were doing was having sex, and Gabe wasn’t the type of parent to freak out about his daughter having sex. It was other things that concerned him, which was why he stood at the door to listen and make sure everything was okay.

“C’mon, It’s not like we haven’t done anything before. Your dad doesn’t care.” “I already said that I don’t want to.” “C’mon, don’t be a prude.” “I said no.”

And that was enough for Gabe. He swung the door open to find Charlie’s boyfriend on top of her, obviously trying to force his daughter to do something she didn’t feel like doing right now. “You heard the lady.” He said as he picked the teenager off his sixteen year old and deposited him not so neatly onto the ground. “No means no.”

“DAD!” Charlie looked absolutely mortified, but there was also relief in her eyes as she scrambled to the other side of her bed, and wrapped her arms around her knees.

“Ugh, Ga-”

Gabe leaned over and helped the boy up to his feet. “Don’t even finish that sentence. You can call me Mr. James, but right now you’re leaving. You can call CJ later.” He said as he manhandled him out of his daughter’s room. Once they got to the stairs, he let go of the boy. “I think you know your way from here. Bye, now.” 

He turned on his heel and started back towards Charlie’s room and that was when her boyfriend said: “I don’t understand why it’s a big deal. We’ve already done it before.” Her boyfriend complained. It wasn’t the first time he’d dealt with Gabe’s unpredictable reaction to things, and this wasn’t going to be the last time either.

It was the wrong thing to say. Gabe paused for a moment before calmly walking into his and Johnny’s room and walking back out with his shotgun. “I’m gonna give you ten seconds to get off my property.” He said as he checked that it was loaded.

The boy froze. “You’re not going to shoot me, Mr. James.” The way he said it made it sound like he wasn’t sure if he believed it or not.

Gabe raised an eyebrow and fired a warning shot into ugly light fixture Johnny had bought the week before. “Wanna bet?” He challenged.

“DADDY!”  Charlie came flying out of her room to find her boyfriend running down the stairs and Gabe calmly walking after him, shotgun still raised to fire. “STOP IT! What are you doing?!”

Johnny came running into the hallway, skidding on the tile. “GABRIEL, WHAT THE HELL?!” He yelled.

“I’m teaching him a lesson.” He said, his eyes never leaving the boy. 

“YOU’RE CRAZY. I’M GONNA TELL MY DAD YOU TRIED TO SHOOT ME.”

Gabe cocked his shotgun. “You gonna tell him about the attempted assault or should I?” He asked, his head tilted to the side. “I don’t care if you’re dating or if you’re married or anything else. Your partner tells you to stop and you stop. I don’t care if you’re mid-thrust. Same if your partner tells you no. Doing it once doesn’t mean you get to keep doing it if you’re not both in the mood. Do I make myself clear, young man?”

Charlie made a distressed, totally embarrassed sound behind him, and he could hear Johnny snickering next to him. He raised an eyebrow at the boyfriend, waiting for the response. “Now apologize.”

"Yep, got it.” He nodded quickly and darted a glance at Charlie. “No means no. Got it.” He started scrambling away from the door. “I’m sorry, Charlotte. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Gabe had never seen anyone run as fast as that boy.

As soon as the door was shut and Johnny had taken the gun away from Gabe, Charlie rounded on her father. “OH MY GOD! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU, DAD!” She stomped her feet. “That’s so embarrassing. He’s never going to want to hang out with me again. UGH!” She turned on her heel and stormed up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door so hard the house shook a little bit.

"You’re welcome!” Gabe shouted up after her, rolling his eyes. When he watched Johnny go up the stairs, too, Gabe sighed. “You, too?”

His boyfriend smirked. “I need to put this away.” He said holding the gun distastefully. “And someone decided to kill my lamp.”

Rolling his eyes again, Gabe headed towards the living room. “Being gay does not mean you can buy ugly shit and pass it off as being chic, baby! I thought you wanted to get laid, but I guess I was wrong.”

There wasn’t a response right away until... “I’ll be right down.”

And Gabe could have sworn he heard a muffled “Gross.”

2016

“Where the fuck were you?” Johnny snapped out as Gabe stumbled into the house, dropping his jacket onto the hook by the door and toeing off his boots. It was three in the morning, and he’d been trailing a mark all night. Gabe was exhausted, and all he wanted was to take a hot shower and crawl into bed. He was too tired to deal with this shit again. This was starting to become a usual song and dance for him and Johnny. His job had never been a problem for Johnny before, and then he hired Jill and suddenly Gabe was working too late, or working too hard, or lying or whatever Johnny got into his head that week.

Gabe groaned. “Can we not do this, Jay? I’ve been sitting in a bar stalking a mark all night. I’m sore and tired, and I smell like spilled drinks. I just want to shower and sleep.” He moved over to the couch and dropped a kiss to the top of Johnny’s head before moving towards the stairs.

“Was she with you?”

And there it fucking was. Gabe stopped, turned on his heel and walked over to his boyfriend. “We’ve had this conversation a million times. Aren’t you tired of it?” He asked him, sounding exhausted with the entire situation. “I go out into the field alone. Jill stays at the office. She files, and does paperwork, and stalks people on social media. She doesn’t do fieldwork. I do that alone. You know alone. It’s that thing you’re going to be doing tonight because I’m not sharing a bed with you.”

Johnny snorted. “I’m not the one who’s fucking his secretary. I don’t understand why I keep getting banished to the guest room.” He said as he stood up.

“For the millionth FUCKING time, I’m not fucking Jill. The only person I’m fucking right now is you. And not even most days” He scrubbed his hands over his face. 

“You want to fuck her.” Johnny said, sounding far too smug with his argument.

Gabe threw his hands up, for lack of anything to say. “What does being attracted to someone have to do with anything?” He asked him. “Finding someone attractive doesn’t automatically mean I’m cheating on you, fuck face.”

“You’re gay.”

And that was an annoying label. “Why do I need to label my sexuality? Does my occasionally finding a woman attractive make you jealous?” He asked in an almost taunting tone.

“YES!”

Gabe froze. That wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting. “What?” 

Johnny sighed, and closed the distance between them, taking Gabe’s hands into his. “You don’t see the way you look at her, Briel. Or the way she looks back at you.” There was a look on Johnny’s face that Gabe had never seen before. “I think it’s time you sold the agency.”

“What?”

No longer holding his hands, Johnny instead ran his hands through Gabe’s hair, fixing it from the mess his helmet had made on his ride home. “Remember when the Supreme Court approved same sex marriage? We’d discussed getting married when I got the nod for District Attorney. I’m being appointed at the end of the week.” He dropped his hands to Gabe’s shoulders. “What kind of image will I make as Bronx DA if my husband is running around all hours of the night and making moon eyes at his secretary? No, you close the agency and we’ll get married, like you’ve wanted since it was made legal, and I won’t bring up Jill again. If you’re not working together, you won’t see her anymore and it’s a non-issue.”

His mouth opened, and then it closed again as he tried to process the ultimatum that Johnny had given him. “You want me to choose between the job and you?” He asked, blinking dumbly at him. 

“If you still loved me, you wouldn’t have to think about it. It’s just further proof that your heart is no longer in our relationship” Johnny challenged. 

Gabe nodded slowly and took Johnny’s hands off him. “You’re lucky Charlie’s staying at the dorms.” He said, lowly. “I’m going to pack a bag and spend the night at the office. When I get back tomorrow, I want you to be gone.”

Johnny stared at him. “Are you breaking up with me, Briel?” It sounded like he couldn’t even believe the words coming out of his own mouth.

He shook his head. “No, you broke up with me the second you made me choose between my job and my friendship with someone you don’t like and you.” He started up the stairs.

“Do you still love me, Briel?”

Gabe paused on the stairs. “Unfortunately.”

Last Week

It was weird seeing the house stripped bare. He'd lived in this house for almost ten years. He'd thought he was going to spend the rest of his life in this house with Johnny. They had good times here, and they'd had some sh!tty times, too. After their fight in the living room, Gabe slept at the office for three days. Johnny was gone when he finally went back to the house. It almost felt like a divorce. Gabe got the house and the dog and what Gabe was pretty sure was spousal support, despite the fact they were never actually married. Actually, he still got support checks from him. He probably should tell him to stop sending him money... 

This was the house he'd brought Charlie home to when she ran away from his ex-wife and to New York, to him. He'd rebuilt his relationship with his daughter in this house. It was where Charlie told him she was pregnant, and where he'd rocked his newborn grandbabe to sleep for the first time.

God, there were so many memories in this house, and now it was just... stripped bare. He'd gotten a good offer on the old girl, and now someone else was going to make new memories in what he'd thought was going to be his forever home with a man he didn't even talk to anymore. "Dad?" Charlie asked as she leaned against the horse trailer where Pinocchio the donkey and Loki the pig were currently waiting to be moved to the new house in Flushing. The other animals would be going in the Cadillac with him and Charlie. Well, most of them. One of the dogs would probably insist on riding in the horse trailer. "Are you ready? It's just a house." Gabe rolled his eyes, but stepped out of the house, locking the door for the final time before dropping his key into the lock box on the door. "Yeah, and you're just one of my children." He snarked back before ambling over to her. "Let's go, kid."

It felt strange, but it also felt like it was the right thing to do. It was time.

The new house - Now

“What do you think?” Gabe asked as he led Jill through his new house. The house he’d lived in with Johnny had been big, but this house was even bigger. Five bedrooms, four baths and two living rooms. It was a big house for a man who lived alone, but he also had a lot of animals and an oversized family that had a bad habit of always being at his place.

Jill didn’t respond right away. She was staring out towards the backyard. “It’s a lot of house.” She said finally, and the way she said it made it sound like she was nervous or afraid of something. It wasn’t like he was asking her to move in with him. He just wanted a place closer to his three girls, and a place that wasn’t full of memories of Johnny.

“Not really.” He tried to reassure her with a small shrug. “I mean, bedroom.” He waved a hand between them, as though to imply their bedroom one day without saying the words out loud to scare her off. “Bella’s room. Because let’s face it, she’s gonna be here as much as she’s with her mom. And the room can also be shared with Nattie for when she spends the night. Then, one of the rooms we’re going to call my office, but it’s really going to become a library. I need to stop buying books. And then guest room for the girls and Dusty and Reyes and anyone else who has a tendency to pass out here.”

When he didn’t continue, Jill raised an eyebrow at him. “That’s only four rooms.” She pointed out. “What the other room for?” 

Gabe shrugged. “Wanna see the backyard? There’s space for a small barn for Pinocchio and Loki and the alpaca I’ve had my eye on.” He said as he took Jill’s hand and led her outside.

She let him preen over the backyard and where he was going to put the garden before spinning him to face her. “What’s the fifth room for, Gabriel?”

Feeling the tips of his ears go red, Gabe looked down at his feet. “Room for growth. For future kids or if the walk-in closet still isn’t big enough for both our clothes.” When he looked up, he found Jill grinning at him.

“You’re a sap.”

“But I’m your sap.” He pointed out before picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Her hands smacked at his ass, but she didn’t struggle at the sudden change of position.

“I forgot. Isn’t it good luck to carry your significant other over the threshold?” He asked her innocently.

Jill rolled her eyes. “A husband carries his bride through the front door.” She pointed out.

“Eh, I prefer the backdoor anyways.”

“GABRIEL!” 

Her laughter echoed through the house.

x

Later when they were laying in front of the fireplace, Gabe found himself thinking about what she said earlier. “Do you really think it’s too much house?” He asked.

She was quiet for a long moment. “Maybe not anymore.”